Hunter x Hunter: From Obtaining the World to Beyond Heaven

"It's trigeminal neuralgia. My head hurts so much that I break out in a cold sweat whenever I talk."

Sherlock smiled, took another sip of coffee, and the two chatted like old friends, without any awkwardness.

Dia is naturally outgoing and friendly when chatting with people, and Sherlock is even more of a madman; there's never a hint of awkwardness in their conversation.

"Why don't you look for it..."

"Why don't you ask Qi Duo to take a look?"

Sherlock, as if he already knew what Dia was going to say, spoke Dia's words in advance. His eyes suddenly became unfocused as he looked out the window:

Did you know that decades ago, humanity launched an exploration mission into outer space?

"...Yes, Qiduo told me about it."

Dia didn't know why he suddenly brought this up, and answered hesitantly.

"Don't keep talking about my daughter. It makes you seem like you're very dependent on her. Are you really that close to her?"

Sherlock said irritably, angrily putting down his coffee, leaving Dia speechless.

He then continued:

"Back then, in order to ascend to higher levels of the atmosphere, Saherta developed a vehicle called a 'rocket.' Do you know how wide a rocket booster is?"

"……do not know."

Dia answered truthfully.

"It is four feet eight and a half inches. The reason for this width is that after the booster rocket is built, it has to go through a tunnel on the way from the factory to the launch site by train. The tunnel width is only slightly wider than the train track. Therefore, the width of the booster rocket is determined by the width of the rails. The width of the rails was designed by the tram workers. Therefore, the width of the rails is determined by the standard wheel gauge of the tram. The earliest tram workers used to build horse-drawn carriages. Therefore, the tram standard follows the standard wheel gauge of the horse-drawn carriage. The standard wheel gauge of the horse-drawn carriage is determined by the width of the ruts on the road. The width of the road is determined by the width of the chariot, which is pulled by two horses."

Sherlock continued his rambling tale, and Dia listened as if it were a story:

"Through this series of deductions, we discovered that the width of a rocket is actually determined by the width of a warhorse. Although the above deduction is an engineering joke, it reveals an undeniable force in the collective unconscious of mankind, a force so great that it can hinder the development of history. It is called historical path dependence."

Dia understood completely, and he said:

"So you don't want to seek treatment from Qiduo because you're afraid of developing a path dependency, and from then on, you'll habitually seek her out whenever you encounter injury or illness?"

"He is very perceptive, but his memory is not good."

Sherlock gave Dia a disapproving look, which made Dia's hand itch to punch him.

Anyway, Dia went to find Qiduo because she was a little injured, and she didn't feel that there was anything wrong with the path dependence.

"Do you think that it doesn't matter if you become path-dependent on such a small thing?"

Sherlock sighed, dipped his finger in water, drew a large circle on the table, and then placed a dot inside the circle, saying:

"If we compare this circle to the planet beneath our feet, then that point is like Lake Möbius, where human society is located. It is small but enough for us to live on. If things can continue like this, perhaps there is no need to try to explore outer space."

"but."

Sherlock paused, then said meaningfully:

"The premise is that human society can continue like this indefinitely..."

Chapter 293 The Trend of History × Evil Spirit

"What do you mean?"

Sensing Sherlock's implied meaning, Dia frowned and asked seriously.

According to Sherlock, human society seems to be on the verge of collapse and cannot continue.

Is this really possible?

It wasn't that Dia had much confidence in the current hunter society's system, but rather that he had never heard of such a horrifying message as "humanity is doomed" from anyone before.

It should be noted that Dia's access to information channels at this time was extremely close to the pinnacle of human society. Neither Jin, Qiduo, nor Chairman Netero had mentioned such a thing.

Could it be that they tacitly concealed the truth from him?

It's unlikely; at least, he couldn't imagine why Qiduo was hiding it from him.

"Twenty kilometers above our heads, there are unobservable giant objects moving about, which means that humanity's skies are locked."

Sherlock then pointed to the ground:

"Haven't you ever wondered what's inside this planet beneath our feet? Fifty years ago, scientists calculated the curvature of the Earth's surface and theoretically derived the volume of this planet. The gravitational constant they calculated was completely different from the constant we use in science today. It was a much larger number. But why haven't we been crushed into meat patties by the greater gravity we should have been under?"

Dia hadn't thought about this question; he was a humanities student.

"Could it be a miscalculation? The ground beneath the surface isn't necessarily all rock."

"Even if it's all water, the calculation still won't match."

Sherlock shook his head. What Dia could think of, the scientists certainly had too:

"At this point, we can only speculate whether the interior of our planet is a honeycomb-like structure, filled with countless cavities, or simply a giant cavitation of rock."

"The reason is simple: numerous geological reports prove that there are a lot of unnatural biological activities in the world below the surface. However, in the fifty years of exploration, humans have gradually discovered a lot of traces of those creatures' activities, but have never found any real living creatures."

