Whether it was the V5, Netero, or Beyond, Oboro believed their depth of exploration into the Dark Continent was incomparable to theirs.
The fact that the Five Great Calamities and hopes were discovered by them indicated that the Longevity Rice and the Hundred-Disease-Curing Herb existed in the peripheral areas of the continent. However, their landing location was incorrect. Upon entering, they found themselves in a desert and thus did not see them.
A geographical deviation.
But now, with the oasis... those peculiar plants were likely to appear!
Finding the Longevity Rice could extend one's lifespan; who wouldn't want to consume it?
Oboro's physical strength now far surpassed Netero's, but without the boost of the Longevity Rice, he believed he would still die when his time came... at best, he would live a little longer.
This was far from sufficient for exploring the Dark Continent.
After a long while, the four of them stepped out of the dense, tall grass, which felt imposing to them, and entered a flat area.
The weeds here had returned to normal, like in the human world, only reaching ankle height.
Only the color of the grass was exceptionally vibrant, not a single shade of green.
"Captain."
Menchi pointed to a location.
Oboro followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes.
To their front left, at the ten o'clock position, grew four to five vibrant flowers, about half a meter tall, predominantly bright red. Within their open, blooming buds, instead of stamens, were crystalline bodies the size of a fist.
These seemed to be the 'fruits' of these flowers.
The group now had some experience and immediately determined that this was the 'hope' they were searching for.
"It's not Longevity Rice or the Hundred-Disease-Curing Herb..."
Oboro's face fell with disappointment upon seeing it.
The ecosystem of this region was clearly different from where Netero had landed, leading to a disparity in the types of creatures.
Not Longevity Rice...
If the hope represented by this fruit could not bring them direct benefits, then it was worthless.
Oboro led the four of them towards it, walking as if they were alone.
Menchi and the other two turned their gaze to the other side, several hundred meters away... There stood two 'creatures' resembling wolves or rats, walking upright like humans, covered in white fur. What was particularly noteworthy was that both monsters had skeletal structures hanging from their backs, which had been fashioned into sharp weapons.
The wolf-rats had double pupils, with crimson eye sockets.
Upon seeing the small life forms approaching the flowers, they let out sharp cries, grabbed the weapons on their backs, and leaped forward, their figures darting left and right across the ground at high speed. Menchi and the other two remained calm, not offering any warning, as they had all seen... the Captain must have already detected the two foreign creatures.
Their direct approach to the flowers indicated they were not taking the monsters seriously.
Before the wolf-rats could charge, a mass of black mist emanated from Oboro's body, coalescing into a familiar misty form.
It was the Ant King, Meruem.
Immediately after, the Ant King vanished from its original spot.
Its speed surpassed that of the two wolf-rats. Furthermore, its appearance and actions did not require the black mist as a vessel, suggesting it was a separate soul entity with greater abilities, capable of transcending the ghost fog.
With two thuds!
The two monsters, having just leaped into the air with incredible elasticity, vanished in a wisp of black smoke, instantly losing their life force and falling to the ground as lifeless objects.
Meruem gazed at the two corpses, licked his lips with apparent dissatisfaction, and walked towards Oboro's position. After a few steps, his figure dispersed like clouds and mist...
Oboro raised his hand, signaling Menchi and the other two to stop. He walked alone to the front of the vibrant flowers.
On the ground beside them, something was stuck in a crooked manner.
Although its shape was different, it strongly resembled a scarecrow, which Oboro recognized.
Farmers in the human world often used these to deceive and deter wild animals that frequently damaged their crops.
The 'scarecrow' had a skeletal interior, draped in some kind of animal hide... and shaped by woven straw ropes.
Strange patterns were also drawn on the animal hide with fresh blood.
Resembling talismans.
"This thing..."
Oboro stared at the scarecrow, his heart sinking.
Throughout their journey, no matter what life forms they encountered, none had shown characteristics similar to humans.
This was already a custom or tradition.
"There's definitely a higher life form nearby!"
A chill ran down Oboro's spine.
His intuition warned him that this scarecrow was extremely dangerous.
But seeing the extraordinary nature of the fruit on the flowers, it would be a shame to give up.
Disasters are often proportional to hope.
The greater the danger, the greater the hope.
Oboro stepped over the scarecrow and reached out to pluck the ruby-like fruit.
Suddenly, the scarecrow seemed to move. Oboro looked at it sharply, as if he had received an electric shock... Everything appeared normal, as if it were an illusion.
He reconfirmed that the scarecrow had no soul, just an empty shell.
Then, with a bang, he shattered the scarecrow.
Next, he released his ghost fog, which swept over the few flowers, devouring and absorbing the unformed souls within them.
