Dark Continent X Criminal

Dark Continent.

That was Jin's explanation for the phenomenon before him: someone returning from the dead, yet seeming as though another soul had seized the body and continued existing within it.

It was a world beyond the world, a place people like him dreamed of reaching.

The place where his ultimate dream lay.

It was filled with things that did not exist here.

As for the other possibilities, he had ruled them out one by one based on the circumstances when he witnessed the man before him revive.

He longed for the Dark Continent, for everything unknown upon it.

Naturally, he also wanted to know and understand the being before him, whose soul had very likely come from that land.

This world was vast. There was a high possibility that other places like Lake Island existed.

Yes, the currently known world—or rather, the world as seen by most ordinary people—was actually a lake within the entire world: the archipelago at its center.

Beyond even the known world lay a continent. That was the true world.

Compared to it, the current human world was hardly worth mentioning.

Within this lake, humanity's world was somewhat far from the true world.

It sounded like the distance between an island in a lake and its shore, but what was a tiny distance on a global scale was already far enough for humanity.

Perhaps even unreachable.

Beyond the boundless sea as seen by humanity lay a world shrouded in the unknown.

It was called the Dark Continent.

Humans had once set foot there, and items from that continent had likewise crossed the sea to arrive here.

According to the intelligence and information from the Ruins he had excavated, humanity's ancestors might even have fled from there to this place.

He wanted to go there, but special circumstances prevented him from doing so for the time being.

But he was already making preparations, and the man before him might become part of them.

Even if he had guessed completely wrong, turning this man from an unknown into a known was still a gain for him.

Jin looked at him with a broad smile and said confidently, "You can tell me whatever you think you can say. It doesn't matter if you mix in a few lies. I won't mind."

But you'll teach me a lesson with that mind-reading ability of yours called "Observation," Kevin thought.

He silently nodded and began sorting through his thoughts.

Deception was not an option. The only choice was what to say.

The man before him had already laid out his best option.

Although anything he did might reveal information the other party wanted, he could not do nothing.

"Fine. This body really wasn't my original body. In my last memory, I died in a car accident.

"I was run over head-on by a truck. I probably had no chance of surviving."

At some point, Jin had sat cross-legged in front of Kevin, one hand braced against his leg while the other supported his chin.

Car accident. Truck. He picked out the important words and analyzed the information.

"The writing and language—when you spoke, it was as if they awakened this body's memories. As for the rest, they come in fragments, like an amnesiac patient who needs something to stimulate their memories."

"Mm..." Jin nodded. It sounded perfectly logical.

Then he suddenly asked, "Where were you originally from?"

"Originally? I... perhaps another world. I'm not sure."

Kevin's words were somewhat stiff.

Jin looked at him. "I understand. Let's leave it at that. It seems we haven't built enough trust between us."

He stood up directly and dusted himself off. He had already obtained the information he wanted most.

Even if he could determine whether Kevin's words were true or false later, it would be meaningless. Much information could not be judged merely by truth or lies.

Reaching a conclusion too early would instead affect his later judgment.

This was enough. More information could come gradually.

He picked up the Special Computer from the nearby table and handed it to Kevin. "You probably have a lot you want to know. Do you know how to use a computer?"

Kevin nodded and accepted the computer.

Jin sat in the chair beside him, took out a magazine from his backpack, and began reading.

Without looking up, he said, "Ask me if there's anything you don't understand. Consider it payment."

Kevin did not refuse. He truly needed to learn about this world right now.

He turned on the computer.

The thick laptop was like a satellite computer. Its design was not too different from what he was used to, except for the language.

He quickly figured out roughly how to use it and began searching for the information he wanted.

First was the map. This world had five continents, and its Boundary had yet to be explored, let alone circumnavigated.

The more Kevin learned, the more he discovered how different the two worlds were.

Yet the current era was inexplicably similar to the era of his former world.

1994.

Even the technology was inexplicably similar.

"Why did you kill me? I mean, the original owner of this body," Kevin suddenly asked.

Hearing that, Jin answered without looking up, "Because you were a poacher. This area used to be a Special Species Protection Area established by my companions and me."

Kevin understood. "I" had actually been a criminal.

At that thought, Kevin's expression immediately changed. He asked tensely, "Then doesn't that make me a criminal? This identity belongs to a criminal?!"

Jin looked up at that. He glanced at Kevin as though pondering something.

"Not really. Though you were a poacher, you were quite capable and hid yourself well.

"Rather than acting personally, you preferred solving things with money. At least on the surface, you were a famous Pharmacist."

"Oh, okay." Kevin nodded. That was good.

He simply could not accept having transmigrated into a criminal's body, being wanted and all that.

That would only make his already bleak circumstances even worse.

"Then where am I now...?"

"A Nature Reserve in the Kingdom of Ganyou, Biscayne Forest Park. We should be at the national border now. This Nature Reserve consists of several environmental zones, covers an enormous area, and spans multiple countries."

Kingdom of Ganyou? He had just seen it on his identification documents. He had also found it on the computer. It was one of the member states of V5.

As for V5, it could be compared to the United Nations in his former world. The so-called V5 was somewhat like the permanent members of the Security Council.

The parallels really were strangely exact.

He was still inside the Nature Reserve. If he relied on himself alone, he might truly have no way to get out.

He had great confidence in his own abilities.

Just then.

Jin suddenly took something resembling a cellphone from his pocket.

Kevin noticed that it was a cellphone design fitting this era. It was not quite a brick phone, but its heavy appearance was especially fitting for the period.

Jin glanced at the information on the phone, then turned his gaze to Kevin.

"Your companions have come looking for you. Want to go meet them?"

"What? Companions? Poachers?"

Jin nodded.

Kevin instinctively wanted to refuse, but before he could speak, Jin said, "Seeing them might help you remember something, no? Either way, it should help you.

"As for the safety issue you're worried about... don't underestimate me."

Since the other party had put it that way, and Kevin truly wanted to know what exactly the unusual battles in the fragmented pieces of his memory were about...

"Fine, but let's be clear first. I really don't know how to fight or anything like that. I might be okay in a street brawl."

Then he saw a handgun tossed toward him.