As far as the eye could see, there were irregularly shaped iron and metal objects everywhere.
Every piece of metal was stained with dark red marks of varying shades.
They were stacked haphazardly like bizarre rocks, barely enclosing a space.
If this place had also been transported by the unknown object in a flash, then absorbed completely by the Tree Rings power, and finally "spat" back into reality...
Then, by logical deduction, these transported objects should have burst out from some "gap" the moment the unknown object vanished.
They shouldn't be like this, so naturally and harmoniously re-integrating with the real world in a manner akin to spatial dislocation the instant they returned.
It was so seamless that it gave Morrow the feeling of "spatial transference."
Entropy Bird, choose good luck for me again.
Morrow's gaze shifted from the massive centipede corpse to the Entropy Bird in his palm.
Although he hadn't brought the Bru Tribe remains out, he had previously had an in-depth exchange with the Entropy Bird.
So, for a request like bestowing good luck, a brief moment of eye contact or a sudden clenching of his palm was enough for the Entropy Bird to understand his intent.
The Entropy Bird's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
Just a few seconds ago, it had activated its luck-selecting ability for Morrow, consuming a huge wave of the energy it needed for its continued existence.
If it were to forcibly activate its ability again now, it would likely be on the verge of dissipating.
But it didn't dare to refuse.
The scene of the unknown object being completely absorbed by Morrow was still vivid in its mind.
This sense of pressure, etched into its visual memory, made even hesitation a luxury.
Thus, a second after Morrow's words fell, the Entropy Bird immediately responded to his request. A faint light rippled from the mosaic patterns on its body.
White feathers appeared out of thin air and drifted down.
Finally, they vanished.
Immediately after, a force of Luck descended upon Morrow.
Forcibly activating its ability twice had drained almost half of the Entropy Bird's stored energy.
This caused the mosaic patterns on its body to become quite dim.
Morrow glanced at the change in brightness of the patterns on the Entropy Bird, then nonchalantly switched it to his right hand and began to slowly infuse it with Tree Rings energy.
He roughly estimated that one application of fortified luck consumed about 20% of his Tree Rings energy.
So, to prevent the Entropy Bird from suddenly dissipating due to severe energy depletion, Morrow directly infused it with 40% of his Tree Rings energy this time.
The energy reserve that had just surged to 91% after absorbing the unknown object instantly dropped back to 51%.
The Entropy Bird had been in despair, lamenting to itself that it might not survive the next time.
But it never expected a surge of abundant energy to flood its body. The luster that had just dimmed began to brighten again at a visible rate.
With this massive replenishment of energy, the gloom in its heart was instantly swept away, and it looked at Morrow with a face full of pleasant surprise.
It mostly understood now.
As long as it could continuously create value, Morrow would not let it dissipate.
In that case, it no longer had to worry about its continued existence.
At this thought, the Entropy Bird's mood soared from the abyss to the clouds.
But Morrow had no time to pay attention to its reaction. After retracting his Tree Rings energy, he quickly took out the Surveillance Paper Doll from his person.
"Kalluto, can you hear me?"
He whispered to the paper doll while walking toward the giant centipede corpse not far away.
The paper doll quickly transmitted Kalluto's slightly rushed voice. "I can hear you! I was just about to contact you. Morrow, where are you? We seem to have been suddenly transported to a strange place. It's very humid around us, and the ground and walls are soft, as if covered in a layer of flesh membrane."
"The situation is a bit complicated, it's hard to explain in a moment."
Morrow's eyes narrowed slightly as he immediately asked, "Are you all okay?"
"Everyone's fine, but Chimera is gone."
Kalluto's tone was tinged with worry.
"Don't worry about Chimera."
Morrow instructed, "While ensuring your safety, first try to find a way to leave that place. I'll find Chimera as soon as possible and then rendezvous with you."
"Understood."
Kalluto's reply was short and firm.
At this moment, Morrow arrived beside the centipede corpse and noticed at a glance that most of its limbs were missing.
The image of the unknown object making distinct chewing motions after transporting the centipede flashed through his mind.
Could it be that those few chews were it devouring the centipede's limbs?
Or perhaps, was it some kind of internal digestion phenomenon?
He squatted down and carefully examined the cuts on the centipede's body.
The cross-sections were exceptionally smooth, yet there was no trace of blood.
Back then, the unknown object had first transported the lower half of the centipede, and only then the upper half.
This was very likely the reason the centipede had been sliced clean in two.
Morrow rapidly integrated all the clues, and a guess gradually formed in his mind.
