Chapter Summaries

Kevin negotiated with the Double-tailed Snake for a share of the life-giving rice, then sent a Nen Beast into the Dense Forest to retrieve it. The Nen Beast reached a horrifying swamp of flesh and bones, where Kevin noticed the bone towers might be valuable and the Double-tailed Snake asked if he no longer wanted the rice.

• At camp, Kevin, Men Qi, Kiy, and Melusina agreed to try negotiating with the Double-tailed Snake for a stable supply of Nitromi.
• Kevin approached the Dense Forest alone and learned the Double-tailed Snake would trade some of the protected Longevity Rice if he stayed away and sent a Nen Beast to collect it.
• Kevin sent a faceless Nen Beast into the forest with a Double-tailed Snake guiding it, while he observed through its senses.
• After traveling for more than half a day, the Nen Beast entered a blood-filled swamp made of flesh and bones, horrifying Kevin.
• The Nen Beast waded through the swamp and leaned against a bone tower; Kevin sensed the bone was unusually strong and asked the Double-tailed Snake about it.
• The Double-tailed Snake asked Kevin whether he no longer wanted the rice.

Kevin explored deeper into the Double-tailed Snake’s flesh-and-blood swamp and discovered that its inner bone forest contained several kinds of peak A-Rank materials. After the Double-tailed Snake gave him a valuable bone, Kevin gathered bones along his route out and reached the forest’s edge with a huge haul.

• Kevin cracked open a bone club and found peak A-Rank Longevity Rice inside.
• Kevin followed the Double-tailed Snake deeper into the swamp, where the bone forest grew denser and the bones contained essence that had merged into them.
• The Double-tailed Snake threw Kevin a distinctive peak A-Rank bone, revealing that it was the object it had wanted to trade.
• When Kevin asked to take nearby bones, the Double-tailed Snake buried his Nen Beast under them, so Kevin gathered bones along his route out instead of pushing his luck.
• Kevin left the swamp carrying a bowl-shaped scale barrier packed with bones and reached the forest’s edge after most of a day.

Kevin retrieved three kinds of peak A-Rank bones from the dense forest and realized the Double-tailed Snake atop the Bone Tower was an aged, dying Lord whose powerful clones protected it. Back at camp, he shared his findings, and the group wondered whether the snake depended on the Bone Tower to prolong its life.

• Kevin sealed the three kinds of bones in bubbles, then analyzed the Nen Beast’s memories and deduced how the flesh-and-blood mire and its bones were arranged.
• Kevin recognized that the Double-tailed Snake on the Bone Tower was not the clone he had fought, but its frail main body, nearing death from old age.
• Kevin returned to camp, where Men Qi, Melusina, Buhaci, and Kiy examined the bones and asked what he had encountered.
• Kevin explained his deductions about the snake, its clones, and the Bone Tower, while Men Qi clarified that Longevity Rice could extend life without granting eternal life.
• Melusina and the others inferred that the Bone Tower’s central bones might sustain the snake, and they wondered whether the snake and tower shared a symbiotic relationship.

Kevin and the others examined the blood pool’s life-extending ecosystem and studied three grades of bones containing concentrated life energy. After Kevin explained how the bones may have absorbed and purified a substance, the group was left deciding whether to return.

• Men Qi proposed that the pool of flesh and blood sustained itself by extending creatures’ lives and collecting their corpses, and Kevin agreed that its cycle depended on powerful creatures seeking longevity.
• Kevin said he would rather die than spend his final years in the pool, then described its revolting environment until Men Qi asked him to stop.
• Kevin broke open a slender bone and found rice-like grains that Don had called Longevity Rice, which could increase lifespan.
• Kevin and the others examined a larger bone’s gelatinous contents and compared the life energy and quality of its materials with the grains.
• Kevin reasoned that the bones shared an origin but had absorbed different amounts of a substance, with the largest solid bone reaching Peak A-Rank; Men Qi asked whether the three types differed only in quantity.
• The group wondered how to use the bones, and someone asked if they were going back.

After five newcomers died and many more were injured in the supposedly safe area around Moon Bay, Jin and Qiduo recognized that they had underestimated the danger and the newcomers’ lack of physical conditioning. Wearer Ghost failed to claim the dead for his collection, while Netero reflected on how slowly the expedition could reach its planned quota of six hundred people.

• Qiduo treated the latest injured arrival and told Jin that five people had died during the newcomers’ first week on the Dark Continent.
• Jin reviewed the death reports, learned that small insects and creatures had killed all five, and decided to build a Training Ground and restrict outings until people were stronger.
• Qiduo explained that the newcomers’ poor physical conditioning had left them unable to notice or withstand dangers that the experienced team considered harmless.
• Wearer Ghost asked to keep the five corpses, but Qiduo refused because the dead belonged to their teams and their remains were to be kept in custody.
• Netero visited the hospital, reviewed the casualties, and doubted that the expedition could fill its planned quota of six hundred people at the current rate.

