The oak grove was stiflingly hot that afternoon. A herd of elk nearby had come to the lake to drink, occasionally lifting their heads to look around and flicking their little ears.
Gelman and Xiyou continued their conversation.
"Gelman, how much do you know about Chairman Netero?" Xiyou asked, hands on his hips as he cautiously studied Gelman's expression. "Did you know he has a son named Beyond?"
Gelman's expression barely changed, but he lowered the Blunderbuss in his hand.
Xiyou's words were a good start. At least he had named "Beyond" outright instead of beating around the bush.
"It seems you know about him." Xiyou nodded. "That's only natural. Though information about Chairman Netero is top secret, Beyond was famous for a time more than fifty years ago."
"Beyond left behind many legends, and the newspapers even reported on him a few times. From then until now, he's been considered one of the top Hunters in the 'Six Continents.'"
"Since you know about Beyond, you probably know about the 'Dark Continent' connected to him, too, right?"
Gelman neither confirmed nor denied it.
Seeing that he couldn't get a reaction, Xiyou shook his head and decided to be as forthcoming as possible. "I'll assume you know about the 'Dark Continent.' That'll save me a lot of time explaining."
"In short, more than three hundred years ago, a madman named Don Freecss wrote a book called New World Journey, also known as New World Records, detailing what he saw and experienced on the 'Dark Continent.'"
The opening had something of the feel of the mad Arabian poet Abdul Alhazred writing his masterpiece, The Necronomicon, on parchment.
Xiyou continued.
"Incidentally, Don Freecss was the ancestor of that 'Boar,' Ging Freecss."
"Whether it's called the 'New World' or the 'New Continent,' both names