Endless Journey
Day to day.
Gradually, Oboro became numb.
At least in the human world, he still has a 'biological clock'.
But in the Dark Continent, he has completely lost his 'time planning'.
He simply rests when he's tired and looks for 'prey' when he's hungry.
The unknown dangers that I was wary of when I first came to the Dark Continent have now become something I'm quite used to.
Another change is that the dangers he encounters become less frequent. Whenever he appears in an area or enters an unfamiliar food chain and ecosystem, various life forms will rush to flee.
The number of creatures that dare to attack him is also gradually decreasing.
I don't know when it started, maybe one day, but Oboro suddenly realized it.
This continent was safe for him.
He had already arrived at the center of the map, beneath the giant tree whose canopy obscured the entire sky.
The door, however, was never found.
"How much time has passed?"
One day, Oboro stood under the tree, looking up at it, and muttering to himself.
This giant tree was his first destination, according to the map, as he intended to venture deeper into the Dark Continent.
Judging from the picture, it doesn't seem to be far.
But the actual time required to travel was unexpectedly long.
It was slow at first, but as his strength increased, his speed began to increase...
Even so, the time... is still impossible to calculate precisely.
In my hazy vision, this tree is not a tree.
It was like a huge, towering wall blocking the way, stretching east to west with no end in sight.
As for the sky, it was as black as ink.
I don't know when it started, but the sky only has two colors: black and red.
Now, only black remains.
Oboro's body has now evolved to the point where it cannot speak, so he can see everything in the dark with just his eyesight.
"Ten years... twenty years... or thirty years?"
Oboro's mouth opened slightly.
He pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
There's only one left inside...
He took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and the tobacco spontaneously combusted without a flame.
"My speed should be much faster than Don Freecss's... He probably took longer than me... Impressive." Oboro took a drag of his cigarette, then put the empty pack back in instead of throwing it away. Even with his strong will, he felt a slight sense of torment.
Not to mention Don Freecss.
"Oh... right, system."
After taking a few puffs of his cigarette, Long suddenly remembered something.
Bring up the system panel.
He hadn't opened the system in a long time.
His age seems to be frozen, partly because of his lifespan, which makes it impossible to calculate according to the 'human' life dimension, and partly because he has now integrated into the Dark Continent, and human years are no longer applicable to him.
I can't quite remember when I last opened the system.
Most of the panel remains unchanged.
The only differences are in overall attributes, combat tier, food chain position, and ecological score.
Combat Rank: Dark Continent S+ level life form and consciousness (rule-based species).
Overall attribute rating: Monarch level.
Position in the food chain: Upstream.
Ecological score: 100.
"It's already 100 points..." Long glanced at it, her tone devoid of any joy.
An ecological score of 100 means that he has become a full member of the Dark Continent.
But power... no longer brings him any satisfaction.
He was just hunting and killing instinctively... because if you don't kill your prey, your prey will kill you.
Although few creatures dare to attack him now, there still are.
He seemed to have been assimilated by the rules of the Dark Continent, becoming no different from other species that lived there.
As for his position in the food chain, which directly reflects his strength, the more refined his control over energy and the deeper his understanding, the easier it became, just like when he first arrived in this world and began to explore his Nen. After mastering the power of rules, manipulating things like 'life energy' became incredibly easy for him.
He... had long since broken through the 'framework of ability'.
The constraints of the six major systems.
Whether it's Transmutation, Enhancement, or Specialization, whatever Oboro wants, he can obtain it using energy.
But his soul... remains his trump card.
It has become a skill similar to a 'species talent'.
The door was not found.
Oboro also failed to find that power that could transcend dimensions.
He now vaguely understands how to break through dimensions... It's very simple, it's just relying on the power of rules, only the 'energy' that surpasses the very top of the entire world can open up spacetime.
It's that simple.
The difficulty lies in possessing the rules to break through the spacetime barrier of a world; the energy source required is unimaginably vast.
At least... in Oboro's view, it was too dreamlike.
He can't do it.
However, just because he can't do it doesn't mean that the monsters who have lived on the Dark Continent for a long time can't.
For example, a creature or power more terrifying than the Demon King.
Over the long years, Oboro witnessed the five great calamities of the human world and also found the five great hopes...
For example, the Pap, the plant weapon Brion, and the Two-Tailed Snake Hellbell, etc., were all found in the disaster, but the gas life form E was not seen on this side of the Dark Continent.
To put it bluntly... these so-called disasters are simply life forms that defy human common sense, hunting, surviving, and evolving in ways that are incomprehensible to humans.
Herb that Cures All Diseases, Longevity Rice, Unmanned Stone that generate electricity, the Trilun Water, and Alchemy Plant are actually not very valuable. Because Oboro's own life dimension has been enhanced, the hope of herbs and unmanned rice has lost its value to him and has almost no effect.
These things are 'everywhere' in the Dark Continent... It's just that humans are too weak, which highlights their role and value.
For many creatures of the Dark Continent, it has little effect.
Ultimately, the magnitude of value depends on the difference in energy between the two parties.
Oboro had even seen many more wondrous treasures than the Five Hopes.
People live in different environments, so they can't really relate to each other.
Splash...
At that moment, a sound came from behind Oboro, and the ground trembled slightly.
Turning around, I saw a group of huge, moving rocks, about twenty or thirty in number, all looking exactly like stones, with irregular edges and strange shapes. Strangely, they had hands and feet covered in thick hair, and their limbs were indistinguishable from those of apes.
Cracks appeared on the surface of the stone, and when opened, it revealed a huge, round eyeball.
They have no mouths, but they use the cracking sounds produced by tapping their bodies to convey a message.
It seems to be a language unique to them.
It is clear that Oboro knows this group of species.
Let's go.
He glanced at it; the cigarette butt on his fingertip had already burned to ashes.
Oboro instantly appeared in the center of the rock formation and led the creatures away.
On the Dark Continent, not all creatures fight and hunt.
Some species are relatively friendly, driven by their innate genes and instincts, and are in the minority.
More importantly... we need to be able to communicate and exchange ideas.
It has a 'wise' side.
Oboro has been with these 'stones' for a long time... They are the only truly intelligent life forms that Oboro has found outside the gates of the Dark Continent.
Even if they are just low-level intelligent beings.
The stones clung to 'him' only for survival.
The journey continues...