Hunter x Hunter: From Obtaining the World to Beyond Heaven

Dia thought for a moment:

"To travel from here to the Dark Continent, one needs to almost cross Lake Möbius. I think we'll need at least a large enough boat."

"not enough."

Sherlock said bluntly:

"In fact, no matter how big the ship is or how much supplies it carries, if the explorers do not depart through official channels, it is virtually impossible for them to reach the Dark Continent."

Dia frowned.

According to Sherlock, he himself knew all along that his path was doomed, so was he just wasting his time?

Sherlock seemed to see through Dia's thoughts and said:

"You might think I'm wasting my time, but that's not true. Although my plan has a lower feasibility, it's my last resort."

"Assure?"

“Yes, if all other paths fail, and King, Byonde, or Pariston all fail, then we will have to use my strategy. In fact, we, including myself, are not fixated on our own strategies for reaching the Dark Continent. As long as anyone finds a reusable path, the others will not hesitate to change their plans and use the strategy that has already been proven to work.”

Dia nodded thoughtfully.

Indeed, in the original work, Jin did mention that he needed to collect four kinds of tokens to travel to the Dark Continent.

However, once Beyond's plan succeeded, King decisively joined Pariston's gang without the slightest hesitation.

It can be said that she is very agile.

"But to be honest, many years ago, when I first had the idea of ​​smuggling myself into the country, I told Kim about it. Later, Pariston somehow managed to get Kim to talk and also found out about my idea."

"Their views are very consistent—"

"Those who can't do it are simply courting death."

Sherlock shrugged and sighed:

"The reason is that without the subspecies of the [Guardian] summoned to lead the way for humans and to follow the routes passed down through generations, it is impossible to reach the Dark Continent."

"Beyond the six continents where humanity resides lies a vast ocean, far larger than the Pacific Ocean and exceeding the limits of human imagination. This is the so-called Lake Möbius. The extent to which humanity has explored the ocean is merely the tip of the iceberg, and it is known as the 'Limited Boundary Ocean.'"

"Once you cross the Boundary Sea Line, you'll face malfunctioning compasses, unknown giant sea kings, ever-changing weather, and even ghost seas. In fact, without a guide, even seasoned navigators or ocean hunters can get completely lost before even reaching the Boundary Sea Line. The number of people who get lost, as officially recorded, is a fluctuating figure."

Sherlock suddenly changed the subject and began to explain his own legitimacy:

"This number was 3789 150 years ago, but in modern times (about 20 years ago), it reached 20169, nearly five times."

"Actually, this is also a sign. With the advancement of technology, as I mentioned before, the sky has been abandoned, and human curiosity will be directed towards the seemingly safer ocean and new continents beyond the ocean."

"In other words, the exploration of the Dark Continent is no longer something that a few countries can stop by uniting together; it is an inevitable result of history."

After finishing his long speech, Sherlock finally stopped, grabbed a wine glass from the side, and took a few sips to quench his thirst.

What you're saying has nothing to do with me.

Dia listened to the whole thing, but still couldn't figure out what he was going to do.

"It's very simple. I hope that if one day in the future I really have to use my solution, you can help me out. Besides you, Jin and the others should also help me."

For some reason, Sherlock's voice suddenly became hesitant.

He looked at Dia, who was sitting calmly, and hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should take back what he had just said.

'If I die, at least Qiduo won't be too heartbroken with him around, but if I let him join the plan and it leads to both of us dying, then…'

This is where Sherlock hesitated.

His plan was extremely risky.

If things aren't handled properly, who knows how many people might go or how many might die.

Even considering masters like Jin, Bi Yangde, and Xiyou, the odds of winning are still slim...

If something goes wrong, his daughter might break down on the spot.

Dia looked at the slightly strange-looking Sherlock with suspicion and asked:

"What exactly is your plan? Aren't so many experts helping you enough? Do you need to add me to the team?"

"It might not be enough, and even with you, we might have a good chance of winning and a high success rate."

Sherlock shook his head with a wry smile, his voice filled with helplessness:

"My plan is actually very simple, and you can even tell others about it. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, it would be—"

"Capture a live [Gatekeeper] and force it to lead us to the Dark Continent!"

Silence.

The air in the room seemed to freeze because of Sherlock's words.

