The pictograms carved atop the walled structures might be the key to lifting a corner of the fog shrouding the Ancient Labyrinth City.
Salin wanted to stay and decipher the script. Law understood, but the search for the Herb for All-illnesses couldn't stop there.
Therefore, the team naturally split into two.
One team stayed to decipher the script, the other continued searching for the Herb.
Ging was a Ruins Hunter with formidable combat power, so he stayed.
With Ging staying, Law felt somewhat reassured. After exchanging a few words with Ging, he led away more than half of the team to continue searching the Ancient Labyrinth City.
Those who stayed were Ging, Sheila, Bruna, Buhara, Biscuit, and Shiro. The rest went with Law.
The two teams went their separate ways.
Elsewhere, the International Permit Agencies' team was engaged in battle with the endless stream of the Brion army.
The most difficult aspects of the Brion were its incurable toxin and transformative ability, while the most troublesome was its numbers.
The continuous arrival of Brion hosts directly plunged the International Permit Agencies' team into a bitter struggle. Despite Giles fighting valiantly, the numerical gap between the two sides showed no sign of closing.
"It's endless."
With a staff strike that shattered a strange-shaped Brion host sneaking up from behind, Giles's expression was grim.
More and more Brions were attacking, while his teammates' numbers were slowly dwindling.
Individual soldiers were far superior to the Brions in strength, but they couldn't withstand the unreasonable transformative poison of the Brions. A single small scratch was enough to take effect.
Because of this, facing the continuous stream of Brions, no matter how cautious the soldiers were, they couldn't avoid being hit.
When the team entered the Ancient Labyrinth City, there were five hundred members. Now, less than half remained.
Kincaid was protected at the very rear, his expression grave as he stared at the endless onslaught of Brions.
If things continued like this, obtaining the Herb for All-illnesses was truly uncertain.
His gaze shifted from the many Brions to Giles, who was in the center of the battle wreaking havoc.
'What reason drives the Brions in the ancient city to keep rushing here? Judging by this situation, even if Captain Giles's strength is formidable enough, he can't withstand that many Brions.'
Kincaid's gaze was deep and thoughtful. He muttered quietly to himself, "To reduce personnel losses, we must get the soldiers outside to come and support as soon as possible."
As he spoke, he looked at Giles, who had no time to spare, a glint flashing in his eyes.
Issuing orders was Giles's right, but under these circumstances, he had no time to seek approval.
Thinking this, Kincaid chose to overstep the rules, picked up the walkie-talkie, and called for support from the soldiers stationed outside.
Within the battle circle, Giles, holding his staff, leaped high into the air and descended upon a cluster of several dozen Brions.
Powerful streams of energy surged from the air holes of his staff. As Giles smashed his staff onto the ground, the dozens of Brions around were instantly torn to shreds.
Giles plunged deep into the Brion formation. After dealing with dozens of Brions with one staff strike, many more quickly rushed in from around him.
"Get lost."
Giles was undaunted. Channeling his Nen, he swung his staff, killing another dozen or so Brions in moments.
His ability was suited for wide-area damage. When the number of attacking Brions was initially low, his killing speed wasn't fast. But now, with the number of attacking Brions far exceeding his own side's numbers, his lethality was fully displayed.
If not for his brave fight, the pressure on the Nen User soldiers would have been even greater.
Time passed slowly. The battle within was brutal.
Whenever a soldier was grazed by a Brion's attack, they would lose strength and fall within mere tens of seconds.
Soon after, soldiers poisoned by the Brion toxin would be transformed.
To prevent this from happening, the moment a soldier was hit and fell, those nearby would decisively kill the poisoned soldier.
Though cruel, it was a helpless necessity.
As the battle intensified, the number of Brions was sharply decreasing, but the number of soldiers had also fallen below two hundred.
From entering the Ancient Labyrinth City until now, they hadn't even obtained a single leaf of the Herb for All-illnesses, yet had already lost over half their personnel.
Giles's expression was dark. Once again, he swung his staff, sweeping away over a dozen Brions ahead.
He had lost count of how many Brions he had killed.
Around him, the ground was littered with the bodies of Brion hosts, the smell of blood everywhere.
By the time the number of soldiers dropped to around one hundred and fifty, a troop of two hundred soldiers suddenly entered from the other side of the passage, launching an assault on the Brion army from behind.
In the blink of an eye, a large swathe of Brions was cut down, and the situation changed slightly.
Seeing their allies arriving, the soldiers who had been struggling against the Brions immediately felt their spirits lift.
'Reinforcements...'
Giles took a deep breath, immediately thinking of Kincaid.
He had to admit, this batch of reinforcements arrived just in time.
Thinking of this, he once again used the airflow jetting from the air holes of his staff to leap into the air, then descended like a meteor into the midst of the Brions.
With a loud explosion, the ground instantly cracked. The Brions affected by the shockwave were crushed to pieces.
Bodies without Nen protection were truly fragile. The only somewhat difficult part to deal with was the Brions' heads.
With reinforcements arrived, the pressure on Giles's side decreased sharply, and they gradually regained their combat rhythm.
The two forces merged. Combined with a gap in the number of attacking Brions, the International Permit Agencies' team gradually gained the upper hand.
Half an hour passed. All the attacking Brion hosts were dead, while the International Permit Agencies' soldiers were left with less than three hundred. The losses were devastating.
Giles's face was full of exhaustion. He silently looked at the corpses covering the ground, the veins on his clenched fists bulging.
"I thought things would be too simple."
Giles muttered to himself, then led the team into the three-walled gap.
With the assistance of a thousand Nen User soldiers, he had originally thought obtaining the Herb for All-illnesses wouldn't be difficult. He hadn't expected that before even obtaining the Herb, he had already lost over half the personnel he brought.
Free from the disturbance of Brion hosts, the International Permit Agencies, after some effort, finally obtained the Herb for All-illnesses clustered within the Brion plants: fifty-one leaves in total.
They had paid with the lives of over four hundred warriors for just fifty-one leaves.
"Withdraw."
Giles glared coldly at the scorched ground within the gap and chose to temporarily retreat from the Ancient Labyrinth City.
The original plan was to keep advancing and continuously collect.
But plans couldn't keep up with changes. The team's losses were too severe, and they had obtained some Herb for All-illnesses. For now, they could only retreat temporarily, rest and reorganize outside, and then reconsider their plan.
The International Permit Agencies' team retraced their path, taking about twenty minutes to leave the Ancient Labyrinth City and reunite with the personnel stationed outside.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Sea of Trees.
A red, eye-like plant suddenly appeared on the ground, seeping a liquid light that slowly flowed onto the earth.
Immediately after, five figures swelled up from within the liquid light, slowly rising, then revealing their appearance and forms. They were the five Gatekeeper Clan's members led by Ancient Claw who had been teleported here.
At the same time, Law and his team had also found the Herb for All-illnesses.