Negotiations Fail

Led by Oboro, the three entered the cave at the bottom of the mountain. Inside, they found it decorated and furnished like a dwelling, with a large interior space... including a living room and bedrooms. The entire mountain resembled a multi-story building, and these neatly arranged caves were the houses, while others were used for storage.

However, the cave they entered had been damaged... the tables and chairs inside were broken and there was bloodstains.

"Captain, look..." Kaji suddenly pointed to a wall and reminded him.

Looking over, he realized it was a mural.

The Botswa Tribe seem to have a great love for carving... There are also many small and exquisite stone statues inside the house.

The mural is divided into several parts. The first one shows a group of small figures kneeling in front of a giant, devoutly praying and worshipping.

The second image shows a small person lifting up their fellow human beings and throwing them into the giant's open mouth.

The third image shows humans the size of ants and various animals that suddenly appear, celebrating... like some kind of grand festival, while the giant's belly is already bulging.

The fourth image shows the giant giving birth... accompanied by liquid, a bunch of egg-like things were born. It is worth noting that all the animals at the celebration, including humans, died, and their deaths were varied... Only five or six humans remained, happily holding several round egg embryos.

Oboro's gaze focused on the giant, and he discovered that although the giant looked very human, it had no facial features... it was a faceless being.

Moreover, in the second painting, the giant with his mouth wide open has a mouth full of sharp teeth... not in two rows, but in circles, like mouthparts.

Most likely, they are not species from the human world, let alone humans.

"The Dark Continent, huh..."

Lonely thought of it.

Both the Kurta Clan and Botswa Tribe seem to like using images or texts to record or pass on their origins... However, compared to the nature-loving Kurta Clan, the Botswa Tribe give off a somewhat sinister vibe.

The scenes depicted in several murals are not set in a natural environment, but rather underground or in a cave. There are no flowers or plants, but instead torches are depicted to indicate that everything takes place in a relatively dark environment.

It is exactly the same environment as the current living environment of the Botswa Tribe.

They visited several more caves and found that each cave had murals with similar content.

"Let's go, our master is waiting for us inside..." Hisoka said, standing in front of a cave entrance leading into the interior of the mountain.

Inside each cave dwelling, besides being the houses inhabited by the Botswa Tribe, there is also a deep, dark tunnel at the very back, sharing characteristics with beehives and anthills. The passage is extremely narrow, allowing only one person to walk at a time, and it is difficult for two people to walk side by side... Hisoka is at the front, while Oboro is at the rear.

After going several hundred meters deeper, the three came to an intersection, where three passages leading in different directions appeared in front of them.

"What should we do? Should we break up?"

Kaji glanced at Oboro.

The interior of this mountain appears to be extremely complex, like a maze.

After observing for a while, Long found nothing mysterious about it.

"These passages ultimately lead to a place... but the routes differ, some longer, some shorter," Oboro deduced. "There should be some mechanisms... that only the Botswa Tribe can discern..."

"Trying to scatter us?"

Kaji chimed in, "Still a different route, with men lying in ambush?"

"I choose this side..."

At that moment, Hisoka suddenly walked towards the leftmost cave entrance.

"If the captain's judgment is correct, it would be better for the three of us to stay together," Kaji suggested.

However, Hisoka ignored his words and turned to look at Oboro, "Kill all the Botswa Tribe, and you can get that 'thing'... right?"

"Um."

Long nodded.

"If I finish the task before you, how will you thank me?"

Hisoka smiled.

"This is what you should do...you owe me a debt of gratitude." After saying this, Long stepped directly into the middle of the cave.

"Hehe... Let's see who's faster!"

Hisoka's figure also disappeared into the darkness.

Kaji was left alone, looking around, but in the end he chose to follow Captain Oboro.

There were some torches stuck in the walls of the passage, but they were not lit at the moment.

As they ventured deeper, the darkness grew increasingly oppressive, to the point where they couldn't see their own hand in front of their face. The cramped and confined space easily made them feel depressed and restless... Oboro and Kaji didn't encounter any traps, but they wandered around for a long time, the constant intersections making it difficult to discern directions.

An hour was wasted in total.

After a while, the two stepped out of a hole and were met with entrances to passages in four directions.

"This..." Kaji licked his dry lips.

He was dizzy and completely lost.

Long stepped forward, inserted one hand into the soil, dug up the soil, touched it, and felt that it was damp. He said indifferently, "The direction is not important. As long as we know our position and keep descending, we can... It's just that this will take more time."

Buzz...

Suddenly, a pile of stones and soil fell on their heads, causing a slight tremor.

