063 (Vol 4) HxH: Tombbound Power

"All the herbs will be ours!!"

"Yeah!!"

Beyond was rallying the team. Among the many known disasters, he was considered the least dangerous, so choosing Brion as the target was the most reasonable strategy.

Compared to the immortal disease Zobae, another B+ level threat, the tangible and visible Brion was far more manageable. At the very least, they wouldn't black out just by looking at it. Given the team's current state, Brion was a much more suitable goal.

Ronnel had taken down Hellbell and obtained most of the Nitro Rice. Everyone had witnessed it firsthand—it was impossible not to feel a twinge of envy.

So, in a move to ease tensions and boost morale, Beyond cleverly shifted the team's sights to vanilla herbs.

According to intel from the V6, the ancient labyrinth city was massive. While it didn't house condensed resources like Nitro Rice, it contained a large number of scattered herbs. The threat level was low, Brion was relatively easy to handle, and the herbs offered tangible rewards. It was undoubtedly the most fitting objective for the current team.

Ronnel didn't object. Gathering some healing herbs was a smart call. Even though he could rely on encyclopedia points to resist most negative conditions, having vanilla on hand certainly wouldn't hurt—it was still highly valuable.

Ging was deep in thought, reviewing what he knew about the ancient labyrinth city. As a ruins hunter, he was particularly drawn to signs of early human civilization on the Dark Continent—especially before they reached Lake Mobius.

Pariston, of course, had no objections. That unnerving smile hadn't left his face since they set foot on the continent.

As for the rest of the team? They were all fired up, ready to move out immediately.

...

With their objective set, the group returned to the fourth-dimensional apartment for a short rest. Then, they departed through the coastal exit where they'd landed, heading north to shorten the travel distance.

Soon after they left, the swamp and grasslands quieted once again.

No one knows how much time passed, but a breeze drifted across the field, making a few Nitro Rice plants sway gently at the center of the glade.

Suddenly, a plump ear of grain detached from one of the stalks, drifting down into a pit left behind by the previous harvest.

At the same moment, beneath a heap of shredded leaves and broken twigs—remnants of Netero's bombardment—a fresh, thick green sprout broke through the soil.

At the tip of its tender leaves lay a small egg marked with violet-gray patterns. It sat there, silently absorbing the nutrients of the sprouting bud.

Hope, like disaster, continues to grow and propagate—each with its own path of survival.

...

While Beyond's group pursued their next objective, other expeditions—led by various gatekeepers—were beginning to arrive at different landing points across the Dark Continent.

Aboard the Hunter Association's ship still cutting through the black sea, the Twelve Zodiacs gathered in the conference room. Cheadle Yorkshire stood at the front, sharing the intelligence she had just received.

"The V5 is asking for our cooperation. They're prioritizing two resources: the Endless Stone and Sanwon Water. The Endless Stone is their top priority."

"In addition to the three main parties—Beyond's group, the Hunter Association, and the Phantom Troupe—the V5 has decided it can't stay idle. They've gathered a team of their own and launched an operation."

"Endless Stone?" Several people frowned.

The Endless Stone is a mineral that produces electricity upon contact with water. Just a pebble-sized chunk can generate 20,000 kilowatts a day. Its energy potential is immense.

But the problem is its location—deep in the coastal mountains northeast of Lake Mobius. That area is the territory of a beast that nurtures humans: the Human-Keeping Beast, Pap.

Pap is classified as a disaster capable of trading joy for life. Its overall threat level is A.

An earlier investigation team of 1,000 people ventured there; only seven returned. The rest were found in horrific states—twisted into ropes or crushed into pulp. V5 confirmed these grisly fates as Pap's handiwork.

...

No one has ever seen Pap's full body. The clearest photo shows ten glowing red eyes, the size of beans, peering out of a tree hollow.

Its form is shrouded in darkness. Only three long fleshy tendrils extend from the hollow. When they touch a human's head, the person's face contorts into a euphoric smile…

But their life is immediately drained. The body shrivels like a dried husk, reduced to something resembling a wrinkled, broken toy.

Its strangeness, lethality, and manipulation of human desire make it comparable to the gaseous lifeform disaster.

None of the Zodiacs wanted to face it.

Cheadle saw their discomfort and sighed. She offered a word of consolation:

...

"This time, the V5 is leading the main exploration. We're only here to assist, so the risk to us should be minimal."

Even as she said this, her voice lacked conviction. The others remained silent, their expressions unmoved.

"I wonder where the Phantom Troupe plans to land..."

Kurapika sat with arms folded, frowning in thought. The question came to her unbidden.

"With any luck, they'll run into something just as deadly and be wiped out. For predators like them, being devoured by nature itself would be a fitting end."

...

Meanwhile, in a different direction, another ship continued its voyage.

"So we're headed... northeast? No, just a bit off from true northeast."

On the deck, Chrollo Lucilfer had his Bandit's Secret open. He flipped to a certain page and activated a stolen ability to calculate their heading.

"If we continue on this path, the only 'hope' near the landing zone would be the raw material known as Sanwon Water, right?"

He didn't seem particularly interested in it. Flipping through the research documents they'd obtained, Chrollo began scanning for any other valuable information about their landing zone.