V5, Netero, or Beyond Oboro believed that none of them had penetrated as deeply into the Dark Continent as his group had.
The fact that they could discover the five disasters and hope showed that the longevity rice and herbs that could cure all diseases existed on the edge of the continent. It's just that they landed in the wrong direction, encountering desert as soon as they entered, preventing them from finding these treasures.
Geographical deviation.
But now, with the oasis that special plant was likely to appear! Finding longevity rice could increase lifespan who wouldn't want to eat it?
Oboro's physical strength now far exceeded Netero's, but without the blessing of longevity rice, he knew he would still die when his time limit was up at most he would just live a little longer. This was far from enough time to properly explore the Dark Continent.
After traveling for some time, the four of them stepped out of the tall, dense green grass and arrived at a flat area. The vegetation here appeared normal, just like in the human world, only reaching ankle height. What was striking, however, was the brilliance of the colors not just a single shade of green, but a vibrant spectrum.
"Captain," Menchi said, pointing to a location in the distance.
Oboro looked over and narrowed his eyes. Directly in front of them to the left, at the ten o'clock position, stood four or five gorgeous flowers about half a meter tall, bright red in color. In their opened buds sat not stamens, but fist-sized crystalline lenses. These appeared to be the 'fruit' of the flowers.
Drawing from their experience, they immediately determined these were the "hope" they had been searching for.
"Not longevity rice or vanilla" Disappointment flickered across Oboro's face after seeing this.
The ecological environment of this area was obviously different from where Netero had landed, which naturally led to differences in the types of organisms present. Not longevity rice If the hope represented by this fruit couldn't bring them direct benefits, then it held no value.
Oboro led the four forward, approaching the flowers himself.
Menchi and the other two turned their heads, looking to the other side. A few hundred meters away stood two "creatures" resembling a cross between wolves and rats. They walked upright like humans, with white hair covering their bodies. Most noticeable were the white skeletons on their backs, polished into sharp weapons.
The wolf-rats had double pupils set in red eye sockets.
After noticing several tiny life forms approaching the flowers, they let out rapid cries, unsheathed the weapons on their backs, and leaped forward. They moved with incredible speed, zigzagging across the ground. Menchi and the others maintained calm expressions, not bothering to warn their captain if they had spotted the creatures, Oboro must have noticed them long ago.
They continued straight toward the flowers, paying the creatures no mind.
Before the wolf-rats could close the distance, a ball of black mist overflowed from Oboro's body and condensed into a familiar form.
Meruem, the Chimera Ant King.
Immediately afterward, the Ant King vanished from sight.
Its speed far exceeded that of the two wolf-rats, and its movements weren't carried by the black mist at all. It appeared to be a separate soul entity with more powerful abilities, capable of acting independently from the Nen mist.
With two swift strikes, the two monsters that had just leaped high into the air with their impressive jumping power disappeared in wisps of black smoke. They instantly lost their breath, becoming lifeless objects falling to the ground.
Meruem looked at the two corpses, licking his lips with satisfaction as he walked toward Oboro's position. After taking a few steps, his figure dispersed like a cloud
Oboro raised his hand, signaling Menchi and the others to stop. He approached the beautiful flowers alone.
Something was stuck crookedly in the ground nearby. Though different in shape, it strongly resembled something Oboro recognized a scarecrow. Farmers in the human world often used similar methods to deceive and intimidate wild animals that threatened their crops.
Inside the 'scarecrow' was a skeleton, covered with some kind of animal skin and shaped with woven straw ropes. Strange patterns resembling talismans were painted on the animal skins with what appeared to be blood.
"This kind of thing" Oboro stared at the scarecrow, his heart sinking.
Throughout their journey, regardless of what life forms they had encountered, none had behaved in ways similar to humans. This representation marked a significant departure from that pattern.
"There are definitely advanced life forms nearby!"
A chill ran up from the soles of his feet.
His intuition warned him that this scarecrow was extremely dangerous. But seeing the extraordinary fruit on the flower, it would be a shame to turn back now.
Disasters are often proportional to hope. The greater the danger, the greater the potential reward.
Oboro stepped over the scarecrow and reached out to pick the ruby-like fruit.
Suddenly, the straw man seemed to move. Oboro glanced over as if electrocuted but everything appeared normal. Like an illusion.
He confirmed once more that the straw man had no soul it was just an empty shell.
With a sharp crack, he smashed the scarecrow to pieces.
Then, he released his Nen mist, sweeping over several flowers, devouring and absorbing the unformed souls within them. The unformed souls indicated these flowers lacked sound, mature thinking or consciousness; they were simply vegetation with weak spiritual power.
