Chapter Summaries

Gelman welcomed Pam, Komugi, and several Chimera Ant survivors to Greed Island, where he assigned them roles and established the island’s permission hierarchy. With Alchemy Plant research advancing and two of his Negative Traits removed, he began preparing to return to the Dark Continent.

• Ida and Elena cleared Gelman and the others to land, and Greed Island’s Hunters welcomed the arrivals with a celebration that honored Pam, Meleoron, and Ikalgo.
• Granny Lin Nie praised Gelman for his role in the Chimera Ant Extermination War and pledged to support him.
• Gelman assigned Pam, Meleoron, Ikalgo, and Komugi to Doon and List, Welfin to Leol, and Shina to Abengane.
• Gelman established Greed Island’s permission ranks, placing himself at SS rank, Granny Lin Nie at S rank, and the new arrivals at lower ranks.
• Doon and List reported that they could harness Alchemy Plants, allowing Gelman to begin planning a return to the Dark Continent.
• Abengane removed Gelman’s “Bloodlust,” and Shina removed “Off Target,” leaving Gelman with only “Bad Gambler” and “Perfectionist.”

Gelman and Shizuku finalized preparations for a December 10 trip to the Dark Continent while discussing Meteor City’s worsening war with the Chimera Ant kingdom. Shizuku stayed uncertain about whether to intervene, and Gelman said he would eliminate the new Ant King, the new Ant Queen, and their guards.

• Gelman, Shizuku, Buhara, and Shubika were selected for the next Dark Continent expedition, scheduled to depart on December 10.
• Shizuku told Gelman that Zazan’s Chimera Ants had seized part of Meteor City, but an unknown Ant King later helped Zazan and Pakunoda rebuild their kingdom across nearly half the city.
• The Elders and a force suspected to be the Phantom Troupe fought the Chimera Ant kingdom, while outside powers watched and sent more Chimera Ants into Meteor City.
• Gelman suspected that the new Ant King was Zaiiro, a former NGL ruler reborn as a Chimera Ant, but kept his guess to himself.
• Shizuku explained that two Elders had been captured and transformed, leaving Meteor City residents fighting former leaders, companions, and family members.
• When Shizuku asked what he would do as an Elder, Gelman said he would kill the new Ant King and Ant Queen and their guards.

Gelman, Shizuku, Buhara, and Shubika arrived at the Ancient Labyrinth City, where a storm and whirlpool suggested something was awakening beneath the blood sea. They reunited with Biscuit and Menchi at the tower, while Ging remained missing.

• Gelman and the others used the Lantern Teleport to reach the tower in the Ancient Labyrinth City, with its forty-day cooldown preventing a quick return.
• The group saw a vast whirlpool forming in the blood sea beneath a funnel-shaped storm, and Gelman suspected the disturbances were connected.
• Gelman expanded his En to search the area and signal his presence, locating Biscuit and Menchi but not Ging, and sensing a powerful pulse from the whirlpool's depths.
• Gelman led Shizuku, Buhara, and Shubika down the tower, where they spotted Biscuit and Menchi and reunited with them.

Biscuit and the others reunited with Gelman in the tower as the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle revived outside. Gelman demonstrated his increased strength, chose to fight the creature alone, and sent it crashing from the sky with his opening attack.

• Biscuit explained that Ging had traveled west and that the Plant Weapon parasites had gathered to revive the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle.
• The Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle emerged from the whirlpool of blood, and Gelman realized it revived roughly every three months.
• Gelman argued that the newly reborn creature was weakened and showed his improved combat strength by releasing En filled with murderous intent.
• Biscuit accepted Gelman's plan to fight alone, and Gelman leapt from the tower toward the sea of blood.
• Gelman's Nen Energy erupted, and the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle plunged from the sky.

Gelman defeated the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle before the Mist Wall fully rose, earning a new Teleport Lantern. After the group confirmed his victory, Shubika asked to collect a sample from the corpse before they harvested its Healing Herb.

• Gelman severed the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle's roots and sent its enormous body crashing into the sea of blood.
• Gelman used Alchemy cards to defend against the Apostle's Blood Red Light Pillar, then concealed himself in mist and struck it at close range.
• Gelman defeated the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle before the Mist Wall finished rising and received a new Teleport Lantern.
• Biscuit, Shizuku, Menchi, Buhara, and Shubika came down from the tower and confirmed Gelman's victory.
• Shubika stopped the others and asked to take a fresh sample from the Apostle's corpse before they harvested the Healing Herb.

