It took them two full days to get out of the tree man's sowing range.
During the day, tree powder floated in the sky like silver flakes, magnificent under the refraction of sunlight. However, only four people knew the danger lurking behind this beautiful scenery.
After escaping a certain distance, Oboro also saw some creatures being parasitized by the saplings, which sucked away all the life energy from their bodies. In just less than two days, they had grown to more than ten feet tall.
The most amazing thing was that the newborns of these tree species seemed to have inherited some kind of will and actually consciously launched an attack on Oboro and his companions.
Generally speaking, although these tree people would attack nearby life forms, as long as there were no living things around, they would most likely scatter aimlessly instead of intentionally looking for a few people.
It was as if Oboro was their enemy.
This kind of will is not passed on by the soul.
Oboro could only understand it as a latent memory engraved in genes.
More than the soul
Also, those scarecrows have nothing to do with the tree people
The tree man is not a higher life form. If it were a higher life form, its soul would definitely be different from others.
At least I should be able to communicate with it.
Under his protection, the few of them finally reached the shaded area of a hillside.
The powdery substance in the sky finally disappeared.
Thanks to the power of the tree powder, they encountered almost no other creatures along the way and had a smooth journey.
In all oasis areas where dust fell, all living things were parasitized and killed without exception.
"Not the same" Anthony fell to the ground exhausted, and spoke with a palpitating tone as if he had survived a disaster.
This tree man looked very similar to the creatures in the desert at first glance. It also had tremendous vitality and an exaggerated size.
But in addition to the fact that this was the first time they encountered a social species, the tree people's abilities were not as direct and easy to understand as those of the desert creatures.
Just the tree powder that was scattered before death, if it weren't for the captain's ability, they would have stayed here forever like those corpses that were left with only skin and bones.
Then, the three of them didn't have time to catch their breath.
Their hearts began to beat faster again.
Because on the other side of the hillside, a gorgeous sea of flowers appeared before their eyes.
The flowers were colorful and emitted a refreshing fragrance.
Seeing this scene, Gabwich turned pale and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
Just out of the tiger's den, into the bear's den.
As they gradually got to know this continent, they had concluded from experience that this sea of flowers was unusual and might be hiding the next crisis.
This continuity was much denser than the desert, leaving them with nowhere to escape.
Before arriving at the oasis, the three people thought that the harsh environment of the desert was already very torturous, but now they felt that compared to this oasis, the desert was simply a paradise.
Without Oboro's reminder, the three of them had already held their breath and stopped breathing.
They were afraid that the pervasive fragrance of the flowers might be highly poisonous.
"It's okay," Oboro stood in front, sniffed with the tip of his nose, and said lightly.
After hearing what he said, the three of them dared to breathe deeply.
There is something!
Then, Oboro narrowed his eyes.
They saw flower buds blooming in the sea of flowers, and fist-sized luminous bodies flying towards them with flashing transparent wings.
Elf? Fairy?
After seeing the appearance of that thing, Oboro's heart moved.
They were actually little naked people, exactly the same as the elves in cartoons, movies and TV shows in the memory of his previous life, with very delicate faces.
The only difference was that the elf's body was not made of flesh and blood, but more like some kind of crystal sculpture. The smile on its face also looked extremely stiff, as if its facial features could only express this kind of expression.
A dozen elves flew over.
They stopped in front of Oboro.
"Yes or no?"
"Yes or no?"
"Yes or no?"
Then, a group of elves suddenly asked incomprehensible questions in unison.
As they asked questions, their mouths opened and closed stiffly.
Their expressions didn't change and they just kept smiling.
Not only Oboro heard it, but Menchi and the other two also heard it clearly.
This sound did not come from the elves' mouths, but was a kind of spiritual transmission, a natural telepathic ability.
Similar to Gabwich's telepathy.
In other words, they did not understand human language.
"Yes or no?"
The elves repeated this sentence over and over again like clockwork machines.
The sun was shining brightly at this time, but Anthony and the other two felt as if they were in an ice cellar. They were speechless again and dared not answer at all.
They were even more confused and couldn't figure out the situation.
"Team leader" Gabwich spoke carefully through telepathic communication.
"Don't answer. That's the rule," Oboro said in a deep voice.
Then, he waved his hand suddenly.
The afterimage of his arm instantly hit the space where a group of elves were.
Strangely, with his current strength, he was unable to strangle these seemingly weak elves to pieces. The elves were simply knocked to the ground without being injured. They soon flew up again and continued to ask questions.
Through soul examination, Oboro discovered that the souls in these elves were very weak, not much stronger than the saplings before, but he now understood that the strength of the soul also depends on the life energy, and the size of the life energy cannot determine the danger.
