In the International Permit Agency's basement, a new deputy secretary is shown what the Dark Continent sends home: wrung-out corpses found in the known world and a Hunter kept alive fifty years by the Zobae immortality disease. The Zodiacs watch Netero's second DVD — Beyond once defied him, took an unexplored route, and brought back new threats, so Netero asks the Association to reach the Continent before his son. Then Beyond himself walks in and tells them to inform the V5 they have 'captured' him.
- DiscoveryCanonicalNetero's second DVD: precede my son
The Zodiacs watch the DVD Netero left for exactly this contingency. Beyond once defied his father on a Dark Continent trip, took an unexplored route, and brought back new threats — so Netero banned him and the Association from the Continent until his own death. His final request: the Association should reach the Dark Continent before Beyond does.
InvolvedCheadle Yorkshire · Mizaistom Nana · Kanzai · Pyon · Botobai Gigante · Gel · Saccho Kobayakawa · Ginta · Saiyu · CluckLocationHunter Association HQ▸Consequences (2)
- Cheadle accepts the mission on behalf of the Zodiacs
- The Association's rivalry with Beyond becomes a dead man's request
- DecisionCanonicalBeyond turns himself in
Mid-argument about how to hunt him, the Zodiacs get a call from Beyond Netero himself — and then the man walks in. He instructs them to tell the V5 that they have 'captured' Beyond Netero, converting his own arrest into the opening move of his negotiation.
InvolvedBeyond Netero · Cheadle Yorkshire · Mizaistom Nana · Botobai Gigante · SaiyuLocationHunter Association HQ▸Consequences (2)
- Custody of Beyond becomes the Zodiacs' leverage — and their burden
- Every subsequent 'concession' Beyond makes is a move he planned
- Five Threats came back from past expeditions: Brion, Ai, Hellbell, Pap, and Zobae
- Netero's dying request: the Association must precede Beyond to the Dark Continent
- Beyond already traveled there once, against his father's orders, at terrible cost
- Cheadle accepts Netero's request on the Zodiacs' behalf
- Beyond converts his own arrest into the first move of his negotiation
- Every return trip from the Dark Continent has imported an extinction-level calamity
