They traveled along the coastline unimpeded all the way.
Without stopping, and encountering no danger.
Thanks to Cookie's massages, the team's required rest time was greatly reduced, and there was no worry about excessive fatigue.
They pressed on swiftly, and in just one month, the team smoothly arrived at the Land of Red Rock.
"Law, this is where you first landed on the Dark Continent, right!"
Looking at the flat red earth before her, Sheila couldn't contain her excitement. While glancing around, she also felt a bit regretful for not encountering a Rock Island Crab coming ashore to sunbathe.
"Yes."
Law smiled and nodded, then began searching for a suitable spot to descend into the cave.
Shiro ran off to get a close look at the Dragon's Blood Trees, while Nique, as a vegetarian, inevitably took action against them.
"So nostalgic," Tonpa sighed.
Back when they first encountered the Dark Continent, there were so many times they were nearly scared out of their wits.
Now, returning to the starting point, they felt a sense of serene detachment.
Soon, Law found a suitable descent point.
But seeing his teammates' enthusiastic state, he didn't rush them. After all, except for him, Tonpa, and a few others, everyone else was seeing the Land of Red Rock for the first time.
The view here was unobstructed: no mountains, no water, only scattered tall Dragon's Blood Trees.
The coral-like branches supported a potted-plant-like canopy, yet it seemed as if cut off by scissors, leaving a flat cross-section atop the canopy.
Such a uniquely peculiar tree species inevitably made people pause.
There was no rush to head to the underground world… it was also a good opportunity for everyone to rest and reorganize.
Law, taking Machi with him, leaped onto the top of a Dragon's Blood Tree.
The two nestled together, gazing into the distance, quietly letting time pass.
By evening, the distant sky was dyed orange-red. Ging and the others' interest in the Dragon's Blood Trees and the Land of Red Rock had plummeted.
Thus, under Law's lead, everyone entered the tunnels dug by underground creatures, descending into the pitch-black subterranean world.
"Stinks so bad."
"Probably the smell of rotting corpses."
"Hold on, let me find the light algae."
As soon as they reached the underground, a foul stench assaulted their noses.
It somewhat resembled the smell of rotting corpses, but with complete darkness all around, it was hard to verify the guess.
Tonpa didn't signal any danger, which meant there were no dangerous creatures within his radar range.
After a short while, Law was the first to take out light algae, infused it with Nen, and emitted a bright light, instantly illuminating the surroundings.
Following closely was Ging's light algae.
Within a few seconds, everyone held light algae, making the area as bright as daylight, where even a single grain of sand could be seen clearly.
On the rocky ground strewn with boulders, a considerable number of broken bones were scattered.
Some hair stuck to dark, viscous substances, along with a few flesh chunks not yet fully decomposed.
The source of the foul stench, however, was the remains of biological corpses scattered across the surrounding ground.
"The corpses show no signs of being eaten."
Ging couldn't identify the specific appearance from the remains, but he could tell if the bodies had been gnawed on.
Knov adjusted his glasses and said, "This indicates that whatever killed them wasn't doing it for food."
"Exactly."
"It was probably the work of the Bone Clan, but I remember this isn't their activity range," Law said, scanning the area.
"The Bone Clan..."
"With our strength, the Bone Clan is nothing to fear. Let's go, head straight for the Slu Tribe's settlement."
Law withdrew his gaze and headed in a certain direction.
Seeing this, the others stopped paying attention to the surrounding remains and followed Law.
After the team traveled about a hundred kilometers, Tonpa warned, "A group of things is coming from the eight o'clock direction. They're flying, about three hundred in number. Their target is clearly us."
Hearing Tonpa's warning, everyone immediately entered a combat stance.
Law retrieved Shin from Kuro's space and looked towards the eight o'clock direction.
Within moments, they heard the flapping of wings, quite dense.
A few seconds after the sound arrived, clusters of shadows approached… creatures resembling bats in size, with bodies mostly made of white bone.
Between the spread wing skeletons was a semi-transparent bone membrane. No organs were visible on their heads, not even a mouth, only a head full of durian-like spikes.
This group of flying Bone Clan was attracted by the scent of Law and his companions.
Filled with a killing instinct, they unhesitatingly launched an assault on Law's group.
[White General]
Law took several steps forward, and the White General conjured behind him.
He swung his arm, making a horizontal slash.
The White General mirrored the action, striking out with a blade.
A flash of blade light vanished in an instant, and the attacking Bone Clan were shredded into pieces in a split second.
"..."
Witnessing Law dispatch the attacking Bone Clan in a single encounter, without even getting a clear look at their specific appearance, everyone shook their heads slightly and withdrew their Nen.
With the obstacles cleared, the team continued onward.
If the journey went smoothly, it would only take about a week from the entrance to reach the Slu Tribe's settlement.
And just as Law had said, the Bone Clan were born purely for killing.
They slaughtered any creatures that appeared before them, not for survival or reproduction.
On the way to the Slu Tribe's settlement, Law's group encountered many waves of attacking Bone Clan.
Once, the number of attacking Bone Clan reached two thousand, but it posed no threat to the team.
Not to mention Law's presence, even Stargie's [Sound of Seven Verses] could handle the attacking Bone Clan.
With such reliable teammates and Tonpa's detection circle, no matter how many Bone Clan came, they were all slain by the team.
A week later, the team smoothly arrived at the Slu Tribe's settlement location… a massive, reclining trapezoidal stone, also known as the Vein Stone.
The Slu Tribe's settlement was inside the internal space of the Vein Stone, relying on its hardness to resist various dangerous creatures of the underground world.
Located directly beneath the Vein Stone were two gates, one large and one small.
"The gate is open?" Ging spotted the open stone gate from afar.
Law saw it too, his gaze immediately sharpening.
He knew the Slu Tribe's settlement's stone gates were usually kept closed year-round, only opening for entry or exit.
"Let's take a look."
Everyone headed towards the Slu Tribe's settlement gates.
As the distance closed, there was still no movement from within the open stone gates of the Slu Tribe's settlement.
Seeing this, Law's heart sank slightly, a bad premonition arising.
They were currently carrying glowing light algae, like big light bulbs in the darkness, extremely conspicuous. Therefore, the Slu Tribe's guards who should be stationed by the stone gates should not have failed to react.
Until everyone reached the stone gates, the light from the algae flooded into the narrow passageway inside.
Several pieces of clothing lay scattered on the ground within the passageway. No sound came through… the place was filled with an atmosphere of deathly silence.
Based on Law's description of the Slu Tribe, the scene before them made everyone exchange uncertain glances, unsure of what had happened.
"Tonpa."
Looking at the scattered clothes on the ground, Law's expression changed slightly, and he sharply turned to Tonpa.
At that moment, Tonpa showed a look of astonishment.
Upon reaching the stone gates, his detection circle was sufficient to penetrate the not-so-spacious interior of the Vein Stone.
However, his Nen Circle hadn't detected a single Slu Tribe's member.
Hearing Law call his name, Tonpa snapped back to attention and said nervously, "No one. Not a single person."
"No one?!"