Chapter 39: Thunder Awakening – Planing for The Dark Continent

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After five days, the training room was finally closed.

"Zzzt—!"

At this moment, Kai looked like a living Tesla coil.

Purple-blue electric arcs flickered from every pore on his body, releasing a sharp, metallic scent in the air.

The smell of ozone—created by the ionization of air under high-voltage currents.

"As expected of the most violent type of electric Nen... It's insanely difficult to control."

Even though it was Kai's own Nen ability, after its transformation, the control rate had plummeted.

From 100% mastery... down to barely 30-40%.

In other words, with every attack, at least half of the generated current went completely out of control.

Fortunately, Nen energy wouldn't backfire uncontrollably like unstable explosives—

Otherwise, Kai wouldn't dare use this ability at all.

[Thunder Warrior]

With just a thought, countless invisible electric currents surged through Kai's body, stimulating his cells on a microscopic level.

He could clearly feel every cell becoming explosively active.

"My speed... has increased at least fourfold!"

Not just movement speed—

Even the most difficult to boost—attack speed—had skyrocketed!!

"It's not just my body cells... even the Nen aura coating my skin seems to have gained some kind of enhancement buff..."

After a brief experience, Kai deactivated his Nen.

The benefits brought by [Thunder Warrior] were obvious.

But the drawbacks were just as severe.

First: the Nen consumption was monstrous.

If he only activated [Thunder Warrior], Kai could maintain it for a while.

But if he used it alongside his [Hundred Style Shura] state, his aura would be completely drained within five minutes.

Second: the physical burden was extreme.

The high-frequency current forced his body into an "overclocked" state, much like overdosing on stimulants.

Use it properly, and it was a tremendous power-up.

Use it recklessly...

Crippling injuries at best, death at worst!

---

Since the last battle—

There had been an eerie silence.

Perhaps because Meteor City's true strength had been exposed, the revenge that Kai and his group were expecting... never came.

Even the garbage trucks that once moved tirelessly in and out of Meteor City had vanished overnight.

According to intelligence from Aruba, it seemed that major nations had selected new dumping grounds elsewhere.

On the news, the matter was only mentioned in passing—

As if it didn't even matter.

"Have we located the Ten Dons yet?"

Kai asked coldly.

Those two assassination attempts—they all traced back to the legendary Ten Dons ruling the underworld.

There was no way Kai could simply forgive that.

He had been searching for their whereabouts relentlessly.

But despite all efforts—

The Ten Dons had gone dark.

Too many enemies.

Too many body doubles.

Too many smokescreens.

Finding them was like searching for a shadow in a thunderstorm.

Aruba reported helplessly,

"Boss, I've already issued a black-market bounty... but no one knows where they really are. We'll have to wait patiently."

The Lixiao Group's rise had been too fast.

Their own intelligence network was still immature.

For now, they had to rely on external mercenary networks to gather intel.

Kai narrowed his eyes.

"Looks like we'll have to let those old bastards live a little longer..."

In the original timeline, it was Illumi Zoldyck who ultimately assassinated the Ten Dons.

In theory, the Zoldyck family should know their current whereabouts.

But when Kai spent a fortune consulting them—

Even the Zoldycks admitted they had lost track.

"Looks like the only reason the Ten Dons exposed themselves last time... was because of the auction."

Kai calmly analyzed.

It made sense.

When you're the leader of a criminal empire across six continents and ten regions—

Enemies are countless.

Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people would be willing to kill you for free.

Given those odds, even a tiny success rate would still produce a few wealthy assassins over time.

Indeed, according to the data from Aruba's bounty platform, more than once had someone declared bankruptcy just to put a price on a Ten Don's head!

And yet, for decades—

The Ten Dons ruled unchallenged.

They obviously had methods for survival.

True revenge... would have to wait.

---

Meanwhile, Kai's own organization was thriving.

"Currently, the Lixiao Group has expanded operations into fourteen cities, covering over 60% of the Ochma Federation's territory. Estimated monthly revenue is 50 billion Jenny."

"However, based on recent data... we've hit a growth bottleneck."

"It's not just the underworld resisting us. Even the Ochma government is quietly setting up roadblocks."

"Boss, should we increase our political donations?"

Political backing was essential—

Whether for acquiring land or launching real estate projects.

The Group's explosive growth had been possible largely thanks to cozy ties with officials.

Kai thought for a moment, then spoke.

"From today onward, slow down expansion in real estate."

"Shift our focus toward food, weapons, and navigation technologies instead."

"I'll send you the detailed development blueprint later."

No matter how corrupt the system—

No regime would tolerate a company that monopolized basic human needs.

Especially not real estate.

Once a corporation starts strangling the economy by controlling housing, food, or infrastructure...

It stops being a company.

It becomes a chaebol—

A monster that even governments fear.

And Kai had no intention of becoming a monster.

He had bigger plans.

The Dark Continent.

"If I really want to explore and conquer the Dark Continent, there's no way I can rely on personal strength alone."

According to the "setting bible" left by Yoshihiro Togashi,

The Dark Continent was a world hundreds—maybe thousands—of times larger than the known human world.

To explore such a place—

Only organized collective power could possibly succeed.

Kai had only dipped into real estate to quickly amass funds.

The real future lay in food security, military hardware, and deep-sea navigation.

---

Because one thing was certain:

"The V5 will absolutely oppose any private exploration of the Dark Continent."

"Once I set sail... they'll blockade me from all sides."

Food, fuel, weapons—

Even something as small as a screw might become inaccessible.

Kai knew better than to rely on others.

Preparation was everything.

In fact, he was already lucky compared to worst-case scenarios.

In the canon timeline, when the Kakin Empire openly declared their Dark Continent expedition—

The V5's first instinct was to erase them entirely.

But after reassessing Kakin's true strength, they instead chose compromise.

Thus, the V5 became the V6.

According to widespread analysis—

The most accepted theory was:

> The Kakin Empire possessed military force comparable to the V5.

They likely controlled some doomsday-level superweapon—perhaps even "nuclear" or worse.

In the face of such strength, conflict would have been catastrophic for humanity.

Thus—

Absorbing Kakin into the V6 alliance was the only rational move.

Kai smirked slightly to himself.

"Looks like if necessary... I'll have to walk the same path as Kakin."

He hated wasting time negotiating with bureaucrats.

But if the V5 came at him with fangs bared—

He'd find a way to deal with them.

One step at a time.

One battle at a time.

And in the end—

He would set sail for the Dark Continent.

No matter what.

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