When the Masked Man stopped making noise, as long as he remained still, his presence dropped to zero.
It was difficult to sense even the slightest trace of Aura from him, as if he were just an ordinary stone by the roadside.
Only the murderous intent emanating from within him, even in silence, was like a streetlamp in the dark night… highly conspicuous.
Perhaps sensing the Masked Man's murderous intent, the footsteps from within the passageway ceased.
The Masked Man looked into the pitch-black passageway. From the very beginning, he had no intention of hiding.
Thus, he actively walked into the passageway.
The three swallowtail butterflies followed closely behind, the light they emitted growing brighter.
Within the passageway, a short, stout man with a bowl-cut hairstyle and pockmarks covering both cheeks stood against the wall.
He wore night-vision goggles, so even without the light brought in by the three butterflies, he could still see the Masked Man entering.
The man's name was Mascher, a member of Beyond's team.
Sensing the murderous intent emanating from the Masked Man, Mascher's expression grew slightly grave. In an instant, he switched from Ten to Ken, entering combat readiness.
Simultaneously, he raised his hand and knocked on the brick wall three times with a pattern of one light tap followed by two heavy ones.
Then, facing the direction of the Masked Man, he slightly bent his knees and made a posture as if holding something.
Behind him, Nen manifested three layers of human-shaped phantoms.
Seeing Mascher prepare to attack, the Masked Man continued walking slowly while raising his hand to once again scrape his nails against his mask.
Screech... screech...
A room some distance away.
A small number of crystals were embedded in the walls, providing faint illumination.
On a pile of copper blocks stood two people.
One was short in stature, wearing a mushroom-shaped hat.
The other wore Japanese-style fisherman's clothing, with an exaggerated chin, giving a strong impression of Popeye.
Both were members of Beyond's team.
The person wearing the mushroom hat pulled out a round rainbow lollipop from somewhere, expertly removed the wrapper, and began licking it noisily.
"Pekotero, how many times have I told you, the scent of a lollipop is a potential hazard that cannot be ignored!" the man in fisherman's clothing said with clear displeasure.
The one called Pekotero, however, paid no mind and said calmly, "Usamen, I've also told you many times, my hearing range far exceeds the coverage of any scent."
Upon hearing Pekotero's words, several veins visibly throbbed on Usamen's forehead.
Suddenly, Pekotero's expression turned serious as he looked in a certain direction.
Seeing Pekotero's action, Usamen instantly became highly alert.
"Mascher has encountered an enemy," Pekotero stated.
"Let's go."
Usamen casually picked up a large crystal from the ground and headed in the direction where Mascher was.
Pekotero bit off the lollipop in one go and followed Usamen.
…
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
'What should I do?'
'These questions arose at some unknown point in time.'
'Perhaps it was when I could see.'
'But I am certain I have no eyes.'
'To go further, I don't even have a body.'
'Yet, I can see all things in the world, hear the chirping of insects and birds, and feel heat, cold, softness, and hardness.'
'I realized I must be a form of life; in terms of meaning, I could be called a living being.'
'When I learned to think, the initial questions not only remained unresolved but became even more complex.'
'I didn't know what I should do until I encountered a certain form of life.'
'At that moment, two words popped into my mind… Eliminate.'
'Thus, without any need, I eliminated those life forms.'
'Perhaps because I followed the guidance of instinct, I used some external objects to fill my intangible self into a fixed form.'
'I have no need to eat, nor do I kill for pleasure.'
'But there are some existences that I need to eliminate.'
'Then, I encountered that life form again, so I came here.'
'I understand clearly that beings have distinct territorial concepts.'
'Therefore, I cannot go underground. I can only wait here.'
'Unexpectedly, the same life form appeared again.'
'So I attacked them.'
'But I don't understand, why are these [things] swarming to besiege me?'
The Scarecrow looked perplexedly at the copper mechanical lifeforms rushing at it from all directions.
In the air, Law's group watched as the agitated copper mechanical lifeforms below scrambled to pounce on the Scarecrow standing atop a low structure.
A cloud of question marks floated above their heads.
Everything, from the crow swarm attacking them to the current riot of the copper mechanical lifeforms, was utterly perplexing.
If they weren't mistaken, that crow swarm should have been released by the Scarecrow.
If not for that crow swarm, they wouldn't have noticed a Scarecrow among the masses of copper mechanical lifeforms.
The action pattern the copper mechanical lifeforms displayed at this moment not only puzzled the Scarecrow but also baffled Law's group.
The reason was actually quite simple.
The Scarecrow suddenly launching an attack was equivalent to causing trouble within the territory of the copper mechanical lifeforms.
Thus, the copper mechanical lifeforms labeled the Scarecrow as an enemy.
"What is this situation?"
Watching the rioting copper mechanical lifeforms devour the Scarecrow like a swarm of ants, Shiro looked utterly bewildered.
Not just Shiro, the others were also unclear about what was happening, staring blankly as the copper mechanical lifeforms piled up into a mound where the Scarecrow had stood.
"Look over there!"
Suddenly, Buhara pointed in a certain direction.
There stood a low building with a visible entrance.
It had been blocked by the copper mechanical lifeforms before, so it couldn't be seen.
Now that the copper mechanical lifeforms were all drawn to the Scarecrow, the scattered ruin structures gradually became visible.
'An opportunity!'
Salin's eyes lit up.
"We can take advantage and go down now."
Before her words finished, the mound formed by the copper mechanical lifeforms suddenly exploded.
Countless copper mechanical lifeforms were sent flying, shattering in mid-air.
Palm-sized crows weaved through the fragments, flying rapidly back and forth along circular trajectories.
Whenever the surrounding copper mechanical lifeforms were hit by a crow, they were sent flying as if struck by a truck.
In no time, the crow swarm cleared a vacuum circle around the Scarecrow.
Despite this, the surrounding copper mechanical lifeforms, arriving in an endless stream, still fearlessly threw themselves at the crow swarm.
Yet the crow swarm forcefully created an effect like a storm circle, mercilessly destroying the copper mechanical lifeforms that crashed into it.
The copper mechanical lifeforms, which originally had decent hardness, now seemed incredibly fragile.
Seeing this scene, Law's group hesitated no longer.
While the Scarecrow attracted the aggro of all the copper mechanical lifeforms, they would seize the chance to enter the underground ruins.
The Scarecrow noticed Law's group's movement. Controlling the crow swarm, it violently broke through the encirclement of copper mechanical lifeforms, leaped up, and drove the crows to link into a straight line, heading straight for Kuro in his black panther form.
Seeing this, Law took out a rhombus-shaped throwing dart made of Vein Stone from his pocket, wrapped it with a sufficient amount of Nen, and threw it.
The dart accurately struck the leading crow, instantly achieving the effect of 'one stone kills countless birds,' destroying the crow swarm linked in a straight line.
Meanwhile, because the Scarecrow forcibly drove part of its crow swarm to attack Law's group, a gap appeared in its defense, and it was once again enveloped by the copper mechanical lifeforms.
Law's group no longer observed. They decisively entered the underground ruins one after another through the now-revealed entrance.
Just as they entered the underground ruins, the copper mechanical lifeforms piled on top of the Scarecrow were once again shattered by the crow swarm.
And the Scarecrow, stepping on crows, chased after Law's group.