Bones and Flesh X The Unexpected

"Crack!"

In the swamp of flesh and blood, Kevin's attention was completely drawn to the bone club in his hand.

This bone club looks like the finger bone of some wild beast, although the finger bone is longer than Kevin's arm, but that doesn't matter.

He felt an attraction to the bone, but the source of the attraction was not the surface of the bone, but its interior.

With that crisp crack, Kevin broke it open.

The broken bone rod had an inner cavity containing its contents, and then Kevin saw what was hidden inside.

White, like rice grains, like pearls.

A rich aroma gushed out from the broken surface.

The surging Life Force, mixed with fragrance, instantly dispelled the cloying, bloody smell around them.

Some of them were even mixed together.

It's intoxicating.

It has such an addictive flavor.

Kevin gently tilted the broken bone club, as if pouring a pill out of a medicine container.

Two or three round, white objects rolled out and landed in Kevin's hand.

Admittedly, this thing does look like an enlarged grain of rice.

Each one is about half the size of a little fingernail; it's not exactly big, but it's round and white.

That aroma truly gave one the feeling of being in a ripe wheat field, with each grain of rice wrapped in it having been steamed—a unique fragrance.

Especially when mixed with the smell of blood, it made me a little hungry.

Thinking of this, Kevin couldn't help but glance around at his surroundings again before covering his mouth.

What a disgusting combination.

The strange aromas combined to create a feeling of hunger, but the environment here both stimulated and suppressed that hunger, making it somewhat torturous.

But this did not affect Kevin's ability to sense the level of the rice grains in his palm.

A-Rank.

Undoubtedly A-Rank, and at the very top of A-Rank.

Just as Kevin suspected, it seems that most of the ingredients mentioned in the book are likely to have reached Grade A.

The "level" is just a variation depending on the specific level, but it's simply a matter of the Peak A-Rank and the ordinary A-Rank.

There won't be a B-Rank situation, at least not what Kevin has obtained so far. Similarly, there won't be an S-Rank situation either.

The only S-Rank material Kevin has obtained so far comes from a core organ acquired by Lord Level after their death.

Therefore, S-Rank materials can only appear on Lord, and even if you get them, it's meaningless because they can't be used in medicine. Kevin hasn't reached the point where he can use S-Rank materials in medicine.

That black sphere with extremely strong Space Attribute can only be used to make portable spatial Nen tool.

Longevity Rice.

Although it has no relation to rice except for some resemblance in appearance.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"The Double-tailed Snake asked."

Kevin, who was lost in thought, finally snapped out of it. He looked slightly puzzled, then suddenly realized something, nodded, and continued walking forward.

Is there anything more important inside?

Could it be that the rice inside this bone stick isn't fully formed yet?

It's clear that what the Double-tailed Snake wanted to trade for Kevin was not the same thing Kevin wanted.

For Double-tailed Snake, isn't the object inside the bone club valuable?

Thinking about this situation, Kevin's heart began to race.

Something even better.

This feeling made Kevin ignore the harsh environment around him, disregard the sticky, stringy, blood-streaked, fascia-like mud and flesh clinging to his body, and wade forward step by step.

The surrounding environment is also slowly changing.

The further you go in, the more solidified the blood and flesh swamp becomes under your feet, and you can feel the increasing amount of impurities you encounter as you walk through it.

As it bubbled and gurgled, more structural organs that hadn't yet turned into flesh and blood, and even some bone fragments, would emerge.

But the smell in the air had changed; outside, it was a distinctly bloody stench.

After entering the swamp, the sweet smell of unrotted flesh and blood was replaced by a more pungent aroma, like the smell of rice grains mixed with the outside flavor after a bone has been cracked open, making one hungry and giving off a faint, cooked rice smell.

"The White Bone Forest is getting bigger and bigger."

Kevin observed, muttering to himself.

The forest of bones outside was sparse to begin with, but the further in you go, the denser the Dense Forest of bones becomes, and the larger it is. The bones used are also much larger than those outside, with most of them being several times taller than the Kevin people.

Metaphorically speaking, the outside is just a seedling, while the inside has already grown into a big tree.

Finally, as he got closer, Kevin slowly emerged from the mud and flesh. The swamp mud and water now only reached his hips, and he could feel his feet stepping on the fine bone fragments.

Amidst this mixture of various scents, Kevin made his choice.

It's Double-tailed Snake.