The unformed souls indicated that these flowers did not possess complete, mature thoughts or consciousness; they were merely vegetation with sparse mental energy.
Their life force severed, the flowers immediately tilted and fell, and Oboro successfully plucked several fruits.
He quickly retreated.
"Captain, that's... a scarecrow..."
Anthony said in surprise, looking at the scattered animal hide and bone fragments on the ground.
"There's nothing to be surprised about. Humans migrated from the Dark Continent to the Island in the Lake. It's normal for some civilization to remain here. According to the existing data, there's also a human city on this continent, but it seems empty now, like ruins... Although we chose the same route as Don Freecss, it's in the opposite direction of that empty city. The life energy of the Dark Continent is too concentrated, naturally giving rise to some highly intelligent species... This also indicates that humans in the past, at least, had some influence on this land." Oboro said calmly.
He spoke very calmly.
In reality, he hadn't revealed the truth.
He didn't want to unsettle Menchi and the others.
He glanced again at the destroyed scarecrow, a sense of foreboding filling him.
At his current level of existence, his intuition far surpassed that of Nen users... The scarecrow gave him an extreme sense of danger, and there must be a reason for it.
A curse?
A bizarre phenomenon?
Or perhaps...
Oboro pondered in his mind.
"Let's go first."
Holding the fruit in his hand, he didn't have time to examine it closely and urgently instructed them.
Then, the four of them left together.
Those two wolf-rats had likely been there for a long time but didn't covet the fruit. One reason might be that the fruit wasn't on their menu. Although it represented some kind of hope for humans.
Perhaps for the creatures of the Dark Continent, its value was not that high... However, Oboro preferred to believe that the two monsters were wary of that scarecrow.
Even though it was just a frame.
"A symbol?"
A territorial claim?
As they walked away, Oboro pondered.
If it were a curse... there would at least be energy. Regardless of the form of attack, even if it involved rules, without energy, it would have no effect.
Before Alluka killed someone, she would reveal her true form, appearing as 'mental energy,' or 'soul manifestation.'
Her energy came from her true form.
Due to the rules, it became invisible.
Even invisible energy leaves traces.
For example, twisting a living person into a pretzel, causing them to explode, or money raining down from flying ships... these were all caused by 'force.'
Oboro didn't sense any 'energy' from the scarecrow, but this didn't mean there was no danger, as some energy could descend upon him at any moment through the rules.
Like Alluka's ability, twisting him into a pretzel... this was the perversity of rules.
But Oboro was no stranger to rule-based power. In his early days, he himself was a player of 'game rules.'
There were two ways to counter rules: first, to find loopholes within the 'opponent's rules' and thus disrupt them.
Second, for one's own energy to surpass the level that the opponent's rule-based power could control.
Energy is always the most fundamental driving force.
This was the case when Oboro defeated the elder of the Gyudondond Tribe.
The first method was no longer applicable to Oboro, as he didn't understand the rules of the 'potential danger' and lacked intelligence.
What he could do was to resist with his own strength at the moment the energy driven by the rules descended.
Rule-based power could twist people into pretzels, but what if that person's body was as hard as steel?
The source driving the rules would have to pay a greater price!
Rule-based power could be seen as a form of control and restraint, albeit a bug, but not absolute.
Oboro's earliest game rules were the same; although he had to play according to the game's methods, if his personal ability was strong enough, he could ignore the drawbacks imposed by the rules... However, his opponents at the time couldn't do that.
Because it was too difficult...
The stronger the constraints and changes of rules, the stronger the entity needed to be to release those rules.
Otherwise, the effect would only weaken.
Of course, that scarecrow might not involve rules... it could also be a bizarre phenomenon.
What is a bizarre phenomenon... it's like Melody, whom Kurapika was supposed to meet.
The 'Dark Sonata' she heard might have originated from the Dark Continent...
It caused great damage to the soul.
The Zobae disease, one of the Five Great Calamities, was also a typical example.
Oboro's soul abilities also aligned with the characteristics of bizarre phenomena.
However, whether it was a bizarre phenomenon or a supernatural power, both had energy signatures.
The scarecrow had none, so the only thing Oboro could think of was rules... Otherwise, his premonition wouldn't have arisen out of thin air.
Of course, his guess might be wrong.
The danger was hidden in other equations.
If it wasn't rules, he could have breathed a sigh of relief.
"Demon King..."
Thinking of the Dark Sonata, Oboro couldn't help but think of a life form that likely existed in the Dark Continent.
He could forgo the fruit; he didn't have to take the risk.
But Oboro knew clearly that rules... were unavoidable on this land.
He had to... accept them sooner rather than later.
He would face challenges as they came.
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