With a thought, he condensed a tiny Deceptive Shooting Star at his fingertip and flicked it gently.
The firefly-like speck of light streaked through the air and hovered motionlessly.
A second later, the Shooting Star suddenly changed direction and flew toward a certain spot.
The Star Mark it was locked onto was the one on Chimera.
Through this practical test, Morrow confirmed his earlier guess.
He still chose to believe in the ability of his Tree Rings.
Since he had already completely absorbed that unknown object, there should be no follow-up.
As for that feeling of spatially dislocated transference, there was likely only one possibility left to explain it.
"Kalluto, we most likely weren't transported. Instead, two spaces have overlapped and merged. You should still be in the original cave, just with something from another space embedded into it, which is that flesh-like membrane you mentioned."
As Morrow spoke, he stood up and walked quickly in the direction indicated by the Shooting Star.
Hearing Morrow's judgment, Kalluto on the other end of the Surveillance Paper Doll was clearly stunned for a moment, hesitating. "But... how could something like this suddenly happen?"
"A 'calamity' targeted Chimera just now."
Morrow walked through the passageway formed by a large amount of iron and metal, explaining. "Its ability is to instantly transport a target to another space. I speculate that space might be its own body. To prevent Chimera from being taken away, I struck first and dealt with it."
At this point, Morrow glanced around and found that the passageway was gradually narrowing.
He immediately focused his mind and used En.
Instantly, a thin, faintly glowing membrane expanded outward from his body, quickly penetrating the iron walls and the ceiling of the passageway.
While maintaining his En, Morrow continued speaking into the Surveillance Paper Doll. "It's very likely because it died that the things transported into its internal space suddenly returned to reality in this overlapping manner."
"Ah, so you're saying..."
Kalluto reacted quickly. "Our position hasn't changed, so we're not actually far from the outside."
"Not necessarily. It depends on what has overlapped."
The feedback Morrow received from his En at that moment indicated that the surrounding walls and ceiling were abnormally thick, with no sign of any cavities, which meant the structure was extremely solid.
"In any case, if you can't find an exit, you can try heading upwards," he suggested.
"Understood," Kalluto replied quickly. "I'll tell Biscuit the situation right away."
"Okay, be careful."
Morrow replied, then added with some concern, "Gel and Biscuit's injuries are very serious. If the situation doesn't look right, don't force it. Stay where you are and wait for me to meet you."
"Alright."
Kalluto responded earnestly.
Morrow put away the Surveillance Paper Doll and continued to follow the guidance of the Deceptive Shooting Star, moving through the intricate metal passageways.
After walking for about five or six minutes, the surrounding scenery remained monotonous and consistent, all cold iron structures. It was difficult to estimate just how much metal was stored in this place.
Morrow didn't dwell on this question; his mind was entirely focused on reuniting with Chimera as soon as possible.
Soon, he passed through the current passageway and arrived in a rather spacious metal room.
Just as he stepped inside, a strange noise suddenly echoed from all around.
Before Morrow could look toward the sound, countless sharp iron cones shot out from various points on the walls, spinning at high speed as they rushed toward his position.
Upon sensing the attack, Morrow did not immediately retreat into the passageway.
He had heard the same sound from behind him and could anticipate that a good number of iron cones would likely shoot out from within the passageway as well.
These cones seemed to have been suddenly squeezed out from within the surrounding metal walls.
Morrow immediately retracted his En and switched to Ken, covering his entire body with solidified aura.
Then, without any other substantial action, he advanced instead of retreating, striding forward.
As he moved forward, a series of dense collisions suddenly rang out in the air.
The cones that were originally aimed at him, for some unknown reason, began to collide with each other, triggering a chain reaction in mid-air as they continuously crashed into and ricocheted off one another.
Strangely, these cones flying about wildly didn't even touch the corner of Morrow's clothes in the end, all embedding themselves in the ground.
In just a moment, except for the path Morrow had walked, the rest of the room was densely packed with cones.
Morrow, blessed by fortified luck, was not surprised by this. He just silently raised his head to look at the upper part of the room.
The walls and ceiling were still covered in cold metal, with strangely shaped iron structures protruding from their surfaces.
Other than that, everything was as usual.
It was as if the volley of sharp cones had never happened.
Morrow retracted his gaze, still unclear as to what this place was.
Everywhere he had walked, the sights he had seen were all the same, piled high with bizarrely shaped iron structures.
It wasn't until he was attacked by the cones that he began to think this might be a place similar to some ruins.
