Quite Interesting

It took them two whole days to get out of the tree man's planting area.

During the day, tree pollen falls like silver flakes, creating a breathtaking spectacle under the sunlight. But only the four of them knew the danger lurking beneath this beautiful scene.

After escaping a certain distance, Long also saw some creatures parasitized by the saplings, which drained their life energy and grew to more than ten feet tall in less than two days.

Most remarkably, the newborns of these tree species seemed to inherit some kind of will, and they consciously launched an attack on Oboro and the others.

Generally, these tree-men will attack nearby life forms, but if there are no living things around, they will mostly scatter aimlessly rather than intentionally looking for a few people.

It was as if Oboro was their enemy.

This will was not passed down through the soul.

The only way to understand Oboro is as a latent memory etched into the genes.

More transcendent than the soul...

Furthermore, those scarecrows have nothing to do with tree people...

Tree-people are not advanced life forms; if they were, their souls would certainly be extraordinary.

At least I can communicate with Oboro.

Under his protection, the group eventually reached a shady spot on a hillside.

The powdery substance in the sky finally disappeared.

Thanks to the 'power' of the tree powder, they encountered almost no other creatures along the way and traveled unimpeded.

In every oasis area where dust settles, all life forms are parasitized and killed.

"No the same..."

Anthony collapsed to the ground, his voice trembling with fear, as if he had just escaped death.

These tree-men and desert creatures look very similar at first glance, possess immense vitality, and have an exaggerated size.

But aside from the fact that this was the first time they had encountered a gregarious species, the tree-people's abilities were not as straightforward or easy to understand as those of desert creatures.

The tree dust that fell before it died would probably have remained here forever, just like those emaciated corpses, if it weren't for the captain's abilities.

Then, before the three of them could even catch their breath...

My heart jumped again.

Because on the other side of the hillside, a magnificent sea of flowers appeared before their eyes.

The flowers are colorful and exude a refreshing fragrance.

Upon seeing this, Gabe Vich turned pale, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Having just escaped the tiger's den, they entered the bear's lair.

As they gained a deeper understanding of this continent, they came to the conclusion that this sea of flowers was extraordinary and might conceal the next crisis.

This continuity was far denser than that of a desert, leaving them with nowhere to escape.

Before arriving at the oasis, the three thought that the harsh environment of the desert was already extremely torturous, but now they realized that compared to this oasis, the desert was simply paradise.

Without any prompting from Long, the three of them had already held their breath and stopped breathing.

I was afraid that the pervasive fragrance of the flowers might be a deadly poison.

"It's nothing." Long stood in front, sniffed the air with the tip of his nose, and said calmly.

Hearing him say that, the three of them dared to breathe deeply.

There's something there! Then, he squinted.

Then they saw that in the sea of flowers, flower buds were blooming, and fist-sized luminous creatures with transparent wings were flying towards them.

Elf?

Fairy?

Upon seeing what the thing looked like, Oboro's heart stirred.

They were tiny, completely naked people, just like the elves in anime and movies from my past life, with very delicate features.

The only difference is that the elf's body doesn't seem to be made of flesh and blood, but rather resembles some kind of crystal carving. The smile on its face also appears extremely stiff, as if its features only have this one expression.

A dozen or so elves flew over.

It stopped in front of Oboro.

Yes or no?

Yes or no?

Yes or no?

Then, a group of elves suddenly asked in unison a strange question.

As the questions were asked, their mouths opened and closed stiffly.

His expression remained unchanged; he kept smiling.

Not only Long heard it, Menchi and the other two also heard it clearly.

This sound didn't come from the elf's mouth, but rather it was a spiritual transmission, a natural Nen.

It is similar to Gabe Vich's Transmission.

In other words, they do not understand human language.

Yes or no?

The elf, like a wound-up machine, kept repeating that phrase.

The sun was shining brightly, but Anthony and his two companions felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, and they were speechless again, not daring to respond at all.

They were completely bewildered and couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Team leader..."

Gabe Vich spoke cautiously through telepathy.

