Chapter 72: First Step onto the Dark Continent x The Clash of Ren
The piercing sound waves penetrated his eardrums, rattling his brain. Roy struggled to his feet. Seeing the sandworm, his pupils constricted as he remembered...
This was the very monster that Netero, Linne, and Grandpa Zzigg had encountered on their first trip to the Dark Continent!
No wonder it looked familiar. Roy instinctively turned his head. Beside him stood three figures: Netero, Linne, and Zzigg himself!
So, have I traveled back in time, or have I been forcibly pulled into Grandpa Zzigg's memories?
Roy didn't have time to ponder. The sandworm, stretching endlessly beyond sight, blotted out the sky. Its tail swept towards them. A loud roar came from beside him: "Get down!"
He quickly dropped to the ground. He could dodge the tail, but the gale-force wind carrying an immensely powerful Ren tore up the earth, ripping trees out by the roots and sending everything flying. There was no escaping that.
The only way was to fight fire with fire—to counter Ren with Ren!
Think fast... think against the clock... Imagine opening every aura node in your body in an instant, forcibly expelling all your 'Aura Output'. Roy had just started to get the hang of it, releasing a Nen shroud to cover himself, when he was struck by an uprooted tree and sent flying.
It felt like all his internal organs had shattered.
Two seconds... I just arrived in this world, and I'm already going back?
A sweet taste filled Roy's mouth, and he couldn't stop himself from coughing up a large mouthful of blood. Then, his head lolled to the side, and he lost consciousness.
[Warning: Detecting connection to "Unknown Consciousness"...]
[Alert mechanism activated... "Gate of Cognition" opening...]
The familiar sensation of falling washed over him. Dimly, he seemed to hear a familiar voice again.
Roy groggily opened his eyes. He saw the familiar Sea of Cognition and the numerous wooden doors floating upon it.
Surprisingly, he hadn't returned directly to reality but had instead arrived in the world of his own cognition!
He struggled up from the sand. The first thing he did was check his body.
Good. No injuries. All his organs were functioning properly. Everything indicated that the world with the tentacle monster had been nothing more than a dream.
Just as he thought this, he rolled up his pant legs as usual and stepped into the water, letting the waves wash away his mental fatigue. Suddenly, he glanced sideways and froze.
Right next to the gate to the Demon Slayer world, a new, pitch-black door had appeared out of nowhere. It was cracked open just a sliver, and through the gap, he could faintly hear the roars of strange beasts and the screams of humans.
"Re: Game of the Dead"... "Unknown Consciousness connection"... Zzigg, Linne, Netero... Various terms swirled in his mind, forming an incredible hypothesis.
Roy gradually realized. Whether passively or accidentally, through his own Nen ability, the "Gate of Cognition," he had connected to Grandpa Zzigg's consciousness—or rather, to his memories of the journey to the Dark Continent!
So, this extra door led to the Dark Continent as remembered by Zzigg!
His thoughts becoming clearer, Roy finally understood what his great-great-grandfather had meant by "Your Zzigg-jii-chan likes sausages." It turned out that even when some people died, their consciousness could persist, not yet forgotten by the world.
The question was, should he continue?
The boy snapped back to reality, hesitating for a moment. Then, gritting his teeth, he waded through the shallows, pushed the door open, and stepped back inside.
"Get down!"
The memory reset. Roy heard the shout again. Without thinking, he dropped to the ground and unleashed his Ren. It felt the same as before. He forced himself to expel all his "Aura Output" from his nodes, forming a "Nen shroud" to protect himself as wave after wave of impact crashed over him.
BANG! This time, Roy was hit by a flying rock and sent tumbling. Duration: two and a half seconds.
Crash~ The familiar sensation of falling returned as waves hit the shore. Unsurprisingly, Roy woke up again, whole and unharmed, back in his familiar world of cognition.
This time, he slapped his cheeks. Without hesitation, he pushed open the black door and charged back in. Again, the shout: "Get down!"
He forced his "Aura Output" into a protective shroud. This time, he lasted three seconds before being knocked unconscious by a piece of debris.
And so it continued: enter the Dark Continent, return to the Sea of Cognition, enter again, return again, in an endless loop.
Finally, after seven or eight cycles, an overwhelming weariness washed over him. The tenth time Roy returned to the Sea of Cognition, he struggled to roll over and collapsed onto the sand. He knew this was his limit.
Fifteen seconds... this time, he had lasted a full fifteen seconds.
Zoldyck Estate, Basement.
Tsubone watched Roy push the cart into the passage. As Scarface and One-Eye closed the security door, she unhurriedly pulled out a pocket watch. Seeing it brought back memories. This was the third time she had stood here, the previous times being for Zeno and Silva.
She was born and raised in the Zoldyck household, adopted by Maha as a child, grew up alongside Zeno, and even changed Silva's diapers. She clearly remembered how long each of them had lasted inside.
She had met Zzigg, too, even served him for several years. She had been present when he died, so she knew what lay beyond the door.
Zeno's record was three seconds. Silva's limit was three and a half. Now... the old butler stared intently down the passage, extending her En. The moment she detected a fluctuation in Nen, she pressed the stopwatch.
Scarface and One-Eye stood like sentinels beside her, guarding her, ensuring nothing and no one disturbed her focus.
Tsubone counted silently: "One... one point five... two..."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Two point five... three..."
Her pupils widened in surprise. She continued, "Three point five... four... five... six!"
This... impossible... Her pink pigtails fluttered, disheveled by an unseen wind. Tsubone frowned, counting on: "Eight... nine... ten... eleven... fifteen!"
She abruptly pressed the stopwatch again, noticing the unique Nen fluctuation had vanished. She froze.
"It seems the Old Master is very fond of him," Scarface said in a low voice.
"Because he lasted the longest," One-Eye added honestly.
They were both children Zzigg had adopted, playmates who had grown up with Zeno. Scarface was also Tsubone's husband, Hall's father, and Canary's grandfather.
Seeing Tsubone dazed, he reminded her, "You should report this."
Tsubone snapped back to reality. Still holding the watch, she took out her phone with her other hand and called Silva, not wasting a single second, not even the time it would take to walk back upstairs.
Creak... creak... Second-floor master bedroom.
The soft, large bed vibrated, protesting as if unable to bear the impact, groaning in complaint.
Ring ring ring... The phone rang, and the bed fell silent.
The man frowned, picked up the phone, and answered curtly, "What is it?"
"Master, we have the time you requested."
"How long?"
"Fifteen seconds."
"Hmph?!"
Silva leaped out of bed, revealing a physique seemingly forged from steel!
"You know this isn't a joke."
On the other end of the line, Tsubone could faintly hear footsteps. She looked up toward the passage. Roy emerged, pushing the cart, walking at a steady pace. The bouquet of chrysanthemums remained before the airtight door, blooming silently.
"You know I wouldn't joke about this, sir."
Silva: "..."
He lowered the phone, falling into a long, profound silence.
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