The Strongest Assassin of the Zoldyck Family!

Chapter 903 - 899

Half a month had passed.

Amelia's pace had gradually slowed. Ron stood by the window, gazing out. Deep blue seawater stretched endlessly beyond the glass, teeming with life—vivid, strange creatures of all shapes and hues drifted through the depths. Beautiful, but unsettling.

Ron divided the journey to the Dark Continent into two phases. The first covered the route from the Human World to the Gatekeeper's Domain. The waters in this region carried a strange, invasive energy that corroded life.

Creatures here were powerful—like the massive octopus that had attacked the Black Whale, or the colossal whale that devoured its corpse afterward. These were beings no ordinary Nen user could handle. Only top-tier S-Rank Nen users could fight such monsters one-on-one. Ron himself was among those few.

Even someone like Botobai would struggle to kill the giant octopus. The reverse was also true—the octopus wouldn't be able to kill Botobai either.

Other than the strange aura permeating the sea and the monstrous lifeforms, this first half of the voyage bore little difference from travel near the Human World. In fact, powerful humans could survive in this part of the ocean. A-Rank Nen users—and even B-Rank—had the qualifications to cross it.

But the second half was another matter.

Beyond that point, the ocean changed. Aside from the Deep Dwellers—creatures related to the Gatekeepers—the rest of the marine life became grotesque, bizarre in form. There were far more large organisms now, with strange anatomical features.

Ron had compared them to Zoan-type Devil Fruits: the early section featured creatures akin to normal animals, while the later section introduced beasts more like Mythical Zoan forms.

Creatures stretching thousands of meters, with cold, glimmering scales and jagged horns. Some had upper bodies resembling whales, but lower halves like octopi. One entity resembled a mobile undersea volcano.

These sights blurred Ron's previous mental image of the Dark Continent.

Until now, his understanding had come from his memories of the original story and fragments of intelligence collected about the continent. He knew the place was perilous, its wildlife terrifying. The term Disaster referred to the continent's apex predators—like the Five Great Calamities.

But what those creatures guarded were resources of immense value to humankind.

There was also the concept of the Reverse World.

To obtain an Ascension Relic, the Reverse World was the most reliable path. In fact, it seemed every Ascension Relic originally came from there. Some had merely been brought into the Human World already.

"The second half… truly requires a Gatekeeper."

"The only enemies they recognize are the Deep Dwellers."

"But for anyone else—any lifeform from the Human World—its aura attracts every predator nearby."

Ron had tested this himself. When he released some of the magical beasts from Sumas's space into the sea, they were immediately swarmed by hunting creatures and torn apart. It seemed that Human World lifeforms carried an irresistible allure to these predators. Even the most powerful among them took interest.

"Even a Sequence user would struggle to pass through safely."

Amelia's voice broke the silence.

"We've arrived at the Dark Continent."

Soon, she found a suitable landing point and brought them ashore.

A ramp descended.

Ron and the others stepped off the vessel. Behind them, Amelia began to change shape, assuming a human appearance.

"If you wish to return, just bring the token and find me. I won't leave until you do."

Ron nodded. "Understood. Thank you."

"No need to thank me. This is a transaction. We Gatekeepers never violate our contracts."

With that, Amelia turned and walked off alone, heading in a specific direction—as if she was already familiar with the layout of the Dark Continent.

Ron's eyes narrowed slightly. Her words echoed his own personal philosophy. Still, he was certain she had doubts about him, perhaps even a trace of fear. She clearly wanted to avoid further contact.

Not that Ron had ever said anything about harming a Gatekeeper to take their Source. But Amelia's concern wasn't entirely baseless.

He looked away.

The golden shoreline stretched into the distance. At first glance, it looked no different from a tropical beach back on the Human World. Add a few umbrellas and fruit platters, and it could pass for a resort. But Ron found the silence unsettling.

Misty took a step forward.

Suddenly, the ground shifted beneath her feet. She leapt back just in time to see a massive cavity burst open where she'd just been standing. From it emerged an enormous worm-like creature—its proportions monstrous.

Its mouthparts were jagged and gaping, lined with razor-sharp tendrils writhing outward. Having failed to catch Misty, the beast seemed frustrated. Its mandibles snapped in all directions, searching for her, revealing rows of pale, fanglike teeth.

From its jaws dripped a translucent, viscous fluid. When the droplets hit the sand, even the grains began to sizzle and dissolve.

"Machi! Kill it."

"Yes, Captain."

A thread of aura extended from Machi's fingertip, lashing toward the worm. It didn't react—either it was too focused on getting Misty or it was simply stupid.

She quickly looped the thread around its entire body.

The moment she tightened the thread—

Puchi!

—the worm's outer shell split open, its flesh cleaved cleanly through.

Its innards followed.

The giant worm was sliced neatly in two by Machi's aura thread.

But even that wasn't enough to kill it. The two halves twitched… then reformed into two separate entities—two independent creatures.

And it wasn't over.

The commotion had drawn attention. A slightly smaller worm erupted from beneath the sand and began devouring the still-living half of its kin. The half-worm writhed frantically, letting out a shrill screech from its gnashing jaws—but the sound couldn't save it. If anything, it made things worse.

The other half was pounced upon by even more worms.

A swarm of smaller organisms, each barely the size of Ron's finger, emerged next. They swarmed over the scattered remains, gnawing at every shred of exposed flesh.

In under a minute, the massive worm was gone—eaten clean.

The predators slithered back into the sand.

The smaller scavengers vanished shortly after.

And once again, the beach fell silent.

Exactly as it had been before.

----------------------------------------------

You can read up to 120 Advanced chapters!

Patreon(.)com/IDKjust