Everything Begins with Understanding

They stayed briefly for half an hour.

Rita took out a box of seeds from her backpack, took out a few, and then placed them in her palm to activate her ability.

Even without soil, the seed quickly took root and sprouted, growing into a tree trunk in a short time, with dense roots piercing into the octopus's flesh and blood, drawing nutrients.

Although the initial configuration was twenty-three people.

However, under Oboro's arrangement, the six members of Oboro's team made preparations for all possible situations that might occur on the Dark Continent.

In other words, even if only the six of them remain, it will be enough to deal with any emergencies.

Moreover, over the past year, Oboro has been helping them develop their Nen...

After the trees grew, the group built a simple wooden boat and continued their journey.

The trunk is the main body, and the branches are the ropes.

By this time, the seawater had calmed down due to the octopus's death, and no more undercurrents appeared.

Before leaving, Menchi cut off some octopus meat to use as a food source.

Although this place is relatively close to the Dark Continent, their speed has been greatly reduced after losing their ship, and they don't know when they will be able to land. The food in their packs is very limited.

Fortunately, we didn't encounter any danger afterwards.

However, one day, also at night.

As they drifted with the sea, a light suddenly appeared in the surrounding darkness, flashing intermittently.

It looks very much like a human lamp.

It is important to know that if an ordinary person drifts in the ocean for too long, they will undoubtedly lose their mental balance, experience anxiety and other emotions, and may even develop hallucinations... But at this critical moment, suddenly seeing a familiar light is like a candle being lit in the darkness, full of hope.

In addition, along with the light, a seductive cry also entered my ears.

Everyone on the boat, except for Long, was in a daze.

Fante and Anthony instinctively started rowing towards the light.

However, they were protected in time by the black mist emanating from Oboro, which isolated them from the sound.

In Oboro's perception, those shimmering lights were actually marine creatures similar to octopuses, but much smaller and numerous, resembling lanternfish. Although many days had passed since the octopus was killed, and the location was quite far away, these creatures had clearly followed it.

It's unclear whether they are prey or predator.

"Like the Two-Tailed Snake Hellbell, the sound is extremely penetrating and can interfere with the mental will of other species... Fortunately, it is not as dangerous as the former and has not affected the soul." Long frowned. These monsters did not approach, but were only tentatively luring and capturing, all because a black Ghost Mist was floating around the raft.

The aura released by Oboro, imbued with his spiritual will, served as a warning and demonstration against all dangers lurking in the shadows! It was a form of indirect protection.

If they were on land, Oboro would have already attacked.

But that won't work in the ocean; they lack food, and most importantly, they lack water. He is physically strong and can withstand it.

Menchi and the others, however, could not.

"Team leader."

As soon as the sound disappeared, the group came to their senses.

"Don't worry about it, keep rowing," Long instructed.

Although the boat slowed down, as it got closer to the Dark Continent and followed the natural ocean currents, the raft was gradually washed ashore.

After saying that, Long Yi had a sudden thought.

From the Ghost Mist swirling nearby, countless ghosts suddenly flew out, roaring and howling in all directions, exuding a sense of awe and oppression.

Sure enough, soon... the light on the sea disappeared, and the seductive cry came to an abrupt end.

A few days later, at noon the following day.

The six of them finally saw the dark shape appearing on the horizon... it was land.

The Dark Continent... We've arrived! The group looked somewhat disheveled, but they dared not relax; instead, they became even more tense.

According to the captain, the land of the Dark Continent is the core where truly terrifying things are born.

"According to the reports from Netero and Beyond, the coastline they reached was a lush and magnificent primeval jungle... Here we are..." Fante stood up and strained to look out, but it seemed that the distant continent had no vegetation at all, but was a barren desert.

"We've arrived, but it seems we've deviated from the flight path..."

Menchi added in a similar tone.

There was nothing they could do... For the rest of the time, they were simply drifting with the sea, without any direction.

"In any case, thankfully we arrived safely without any major incidents."

Anthony added.

Their route was too dangerous. If it weren't for their captain, they probably wouldn't even have had the right to set foot on the Dark Continent.

The land at sea level looks close, but it is actually quite far away. It only appears close because the size of that continent is so enormous.

After drifting on the waves for more than ten hours, they finally reached the beach around midnight.

As soon as they reached land, they noticed something was amiss.

It is indeed a beach... but on this vast beach, every single grain of sand is the size of a fist from a human perspective, and anything larger is just gravel.

As soon as the mist began to dissipate, all of Long's senses were activated.

After closing his eyes for a minute, he opened them and exhaled a breath of stale air. "There's no danger. Let's get things organized first."

As he spoke, Oboro did not retract his Nen.

