[121]: Whale Island

The airship followed the coordinates provided by Zorge.

Eventually, it hovered over an ancient castle built on the edge of a cliff.

"Another castle-dweller, huh…" Cyr muttered, his tone unreadable as he stared at the fortress below.

He had lived in a castle before. During scorching summers or freezing winters, he had been sent abroad, staying in places where endless corridors stretched in every direction—so much so that he had once gotten lost inside.

With a designated helipad, the airship descended under the guidance of the people below.

Zorge stood in the open courtyard, greeting them with an air of ownership before leading them into the guest lounge.

"If everything looks good, go ahead and sign," he said, pulling two contracts from beneath the table and handing them to Cyr and Maro.

The contract terms weren't too strict. It simply stated that any items brought out of the game would belong to them, and that successful player would receive a 50-billion Jenny reward.

"How many consoles do you have right now?" Cyr asked, signing his name and tossing the pen aside.

"It's inconvenient to disclose the exact number at the moment. We're still acquiring them. From what I've heard, seven consoles will appear at the Yorknew auction this September," Zorge deflected, avoiding a direct answer.

"There might be robbery attempts, so we'll need you to come along," he added.

Take out the 'might.' Be more confident. It's definitely happening.

If he remembered correctly, the Spiders would make their move at this year's auction.

"And here I thought I'd get to play right away," Cyr sighed, half reminiscing about the Spiders' plotline, half complaining. "What a waste of a trip. Boring."

"By the way, if I clear the game, can I exchange the 50 billion for a Rainbow Egg instead?" He suddenly asked.

Money wasn't that useful to him.

The Seven Beauties still lacked one Rainbow Egg and an unknown item.

"A Rainbow Egg… That item has almost never appeared," Zojikila shook his head. "Mr. Battera wouldn't agree to that trade."

Fifty billion was a tangible sum, but a Rainbow Egg wasn't something you could just buy off the market.

"Fine." The white-haired boy didn't seem too bothered by the answer. "So, what do we do next?"

"…Let me think," Zorge fell silent for a moment.

Cyr had already done everything that needed doing, leaving him at a loss for what to assign him next.

What, was he supposed to treat Cyr like a subordinate and start giving him orders?

Zorge had no doubt that if he tried that, the white-haired boy sitting across from him would immediately throw hands—without saying a word.

We're both One-Star Hunters. What gives you the right to act like my boss?

That was probably how Cyr would see it.

Which meant… he had no idea how to handle him.

"…Looks like there's nothing for us to do right now," Cyr concluded from Zorge's prolonged silence.

Not that he had any intention of looking for work himself. But getting 50 billion just to play a game for free? That was insane. What kind of saint was this Battera guy?

At this moment, Battera officially surpassed Chrollo in Cyr's mind, taking first place on his list of most generous benefactors.

Because let's be honest—Chrollo never paid this much.

That's what set apart the truly wealthy.

"Alright, we're heading out," Cyr said, standing up and turning to leave.

"…Don't forget to meet at Yorknew by the end of August," Zorge called after him, watching the white-haired boy's retreating figure.

"Got it." The boy waved a hand without turning back.

Is hiring someone this uncontrollable really a good idea…?

His reputation wasn't exactly stellar.

Zorge recalled the boy's notoriety in both the Hunter and criminal circles, his gaze darkening.

With almost six months left until the end of August, Cyr picked up his Bounty Hunter identity once more, turning his attention back to high-reward criminals. It was like picking the fattest pig to slaughter for New Year's.

As his balance skyrocketed, so did the infamy of the "Bounty Devil."

After diligently hunting criminals for two months, Cyr finally stopped.

Not for any grand reason—he was just exhausted.

"I'm either traveling or chasing down criminals every damn day. I've been on this airship so long I might puke…" Cyr groaned, sprawled out lifelessly on the couch.

It felt just like year-end sales season—constantly on the grind, either catching criminals or on the way to catching them. It was practically his full-time job at this point.

Though, to be fair, these criminals were loaded. His balance had been steadily climbing because of them.

"Would you like to take a vacation, my lord?" Maro suggested after some thought.

His father was the same way—switching vacation spots every so often, claiming he'd get bored staying in one place too long.

"Vacation…" Cyr suddenly sat up. "Wait, I just remembered—I took the Hunter Exam so I could use free transportation and travel the world!"

He got his license, sure. But with a personal airship at his disposal, he never actually needed public transport.

As for his dream of traveling the world… well, that hadn't really happened either.

He'd been to plenty of places, but he'd never really enjoyed them.

Thinking of this, Cyr's gaze landed on a system panel only he could see.

[World Exploration: 30%]

He had visited all six continents, even spent over a month at sea, yet the exploration rate was still only thirty percent.

Was the remaining seventy percent all on the Dark Continent?

A land even larger than the human-inhabited world…

The Zoldyck family had probably been there before. Nanika, the entity inside Alluka, couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere. It was likely something they brought back from the Dark Continent.

Ever since meeting Alluka, Cyr had suspected as much, but he never asked outright.

Just because he was straightforward didn't mean he was reckless.

The Dark Continent was a classified topic. Only a handful of people even knew about it. If he casually asked Silva, "Hey, that thing inside your kid—it's from the Dark Continent, right?"

He'd probably have the Hunter Association knocking on his door the next day.

By day three, V5 would have him silenced.

And by silenced, they obviously meant eliminated.

The Five Great Nations weren't about to let their secrets get out. If someone discovered something they shouldn't, V5 would definitely investigate how they found out—and then cover it up.

Every corrupt government in every world operated the same way.

Meanwhile, his character synchronization rate had slowly climbed to 53.

At this point, he had turned off system notifications, only allowing alerts when it hit 60.

Gaining just one point at a time felt so miserly. Who was he supposed to be impressed by, exactly?

"We're going to Whale Island," Cyr said, flopping back onto the couch.

Whale Island had been on his list of places to visit ever since arriving in this world.

The Zoldyck estate? Checked off.

The Exam Hall? Not only checked, but he even became an examiner.

Heaven's Arena? Reached the 200th floor, though not the title of "Floor Master"—still a successful check-in.

Yorknew? Been there, though he hadn't attended the auction yet—check-in failed.

And the protagonist's birthplace? Of course, that was a must-visit location.

A quiet island getaway sounded nice.

The constant headaches, the exhaustion—no matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling that his brain was about to explode.

A synchronization rate under 60% was still too low. But even if it hit max, with the passive strain of the Six Eyes, he'd probably still be drained all the time.

"Whale Island? Understood." Maro nodded, though he couldn't quite understand why his lord wanted to visit some unknown, unremarkable little island. It wasn't exactly a famous vacation spot.

But he didn't ask—just obeyed.

°°°

If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon

Link: Patreon/Moziel