Upon realizing the skeleton's value, Law's first question was whether the skeleton knew Don.
When this question was raised, before the skeleton could even answer, Ging was momentarily stunned… he hadn't thought of this.
After all, he wasn't like Gon in 'Where's Dad?', whose original purpose in coming to the Dark Continent wasn't to find Don.
Though he had considered having close contact with Don, he truly hadn't thought of starting with the skeleton just now.
Given the skeleton's uniqueness, he might indeed know Don.
Ging first glanced at Law, then looked expectantly at the skeleton.
But the next moment, he was disappointed.
"No, I don't."
The skeleton answered truthfully.
His will to survive was strong. What he knew, he would tell without reservation, and what he didn't know, he naturally couldn't answer.
Not just these harmless questions… even if asked about the size of his manhood in his past life, he would reveal it without hesitation.
This answer not only disappointed Ging but also somewhat disappointed Law.
But upon second thought, it wasn't surprising.
The Dark Continent was vast. Even though the skeleton and Don were of a similar type, they might not necessarily have met.
However, Law wasn't willing to end the question there. Like a final struggle, he continued asking, "Then... have you ever seen a human traveling alone?"
Excluding the possibility that the skeleton and Don had already met face-to-face, broadening the scope of the question led to this.
Hearing the new question, the skeleton was taken aback, then nodded, "Yes, but I don't know if it's the Don you mentioned."
"When and where?"
Law wasn't concerned whether the human the skeleton mentioned was Don. In his view, a lone human on the Dark Continent, besides Don, was virtually impossible to find a second one.
"A few years ago, right before I came to the underground world. At the time, I saw him surrounded by a group of fluff monsters. I thought he definitely couldn't escape, but guess what happened?"
"That human just released his life energy, and those fluff monsters were scared out of their wits."
"At the time, I felt that human was dangerous, so I didn't dare approach easily."
The skeleton explained his encounter with the lone human.
The 'life energy' he mentioned was naturally understood by everyone as Nen, just like the humans in the Ancient Labyrinth City, who called Nen solar power.
The names differed, but the nature was the same.
"So, we're not dangerous? That's why you dared to bump into us?"
Tonpa muttered softly. After entering Hide-and-Seek, he didn't need to expend energy maintaining his detection circle. Relaxed, he became slightly more active.
The skeleton's hearing was quite sharp… he heard Tonpa's mutter, feeling only sadness.
At the time, he genuinely didn't think Tonpa and the others were dangerous. But when he came out for calcium, he didn't care for these dozen or so small frames, as only the big guys among the Bone Clan could satisfy him.
But he hadn't expected that when Stargie released her Aura, it was like a tall person suddenly standing up among a group of short ones. The contrast couldn't have been more obvious.
Law ignored Tonpa's sarcasm and looked at Ging.
Meeting Law's inquiring gaze, Ging easily interpreted: 'I plan to go with you to meet your ancestor. What do you think?'
"..."
After a moment of silence, Ging nodded gently, indicating he didn't mind.
Receiving the response, Law turned to the skeleton and further inquired, "If you returned to where you saw Don, could you determine which direction he went?"
"First, I must state that I'm not sure if that lone human is Don." The skeleton first shed the potential blame that might be placed on him.
A hint of helplessness flashed in Law's eyes. He said, "Rest assured. Even if it's not, we won't blame you."
"Good."
The skeleton nodded matter-of-factly, then pondered. After a moment, he said, "I can do it."
"Good. Let's set this aside for now. I have other questions."
"Go ahead. As long as you let me go, no matter the question, if I can answer, I won't leave out a single word!"
The skeleton displayed a strong will to survive.
Law looked the skeleton up and down, very satisfied.
He thought to himself, 'Not only will we let you go, but we'll also let you experience many enjoyable things.'
Then, Law first told everyone not to hold back… if they had questions, they should ask.
After the reminder, he continued with another question: "Do you know about the Gatekeepers?"
The skeleton answered truthfully, but he hadn't expected that over the next twelve hours, he would be constantly answering questions from everyone.
[Do you know where to find top-tier tobacco materials?] That was Shiro's question.
[Do you know where to find top-tier ingredients?] That was Buhara's question.
[Do you know where to find tasty grass?] That was Nique's question.
[Do you know where ancient human ruins are?] That was Salin's question.
[Do you know where the scenery is nicer?] That was Bruna and Sheila's.
...
The skeleton nearly broke down.
He had severely underestimated the energy of these curious individuals before him.
Actually, Shiro and the others were just joining in the fun. The crucial questions were mostly from Law.
And the questions Law raised were basically related to previously unexplored death zones… otherwise, they were about the Gatekeepers and more detailed information about the black slab.
The skeleton answered everything he could without reservation.
Finally, when Law ended the questioning session, he thought it was over.
"Let's take a short break, then continue."
Law patted the skeleton's shoulder appreciatively, then called his teammates to prepare a meal and took out the Grass Jelly harvested this time, adding it to the team's inventory.
The skeleton looked up sadly at the ceiling, paying no attention to the humans behind him.
"One stalk of Grass Jelly per person. Keep it with you. But it's best if I help you sew the Grass Jelly under your skin. Of course, that's my personal suggestion." Law held a stalk of Grass Jelly missing a section.
"I have no objections."
Knov was the first to accept the suggestion.
Then, several others felt it was feasible. With Law's ability characteristics, sewing Grass Jelly under the skin could avoid many risks.
After everyone agreed, Law sewed stalks of Grass Jelly under each person's skin. Of course, the location was chosen individually, but for convenience, most chose spots where they could use it readily.
The operation of sewing Grass Jelly under the skin stirred waves in the skeleton again.
'This team...'
Soon, the short break ended, and Law continued bombarding the skeleton with questions.
He wasn't just asking questions… he meticulously recorded all the intelligence the skeleton revealed in his God Hand's book.
Later, he needed to integrate it and select suitable routes.
But currently, three things concerned him the most.
The Gatekeepers.
The black slab.
Don's whereabouts.
Only after grinding away a whole day of the skeleton's time did Law let him off.
Besides those three things, the skeleton also revealed information about a small group of humans and the increasingly clear survival trends of humanoid groups.
These were all noteworthy pieces of information.
After letting the skeleton rest, Salin stepped away from her work of deciphering ancient texts to find Law.
"Among the ancient human ruins that Bones mentioned, we might find some related ancient texts." Bones was the name Salin gave the skeleton.
"That's a possibility."
Law didn't refute Salin's statement.
He knew what Salin was longing for.
But first, he needed to integrate the intelligence.