Gelman and Shizuku's happy occasion brought a stretch of joy to the Hunter Association and many people inside the Coastal Fortress.
After hearing the news, General Mike, Princess Oito, Shutaner, and others sent gifts to congratulate them. When they met afterward, they also smiled and offered the newlyweds their best wishes.
General Mike in particular seemed, at least on the surface, to have lost the awkwardness he'd shown when speaking with Gelman before.
He'd even tried to recruit Gelman, but after several failed attempts, he stopped bringing it up.
Still, there was one thing he remained determined about: making Gelman one of the assets that would help him conquer the New Continent.
The Hunter Association's strength was important, but Gelman was even more so. He had exterminated the Chimera Ants and the Nen Beasts of the Egg in the Pot Ritual, and brought "hope" back from the Dark Continent.
His attitude had changed over time, and only now had it more or less settled into its present form.
The fleet headed for Bu You Island left its wealthy passengers at the island's military base to await pickup by ships from the Six Continents.
Then the fleet turned around and sailed straight back to the New Continent, bringing with it a new batch of orders from the Six Continents.
This was possible because the Six Continents and Bu You Island were now in contact. The fleet could reach V6 without returning to the Six Continents.
In this way, the fleet could travel between the New Continent and Bu You Island for a little over two months, allowing the New Continent and Six Continents to exchange messages.
After that, V6 would establish military bases on islands along the route and send aircraft carriers capable of carrying numerous airships, which would serve as