At the abandoned construction site, dozens of concrete high-rises stood tall, with weeds growing wildly on the ground and bricks and debris scattered everywhere, painting a desolated scene.
As night fell, the moonlight occasionally flickered through the clouds, but the entire site felt devoid of any sign of life.
Among the towering unfinished buildings, a faint light flickered from the tallest concrete structure.
Inside the building, members of the Phantom Troupe were scattered, sitting around with white candles burning in various spots, providing dim illumination within the building.
In the middle of the open space stood a chair, with a man tied to it. His clothes were stained with blood, and his head was covered with a white hood, which had been soaked in blood around his mouth. Judging from the slow rise and fall of his chest, he was still alive.
The Troupe's members sat around him, watching indifferently.
Chrollo sat at the highest spot, holding a book in his right hand. In the eerie silence of the abandoned building, the sudden chime of a message notification from his phone sounded particularly loud.
He took out his phone, the screen's glow casting a soft light on his calm face.
The message was from Law, informing him that no ancient books had been found.
'Nothing, huh…' A flash of regret crossed Chrollo's eyes, but it disappeared quickly. His fingers moved swiftly across the phone keys, typing a brief reply: "Got it."
He then put the phone away.
The sound of the notification and Chrollo's typing caught the attention of the other Troupe's members.
Meeting their gazes, Chrollo remained composed and said nothing. He simply lowered his head slightly and flipped through his book.
As the pages turned, he stopped at a page with a photograph of the man tied to the chair. Below the picture was a block of text.
[Indoor Fish.]
Chrollo's lips curled slightly as he looked at the restrained man. Feitan crouched in front of the man, with his sharp eyebrows arching slightly with a hint of amusement.
The man's hands and feet were in a horrifying state, covered in blood.
"We've pretty much gotten everything out of him."
Feitan stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and looked sideways at Chrollo, who remained seated on the high platform.
Chrollo nodded slightly and said, "Once tonight is over, take him to the nearest hospital for treatment."
Feitan shrugged at the order. He knew Chrollo needed the man to stay alive, otherwise, Feitan would have killed him long ago.
Chrollo stood up, waved his hand, and the book vanished. Looking at the group, he said coolly: "From now on, we'll focus on mastering advanced Nen Techniques."
Hearing Chrollo's words, the Troupe's members nodded in agreement.
After capturing this man and subjecting him to harsh torture, they had forced out several advanced Nen Techniques from him.
Their next goal was to train and master these techniques, to become stronger.
…
After Law receiving Chrollo's reply, Law paused, then thought of Buhara and decided to give him a call to check on him.
After the Hunter Exam, Buhala followed Dafifi into the deep mountains to train, not only to train his Nen, but also his physical body.
During the call, Buhara found out that Law was also going into a year-long training period, which made him feel a sense of camaraderie.
Dafifi had been pushing him relentlessly, insisting that he shouldn't waste his natural advantages, seemingly determined to mold Buhara's body to match his own muscular frame.
However, after two months of training, instead of gaining muscle, Buhara had put on over ten kilograms of weight. As a result, Dafifi thought that he wasn't training hard enough, so he increased the intensity of his training every once in a while.
Law had originally called to check on Buhara's recent situation, but instead, most of the conversation was just Buhara complaining about his suffering.
He had no choice but to quickly end the conversation and hang up the phone.
It is unknown what kind of physique Buhara had. Despite the intense training, he couldn't seem to lose fat and instead ended up gaining more weight.
Even Dafifi found this baffling. He wasn't necessarily trying to make Buhara bulk up with muscle, as his goal was simply to improve Buhara's physical strength and combat abilities.
For an average person, two months of training should have yielded some results, but Buhara's case was quite unique.
After getting a rough idea of Buhara's situation, Law put down his phone and lay on his bed, preparing to sleep.
Starting tomorrow, he would have to train his body while in Zetsu state, and his training location is the extremely dangerous Milsy Wetland.
Black Cat had long since retreated back into Law's hand. The room was so quiet that only Law's breathing could be heard. Turning to the side, he could see the shimmering moonlight on the lake outside the window.
…
Early the next morning.
Law and the two girls packed their belongings and left the lakeside cabin, heading to the nearest city airport to catch a flight.
Three days later, their airship arrived at destination.
After getting off the airship, Biscuit met up with a man and took a bulky package from him. She casually carried it in one hand and then lead Law and Sanbica to an off-road vehicle heading for the Milsy Wetlands.
Law didn't know what was inside the package, but when Biscuit got into the vehicle and it noticeably sank under the weight, he immediately had a guess.
The off-road vehicle drove for half a day and finally reached the outskirts of the Milsy Wetlands at 4 PM. From this point on, the terrain was too treacherous for the vehicle to go any further.
Milsy Wetlands, as the name suggested, was a vast expanse of damp terrain filled with swamps that covered at least 70% of the area. The remaining parts consisted of dense forests.
Despite being covered with vegetation, the land was soft and moist, providing a natural hiding place for many dangerous creatures, making the dense forest the most perilous part of the Milsy Wetlands.
Since the surrounding area was all swamp, the off-road vehicle couldn't proceed any further, so Law and his group could only get off here.
After dropping them off, the driver exchanged a few words with Biscuit before turning back and driving away.
"Are we going to stay here for a year?" Law gazed at the sparse trees in the swampy terrain ahead. In the distance, the forest grew denser, with rocky hills surrounded by rivers.
"Depending on the situation. For now, put on the weights."
Biscuit replied casually and threw the heavy package at Law's feet.
As the package hit the ground with a dull thud, half of its volume sank into the soft soil.
'So it really is weighted gear...'
Law had suspected as much when he saw Biscuit carrying it earlier, so he wasn't too surprised.
He bent down and lifted the package, with some difficulty, and asked, "How much does this weigh?"
Biscuit smiled and said, "One hundred kilograms."
Law nodded and put the package down.
Despite appearing to be around twelve years old in terms of height and looks, his body's age was over fourteen. Although his physique wasn't quite up to par with the average person in this world, compared to people on Earth, it was on par with a hardcore fitness enthusiast.
After unwrapping the package, there was a weight-loaded vest that resembled a bulletproof vest. In addition, there were also eight smaller weight pieces designed for his elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles.
In total, the nine pieces of weight equipment weighed a full hundred kilograms.
Law quickly put on the gear piece by piece. As soon as he was fully equipped, it felt like he was being crushed by a massive boulder, with his feet sinking halfway into the soft ground.
Since he couldn't use his Aura now, he had to rely solely on his physical strength to bear the weight.
Biscuit pointed to a small patch of forest in the distance and said, "Get there before nightfall."
Law looked at the distant forest and nodded silently, thinking it was manageable. However, as soon as he took his first steps, he realized he was gravely mistaken.
The entire outer area of the Milsy Wetlands was covered in swamp. With the added burden of the 100-kilogram weights, Law's foot sank deep into the muddy ground, reaching up to his calves.
That wasn't the worst part, as lifting his foot to take another step proved to be an exhausting struggle.
The combination of weight and the suction of the mud made every step agonizingly difficult.
After walking for less than ten minutes, Law was already panting heavily.
"This is just the beginning…"
Compared to Law's struggles, Biscuit and Sanbica had it easy.