Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 451 Tens of Thousands of Sacrifices

Sambica's professional skills will be crucial for the subsequent journey to the Dark Continent.

Kim was initially worried about whether Morrow could successfully invite Sambica to join the team, after all, he knew Tessa's influence on Sambica and understood that Sambica was often swayed by Tessa in some key decisions.

Seeing Sambika's resolute attitude, Kim was surprised but also certain that Tessa would not be able to influence Sambika's decision this time.

Tessa knew in her heart that she could not change Sambika's well-considered decision. After giving Kim a hard punch, she couldn't help but sigh softly.

It has to be said that Jin deliberately coming over to get beaten at this moment did calm her originally agitated mood a bit.

She stopped trying to dissuade Sambica and ignored Kim, who was still pretending to be serious, and instead turned her gaze to Moro.

Meeting Tessa's gaze, Moro immediately understood her meaning and solemnly said, "I dare not promise too much, but I can guarantee that I will always stand in front of Sambika whenever there is danger."

"..."

Tessa's eyes flickered slightly as her gaze subtly swept over the Nen energy flowing around Morrow.

If there was anything that could give her some peace of mind, it was the astonishing aura that Morrow had displayed when he flew in from the air.

In an environment like the Dark Continent, this level of strength certainly provides the team and its members with more room for error.

Tessa sighed softly again, nodded to Morrow, and said, "I hope you keep your word."

Actually, she had another concern in her heart.

In the extreme environment of the Dark Continent, what kind of test will humanity be put to?

Anyone can say nice things, but when faced with a bizarre and terrifying environment, and on the verge of collapse, it's perfectly normal to abandon teammates to save oneself, let alone make sacrifices.

After all, the Dark Continent is just that irrational.

Nevertheless, she was still willing to believe Morrow's promise at this moment.

Or rather, she preferred to trust Sambika's judgment of people.

Tessa turned her gaze to Kim.

"gold."

"Ok?"

Jin stopped his somewhat exaggerated performance.

Tessa asked, "Are you going too?"

Upon hearing this, Moro and Sambica both looked at Kim.

Faced with the questioning looks from the group, Jin raised his hand and scratched the back of his head.

Morrow awaited King's reply.

He simultaneously arranged meetings with both Kim and Sambika, his intentions being self-evident.

The confirmed members of the Dark Continent team include Bisky, Kurt, Pons, Menchi, and Chimera.

Bisky's role is similar to Morrow's; she is primarily responsible for frontal protection, ensuring the safety of her teammates while also bearing all the visible risks.

However, her more important role is to use Miss Cookie's ability to allow the team to recover their energy and condition with just half an hour of sleep.

In places like the Dark Continent where there may be no truly safe zones, the importance of this ability is self-evident.

Kurt was primarily responsible for communications and location tracking within the team.

In addition, her recently developed shikigami ability, which uses the corpses of the Ant King and her direct guards as materials, can also share some of the responsibility of front-line protection.

But the most crucial element remains the ability to communicate and locate teammates.

The importance of communication goes without saying.

Once the team encounters a crisis and gets separated in the Dark Continent, the ability to locate teammates becomes especially valuable.

Pence's job is to investigate.

With her boundless beehive ability, she can significantly expand her vigilance range and detect potential threats in advance.

Menchi is a chef. In addition to being in charge of food, she has also developed an enhancement ability called "God Tongue" using her Love Etude ability, which allows her to determine whether ingredients are edible.

This ability is also very important given the lack of understanding of the Dark Continent, as it ensures that the team will not have to worry about food later on.

As for the chimera, there's no need to say more.

It is the fundamental guarantee that the team can carry out expeditions and explorations on the vast and boundless dark continent.

Now, with Sambica's addition, medical care is also guaranteed.

The current team composition lacks a creature hunter with expertise in various biological knowledge, as well as an apothecary like Sishe Gailu.

If conditions permit, professional hunters skilled in translating ancient texts can also provide crucial assistance in exploring the Dark Continent.

Kim's abilities clearly lean more towards being an all-rounder.

He was knowledgeable in various fields, and in the original work, he only showed off his language skills, which was enough to impress the linguists in Byrd's team.

With Jin's addition, Moro will be more confident about this trip to the Dark Continent.

