The distance was great, making it hard to see clearly, but they could still make out the general picture.
That massive hand, which looked like a mountain, had indeed moved and had clenched around a flying creature.
Watching this scene, Law and Biscuit showed little reaction. Tonpa wasn't so frightened that he lost his composure either.
Having witnessed so many awe-inspiring beings, perhaps they had become accustomed to it. Or maybe it was the distance, so what they saw in their eyes wasn't large, lacking a direct, awe-inspiring visual impact.
Roughly two minutes later, the giant hand slowly opened, and the flying creature it had been clutching was gone without a trace.
"Let's go."
Law withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath of the cold mountain air, and began the second step of traversing the mountains.
Biscuit followed.
Tonpa seemed to want to say something but ultimately didn't, honestly keeping pace.
'With that group of flying creatures that looked like bird-dragon hybrids circling around, climbing the World Tree would be harder than reaching the sky, right?'
This was what Tonpa had wanted to say earlier, but he didn't voice it. After all, some things are better seen with one's own eyes than described with empty words.
'Any normal person would probably retreat after just one close look, right?'
That's what Tonpa thought, so this time he remained quiet.
Law's reaction was calm and indifferent, but inwardly, he also felt uncertain.
Back when sailing on the Dark Waters, riding the tide up into the clouds, he had personally witnessed the terror of the 'airspace'… it was full of super-giant flying creatures locked in deadly combat.
At that time, the ship they were on was smaller than the eye of one of those birds.
Now, looking from afar at the World Tree, with countless flying creatures circling nearby, forming an absolute 'aerial deterrence'… in that environment, could humans even climb it?
'Even if we were to give up, we should at least take a close look first.'
That's what Law thought, so he ignored the 'black hand's' performance and pressed on.
They climbed one mountain, descended to its base, then climbed another, rising and falling like this, gradually drawing closer to the location of the World Tree.
A day passed.
Night fell, and the temperature suddenly plummeted. The mountain wind blowing felt like cold knives in the depths of winter.
Law immediately carved out a cave in the mountain wall to serve as a resting place.
He took dried rations and firewood from Kuro's space, lit a fire in the cave to ward off the cold and warm themselves.
Outside, the mountain wind howled.
Occasionally, a cold gust would swirl and rush into the cave.
Less than an hour after entering the cave, Law noticed a layer of white frost forming on the edges of the cave entrance.
"Good thing we have enough furs."
Looking at the frost formed by the sudden temperature drop, Law glanced back at the animal pelts worn by Biscuit and Tonpa, then sealed the cave entrance smaller.
By the moonlight, they could see the mountain range outside covered in a layer of white frost, as if it had suddenly transformed into a snowy landscape overnight.
It wasn't snowing… only frost had condensed.
The reason for this, Law didn't care to know. After sealing the entrance smaller, he turned and walked back into the cave, sitting by the fire.
Every night, besides eating, Tonpa slept.
As for Biscuit, she had an endless supply of magazines to read.
Law conjured a book and a quill pen, slowly recording today's sights and experiences in the book.
Bruna quietly watched Law from the side.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, the group had a simple breakfast and left the cave.
The low temperatures of the night were gone. The frost at the cave entrance had also disappeared.
Looking up at the surrounding mountains, the snowy scenery seen last night felt like a dream.
'The temperature difference between day and night is just too extreme,' Law thought silently.
The team continued their trek.
Approaching noon, the team was about to climb over an even higher mountain.
When they were less than a hundred meters from the summit, the howling mountain wind carried some other sounds.
It sounded like swinging a rope with a stone tied to it, only much more dense and louder.
Upon reaching the summit, they finally understood where the sound came from.
Countless stones were spiraling upward around the mountains ahead in the distance, shooting into the clouds, then falling from farther away into the basin below, only to be swept up again, going up and down around the mountains in a perpetual cycle.
The stones were about the size of eggs, flying at high speed. Their numbers were so great they rustled loudly. They seemed quite powerful, and getting hit by one would definitely hurt.
For stones to be this forceful, mountain wind alone probably couldn't sustain it. Perhaps magnetic force was also a factor.
The summit where Law stood was still some distance from those spiraling, rising and falling stones, but occasionally, a few stones would fall from the sky and hit their area.
It was a true portrayal of a rain of stone.
The number of stones was simply too vast.
As they spiraled, they even obstructed the view.
"Let's detour around it."
The stone rain spiraled and rose around several large mountains, covering too wide an area, leaving almost no path.
To continue forward, they would either have to force their way through or take a detour.
Even though they had the capability to try forcing through, Law still chose to detour.
Naturally, Tonpa and Biscuit had no objections to Law's suggestion.
They also looked carefully and simply couldn't find a way through.
Forced to detour, their route changed.
A week passed before they finally returned to the main path.
Looking back, they could still see the spectacular sight of countless stones forming a tornado-like phenomenon, but Law's group had already passed through.
Although he's very curious about how this breathtaking stone formation came to be, Law wanted to reach the World Tree as soon as possible to take a look, so he naturally had no mind to investigate the cause.
Since entering the mountain range, they hadn't seen any plants or creatures… just a scene of desolation.
Moreover, the temperature difference between day and night was extreme. At night, frost covered the mountains, while at daybreak, the frost vanished without a trace.
Fortunately, with the reserve dried rations in Kuro's space, not encountering any creatures along the way made things much easier.
The mountain range seemed boundless, its area apparently no smaller than the sea of trees.
The World Tree looked deceptively close, but after walking for over ten days, the distance between them didn't seem to have shortened.
The efficiency was extremely poor, after all, everywhere was just endless high mountains.
Law felt this pace of travel was too slow. Arriving at the base of a mountain, he said, "Climbing up and down like this is too slow. I'm thinking of digging straight through."
Hearing this, Tonpa's eyes widened, "Wouldn't that be even slower?"
"Really?" Law smiled and took out Shin into his palm.
Only then did Tonpa remember how Law had helped the Slu Tribe carve out a complete dwelling place from solid rock.
"Seems you're serious. I'm saying it upfront, I'm not helping," Biscuit glanced at the large mountain. This kind of training-style hard labor didn't interest her.
"It's fine. You guys wouldn't be much help anyway."
As Law spoke, he plunged the sword into the mountain wall.
Like cutting tofu, he sliced off a large chunk of rock, then immediately started digging out a second piece.
As the second rock was dug out, a cave entrance very dramatically appeared. A faint seven-colored radiance flickered within the darkness inside the cave.
Looking at this entrance, everyone exchanged glances.
"Flashlight." Biscuit leaned toward the cave entrance, peering inside.
Seeing the multicolored light, a gleam flashed in her eyes.
Law took out a flashlight and handed it to Biscuit.
Biscuit turned on the flashlight. The beam of light pierced the darkness inside the cave, landing directly on the spot where the multicolored light flickered.
They saw pieces of gemstones embedded over a large area of the ground, piled irregularly.
Law and Tonpa also saw the gemstones and were instantly stunned.
'There were so many!'
Biscuit's heartbeat quickened. Her eyes turned into stars. She was just about to step over the entrance and rush toward the gems when suddenly, under the light, the gemstones actually began to move.