The next topic of discussion was the section handled by Pyon and Cluck.
Pyon said, "The first passage of the Don Freecss West Edition is actually quite easy to decipher. It just requires a bit of interpretation."
"The first part is mostly written in Six-Continent Script, but the handwriting becomes more and more careless."
"The general meaning is: 'I deeply regret seeing too much, knowing too much. I wish I had never eaten Longevity Food: Nitro Rice.'"
These unfinished words seemed to hint at some kind of fear within Don Freecss, to the point that he regretted consuming one of the Five Great Hopes.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion and unease.
Pyon moved her pink laptop closer, tapped the spacebar, and woke the screen from sleep.
She projected the laptop's display onto the conference room's projector.
List considerately got up and pulled the curtains shut, dimming the room so the projected image would be clearer.
Pyon moved the mouse.
"Look here. The first section of text is obviously a simplified variant of 'Six Continent Script.' You guys have seen cursive writing, right? It's kind of like that."
"But starting from the second section, the writing completely deviates from 'Six Continent Script' and becomes much more complex and varied."
"I'm at least 80% confident that this is a mix of different languages, forming what we call a 'West Edition.'"
"The reason for this? I believe it has to do with Don Freecss' experiences. In the first section, he already admitted to eating 'Longevity Food: Nitro Rice.'"
"If we assume that's why he managed to live for 200 to 300 years, then spending that long in the Dark Continent is enough to change a person's habits."
"On his solitary journey, he probably had little use for 'Six Continent Script.' Instead, to communicate with different species, he had to learn and actively use their languages."
"Anyone who has learned multiple languages knows this—when you're mentally strained or emotional, you instinctively mix different languages together."
"I doubt Don Freecss intentionally made translation harder for us. To him, 'the riddle is the answer itself.' He wasn't hiding anything."
"Germain, if you want me to fully decipher this entire stack of 'West Editions,' you have two options—either bring me more fragments or bring me texts in other languages."
Pyon's tone was blunt, but her request was undeniably necessary.
Germain agreed to the request.
Cluck began describing the difficulty of transplanting the "Herb for All-illnesses" and the "Alchemy Plant · Metallion" to "Greed Island."
"They were both scavenged from the monsters you defeated. If we can simulate the same environment, it should be possible."
"However, the 'Herb for All-illnesses' is soaked in flesh and blood, which is relatively easier to manage. But the 'Alchemy Plant · Metallion' requires soul infusion, which is much harder to solve."
"Even if there is a way, I don't think you would want to turn 'Greed Island' into a large-scale cult island, where the souls of the living are sacrificed or something like that..."
Cluck's tone was harsh, but like Pyon, she was just stating the facts.
Everyone agreed with the temporary conclusions they had reached.
Germain instructed them to continue researching their respective topics.
Afterward, the group discussed the future changes of "Greed Island Z" and the whereabouts of Chairman Netero. The meeting was concluded.
After the meeting, Germain approached Abengane.
"Can you and Hina perform an exorcism for me?"
"I have no problem with it," Abengane replied confidently. "But Hina is still not ready; she hasn't fully processed the 'cost of exorcism' from before."
"That's fine. I leave it to you then."
"You're too kind."
After that, Abengane once again demonstrated an extraordinary performance, similar to his last exorcism, which was likely why he was so confident now.
The "Forest Spirit Exorcism" was not only successful but also managed to cleanse Germain of the remaining two "negative traits"—"Fear of the Wilderness" and "Terrible Gambler."
From that moment on, he no longer had any "negative traits."
Next, Germain approached Melody and asked her to play a tune on the flute to clear the little "stress" he had accumulated.
After another round of preparations, Germain, Shizuku, Morel, and Knuckle, a four-person team, set off on February 15th.
Germain and Shizuku were both frequent users of the "Teleport Lantern," and many of those present had seen the "Teleport Lantern" several times before, so no one was particularly surprised.
Only the people directly involved—Morel, Knuckle, and those who hadn't yet seen the "Teleport Lantern" in action—kept their focus, remaining tense.
When the "Teleport Lantern" and "Messenger Ghost" mentioned in the documents finally appeared, the group began to feel that the teleportation was truly about to happen.
Germain touched the "Hunter Badge · Silver-White Triangle" and used three "Teleport Lanterns" to activate the teleportation effect.
Everything went smoothly.
Germain, Shizuku, Morel, and Knuckle were all teleported from the large hall deep under the Limeiro Castle and vanished from the scene.
Those who had never seen this before looked surprised and amazed, while those who had already witnessed it picked up their cameras to review the footage from earlier.
At that moment, the "Game Master Ring" in Dwun's hand flickered a few times and projected a new image.
The person in the image was one of the twin Game Masters, wearing a mechanical helmet and with long silver hair—Eta.
"Is there something wrong, Eta?"
"Dwun, I just detected a video that's spreading wildly online. It's about the Kakin Empire and the Dark Continent. I think you'll be interested in it."
"Kakin Empire and the Dark Continent?!"
Eta's conversation with Dwun piqued everyone's interest, and they all gathered around.
Dwun furrowed his brow and said, "Send me the video, let's see it."
"I've already sent it. You should be able to open it now."
So, Dwun rotated the "Game Master Ring," and the projected image shifted to the beginning of the video, while Eta's image shrank to a small window in the bottom-right corner.
At the start of the video, a large, fat figure appeared.
Everyone in the room immediately recognized the identity of the fat person, as he was incredibly famous, frequently appearing in news headlines.
This person was the King of the Kakin Empire—Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, the father of the Fourth Prince of Tserriednich, who had been killed by Germain and others.
"…Rich resources! Endless food supplies! The future of humanity's prosperity sleeps in that land, oh ho ho—"
"So, our Kakin Empire carries the dream of all humanity! I hereby announce that we will enter the Dark Continent!"
The crowd was shocked by this declaration.
However, King Nasubi wasn't finished yet.
"We have successfully chosen the best candidate to be the overall leader of the Dark Continent Expedition. Let me introduce him!"
"It's the son of the Hunter Association's Chairman Netero, Beyond Netero!"
Beyond's face, which looked strikingly like Chairman Netero's, was enlarged on the screen. Anyone familiar with Netero had no doubt that Beyond shared his bloodline.
The video continued, showing Beyond delivering an inspiring declaration.
Grandma Linne's half-closed eyes suddenly widened.
"As far as I know, Chairman Netero and Beyond Netero have been secretly pushing to restart the 'Dark Continent Exploration.'"
"V5 is taking a cautious approach and is still having meetings. They haven't disclosed anything to the public and haven't reached any conclusions."
"This seems to be a tactic deliberately played by the Kakin Empire and Beyond Netero, forcing V5 to bring the matter of the 'Dark Continent Exploration' to the table and restart it by force."
"Additionally, the Kakin Empire plans to create the image of being the 'pioneers of the Dark Continent Exploration.' So, whenever this historic event is mentioned in the future, it will be seen as the Kakin Empire leading the charge..."
At the end of the video, King Nasubi mentioned the planned departure date for the Kakin Empire's expeditionary force, which was likely set for August or September of this year.
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