Gelman recounted the Chimera Ant Extermination War and Netero’s agreement with Beyond, then proposed turning the Ancient Labyrinth into a fortified base. The group approved a plan to build a castle and repeatedly kill the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle for its Healing Herbs.

• Shizuku stored the harvested flesh and Healing Herbs while Biscuit estimated that the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle’s yield depended on its growth cycle.
• Gelman described the Chimera Ant Extermination War, including how he stopped Netero from using the Pauper's Rose, and Biscuit suspected Beyond's faction had manipulated events.
• Gelman explained Netero’s plan to cooperate with Beyond on a new Dark Continent expedition and said their group already had two forms of Hope.
• Menchi and Buhara prepared a celebratory meal, and the group discussed their preserved food and Menchi’s experiments with unfamiliar ingredients.
• Gelman proposed building a castle around the tower and killing the Painful Bloodthirsty Apostle whenever it rebirthed nearby; Biscuit, Shizuku, and the others approved.

Gelman and the others spent a quiet day at the tower in the Ancient Labyrinth, tending to their routines and building its stone foundation. When they planned an expedition outside, Ging finally returned, but he brought someone with him.

• Gelman waited for Ging on the tower platform, then greeted Shizuku as she woke and brushed her teeth beside him.
• Biscuit and Miss Cookie applied makeup to Shizuku and Shubika while Menchi and Buhara prepared breakfast.
• Gelman, Biscuit, and the others continued building a stone floor and foundation around the tower.
• At lunch, Gelman proposed exploring outside the Ancient Labyrinth, and Menchi, Buhara, Shubika, Shizuku, and Biscuit each volunteered to go.
• Menchi spotted Ging approaching the tower, and the group saw that he had returned with someone else.

Ging returned with five Moose Centaurs, whom he introduced as friends, surprising Gelman and the others because they resembled the Decapitated Antler Knight they had fought. The Moose Centaurs revealed that Don had taught their people human language, and Ging began explaining that rolled-up papers had brought them together.

• Ging returned with five Moose Centaurs and introduced them to Gelman, Biscuit, Shizuku, Shubika, Menchi, Buhara, and the others as friends.
• The group recognized that the Moose Centaurs resembled the Decapitated Antler Knight they had encountered outside the Ancient Labyrinth.
• Ging taught everyone a greeting gesture, and the Moose Centaurs returned it before their leader addressed them.
• Scylla introduced himself as his race's bravest warrior and said the Moose Centaurs knew human language.
• Scylla explained that Don had taught his people human language so they could communicate and trade.
• Ging said the Moose Centaurs had made peace with him because he looked like Don, then showed the group bundles of rolled-up paper.

Ging identified the strange papers Scylla found as possible pages from the West Chapter Fragment and proposed deciphering them to learn what happened to East. He then suggested that the group build on East’s friendship with the Moose Centaurs by trading and communicating with other races on the Dark Continent.

• Ging explained that the East Chapter Fragment was incomplete and concluded that the papers’ different style might mean they were pages from the West Chapter Fragment.
• Gelman, Biscuit, and the others examined the papers and recoiled from their increasingly chaotic writing and grotesque final drawing.
• Scylla recounted that East had visited the Moose Centaurs about a year earlier, acting fearful and distant before leaving behind the papers.
• Ging sensed Nen Energy on the papers and argued that deciphering them could reveal the truth about East’s behavior and the fragment.
• Scylla and the other Moose Centaurs praised the group and declared that they liked them.
• Ging proposed trading with the Moose Centaurs and other races, arguing that humans needed allies and communication to establish themselves on the Dark Continent.

Ging proposed opening communications with the Moose Centaur Tribe, and the team traveled with Scylla and the others toward their settlement. After camping for the night, Gelman began typing on his phone, and Shizuku asked what he was writing.

• Ging proposed a plan that Gelman and Shizuku supported, and the team agreed to follow Scylla back to the Moose Centaur Tribe.
• Gelman told Ging selected details about events on the Six Continents, but Ging refused to return and said Netero could revoke his title of "Boar."
• On December 22, the twelve-person team left their fortress and followed Ging through the Ancient Labyrinth toward an unfamiliar exit.
• Scylla took over as guide outside the labyrinth while the Moose Centaurs scouted the terrain for tracks, droppings, and scents.
• The group stopped in a valley for the night, where the Moose Centaurs brought back a giant snail and wild fruit for dinner.
• Gelman sat among the coils of a buried vine and typed on his phone, and Shizuku sat beside him and asked what he was writing.

