Millennium Night on the Sea
Germain and his team spent their millennium night aboard a drifting marine research vessel.
It was a rather novel experience.
Before this, only Morel had ever spent such a long time at sea.
Despite the complicated mix of passengers on board, it didn't stop them from holding a small celebration — they grilled meat on the deck, filling the air with a mouthwatering aroma.
The so-called rumors about a "millennium apocalypse" were, of course, completely disproven at that moment.
Still, had the "Curse of Resentment" succeeded last year, it's very possible that human society might truly be headed for doomsday.
Germain sat quietly at the bow of the ship, chewing on a skewer that Shizuku had just handed him, while silently peering through the Hunter Badge: Teleport Lantern — a device that let him spy on locations he had previously marked with teleportation lamps.
Out of the eleven special transfer points, he had personally set foot in six — the Ancient Labyrinth, the Pale Wasteland, the Steep Mountain Range, the Jungle Swamp, the Coastal Fortress, and the Gate of the Deep Sea.
As for the ordinary transfer points, there were also eleven in total — Greed Island, the Dried River Valley, the Mudlands, the Bottom of Spider Valley, the Ancient Labyrinth, the Pale Wasteland, the Jungle Swamp, the Steep Mountain Range, the Transit Base Island, the Boundary Gate, and the Dragon Volcano.
Naturally, his main concern was Greed Island and the Coastal Fortress.
However, the device only allowed him to shift his viewing angle within a 100-meter radius, so he couldn't see too many people or details.
Still, he was able to confirm one important thing — both Greed Island and the Coastal Fortress were currently maintaining a certain level of order, and hadn't fallen into chaos like what had once erupted on BW-1.
After that, he confirmed the situation of those "disasters" through the perspectives of various lantern teleportation points.
The Bloodthirsty Apostle, the Disease Spreader, the Tongue of Theft, the Rift of Pleasure, the Red Snake of Jealousy, and the Black Snake of Defamation—all had already revived in their respective regions.
The "God of Curse and Resentment" was immortal. It had only fallen into an extremely weak remnant soul state.
Given another thousand years, it would be able to return again.
Because of this, these disasters that were intricately connected to it were also forced to continuously revive and carry on their rituals.
However, with the occurrence of the "Outer God Devouring Star" hundreds of years later, the "God of Curse and Resentment" lost its chance.
Germain's greatest concern was naturally the Bloodthirsty Apostle located in the ancient labyrinth, because the ancient labyrinth castle was near its rebirth point.
Yet, through the "Hunter Badge · Teleport Lantern" surveillance and sensing, he saw that the Bloodthirsty Apostle did not go to destroy the ancient labyrinth castle.
It only wandered between the sea of blood and the reed forest, waiting for Botanical Weapon Brions to offer the parasitic flesh as a sacrifice to it.
This was because the ancient labyrinth castle was built around that tall tower as the core, and the area near the tower was a safe zone—the Bloodthirsty Apostle would not touch it.
Although the Apostle currently had no intention to destroy the ancient labyrinth castle, Germain would still occasionally keep an eye on it, just in case.
If it ever showed signs of attacking the ancient labyrinth castle, Germain would immediately teleport back and deal with it.
After all, that place was their exploration team's first major stronghold on the Dark Continent.
Germain and his group's time passed by like this while sailing on the sea.
——
March 4, 2000, New World.
"One-Star Hunter" Kurapika crouched on the ground. His golden short hair framed eyes that wore colored contacts, coldly staring at several people tied up with ropes in front of him.
He reached out his hand, and the spherical end of his "Chain Jail" dangled and swung slightly, scaring a bruised and battered man into screaming:
"Don't, don't, don't kill me!"
The bruised and battered man wouldn't forget how this seemingly gentle and weak young man had used those strange silver chains to take down their entire group — a group armed with guns and wearing bulletproof vests.
The silver chains had been stained with a great deal of blood from these forest bandits.
"I'll ask, you answer," Kurapika said. "Understand?"
"Y-yes..." The burly man who had been pulled out individually swallowed nervously.
"What were you before you became bandits, robbing travelers on this road?"
"I-I... I was a guard for the Third Queen of the Kakin royal family." The man hesitated for a moment, but answered nonetheless.
The Third Queen?
Kurapika lowered his gaze and thought for a moment, his expression growing strange.
If he remembered correctly, the Third Queen was the consort who had an affair with Onior, the "Second Line" leader of the Xi-Yu Family — who was the half-brother of King Nasubi.
Their illegitimate son was the Third Prince, Zhang Lei.
It seemed this guard was once tied to the Third Prince and his fallen mother, the Third Queen, imprisoned and awaiting judgment.
Later, he took advantage of the chaos to escape but dared not go to the coastal fortress.
Slowly, he became the leader of this group of roadbandits.
Kurapika carefully questioned him again, and the story the man told matched Kurapika's expectations. The "Dowsing Chain" also confirmed the man was telling the truth.
He sighed, then pointed at the other bandits and asked, "What about them?"
"Uh... these are private soldiers of the First, Fifth, and Ninth Princes. These belong to the Thirteen Mafia. These others are low-class citizens of Kakin..."
The man didn't dare hide anything and explained the complicated backgrounds of the entire bandit group.
Again, the "Dowsing Chain" confirmed his honesty.
Kurapika frowned and asked, "You should know about the coastal fortress, right? Why don't you go there? Why become bandits here instead?"
The burly man hesitated for a long moment before answering, "W-We heard that the Kakin royal family has been completely destroyed... and now a person named Netero is the king."
Chairman Netero? King?
Kurapika never expected the rumors outside the Coastal Fortress to spread so wildly.
Although Chairman Netero was indeed the most influential figure at the moment, calling him "king" was an exaggeration.
"There is no new king," Kurapika said firmly. "Even if the Kakin royal family has fallen, that's no excuse for you bandits to act this way."
"Besides, the Kakin royal family still has Queen Oito, who is currently working to protect the rights of the people of the Kakin Empire. You could have sought her help."
"For those outside the Kakin Empire, you can turn to Mr. Steiner, who represents the stance of the original V5 member countries."
"But you chose to take advantage of the chaos and break down of order to satisfy your own greed, killing many people in the process. That is unforgivable."
"I will hand you over to the Coastal Fortress tribunal. If you have any defense, wait until then to say it."
The bandits lowered their heads in shame, already able to foresee their fate.
At that moment, someone nearby started applauding.
Kurapika stood up and turned to look, only to see a face as pale as a ghost hidden beneath long, jet-black hair.
The eldest son of the Zoldyck family, Illumi, was clapping.
But with his expressionless face, it was hard not to wonder if he was mocking them.
Standing beside Illumi was the "Music Hunter" Melody — a short, plump woman with a kind heart and a gentle voice.
The three of them made up a rather strange team, sent by the Hunter Association to deal with the bandit group here.
Naturally, this kind of mission was easily resolved.
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