"I'm sorry, I can't go."

Jin slowly lowered his hand, his tone tinged with helplessness.

Sambica didn't react much to his words, but Moro and Tessa were taken aback.

Both of them knew that Jin had a very strong desire to challenge the Dark Continent; it was practically a dream.

Jin sighed and said, "I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, but I was too young back then, and I was tricked by Netero without even realizing it..."

"what?"

Tessa's gaze toward Kim suddenly turned strange, as if to say, "Even you, you bitch, can get tricked."
Moro looked surprised and asked, "The guild leader wouldn't have placed a 'forbidden trip to the Dark Continent' restriction on you, would he?"

"Constraints?"

Jin looked at Moro and shook his head, saying, "No, it's just a bet with him. If I lose, I have to keep an agreement."

"What agreement?"

Moro pressed for an answer.

Jin seemed to recall some unpleasant past events, revealing a pair of dead fish eyes, and said:

"I can only go to the Dark Continent by 'legitimate means of crossing the border,' which is the agreement that Chairman Netero made me abide by. Sigh, that cunning old man, he himself smuggled himself into the Dark Continent."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Moro rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

This certainly seems like something Netero would do.

Seeing Moro's reaction, Jin spread his hands and said, "So if I want to go to the Dark Continent, I need to get permission and qualifications from the Ferry Hall, as well as the most important contract. Unfortunately, I don't have any of these right now. Of course, I'm not in a big hurry."

At this point, he suddenly sighed again, his tone tinged with regret:

"But seeing how eager you are to go to the Dark Continent, it would be a lie to say I'm not tempted. It's a pity... I know you're with that phantom beast, so there's no way you can go through the proper channels, and I have to keep my promise to Netero. I can't hitch a ride with you."

"It's a pity indeed."

Moro also sighed.

He certainly wouldn't choose the formal channels.

It wasn't because he possessed the Chimera, but because under the strict control of V5 and the Ferry Hall, a genuine permit to cross the Dark Continent could never be issued to civilians.

So-called legitimate means are nothing more than a pretext to deceive the outside world.

Netero clearly knew the inside story, yet he still demanded that King abide by the agreement, which was tantamount to completely cutting off King's possibility of going to the Dark Continent.

Judging from Jin's reaction, he clearly doesn't know the truth behind it.

Only a time traveler like Morrow could know these secrets.

Otherwise, in order to get Jin to travel to the Dark Continent, Moro would do anything to obtain permission and qualifications. Jin's expression suddenly turned serious, and he said, "Although I can't hitch a ride with you, I can still offer some help. First, about your phantom beast, I believe it has the endurance to sustain long-term flight, but you can't completely rely on it to carry you to the Dark Continent."

"How to say?"

Moro stared at Jin's serious expression.

"Because once you cross the maritime boundaries of the world map, the most dangerous place is not the ocean, but the sky."

Jin explained, “The climate there is extremely harsh, with storms and tornadoes all the time. What’s more troublesome are the various flying creatures that fight each other for airspace.”

"I see……"

A hint of surprise flashed in Moro's eyes.

He didn't recall such a detail being mentioned in the original work.

Therefore, if humans from the six continents want to challenge the Dark Continent, they usually can only choose the sea route?

This also explains why organizations like the Ferry Navigation Bureau exist.

Because air routes are simply not feasible.

This is likely a fact that has been proven with countless lives lost.

If the air route poses a greater threat, then the original plan will need to be adjusted.

Moro suddenly realized that he had been thinking too simply about some things.

Jin asked, "Do you remember the 'message in a bottle' we discussed before?"

"Ah."

Moro nodded.

The message in a bottle—that was the item that appeared in the memory fragments he had extracted from the ruins of the dead.

That thing seemed to have the ability to teleport over long distances.

In that ancient memory, it was this very bottle that brought some kind of disaster to the six ancient continents.

"Its real name is the Klein bottle."

A glint of light flashed in Jin's eyes as he explained:

"The ancient Ganyu Kingdom, which first appeared during the Zhuolu era, was, according to existing records, the several natural disasters that caused large-scale deaths in ancient times were actually caused by the Klein Bottle, or more accurately, by the 'disasters' it brought from the Dark Continent."

