Chapter Summaries

Joey and Cluck used the swarm’s limits and the fire dragon’s fatigue to launch a coordinated attack, grounding the dragon and letting the insects overwhelm it. Joey waited above the battlefield, watching to see whether the weakened Insect Creator would appear.

• Joey deduced that the swarm’s creator had limited aura and that birdsong could lure the insects out, while controlling sound, scent, and visibility kept the group safe.
• As the fire dragon weakened and the swarm’s growth slowed, Joey and Cluck decided to act against the dragon.
• Cluck created a giant man-eating flower while Joey’s Weather Nen Beast chilled the fire dragon with rain, struck its wing with lightning, and prevented it from flying.
• Joey’s Heartbreaker Attack Chariots exploded against the dragon as it fell into the swarm, which engulfed it and forced the birdsong and new insect production to stop.
• Joey kept the fire dragon trapped beneath the insects and watched for the weakened Insect Creator to reveal itself.

Joey, Cluck, and Leorio defeated the Fire Dragon by trapping it in extreme cold, but they could not determine whether the Insect Creator was still following them. As the trio headed back toward the Hunter Association, trolls attacked the insect wall and the unfamiliar human presence Joey had sensed disappeared.

• Joey and Cluck combined Weather Report’s hail and Cluck’s plants to trap and freeze the Fire Dragon, killing the remaining insects in the process.
• Joey and Cluck collected materials from the thawing Fire Dragon while Leorio urged them to consider whether the Insect Creator was still pursuing them.
• Joey sensed an unfamiliar human nearby and decided the trio should rejoin the Hunter Association without contacting their pursuers.
• Joey, Cluck, and Leorio flew toward the Hunter Association, but the person Joey had sensed vanished before he could identify them.
• The trio saw trolls smash at the insect wall, and Cluck explained that the trolls were strong, regenerative savage humanoids with Magical Beast blood.

Joey tested his explosive scales on the Fire Dragon’s corpse and continued traveling across the Imaginary Continent with Cluck and Leorio, studying magical beasts and gathering useful materials. After Menchi and Buhara arrived, their party expanded to five.

• Joey triggered an explosion in the Fire Dragon’s corpse using scales charged with life energy, and he and his companions continued trailing the Hunter Association party.
• Joey experimented on Trolls and discussed magical beasts with Cluck, while Leorio objected to Joey treating himself as a standard of strength.
• Joey encountered a mud Tyrannosaurus, watched Ancient Pterosaurs carry Troll corpses, and suspected the hidden Insect Creator was still following them.
• On the thirteenth day, Joey’s group spotted a Unicorn, which fled before Cluck could approach it.
• Joey collected dragon-scale armor and weapons, gave the armor to Leorio and a blade to Cluck, and found the Fire Dragon’s liver far tastier than its meat.
• Menchi and Buhara arrived, expanding the party to five.

Joey’s group crossed the Imaginary Continent and joined the Hunter Association at the coast, where they built and concealed a ship for the voyage ahead. Meanwhile, Mikhail’s team waited for the Zoldyck Family and Ging’s companions, but when they failed to appear by daybreak, he boarded the submarine with Ging and Pariston.

• Joey and his companions reached the ruins of an ancient civilization, then continued across the Imaginary Continent while Joey manufactured supplies and trained Leorio.
• Joey’s group crossed the continent a month later and rejoined the Hunter Association at a reef-lined coast filled with enormous sea beasts.
• Three Conjuration users built a ship, and God Script users concealed it with linked Emission Nen as Cheadle scheduled the departure for the next morning.
• Beyond’s Team brought a submarine out of a mirror, and Ging and Pariston boarded it with Mikhail.
• The Phantom Troupe arrived and sought passage, but the Zoldyck Family and Ging’s other companions did not appear by daybreak, so Mikhail boarded the submarine with Ging and Pariston.

Joey and the Hunter Association reached the Dark Gate, where the Gatekeeper prepared to open the way to the Dark Continent. As the opening approached, the Zoldyck Family, Hisoka, Kakin’s princes and soldiers, and Ging and Pariston arrived, setting the stage for a tense departure.

• Joey’s ship reached the island with the enormous Dark Gate, and Cheadle and Piyon explained that Lake Mobius trapped travelers who did not pass through it.
• Joey met the immensely powerful Gatekeeper and learned from Cheadle that the gate would open in two days.
• Joey observed the gate and considered how Ging and others might sneak through while the Hunter Association arranged who would enter and who would stay behind.
• The Zoldyck Family members, Hisoka, and the Greed Island team arrived by boat, followed by Kakin soldiers carrying the First, Second, and Ninth Princes.
• A fleet approached at the Gatekeeper’s summons, and Ging and Pariston appeared aboard an enormous submarine as the Gatekeeper beckoned to them too.

