The sailboat cut through the waves, the sound of the sea close at hand.
The scorching sun shone down on the many passengers on the deck, but couldn't dispel the incessant chatter.
Law sat in a corner by the ship's rail, looking up at the blue sky and white clouds as if he couldn't hear the noise around him.
He was thinking about the Flute solo he had just acquired. Compared to its unknown ability, he was more concerned about whether he should absorb the Nen from the sheet music.
If he absorbed it, he didn't know how long he'd be in a state of Zetsu. Conservatively estimating, it would be at least three years, right?
Even if he used training to shorten the duration, it would be a minimum of one year.
Therefore, he needed to carefully choose the timing.
'It's best to 'digest' it before going to the Dark Continent,' Law thought silently.
Several hours later, the sailboat docked at the port of Whale Island.
Law disembarked and headed into the island, his destination straight for the volcano on Whale Island.
One reason for choosing Whale Island as the meeting point was the fire element life form sealed inside the volcano.
Although Don Freecss had constructed a powerful sealing array using [Lichen] and [Divine Script], leaving it unattended was still a potential risk.
Law wanted to see if he could eradicate the fire element life form. If successful, he could also harvest the [Lichen] near the volcano crater.
Passing through the lush forest, he arrived at the base of the volcano.
Law glanced at the smooth, tree-covered slope, then pushed off with his foot, soaring into the air. He then stepped on the air, ascending towards the volcano's summit.
Reaching the summit, Law didn't see Ging, nor did he know when Ging would arrive.
He walked alone to a patch of ground, using his foot to brush away a thick layer of volcanic ash, revealing a patch of light brown ground cover.
That light brown ground cover was called [Lichen], a plant with strong vitality. With simple processing, it could have the effect of restoring Nen.
Law crouched down, placed his hand on the ground cover, and felt the surging vitality constantly brushing against his fingertips.
"After so many years, its vitality hasn't diminished at all."
Sensing the life force from the Lichen, Law murmured to himself, then withdrew his hand and slowly stood up, looking towards the volcano crater constantly billowing thick smoke.
Kuro emerged on its own from the back of Law's hand, hovering beside him.
"It's been a long time since we were here."
Kuro also looked at the smoking crater, unconsciously recalling the painful experience from back then.
That time, Law kicked him into the volcano, and then his butt got burned by the fire element life form.
Law glanced at Kuro. "Follow me."
With that, Law went to the edge of the crater, deploying his Domain to block out the pungent smell.
Kuro simply perched on Law's shoulder, looking down at the boiling lava inside the volcano. He didn't see the fire element life form.
"Where is that thing?"
Kuro's eyes kept moving, trying to find traces of the fire element life form in the lava.
Law raised his hand, condensing a small ball of Nen, and casually flicked it.
The Nen Sphere shot into the lava, causing a small-scale explosion. After a moment, everything calmed down.
Suddenly, a large bubble-like shape emerged from the recently calmed lava. Instantly, the churning lava transformed into a bird-like shape, though its form remained unchanged. It vaguely resembled a phoenix, its bottom connected to the lava pool like a ribbon.
The lava bird raised its head, staring intently at Law and Kuro at the crater's edge, its gaze fierce, but it made no further moves.
Because it knew it couldn't reach these uninvited guests. At most, it could only attempt to intimidate, which was utterly meaningless.
Feeling the lava bird's fierce gaze, Law remained unfazed. Kuro, regardless of whether the lava bird understood international gestures, kept giving it the middle finger.
"It seems it remembers us."
Law stroked his chin, thinking about how to deal with the lava bird.
Any physical damage was ineffective against the lava bird.
Likewise, even God Hand couldn't harm it.
Currently, only three methods came to mind.
Let Kuro swallow it. Low success probability.
Use the Harp version of the Sonata, but the extent of the cost is unknown, posing a certain risk.
Use the Calamity sealed in his left arm. With his current control level plus [Divine Script], he should barely be able to control it, but success wasn't guaranteed either.
Among the three methods, Law was most willing to try the first, but he could basically imagine the outcome.
Beep beep.
Law took out his phone. It was a call from Ging.
Pressing the answer button, Ging's voice came from the other end: "Where are you?"
"The volcano."
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
The call ended. Law put away his phone, left the crater, and waited on the slope for Ging to arrive.
Ten minutes later, Ging arrived at the summit on time.
"Yo."
Ging greeted with a smile.
After sneaking away from home, he hadn't left Whale Island. But he deliberately created the illusion that he had left, then hid on the island for two days.
Law didn't know about this. If he had, he couldn't help but criticize him again.
"Do you have a way to deal with that?"
Ging came to Law's side, pointing towards the crater.
The reason for meeting was to discuss how to obtain passage to the Dark Continent in the shortest time. But Law mentioning dealing with the fire element life form in the volcano had surprised Ging.
"No guarantee, but we can try," Law said.
"How do you plan to do it?" Ging asked.
Law glanced at Kuro. "First method: let Kuro try to swallow the lava bird."
Hearing this, Kuro froze.
He quickly reacted, loudly protesting, "No way! Don't even think about getting me to cooperate!"
Law ignored his protest, looking at Ging. "Let's try this method first to see if it works."
"Even if it works, wouldn't it just be a transfer effect?" Ging expressed doubt. He knew Kuro's space was where Law stored things. Transferring the lava bird into the space would only be a temporary solution, not a cure.
Law explained, "There are two types of spaces inside Kuro. One is a regular round-trip storage space. The other is a one-way passage space where things go in but don't come out."
"I see," Ging understood.
Of Kuro's two spaces, the former was an ultra-weak version of Knov's Hide-and-Seek. The latter was similar to Shizuku's Blinky, with the premise being that Shizuku forgot what she absorbed, and those absorbed things went to an unknown place.
"Hey, didn't you hear me? I am absolutely not going to swallow that bird thing," Kuro glared.
Twenty minutes later, Law and Ging watched as Kuro screamed and rolled on the ground from severe burns.
"It failed," Ging said.
"Yeah."
"What's the second method?"
After thinking, Law decided to skip the Harp version of Dark Sonata. "Use the Calamity sealed in my left arm to devour it."
"Are you sure?"
Ging's expression changed. After all, Law had previously said the Calamity sealed in his arm had the potential to destroy the Six Continents.
Law nodded, then used the promise of one hundred black pages to make Kuro shut up.
With the promise of one hundred black pages, Kuro decisively wasted Nen to heal his severe burns.
He secretly resolved that next time, whether through threats or incentives, he absolutely would not do this kind of work. It was simply inhumane treatment for a cat.