Just who are you?
This was the question Giles asked, coming from his understanding of Law.
From his perspective, this question seemed idiotic.
From Law's perspective, this question remained idiotic.
Who is he?
Speaking of identities, there were quite a few.
A Double-Star Hunter of the Hunter Association.
Founder of the Lawlin Museum.
Popular account on the Hunter Forum.
Author of [L. Hunter].
Identities like these… how could the International Permit Agencies not have some understanding of them?
The problem was, Law had no obligation to reveal more information to Giles, a member of the International Permit Agencies.
If they weren't both part of the Dark Continent exploration, Law wouldn't have brought Giles to Hide-and-Seek for refuge.
If Giles had been more resolute in wanting to kill Dice Nose earlier, Law wouldn't have asked another question and would have let Giles stay outside, to be blasted into charred ashes by the Mountain Ship's thunder clusters.
The Mountain Ship's power, unleashing thousands of thunderbolts, was enough to easily destroy a continent, let alone a metallic city, not to mention Nen Users.
Without Hide-and-Seek, any human covered by the Mountain Ship's shadow would have had a hard time escaping.
Law looked at Giles, naturally not showing an expression as if looking at an idiot, but his impatience was visible to discerning eyes.
"I am Law."
Thus, Law gave a perfunctory reply, then simply walked towards his teammates to discuss whether they should go outside to check the situation.
Giles immediately froze in place, then quickly understood something.
It was the disparity in status that led to this result.
Inside the Hide-and-Seek dimension, Giles, standing alone in a corner, formed a stark contrast with Law's group, who were seriously discussing whether they should go out to investigate.
Watching Law and the others, Giles' body felt as if it were constantly being pushed towards the corner by a repulsive force.
He was an outsider, and furthermore, not qualified to share information.
Vaguely, he felt a sense of being given charity, lingering in his mind, which is quite uncomfortable.
But what could he do?
Right now, he truly was receiving favor, receiving charity.
What he could do, what he couldn't do.
What he could ask, what he couldn't ask.
The initiative was not in his hands.
At least, that was the case at this moment.
On the other side, Law's group's discussion quickly reached a conclusion.
Based on known information, the Mountain Ship wouldn't linger in one place, and it would only keep flying.
Taking the Mountain Ship's flight speed into account, during these ten minutes inside Hide-and-Seek, the Mountain Ship had likely already flown beyond the range of the Ancient Labyrinth City.
Based on this judgment, Law proposed the suggestion to go outside and check.
Some sought stability and opposed the idea.
But others couldn't wait and agreed.
The final result was to go outside and check the situation.
After all, the feeling of having zero visibility was not pleasant.
However, there were risks.
And bearing risks had always been Law's role.
Knov opened the exit of Hide-and-Seek. He was one of those who opposed.
If possible, he wished everyone could wait inside the apartment a bit longer, rather than being so eager to go outside.
Now that the decision was made, he could only watch with concern as Law walked into the dark vortex opened by the door.
Passing through the entrance/exit passage of Hide-and-Seek, Law emerged from the black circle, arriving on the rooftop.
Presented before his eyes were only scorched marks left by lightning strikes, covering every inch of the visible area.
"Such unreasonable coverage."
Law looked gravely at the site's cluster of buildings, which had turned into a blackened land in just ten minutes, then raised his eyes to gaze into the distance.
There, the Mountain Ship was moving away without looking back, and the giant oars on both sides of its hull were no longer releasing lightning of astonishing energy.
The first time they encountered the Mountain Ship, they had already witnessed its shocking lightning coverage, leaving no ground untouched wherever it went.
Now, the result was still the same.
Moreover, the Mountain Ship chose when to unleash lightning… it wasn't constantly striking.
Although the pattern wasn't clear, the Mountain Ship unexpectedly chose the Ancient Labyrinth City. One had to say it was an unexpected disaster.
Law stared at the receding figure of the Mountain Ship. If possible, he wanted to board it and take a look.
Immediately after, he thought of something more important.
His gaze lowered, falling upon the charred ancient labyrinth city.
'With this almost all-encompassing coverage, the surviving Herb for All-illnesses must be few and far between.'
Law didn't believe the Herb for All-illnesses and Brions inside the passages could withstand lightning of that magnitude. He had already prepared himself for the worst outcome in his mind.
Afterwards, Law returned to Hide-and-Seek and had everyone come out.
"It's too terrifying."
Shiro muttered while puffing on his pipe.
Buhara said, "I wonder what happened to that remaining magical beast."
Tonpa looked in the direction where Law's group and Dice Nose had previously encountered each other and said, "We'll know if we go check."
"Right," Several people echoed.
"Oh no!"
At that moment, Shiro slapped his smoking pipe and said anxiously, "Could all the Herb for All-illnesses in the city have been blasted to nothing by that damned Mountain Ship?"
He suddenly thought of this and immediately became as restless as an ant on a hot pan.
He had been hoping to obtain a lot of Herb for All-illnesses to process into material for making cigarettes.
The vegetarian Nique also became anxious, but due to his lower status in the team, he didn't dare to express his emotions as freely as Shiro.
Everyone thought of this point. If all the Herb for All-illnesses in the city was blasted away by the Mountain Ship, it would be an extremely significant loss.
Although they had already harvested over four hundred leaves of Herb for All-illnesses, according to the original plan, they could have obtained much more.
For a moment, everyone showed a trace of regret.
Unlike others' concern for the Herb for All-illnesses, Salin crouched on the ground, constantly wiping at the charred ground with her hands, disappointment appearing in her eyes.
The carved text grooves were all gone, seemingly obliterated by the high temperatures generated during the lightning strikes.
Law noticed Salin's actions but didn't focus on that. Instead, he looked at Tonpa and said, "Let's first locate traces of that magical beast."
"Okay."
Tonpa agreed.
Suppressing their various emotions, everyone returned to the building ruins where they had been earlier.
Not just the rooftops of the building cluster, but even the passages and collapsed building ruins had been blasted into a charred black by the Mountain Ship's lightning.
The magical beast's 'corpse' wasn't here.
Tonpa glanced at the ruins, a puzzled look in his eyes.
The interior of ruins was usually a completely collapsed form, with a wormhole-like structure that would seriously affect detection results.
He vaguely sensed something but wasn't very sure.
At this point, Law said, "Continue exploring outward."
Hearing Law's words, Tonpa hesitated for a moment and said, "There are many humanoid-like things inside the ruins."
Giles, who had been silent since coming out, suddenly became a bit agitated. But Law's next sentence was like a bucket of cold water dousing him: "Hmm? Are they the corpses of Brions parasitizing humans?"
The light in Giles' eyes slowly faded.
Humanoid-like things could be survivors from his team, or they could be Brions from the ancient city.
Hearing Law's words, Tonpa shook his head and said, "I'm not sure either. The interior of the ruins is very chaotic, so the feedback images are blurry and not specific enough. I can only roughly determine the form."
"Is that so."
Law pinched his chin, pondering whether to confirm the situation inside the ruins or quickly find traces of that magical beast to feel at ease continuing to explore inside the site.
Otherwise, with a lurking ambusher watching, how could they search for things in peace?
Just as Law hadn't yet made a decision, everyone inside the passage suddenly noticed faint light glowing on the surrounding charred building walls.