The Dark Gate opened, and Joey and the other teams faced the Gatekeeper’s Nen pressure before crossing onto the Dark Continent. Beyond was freed from his restraints after the crossing, then shattered the attacking lizard monster’s claw with a single punch.

• The Gatekeeper opened the Dark Gate as corpses animated by postmortem Nen entered, and his escalating pressure tested those trying to approach.
• Joey advanced through the pressure while Botobai and Ginta shielded the Crossing the Great Lake Commission officials; Hisoka stopped to speak with the Gatekeeper and received an object from him.
• A giant lizard monster attacked the gate, but the Gatekeeper hurled a golden spear through the opening and struck its eye, allowing Joey and the others to emerge onto the Dark Continent.
• Cheadle’s group crossed the gate, and Beyond’s allies freed him by breaking his Nen handcuffs while Mizaistom stopped Saiyuu from attacking him.
• After the gate closed, the wounded lizard monster attacked the newcomers, and Beyond appeared beneath its claw and smashed it apart with one punch.

Beyond agreed to cooperate with Cheadle while retaining freedom to pursue his own goals, and the combined group headed for the Ancient Labyrinth City. As they entered the sea of trees, they faced dangerous creatures and injuries, until Beyond and Zigg stopped the group and warned that night was coming.

• Beyond killed the giant beast, then persuaded Cheadle to cooperate rather than leave the expedition.
• Joey agreed to travel with Zigg, and Hunters led by Razor joined the group while Kakin's team and the Phantom Troupe headed into the Dark Continent separately.
• Joey realized all the groups were bound for the Ancient Labyrinth City, and Cheadle and Beyond's Team discussed their plans before setting out toward the sea of trees.
• The group found signs that Kakin's party had been attacked, then entered the dark forest, where spiders and other dangerous creatures ambushed them.
• Joey treated injured Hunters with Gold Experience and became a closely protected member of the expedition.
• Three hours into the forest, Beyond and Zigg stopped the group and warned that night was coming.

Joey’s party crossed a mist-shrouded Forest Sea where nocturnal fog left animal corpses and daytime beasts attacked with unnatural fury. After hearing Kakin’s party scream and finding blood but few bodies, they encountered the Five Great Calamities’ human-rearing beast Pap, which turned people into smiling, shriveled figures as the survivors fled.

• Joey’s party camped in the Forest Sea, then found mist-like insect and animal corpses that dispersed when touched.
• Joey suspected the mist drained life, and the party fought frenzied beasts for hours before their behavior returned to normal.
• Joey’s party heard Kakin’s people screaming in the night and found blood and scattered clothing the next morning, while Beyond and Cheadle slowed their advance instead of catching up.
• A Mercenary fired at Pap, and a branch-like appendage hoisted him up as a smiling, shriveled figure.
• Beyond ran while Cheadle fled with Knov, who dropped Joey’s bombs, and Joey joined the retreat as more people began to shrivel and smile.

Joey discovered that Pap could infect people with unnatural happiness and drain their vitality, then used Bites the Dust to escape a deadly encounter and return to camp. With Pap confirmed ahead, the team paused to scout the area while Joey arranged to monitor it using hummingbirds created by Gold Experience.

• Joey reasoned that Pap's attacks might be triggered by entering its territory, then used First Bomb to destroy a cluster of shriveled bodies, only for more Pap to appear elsewhere.
• As Pap surrounded the team and Mizaistom began to shrivel, Mizaistom threw Joey an ordinary person, allowing Joey to trigger Bites the Dust and return to camp.
• Joey told Ging that Pap lay ahead and that his First Bomb could eliminate individual Pap, while Ging confirmed the team had been overwhelmed in the reversed events.
• Cheadle heard Joey's warning, and she and Ging agreed to hold position while Nen Beasts investigated the area ahead.
• Joey sent Gold Experience hummingbirds, including one carrying a camera, to scout and went to Piyon's tent to use her computer to watch the feed.

Joey and the team investigated Pap, learned that it occupied a dark alternate space, and failed to damage it with a bomb. After choosing a safer route through the Forest Sea, they encountered unusually dense fog, and Joey discovered that the mist was consuming living creatures and turning them into mist.

• Joey used camera hummingbirds and Botobai's Nen Beast to reveal Pap's tree-like form and emerald eyes, though Pap's branches destroyed the cameras and Nen Beast.
• The team tried bombing Pap, but the bomb exploded at the boundary of its dark space; flames burned some shriveled humans, while more emerged from the darkness.
• Piyon mapped the Forest Sea as the group gathered information, and the team spotted traces of Kakin's group before deciding not to follow their route.
• The group traveled cautiously for days, then stopped as thick fog rapidly covered the Forest Sea and kept everyone on watch through the night.
• After the fog dispersed, the Forest Sea was eerily quiet, and Joey found that mist in a bottle was draining ants' life energy and turning their bodies into mist.