Kevin decided that the group should abandon their planned Forward Base near Lake Mobius and return, since nearby Lords made the area too dangerous to explore. Before leaving, they used Kevin’s blood to ward off intruders and discussed exploring toward the All-Curing Herb on a future expedition.

• As the group shared a meal on the exploration ship, Kiy said their nutritional needs made it difficult to settle in human society, and Kevin agreed that this was one reason he preferred the Dark Continent.
• Kevin argued that nearby Lords and the Double-tailed Snake’s contested territory made establishing a Forward Base too dangerous, so the group agreed to return without leaving anyone behind as a coordinate.
• Kevin said their next exploration goal after returning would be westward toward the All-Curing Herb, rather than inland, which Jin wanted to explore.
• The next day, the group dragged their boat into the forest, and Kevin spread his malicious blood around it to deter creatures from approaching.
• Kevin announced that it was time for them to return.

Kevin and the others returned to Dark Probe’s transformed headquarters, where they discussed safety around the town and port. At a celebratory banquet, the group held a big eater contest, which was still underway when Biscuit and Kevin added prizes.

• Qiduo checked Buhaci’s regenerated arm after the group arrived through the teleportation chamber, and Morel showed Men Qi the newly developed town and headquarters.
• Kevin heard from Qiduo and Jin about dangers around the settlement, then arranged for the route between the town and port to be swept again.
• Men Qi and the other chefs prepared a feast, and Piyon reacted angrily when she learned Zai Kang had eaten such food before without telling her.
• Netero, Jin, Gon, Killua, Buhaci, Shalnark, and others joined Men Qi’s big eater contest, while Kurapika and Pairo dropped out after becoming full.
• Biscuit offered her Soul-Protecting Diamond as a prize, and Kevin added an A-Rank potion, spurring the remaining contestants on.

At a banquet, Shalnark outlasted Buhaci in an eating contest, lifting the spirits of the new arrivals on the Dark Continent. The next morning, Kevin and the researchers began analyzing three bone products and the mysterious Longevity Rice, whose life-energy properties remained beyond their understanding.

• Netero and Jin used Digestion Potions to keep eating, and Shalnark eventually won the contest after Buhaci surrendered.
• Shalnark gave her diamond prize to Pairo, who returned the potion to her, while their friends teased them.
• Kevin and the others recounted their week to Ce, then gathered in the town laboratory to study three bone products with specialized Nen-based equipment.
• The researchers found that Longevity Rice could integrate life force into living bodies, but they could not explain its essence, and powdered rice harmed plants.
• Kevin decided to investigate how to combine the materials in different ways rather than simply consume them to extend his lifespan.

Kurapika outlined the explored regions of the Dark Continent and proposed a coastal survey as preparation for a future expedition to find the All-Curing Herb. A team set out to explore while Jin prepared to venture inland, and Kevin planned to make potions before beginning his own explorations.

• Morel and Nobu discussed Palm and Nobu’s recovery, which Nobu attributed to his time around Kevin.
• Kurapika presented a map of explored territories and proposed surveying the unexplored coastal region before a long expedition toward the All-Curing Herb.
• Gon, Kiy, Morel, and Bianluoke formed an exploration team and departed the next day under Morel’s temporary leadership.
• Jin told Kevin he planned to lead an inland expedition within a couple of days, aiming toward the Place of Birth of humanity’s ancestors.
• Biscuit told Kevin that Netero was eager to explore after fighting Slash Ghost, while Kevin said he would first turn the Longevity Rice into potions.

Gon, Killua, Morel, and Bianluoke explored an immense beach on the Dark Continent and encountered a gigantic Giant-Clawed Lobster. After it ignored them to drink their coconut, they returned to camp wary that the beach held other enormous creatures.

• The group examined the vast beach, and Bianluoke suggested traveling inland to assess its reach and observe the tides.
• They walked north until nightfall, found shelter in a coconut shell, and Gon tested a huge Coconut Fruit before drinking its juice.
• Morel sensed an approaching enemy, and the group fled as a towering Giant-Clawed Lobster charged toward their camp.
• Morel judged the creature to be Knight Rank, and the group prepared to fight before discovering it had stopped to open and drink their Coconut Fruit.
• The Giant-Clawed Lobster left with the fruit, and the group returned to camp, deciding that the beach’s large inhabitants required extra caution.

Gon, Kiy, Bianluoke, and Morel escaped a giant land-dwelling octopus and observed the Beach Zone’s advancing tide before finding a huge luminous pearl. When the clam holding it died and its stench spread, the ground began to tremble, leaving the group fleeing from another approaching danger.