"..."

Dia blinked, as if she had misheard, and asked:

"You mean, you're going to target a race that has effectively imprisoned human civilization for thousands of years and then force them to work for you?"

"If it's possible, why doesn't V5 do it themselves and send someone to replace the [gatekeeper]? Considering the control desires of those politicians."

The absurdity of this matter is that there is no video footage or intelligence about the Gatekeepers so far, and even Dia, whose intelligence source is Yoshihiro Togashi, does not know how powerful they are.

In the ancient past, the Gatekeepers made a pact with the then-powerful human civilization, to guard the gate between the New World and the human world for generations.

Upon hearing this, Sherlock seriously raised two fingers:

There are two errors in what you said.

"Firstly, I never said that we would target the entire [Gatekeepers] race. We only needed to capture a live sample, and based on that, we would not wage war against them. This is the most important part of the plan."

Because if the target is wrong, the difficulty will increase exponentially, so choosing the right target is actually the most important part of the plan.

"Secondly, as far as V5 is concerned, if they go all out, they can at least put up a fight, if not defeat them. Otherwise, those extremely confidential information and intelligence about the [Gatekeeper] couldn't have been given to them by the [Gatekeeper], could they?"

The reason for maintaining the current situation is actually simpler than you think—

"Because the heads of state are not idiots."

Sherlock took a deep breath and continued:

"As someone from a humble background, you may be pessimistic about so-called politicians and statesmen, but in fact, many of them are not as foolish as you imagine."

"On the contrary, the fact that humans can survive under extreme pressure and make dangerous moves like dancing on a knife's edge is all thanks to the fact that there are a very small number of smart people in the political system that V5 has built."

"Human civilization is like sitting on a seesaw. When the side called stupidity is pressed down, the side called rationality will gain some weight, keeping the seesaw in a balanced state."

"Humans today are undoubtedly monsters."

"However, humanity is a giant monster, and we are not; we are merely a cell within this giant monster."

"The glory of the group cannot be shared by the individual."

After saying this, Sherlock waited quietly for Dia's response.

His argument about the strength of humanity is not just unfounded racial pride.

After listening to Sherlock's words, Dia pondered briefly, then shook her head and calmly said:

I know what you mean.

"What you're really trying to say is that even if we target a specific Gatekeeper and it ultimately causes conflict between races, the Gatekeeper might not dare to go to war with humanity."

"So you can do this without worry, right?"

Sherlock nodded. Dia's comprehension was always excellent; he didn't need Sherlock to explain things clearly to her.

"But I still choose to refuse your request, for the same reason as before: I cannot find a reason to go to the Dark Continent..."

Dia intended to refuse casually, as she had done before.

But he stopped halfway through his sentence because he remembered something.

He hadn't thought about it before, but now it suddenly came to mind:

'What if the final fragment of the Insect Arrow I'm searching for happens to be somewhere on the Dark Continent, or outside of human society?'

Is this possible?

Although the probability is negligible.

But Dia always felt that when he had this thought, it was essentially confirmed.

Because the [Insect Arrow] will attract Stand users from the shadows.

'That's disgusting! Such a vast area overseas—how long would it take to find it all by manpower alone?'

Dia could only pray silently.

That last fragment must stay safely within the territory of Lake Möbius!

However, even so, he dared not speak too definitively:

"Fine, for Qiduo's sake, if I also have a reason to go to the Dark Continent by then, I'll agree to help you out."

Upon hearing this, Sherlock breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had found the decisive factor, and said with a sense of accomplishment:

"Okay, it's enough for you to have this thought. In reality, it may not even come to that. This is just a last resort for me."

"By the way, aren't you going to tell me what you've prepared for that plan?"

"Dia asked curiously."

"We've made quite a few preparations, but we haven't gotten our hands on the most crucial thing yet, though it will be soon."

Sherlock suddenly chuckled and said:

"Speaking of which, we should thank the person next to you for the [equivalent] used to exchange for that item."

around?

Diya was startled and turned to look at her side—

Although he didn't understand what they were talking about, Pokson, who was still engrossed in listening, noticed the commotion and subconsciously turned his head to stare at Dia.

"I?"

Pokson realized what was happening and pointed at himself in confusion.

"Yes, it's you."