Humanoid was a name the skeleton gave himself.
It referred to those humans who, for survival, took a different evolutionary path.
Over time, they had essentially nothing to do with humanity anymore.
However, their appearance still retained human characteristics.
For example, the masked person before them, with a physique like a utility pole, limbs as thin and dry as tree roots… overall, his structure still fell within the human framework.
Law looked at the skeleton… Bruna's tentacles were attached between them.
"Are you sure?" Law asked.
"Positive."
"How to tell?"
"The strength of life force. Humans can't reach this level."
"Just that?"
"Pretty much. If forced to add another reason, it's intuition."
The skeleton looked down at the masked person, who hadn't given up struggling, and said calmly, "He and I are of the same kind… I have this feeling. In fact, I told you before… many species on the Dark Continent evolved from humans."
"Including the humanoid Bone Clan in the underground world, and beings like me, whose predecessors were human."
"Regardless of what happened, no matter the process, we can no longer be called human in essence. Even the Slu Tribe you mentioned has already surpassed the human category."
"I sometimes wonder, is this evolution or devolution?"
Perhaps because it touched upon the core of the topic, the skeleton's words suddenly increased.
Hearing the skeleton say so much, what reason did Law have to doubt the basis of his judgment?
Thus, he regarded the Masked Man as a humanoid. Then, surely they could extract quite a bit of information through interrogation.
The communication between Law and the skeleton was established within Bruna's mental chat room.
Therefore, bystanders were either completely baffled or had a faint sense of peculiarity.
"Survival of the fittest, advancement or retreat, both are essentially evolution."
Law glanced at the skeleton, then continued weakening the Masked Man's Nen.
Whether the Masked Man was a humanoid or something else, as long as Bruna was present, they could communicate with him.
On this basis, Law intended to squeeze every bit of intelligence value from the Masked Man.
Cheadle watched the silent exchange between Law and the skeleton, Bruna placing her tentacles on both of them, and then thought of Law's earlier statement about extracting information from the Masked Man.
Connecting these pieces of information, she could arrive at an answer.
'Does Bruna possess some kind of telepathic communication ability?'
Cheadle pondered this.
The situation was thoroughly stable now.
As time passed, the number of copper mechanical lifeforms arriving from all directions noticeably decreased.
This indicated that the copper mechanical lifeforms were indeed attracted by that Core Energy.
As for intelligence regarding the Core Energy, they would have to start with the Masked Man.
It took another half hour until the last copper mechanical lifeform on-site shattered into fragments.
The Association members who finally got to rest were almost all collapsed on the ground.
This kind of high-intensity, sustained combat with intense mental strain placed a heavy burden on both mind and body.
Enduring it was already fortunate.
From this moment, the battle was completely over.
However, Law was still weakening the Masked Man's Potential Aura.
This weakening continued for another half hour, yet the Masked Man's Potential Aura hadn't bottomed out.
It was hard to imagine that such a thin, dry body could store such an exaggerated amount of Potential Aura.
This was truly something the human race couldn't achieve.
Since they no longer needed to defend against incoming copper mechanical lifeforms, those with spare time focused on Law's actions of weakening the Masked Man's Nen.
Only Kuro went to the battlefield to scavenge for intact energy crystals.
Like eating candy, he popped one after another into his mouth.
Another five minutes passed before Law completely depleted the Masked Man's Potential Aura.
As the last trace of Nen vanished from the Masked Man's body, the three butterflies bound by Machi also disappeared.
Lacking Nen Enhancement, the Masked Man, who had struggled for over half an hour, finally ceased all resistance.
As if having lost vitality and energy, the thin, dry body suddenly became lackluster.
After careful confirmation, Law pulled out Shin, then removed the Divine Script covering the ground.
"Machi, tie him up."
Hearing Law's words, Machi deftly pulled out Nen Threads and, with extremely professional technique, trussed up the Masked Man.
Seeing the Masked Man completely lose his ability to resist, Netero turned to Law and said seriously, "I have many questions to ask."
Not just him… including Cheadle and the others, they also had many doubts. However, out of respect for Law handling matters, they hadn't spoken up to disturb him.
"Let's go to the Hide-and-Seek to talk."
"Alright."
Subsequently, Law had Knov open the passage to the Hide-and-Seek again.
Association Hunters familiar with Knov's ability shouldn't have been surprised, like Netero...
But when they entered the Hide-and-Seek, including Netero, everyone was stunned by the items in the room.
Let alone Association Hunters unfamiliar with Knov's ability… entering here and comparing it with their experiences over the past months, they felt this ability was simply priceless.
'By the way, what's with that intense life force aura?'
Netero originally had many questions for Law to answer. However, the Nitro Rice emitting a dense life force aura and the Herb for All-illnesses directly captured his attention.
Or rather, everyone on the Association side had their attention drawn away.
Nick immediately stood in front of the planting area, scanning Netero and his group with a vigilant gaze, like a mother hen protecting her chicks.
'Are these... all gains from Law's journey?' Netero speculated.
Seeing Netero and the others focusing on the Nitro Rice and other [Hopes], Law didn't actively try to recall their attention. Instead, he had Bruna extend her tentacles again to help establish a communication chat room.
This time, even Ging and the others came over to join in, having Bruna connect a [line] for them.
Shiro also wanted to join in, but Law directly kicked him out of the chat room, as there were still many injured needing his treatment.
Among the Association members, besides Dafifi, Ginta, Pyon, and Menchi, two others had limbs attacked by copper mechanical lifeforms, causing rusting and breakage.
Among them, Pyon's injuries were the lightest. Association members like Menchi and others had missing arms or legs, while Dafifi and Ginta's injuries were more severe.
Leaving all treatment to Shiro, with the mechanism of [Fool's Method], it would probably take considerable time.
Bruna divided many tentacles, attaching them to everyone.
The skeleton glanced at Stargie, who wasn't participating, and said, "She's also a humanoid. It's best to have her listen in too."
"You say Stargie is also a humanoid?" Sheila exclaimed.
"Isn't she?" The skeleton retorted.
"Of course not! Stargie is human!" Sheila directly refuted.
Seeing Sheila's strong stance, the skeleton originally wanted to argue back, but considering his current circumstances, he chose to close his mouth and keep a low profile.
Law glanced at the skeleton. If using the skeleton's criteria, indeed Stargie would be categorized as a humanoid.
However, even if Stargie was revived from death, Law didn't consider her a humanoid.
Just then, a cold, furious voice sounded in the chat room.
"My kin... will tear you apart!"
That was the Masked Man's voice.