The chance encounter with Pyon was just a small interlude.
After a brief chat, the two went their separate ways. However, it was the second time Akira had personally met a character from the original story, the first being Menchi.
Every time he engaged in face-to-face conversations with them, it always made Akira acutely aware that he had truly entered the world of Hunter x Hunter.
The next day. Following his original plan, Akira arrived at the Moros Ruins. The Moros Ruins were quite different from the Harimu Ruins he had visited before. From above, the Harimu Ruins appeared as a large circle, with the central area being the inner city and the surrounding areas the outer city.
The Moros Ruins, on the other hand, were roughly rectangular but built against the shoulder of a mountain. Except for the initial section, the deeper parts were filled with remnants of death, much like the Harimu Ruins.
Upon reaching the exterior of the Moros Ruins, Akira found himself surrounded by crumbling walls and ruins, with few intact structures remaining. Unlike the Harimu Ruins, which had a romanticized history of a kingdom, this place was merely the remnants of a small country that had faded away over time.
In this aspect, it couldn't compare to the Harimu Ruins. However, there was a legend about the Kila Volcano, which claimed that when darkness once engulfed the land, the volcano erupted and burned away the darkness, saving the region... Akira simply took it as a tale to listen to.
To Akira surprise, there were quite a few people gathered within the Moros Ruins. Scattered around were about four or five teams, mostly ordinary people, though it was unclear where they got the confidence to face the remnants of death.
This area was already directly exposed to the remnants of death, with the air thick with their menacing presence. Clearly, most of them were here for the uncertain possibility of finding one of the Seven Beauties—Aqua Glass.
Using his Pokedex ability, Akira even spotted a few skilled Nen users among the crowd, all of whom had reached B-level.
At the same time, he noticed someone unexpected yet fitting in the crowd. No, actually two people!
"Yo! Mr. Akira, we meet again!" Pyon bounced over to Akira, her rabbit ears bobbing up and down as she greeted him.
"Yeah, quite a coincidence" Akira replied, though his attention was more focused on the person beside Piyon.
As if understanding Akira thoughts, Pyon gestured toward the man with her right hand and introduced him first.
"This is my colleague from the Association, Mr. Satotz, an expert in ruins exploration. He's here with me to investigate the Moros Ruins."
The man stood tall and lean, dressed in a full black suit, resembling a high-ranking executive at first glance. He had light purple hair and a pair of distinctive curly mustaches, with long, slender limbs that suggested great flexibility... He was none other than Satotz, the first examiner of the 287th Hunter Exam!
Satotz was also a senior member of the Association, having been a Nen user for many years. It was said that he was once a fame-seeking ruins hunter, but after hearing about Ging achievements, he felt deeply ashamed and later dedicated himself to the protection and restoration of ruins.
This was the third original character Akira had encountered. Satotz didn't have much information in the storyline, and Akira only knew these details.
Upon recognizing Satotz, Akira immediately activated his Pokédex ability. To Akira surprise, Satotz strength was somewhere between B+ and A-. This suggested that there was a significant gap between each major stage, and it was likely that many people would get stuck here.
"Mr. Akira, hello," Satotz extended his hand with a gentle smile, his tone soft and exuding a sense of calm.
No one would have guessed that the Satotz standing before them was once a man who sought fame without any real ability.
After some conversation, they all understood each other intentions. Both Pyon and Satotz not only wanted to fulfill their desire to explore the ruins, they were also on a mission from the Hunter Association to check if there had been any changes in the ruins.
Ever since the sudden disappearance of the death aura from the Harimu Ruins not long ago, information about the Dark Continent had been exposed.
The Hunter Association had since increased their vigilance over these death aura-filled ruins, sending people to inspect them at the slightest sign of abnormality.
They feared that one day a terrifying "disaster" might emerge from within.
Due to the scarcity of nen exorcists, Pyon and Satz were prepared to brave the death aura and enter for a closer look. This was a common practice for them when exploring ruins.
Even the Hunter Association, with its many Nen users, struggled to have enough nen exorcists. The two usually didn't interact much, but this time they had formed a temporary team for the association mission.
However, one was a ruin hunter, and the other was paleograph hunter.
Akira could understand why they had teamed up to investigate the ruins.