Learning that everyone on the coastline was there for the old turtle, Law couldn't help but glance at the rows of tents around them.
These people chasing the shadow would never imagine that the enormous shadow flying in the sky was actually an ancient turtle with wings.
Right now, the old turtle was probably deep in the ocean.
"Actually, that wasn't a bird," Law said, his earlier strange expression gone, replaced by seriousness.
"You know what it is?" Dafifi immediately stared intently at Law, a trace of tension in his demeanor.
From their earlier conversation, Law knew Dafifi was a Beast Hunter. This reaction was normal.
"It's a turtle," Law stated the truth.
"Hah?!" Dafifi was dumbfounded. If anyone else had said this, he probably would have flipped the table.
A moment later, he said gloomily, "That's not funny at all."
"I'm not lying to you," Law said with sincerity.
Looking at Law's seemingly genuine expression, Dafifi thought to himself: 'Are you a damn actor or what?'
"Let's not talk about this. Let's eat the fish." Dafifi felt a bit weary and changed the subject, ladling another bowl of fish stew from the pot.
"Alright."
Seeing Dafifi didn't believe him, Law shrugged and helped himself to another bowl of stew, continuing to eat.
He thought to himself that if Dafifi pressed a bit more, he wouldn't hide it and would at least give Dafifi some information.
'Since he wasn't willing to believe, then forget it.'
Soon, the two men finished the entire large pot of fish stew.
Dafifi let out a satisfied breath of hot air, his gloomy mood improving slightly.
Law, however, stood up.
"Leaving?" Seeing this, Dafifi also quickly stood up.
Subconsciously, he placed himself in a rather humble position when facing Law.
"Mm." Law looked in a certain direction, taking out a phone that looked like it had been buried for hundreds of years. He played with it in his right hand and said, "I just got back not long ago. There are many things I need to handle."
The reason the phone was in this state was because it had been attacked by [Time Erosion].
That was an experience in a human ruin within a swamp on the Dark Continent. The Calamity possessing the [Time Erosion] ability seemed to have a strong desire to attack only 'electrical energy'.
So, when Law took out his phone back then, intending to photograph the ruins, the phone was corroded by time in the blink of an eye.
Even now, thinking back carefully, it still made him break out in a cold sweat.
'Fortunately, the Calamity only attacked the phone. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.'
Although he had just returned and had a lot of things to handle, and many people he should meet one by one, he needed to find Ickshonpe first to see if he could recover the data on the memory card.
After all, there are many precious photos inside.
"Oh." Dafifi nodded in understanding, then glanced at Law's ruined phone, barely recognizing the model.
It was a popular phone from a few years ago, very suitable as a Hunter's communication device. His own phone was the same model.
It's just that the phone had only been on the market for a few years, yet Law's phone looked like a freshly unearthed artifact.
"By the way, here's something good for you."
Just as Dafifi was puzzled, Law flipped his hand, and the phone suddenly disappeared.
His hand gave a slight shake, and a piece of jerky about ten centimeters long appeared between his fingers.
"This is a delicacy you can't get on the Six Continents."
As he spoke, he casually tossed the well-presented jerky.
Dafifi hurriedly reached out to catch it, looking down at the jerky, 'It looked quite tempting, but it was just common dried meat, right?'
"What is this?"
He looked up to ask but suddenly froze.
'Where was he?'
Law, who had been standing right there a moment ago, was now gone.
Dafifi quickly focused his eyes, scanning the surroundings, but found no trace of Law.
'Had it even been two seconds?'
'Moreover, there was no noticeable Nen Fluctuation. So how did he vanish so instantly?'
Dafifi's heartbeat gradually quickened, 'Was it In?'
Unconsciously, Dafifi recalled the first time he met Law. Back then, Law's strength wasn't particularly impressive. But now...
"I have never slackened on the path to becoming stronger."
He muttered to himself, then heaved a heavy sigh. He looked at the jerky again and, as if to vent his frustration, stuffed the entire piece into his mouth, chewing furiously.
A few seconds later, the wonderful taste received by his tongue hit him like waves, each stronger than the last.
"@#￥%!"
Dafifi swore incoherently, his volume unconcealed, spreading across the entire coastline.
Instantly, angry shouts came from the surroundings.
From nearby, several unfriendly gazes stabbed over like knives.
Dafifi had no time to bother with the reactions around him. Instead, he was filled with extreme regret, 'Why had I stuffed the whole piece into my mouth?'
To be honest, the texture while chewing was average, not unpleasant, but the key was... 'Why was it so delicious?'
Every chew released a better flavor, almost like... chewing gum.
As an Enhancer, one had to eat a lot of meat. Dafifi followed the beast-combat style, and his main profession was Beast Hunter. He spent years training and traveling deep in mountains and old forests, so over the decades, he had eaten plenty of high-quality beast meat.
Yet, this small, dry piece of jerky with its average texture completely surpassed the taste of any beast meat he had eaten in decades.
Dafifi slowed his chewing, hesitating whether to spit it out, wipe it clean, and save it to eat slowly.
…
Elsewhere, Law entered Yoru City.
The night deepened, but this relatively backward small city was brightly lit.
Perhaps because too many outsiders had flooded in, pedestrians were everywhere on the streets.
The food stalls on both sides had a constant stream of customers.
Law strolled leisurely down the street when he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to warn Dafifi not to eat the jerky all at once.
He immediately turned to look toward the coastline.
"Whatever."
He turned back, wanting to see if there was an internet cafe or similar place in the city.
Little did he know Dafifi's heart was currently bleeding.
After wandering around the city, Law finally found an internet cafe.
Entering the cafe, he went to the counter, tapped the surface to wake the dozing owner, paid a small deposit, walked to the innermost corner, and turned on a computer.
The internet cafe only had ten computers, and besides Law, there was only one other customer.
After turning on the computer, Law directly logged into his Hunter Association's website account.
The next instant, a dialog box popped up on the screen.
[You finally show up, Law!!!!!]
The sender's nickname was [Pe], which was Ickshonpe. The sentence ended with several exclamation marks, showing he was not just mildly excited.
Ickshonpe had popped up the moment he logged in, which was within Law's expectations.
[Yeah, get me in first, then we'll talk.]
Law typed a few words with one hand, then hit enter.
[Okay.]
Ickshonpe replied. A moment later, white light seeped from Law's computer screen, sucking him inside.
The other customer in the internet cafe was fully absorbed in his game, and the owner was dozing off, so no one noticed this scene.
Back on the coastline, Dafifi ultimately swallowed the jerky.
Then, he considered whether to call Netero.
From what he understood, one of the vacant Zodiac's spots seemed to have been specifically left open by Netero for Law.
He thought for a good while longer, then finally dialed Netero's number.
With a series of beeps, the call connected.