Joey, Cluck, Gel, and Cheadle discovered that the Forest Sea’s night fog was a living organism that drained life energy and planted seeds in people and trees. As the group faced the choice between enduring the fog or traveling through the night, Beyond revealed the Forest Sea’s secret and spoke the name that would mark them as challengers.

• Joey studied Cheadle’s map and realized the team might not leave the Forest Sea before the fog exhausted them.
• Cluck showed that tiny plants produced the fog, while Gel explained that it entered people, stole life energy, and left seeds that could turn them into fog.
• Cluck explained that the Forest Sea’s trees amplified the fog, and Joey found that Weather Report could not block it efficiently over a large area.
• Cheadle demanded to know why Beyond and Zigg stopped the group at night, and Beyond said they would have to face the Forest Sea’s nighttime predators to keep moving.
• Zigg said it was time to reveal the Forest Sea’s secret, and Beyond described two ways through it before speaking the name that would mark everyone as a challenger.

Joey passed the Forest Sea’s trial by setting the tree creatures in its white space on fire, and the flames also burned trees in the real Forest Sea. He joined Beyond and Zigg on Fog Beasts, leaving the Forest Sea and heading deeper into the Dark Continent.

• Beyond spoke a name, and the fog transported Joey into a white space where a towering tree challenged him to a trial.
• Joey used Sheer Heart Attack to break the tree apart, then burned the tree creatures that emerged from its fragments until the trial ended.
• Joey returned to the Forest Sea, where trees within two hundred meters turned to ash because of the fire he had set in the white space.
• Beyond invited Joey to join his team, but Joey declined, and Zigg explained how the Forest Sea’s recognition protected them from the fog.
• Joey, Beyond, and Zigg found Fog Beasts and rode them through the Forest Sea toward the Dark Continent.

Joey, Beyond, and Zigg escaped the Forest Sea and reached a lake where Beyond fought the monsters guarding a giant mushroom-shaped tree. They claimed the tree as a refuge and ate its life-force-rich fruit, while Joey learned that eating more than one could be harmful.

• The Fog Beast vanished into a tree, and Joey, Beyond, and Zigg continued through the Forest Sea until they reached its edge on the third day.
• Joey realized the Forest Sea had kept him from thinking of flying out and grew wary of similar psychological suggestions.
• Beyond led the group to the trees by the lake and provoked the monsters living in one of them.
• Beyond defeated the monsters, and the tree’s roots dragged their bodies underground before withdrawing from Beyond.
• Joey, Beyond, and Zigg climbed into the tree’s crown and ate its fragrant fruit, which gave off a powerful surge of life force.
• Zigg warned Joey that eating more than one fruit could be harmful, and Joey watched an uneaten fruit shrivel away.

Joey studied the Giant Tree’s God Script and watched its protective abilities shield them from the Dark Continent’s nightly dangers. By noon, Kakin’s reduced group emerged from the Forest Sea and headed toward the lakeshore, including the First and Second Princes and members of the Phantom Troupe.

• Joey translated the God Script in the Giant Tree’s trunk and inferred that its fruit might contain poison if eaten in excess.
• At night, the Giant Tree emitted blue light and a protective barrier that repelled butterfly powder as the butterflies crossed the plain to collect water from the lake.
• Multi-tongued Monsters preyed on the butterflies, while Muscle Rabbits uprooted rapidly growing trees and ate them before burrowing underground.
• Joey watched the powder-covered plants come alive and recorded the strange events, then spent the morning observing challengers who approached the Giant Tree and became its food.
• At noon, Zigg spotted Kakin’s group emerging from the Forest Sea; Joey recognized the First and Second Princes, Phantom Troupe members, and their guards among the roughly twenty survivors.

Joey sent messages to Botobai and the scattered Hunter Association and Beyond’s people while Kakin’s party prepared an ambush with Pap’s help. As night fell, Kakin’s fire drew the butterflies into a curtain of flame, where Flame Butterflies and falling fireballs confronted the Dark Continent creatures.

• Beyond fired a Signal Gun, alerting Botobai, Kakin’s soldiers, and people waiting at the Forest Sea.
• Joey created hummingbirds with Gold Experience to guide Botobai and deliver written instructions to people in the Forest Sea.
• Benjamin questioned Pap about stopping the Hunter Association and Beyond’s party, while Balsamilco explained that Kakin could still ambush them later.
• The Second Prince urged Chrollo to attack Joey, but Chrollo refused because the timing was wrong.
• In the Ancient Labyrinth City, silver- and gold-headed beings grew human-shaped Brions from flowers and sent them toward the Forest Sea.
• As butterflies rose at dusk, Kakin’s fires erupted into a curtain of flame, and Flame Butterflies joined the fireballs against the Multi-tongued Monster and Muscle Rabbit.