"Don't answer, that's the rule."

"Long said in a deep voice."

Immediately afterwards, he waved his hand sharply.

The afterimage of the arm coiling up instantly struck the space where the group of elves were located.

Strangely, even with his current strength, he was unable to crush these seemingly weak elves. The elves were only knocked to the ground, but were not injured. They quickly flew up again and continued to ask questions.

Through his soul examination, Long discovered that the souls within these spirits were extremely weak, not much stronger than the Little Tree he had encountered before. However, he now understood that the strength of the soul was also a matter of life energy, and the magnitude of life energy did not determine the level of danger.

Even though he released his soul pressure, it still couldn't shake the soul fire within the elf's body.

Just like his attack, it couldn't cause any damage.

"The protection of rules."

"I guessed," Long guessed.

Yes or no?

A female elf touched the tip of Oboro's nose and continued to ask.

From this angle, Oboro could clearly see a protrusion beneath the tiny woman's glossy hair, at the back of her head, revealing a skull peeking out from between her hair strands. While it appeared the elf was asking the question, the spiritual energy was actually transmitted through the skull hidden beneath the hair.

"This thing's head is actually composed of two parts, one in front and one in back. The front is the shape of an elf, and the back is a skull... and the skull is the front, while the one facing me now is the back." Oboro instantly realized this, raised his hand and grabbed the elf, his fingers starting to exert force, trying to crush it.

But no matter how terrifying the force he exerted, even causing the elf's limbs to bend slightly, the elf continued to repeat the question, completely unaffected.

Oboro observed again that the skull on the back of the little elf's head began to flash red light, shining from its eye sockets, as if some consciousness was about to be awakened.

"It seems there is still time. Remaining silent is not an option either. If the time expires, the danger may double!"

After analyzing the situation for a moment, Long suddenly spoke up, "Yes."

Whether you choose yes or no, there are only two options, which means that there is a 50% chance no matter how you answer.

As for what each of these 50% probabilities represents, and how dangerous they are, that remains unknown.

For now, Oboro can only be observed.

As soon as he finished speaking, a strange energy immediately acted on Long's body.

To the astonishment of Menchi and the other two, they saw the captain's body gradually shrink and grow wings... and the outline of his face began to stiffen, with the bone fragments on the back of his head protruding and tearing out from under the skin, turning into the shape of a skeletal human face.

Oboro... is about to become an elf! "Captain!"

Anthony was shocked and shouted.

He immediately charged at the dozen or so flying elves, but even Oboro couldn't harm them in the slightest, let alone Anthony, who now only had one arm left.

Then they saw the man's eyes widen in fury as he repeatedly swung his arms to grab the little creatures in mid-air. The elves did not dodge, letting the human's large hands hold them tightly. Whether he threw them, stomped on them, or pinched them, it was all useless.

Anthony unleashed all his Nen power, roaring and screaming, trying to destroy these seemingly cute ghostly things.

But... it was completely ineffective.

Several elves looked at him and continued to ask, "Yes or no?"

"Die!"

Anthony was furious and cursed.

It seems that Oboro is bound by a powerful force of rules and has changed. Once she becomes a spirit, then... Oboro's soul and body may completely disappear from this world.

Their exploration of the Dark Continent has come to an end!

"So that's how it is..."

Oboro's body didn't shrink instantly; his transformation into a spirit was a process. At this rate, it might take half a minute or a minute before his consciousness was taken over... transforming him from a human into this strange, mechanized creature before him.

Upon realizing this, Oboro immediately smiled. Before he had fully transformed, he looked at the dozen or so elves in the air and suddenly asked with a smile, "Is it or isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, the elves, who had been chirping incessantly, immediately became like toys without electricity, and the smiles on their faces vanished.

His stiff mouth opened and closed... but no further sound came out.

There was no further transmission of mental fluctuations.

Yes or no?

Oboro's tone hardened.

"...yes..."

"No..."

The elves panicked and abruptly changed their answers, giving all sorts of responses.

