October 11th, New World — a narrow bay.
A quiet and secret farewell was taking place.
Hearing that Germain and his group were about to leave the New Continent without delay, many people who knew the truth came to say goodbye.
Chairman Netero, most members of the Zodiacs, and officials like Sanbica, Menchi, and Buhara—who were busy with duties at the coastal fortress—could only see them off at the fortress gate and couldn't come further.
Apart from them, the core members of the Hunter Association were basically all here.
Knov, Kite, Palm, Knuckle, Shoot, Kurapika, Morel, Melody, Izunavi, Tokarine, List, and Kastro were all present.
Many of these names also appeared on the merit recognition list that the Hunter Association announced earlier that morning.
Several of them were promoted in star rank because of their outstanding performance during this voyage and the recent great chaos, combined with their past achievements.
"New Three-Star Hunters: Germain, Ging, Bisky."
"New Two-Star Hunter: Knov."
"New One-Star Hunters: Palm, Shizuku, Kurapika."
The group of four—Germain, Ging, Bisky, and Shizuku—needs no further introduction.
The first two became Three-Star Hunters because the star rank limit is three, while the latter two earned their ranks through accumulated achievements.
Knov finally caught up with Morel and became a Two-Star Hunter.
His breakthrough over his inner weakness and heroic rescues of survivors were enough to wipe away the shameful and disastrous reputation he earned during the Republic of East Gorteau arc.
Palm and Kurapika becoming One-Star Hunters was also undisputed.
They had already proven themselves during the long voyage, displaying astonishing calm and skill. Not to mention, they made countless contributions amidst the chaos.
These elite members of the Hunter Association had all gathered here, watching silently as the one who truly saved all the survivors—the one who ended the catastrophe—Germain, departed.
Ordinary people might not fully grasp what had happened.
Most of them had remained within the coastal fortress, protected and unaware of the life-or-death battle that took place that night.
But those with Nen, with their sharp senses, along with a few circulating rumors, had more or less pieced together how perilous that night truly was.
Now that this stabilizing pillar of the New Continent was about to leave in pursuit of Beyond and the others, of course the crowd came to see him off.
In truth, Germain's journey to the Boundary Gate to arrest—or if necessary, eliminate—Beyond and his group, was only one of his missions.
By killing Camilla, he had received one teleportation lantern. For slaying the headless fairy, two more. And for aiding in the defeat of the Curse of Resentment, he received three.
Adding those to the three he had previously held unused, Germain now possessed nine spare teleportation lanterns.
His second mission, naturally, was to leave these lanterns at strategic locations—such as the transit base island and the Boundary Gate—for future use.
And his final mission was to fulfill Bisky's wish: to challenge the volcano guarded by a dragon and retrieve the crystal gems hidden within.
As everyone watched, Germain released his Nen and conjured a ship over the ocean. Its outer shell gleamed like a white yacht.
Germain, Bisky, Morel, and Shizuku boarded the yacht. Once they infused it with Nen, it began its voyage toward the Boundary Gate.
Those left behind waved from the coastline, watching until the white yacht shrank into a tiny black speck on the horizon, before finally turning back toward the coastal fortress.
The yacht's long voyage began with Bisky still caught up in the euphoric trance brought on by the "Crystal Gem."
She was practically glowing with excitement.
They sailed south for two weeks along the coast of the New Continent.
Only after rounding the southernmost tip—Turtle Point—did Bisky finally calm down and stop being so noisy.
At Turtle Point, the yacht made a sharp turn and began heading east. Another two weeks passed as they cruised along the eastern coastline of the New Continent.
It was only then that the yacht veered northeast, its bow cutting diagonally across the waves toward their next destination—Transit Base Island.
No one aboard was particularly worried about losing their way at sea.
After all, the veteran Ocean Hunter, Morel, had his own reliable methods of navigating open waters.
Another two weeks passed as they traveled northeast.
Eventually, the coastline of the New Continent disappeared entirely from sight, replaced by endless blue stretching in every direction.
It was during this leg of the journey that danger reared its head far more frequently than during their month-long coastal cruise.
The deeper they ventured into the open ocean, the more they encountered terrifying beasts of the sky and sea.
Most were massive in size, aggressive by nature, and made even more dangerous by the near-constant storms and downpours that struck almost daily.
A typical ship with a normal crew would've long since been torn apart and swallowed by the sea.
But this crew was far from ordinary, and the vessel beneath their feet wasn't some common ship either.
The yacht moved with a fluid grace and was tough as steel—all thanks to Germain's Nen.
If any sea beast dared mistake them for prey, it would quickly find itself turned into dinner instead.
Literally.
They added those creatures to their daily meals. A pity, though, that Menchi and Buhara couldn't join them—both had pressing duties elsewhere.
Once calm returned, Bisky resumed her usual training routine. Every day, she stood at the stern of the yacht, throwing punch after punch at the endless ocean.
Each blow split the waves with force, propelling the ship forward like a cannon blast.
A month ago, during the decisive battle that would determine the fate of humanity in the New Continent, the wide stone steps had collapsed due to the fierce clash between Germain and the headless fairy.
She had fallen into the pit where thousands had died.
Soon after, she encountered Chairman Netero, who was in the midst of an intense battle against a ferocious beast born from Nasubi's transformation.
At the same time, another monstrous beast lunged toward her.
While fighting, Chairman Netero guided Bisky, telling her to forget the rigid doctrines of Shingen-ryu he once taught her. Instead, he urged her to follow her heart and throw her punches with instinct.
"Believe in your heart. Believe in the power that lies dormant within it, waiting to explode," he said. "That is the true essence of Shingen-ryu."
Chairman Netero could see it clearly—Bisky stood at the edge of a breakthrough, just like he once did in his youth, on the verge of reaching the peak of martial ability.
So, he gave her a push.
Bisky let go of her past obsessions and followed her instincts. Sure enough, with years of training finally coming to fruition, she unleashed a strength she had never shown before and defeated the beast.
Now, her goal was to ride that momentum and break through in one leap—to become a Champion-class Nen user.
During this crucial period, no one dared to disturb her. They wanted her to stay focused, to pour herself into training.
But today was different.
Shizuku had come in person to interrupt Bisky's training.
"Bisky," Shizuku called, "we've spotted the Transit Base Island."
Hearing this, Bisky slowly withdrew her aura. A trace of delight surfaced on her face as she walked toward Shizuku and said, "I never thought I'd miss the feeling of standing on solid ground this much."
The first few days of the month-long voyage had felt fresh and exciting.
But soon, the endless stretch of sea became monotonous. Only the moments when they had to fight mindless sea beasts or evade sudden storms gave them any thrill.
Now, everyone—even the veteran ocean hunter, Morel—was longing to stand on firm land again, tired of the constant rise and fall with the waves.
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