A battle has broken out inside the mountain! "Is it Hisoka? He's fighting the Botswa Tribe? So quickly?" Kaji exclaimed in surprise.

"Wrong..."

Long frowned slightly.

The tremor seemed to come from above, not below... Based on this labyrinthine internal structure, Oboro judged that the Botswa Tribe must be hiding in the deepest part of the mountain, underground. In other words, Hisoka either ran into a trap or the other side sent people.

They were moving slower than the two of them.

"Let's go," Long called out, and took the lead into a cave entrance.

Oboro was using the soil layers to analyze whether their location was closer to underground, while Kaji's Nen Patch also came in handy, at least ensuring that the two wouldn't return to their original path. Half an hour later... a light appeared at the cave entrance ahead of them, and the loose soil beneath their feet was paved with stone bricks.

Long emerged from the cave and stepped into a spacious underground space, resembling the interior of a grand hall.

Each burning brazier emitted light and heat...

Ten enormous pillars stood before me.

The stone pillars are carved with exquisite patterns, and in the very center, in a space that resembles an altar, sits an elderly Botswa Tribe man.

A familiar white robe, and a long, gray-white braid.

"Stay put." Long looked at the old man, his heart sinking, and gave Kaji the order.

In an instant, his figure flashed and he darted to the front of the altar.

The old man, who had been bowing his head and cradling a skull in his hands as if asleep, slowly raised his head and met Long's gaze upon hearing the noise...

Long used 'Condense' to look at the skull in the other's hand. Sure enough, he saw a cluster of black energy surrounding the skull, its aura ominous... This was it, the creation of the ritual! This skull was clearly not a real human head, but rather looked like it was made of some kind of stone, and was also covered with strange patterns.

Just him? Long raised his senses to the maximum... In the vast underground space, apart from the old man, there were no other Botswa Tribe.

"Outsider... are you a lackey sent by the king?" The old man clearly spoke Common Tongue, and stared at Long with cold eyes.

"No, I'm Hunter x Hunter hired by someone... I came here to complete a mission." Oboro looked around, met the old man's puzzled expression, and pointed to the skull the old man was holding. "That's it... We came here for this."

Even if the Hunter Association were mentioned, the other party probably wouldn't know about it, so Oboro was too lazy to explain.

"Your situation is worse than I thought... There are probably only a few of your people left, right? If you keep letting the insects split and evolve, expanding the battlefield... the sacrifice will naturally be faster, but right now the battlefield hasn't even reached the capital of East Gorteau... and it doesn't pose a real threat to that king."

Long calmly said, "At this rate... even if the parasites spread to the royal city, I guess... the insects won't be able to divide anymore because no one will offer sacrifices. Once they are wiped out, everything will be over."

Even with the use of ancient rituals, it is still not easy to fight against a country.

He thought there were at least twenty or thirty Botswa Tribe still alive, but now it seems... there might not even be half left.

The remaining survivors were all dispatched to various battlefields to prepare for the next wave of sacrifices...

This is also the last wave.

The old man was somewhat surprised that Long had seen through the secret of the ritual. "It doesn't matter... Only by starting the ritual can our Botswa Tribe have any hope of survival... Even if we can't kill that tyrant, we must take a piece of his flesh and let him feel the anger and hatred of our people!"

"As long as we Botswa Tribe are alive, even if only one of us remains, the flame of revenge will not be extinguished... If not this time, then next time... One day, he will pay the price he deserves."

Long fell silent.

"You might be disappointed. Based on my understanding of the current monarch of East Gorteau, he is probably still indulging in debauchery and pleasure every day... I'm afraid that even now, he doesn't take you Botswa Tribe seriously."

"So... he deserves to die!"

The old man slowly stood up, and at the same time, his spiritual energy erupted from his body.

He is a Nen user...

Oboro also activated his Nen... and directly used his Nen.

The Face Button appeared, then disappeared with a strange noise.

"I have no interest in your conflict with the monarch of East Gorteau. I only want the skull in your hands... The ritual is to continue your race, which means that even after the ritual ends, there will still be one person alive... I can escort him away from East Gorteau and give him an identity in the outside world to ensure his safety for the rest of his life. In exchange, this skull will be mine. How about it?" Oboro said.

"I can feel your sincerity, but there's nothing I can do... I have to refuse." The old man's answer did not surprise Long at all.

"I'm sorry then..."

Long's heart stirred.

I got Rune Skills again this time, what bad luck!

Due to limitations, he was unable to configure Flash and Heal, including the runes he had previously selected.

The old man didn't seem very strong to him... he should be able to handle it.

But... there's always a sense of unease in my heart...