• Gon, Kiy, and Bianluoke used their Nen abilities to slow the octopus’s tentacles as they escaped, and Gon suffered a severe wound on his back.
• Bianluoke confirmed that their attacker was a gigantic octopus, while Gon reflected on how a charged Rock punch could have been more effective if he had had time to prepare it.
• Morel explained that the tide flooded farther inland each day, and the group stayed in a Coconut Tree as rising water brought attacking fish and mysterious lights.
• After the tide receded at dawn, the group crossed the beach among feeding marine creatures and found a dying giant clam with a human-head-sized luminous pearl.
• Kiy said his lightning strike had likely killed the clam, and the group removed its pearl before fleeing its foul, rapidly spreading stench.
• The ground began to tremble as the smell attracted something, and Gon, Kiy, Bianluoke, and Morel ran again.

Lorraine worried about Bianluoke and wondered why she had stayed on the Dark Continent, while Rukira learned that her Nen ability was important to the team. Kevin explained the properties of Longevity Rice and two kinds of bones to Melusina, leaving open the possibility that the aging-slowing bone could benefit someone else.

• Lorraine complained that her Chimera Ant could not connect to her brother's ants, and Rukira explained that increasing his strength would not extend its communication range.
• Lorraine worried about Bianluoke, and Melusina reassured her that the team had reported no major danger; Rukira asked why Lorraine had stayed on the Dark Continent, and Pairo said her Nen ability was important.
• Melusina asked Kevin about his research, and he explained that Longevity Rice replenished bodily Life Energy but could not prevent the spirit's decline.
• Kevin said the surface bones accelerated physical growth without consuming a person's own Life Energy, while their extracted liquid could fuse mental-type materials with other substances.
• Kevin explained that the person-sized bone slowed both bodily and mental decline, and Melusina realized it might be useful for someone other than Kevin.

Biscuit continued training the V6 team while Kevin and Netero discussed the rejuvenating Long Life Potion and Netero’s new Nen technique, [Impact]. The chapter ended when Pairo reported that the interlayer race had revealed themselves and appeared to be greeting them through a Cyclops Flower.

• Biscuit reprimanded the V6 trainees for failing to meet the Dark Continent’s physical demands and for losing to the local monkeys.
• Netero fought the Monkey King to sharpen his combat skills, then told Kevin the Long Life Potion had made him noticeably younger.
• Kevin explained how the potion rejuvenated its user and argued that its limited availability and the dangers of the Dark Continent made its impact on human society different from what Netero expected.
• Netero demonstrated [Impact], a technique that sent Aura into a target and cracked a rock from within.
• Pairo contacted Kevin and reported that the interlayer race had shown their true appearance and seemed to be communicating through the Cyclops Flower surveillance.

Kevin met two amphibious, fish-like beings from a civilized people in the Folded Zone, who asked to trade for the Immortal Bone on behalf of their King. After they showed him a Seal of God identifying them as fellow recognized Lords, Kevin agreed to visit their homeland, leaving Piyon eager to join and Netero excluded for safety.

• Two fish-like beings arrived at Moon Bay, spoke human language, and explained that their King had taught it to them.
• The beings said their King knew of humans and invited Kevin to visit their homeland, where he could choose what to trade for the Immortal Bone.
• Kevin showed them the Immortal Bone, and the beings confirmed that their King wanted it.
• One being showed Kevin a copied Seal of God, which identified them as fellow recognized Lords and reassured him about the visit.
• After the beings left, Piyon judged them to be respectful and unlikely to pose much danger, and Kevin decided to accept the invitation.
• Piyon insisted on accompanying Kevin, but Kevin refused Netero's request to come and suggested they return to discuss preparations.

Kevin and his companions crossed a hidden spatial boundary into the Bopopa homeland, a lake civilization inhabited by many kinds of Sea Folk. They reached the city of Moon Bay, where Kevin sensed another Lord and met the region’s majestic ruler.

• At Moon Bay Town, Kevin and the others chose Piyon, Rukira, Koala, and Qiduo to accompany him to investigate the Sea Folk, while the rest stayed behind on guard.
• Kevin’s group traveled by speedboat to the sea-cliff cave, crossed a hidden spatial passage, and met the armed Sea Folk waiting inside.
• Soft Fork and Scale Fork guided the group through the Bopopa homeland, where they saw its vast lake, lakeside settlements, and distinctive buildings.
• Soft Fork told the visitors that the Bopopa called themselves Bopopa and that their homeland had been found by their Saint.
• As the group approached the city of Moon Bay, Kevin sensed another Lord, who appeared before them and welcomed them as guests.

