Without the right to fight back, the only option was to flee.
Gel had no time to check the injury on her left shoulder. She decisively ran towards the alternate route.
The main route chosen earlier was blocked by three Copper Mechanical Lifeforms. The advantage of pre-planning alternate routes was evident now.
With almost no pause, Gel headed towards the currently highest-priority route.
Her figure passed through light and shadow, maintaining speed while minimizing the sound she made.
Thus, she passed two passages, leaving the copper worm that attacked her behind.
However, she wasn't sure if the three Copper Mechanical Lifeforms were pursuing, nor if the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms in the surrounding area had been alerted.
She stood at a wall corner, unconsciously keeping some distance from the wall.
Thump, thump...
Her heartbeat was fast, as if echoing in her ears.
Gel looked tense. She first glanced around the surroundings, then had the spare capacity to check the injury on her left shoulder.
The wound from the copper worm's sting was only needle-point size, but the surrounding skin was covered in reddish-brown rust.
Although it didn't continuously spread, her left shoulder had completely lost sensation, and she couldn't even lift a finger.
Just one sting from that copper worm had an effect equivalent to severing her left arm.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms. Of course, even more terrifying was their numbers.
Fortunately, the attack characteristic of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms didn't spread like poison. Even so, the current situation was still very tricky.
'Why is there something like that!'
Gel clenched her teeth, barely steadying her inner turmoil.
During the team's exploration of the ruins, they had seen many different forms of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms but never any this small.
If there were many Copper Mechanical Lifeforms as small as this copper worm, the team's risk would be even greater.
'I must quickly report this intel to the Chairman!'
Gel took a deep breath and looked towards the fork ahead.
Not lingering further, she headed towards the passage on the right of the fork.
There was no way to deal with the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms' [Rust Attack] yet. Since rustification didn't have a spreading characteristic, Gel had no need to treat the injury on her left shoulder at this moment.
Although her left shoulder was essentially useless now, it wasn't time for drastic measures like cutting it off, was it?
Gel walked cautiously through the dangerous ruin passages. The copper worm's attack made her alertness cover a larger range, so her movement speed correspondingly slowed.
Bypassing several more dangerous spots, she finally reached the nearest safe point.
It was a spacious room with six entrances/exits. Although this increased the difficulty of vigilance, it provided more options in case of sudden situations.
Gel entered from one entrance, looking at the vast, empty room, a look of disappointment appearing on her face.
However, she didn't choose to go to the second safe point but stayed in the room, planning to wait here because the team might come.
After all, this was the safe point closest to the dispersal area. If the team's thinking aligned with hers, the possibility of meeting here was high.
The light in the room was very faint, with only a few light globes.
The lush plants in the dim light resembled ghostly shadows.
The breeze flowing inside the ruin buildings occasionally rustled leaves, producing faint, rustling sounds.
Gel huddled among a pile of scattered rocks, curling her body as much as possible, like a helpless little girl.
But now she had completely calmed down and began thinking about subsequent strategies.
Her eyes fixed on the fine gravel on the ground before her. Her teeth bit into her lips, but she didn't realize she had drawn blood.
The human disadvantage in entering the ruins wasn't the number of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms, nor the disadvantage in visibility, nor even the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms' attacks that could easily break through Nen defenses.
The real disadvantage was... the inability to fight back.
This single point severely limited humans' response options.
'Everyone... hurry over!'
Gel prayed inwardly.
Honestly, she had no confidence in reuniting with the team in this situation. She could only pray the team would actively find this place.
Losing an arm wasn't much, but she had to inform the others about the copper worm intel.
'Hurry... come over!'
Gel's right hand clawed five grooves into the ground.
While waiting, she also counted time in her mind.
She wouldn't foolishly wait forever. If an hour passed and the team still hadn't come, she would actively relocate.
Time passed bit by bit. Soon, forty minutes passed.
During this time, no Copper Mechanical Lifeforms came.
Gel continued waiting. Soon, another ten minutes passed.
The room and the six passage entrances remained silent, except for the occasional rustling sounds from the darkness.
Luck clearly wasn't on her side.
The Hunter Association's team hadn't come here.
Gel sighed inwardly, getting up from the rock pile, preparing to go to the second safe point.
