Nen Sage - Chapter 412
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Morel and Grachan carefully went through numerous strategies in their minds.
Neither of them was in a hurry to engage the strange creature in front of them.
Morel personally trusted Grachan and had no particular doubts about his ability to fight alongside him.
However, he was also aware of an important disadvantage in their current situation.
There was no rain.
That meant Grachan could not use a significant portion of his Nen ability.
Grachan's Nen ability could only be used when it was raining, and it was particularly effective in enclosed environments. Under the current conditions, however, that advantage was simply unavailable to them.
Because of that, Morel knew that engaging an unknown creature with an unknown Nen ability without understanding its conditions first would be unnecessarily dangerous.
After a few seconds, Morel narrowed his eyes.
"If, as we suspect, it has some kind of condition that benefits from us inhaling the smoke and noticing the smell, then standing here and staring at it is only going to benefit the creature."
Grachan gave a slight smile.
"Then let's fall back."
He looked at the creature for another moment.
"If we're forced to fight, then we'll fight. But if we don't have to fight, there's no reason to."
Morel thought about it for roughly a second before nodding.
"Agreed."
He adjusted his enormous pipe slightly.
"Quickly, but carefully."
A few seconds later, Morel and Grachan began taking rapid steps backward.
Neither turned their backs completely toward the creature.
They continued watching it while increasing the distance between themselves and the swamp.
The strange six-legged creature remained inside the swamp.
It continued staring directly at them.
Morel and Grachan continued retreating.
Eventually, they had moved roughly one kilometer away from the swamp.
Only then did they stop.
Grachan took a deep breath.
"Strange."
Morel nodded.
"Yes."
He looked back toward the direction from which they had come.
"It isn't particularly natural that it would simply let us leave like this and not follow us at all."
Morel paused for a moment.
"Although…"
He considered another possibility.
"It could simply be protecting its territory."
Neither Morel nor Grachan forgot the most basic fact about the beings they were encountering.
They were creatures.
That fact was easy to overlook because of how strangely developed their Nen abilities appeared to be.
Some of the creatures they had encountered possessed abilities with multiple conditions, limitations, and combinations that seemed almost deliberately constructed.
Yet the fact that their Nen abilities had been intelligently designed did not necessarily mean the creatures themselves had human-like objectives.
They did not necessarily need to be trying to eliminate every human they encountered.
They could simply be behaving according to their natural instincts.
Grachan scratched his head slightly.
"Creatures hunt, reproduce, protect their territory, and protect their offspring."
He looked back toward the swamp.
"Thinking about it that way isn't particularly wrong."
Morel nodded.
"Exactly."
He took another breath through his pipe and continued thinking about the situation.
"Whatever the case may be, there isn't much point in standing here and evaluating the situation forever."
He turned his attention toward the direction they had been traveling.
"Let's continue moving. If there is a problem waiting for us, we'll understand that when it happens."
Grachan nodded.
The two continued forward.
Neither of them knew what the strange creature's ability actually was.
But they had already learned something useful.
Not every creature on the island needed to be fought.
Sometimes, simply observing and retreating could provide more useful information than engaging in a battle without knowing the conditions.
–
Meanwhile, Conrad and Lenfani continued moving forward.
They traveled approximately three more kilometers through the island.
At one point, Conrad separated from Lenfani for a few minutes.
He moved toward a suitable location and placed his second Obelisk.
Once the Obelisk was properly positioned, Conrad examined the surrounding area.
"Good."
He looked around calmly.
"Even without using En, I can perform a fairly good environmental analysis and evaluation."
The Obelisk gave him another point of observation.
Combined with his own senses and Nen perception, it allowed him to monitor a considerably wider area without constantly maintaining En.
This was especially useful on an island where almost every part of the environment could potentially contain something unusual.
Conrad returned to Lenfani.
The two continued walking.
A short while later, Lenfani suddenly turned her head.
She raised one finger and pointed toward the top of a tree.
There was a black crow sitting on one of the branches.
Lenfani watched it carefully.
"Until now, I haven't seen any bird species besides those fishing and oceanic birds."
She continued looking at the crow.
"It probably isn't particularly natural for a crow-like creature to be sitting at the top of a tree and focusing directly on us."
Conrad turned his attention toward the creature she had pointed at.
He examined it carefully.
Then he nodded.
"I don't think you're wrong."
His eyes remained on the crow for another moment.
"However, constantly interacting with and fighting different creatures is going to become repetitive."
Conrad shifted his attention toward the path ahead.
"For that reason, unless they actively take action against us, I think it makes more sense to continue deeper into the island and discover the actual mystery."
Lenfani silently listened and nodded.
There was not much else she could do.
She could offer her observations and opinions, but Conrad was clearly the one making the primary decisions regarding their movements.
She had no reason to force herself into the conversation simply for the sake of saying something.
Conrad continued forward.
He kept a portion of his attention on the crow.
The creature remained where it was.
And Conrad did not feel any immediate reason to change their course because of it.
They continued walking.
Approximately ten minutes later, Conrad suddenly slowed down.
"Hmmm…"
He looked toward the distance.
There was a large structure ahead.
At first glance, it resembled some kind of ancient pyramid.
More importantly, based on the direction they had been traveling and the surrounding terrain, it appeared to be located almost exactly at the center of the island.
"A large structure."
"It resembles some kind of ancient pyramid."
He paused.
"And based on its location, this could be considered the exact center of the island."
Lenfani thought about what he had said.
She did not know much about pyramids or structures of that type.
"I don't know much about pyramids."
She looked toward the structure.
"But considering our general progress and how long we've been traveling, if this pyramid is actually at the center of the island, then the island isn't particularly large."
Conrad nodded.
"Yes…"
He brought one finger to his chin.
His expression became thoughtful.
Something was bothering him.
In fact, it was more than that.
A theory that had already existed somewhere in the back of his mind was beginning to receive additional evidence.
Each new discovery on the island seemed to push that theory slightly closer to becoming a serious possibility.
Conrad looked toward the pyramid again.
"This island is too small to have this many creatures."
He paused.
"Of course, where we started from is also relevant."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Perhaps this isn't actually the center."
"Maybe the island simply gives the impression that this is its center."
Conrad understood that he was not an expert in geographic positioning, location identification, or similar matters.
He did not have enough information to confidently determine the actual structure of the island.
Because of that, he knew he needed to be careful with his conclusions.
He could not simply construct an elaborate theory based on assumptions about the island's geography.
There was no reason to force himself into creating a theory when the available evidence was still incomplete.
Still, something about the situation bothered him.
The strange environment.
And now this enormous structure located in what appeared to be the central region of the island.
Conrad continued thinking.
Then he decided that the most practical course of action was to communicate this information to Morel and Grachan.
He reached for his radio.
But before he could say anything, the device activated.
Morel's voice came through.
"Conrad, if you can hear me, come to the location I'm about to send you."
"If Lenfani is with you, bring her as well."
Conrad immediately stopped.
Morel's tone was different.
Morel continued.
"We lost communication with the others."
A brief pause followed.
"There is a problem."