"After in-depth investigation, I discovered that the descendants of the ancient Ganyu royal family may still have some Klein bottles. The origin of these bottles seems to be closely related to the ancient divine script system of the ancient Ganyu."

After explaining the origin of the "Rhine Bottle," King offered the following suggestion:
"Considering the functionality of the Klein Bottle, I suggest that you learn more about this item before deciding to travel to the Dark Continent by air. It's worth trying even as an alternative. Also, I can help you with this matter."

"and many more……"

Tessa, who was standing nearby, suddenly realized something.

Her attention wasn't on the Klein bottle, but rather on the insect flute Jin had just given her, her brow furrowing slightly.
"So this insect flute wasn't something you specifically sought out for me in Gu Ganyu, but rather something you picked up casually while investigating some Klein bottle?"

"..."

Jin paused for a moment, then slowly said, "It really did take a lot of effort."

His answer was tantamount to admitting it.

Tessa took a deep breath and then sighed deeply.

When the conversation turned to business, King completely ignored Tessa's reaction, looked at the thoughtful Morrow, and asked, "So, do you have any plans in that regard?"

"We can try contacting them first."

Moro nodded.

Although he prefers to choose the empty route directly, the existence of the Klein bottle, with Gold's help, is indeed a viable alternative.

Ancient Ganyu Kingdom...

Thinking of the royal descendant, the image of that silver-haired madwoman involuntarily surfaced in Moro's mind.

………………

In many ancient countries, funerary sacrifice was a common practice.

In ancient Kakin, a special burial practice called "posthumous companions" was prevalent.

The so-called "death companion" was actually a woman chosen to be buried alive with the king, so that princes who failed to inherit the throne would become vengeful spirits and haunt the king and the country after their deaths.

These partners are outwardly given honorific titles, but in reality they come from a class known as the "unsustainable people."

This refers to the lowest level of people whose identity and status cannot be changed throughout their lives, which can be traced back to the slave system.

Or rather, this is a phenomenon derived from the system of slavery.

Although the custom of burying one's spouse with the dead has been abolished, the social status of those born into undesirable circumstances remains unchanged.

They were considered to be of the same ilk as the lowest of the low.

However, among the many princes, the second prince Camilla, for political reasons, granted these "untouchable people" the opportunity to serve as private soldiers and established a special autonomous region for them with privileges and status.

This move not only won Camilla the support of the common people, but also enabled her to form a cursed army specifically designed to target other princes.

Even though the second prince took the initiative to improve the situation of the commoners for his own selfish desires, in reality only the status and identity of some of the commoners were changed.

Why would Yang De say that Kakin never lacks offerings?
It is precisely because of the existence of the untouchable class.

The "divine artifact, Jicho-maru," possesses a powerful luck-enhancing ability that is essentially related to the power of will.

By offering a sufficient number of human lives as sacrifices, it can grant the holder's wishes in the form of fortune.

The prosperity of Kakin's nation was inextricably linked to this divine artifact.

This is also the fundamental reason why the Kakin royal family still secretly continues feudal rituals such as Maslenitsa and insists on holding them regularly.

Superficial extravagance and hedonism are nothing more than a superficial disguise.

The real purpose was to offer sacrifices for the nation's destiny through these rituals.

Now, Yang De has borrowed this divine weapon from Hui Guo Rou.

Now, all that's missing is the offering.

Dark clouds churned in the sky, a storm was brewing.

Outside a village.

By Yangde held the Jizhao Pill in his hand, and the wind blew up his blood-red cloak.

He gazed at a peaceful village in the distance, his eyes devoid of any pity.

To achieve the goal—

He needs at least ten thousand offerings.

Of course, for him, the more offerings there were, the more secure his plan would be.

So I still hold the same viewpoint...

A behemoth like Kakin has no shortage of sacrificial offerings like the common people.

It is no coincidence.

Both being ancient kingdoms that have continued from the era of the struggle for supremacy, Ganyu shares many similarities with Kajin Kingdom.

It also possesses national treasures, retains many feudal systems, and even has a group of "dust people".

Kakin is better than Yang De.

Gu Ganyu also has Mo Liana...

(End of this chapter)