The floor of the cave was littered with protruding grey stones of various shapes, mostly grey in color.
After Law and the others had been in the tunnel for a while, the cave returned to darkness.
These protruding stones suddenly shed their grey exteriors, transforming into crystals of various colors.
A section of them shifted, and from the bottom to the front, a small, delicate rat head emerged. The rat's eyes were only the size of small fingernails, crimson and translucent.
These seemingly ordinary protruding grey stones were, in fact, the Gem Rats Law's group had initially discovered.
A few of the Gem Rats extended slender legs from beneath their bodies… these were mostly the ones first illuminated by the flashlight.
They seemed to be searching for a more comfortable position, moving around leisurely, completely unaware of the impending danger.
A few Gem Rats wandered about casually, while the others remained motionless, creating a peaceful scene.
Then, a rustling sound came from the tunnel. The moving Gem Rats abruptly sat down on the spot.
Like chameleons, they, along with the other Gem Rats, instantly turned back into ordinary grey stones.
A flash of light cut through the darkness, striking one Gem Rat that had just stopped moving.
"Squeak!"
A cry, lasting less than a second, echoed through the small cave.
Law shot out of the tunnel like lightning, grabbing the struck Gem Rat.
He then stuck luminescent algae to the walls and ceiling, instantly filling the cave with bright light.
The Gem Rat in his hand had now turned into an ordinary grey stone.
Although the White Smoke Font provided no information, through the faint sensation transmitted by his skin, Law could feel the faint life force within the stone, and a trembling fear.
This was a stone with life.
Tonpa and Biscuit also emerged from the tunnel.
Bruna landed on Law's shoulder, curiously watching the grey stone in his hand.
Seeing Biscuit come out, Law tossed the stone to her, then looked at the floor full of grey stones, "They know how to camouflage. For now, they don't seem threatening."
Biscuit caught the stone, examined it a few times, and felt the same as Law.
On the stone's surface was a shallow dent… the result of Law slightly expanding the tunnel entrance and having Tonpa release his Aura to create a striking effect.
"Truly incredible," Biscuit lifted the bowl-sized stone, muttering to herself, "Can these little guys freely switch between raw stone and gemstone forms? That's not very friendly in the eyes of a Gem Hunter."
Gem Hunters pursued all kinds of rare and precious gemstones, naturally including uncut raw stones.
Most Gem Hunters enjoyed the process of polishing raw stones. These Gem Rats were ready-made raw stones and gemstones… a contradictory relationship mixed together.
"But it's fine. As long as it doesn't change back, I can still polish it slowly." Biscuit revealed a devilish smile.
Law and Tonpa instinctively exchanged a glance, 'If this grey stone possessed life, then treating it as a raw stone to polish was, in a sense, a form of torture.'
However, prey had no right to speak, just like the chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, and sheep on human dining tables.
Law took out tools for polishing raw stones from Kuro's space and handed them to Biscuit.
The floor full of grey stones remained motionless, lacking a clear concept of what was about to happen.
Perhaps this was their first encounter with a Gem Hunter.
The polishing tools Biscuit used were simple: a small steel brush and a sheet of sandpaper.
Her favorite was sandpaper. By wrapping a small amount of Aura around it, she could reinforce the sandpaper, allowing her to polish for a long time.
What she enjoyed most was using sandpaper to slowly wear away the stone's skin layer by layer.
Holding the raw stone in one hand and the sandpaper in the other, a gleam shone in Biscuit's eyes.
Seeing this, an image of Biscuit's expression while reading her pretty-boy magazines flashed in Law's mind. He then glanced at the floor full of protruding stones, his eyes filled with pity.
According to Tonpa's rough estimate, there were probably over two hundred Gem Rats in the cave.
If they were truly confirmed to be high-quality gemstones, taking them back to the Six Continents would be an unprecedented fortune.
Scrape, scrape, scrape…
Biscuit began polishing the raw stone, and a tiny amount of dust fell from the grey stone.
Law had Tonpa find another raw stone and played with it in his hand.
He subtly turned his back to Biscuit and directly used Nen to cut the Gem-Rat in half, revealing a large section of emerald green.
If this were gemstone gambling, it would be a wildly profitable, almost wasteful, windfall.
After cutting open the Gem Rat, Law materialized his book, flipping to the latest page.
The words [Stone Essence] were displayed.
"So it is a life form. It's called Stone Essence," Law dismissed the book.
He wasn't surprised that the dissected Stone Essence showed no reaction, as one of the constraints of God Hand was the absence of pain.
However, it looked more like jade or a gemstone.
The name [Stone Essence] didn't seem to fit very well.
Law sat down cross-legged and began partially cutting the Stone Essence in his hand.
This was perhaps the least threatening life form they had encountered since coming to the Dark Continent, even less intimidating than the Buru Tribe.
Pieces of fine crushed stone were peeled away.
This efficiency was far beyond Biscuit's slow, meticulous polishing. After all, Law wasn't a Gem Hunter and had no interest in enjoying the polishing process.
Biscuit was immersed in the polishing process, while Tonpa and Bruna watched Law directly cutting the raw stone.
As more was revealed, Law saw the thin black legs, like a stroke from a black pen on the gemstone, looking very jarring. He also saw the rat head hidden inside the gemstone.
The rat head was entirely grey, with no fur, no whiskers, very small ears, a pointed nose, short teeth, and a pair of ruby-like eyes that were very striking.
Then, Law found a stone-within-a-stone inside the Stone Essence's body, or perhaps describing it as a 'heart' would be more appropriate.
That 'heart' seemed to be the Stone Essence's core. It was only the size of a quail's egg, translucent and emerald green, perfectly round and clear, with no signs of artificial polishing.
Judging by its color, it didn't resemble an emerald but was more like jade.
Law took out the stone core and held it in his palm. It felt like the coolness of a clear mountain spring, exceptionally comfortable.
"We've struck it rich."
Tonpa stared at the stone core in Law's hand, muttering to himself.
Law glanced at him, flicked his finger, and sent the emerald green stone core flying into Tonpa's hand.
Tonpa caught the stone core hastily, looking at Law with confusion.
Law's gaze shifted to the floor full of protruding stones, "That would indeed be very valuable back on the Six Continents, but here, it's insignificant because this is the Dark Continent."
A single stone core like this could easily fetch billions at an auction back home.
But here, the ground was covered with them, and venturing further into the tunnel might reveal even more.
It meant that anyone from the Six Continents who picked up just one of these stones would be set for life upon returning.
Compared to these material possessions, that half-plant of Nitro Rice that could extend lifespan was the truly priceless item.
If this information were substantiated and spread back to the Dark Continent, it might ignite a nationwide gold rush.
As for the dangers clearly present, the gold seekers, blinded by the immense profits, would likely flock to it regardless.
The so-called substantiation of information naturally meant bringing products from the Dark Continent back to the Six Continents, as that would be more convincing than any hearsay.
No one could imagine what phenomena would erupt if things like Chasefire Stones, Restarite, and Nitro Rice appeared on the Six Continents.
"But we can take them all, right?" Tonpa said cautiously, looking at the stone core in his hand.
"Of course. Since we're here, we have to make the trip worthwhile. Even if you haul away a mountain of treasure, no one will stop you." Law said sincerely.