And the attacking cones were hidden mechanisms inside the ruins, meant to repel intruders.
The problem was, assuming the unknown object's flashing transport was a form of feeding, did that mean it would even devour "inanimate objects"?
I'll worry about that later. I need to find Chimera first.
Morrow flicked out another Deceptive Shooting Star.
The fluorescent green speck of light traced an arc and flew off in a certain direction.
With the Shooting Star's guidance, finding Chimera was only a matter of time.
Morrow followed closely behind, leaving the spacious room and entering another passageway.
This passageway was exceptionally wide, comparable in scale to an ordinary tunnel.
Morrow slowed his pace slightly, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.
Just then, the protruding iron and metal on the passageway walls suddenly began to vibrate, as if they had felt Morrow's gaze upon them.
Under Morrow's slightly surprised watch, these metal pieces actually peeled off the walls one by one.
Clang, clang...
Large chunks of metallic prisms fell to the ground, making dull thuds.
Immediately after, these prisms were rapidly drawn together as if by a magnetic force, then extended outward in a starlight pattern.
Once their form stabilized, a metallic sphere glowing with a faint reddish-black light was slowly squeezed out from the center of the prisms, exuding an overall cold and hard texture.
Each prismatic metal body was the size of a car, and nearly a hundred of them fell at once, almost occupying the entire passageway.
The next second, they all started rolling at the same time, pressing toward Morrow's direction.
As they rolled, the prisms collided with each other and smashed against the metal ground, creating a continuous roar that echoed repeatedly within the passageway.
Watching the cluster of rolling prismatic metal bodies, Morrow calmly mobilized his aura and quickly condensed a large Nen bullet in his palm.
But at that very moment, he suddenly noticed the metal spheres at the center of these prisms were slowly emitting wisps of smoke-like black Nen as they rolled.
Post-Mortem Will?
Morrow's gaze sharpened. He unhesitatingly dispersed the Nen bullet in his palm and instead actively met the first approaching prism.
The instant the distance closed, he suddenly leaped up and stomped down hard, bringing the prism to a dead stop.
He then bent his knees and squatted, his right hand lashing out like lightning, passing through the space in the prism to grasp the tiny metal sphere inside.
The Tree Rings immediately gave a prompt for absorption.
It really is Post-Mortem Will...
Morrow's eyes lit up, and he immediately began to absorb the black Nen emanating from the metal sphere.
Clang!
The prismatic metal body, having lost the support of the Post-Mortem Will, suddenly disintegrated. The scattered prisms crashed heavily onto the ground, creating a cacophony of ear-piercing impacts.
Morrow flew down to the ground, glancing at the Tree Rings on the back of his hand. It had only increased by a tiny amount.
However, he steadied himself and looked up.
There were still nearly a hundred prismatic metal bodies rolling in the passageway.
If he absorbed them all, he could convert at least 20% of Tree Rings energy.
In just a moment, the wide passageway was littered with the wreckage of prisms.
After converting all the prismatic metal bodies, Morrow's Tree Rings energy rose from 51% back to 80%.
I wonder if I can make more of them 'drop'?
Morrow was still not satisfied. He looked up at the passageway walls, and after a moment's thought, raised his hand and fired a Nen bullet at the wall.
Boom!
A shallow crater was blasted into the wall.
The next second, the entire passageway began to tremble again as if enraged, slowly squeezing out thick prisms that fell toward the ground.
Seeing this, the light in Morrow's eyes grew even brighter.
He still didn't understand what this place was.
But if it could continuously refresh things imbued with Post-Mortem Will, then where this place was didn't seem so important anymore.
Morrow began the second round of absorption.
Then came the third round, the fourth...
His Tree Rings energy grew slowly but steadily, smoothly breaking through to the sixth ring and climbing all the way to 23%.
This was the first time since activating the Tree Rings function that Morrow had accumulated more than two full rings of energy.
Just as he was hoping he might be able to use this opportunity to fill the remaining rings, the metal passageway, seemingly unable to tolerate his continuous harassment, suddenly began to writhe violently like an intestine.
With the writhing, the originally hard metal ground actually became like a swamp, sucking Morrow's entire body in.
But only a second or two later, Morrow had just felt a soft squeezing pressure when his whole body suddenly relaxed. When he came to his senses, he was suspended in mid-air.
All around him, a violent storm was raging.
A trace of astonishment flashed in Morrow's eyes. Suspended in the air, he looked forward.
In the wind and rain, a colossal figure stood tall.
No, it should be called a moving metal city, built from countless prismatic bodies.