Day after day.
Gradually, Oboro became numb.
At least in the human world, he still had a 'biological clock.'
But in the Dark Continent, he had completely lost any sense of 'time planning.'
He simply rested when he was tired and hunted for 'prey' when he was hungry.
The unknown dangers he had been wary of when he first arrived in the Dark Continent had now become something he was quite accustomed to.
Another change was... the dangers he encountered became less frequent. Every time he entered a new area, every time he ventured into an unfamiliar food chain and ecosystem, various life forms would flee in droves.
The creatures that dared to attack him also gradually decreased.
He didn't know from when, perhaps one day, Oboro suddenly realized.
This continent was safe for him.
And he had reached the center of the map, beneath the colossal tree whose canopy obscured the entire sky.
However, the 'gate' remained unfound.
"How much time has passed?"
One day, Oboro stood beneath the tree, gazing upwards, muttering to himself.
This colossal tree was his first destination according to the map, meant to lead him deeper into the Dark Continent.
Judging by the image, it seemed not far.
But the actual time required to travel there was unexpectedly long.
It was slow at first, but as his strength increased, his speed began to accelerate...
Even so, time... was still impossible to calculate precisely.
To Oboro's eyes, this tree was not just a tree.
It was like a giant, towering wall blocking his path, stretching east and west to the horizon, endless.
As for the sky, it was as black as ink.
He didn't know from which day the sky had become only black and red.
Now, only black remained.
Oboro's body had evolved to an indescribable degree, allowing him to perceive everything in the darkness with his eyesight alone.
"Ten years... twenty years... or thirty years?"
Oboro's lips parted slightly.
He took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
Inside... only one cigarette remained.
He took out the cigarette, placed it in his mouth, and the tobacco ignited spontaneously.
"My speed should be much faster than Don Freecss'... He probably experienced much more time than I have... Amazing." Oboro took a drag, exhaled smoke, and put the empty cigarette pack back into his pocket without throwing it away. Even with his disposition, he felt a hint of torment.
Let alone Don Freecss.
"Oh... right, the system."
After a few puffs, Oboro remembered something.
He summoned the system panel.
He hadn't opened the system in a long time.
Because his age on it seemed frozen. On one hand, due to his lifespan, he couldn't be calculated by 'human' life dimensions. On the other hand, he had now integrated into the Dark Continent, and human years no longer applied to him.
Oboro couldn't recall when he had last opened the system.
Most of the panel remained unchanged.
Only the comprehensive attributes, combat class, food chain position, and ecosystem rating were different.
Combat Class: Dark Continent S+ Level Life Form & Consciousness Entity (Rule-based Species).
Comprehensive Attribute Evaluation: Monarch Level.
Food Chain Position: Upper.
Ecosystem Rating: 100.
"Already 100 points..." Oboro glanced at it, his tone devoid of any joy.
An ecosystem rating of 100 meant he had completely become a part of the Dark Continent.
But strength... currently held no satisfaction for him.
He was merely hunting and killing by instinct... because if you don't kill prey, prey will kill you.
Although few creatures dared to attack him now, some still did.
He seemed to have been assimilated by the rules of the Dark Continent, no different from other surviving species.
As for the food chain position, which directly reflected his strength, with his increasingly refined control over energy and deeper understanding, it was like when he was first exploring Nen abilities in the human world. After mastering rule-based power, manipulating 'life energy' in this dimension had become incredibly easy.
He... had long broken through the 'framework of abilities.'
The constraints of the six Nen categories.
Transformation, Enhancement, Specialization, etc., whatever Oboro desired, he could obtain it by utilizing energy.
But the soul... remained his trump card.
It had become something akin to a 'species talent.'
The gate had not been found.
The power to break through dimensions, Oboro had not found either.
He now vaguely understood how to break through dimensions... it was simple: rely on rule-based power. Only by reaching the 'energy' at the very apex of the entire world could one open spacetime.
It was that simple.
The difficult part was that to possess the rules capable of breaking through the spacetime barrier of a world, the energy source required was unimaginably vast.
At least... in Oboro's opinion, it was too fantastical.
He couldn't do it.
However, just because he couldn't do it didn't mean the monsters that had survived in the Dark Continent for so long couldn't.
For example, creatures or powers even more terrifying than the Demon King.
Over the long years, Oboro had also witnessed the Five Great Calamities from the human world and found the Five Great Hopes...
For instance, among the calamities, there were the human-breeding beast Pup, the plant weapon Goldfinger and Silverfinger, the twin-tailed snake Hell's Bell, and so on. However, the gas life form Ai was not seen on this side of the Dark Continent.
Frankly speaking... these so-called calamities were merely life forms that surpassed human common sense, hunting, surviving, and evolving in ways that were incomprehensible.
The Hundred-Disease-Curing Herb, Longevity Rice, the electricity-generating Unmanned Stone, the Three-Origin Water, the Alchemical Plant, etc., were actually not that precious. Because Oboro's own life dimension had been enhanced, hopes like the herb and rice had lost their value to him, having almost no effect.
These things were 'everywhere' in the Dark Continent... it was only because humans were too weak that their effects and value were highlighted.
For many creatures of the Dark Continent, their effects were minimal.
The value, ultimately, depended on the energy gap between the parties involved.
Oboro had even seen many treasures more wondrous than the Five Great Hopes.
The difference in living space made it impossible to empathize with each other.
Swish swish...
At this moment, a rustling sound came from behind Oboro, and the ground trembled slightly.
He turned his head and saw a group of moving giant stones, twenty to thirty of them, looking exactly like rocks with uneven edges and strange shapes. Strangely, they had hands and feet covered in dense fur, their limbs resembling those of apes.
Cracks appeared on the surface of the stones, opening to reveal a large, round eyeball.
They had no mouths, but they conveyed information by tapping the surface of their bodies, producing crisp sounds.
It seemed to be their unique language.
Oboro clearly recognized this group of creatures.
"Let's go."
He glanced at them. The cigarette butt in his finger had already turned to ash.
Oboro instantly appeared in the center of the stone group, leading these creatures away.
Not all creatures on the Dark Continent were engaged in constant fighting and hunting.
Some species were relatively friendly, driven by innate genes and instinct.
More importantly... they could communicate and interact.
They possessed a 'wise' aspect.
Oboro had been with these 'stones' for a long time... They were the only truly intelligent life forms he had found outside the 'gate' of the Dark Continent.
Even if they were only low-level intelligent creatures.
The reason these stones clung to 'him' was simply for survival.
The journey continued...
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