They stopped briefly for half an hour.
Rita took out a box of prepared seeds from her backpack, took out a few, and activated her ability with them in her palm.
Even without soil, the seeds quickly took root and sprouted, growing into a tree trunk in a short time. Dense roots pierced the octopus's flesh, absorbing nutrients.
Although the initial team consisted of twenty-three people.
Oboro's six-person squad, under Oboro's arrangements, had made preparations for various possible situations in the Dark Continent.
In other words, even if only the six of them remained, they would be sufficient to handle emergencies.
Furthermore, during this past year, Oboro had been helping them develop their Nen abilities...
After the tree grew, the group made a simple wooden raft and continued their journey.
Using the tree trunk as the main body and the branches as ropes.
By this time, the sea had calmed down due to the octopus's death, and there were no more undercurrents.
Before leaving, Menchi had directly cut off some octopus meat to use as a food source.
Although they were close to the Dark Continent, after losing their ship, their speed had drastically decreased. They didn't know when they would be able to land, and the rations in their bags were very limited.
Fortunately, they encountered no further danger.
However, one night, it was also night.
As they drifted with the sea currents, lights suddenly appeared in the surrounding darkness, flashing intermittently.
They strongly resembled human lights.
It is known that prolonged drifting at sea can cause people to lose their mental balance, experience anxiety, and consequently develop hallucinations... At this critical juncture, suddenly seeing familiar lights, like a candle flame lit in the darkness, filled them with hope.
In addition, along with the lights, a seductive call reached their ears.
Everyone on the ship, except Oboro, lost their composure.
Fant and Anthony instinctively began to paddle towards the light.
However, Oboro's emanating black mist protected them in time, isolating them from the sound.
And within Oboro's perception, those flashing lights were actually marine creatures similar to the octopus, but much smaller individually and numerous, resembling anglerfish. Although many days had passed since the octopus was killed, and they were quite far from that location, these creatures were clearly following the former.
It was unclear whether they were prey... or predators.
"Like the Twin-tailed Snake's Hell Chime, the sound is extremely penetrating and can interfere with the mental will of other species... Fortunately, it's not as dangerous as the former and doesn't affect the soul," Oboro frowned. These monsters didn't approach; they were merely trying to lure and capture them. This was all because of the black ghost fog drifting around the raft.
Oboro's released Nen, filled with his mental will, served as a warning and a show of force to all hidden dangers!
It was a form of indirect protection.
If they were on land, Oboro would have already killed them.
But not in the ocean. They were lacking in food, and more importantly, water resources. His physical body was strong and could endure.
Menchi and the others, however, could not.
"Captain."
As the sound disappeared, the few people regained their senses.
"Don't worry about it, keep paddling," Oboro instructed.
Although the raft's speed had slowed down, because they were close to the Dark Continent, they would gradually be carried to shore by the natural ocean currents.
After speaking, Oboro's intention moved.
From the surrounding ghost fog, countless ghosts flew out, roaring and howling in all directions, exuding deterrence and pressure.
As expected, soon... the lights on the sea disappeared, and the seductive calls abruptly ceased.
...
A few more days passed, and it was noon the next day.
The six of them finally saw a dark silhouette on the horizon... It was land.
The Dark Continent... they had arrived!
The appearance of the few people was somewhat disheveled, but they dared not relax; instead, they became more nervous.
Because according to the Captain, the land of the Dark Continent was the core where truly terrifying things were bred.
"According to the reports from Netero and Beyond, the coastline they reached was a lush and magnificent primeval jungle... As for us..." Fant stood up and peered into the distance, as if the continent ahead was devoid of vegetation, a barren desert and Gobi.
"Although we've arrived, it seems we've deviated from our course..."
Menchi added.
There was no choice... For the past period, they had been drifting with the sea currents, with no sense of direction.
"Regardless, at least we arrived without major incident."
Anthony also said.
Their route was too dangerous. If not for the Captain, the few of them would likely not have even qualified to set foot on the Dark Continent.
The land on the horizon looked close, but in reality, it was still very far away. It only appeared close because the continent's size was so immense.
They drifted with the waves for another dozen hours, and around midnight, they finally set foot on the beach.
As soon as they landed, the few people noticed something unusual.
It was indeed a beach... but on this vast beach, any single grain of sand, from a human perspective, was the size of a fist. Any larger ones were simply rubble.
Oboro immediately expanded his mist and activated his full perception.
After closing his eyes for a minute, he opened them and exhaled a breath of turbid air, "No danger. Let's get organized first."
With that, Oboro did not retract his Nen.
Because he knew that from the moment they stepped onto the Dark Continent, his Nen abilities would essentially need to be constantly active, which was a strenuous task in terms of consumption. What Oboro could do was to minimize the area covered by the ghost fog, ensuring safety.
