On the Dark Continent, it was an all-too-common phenomenon for unknown things to attack from anywhere, at any time, and in any manner.
Often, you wouldn't even know what you had encountered before meeting a baffling death.
The Entropy Bird, the Zobae Disease, and the Hellbell in the swamp all possessed this kind of indefensible ability.
This was precisely what made the calamities of the Dark Continent so terrifying and unsolvable.
Given this, Morrow had not expected the Entropy Bird to have any connection to the Gatekeeper.
He had simply assumed, based on his preconceptions, that the Entropy Bird was just a mechanism-type calamity the team had been unlucky enough to provoke on their journey.
After all, such encounters were far too common on the Dark Continent.
If the Entropy Bird hadn't brought it up on its own...
Explain everything clearly.
Morrow's gaze turned cold.
They had come to the Dark Continent this time without relying on the Gatekeeper's power.
Even when their target was the Nitro Rice, they had dealt with Hellbell The Twin-Tailed Snake in the swamp through their own strength.
So what was the Gatekeeper's motive for secretly targeting them?
If he hadn't been able to deduce the Entropy Bird's existence from the available information in time, and if the team hadn't included a top-tier Virus Hunter like Sanbica, he would have likely died a mysterious death, never knowing that the attack was the Gatekeeper's doing.
The thought of this inevitably irked Morrow.
They had minded their own business, yet the Gatekeeper had presumptuously overstepped its bounds.
Morrow stared coldly at the Entropy Bird in his hand, waiting for an explanation.
Faced with the chilling bloodlust faintly emanating from Morrow, the Entropy Bird, though terrified, did not dare to delay.
To appease even a sliver of Morrow's anger, it unhesitatingly divulged the entire truth through their mental link.
This included the reason why the Gatekeeper had specifically chosen the "Zobae Disease" for them.
It was precisely because the Gatekeeper knew they had obtained a large quantity of life-extending Nitro Rice from the swamp.
And the cruelest characteristic of the Zobae Disease was that it preserved the infected's consciousness completely intact.
The infected would be like prisoners trapped deep within their own bodies.
Although they could vaguely perceive the outside world, they would completely lose control of their bodies.
They could neither move nor speak.
Under the virus's control, the infected would remain in this "living" state forever.
For humans who had just obtained a long lifespan, this twisted form of longevity was undoubtedly the most heart-wrenching mockery.
Just by listening to the Entropy Bird's account, Morrow could easily sense the Gatekeeper's undisguised disgust and its cold malice, as if it were dealing with ants.
Then, Morrow immediately thought, if the Gatekeeper learned that the Entropy Bird's mission had failed, it would most likely not let the matter rest.
The most probable outcome would be it throwing another calamity at them.
The most direct way to avoid this possibility was to have the Entropy Bird return to the so-called Land of Walls and deliver false information to the Gatekeeper, claiming that all targets had been infected with the Zobae Disease.
This way, the Gatekeeper would naturally not arrange any follow-up measures against them.
But the problem was that after learning of the connection between the Entropy Bird and the Gatekeeper, Morrow's trust in it had dropped to an absolute minimum.
If he just let the Entropy Bird go back, it would very likely use the opportunity to escape his control and report everything to the Gatekeeper.
Morrow frowned slightly. He first called his other teammates over to connect to the tentacles of the Bru Tribe remains, letting the Entropy Bird repeat the story about the Gatekeeper to them.
During this time, he contemplated whether he should just absorb the Entropy Bird.
Forget it... an ability that can directly influence Luck is too rare. Absorbing it would be a waste. It's more valuable to keep it, but I can't be careless about guarding it from now on.
Whether for the journey back or for dealing with the Gatekeeper's potential future actions against them, the Entropy Bird's ability could be useful.
But right now, the fifth ring's energy was only at 19%, probably enough to activate "fortified luck" just once more.
However, adding the Entropy Bird's own remaining energy, it should be usable a few more times.
If I had enough Tree Rings energy, I could be more proactive...
Compared to using these few chances of "fortified luck" to risk dealing with the Gatekeeper, he believed that prioritizing a safe return journey was more important.