Gelman explained how the Hunters were expanding New World Journey and described his classifications of Dark Continent creatures. Shizuku touched his lips and admitted she had always wanted to, but a warning about nighttime monsters interrupted them as a horde approached the camp.

• Gelman told Shizuku how Ging, Menchi, Buhara, Shubika, Biscuit, and he were contributing to New World Journey.
• Shizuku told Gelman that Biscuit considered him the finest gem she had found and compared discovering him to gambling on a rough jade stone.
• Gelman described his plan to classify Dark Continent creatures as beasts, evil spirits, or demons, while Shizuku said she might someday take the Professional Hunter Exam as a Bounty Hunter.
• Shizuku touched Gelman's lips and confessed that she had always wanted to touch them.
• A Moose Centaur warned the group that nighttime monsters were coming, and a three-headed Night Raid Species entered the campfire's light.

Scylla and his companions fought off a Night Raid Species and the horde it summoned, with Shubika treating an injured Moose Centaur as the others held the beasts back. Gelman destroyed the Night Raid Species core and wielded the Sacred Moonlight Sword, leaving the Moose Centaurs fighting at his side as the horde fled.

• The Night Raid Species struck down a Moose Centaur and summoned a horde of beasts to surround Scylla and his companions.
• Scylla rallied the Moose Centaurs to fight while Shubika treated the injured warrior and Biscuit, Ging, Menchi, Shizuku, and Buhara battled the beasts.
• Scylla pursued the fleeing Night Raid Species and discovered Gelman had killed it underground by destroying its core.
• Gelman raised the Sacred Moonlight Sword, and its azure glow inspired the Moose Centaurs to perform their Lunar Salute and join his charge.
• The united fighters broke the encirclement, drove off the surviving beasts, and ended the battle with Gelman standing atop the mound of corpses.

Chichol watched the humans enter the Moose Centaur Tribe and remained suspicious despite their warm welcome at the Moon Festival. He challenged Gelman to a duel so he could judge the human warrior for himself.

• Chichol watched Scylla return with Ging, Gelman, and the human visitors, then worried when he saw an injured tribesman treated by a human.
• Chichol learned from the tribe's doctor that the wound was healing well, while Shubika showed interest in the tribe's medicinal herbs.
• The Old Chieftain welcomed the humans to the Moon Festival, where Chichol observed Scylla treating Gelman with unusual respect and Menchi and Buhara sampling the tribe's insect dishes.
• Chichol approached Gelman during the festival and challenged him to fight in the traditional Moon's Ritual duels.

At the Moose Centaur Tribe’s Moon Sacrifice, Chichol challenged Gelman to a traditional duel, and Gelman defeated him almost instantly with the Sacred Moonlight Greatsword. Chichol accepted the loss and began to trust Gelman and the other humans, while the gathering celebrated Gelman’s victory.

• Gelman recalled the Dark Continent’s calendar and noticed that Shizuku had been avoiding him since the Night Raid.
• Chichol approached Gelman and challenged him to a duel at the Moon Sacrifice, and Ging encouraged Gelman to accept.
• Gelman agreed to fight and promised Scylla that he would use the Sacred Moonlight Greatsword.
• Chichol charged Gelman with Moon Blood Sacrifice, but Gelman shattered his shield and knocked the scimitar from his hand in an instant.
• Gelman returned Moon Blood Sacrifice to Chichol, who admitted defeat and reconsidered his distrust of the humans.
• The Moose Centaurs cheered Gelman and ended their challenges, leaving Ging amused but disgruntled by how quickly Gelman had earned their respect.

After the Moon Festival, Ging found almost no clues about Don Freecss, while Gelman confronted Shizuku about avoiding him and helped her understand her unfamiliar feelings. Shizuku responded by kissing Gelman, leaving their relationship at an impulsive turning point.

• Ging searched Don Freecss's old house and questioned the Moose Centaurs, but learned little beyond Don's strange behavior and found only possible fragments of his travelogue.
• Biscuit compared the accounts of Don's clothing and behavior to Shubika, easing the group's tension as they set the mystery aside.
• Gelman found Shizuku alone in a grove and asked why she had been avoiding him since the ambush.
• Shizuku explained that her feelings for Gelman frightened her because she did not understand them, and Gelman described love as having someone witness and care about one's life.
• Shizuku climbed onto Gelman and kissed him before he finished explaining his thoughts about love.

