Within the ruins, the number of visible structures could be counted on one's fingers.
Countless copper mechanical lifeforms were packed tightly down below, making the presence of the ruins seem even weaker.
Seeing this scene, even Law, the strongest member of the team, felt an immense pressure.
If the individual threat level of a copper mechanical lifeform is C, then their comprehensive rating is definitely A, because the sheer quantity level raises the overall benchmark.
"This number... is truly staggering," Knov said, glancing at Law's profile.
"I agree," Shiro wiped the sweat beading on his forehead, saying with difficulty, "If you don't look carefully, you really can't see where the ruin structures are."
"The true ruins are underground, not on the surface," the skeleton suddenly interjected.
"Huh?"
The skeleton's timely reminder was something he hadn't mentioned when revealing related information earlier.
Therefore, upon hearing the skeleton's reminder, Shiro and the others understood, but also felt a bit surprised.
If there were only these few ruin structures on the surface, the motivation for exploration would be quite lacking.
However, if the ground was crowded with seemingly dangerous copper mechanical lifeforms, wouldn't it be even more exaggerated underground?
"S-s-so, a-are w-we, g-going i-inside, th-the r-ruins?" Nique stammered.
Hearing Nique's words, everyone couldn't help but look at Law.
Tonpa thought to himself, 'Last time, I was scared enough by just one copper mechanical lifeform, and here, it's an uncountable number.'
'Though, these copper mechanical lifeforms seem a bit different from the one encountered that time.'
"What do you think, would Don Freecss be interested in these ruins?"
Law gently stomped his foot, signaling Kuro to stop.
Kuro received the command and immediately halted, standing on the transparent foothold Law created with his En, looking down from above at the copper mechanical lifeforms below who were becoming agitated due to their arrival.
"He would definitely be interested!"
Upon hearing Law's question, Salin responded without hesitation.
Law gave Salin a helpless look, thinking, 'The most interested person is probably you.'
Ging looked down at the scene below and said seriously, "If it were me, I would definitely go in to investigate."
"Me too, but I would base my decision on the level of risk. In a situation like this, without teammates' support, I would absolutely not risk going in," Sheila said softly.
"Indeed, in this situation, the feeling of being isolated and helpless would certainly be terrible," Biscuit sighed.
"But Don Freecss is alone, right? No matter how powerful he is, it would be very difficult to deal with all these things, wouldn't it?" Buhara mumbled.
Before meeting the skeleton, they might have still doubted whether Don was a true solo adventurer.
But based on the information provided by the skeleton, there was basically no need to doubt it.
Don was indeed a solo adventurer.
So, the question also arose.
Being alone, would he risk breaking through the obstacle formed by the countless copper mechanical lifeforms below?
If the possibility of Don leaving traces inside the ruins is low, is it necessary for the team to take risks to go in?
People like Salin and Ging would definitely want to go inside the ruins to investigate, no matter what.
As for people like Knov and a few others, they placed more emphasis on the risks this operation would entail.
In a complete team, decisions are usually made based on a majority rule mechanism.
However, the team leader's decision often plays a decisive role in setting the direction.
Therefore, in such a clearly divided situation, Law's decision usually has the final say.
To go, or not to go?
The final decision hadn't been made yet, but Tonpa and Kuro gave almost simultaneous warnings at this moment.
Tonpa was genuinely startled by the astonishing number of copper mechanical lifeforms below, leading to a rare mistake where he didn't detect the approaching attackers in time.
Kuro wasn't participating in the discussion, so he could constantly monitor the situation below.
So when the attackers came from below towards them, despite his surveillance range being less than Tonpa's, he was able to discover the attackers almost simultaneously with Tonpa.
The attackers were a group of pitch-black, palm-sized crows, with white eyeballs resembling ghostly eyes.
The crows were very small, but their numbers were immense.
They clustered together without affecting each other's flight, heading purposefully towards Kuro, who was hovering in the air.
The sudden appearance of the crow swarm made the copper mechanical lifeforms below even more restless.
"I'll handle it."
Stargie volunteered.
She rarely participated in team discussions and decisions, usually spoke little, but when the team faced danger, she was often the first to step forward.
Black and white Nen energy surged on her body, then flowed to her hands, materializing in the blink of an eye into a black stone vertical harp.
A clear, crisp harp sound suddenly arose, and numerous visible Nen Blades shot towards the crow swarm in response.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
A considerable number of Nen Blades struck the crows, cutting through them like tofu, instantly crushing the menacing crow swarm to pieces.
However, there were no feathers or blood.
The crow swarm was sliced into countless fragments by the Nen Blades, then slowly disappeared into the air, as if they had never existed.
Seeing Stargie take action, the skeleton couldn't help but shrink his neck, even though he didn't have one.
"It was Nen."
Law looked at the place where the fragments disappeared.
Immediately after, considerable commotion came from below.
Everyone followed the sound and looked towards the source of the commotion, only then discovering that the ruins didn't solely contain copper mechanical lifeforms… there was another presence.
'A... scarecrow?'
…
Deep within the ruins.
Creak... creak...
A grating friction sound echoed in the passageway.
On the dusty brick floor, broken copper pieces were scattered.
Fragments of crystals emitting a faint glow were mixed among the many copper pieces.
Three white swallowtail butterflies fluttered gracefully within the passageway, lightly landing on the crystal fragments.
After staying for only a moment, the crystals' glow dimmed.
Creak... creak...
The Masked Man continuously scraped his long, pointed nails against his smooth mask, moving towards the other end of the passageway.
Soon, he arrived at a 'Y'-shaped fork in the path and stopped, tilting his head slightly, silently staring at the fork.
The white swallowtail butterflies slowly landed on the Masked Man's head and shoulders, gently flapping their wings.
It seemed as if he didn't know the way, or perhaps he suffered from indecision.
The Masked Man stood motionless before the fork and stopped his nail-scraping motion.
A moment later, the sound of footsteps came from one of the passageways.
The white swallowtail butterflies on the Masked Man, seemingly disturbed, flapped their wings and flew into the air.
The Masked Man suddenly looked towards the passageway from which the footsteps came.
A silent, murderous intent spontaneously manifested.