Kevin and Dragon Turtle discussed the Sea Folk’s origins and their duties before trading Immortal Bone for a newly Lord-Rank creature’s cord. The trade ended successfully, and Dragon Turtle offered to answer Kevin’s questions about the Sea Folk.

• Dragon Turtle explained that a staff let him learn detailed information about humans, and he described how the Sea Folk were born from the lake and returned to it after death.
• Dragon Turtle said the lake would produce a successor with his ancestors’ shared wisdom when he died, then revealed that the aging Saint Lord was an adopted companion who needed the Immortal Bone.
• Dragon Turtle offered truthful information and a cord taken from a creature that had recently reached Lord Rank in exchange for Kevin’s Immortal Bone.
• Kevin agreed to the trade, gave Dragon Turtle the Immortal Bone, and took the cord in a bubble.
• Dragon Turtle offered to answer whatever Kevin wanted to know after both sides completed the trade.

Kevin and his companions questioned Dragon Turtle about humanity, the Dark Continent’s sapient races, and the Overlords who ruled its territories. Dragon Turtle explained the Sky Overlord’s domain and nearby powers, leaving Kevin with a clearer map of the region but no firsthand information about the World Tree.

• Piyon asked Dragon Turtle how he viewed humanity, and he described humans as numerous but individually weak, with a few exceptional talents such as Kevin.
• Dragon Turtle said many sapient races arose on the Dark Continent, but only a few survived natural disasters, and five other races remained in the Sky Overlord’s territory.
• Kevin asked about Overlords, and Dragon Turtle explained that they shaped their domains through their authority, with the Sky Overlord favoring abundant life and the neighboring Frost Overlord maintaining an eternal winter.
• Dragon Turtle explained that the coast was more desolate than the inland regions and identified a nearby area ruled by three Monarchs of the same race.
• Kevin asked about the World Tree, but Dragon Turtle said he had never seen it.

Kevin and his companions learned about the World Tree and spent more than half a month studying the Sea Folk, their culture, and their origins before returning to Moon Bay. The Forward Base then weighed inland exploration against heading north for the All-Curing Herb, and Kevin leaned toward exploring inland while keeping a Lord-level defender in the territory.

• Dragon Turtle told Kevin and the others that the World Tree's vast canopy sheltered thriving life, then hosted them beside the lake.
• Kevin, Piyon, and the others observed the Sea Folk's roles, customs, art, and water-ball games, while Piyon learned their language and received an intricate pearl.
• Qiduo concluded that the Sea Folk had been artificially created, and Kevin ordered the group not to investigate their creator or source body so they would not provoke them.
• After returning to Moon Bay, the explorers reported their findings, and Netero and the other leaders discussed how the Sky Overlord's territory could support their settlement.
• Pairo and Kevin argued that inland exploration could build relations with nearby Lords and protect the territory better than a distant northern expedition, while Netero suggested sending separate teams north.

Morel, Qishou, Gon, and Bianluoke hunted a gigantic Sand Whale in the Beach Zone and brought back its valuable parts and meat. After surviving another Sand Worm attack on the return journey, they reached town and began reporting their expedition.

• Gon struck the Sand Whale with a heavily charged punch while Morel and Bianluoke restrained it, and Qishou killed it with electricity channeled through the Unmanned Stone.
• Gon recovered from his fractured arm, and the team spent five days dismantling the whale and collecting the portions Kevin needed along with meat for Men Qi and the others.
• During their return, the team escaped a Sand Worm that sucked nearby creatures into a vortex.
• More than half a month later, the Exploration Team returned to town with a huge load of whale meat, drawing the attention of Piyon, Nobu, Porto, Kansai, Men Qi, and Buhaci.
• Morel and the others entered the central building to file their expedition report and process their gains.

Kevin and Biscuit discussed how the Devouring Sand Worms fit into the Beach Zone’s ecosystem, while the town held a whale banquet. Nion’s fortune-telling helped the V6 members cope with life on the Dark Continent, and she affirmed that she preferred living there; the chapter ended with Kevin and the others recognizing how valuable her divinations had become.

• Kevin and Biscuit reviewed Morel’s findings and concluded that the Devouring Sand Worms might sustain the Beach Zone’s ecosystem, though powerful worms could migrate inland.
• The town held a whale banquet, and a V6 member visited Nion’s fortune-telling shop to ask whether he could return home.
• After the visitor left, Nion revealed to Kurapika that she was happy on the Dark Continent and had no wish to return to her former life.
• Wearer Ghost spoke with Nion and Kurapika about the emotions of the people who sought readings, then welcomed Lorraine and Bianluoke into the shop.
• Nion refused to read Kevin’s fortune, and Biscuit explained that Nion’s restrictions had shaped her ability into a genuine form of fortune-telling that supported people’s mental well-being.