With their vitality severed, several flowers immediately tilted and fell. Oboro successfully harvested a few of the fruits.
He backed away quickly.
"Captain, that's a scarecrow" Anthony stared at the broken skins and bones on the ground in amazement.
"There's nothing surprising about it," Oboro replied calmly. "Humans migrated to the island in the lake from the Dark Continent, so it's natural for some form of civilization to remain here. From existing information, there's also a human city on this continent, though it appears empty more like ruins. Although we chose the same route as Don Freecss this time, it bypasses that empty city. The life energy of the Dark Continent is incredibly rich, so naturally some highly intelligent species would evolve here. This also suggests that humans in the past had at least some influence on this land."
His voice was measured and steady.
In truth, he hadn't revealed everything. He didn't want to alarm Menchi and the others.
He glanced at the damaged scarecrow again, unable to shake his sense of foreboding. At his current level of awareness, his intuition far exceeded that of a normal Nen user There must be a reason why the straw man triggered such a profound sense of danger.
A curse? Something weird? Or something else entirely?
He pondered silently.
"Let's move on," he ordered, clutching the fruit in his hand without examining it more closely.
The four of them departed together.
The two wolf-rats had probably been in the area for some time but hadn't attempted to take the fruit. Perhaps fruit wasn't part of their diet, even though it represented a form of "hope" for humans. For the creatures of the Dark Continent, perhaps its value wasn't as high although Oboro suspected the monsters might simply have feared the scarecrow.
It was obviously just a construct, a frame.
"A symbol?" he wondered. "Marking territory?"
As they walked away, Oboro continued his analysis.
If it were a curse it would necessarily involve energy. No matter what form of attack it took, even if it involved rules or conditions, it couldn't function without energy.
Before Alluka kills someone, she reveals her true form, showing her "spiritual energy" or "soul appearance." Her energy comes from within her body. The rules simply make it invisible.
Yet even invisible energy leaves traces. Whether twisting a living body into a twisted mass, causing someone to explode, or making spaceships rain cash from the sky all require the application of "force."
Oboro hadn't sensed any "energy" from the scarecrow, but that didn't eliminate the danger. Some forms of energy could bypass normal detection, operating through rules that could descend upon him at any moment.
Like Alluka's ability to twist someone into a knot this represented a perversion of natural rules.
But this wasn't Oboro's first encounter with rule-based power. In the past, he had been a player in "games of rules" himself.
There are two approaches to countering rules. The first is to follow the 'opponent's rules' and find loopholes to exploit them.
The second is to possess energy that exceeds the level the opponent's rules can control.
Energy remains the most fundamental driving force.
This was how Oboro had killed the elders of the Bozwa tribe.
The first method was no longer applicable to him because he didn't understand the "potential danger" rules and lacked sufficient intelligence about them.
All he could do was fight back with his own strength when the rule-driven energy manifested itself.
The power of rules might twist a person into a pretzel, but what if that person was as hard as steel? The source driving those rules would need to pay a greater price!
Rules can be viewed as disguised forms of control and constraint. While they have vulnerabilities, they aren't absolute.
The earliest game rules Oboro had understood operated on similar principles. Although one had to follow the game's rules, with sufficient personal ability, one could mitigate the drawbacks those rules imposed None of his opponents at that time could manage this feat.
Because it's exceedingly difficult
The stronger the constraints and alterations imposed by rules, the stronger the entity enforcing those rules must be. Otherwise, the effects would only be weakened.
Of course, the scarecrow might not involve rules at all it could be something weird.
"Weird" described creatures like Melody, whom Kurapika was supposed to meet. The dark sonata she had heard likely originated from the Dark Continent It was extremely harmful to the soul.
Zobae Disease, one of the five major calamities, was another typical example.
Oboro's own soul ability also fit the characteristics of the weird.
But whether weird or extraordinary, energy always leaves signs. The scarecrow hadn't shown any, which was why Oboro suspected rules must be involved otherwise, his bad premonition wouldn't have emerged from nowhere.
Of course, his theory might be wrong. The danger could lie in other factors.
If it weren't for rules, he might actually feel relieved.
"Demon King" When thinking of the Dark Sonata, Oboro couldn't help but consider the life forms that most likely existed in the Dark Continent.
He didn't have to take the fruit. He didn't have to take the risk.
But Oboro knew very well that in this land, rules could not be avoided.
He must confront them sooner rather than later.
When enemies come, we will stop them; when water comes, we will block it with earth.