Shizuku returned from the woods and let Biscuit mistake her encounter with Gelman for relieving herself outside. Meanwhile, Ging deduced that East had left behind a weapon-enchanting technique, and the group visited the craftsman Mshihah to learn it.

• Biscuit found Shizuku emerging from the woods and scolded her, assuming she had relieved herself outside.
• Ging told Gelman that he suspected East had used Alchemy Plants through an enchanting technique and arranged for Scylla and Chichol to take them to its source.
• Scylla and Chichol introduced Gelman and the others to Mshihah, who explained that East's teaching had let his ancestors enchant weapons with elemental powers.
• Mshihah recognized the Alchemy: Fire Element card as a rare treasure, and Menchi handed him her dual blades so he could demonstrate the enchanting process.

Mshihah used Enchantment Text and an Alchemy Plant to add a Fire Element Pattern to Menchi’s knives and a Wind Element Pattern to Shizuku’s necklace. Ging offered Scylla and Chichol Alchemy Plants in exchange for helping build a castle outpost in the Ancient Labyrinth, and they agreed.

• Mshihah used his Ultimate of a Thousand Refinements to enchant Menchi’s twin knives with a Fire Element Pattern, allowing her to turn Nen Energy into flames.
• Gelman and Ging learned that Enchantment Element Patterns generally worked only on nonliving tools and that each tool could hold only one pattern.
• Shizuku agreed to have a Wind Element Pattern etched onto her Inverse Cross Necklace and tested it by blowing a gust of wind at Biscuit.
• Ging offered Scylla and Chichol two Alchemy Plants in exchange for their help building a castle outpost in the Ancient Labyrinth.
• Scylla and Chichol accepted Ging’s trade offer.

A group from the Moose Centaur Tribe traveled back toward the Ancient Labyrinth, discussing the upcoming Professional Hunter Exam and their plans to build a castle. Gelman declined another appeal to believe in the tribe’s Moon God, while the group continued toward the labyrinth.

• Menchi asked whether Ging, Biscuit, Shubika, or Gelman had served as examiners for the Professional Hunter Exam, and they explained that Ging and Shubika had not while Biscuit had.
• Menchi asked whether Gelman’s student Kurapika would take the exam, and Gelman said Kurapika planned to attend and would handle the pressure.
• Scylla arrived with fourteen Moose Centaur warriors to help build a castle and transport trade goods, while Chichol stayed behind to protect the tribe.
• Scylla reported that the outer patrol had found the route safe and again asked Gelman to believe in the Sacred Moon, but Gelman declined.
• Gelman learned that the Old Chieftain considered the Red Moon the sole god and said the Ancient Labyrinth was the dwelling of one of its Believers Before God.

Gelman's group repelled a Lizardmen ambush, and Scylla explained the betrayal that had shattered the Demi-human Watch Pact and why its members despised Chimera Ants. As they neared the Ancient Labyrinth, Gelman wondered whether his group might someday join the Pact, and Ging agreed they could be considered Demi-humans if necessary.

• Lizardmen ambushed Gelman's group, but Gelman and the others counterattacked and drove them off with only a few Moose Centaur warriors injured.
• Scylla told Gelman and the gathered group that the Lizardmen had betrayed the Moose Centaurs and that the Demi-human Watch Pact had refused to help them.
• Gelman asked Scylla about Chimera Ants, and Scylla explained that the Demi-humans despised them for using Voracious Mating to turn their people into Ants.
• Gelman's group continued toward the Ancient Labyrinth while Ging conversed fluently with Scylla and the Moose Centaur warriors.
• Gelman asked Ging what would happen if their group joined the Demi-human Watch Pact, and Ging said they could be Demi-humans if they had to.

Kurapika arrived in Dore Port with Melody and began the Professional Hunter Exam, where he passed each phase while noticing that officials seemed to recognize him. He reached the nominal final phase alongside Gon, Killua, and Leorio, while the needle-faced man remained the most dangerous examinee.

• Melody encouraged Kurapika to take the exam and waited for him at an inn in Dore Port.
• Kurapika passed the Guide's test, but the Guide and Beanpaste Man both knew his name without explaining why.
• Kurapika met Gon and Leorio, refused Dopa's suspicious drinks, and later joined Gon, Killua, and Leorio for the tunnel run.
• Kurapika continued passing the exam phases and watched the needle-faced man as his strongest apparent rival.
• Kurapika noticed officials repeatedly watching him and reached the nominal final phase with Gon, Killua, and Leorio, while Dopa failed an earlier phase.