Lord Double-tailed Snake.

If the opponent's main body is here, then aren't those Clone outside also Clone?

It was hard to believe that this body was merely Nen Beast, completely unable to replicate Kevin's strength. Even his perception was greatly weakened, leaving him to rely more on his eyes to observe.

Kevin pondered, and finally saw something different.

It was a massive ancient tower made up of countless giant bones.

First, in the Swamp, a large number of bones accumulated, forming a raised surface.

The skulls of various giant beasts were piled up haphazardly, along with those exaggerated Vertebrae, arranged in a dense and compact manner.

Small bone fragments and short bones were inserted into the gaps to fill them.

Then there was a huge Vertebrae that extended upwards from the platform, rising to a distance of about one or two hundred meters.

A large number of bones are densely arranged on this Vertebrae, and they are interlocked and piled up to form a columnar Bone Tower.

Then some of the protruding bones branched out, just like a large, bony tree that was bare at the bottom and covered with branches and leaves at the top.

The Double-tailed Snake coiled itself atop the ancient tower, its open snake eyes fixed on Kevin.

Here, the aroma of rice completely overpowers the sweetness and stench of flesh and blood, leaving only the pure breath of life surging forth, even making the already nauseating environment feel somewhat better.

Kevin finally noticed the difference with his own eyes.

Among the enormous trees made of bones around us, those bones were different from those on the outside.

Kevin couldn't resist touching them. This time, there was no feeling of obstruction when he touched the bones before. These bones were already A-Rank materials, and top-grade Grade A-Rank at that. He pulled one out and examined it in his hand.

Wrong.

These bones are rice, or rather, they are similar in nature, existing in the same way.

With a slight pry, it was no longer hollow inside, but solid. As it was broken open, some liquid slowly slid out from inside, a transparent, slightly milky-white gel-like substance.

However, Kevin didn't find the gel particularly valuable; he felt it was only B-Rank, while the bone was grade A.

Top-tier.

I understand.

Just by looking at it, Kevin could roughly tell the difference between the bones here and the ones outside.

The Longevity Rice is located inside the bones on the outside.

The bones here may have once contained Longevity Rice, but over time, or perhaps due to some growth mechanism of this environment, the essence of the Longevity Rice permeated and integrated into the bones, becoming one with them, thus giving the bones some of the characteristics of Longevity Rice.

The remaining impurities formed a transparent gel within the bone.

This is why bones have become a top-tier material with similar properties and grade to rice, and why when you crack them open, they no longer contain rice, but rather a gel.

Kevin's Double-tailed Snake, coiled in the middle of the Bone Tower, swayed slightly, causing the ancient tower to make cracking sounds.

Kevin looked over and examined it carefully; it seemed to be the same one he had fought before.

Is it right----

But it doesn't quite seem like it.

Trouble.

This body is, after all, just Nen Beast, and it's really not smooth to use.

At the Lord level, the ability to perceive one's body is extremely important.

Kevin himself isn't here, so the information he can gather is extremely limited. He can only wait until this body returns and see if he can discover anything.

However, judging from its strength, this Double-tailed Snake should be the same one that fought me before.

Do the smaller Clone that are created not have much impact on the user's overall strength?

Kevin stared at the other person, deep in thought.

The Double-tailed Snake looked at Kevin and gently tapped one of its tails on the bony branch.

A bone was knocked off and shot towards Kevin.

Kevin suddenly raised his hands and hugged him tightly.

It was a bone about the same size as his body. The moment he hugged it, he could feel it; it was another Peak A-Rank material.

But this time was different; the bone he was holding was quite different as well.

As I said before, I can't sense this body yet, and I'll only be able to tell once we get back. But it's pretty much certain that the main material here is actually the bones floating on the swamp.

They can be roughly divided into three categories:

After cracking it open, you'll find the bones of the Longevity Rice; the focus is on the rice grains, the bones are not very useful.

After breaking it open, you'll find bone made of transparent gel. The focus is on the bone itself, although the gel also plays a role.

After trying to open it—well, it's not open yet, but the bones on the core Bone Tower are clearly different from the two types mentioned above.

However, it must be acknowledged that the three types of bones are essentially of the same material grade, all being top-tier A-Rank, with no distinction between strong and weak.

They may be the same in essence, but there must also be some differences.

For the Double-tailed Snake, the bone Kevin is holding is the most important thing. The deal Kevin made from the beginning was actually to trade this bone, not the Longevity Rice outside.

