Expedition Team

__________ POV Ashton __________

And there I was, walking towards the lower tiers to find out more about the gathering of decently powered hunters.

At least I assume they are hunters. It's not exactly a guarantee.

Helping the expedition earlier was more of an impulsive move than anything. It's not like I genuinely care for it.

But I also have no reason to hate it now. Especially since the expedition isn't actually heading towards the Dark Continent. Which makes it a lot less important to me.

I would've likely left it to its fate otherwise. I had already helped them enough anyway.

There was also Cheadle, a person that I don't really understand how to describe. I wouldn't call her a friend. More of an acquaintance than anything.

But I find her intriguing enough. She has moments where she acts close to me, others where she doesn't even speak to me.

Overall, I think she considers me a friend of sorts. Although, that might just be because I helped her quite a bit lately.

Heh, it doesn't matter much anyway. I doubt I'll meet her much in the future.

Still, I wonder how to fix whatever issues there are with Kurapika... It's quite clear that he's not planning on speaking to me... Well, maybe that is for the best.

I did deceive him to start a friendship. Honestly, things would be much better if I was more straightforward. But it simply isn't in my nature.

I reached the lower tiers while deep in my thoughts. I passed an obviously dented part of the ship, people and workers were gathered around it.

Some were whispering in fear while others were looking in shock as the repair crew was assessing the damages.

Apparently, there was no leak or flooding due to the attack, but it certainly showed the passengers that this ride isn't exactly as safe as advertised.

"Everyone! There is no need to panic! The monster that attacked us was powerful, but it was still driven away by our powerful vessel!" Great, here comes the propaganda spreaders.

Well, I don't really care if they want to think the sea monster was driven away by this. It's not really any of my business.

By the time I reached the room with the interesting meeting, it was already almost ending. People were getting up and preparing to leave.

I entered anyway. Well, the door was locked, but that has rarely stopped me in the past.

I kicked the door open gracefully, it flew off its hinges and crashed into the wall.

"Good Day!" I said with a smile.

Everyone in the room looked to be battle-ready. Oh, there's also Ging here. Neat.

"Who are you!? How did you get this location!?" Asked a fat man with hair worn in a bowl cut. Wait. Is his head shaped like an egg? This is interesting.

The people in the room all look interesting in fact... A girl that seems to have robotic movements, wearing a school-like uniform.

There's also a woman with hair worn in four different buns. Her eyes are strangely empty.

There's a person that looks kind of like an Elf but not really. He has long white hair.

There's even a piloted mech! This is quite the engineered marvel. Well, it's likely a conjured construct, but it seems to be quite powerful.

There's a dude with a squared jaw and a sushi chef headband. He's also wearing an apron, so he's likely the cook...

Well, there are a few more. But I don't care much about them.

Since both Pariston and Ging are here, I assume this is the expedition party. So, they are still planning an expedition.

Ging should've realised that we aren't heading for the Dark Continent though. He should still have Don's book...

And that means that they are planning to ditch the fake expedition and go on an actual expedition. Well, power to them, it's their death.

The wildlife is bound to be a lot more active with my arrival. And since they can't really do much to me, they will have to take their frustrations off on others.

"First off, the name's Ashton. Nice to meet you all. I am here to join your little expedition." I said with a proud smile as I boisterously pointed at my chest with my thumb.

Everyone stood in silence and watched me a bit. Noone lowered their guard. The mech was actually preparing to fire towards me.

Ha! I just complimented it, it'd be a shame if I had to turn it to scrap.

"Now now! I am not an enemy here!" I said with a smile.

It's time to play a role once more. If I can reach the continent with them I won't have to waste the energy to explode my way there.

After all, using Noah's Ark would be even more taxing for such a small journey. It's one of the conditions of the relic. The longer the duration the least it costs.

These guys here can prove to be useful for a week or two.

__________ POV Pariston Hill __________

Why is this maniac here?!

These fools, baring their teeth at him... Are they trying to get us all killed?!

Well, they have no way of knowing what he is... Thankfully, the monster seems to want to join our expedition.

It's easy enough to tell that he isn't lying. He doesn't need to backstab us or betray us in order to kill us. If he felt like it, we would already be dead.

I can only assume he's also interested in heading for the Dark Continent. I am sure he has his own reasons.

Our mole, the monkey of the Zodiacs, just informed us of his presence in their meeting.

And also that the powerful En we had just felt was in fact his. It didn't really surprise me, I already knew he's a monster.

It seems that Monkey forgot to explain how Ashton looked. He just gave a basic description. So now the people in the room don't recognize him.

It seems that I need to mend the situation myself.

"Everyone! Lower your weapons. This man is a new addition to our group! I was the one to invite him." Everyone looked at me weirdly.

I guess it's because I am no longer the second in command of the expedition(Ging has that title now). They looked at me sceptically. But listened to me.

They must not really appreciate that I am ordering them around. But it's also for their own safety(and mine).

"Why didn't you announce us of this beforehand Pariston!" Usamen, the sushi chef, seemed to be the first to complain.

This may be a problematic situation, but it's a lot better than losing my life.

"Well, I may have forgotten to announce to him that I would attend this meeting. I had a busy day after all." Thankfully, this monster is more than capable of lying.

I guess that makes sense, someone this powerful would obviously not be an idiot.

"I did have a sea monster to keep away from the ship." He said as he was rubbing the back of his head with a smile.

I guess he's laying his cards on the table huh? It makes sense to do things this way. Fewer misunderstandings and senseless conflicts.

But it also means the people in the room now know he was also meeting with the Zodiacs.

He must already know we have a mole in the Zodiacs, hell, even the Zodiacs know.

Now, let's see how he plays this...

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Yea, he's meeting the actual expedition team now! The DC is approaching boiz

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