He knew that from the moment he set foot on the Dark Continent, he would essentially need to continuously unleash his Nen, which would be extremely taxing. All Oboro could do was to minimize the area shrouded in the Ghost Mist, while ensuring his safety.

He then told Menchi and the others to stay where they were and handle the matter, while he went for a walk and patrol around the area.

There was nothing there... Beyond the beach lay an endless expanse of Gobi Desert.

But the air temperature was even lower than at sea, and it was quite chilly.

Long looked up and observed the night sky, which looked no different from the human world... except that there wasn't a single star in sight.

It was as if something was blocking it.

The further away the horizon, the more the night sky, besides being pitch black, is also tinged with a layer of crimson like fresh blood.

Long knew clearly that this desert, though seemingly boundless, was actually just a small area on the edge of the entire Dark Continent; it only appeared vast from his perspective.

"A giant pink octopus, a group of lanternfish manipulated by mind control..."

Long raised an eyebrow.

It's very familiar.

He summoned the system and opened the panel.

As expected, the system displayed a picture based on his memories from his previous life.

It is one of the illustrations from the original work.

The fact that he recognized the octopus... was already a sign.

The location where they landed is very likely one of the coordinates in this illustration.

In the image, within the sea area, icons such as a pink octopus, patches of seaweed, a spouting whale, a green dragon, and a churning tsunami are marked. Next to the adjacent land is a sinkhole, in the center of which crawls a crab-like creature with a white skull.

In addition, a creature resembling a sand worm emerged from one corner of the pit.

There are also three deep purple trees...

But none of these things attracted Long the most. What caught his attention the most was a tree in the center of the picture, deep in the Dark Continent, whose branches covered the entire sky. It was somewhat like the World Tree. The only difference was that, perhaps because of this tree, the 'heartland' of the Dark Continent was filled with dark red light, like Asura Purgatory.

It was dark and oppressive.

As for the sky, it was completely covered by the tree canopy, like a whirlpool.

"Under this tree, there are three towering giants that are almost touching the branches... I can't see their faces clearly, but their physiques are similar to humans. To the left is a mushroom field, then a volcano, and to the right are primitive creatures that look like dinosaurs, as well as some strange-looking territories... If the place we landed at really is a point in this picture, then the information in this image will be of great help!" Long wasn't quite sure, but she made sure to memorize everything in the picture.

If it's the same as what he thinks.

The information in that image may only cover the edge of the Dark Continent, rather than its core interior.

After all, he didn't see a 'door' on this picture.

Then, Oboro's gaze moved downwards... and landed on her own attribute labels.

Combat Rank: A-level life form and consciousness entity in the Dark Continent. (No rules).

Overall attribute evaluation: Extradimensional life in the human world.

Ecosystem score: 25.

Position in the food chain: downstream.

The panel has changed again, now including two more: ecosystem and food chain.

The word "downstream" is somewhat jarring.

Before coming here, in the human world, Oboro had already become the undisputed No. 1.

After all, Don Freecss is not here.

He is number one.

After going around in circles, Oboro returned the way she came.

Menchi and the others did not start a fire; she simply processed the ingredients, which were octopus meat.

The group ate.

"Captain, the pointer is malfunctioning," Fante said in a deep voice.

At sea, it's difficult to determine direction for various reasons, so you can only rely on the current. But once on land, the compass unexpectedly broke down.

This was quite fatal for the expedition team.

Because once you venture deep into land, it won't be easy to return the way you came.

"That's normal. The life energy on this land is exceptionally large. The special environment and ecology also make the magnetic field extremely chaotic and violent..." Long said calmly.

"It seems that Netero and the others are not like that."

"I asked Anthony curiously."

"Their route had a very safe landing point."

"Long said."

Upon hearing this, the group fell silent.

"Simply put, because the life energy is too strong, the magnetic field has become disordered. This means that... there may be more than one kind of terrifying creature in our vicinity. Although we can't see them and they are quite far away, remember... that's only far away from us. But from their perspective, we may be right under their noses right now... We can't see them, but they can detect us at any time. The question is whether they have noticed us or not."

"Moreover, the natural magnetic field of this world is different from that of the human world."

Oboro held up a finger. "Don't forget what I said. From the moment you set sail, you must change humanity's ingrained way of thinking."

"We cannot judge everything here using common sense from the human world."

"I'll take over the guard duty later. You all need to get some rest and a good night's sleep." Long squatted down and said seriously, "After dawn, everyone must remain in a state of extreme alert. We also have our advantages. We are small enough that we are not easily discovered... We need to replenish our resources first, and then find a fixed hiding place, which is our residence. We need to learn to adapt to this place first, rather than going deep into it or exploring it directly."

"Remember the purpose of our trip, don't worry about any gains, start with understanding."

"Yes."

The group exchanged glances and said in unison.