If she couldn't find the team, she'd have to keep moving among the dozen or so safe points.
She didn't leave from the entrance she came from but chose the left exit.
Gel walked lightly, trying not to make much noise.
Then, the familiar, nightmarish sound came from an exit ahead.
Gel's expression changed. She immediately retreated swiftly towards the entrance she came from.
But just as she was about to reach that exit, the faint sound of gears turning also came from behind.
Gel's heart lurched… her steady heartbeat threatened to accelerate again.
She had no choice but to head towards another exit.
But, perhaps coincidentally, gear-turning sounds also came from another exit.
In the dim light, Gel's extended right foot instantly stopped. Her face turned extremely grim.
Because gear-turning sounds were coming from all six entrances/exits of the room.
Unknowingly, she had been surrounded by the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms in the ruins...
Watching the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms floating in from all six entrances, Gel found herself in a dilemma.
Numerous Copper Mechanical Lifeforms entered the room, hovering near their respective entrances. Vague gazes fell upon Gel.
There were over ten Copper Mechanical Lifeforms at each entrance.
Suddenly, the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms all moved, floating through the air towards Gel.
A flash of despair appeared deep in Gel's eyes.
In this situation, she had no choice but to fight.
But she could already imagine the result after fighting.
Immediately, her right hand softened into a snake head, coiling around a fallen stone slab and hurling it at the approaching Copper Mechanical Lifeforms.
Boom!
A heavy impact sound reverberated throughout the room, then spread outward.
Several kilometers away, in another vast room, the Hunter Association's team had stopped there.
This was one of the safe points… the Hunter Association's team had just arrived not long ago.
Each entrance/exit had a member keeping watch. The others stood in the center of the room, forming a circle.
In the middle of the crowd, Kanzai lay flat on the ground, eyes closed, in deep coma.
Large patches of rust covered his right cheek, neck, abdomen, and right thigh.
Sanbica knelt beside Kanzai, trying every method to extract the rust from his body, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't.
Every Association member watching nearby looked grave.
"Sanbica, any way?" Netero asked, his tone low.
"I'm sorry."
Sanbica silently put down her white-gloved hands, apology in her eyes.
Hearing Sanbica's words, every Association member's heart, including Netero's, sank.
This was equivalent to a doctor's death sentence… Kanzai was beyond saving, even though he still breathed now.
Pyon came forward from the crowd, knelt before Kanzai, reached out, and grabbed his collar tightly. A glimmer shone in her eyes, her mouth slightly open as if to mercilessly taunt Kanzai as she used to.
But in the end, no words came out. She could only silently tighten her grip on the collar, watching Kanzai's breathing grow weaker.
Even without deliberately using Gyo, everyone present could see Kanzai nearing death.
The atmosphere was silently oppressive, tinged with sorrow.
Since landing on the Dark Continent, the Hunter Association had been smooth sailing. Because the teammates followed an elite path, with no unnecessary members, there had been no casualties until now.
But now, perhaps the first casualty would soon appear.
Moreover, three team members were out of contact… no one knew how they were now.
Sanbica watched her silently mourning teammates, clenching her hands.
Because her ability was insufficient, she couldn't pull Kanzai back from the brink of death.
This feeling of helplessness was hard to bear.
'If only Law were here...' Sanbica murmured.
The Copper Mechanical Lifeforms' rust attacks were brutal. They weren't germs or toxins… in essence, they couldn't even be called injuries, but a transmutation phenomenon.
To deal with this transmutation phenomenon, ordinary humans, no matter how advanced their technology, would be helpless. Only Nen Users could handle it.
After close contact with this phenomenon, Sanbica believed only Law's [Separation] could counter the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms' transmutation phenomenon.
Hearing Sanbica's words, Netero sighed softly.
'If only Law were here...'
Such a statement was a luxury not even worthy of being called an 'if', reflecting Sanbica's helplessness and making Netero realize the insolvable nature of the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms.
Once a vital part was attacked, it was equivalent to a death sentence.
The trouble was, Copper Mechanical Lifeforms could easily break through Nen Users' defenses.
Staying on the B1 level of the ruins, with many light sources, at least gave them equal footing in visibility.