Immediately afterward, Menchi and the others stared in astonishment as more than a dozen elves rapidly aged from their childlike appearance, and then, as if unable to flap their wings, they all fell to the ground, lifeless.

The power of the rules that had been applied to Oboro was suddenly withdrawn.

Oboro also returned to her original appearance.

Anthony stared wide-eyed, looking completely bewildered.

Long Yun sat on the ground calmly, twisting his neck as if he had just walked out of the gates of hell. "Questions and answers, affirmations and denials, and what remains unchanged—these three points are how this rule works."

"???"

The three of them, Menchi, were speechless, completely unable to understand what Long was saying.

"The elf is the questioner, and I am the answerer. The question can be anything, but only by answering it can one know the questions on the exam paper. If they don't answer, they are 'unchanging' according to the rules. Unchanging means remaining the same, so any attack is ineffective against them... including souls. The elf's question to me was probably something like, 'Am I one of them?' If I answered yes, I would naturally become an elf; if not, then there would be no danger..."

"Unfortunately... I answered yes."

"Furthermore, it's not entirely clear whether the questions are continuous."

"They must have used this rule to turn other humans into elves, thereby increasing their numbers... These elves have probably existed for a very long time, longer than we can imagine. For some reason, they want to assimilate humans, so the first question they ask must be this kind... If it were any other question, I might really die... Their previous assimilation efforts must have been successful, so the questions have remained unchanged."

"Hiss..."

Seeing that Long was unharmed, Anthony regained his composure.

But after the captain finished explaining, he gasped.

How could Oboro have deduced that so easily? He hadn't gleaned a single useful piece of information, and the expressions on Menchi and Gabe Vich's faces were probably the same.

The three of them were completely blank.

In such a short time, how did Oboro analyze the rules and turn the tables?

"When I transform into a spirit, it means I also have the right to set questions. The questioners don't know what the questions are, so they can only rely on luck..."

"So what is your topic?"

"The question must fit both affirmation and negation, otherwise the rules are useless. My question is very simple: are you all dead?" Long raised the corners of his mouth.

"Ah?"

Gabe Vich opened his mouth wide.

Some of the elves answered yes, and some answered no.

According to this logic, how could those who answered no die? "Those who answered no had their soul flames extinguished by my pressure, not by the rules. Because after I answered the question, their 'unchanging' rules disappeared, making them easy to harm. The reason I asked the question was because this rule is a closed loop. If I simply killed them, I would still become an elf. Only after they answered the question can I return to my original state," Oboro explained.

He had to familiarize Menchi and the other two with and gradually help them understand the 'power of rules'.

The rules and conditions for playing the game are preceded by signs and indications, which must be carefully observed and analyzed.

Otherwise... it would be difficult to resist.

If he hadn't reacted quickly enough, even a human powerhouse of his caliber would have been stopped here.

Menchi's mouth was a little dry. Even though Long had explained it very clearly, she couldn't guarantee that she could survive if she faced this creature again.

"Let's take a break."

"Oboro said to the three who were still in shock."

Afterwards, he picked up the corpse of a dead elf, parted the hair at the back of its head, and examined it closely.

The skull embedded in the back of the elf's head was discovered to be not due to any acquired ability, but rather something he was born with.

These tiny skulls are actually their brains.

The power of rules also emanates from the skull.

But now that he is dead, that energy has also disappeared...

"It's quite strange... The rules are simple, but the constraints and variations they impose are extremely strong, similar to Alluka's abilities, but not as complex. The reason it's not as overpowered Alluka's is because the strength of the rules is directly proportional to the energy... Since it's part of the food chain, then... what is its feeding method? By assimilating humans into Pokémon, can they obtain some kind of compensation? Or is it a way to become stronger? Hmm... Their lifespan is already quite long, and besides, increasing the number of members is itself a way to become stronger..."

Why focus specifically on humans?

As Long touched the elf's skull, with a slight exertion, the body, which had been indestructible just moments before, was instantly crushed into pieces like tofu.

This elf... was not the advanced life form he had imagined.

"Dark Continent... heh... this is getting interesting."