When the unidentified spherical creature sliced the python, no more than five in the group could clearly follow its movement.
As the spherical creature looked their way, aside from a few like Law, everyone else instinctively tensed up.
When their gazes met the spherical creature's eyes, they felt no hostility whatsoever.
After staring at each other for a few moments, the creature's form gradually became clearer.
Compared to its rounded body and eyes, what drew attention were the wings growing on either side of its body, like two slender bamboo branches, each drooping with many long strips.
When spread, they resembled a string of hanging wind chimes. When folded, they looked like a fan.
As for the two barbed teeth growing at the bottom of the sphere, though small, they had a strong presence on its spherical body.
Having gotten a clear look at the spherical creature's appearance, they still didn't know its identity.
Among the group, Coo and the Skeleton were the most knowledgeable.
But judging from their reactions and lack of initiative, it seemed they were also unaware of the spherical creature's origins.
"Ring, ring."
The spherical creature suddenly emitted a series of clear, crisp sounds, the meaning unknown.
But the sound made everyone assume defensive postures.
The scene of the spherical creature lightning-fast slicing the python was still vivid in their minds.
That sharpness and speed were not to be underestimated.
After making the sound, the spherical creature showed no hostility nor any sign of attacking.
Its gaze swept over them, pausing briefly on each person. Then it stopped making sounds and flapped its wings, stirring the python's corpse like a blender.
The petrified feathers adhering to the python's corpse were blown away by the wind.
The spherical creature's wings, flapping so fast they were a blur, slammed down onto the python, instantly grinding the corpse into powder that scattered onto the milky white glowing ground.
In no time, the python capable of swallowing Buhara was ground to powder by the spherical creature, effectively erasing all traces of its existence.
After doing this, the spherical creature turned back to stare at Law and the others.
Neither side moved, as if the air itself had frozen.
"Law, shouldn't we do something?"
Tonpa frowned at the ambiguous spherical creature.
Currently, he couldn't use his Nen Abilities, making his role in the team quite small.
This sudden contrast made him want to take some initiative.
"If it doesn't bother us, we have no reason to actively bother it."
Law shook his head slightly. It wasn't fear of the spherical creature's strength, but the common principle of Pro Hunters: if they could avoid meaningless fights, they certainly would.
"But we can't just waste time here, can we?"
"Here, we're consuming Nen every moment. Just waiting like this wastes more than just time. That thing doesn't seem very aggressive... why don't we just go around it?"
"That's probably the only option."
Heeding his teammates' advice, Law turned to try circumventing the spherical creature.
As they moved, the creature's gaze followed them, but it remained standing still without making a move.
This following gaze forced Law and the others to constantly monitor the creature's movements as they detoured.
From beginning to end, the spherical creature never showed any hostility, but the intensity of its attention was like a cobra in a defensive posture.
After finally getting around it, Law's group continued forward.
However, they soon noticed the spherical creature following them, trailing far behind without getting too close.
"What does that thing want?"
The creature's pursuit was quite troublesome for the group.
Although it had shown no hostility yet, it was still a potential threat.
After it followed for about ten kilometers, Law felt this couldn't continue and wanted to proactively eliminate the hidden dangers.
But when Law and his group moved towards the spherical creature, it quickly retreated, vanishing swiftly.
After Law and the others continued forward, the spherical creature reappeared, causing everyone to have black lines on their faces.
They had no idea what it wanted. Unable to get close, they couldn't communicate.
Trying to eliminate it was difficult due to its exceptional agility and wariness, as it expertly executed 'advance when the enemy retreats, retreat when the enemy advances'.
Several attempts failed... Law found the spherical creature not only fast but also quick to react, multiple surprise attacks failing.
Unable to shake off this sticky rice cake-like spherical creature, Law and the others had a headache.
Sometimes, they would rather face a powerful enemy directly than have such a troublesome imp hanging behind them.
Since they couldn't dispose of it, Law and the group accepted it and continued forward.
However, the team's formation changed, with the strongest, Law, walking at the back, while Ging and Coo walked at the front.
Having Law in the back somewhat mitigated the threat from the spherical creature.
After all, everyone trusted Law's reliability and strength the most.
In this strange situation, Law's group advanced for a day and night.
The scenery along the way never changed: the same silence, the same milky white glow, the same caltrop trees.
Everyone wore the new Nitro Rice, so even after walking a day and night, they weren't tired enough to need rest.
As for food, with Kuro as a mobile space, they could take out rations and water anytime, anywhere.
The most annoying parts of the entire journey, besides the spherical creature closely tailing them, were having to constantly wipe the petrified feathers off their eyes every so often.
After a day of walking, Law asked each teammate about their condition. Confirming everyone was fine, he decided to continue deeper.
He didn't know where the Mender was, so he could only aimlessly keep penetrating the Forest of Medusa, hoping to find something even if they didn't encounter the Mender.
They continued in this state for another half day.
Behind them, the spherical creature still followed closely. While maintaining their vigilance, Law and his group were also somewhat used to it.
The scenery passing by had never changed... the sights before their eyes were also monotonous.
Until a slightly larger flat area ahead revealed a group of stone statues of various forms, finally bringing a change to the monotonous landscape.
Seeing the considerable number of stone statues, Law and his group stopped.
Those statues included a mix of various creatures, even humans.
With the stone eagle as a precedent, no one thought the stone statues standing before them were normal.