He then instructed Menchi and the others to stay put and handle matters, while he himself went to patrol the surroundings.
There was nothing... After the beach, it was an endless Gobi Desert.
But the air temperature was even colder than at sea, somewhat biting.
Oboro looked up at the night sky. It looked no different from the human world... except that not a single star could be seen.
As if blocked by something.
In the direction of the distant horizon, the night sky, besides being pitch black, was tinged with a layer of blood-red.
Oboro knew that this desert, seemingly endless, might actually be a very small area on the edge of the entire Dark Continent. It was just that from his perspective, it appeared vast and boundless.
"Giant pink octopus, group of mentally manipulative anglerfish..."
Oboro's brow twitched.
Very familiar.
He summoned the system and opened the panel.
As expected, the system displayed an image based on his memories from his previous life.
It was one of the illustrations from the original work.
He recognized that octopus... it was already a precursor.
The location where they landed was likely a coordinate from this illustration.
In the picture, within the sea area, icons were marked for a pink octopus, clusters of seaweed, spouting whales, a green swimming dragon, a churning tsunami, etc. On the adjacent land, there was a sinkhole, with a crab-like creature crawling in the center, but with a white skull for a head.
In another corner of the pit, a creature resembling a sandworm emerged.
There were also three deep purple trees...
But these were not what attracted Oboro the most. What caught his attention was in the center of the picture, deep within the Dark Continent, a plant grew with branches that obscured the entire sky, resembling the World Tree... The only difference was, perhaps due to this tree, the space in the 'heartland' of the Dark Continent was filled with dark red light, like an Asura's Purgatory.
Dim and oppressive.
As for the sky, it was completely covered by the tree canopy, like a vortex.
"Beneath this tree, there are three colossal giants almost reaching the height of the branches... Their appearance is unclear, but their forms are similar to humans. To the left, there is a mushroom field, then a volcano. To the right, there are primitive creatures resembling dinosaurs, and some territories that look very strange... If our landing spot is indeed a point on this picture, then the information within this image is a great help!" Oboro wasn't entirely sure, but he firmly memorized everything in the picture.
If his thoughts were correct.
Then the information in this picture might only cover the edge of the Dark Continent, not its core.
After all, he didn't see the 'door' in this picture.
Then, Oboro's gaze moved down... landing on his own attribute display.
Combat Rank: Dark Continent Rank A Lifeform and Consciousness. (No Rules).
Overall Attribute Evaluation: Transcendent Lifeform of the Human World.
Ecosystem Rating: 25.
Food Chain Position: Lower.
The panel had changed again, with the addition of 'Ecosystem' and 'Food Chain.'
The word 'Lower' was somewhat jarring.
Before coming, in the human world, Oboro had already achieved the undeniable No. 1.
After all, Don Freecss was not present.
He was the first.
After a brief tour, Oboro returned the way he came.
Menchi and the others didn't start a fire; she simply processed the ingredients, which were octopus meat.
The group ate.
"Captain, the compass is malfunctioning," Fant said gravely.
At sea, for various reasons, it was difficult to determine direction, and they could only rely on currents. But upon reaching land, the compass had unexpectedly broken.
This was extremely critical for an exploration team.
Because once you ventured deep inland, it would be difficult to find your way back.
"It's normal. The life energy on this land is extraordinarily immense. The special environment and ecosystem have also caused the magnetic field to be extremely chaotic and violent..." Oboro said calmly.
"It seems Netero and the others didn't experience this."
Anthony asked curiously.
"Their route had a very safe landing point," Oboro replied.
Upon hearing this, the others fell silent.
"Simply put, because the life energy is too strong, it has caused the magnetic field to become chaotic. This indicates... there might be more than one terrifying creature near us. Although we can't see them, and they are quite far away, remember... that's only far to us. To them, we might be right under their noses... We can't see them, but they can detect us at any time. The question is, have they noticed us?"
"Moreover, the natural magnetic field of this world is different from that of the human world."
Oboro extended a finger, "Don't forget what I said. From the moment we left the ship, you should have abandoned your preconceived notions from the human world."
"You cannot judge everything here by the common sense of the human world."
"I'll take the first watch later. You all should rest well and get some sleep." Oboro crouched down and said seriously, "After dawn, everyone must maintain Zetsu at all times. We also have our advantages; we are small individuals and less likely to be discovered... We need to replenish our resources first, and find a fixed hiding place, a dwelling. We must first learn to adapt here, rather than rushing into exploration."
"Remember the purpose of our journey. We are not concerned with any gains; everything starts with understanding."
"Yes."
The few exchanged glances and said in unison.
____________________
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