From the very beginning, Law held no expectations for Kuro.
That proved true. Kuro couldn't deal with the lava bird. Judging from the result, unless he could swallow the entire volcano's lava, he couldn't handle the lava bird.
The second method was the [Wish-Granting] effect of the Harp version of Dark Sonata. Law believed dealing with the lava bird would incur a significant cost, so he wasn't very willing to use the Harp version.
That left only the final method: using the Calamity sealed in his left arm.
During those years on the Dark Continent, Law encountered many dangers and various strange, bizarre entities.
Among them, the most dangerous he considered was the copper mechanical organism encountered at an ancient ruins site. It attacked him silently. By the time he reacted, the phone he carried was nearly decayed.
If that copper mechanical organism had an aggressive intent towards humans, he would have been finished long ago.
Another entity was the black shadow that came and went without a trace, like a bottomless pit capable of devouring countless life forms.
The black shadow's range of activity seemed to cover the entire West Continent, as Law encountered it five times in total, each time in vastly different locations.
Almost every time, he could see the black shadow devouring countless life forms. Once, it even swallowed an entire migrating herd of tens of thousands of creatures, leaving not a single hair behind.
The Calamity sealed in Law's arm was essentially not far different from the black shadow.
If the black shadow was [Devour], then the Calamity in the arm was [Destruction]. Both could pose a massive threat to various life forms unilaterally.
If there was a difference, it was that the Calamity in the arm had a wider range of effect than the black shadow.
Law had once given that Calamity an evaluation, so Ging was aware of the risks involved. Seeing Law now intending to use that Calamity, Ging was immediately very concerned.
Solving the lava bird problem was certainly a good thing, but if things went wrong, the entire Six Continents might suffer.
"How confident are you?"
Ging watched as Law summoned the book, asking very uneasily.
"About seventy percent."
Law flipped through the pages with one hand.
Ging pondered for a moment, then asked, "What kind of Calamity is it, exactly?"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The page-turning stopped, landing on the page sealing the arm.
The pattern representing the arm was quite unusual. It was covered with green branches, intertwined to form extremely pleasing green circles. Among the many branches, small, ink-black flowers the size of hawthorns bloomed quietly, with red dots in their stamens.
Law glanced at the arm pattern on the white page, then looked at Ging. "An unknown liquid plant. I call it [Wither]."
Hearing this, Ging took a few steps forward, moving beside Law. He then reached out and grabbed Law's wrist, saying seriously, "Don't summon it out just yet."
No trace of nervousness could be found on Ging's face, but Law knew Ging was undoubtedly tense.
Law smiled. "What, do I seem like someone who would joke with my own life?"
Ging shook his head. "Just in case, I need to understand that Calamity's information first. That way, I can assist you at the right moment."
Looking at the serious and solemn Ging, Law nodded slightly.
Summoning the book and flipping the page wasn't to immediately retrieve the arm and the Calamity… it was just preparation.
After all, what they were about to do might require Ging's assistance. So, before finalizing the plan, he wouldn't be so rash.
It was just that Ging was overly concerned, hence the strong reaction. Law didn't think it necessary to explain this small misunderstanding, so he didn't plan to. Following Ging's request, he began explaining the information about [Wither].
"It has two forms. One is a liquid 'seed'. The other is a solid 'branches and ink flowers'. When it's still the liquid 'seed', it seeks any substance to parasitize."
"Blood, flesh and bone, plant sap, even sand and rock can become its nourishment, helping it branch out and spread on the host."
"Likely, once an adult human is parasitized by a liquid 'seed', they would become a literal vegetable within three seconds. At that point, the branches would start to wither and rot, then the ink flowers would transform into larger liquid 'seeds', repeating the cycle, seeking the next parasitic target."
Listening to Law's description of [Wither], Ging showed a grave expression.
Frowning, he looked at Law and pinpointed the most critical question: "Any substance?"
Law was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked towards the thick smoke from the crater. Calmly, he said, "That statement about 'any substance' is indeed an exaggeration. But if even flame and smoke can become its nourishment, I think applying the phrase 'any substance' isn't inappropriate."
Actually, Law had only seen [Wither] take root on flame, smoke, sand, rock, trees, and life forms. For example, oceans, lakes, snow… he wasn't clear if [Wither] was interested in those.
Moreover, he believed [Wither] had the potential to destroy the entire Dark Continent, but it hadn't happened, suggesting there should be natural enemies of [Wither] on the Dark Continent.
"Flame and smoke..."
Ging's heart was slightly shaken. Subconsciously, he looked towards the billowing smoke. Immediately after, more doubts arose. He shifted his gaze to Law's book.
"You're wondering why I was able to seal it."
"Yes."
"Because Aura can have a certain degree of blocking and stagnating effect on Wither. But liquid Wither is like water, seeping through every pore. There are always times when it seeps through Aura. However, my Nen belongs to the Specialist type, and it's inherently special."
"Blocking?" Ging roughly understood what Law's Nen was like. One of its characteristics was blocking.
"Yes, blocking. But there's an even more crucial point: the spatial characteristics of the Emission and Conjuration types. I fused these two characteristics, using my left arm as the foundation to create a contradictory space that exists independently yet is closely connected."
"..."
Ging couldn't help but fall silent, gaining a deeper understanding of Law's Nen and marveling at Law's proficiency in Nen.
That Nen called [God Hand] belonged to the Specialist type. But simultaneously, it was like a blank canvas. While possessing special abilities itself, various colors could be painted on that canvas.
Those different colors were the characteristics of the other five Nen-types.
Both Emission and Conjuration-types could give rise to space-type Nen.
Spatial abilities born from the former usually involved two spaces closely adjacent, with a passageway of very low opening difficulty. Spatial abilities born from the latter were independent, with a passageway of higher opening difficulty.
According to Law, on the blank canvas of God's Hand, he mixed the two colors of Emission and Conjuration to form another color.
And the blank canvas of God Hand not only perfectly supported the mixture of the two colors but even provided a platform for the colors to fully express themselves.
Achieving this was frighteningly difficult.
But...
Ging looked at the person before him.
So, his heartfelt astonishment wasn't without reason.