Sherlock then revealed a sarcastic expression:

“Those creatures operate in environments with temperatures and pressures ten or even a hundred times higher than those on the Earth’s surface, and possess physical strength far exceeding that of ordinary people. Humans are like ignorant children, sitting on mountains of gold and silver without making any progress, unaware that wolves are already lurking all around them.”

"With no way to heaven or earth, our society is like a dilapidated ship sailing on a vast, dark ocean. For every mile it travels, it sinks an inch, yet no one bothers to repair it..."

Dia said thoughtfully:

"Although I don't know how much of what you're saying is true and how much is false, at least you sound pretty noble?"

Sherlock took a sip of coffee, his eyes flickering slightly.

Although he hadn't finished speaking, there was no need to continue. Diya was not affected at all by the situation he described.

In other words, he's not in a hurry at all.

This young man doesn't seem to be someone who can be persuaded by grand principles.

I had assumed that someone who could be accepted as a disciple by my daughter must have a similar temperament to her, but now it seems I was being too naive.

Sherlock knew his evasive arguments were untenable, so he didn't expect to convince Dia with words alone. But to his surprise, his words had no effect whatsoever.

"Just tell me what you want. You went to all this trouble to get me here, you can't just want to tell stories, can you? I've heard so many stories already."

Dia downed her coffee in one gulp, indicating her desire to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

He still had something to do, but it would be inconvenient to do it if the current conversation didn't end.

“…Dia, I know you are strong, perhaps stronger than Bisquie, stronger than your teacher, and even among the people I have met, you could rank in the top five, but strength is only the smallest unit of strength.”

Sherlock finished his coffee in one gulp, solemnly stood up, handed over a business card, and said:

"A considerable amount of time has passed since humanity last explored the Dark Continent on a large scale. Whether in terms of manpower or financial resources, the new generation of powerful individuals has pushed it to another peak. However, unknown disasters and the need for stability still weigh on everyone who tries to break through all of this. But no matter how close the alliance is, there are more than one voice within it. Among all the people in the world who understand all of this, three out of every five people want to change it. Exploring the Dark Continent is an irreversible trend."

"Emperors have the talents of emperors, and cooks have the talents of cooks. If one day you become interested in the world beyond humanity, you alone cannot handle everything. Call me then. This number will never expire. If you can join us, many invisible obstacles in this society will no longer constrain you."

As everyone knows, exploring the Dark Continent is strictly forbidden, because the Gatekeeper has set a rule—

Explore the Dark Continent, and whatever the outcome, bring one [Disaster] back to human society.

The last time V5 collectively explored the Dark Continent, they brought back the "Five Great Calamities," which were enough to destroy human society. Since then, exploring the Dark Continent has become a taboo topic.

But as long as there is a ban, there will be people who want to break it, such as Byrd, King, and Sherlock.

They are all trying to break through the inescapable trap carefully laid by the older generation of powerful figures, using different paths.

These are exceptionally talented and gifted individuals.

Driven by ideals of freedom, a commitment to fighting against nature, or a desire for reform, they have all been quietly pushing for breakthroughs in the ban around the world.

Countless ambitious people, those who were unwilling to accept their fate, and those who were blinded by greed all willingly became sparks, serving as tools for those who stirred up trouble.

One day, the flames will become uncontrollable and turn into a raging inferno.

Whether the outcome is a happy one or another disastrous one, they don't care.

Humans are not afraid of failure; they are only afraid of standing still.

Dia sighed and silently picked up the business card and put it in her pocket.

As Sherlock said, this is all a choice made by history.

Knowing the future, he believed Sherlock's words more than anyone else in the world.

However, there's something he needs to do before that.

Dia pulled a video camera from his pocket and said:

"Sherlock, don't go yet. I need your help with something."

Dia's face revealed a devilish smile, which made Sherlock's eyes twitch, and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart...

Chapter 294 The Scoundrel Dia × A Man Who Ran to Death Across Half a Continent

When Poxen returned to the hotel, she saw Dia making a phone call looking completely bewildered.

"...Five days from now, that's troublesome. I've already booked my flight to the Flashwyn tribe in the northern part of the Yurubian continent... What? I'll figure it out myself? No, Jin, you..."

The phone went dead. Dia's voice on the other end made him so angry he almost smashed the phone, muttering curses under his breath:

"Couldn't you have told me earlier? This irresponsible guy! I had already discussed it with Vincent and now he's telling me to change the itinerary?"

"what happened?"

When Pokson heard him say he was leaving, his heart tightened, and he quickly went over to ask.

Although she is still with Dia, she knows in her heart that the two are not on the same path at all.

Dia had her own things to do, and so did she, so separation was inevitable.

But she didn't expect it to happen so suddenly.

He didn't even say a word to her before preparing to leave without a sound...

Dia turned her head and suddenly looked at Poxon thoughtfully.

A few minutes ago, Jin called him and went straight to the point without any pleasantries, explaining something to him—