As long as they could return safely to the six continents, he could collect Postmortem Nen from all over and patiently refill the Tree Rings energy completely.
By then, he would be able to maximize the value of the Entropy Bird's ability.
If he wanted to return to the Dark Continent later to collect more objects of hope, he would only need to use the Tree Rings energy to activate the Klein Bottle again.
Morrow silently calculated in his mind, not having expected the Tree Rings energy to play such a crucial role in this journey.
However, even if he had anticipated it, given Kurapika's state of potentially "dying of old age" at any moment, he couldn't have spent too much time on such preparations.
But as long as he could bring the Nitro Rice back this time, he would have no more worries the next time he came to the Dark Continent.
Let's get back to the six continents first.
Morrow glanced at the Entropy Bird, which was explaining the situation to his other teammates in the consciousness communication portal.
After realizing the shortage of Tree Rings energy, Morrow had considered taking the land route.
That way, the team might find some Dark Continent relics that could be converted into Tree Rings energy, or existences like the Entropy Bird left behind by Post-Mortem Will, on their way to the coastline.
But the risks of taking the land route were too great, and the potential losses would likely outweigh the gains.
So it was better to return to the six continents to collect Postmortem Nen.
And with the Entropy Bird's help now, the return journey shouldn't be too difficult.
—--
A short while later, Biscuit and the others learned the bad news that the Gatekeeper intended to use a calamity against them from the Entropy Bird's account. For a moment, their expressions all turned grave.
"Morrow, what's your plan?" Biscuit asked immediately after understanding the situation.
Morrow looked at the grievous injuries on her and Gel. "In our current state, it's best we return to the six continents first. Sorry, I'm afraid I can't let you recuperate in peace."
"Healing is a small matter." Biscuit also leaned towards returning to the six continents first. She said softly, "The aura in the Nitro Rice is very rich. Since we're going to eat it anyway, we can use it to speed up our recovery."
"Mm." Morrow nodded.
Seeing that Morrow didn't seem to intend to hold it accountable for colluding with the Gatekeeper, the Entropy Bird felt as if it had been granted a great pardon.
It swore an oath of loyalty again and again, claiming with conviction that it would only serve Morrow from now on.
Morrow listened casually, not taking it to heart.
No matter how the Entropy Bird expressed itself, he would not relax his guard over it.
—--
Inside the cave, Menchi had prepared a sumptuous meal, while the storm outside showed no signs of stopping.
Morrow took a bowl of hot meat soup from Menchi and leaned against the edge of the cave entrance. He looked out through the ventilation gap Chimera had deliberately left, gazing at the pitch-black curtain of rain that was repeatedly torn apart by lightning.
This extremely harsh weather continued late into the night without abating.
For safety, Morrow kept watch at the edge of the cave entrance.
Lightning flashed frequently outside.
Suddenly, a muffled thud came from the distance.
Hearing the sound, Morrow immediately became alert. Aided by a fleeting flash of lightning, he looked toward the source of the sound.
A flash of lightning as bright as day streaked across the sky.
Morrow focused his vision and saw a giant centipede arching its body like a roller coaster as it slithered forward in the wind and rain.
But for some reason, it seemed to have suddenly lost control of its lower legs. Its massive body crashed to the ground, and it thrashed its upper body in a panic.
Was it attacked?
Just as he had this suspicion, he saw a strange figure floating in the rain behind the giant centipede.
Lightning flashed.
Morrow saw the figure's appearance clearly, and his expression couldn't help but change.
The figure had a bell-shaped horn like an old-fashioned loudspeaker. Hanging on the inner wall of the horn was a bloodshot eyeball, and dark, viscous liquid dripped from the horn's rim around the eye.
The horn was connected to a curved, black, flexible tube that resembled a blood vessel. The other end of the tube was a fleshy, sack-like object that looked like a tattered cloth bag.
The surface of the fleshy sack was shriveled, and it had a mouth split open, full of sharp teeth.
This bizarre appearance instantly put Morrow on high alert.