Germain and Shizuku's wedding brought a period of joy to the Hunter Association and many people inside the coastal fortress.
Admiral Mike, Queen Oito, Steiner, and others sent gifts to congratulate them after hearing the news.
When they met later, they smiled warmly and wished the newlyweds well.
Especially Admiral Mike.
At least on the surface, when talking with Germain, he no longer felt as uneasy as before.
He even tried to recruit Germain a few times, but after several failed attempts, he gave up.
However, there was one thing he insisted on: having Germain help him conquer this new continent.
The Hunter Association's power was important, but Germain—who could defeat the Chimera Ants and the Nen beasts from the "Seed Urn Ceremony" and bring back "Hope" from the Dark Continent—was even more crucial.
His mindset had changed over time and was now basically set.
The fleet heading to the Refueling Island left the wealthy passengers at the island's military base, where they waited for ships from the Six Continents to pick them up.
Then, the fleet turned around at the Refueling Island and sailed back to the New Continent, bringing new orders from the Six Continents.
This was possible because communication between the Six Continents and the Refueling Island had been established.
The fleet no longer needed to return to the Six Continents to contact V6.
This way, the fleet traveling between the New Continent and the Refueling Island every two months could keep communication flowing between the New and Six Continents.
After that, V6 planned to build military bases on several small islands along the route.
They would also send aircraft carriers capable of carrying many airships, allowing the airships to serve as "carrier pigeons" and "ships" between the Six Continents and the New Continent.
In the not-so-distant future, they managed to shorten the time needed for transporting personnel and supplies, as well as for communication.
The fleet brought back a lot of good news.
Admiral Mike ordered the fleet to deliver two kinds of "hope" to the refueling island military base, and then let the base's fleet escort them back to the Six Continents.
In other words, V6 learned about the new continent's achievements shortly after the fleet arrived at the refueling island.
V6 greatly encouraged and rewarded the "main contributor," Admiral Mike, as well as the Hunter Association.
They also promised to send more personnel and supplies to reinforce the efforts.
Besides, V6 approved many announcements previously proposed by Admiral Mike, allowing him to recruit troops locally and conquer the entire new continent.
Thus, at the beginning of July, Admiral Mike's military plan to conquer the new continent began.
With the Hunter Association's support, his army used coastal forts as strongholds and expanded outward, clearing paths through mountains and building bridges over rivers.
Admiral Mike's primary strategic targets were dangerous terrains, mineral resource points, rivers, and lakes.
Most importantly, they aimed for resources that could be quickly converted into wealth.
However, his army soon faced setbacks.
The monsters' resistance was quite strong, inflicting heavy casualties on Admiral Mike's forces, despite their use of various firearms.
This was because these monsters possessed their own "firearms"—some special Nen abilities.
Admiral Mike's hoped-for rapid advance never came.
The Hunter Association's support was only superficial.
This was because Admiral Mike's approach conflicted with the Hunter Association's philosophy.
They were unwilling to indiscriminately exterminate all the monsters of the new continent.
Instead, the Hunter Association focused more on town and transportation development between the coastal forts and the BW1 wreckage strongholds.
Their efforts on the front lines were mainly to mediate between the V6 allied forces and the monster tribes willing to compromise and cooperate.
This reduced casualties on both sides.
Hunters protect creatures.
Shinigami protect lives.
Pirates protect islanders.
Ninjas protect their people.
This was not surprising, because in these worlds, the meanings behind these terms had already changed long ago.
In short, the Hunter Association adhered to the principle of only eliminating creatures that threatened human settlements, while trying to win over those beings willing to cooperate with humans.
Chairman Netero resisted the pressure coming from Admiral Mike's side and did not give in.
The professional Hunters who supported this belief would never bow either.
Admiral Mike, however, was powerless to do anything to Chairman Netero in such a remote place.
He still needed Netero and the Hunter Association for his future plans.
Most importantly, a man like Germain was clearly difficult to sway with benefits; he firmly stood on the side of the Hunter Association.
By offending the Hunter Association, Admiral Mike had also offended Germain, which was a result he was unwilling to accept—at least for now.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Germain secretly led many core members of the Hunter Association to begin intense training in late June.
At this time, the "disasters" had mostly been revived.
After one round of sweeping attacks, Germain obtained six teleportation lanterns, each from one of the six types of "disasters."
The others gained valuable combat experience and freshly harvested batches of hope, making their gains plentiful.
While Germain and his group's secret mission proceeded smoothly, Admiral Mike's campaign was repeatedly blocked.
His artillery bombardment was generally successful but advanced too slowly.
Those beasts were extremely agile and intelligent, their wisdom not inferior to humans, and they wouldn't stay in one place to be attacked.
If they were not completely wiped out, the real nightmare would begin.
These beasts would take advantage of the night when most soldiers were exhausted to attack the camps—strike once, then retreat, then strike again, repeating this cycle.
Admiral Mike's army was frustrated and harassed, often chasing after them only to find empty ground.
Additionally, the deeper the army moved into the new continent's interior, the longer the supply lines became.
Even with Nen users providing support, it was impossible to fully cover the army's consumption.
Finally, in early August, after the advice of many staff officers, Admiral Mike was forced to swallow his pride.
He made a call to the rear base of the coastal fortress, seeking Chairman Netero's opinion.
He essentially asked for Netero and Germain to join forces and take action together.
As a result, Chairman Netero was not around at the time and didn't answer the phone.
Admiral Mike asked where he had gone, and only then found out that he had gone to attend a wedding.
This almost made Admiral Mike lose his temper and curse on the phone, but fortunately, he held back just in time.
He knew that, logically, there was nothing wrong with Chairman Netero attending a wedding at this time.
But when he thought about how his side was repeatedly suffering setbacks, with heavy casualties, and even the possibility of soldiers rebelling or the camp breaking down, it made him furious that Netero was comfortably attending a wedding far behind the front lines.
However, when he learned that the couple getting married were Germain and Shizuku, he was stunned for a moment and then managed to calm his anger.
He remembered the strength Germain had shown that day in the canyon.
He understood clearly that Germain would be a sharp double-edged sword that could not be ignored.
"After your chairman returns, have him call me back," Admiral Mike said after a pause, adding, "Also, please convey my blessings to the newlyweds. I will send a gift soon as well."
The secretary on the other end quickly responded.
What Admiral Mike did not expect was that this would be his last chance to contact Chairman Netero at the rear.
On August 6, the old lunar calendar's Qixi Festival, Germain and Shizuku got married.
All the heavyweights of the Hunter Association gathered to attend the wedding.
Even those with urgent matters made sure to show their faces to the couple before leaving.
Everyone gave their blessings.
Bisky once again bit her handkerchief and cried, moved as if she were watching her own child get married.
From this day on, Germain and Shizuku officially became husband and wife.
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