Dong was stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly. "I hope I haven't disappointed you."
"Of course you haven't." Once he had calmed down, Ging said, "You're even more impressive than I imagined."
"Do you still need my New World Journey, then?" Dong asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ging didn't answer right away. He turned to look at Gelman, Biscuit, and Shizuku.
They exchanged glances, then each shook their head.
Dong was right about some things. At this point, whether they had his New World Journey or not no longer mattered.
They should write their own Dark Continent Anecdotes.
So Ging said to Dong, "We don't need it anymore. We'll write our own New World Journey."
Dong lowered his eyes and smiled with relief. "Good. Very good."
"You have the same unwavering resolve I do. That will make you pioneers, not people who only know how to parrot others."
"But," Ging suddenly added, "there's something I'd like to know. I hope you can answer me."
Dong nodded. "Go ahead."
"Have you finished New World Journey: West Shore?" Ging asked, voicing the question everyone was curious about.
Dong's smile faded slightly. He paused, then shook his head.
"I never finished it. I couldn't have finished it."
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
He slowly explained:
"After entrusting the East Shore Arc to that expedition team, I rested for a while, then set off for the west shore of Lake Möbius."
"But at the time, I didn't know that the entire west shore was crawling with hideous Flesh Monsters..."
"After the initial shock and unease, I still stubbornly pressed on, not knowing what I'd run into."
"However, I failed in my first few attempts, so I retreated to the east shore on my own to hone my abilities. After that, I kept returning