Finally back on the Dark Continent again.
However, just as they had stepped across the threshold, they were greeted with a distinctive welcoming ceremony.
Whoosh!
Almost simultaneously, everyone's bodies lit up with the unique glow of Nen.
The low-temperature white smoke spread very slowly, but its characteristic of drastically lowering the surrounding temperature was worth being vigilant about.
Even though the trees within the white smoke weren't affected by the cold, it didn't affect the team's judgment of the smoke's threat.
The chill they could feel through the air undoubtedly told them: If touched, they would likely turn into ice sculptures in a short time.
"What could it be?"
Danger was right before them, but Law looked vibrant.
Nique, whose hair was standing on end due to the sense of danger, glanced at Law's expression and couldn't help but twitch his lips.
No one spoke anymore. They smoothly covered their bodies with Aura and then focused intently on the area where the cold air was spreading.
Rustle... rustle...
A sound like a snake rubbing against the ground reached everyone's ears.
Then, a snow-white insect crawled to the edge of the forest.
The insect's body was bloated, about two meters in length.
Its head was covered with horn-like antennae… no eyes or other organs were visible.
The surface of its body was snow-white, faintly shimmering.
The chill-inducing white smoke wafted out from the horn antennae.
"Another insect?"
Tonpa curled his lip. Among the creatures he had encountered on the Dark Continent, insects were the most numerous.
His voice seemed to attract the white insect's attention, and it turned its head toward him.
Under everyone's gaze, the insect's smooth face, which didn't even have eyes, suddenly cracked open a slit, revealing a mouth full of mucus.
Sssss!
The part of the white insect adjacent to its head rapidly inflated like bellows, and a stream of transparent mucus shot out like an arrow towards Tonpa.
It seemed that touching the air triggered a 'chemical reaction'. The transparent mucus instantly transformed into an ice spike emitting cold air.
The attack came suddenly, but Tonpa's early warning ability was strong. As the ice spike flew towards him, he seemed to predict the future, dodging in advance.
However, Law raised his hand and released a Domain Sphere the size of a softball along the ice spike's trajectory.
Just as Tonpa completely dodged out of the spike's path, Law's Domain Sphere hit the ice spike, enveloping it within the domain.
"I could have dodged it."
Tonpa looked strangely at Law, who had intervened. Then, his expression suddenly turned serious.
He saw Law's Domain Sphere, which had enveloped the ice spike, fall heavily to the ground like an iron ball, with the ice spike inside, like an insect trapped in amber.
This was an attack that could freeze even gases, to the point that the emitted Domain Sphere was frozen into an ice ball.
If Law hadn't used the Domain Sphere to lock the cold air inside, even if Tonpa had dodged, he might have been affected by the chill.
Judging by the freezing power, it could have caused serious frostbite.
"At all times, never let your guard down, even if the enemy is a blade of grass."
Law reminded everyone, then looked at the white insect preparing its second attack.
The enemy wasn't a Nen User, so it was best not to adopt a direct, forceful assault approach.
The cold power that could even freeze air undoubtedly created a barrier around the insect that was difficult to cross. Rashly closing in might result in frostbite before even attacking.
However, he still had the Chasefire Stone, such a powerful tool.
"Step back a bit."
Law quickly took out the Chasefire Stone, which he always kept wrapped in Nen, raised his hand towards the ice insect, and flicked his thumb.
A few sparks were flicked off, flying forward and transforming into a roaring fire dragon mid-air, instantly sweeping away all the cold air on the scene.
The surging, ferocious fire dragon headed straight for the ice insect.
The ice insect's body suddenly inflated several times, still spitting out a mouthful of transparent fluid to meet the oncoming ferocious fire dragon.
At the same time, the dozens of horn antennae on its head, like swiftly moving train chimneys, emitted large amounts of white smoke.
Whoosh!
The flames, which had been in intense motion just a second ago, suddenly came to a standstill, turning into a large ice sculpture, also blocking Law and his team's line of sight.
"This...?"
The transition from dynamic flames to static ice happened in an instant, already locked within the ice layer.
Strange expressions flashed across everyone's faces.
'A battle of ice and fire...?'
This was the terrifying aspect of the Dark Continent. They had just arrived and were already greeted by a fearsome insect.
"Such terrifying low temperatures," Shiro's eyes trembled slightly, 'Being able to freeze flames instantly… what kind of concept was that? And this was only the very edge of the Dark Continent, right?'
Law, however, remained unmoved. He deployed his Domain, protecting himself and his teammates behind him, then flicked off a small fragment of the Chasefire Stone.
Not in particles this time, but a fragment.
The flicked-off fragment of Chasefire Stone was flicked by Law's finger. Soon after leaving his hand, it transformed into overwhelming high-temperature flames, instantly engulfing the wall of fire ice.
Then, like a tidal wave, it swept through the forest with a devastating force, consuming everything within.
The dazzling firelight illuminated everyone brightly. Under the protection of the domain, they couldn't feel the temperature high enough to burn their bodies.
"So that's how it is."
Ging pinched his chin, looking at the forest engulfed by the wave of flames.
He had asked Law for a Chasefire Stone before, but he was well aware of its danger, so he hadn't used it lightly.
Now, seeing Law's method of use, he felt somewhat enlightened.
To utilize the Chasefire Stone and wield flame attacks of such power, one must have an ability similar to Law's Domain. Otherwise, it would only lead to self-immolation.
Although one could also carefully use the smallest-scale attacks, Law's attack mode was clearly more straightforward.
"Ah, so envious."
Ging had a 'I really want to play with it' mentality.
Watching the wave of flames raging ahead, Nobunaga said in a low voice, "That was quite a novel welcome party. It seems the journey ahead won't be child's play."
"If you're scared, hide behind me," Uvogin glanced at Nobunaga.
"Idiot."
Nobunaga curled his lip.
The wave of flames dissipated, leaving behind a large expanse of charred, black forest.
Scattered sparks were all around, flickering on and off.
The air was full of the smell of burning, mixed with a faint, indistinct scent of meat.
"I smell meat."
Buhara's eyes lit up like searchlights, sweeping over the area of the forest after the fire.
Then, he rushed out, digging through the charcoal pile about fifty meters away and pulling out the ice insect's corpse, now somewhat yellowed from the burning.
"Great, it's not burnt."
Buhara waved the ice insect's corpse at his teammates. What came from his palm wasn't high temperature but a strange coolness.
Thinking this ice insect would definitely be a very unique and rare ingredient, he immediately added to everyone, "I think it's necessary to process it more carefully. The texture might be great!"
"Is there nothing in your head but eating?" Tonpa facepalmed.
"By the way, not even a bit charred under such high temperatures," Sheila exclaimed in surprise.
"Phenomena like this will only become more common from now on," Biscuit glanced at her.
Everyone gathered around Buhara, looking closely at this silkworm-like ice insect.
"Don't eat it yet, there might be issues," Law said.
"Alright," Buhara reluctantly nodded.
Law took the ice insect's corpse.
"Huh?"
Law looked at the ice insect's corpse in surprise. Even though it was clearly dead, there was still a coolness emanating from its body.
Moreover, the White Smoke Font, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't on the Dark Continent, didn't provide any related information. So it was hard for him to determine whether this ice insect was edible.
"Sheila, you appraise it."
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, Sheila immediately manipulated her Nen, releasing it from her body onto the ground beside her, forming a general shape.
This was the conjuration process of a Nen Beast.