Joey watched Kakin’s fire devastate the Plain, then discovered that the lake was unnaturally devoid of wildlife and that dangerous creatures were emerging from it. A colossal Black Dragon landed nearby as the shell-backed, tentacled creatures crawled toward the Plain, leaving Joey wondering whether they feared the dragon.

• Kakin’s flaming butterflies ignited the Plain, while ordinary butterflies sacrificed themselves to weaken the flames spreading toward the Forest Sea.
• Joey watched the fire subside and suspected that the strange odor from the smoke might be Kakin’s real killing move.
• Joey noticed no beasts had approached the lake and asked Zigg what lived in it, but Zigg said he did not know and Beyond warned against entering Dark Continent waters.
• Snail-like creatures emerged from the lake and crawled toward the Plain as Joey and the others watched.
• A colossal Black Dragon flew in and landed on the Plain, while the shell-backed creatures continued toward it.

Joey's team avoided the Black Dragon and the lake monsters, regrouped after detouring around the lake, and recovered in a giant tree. As Ging and Pariston argued that Kakin might be anticipating their route, Cheadle agreed to consider crossing the lake instead of following the familiar path.

• The Black Dragon and lake monsters occupied the plain, while Kakin's team built rafts and crossed the lake without being attacked.
• Joey received word that the others had found a route out of the Forest Sea, and his team detoured to reunite with them.
• The reunited team sheltered in a giant tree, where Joey restored injured members and sent flying cameras to record the plain.
• Ging argued that Kakin could be preparing traps along their expected route, while Cheadle questioned how Kakin could predict their direction.
• Pariston backed Ging's proposal to cross the lake using a ship built by the Hunter Association's specialists, and Cheadle ultimately agreed with them.

The team investigated the lake before taking the water route and discovered enormous eyeballs underwater that produced shell-bearing monsters. Botobai’s Nen Beast damaged an eyeball, but it quickly healed, leaving the team to conclude they needed to cross the lake before the monsters returned.

• Joey and the team reviewed information about the Savage Beasts and Chimera Ants inhabiting the mountains along the route.
• Joey sent hummingbirds and turtles across the lake, where they discovered giant, seemingly lifeless eyeballs and found no other aquatic life.
• The team sent Nen Beasts into the eyeballs and discovered empty shells inside; one Nen Beast was transformed into a shell-bearing monster after entering a shell.
• An eyeball released viscous matter and shells containing monsters, which charged toward living presences in the lake.
• Botobai’s Nen Beast cleaved an eyeball in half, but it healed within a minute, convincing the team to cross the lake before the shell-bearing monsters returned.

Joey and the others began crossing the eyeball-filled lake while preparing to lure the Black Dragon away before it could threaten them. Ging's attempt to obstruct the returning shelled monsters revealed that giant-tree roots actively cleared their path, and Cluck gave Joey a shell fragment to study.

• Cluck reported that the shells were the actual organisms and that their tentacled bodies were Nen Beasts created through Emission-type Nen.
• Joey deployed camera-carrying creations with Piyon's assistance, and Cheadle led the team aboard a boat that turned transparent as it crossed the lake.
• Piyon's surveillance showed the shelled monsters returning toward the lake as the strange smell over the plain faded.
• Pariston urged a preemptive diversion of the Black Dragon, and Cheadle approved proceeding with preparations that included a dangerous lure supplied by Ging and reproduced by Botobai.
• Ging's branch barricades halted the shelled monsters until giant-tree roots dragged the branches aside in response to a monster's cries.
• Cluck explained the limits of her findings and handed Joey a shell fragment for his own research.

Joey and his allies crossed the lake while Botobai’s Nen Beast attacked Kakin’s hidden team and drew the Black Dragon away. Exploding eyeballs unleashed living bloody threads across the water, while falling flames threatened the ship ahead.

• Joey deactivated Gold Experience to divert the shelled monsters from his allies and preserve the ship’s secrecy.
• Piyon spotted Kakin’s people near the giant trees, and Botobai sent Nen Beasts to attack them and approach the Black Dragon.
• Botobai’s Nen Beast killed the hidden Kakin team, but two concealed people launched fuel boxes toward the ship before they were killed.
• The Mercenaries’ Combat Robot blasted the fuel boxes, which exploded in midair and drew the Black Dragon’s attention.
• The shelled monsters devoured the fallen flames, triggering nearby eyeballs to burst and spread living bloody threads across the lake.
• Cheadle and Ging urged the ship to speed up as bloody threads spread toward it and more flames fell ahead.