Ging flipped through the scrolls as he continued speaking:
"You all know that the 'Journey to the New World East Edition' left to us by Don is incomplete. Many chapters are missing, blurred, or damaged..."
"The chapters on the 'Ancient Labyrinth' and the 'Wasteland' are relatively intact. But the rest? Many parts don't even match up."
"This is our regret, and it's humanity's regret too."
Everyone knew Ging was right.
For example, within the 'Five Great Calamities,' content on the 'Gaseous Lifeforms,' the 'The Twin-Tailed Snake Hellbell,' and the 'Human-Keeping Beast' is riddled with gaps and omissions.
Even when the V5 dispatched special forces to investigate, they barely managed to gather useful information. Many entries in the dangerous creature evaluations ended up being marked with big question marks.
This was because just surviving there was already a challenge. Having the time or energy to study these 'calamities' in depth? That was another story altogether.
Maybe some team members tried, but on their way back, those members either died, lost their research data, or both. It was inevitable.
Ging paused, then solemnly handed the stack of papers in his hand to Germain.
"So, there must be plenty of content in the 'East Edition' that was originally recorded but got lost over the past two or three hundred years."
"Don's relationship with the Moose Centaur Tribe is one example... and there's probably more. After all, the Dark Continent is home to so many non-human species."
Ging made a good point. Germain and the others had encountered several non-human species during their numerous journeys to the Dark Continent. But they rarely interacted with them.
If Don had been on the Dark Continent for two or three hundred years, it made sense that he would've made contact with many non-human species. This was a reasonable assumption.
Germain took the papers and, after just one glance, frowned. "You think this is part of the 'East Edition'?"
"No, not at all." Ging's eyes lit up with excitement. "This is nothing like the style of the 'East Edition.' It's not from the 'East Edition'."
Germain looked up and met Ging's gaze. From Ging's expression alone, he already understood everything.
"Germain, do you get it? I think... this is part of the 'West Edition.' I believe we've found a few pages of the 'West Edition'!"
Everyone was stunned by Ging's statement. They quickly gathered around in shock and excitement.
Bisky was much shorter than Germain, and unwilling to reveal her "True Form" in front of everyone, so she simply raised her hand and snatched the pages from Germain.
She and the others glanced at them for a moment, and immediately felt dizzy.
Each page was covered with tiny, almost unreadable characters, some of which were recognizable as Six Continent script, but the strokes were bizarre, scattered, and intertwined.
It felt as if Don had written these pages while drunk, and very heavily so.
While the first few pages still looked like writing, the later pages were so sloppy they seemed more like random scribbles.
Abstract. It was really, truly abstract.
On the last page, Don completely abandoned writing and started drawing a picture.
The image was entirely dominated by a bloated, grotesque monster, its swollen form filling the whole space.
Countless tentacle-like strokes almost seemed ready to leap off the paper, reaching out to the group.
What is this?
The others shuddered, feeling an indescribable disgust. Deep in their throats, they even had a slight urge to vomit.
Indeed, as Ging had said, the content of these papers was completely out of place with the overall style of the "Journey to the New World."
No, it was more like someone else entirely had written it.
The tone was eerie, sinister.
Bisky pressed her lips tightly together, gripping the stack of papers. However, her gaze shifted away, unwilling to continue looking.
It wasn't the kind of mental resistance a poor student might have when facing a difficult math problem, but rather a physical and psychological aversion.
It was like how someone without a special preference would never find feces appealing.
Germain reached out and took everything.
He flipped through them, carefully examining the last one, his eyes becoming somewhat deep and thoughtful.
Then, Germain handed all the papers back to Ging.
Ging held them carefully, as if they were a treasure: "Scela said that Don passed by their tribe again about a year ago."
"The moose centaurs welcomed Don's arrival because he always brought something new and exchanged it with them."
"However, Don's visits became less frequent, and the time between each visit grew longer. So, when Don arrived, the moose centaurs were all very happy."
At this moment, Scela spoke, continuing the story.
"Yes. When I was still a child, Don visited many times. That's how we got to know each other. Later, when I became an adult and a warrior, I rarely saw him again."
"More than a year ago, he came. He was wrapped in a robe, only his face, hands, and feet visible, as though he was afraid of the cold and strangers."
"He had changed, not as warm as before, unwilling to have much contact with us."
"I don't understand. We were already familiar with each other, so why did he become like this? He stayed only one night and left in a hurry."
"When I went to his residence, he was gone. It was the first time he didn't say goodbye, and I was puzzled."
"Later, I found these by his bed. It felt unsettling, but since they were Don's, I kept them. I've kept them with me ever since."
Scela described the last time he encountered Don in the simplest human language possible.
This only deepened the sense of doubt and unease in everyone, as the whole situation seemed very strange.
"I know what you're all worried about," Ging lifted the stack of papers, "I can feel there's a bit of Nen on them. I don't think it's evil."
Ging had left a cube-shaped object resembling a Luban lock with Gon, containing clues to lead him to Greed Island.
The nen he left on that object hadn't faded.
The stack of papers left by Don felt the same way.
"If you want to know if this is the 'West Edition,' if you want to understand Don's strange behavior, deciphering them is the best way."
"The puzzle and the answer are both in this stack of papers. We're getting closer to the truth. Don't you all feel excited?"
Everyone, except Germain, seemed a bit uninterested.
Germain only said, "Decoding it might be very difficult, because it may not follow any pattern... but anyway, at least there's some progress."
Ging smiled, "Yeah, we've made progress."
At this moment, Scela interjected once again.
"I am very interested in you all." Scela pointed to himself, then to everyone else, and then gestured to the surroundings. "It's incredible."
The four moose-centaur people behind him nodded in agreement.
"The ancient labyrinth is terrifying, a forbidden place," Scela continued. "Only Don isn't afraid. He even brings back medicinal herbs. He's very impressive."
When they heard "medicinal herbs," everyone, except for Ging, was momentarily stunned.
"You are impressive too," Scela said, tapping his chest with his fist. "This place has become your territory. Very impressive."
"Those parasites are very scary. Some of my people, wanting to prove themselves, would break into the forbidden areas, and then... no one hears from them again."
"You are all true warriors. I like you."
The four Moose Centaur people behind Scela shouted in unison, "I like you."
Seeing five tall Moose Centaur people shouting "I like you" was a strange sight.
But in fact, it was the most direct and sincere expression of emotion from Scela and his people.
Everyone couldn't help but be moved by this feeling and lowered their guard a little.
Ging then spoke calmly, "To be honest, the reason I brought them here, aside from seeing them as friends, is because I had another idea."
"Don's way of trading goods gave me an inspiration."
"We could also follow Don's example and trade with the Moose Centaur people, and other races."
"You all understand, right? We can't fight alone on the Dark Continent. That's one of the reasons why the past human expeditions failed."
"They came straight to the ancient labyrinth without caring about anything else, essentially cutting themselves off from the rest of the Dark Continent and losing many possibilities."
"If humanity truly wants to establish itself on the Dark Continent, if we truly want to survive here, we must communicate with other races."
"So, what do you think? The friendship that started with Don—let's continue it."
********
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