Outside the airship, Maro and Sora ignored the three ants and simply stared in the direction Cyr had departed. The three ants, in turn, ignored Maro and Sora, standing silently as if deep in thought.
However, the reasons for ignoring each other were different.
Maro and Sora ignored the ants because… they resented the sudden addition of three outsiders.
Meanwhile, the three Royal Guards ignored the human and the tiger because they considered them too weak to be worthy of attention.
These opposing reasons created a strange, delicate balance between the two sides.
If either side made a provocative move, that balance would surely shatter.
Under the eager gazes of Maro and Sora, a white-haired figure finally appeared on the horizon.
Compared to when he had left, Cyr was now wearing a new outfit—a black hoodie with sweatpants and sneakers.
His previous clothes had been completely burned away.
"You all seem to be getting along just fine," Cyr said as he landed, complimenting them with a straight face, as if telling an obvious lie.
Who knew how he saw "harmony" in what was clearly a tense standoff?
"If you say so, sir." Maro replied without hesitation, like someone who had abandoned independent thought.
"I…" Cyr raised an eyebrow and was about to say something, when his expression suddenly went cold.
[Beep beep beep—]
A shrill alarm echoed in his mind.
What the hell was the system freaking out about?
"What's gotten into you?" Cyr asked internally.
[Host, did you capture the Ant King?!] The system's usually mechanical voice now carried a faint trace of human emotion.
"Is there a problem with that?" Cyr asked in return.
No one said he couldn't catch the guy. He happened to have a Prison Realm handy, and he just felt like doing it. It was a perfect fit.
What else was he supposed to use the Prison Realm for? Seal himself?
…Well, that was kind of the original plan, but still.
[Major deviation from world storyline detected. Exploration of this world will now enter a state of stagnation—]
"What's that got to do with exploration progress?" Cyr asked lazily.
Wait—was it not world exploration progress, but plot progression that mattered?
No wonder the exploration rate only increased by 0.1% no matter how far he traveled.
[Due to the significant change in this world's events, the system will now accelerate energy collection. Host, prepare to evacuate the world at any moment.]
Wait, what?! Why the sudden warning to escape the world? What happened here? Was it that dangerous?
Cyr stared as the energy bar in the corner of the system interface—the one representing his ability to travel to another world—instantly jumped to 80%.
Only after that did it begin to slow down.
He hadn't even visited the Dark Continent yet. Don't teleport him again so soon!
"Quick, we're leaving." Cyr boarded the airship without further explanation.
The others didn't understand why he had suddenly become so urgent, but they followed anyway.
"Where are we headed this time, my lord?" Maro asked.
"Fly toward the ocean. Just keep going until you hit the end, more or less," Cyr replied unhurriedly.
He didn't know exactly how to reach the Dark Continent, but historically, all new lands had been discovered by crossing the sea.
So as long as they kept flying over the ocean… they should find it eventually, right?
The Dark Continent was basically like a new continent, wasn't it?
"I don't think the airship can manage a journey that long," Maro murmured.
Oh…
So the airship really was trash after all.
"Then do we have a ship? A boat will do." The white-haired boy spoke in a flat tone, not revealing whether he was annoyed or not.
"We do… but it'll take some time to prepare," Maro said softly.
He wasn't sure if Cyr had the patience to wait that long.
"Then tell them to hurry up," Cyr said, irritated.
Since we're already here, not going to the Dark Continent would feel like a total waste.
"Understood," Maro nodded.
"Where are you taking the King?" asked Shaiapouf, who had been silently observing but could no longer hold back.
The man's attitude had suddenly shifted. Just where was he taking their King?
"For you guys… it's probably a trip back home." Cyr's eyes lazily rolled around before settling on Shaiapouf's face.
He didn't know how to get to the Dark Continent, but surely these Chimera Ants should know how to return to their happy little hometown, right?
"Do you guys know how to get to the Dark Continent?" Cyr asked casually.
"..." The three ants glanced at each other, then unanimously replied, "What's that?"
"...Don't you guys have, like, inherited memories or something?" Cyr asked, sounding like he'd just been swindled.
"Oh, right, you're not purebred Chimera Ants. Being mixed-blood, it makes sense you don't have those memories… Maybe the Queen was the only one who knew—but she's already dead…"
"As for those two siblings…" They had run off right after the King was captured.
Probably worried they'd be caught too.
Even though the Prison Realm could only trap one person, they didn't know that.
"As for Sora…" Cyr turned to glance at the white tiger.
That guy had some memories—but they were incomplete.
In the end, no one knew how to get to the Dark Continent. He'd have to figure it out himself.
"It's the place where the Queen came from…" Neferpitou murmured, a sharp glint appearing in her eyes as if she'd just recalled something.
"You're going to such a dangerous place?" Shaiapouf asked, a fearful expression creeping across his face as if he, too, remembered something.
It didn't seem like they were completely unaware of the Dark Continent… Oh, right—that's just what humans called that unknown land.
Like how people used to call something a "New World"… but the native inhabitants certainly never called their own home a "new" anything.
"It's because it's dangerous that I want to go," Cyr muttered, lips twitching.
He had a bit of a death wish by nature—he was drawn to danger and chaos. Peaceful, safe places just felt too boring.
"All we know is… the Queen said it was a very dangerous place…" Neferpitou said, eyes fixed on the swaying tail of the white tiger.
Her own tail swayed in sync behind her.
"Useless." Cyr didn't bother hiding his disdain toward the three ants who couldn't provide any useful information.
"Apparently, there are many beings even stronger than Chimera Ants living there…" Shaiapouf recalled slowly.
Even though the Queen had spent most of her time looking half-dead, barely breathing, once in a while she'd be lucid enough to chat with them.
For instance… she'd once told them that those two siblings came from the same place as her, and warned them not to get too close to the pair.
Because those two were of a species ranked even higher than Chimera Ants.
"Can your current species even still be called Chimera Ants? And how were the previous species rankings even determined, anyway? So strange," Cyr said, rubbing his chin in thought.
The Chimera Ants had grown strong because they'd eaten humans—humans who could use Nen.
Could Chimera Ants living in the Dark Continent use Nen? Probably not, right? Then their strength might just be mediocre, and a lower species rank would make sense.
But then again, since Chimera Ants take on traits of what they eat… Hmm. No, if there are stronger beings out there, the ants wouldn't be able to eat them anyway. If they're only consuming weaklings, of course that wouldn't help much.
°°°
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