"Alright, let's go."

The other person's impatience was evident in their expression of emotion, and their irritability seemed to be becoming increasingly difficult to conceal.

I'm so impatient.

But I can understand it, Kevin thought to himself.

But he couldn't help pointing to the few bone trees nearby. "Are these important to you? Can I take some?"

As soon as he finished speaking, those bone trees were snapped in two by an unknown force, coalesced into a ball, and slammed down on him.

In an instant, Kevin's Nen Beast was smashed into the swamp of flesh and blood.

"Ugh! Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

Kevin tried to dodge but couldn't. It was just Nen Beast. He was smashed into a swamp of flesh and blood, which disgusted him. He quickly used his Nen Aura to shave off the flesh and blood on his face and neck.

He was surrounded by bones, which pinned him down in the middle.

The Double-tailed Snake's impatience was beginning to show.

Kevin wasn't angry after getting what he wanted.

He piled the bones together, then lifted them up. "Alright, alright, I'm leaving."

If we don't leave now, we really won't be able to leave.

They obediently held the bones up, piled them into a ball, and waded outwards.

Seeing that Kevin was truly preparing to leave instead of continuing to cause trouble, the Double-tailed Snake finally seemed to calm down, closed its eyes again, and coiled itself around the ancient tower to rest.

As Kevin walked along, he pondered. It seemed that apart from the bones in the central Bone Tower, the other bones were of no importance to him. He only felt annoyed, as evidenced by the bone ball he was holding above his head.

Above his head was a semi-transparent, bowl-shaped barrier of scales, and inside the barrier was piled up bones.

They made their way to the outer perimeter, and this time Kevin didn't even ask any questions. He simply swept up all the bone trees along the way and put them into a bowl.

Due to their size and density, the number of bones containing rice grains is actually less than the number of those containing gel in the inner circle.

Of course, the outer swamp was even larger, but the Double-tailed Snake was clearly very impatient with living beings wandering around its territory. Knowing when to stop, Kevin restrained his greed and only took all the bone trees along the only path.

When he came ashore again, besides the nauseating blood and flesh mud clinging to his body, there was the enormous scale barrier bowl above his head, with bones piled up like mountains, every crevice packed tightly.

This is Kevin's biggest takeaway.

"We're home, we're home."

Kevin hummed twice, his steps becoming slightly lighter; his joy was impossible to hide.

Although he desires a long-term, stable supply relationship, the current situation doesn't seem ideal; however, what he has above him is enough for a very, very long time.

We'll deal with the rest later. Once we're stronger and have more abilities, maybe we can find a solution.

However, Kevin felt it was a pity that he hadn't figured out the operating logic of this swamp at all along the way.

Why are there so many bloody swamps?

Where did all these skeletons come from?

Why would Double-tailed Snake choose to inhabit this place?

How did the environment here create these materials?

It's a complete mystery.

Moreover, comparing the records in the book with my own feelings today, it seems that Dong at that time did not actually explore the interior of the swamp. At most, he only explored the exterior of the swamp, broke off some bones, and discovered the secret.

It's highly likely that they were discovered by the Double-tailed Snake at that time, and ultimately either fought or were chased. This is why the Double-tailed Snake became very agitated after discovering that they were humans and attacked them directly, mistaking them for animals.

It's quite possible that Dong sneaked in quietly, circled the perimeter, and then gave up exploring the area after realizing he couldn't get inside.

If we consider the problem from the perspective of Dong's exploratory thinking, then the interior of the swamp is very likely to be a very important core area for the Double-tailed Snake.

It's highly likely that Dong infiltrated the area, meaning that a direct, forceful entry was impossible. Dong couldn't afford to provoke the Double-tailed Snake at the time, so he used this method to explore some of its internal secrets before ending the operation.

The fact that Dong was able to get here so quietly back then is enough to show that his infiltration skills were very good, even top-notch, at the Lord Rank.

The fact that it's impossible to infiltrate deeper is enough to illustrate the problem, so it's wise to give up at the right time.

Otherwise, if we were to investigate every place thoroughly and try to understand everything, it might take four or five hundred years to finish.

Kevin felt that this was roughly how things should unfold, though there might be some discrepancies, but the similarity and accuracy rate should be at least 50%.

After pondering this for most of the day, Kevin's Nen Beast arrived at the edge of the woods.