Then, how about Beyond and his team, who went deeper underground... What was their situation now?
Moreover, how many levels did the underground ruins have? The deeper they went, would the number of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms increase or decrease?
Netero's brows were knit together. The lack of intel was the reason the team couldn't proceed to the next step.
Just then, Pyon whispered, "Kanzai... he's gone."
"..."
Everyone remained silent, just quietly looking at the lifeless Kanzai.
As a member of the defense team, Kanzai was one of the stronger close-combat fighters in the team.
But before the astonishing tide of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms, individual survival ability was too weak. A single misstep led to death.
Ginta was extremely sensitive… he had already silently shed tears. He picked up stone slabs scattered around the room, wanting to make a stone coffin for Kanzai.
Seeing Ginta's actions, Botobai also moved, searching for suitable slabs.
While trying not to make noise, the two burly men easily assembled a stone coffin and placed Kanzai's body inside.
"I'm sorry..." Sanbica said guiltily as the lid closed.
"I should be the one saying sorry," Cheadle, who is also a doctor, said heavily.
"Doctors aren't omnipotent. Instead of blaming yourselves, think about how to prevent this from happening again," Morel said, carrying his smoke pipe, looking at them.
Sanbica and Cheadle remained silent.
"Besides, this is the Dark Continent. Sacrifices are inevitable."
Saccho couldn't help but glance at Morel, thinking, 'I'm the team's psychological decompression specialist, right? Why are you stealing my lines?'
Even though Kanzai died, everyone was a Pro Hunter after all, so they quickly adjusted their mindset.
"We move in five minutes. We need to find our missing comrades."
At that moment, Netero's voice reached everyone present.
Kanzai's death was an irreparable fact. Currently, three teammates were still out of contact, their whereabouts unknown.
If not for the fact that radios didn't work inside the ruins, finding the missing teammates wouldn't be difficult.
Suddenly, Netero's ear twitched… he heard an extremely faint impact sound.
Not just Netero… several team members with good hearing also heard it.
"Chairman."
Menchi suddenly looked at Netero.
"Hmm."
Netero nodded slightly.
Seeing Netero and Menchi's reaction, other team members who didn't hear the sound looked puzzled.
"Their situation might be very bad," Botobai, who also heard the sound, said.
"Not 'might', but definitely bad. Everyone here knows the consequences of engaging in combat. So, Gel and the others must be forced into a desperate situation before fighting."
"The most troublesome part is, the commotion from fighting will attract more gear monsters."
"What are you talking about?" The members who didn't hear the sound were confused.
Their confusion was answered by a member guarding one of the entrances, because the sound came from the direction of his entrance.
Safe Point, Vast Room.
Dust drifted in the air. On the ground littered with rubble lay over a dozen wrecked Copper Mechanical Lifeforms.
However, hundreds of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms still floated in the surrounding air, encircling Gel.
Due to the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms' characteristics, Gel couldn't easily make contact with them. She could only use stones in the room as weapons to attack.
Boom!
The stone coiled by her arm, concentrated with a large amount of Aura, whistled through the air, smashing a dozen floating Copper Mechanical Lifeforms to the ground.
Such an easy success didn't make Gel happy at all.
"Hah, I'm going to be left here, aren't I?"
Looking at the increasing number of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms gathering around, Gel showed a look of despair.
Even if she was confident in dealing with over a hundred Copper Mechanical Lifeforms, once she engaged them, it would only attract more.
So, no matter what she did, escaping danger was difficult, unless teammates came to rescue.
But that was also impossible.
When Copper Mechanical Lifeforms gathered, coming to rescue would only mean going to hell together.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Gel fought like a cornered beast. Even if she died here, she wanted to take down as many Copper Mechanical Lifeforms as possible.
As the number of wreckage increased, the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms in the room didn't decrease but instead grew.
The arriving Copper Mechanical Lifeforms soon exceeded a thousand, swarming over, covering the sky as they descended upon Gel.
Boom!
Piles of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms crashed to the ground with a tremendous noise, stirring up clouds of dust.
In no time, the spacious room was packed with Copper Mechanical Lifeforms.
Packed in the truest sense, without even a single space left, a chilling sight.