After all, the lava creatures' wariness was a tightly drawn string; it wasn't unbreakable, just not yet time.
Law's act of leaving and then returning to kill a Fire Chicken directly caused them all to erupt into a frenzy.
Suddenly, carrying scalding, high-temperature lava, they rose into the air, chasing after Law, who was about to pass through the first lava waterfall.
"Law, watch out behind!"
Kuro noticed the lava creatures' movement and quickly warned.
Law looked back and instinctively raised his right hand, intending to release Wither to block the pursuing lava creatures.
But Law thought since they were about to leave and had already obtained what they needed, there was no need to attack the lava creatures below.
This thought was based on Law's complete confidence in escaping the place.
Thus, Law dismissed the idea of releasing Wither, increased speed to pass through the first waterfall, and relied on pure speed advantage to leave the pursuing lava creatures behind.
However, Law didn't forget that among the pursuing creatures were birds.
Law's figure darted through the intersecting, horizontal lava waterfalls. Then he saw the pursuing firebirds diving directly into the cascading lava waterfalls. He was momentarily stunned, then couldn't help but marvel at how these creatures were anything but simple.
Over a dozen firebirds vanished into the lava waterfalls. Without the luxury of using En, it was indeed a tricky situation.
But even without En, Law was confident in relying on his reflexes to evade any firebirds that might emerge from the lava waterfalls.
"About fifty meters left in height?"
Law looked up and smiled slightly, then accelerated again.
He didn't mind wasting another piece of Lichen later, as the priority was to leave quickly.
While ascending, two firebirds suddenly flew out from a lava waterfall, flanking Law from left and right.
"Too slow, I'm afraid."
Law simply altered his footwork frequency slightly, instantly accelerating and leaving the two firebirds behind.
Using a method similar to [Instant], firebirds charged head-on, only to miss in the end, watching helplessly as Law escaped.
When Law successfully passed through the lava waterfall area, a cacophony of enraged cries mixed together rose from below.
Law didn't even glance down but pushed his speed to the limit, returning to the cliff edge in no time.
"We're good here."
Law glanced at the surroundings and sighed, "The Nen consumption rate down there was over three times higher than here. If possible, I'd rather not come again."
"Don't you want to taste other livestock?" Kuro said earnestly.
Law killing a Fire Chicken to satisfy him put Kuro in an excellent mood, which was why he used the descriptor 'livestock' for the lava creatures below, a term with a strong sense of déjà vu.
Honestly, he also felt these lava creatures seemed like they were being raised by some entity.
Because, truly, they were top-tier ingredients, no argument accepted!
Actually, Law certainly had thoughts, but he didn't answer Kuro, directly changing the subject, "We've gotten everything. I'm speeding up to leave… keep up."
With that, Law dashed out.
Kuro was just a beat slower and immediately fell behind by a large margin.
Instantly, he also sped up to follow Law.
...
At the lava core region entrance, seeing Law and Kuro successfully escape, everyone's hearts finally settled.
Luckily, everything went smoothly.
They thought to themselves.
"That really scared me just now," Shiro took a deep drag of smoke.
"Glad he's safe."
Biscuit let out a sigh of relief.
Though Law seemed relaxed passing through the lava waterfalls, being there in person must have been incredibly risky.
"Now we just wait for Law to come out." Tonpa looked towards the entrance. While everyone else focused on the scene reflected by the fox Nen Beast, only he maintained his detection circle, faithfully fulfilling his duty.
"If I counted correctly, Law got a total of twenty stalks of Grass Jelly, right?" Nique's eyes sparkled.
"Exactly twenty, but only four are complete."
"Yeah, though I don't know why Law didn't pull them up by the roots, he must have had a reason."
While waiting for Law to emerge, everyone chatted animatedly.
The skeleton glanced up at them, remaining silent, but his mind dwelled on the scene he had just witnessed.
An incredible human.
Earlier, he thought if not for that woman being somewhat special, he wouldn't have surrendered so readily.
But even without that woman, with this human named Law present, he probably would have died miserably, right?
Over all these years, he'd encountered quite a few humans and seen several batches from the [Holy Land], but none could compare to Law.
"How long has it been...?"
The skeleton pushed his memories back several hundred years, trying to find a human from his so-called 'river of memory history' whose strength could rival Law's.
Only... within those blurred memories could he find a faint sense of familiarity.
That was a long, long time ago. He vaguely remembered the elders in his tribe mentioning an era that belonged to humans.
In that era, humans weren't a weak group resorting to any means for survival. On the contrary, though not necessarily atop the food chain, they weren't low either.
In every corner of the Dark Continent, traces of humanity were left.
But now, for humans to settle stably on the Dark Continent was an almost impossible task, let alone venturing into dangerous areas.
Despite using Wither, Law's ability to move freely deep within the lava core region gave the skeleton a faint glimpse of a blurry shadow.
After waiting about an hour, they finally saw Law emerge from the glowing red cave entrance.
Originally, Law intended to leave the lava core region at full speed, but as he hurried, he realized he could save a piece of Lichen, so he slowed down, only emerging now.
At this moment, his Nen was nearly depleted, and in another ten minutes, he wouldn't even be able to maintain his abilities.
If he didn't carry a few pieces of Lichen that could quickly replenish Nen, even though Law considered his Potential Aura the highest among humans, he wouldn't dare be careless in an environment like the lava core region.
"Law."
Seeing Law emerge, everyone immediately went to greet him, leaving the skeleton alone, still bound by the Nen net on the ground.
Law smiled and greeted his teammates, then noticed the skeleton lying prone in an undignified position.
"Bone Clan? Looks strong. For safety's sake, why wasn't he killed?"
If he could sweat, the skeleton felt he'd be drenched in cold sweat.
Ging looked at the skeleton and explained with a smile, "He's a trove of information delivered to our doorstep. You'll understand in a moment."
"A trove of information..."
Law casually threw the Fire Chicken to the ground and carefully examined the skeleton.
He was used to Ging occasionally using gaming terminology. If he called it a trove of information, it must have unique value.
And currently, what they lacked most was information.
Then, Ging briefed Law on the information obtained from the skeleton.
Gradually, Law's gaze toward the skeleton was like inspecting a rare treasure.
That look sent chills down the skeleton's spine.