"Since you know Beyond can't go to the Dark Continent as long as I'm alive, that reason of yours doesn't hold up," Netero said without even lifting his eyelids, directly rejecting the explanation Ronin had given earlier.
"All right, all right. I knew I couldn't hide it from you." Ronin spread his hands and poured himself a cup of tea as well.
Unlike Netero, however, he had no refined interest in slowly savoring tea. He downed the entire cup in one gulp like an ox drinking water.
"I want to go to the Dark Continent to search for members of the Kurta Clan," Ronin said, revealing his true reason. "And I also want to look for an opportunity to break through."
The breakthrough Ronin was talking about wasn't a breakthrough in strength.
He meant his eyes.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was not his endpoint.
The Eternal Mangekyō, the Rinnegan—he wanted to obtain them all. But within the range of Lake Mobius, he couldn't see any chance for that breakthrough.
At least, he couldn't see any chance to break through to the Rinnegan. That was why he wanted to go outside and take a look.
Netero nodded.
"Now that sounds more like it."
"So can you tell me how to get to the Dark Continent now?" Ronin looked at him expectantly.
"When we went back then, it was very simple," Netero said. "Just a little broken boat, and we kept rowing outward."
"That can't be true," Ronin said, clearly not believing him.
"Since you know about the Dark Continent, I assume you've also learned about the Gatekeeper," Netero replied.
Ronin shook his head.
"I don't know much about the Gatekeeper. I don't even know what the gate he guards actually is."
Netero's expression seemed to say, I thought so.
"If there are a lot of people, the Gatekeeper might pay attention to you. But if it's only a few people, he'll most likely turn a blind eye. After all, you don't need him to open the gate for you."
Ronin listened seriously.
"The Lake Mobius we live in is protected," Netero said, his tone turning serious as well. "In ancient times, humans lived on the land now called the Dark Continent.
"But for some unknown reason, humanity chose to migrate and came into this lake.
"And around this lake, there exists a natural barrier—a zone shaped like a Mobius strip. Any being that enters that region will be unable to find their way into Lake Mobius, and also unable to return to the Dark Continent.
"There is only one way to pass through that region: enter the Gate of Darkness guarded by the Gatekeeper. It functions like a long-distance teleportation gate. Once you step inside, by the time you appear again, you will have crossed the Mobius strip zone and reached the coastline of the Dark Continent."
"Energy?" Ronin began to understand what Netero meant.
As for the so-called Mobius strip zone, he couldn't quite imagine what kind of place it was. But from the sound of it, it seemed to be something like a labyrinth, a region that trapped anything entering or leaving within it.
And it was precisely because that zone existed that the area within Lake Mobius had remained stable.
As for a teleportation gate, activating such a thing would require energy.
"Correct." Netero praised him. "What the Gatekeeper guards is that teleportation gate. If a large number of people want to go to the Dark Continent, the gate must be opened. But if it's only a few scattered individuals, there's no need to go through all that trouble.
"You only need to complete the trial set by the Gatekeeper, and you can use a special passage to go to the Dark Continent. That passage belongs exclusively to the Gatekeeper.
"However, if you want to go to the Dark Continent that way, you must complete the task the Gatekeeper gives you. Only after obtaining the item he needs from the Dark Continent can you reenter that private passage and return to Lake Mobius.
"Of course, if you intend to go and never come back, then you can ignore the Gatekeeper's task."
Ronin began to understand what Netero meant.
The Gatekeeper was like a teleportation gate maintenance worker, and that maintenance worker had his own special route that allowed him to travel to the Dark Continent at any time.
But using that route probably came at a price. Something had to be paid.
And that was the trial set by the Gatekeeper.
"The way you describe it makes it sound like they actually encourage small groups to go to the Dark Continent," Ronin said, voicing his doubt.
"Smart." Netero said. "For the Gatekeeper, every time he opens the teleportation gate and sends people to the Dark Continent, it's a gamble. If the people he sends out can bring back what he needs, then he profits.
"On the other hand, if the people he sends out die or run away and fail to bring back what he needs, then it's a loss.
"And he has suffered far too many losses. During that period, the enraged Gatekeeper delivered punishment and sent five calamities into the range of Lake Mobius.
"As things currently stand, there is no method to resolve those five calamities. The only reason humanity has not gone extinct is that our luck has been decent. None of those five calamities have erupted on a large scale within Lake Mobius."
Netero gave his explanation, and Ronin more or less understood what was going on.
"Does the Gatekeeper often go to the Dark Continent too? And can he deal with those five calamities?" Ronin asked curiously.
At least in his view, the extinction of humanity wouldn't bring the Gatekeeper any benefit.
"Yes." Netero nodded. "The Gatekeeper frequently goes to the Dark Continent. The things needed to keep the Gate of Darkness stable are found there.
"As for whether he can deal with the Five Great Calamities, that's hard to say. But at the very least, those things don't affect him."
"So my goal is to find out the Gatekeeper's exact location, then get a ship and sail directly across the sea to reach him?" Ronin summarized.
"That's right." Netero nodded in agreement. "I can give you the route map to reach that place. Whether you can actually get there will depend on your own ability."
"There's one more thing I'm curious about," Ronin said. "If everything has to pass through the Gate of Darkness to reach the Lake Mobius region, does that mean that as long as the Gatekeeper doesn't want it to happen, things from the Dark Continent simply can't get in?"
Netero shook his head.
"No. The Gatekeeper only watches over the Gate of Darkness inside Lake Mobius. He has no control over the Gates of Darkness on the Dark Continent. And over there, there isn't just one gate.
"If something accidentally opens a Gate of Darkness, enters it, and reaches Lake Mobius, then at most, the Gatekeeper will sense it.
"When that happens, how those things are dealt with becomes the responsibility of V5's special institution, the Dangerous Creatures Response Bureau, and the Hunter Association. You should have heard of that department, yes?"
Ronin nodded.
The danger ratings for species like the Chimera Ants had been issued by the Dangerous Creatures Response Bureau.