Even though he released his Nen pressure, it still failed to shake the soul fire in the elves' bodies.
Just like his attack, it caused no damage.
"The protection of the rules," Oboro guessed.
"Yes or no?"
A female elf pressed against the tip of Oboro's nose and continued to ask.
From this angle, Oboro could see that there was a protrusion under the glossy hair of the miniature woman, at the back of her head, and a skull was revealed from the hairline. It seemed that the elf was asking the question, but in fact, it was the skull hidden under the hair that transmitted the spiritual fluctuations.
"The head of this thing is actually composed of two parts, front and back. The front looks like an elf, and the back is a skeleton and the skeleton is the front, and the one facing me now is the back." Oboro understood it immediately and raised his hand to pinch the elf. He began to exert force with his fingers, trying to crush it.
But no matter how horrific the force he used, even if it caused the elf's limbs to bend slightly, the elf continued to repeat the questions, completely unaffected.
Oboro observed again that the skull on the back of the elf's head began to flash red light from the eye sockets, as if some consciousness was about to be awakened.
"It seems there is a time limit. Keeping silent won't work. Once the time is exceeded, the danger will probably double!" Oboro analyzed it and said abruptly: "Yes."
Yes or no, no matter which one you choose, there are only two options given, which means that there is a 50% chance of answering either way.
As for what this 50% probability means and how great the danger is, it was unknown.
For now, all they could do was observe.
As soon as the words fell, a mysterious energy suddenly acted on Oboro's body.
As Menchi and the other two looked on in shock, they saw the captain's body gradually shrink and grow wings and the outline of his face began to become stiff. The bone fragments on the back of his head protruded and tore out from under the skin, turning into the shape of a skeletal human face.
Oboro is about to turn into an elf!
"Captain!" Anthony was horrified and shouted loudly.
He immediately rushed towards the dozen flying elves, but even Oboro couldn't hurt them at all, let alone Anthony who only had one arm left.
The man's eyes were red with anger, and he waved his arm repeatedly to grab the small things in the air. The elves did not dodge and allowed themselves to be strangled by the man's big hands. No matter whether he threw them, stepped on them, or pinched them it was useless.
Anthony mobilized all his Nen, roaring and screaming, trying to destroy these seemingly cute ghosts.
But it was totally ineffective.
Several elves turned their eyes to him and continued to ask, "Yes or no?"
"Die!" Anthony was furious and cursed.
It seemed that Oboro was bound by a powerful force of rules and changed. Once he completely became an elf, then Oboro's soul and body might completely disappear from this world.
Their exploration of the Dark Continent would end here!
"So that's how it is" Oboro's body did not shrink instantly. There was a process for him to turn into an elf. At this speed, it might take half a minute or a minute, and even his consciousness would be occupied from a human being to this mechanized weird creature in front of him.
After Oboro noticed this, he smiled. Before he completely transformed, he looked at the dozen or so elves in the air and suddenly asked with a smile: "Yes or no?"
After hearing what he said, the elves who were still calling frequently immediately became like toys that had run out of power, and the smiles on their faces disappeared.
Their stiff mouths opened and closedbut no more sound came out.
No more mental fluctuations were transmitted.
"Yes or no?" Oboro's tone became harder.
"yes"
"no"
The elves were in a panic and suddenly changed their words, giving all sorts of answers.
Immediately afterwards, Menchi and the others watched in astonishment as more than a dozen elves quickly changed from children to old men, and then, as if unable to flap their wings, they fell to the ground lifelessly.
And the force of rules originally applied to Oboro was suddenly revoked.
Oboro also returned to his original appearance.
Anthony's eyes widened, his expression dazed.
Oboro sat on the ground calmly and twisted his neck. He didn't look like a man who had just walked through the gates of hell. "Questions and answers, affirmation and negation, and invariance, these three points are how to play this rule."
"???"
Menchi and the other two were speechless, not understanding what Oboro was saying at all.
"The elves are the questioners, and I am the answerer. The questions can be any, but only by answering them first can we know the questions on the test paper. If they don't answer, they are 'unchanged' in the rules. Unchanged means always remaining the same, so any attack will be ineffective against them including souls. The question that the elf asked me should be close to whether I am one of them If I answer yes, I will naturally become an elf. If not, then there is no danger"
"UnfortunatelyI answered yes."
"Also, I'm not sure if the questions are continuous."
"They probably used this rule to turn other humans into elves in order to increase their numbers These elves must have existed for a very long time, so long that it is unimaginable. For some reason, they want to assimilate humans, so the first question they asked must be this one If it was any other question, I might really die Their previous assimilation should have been successful, so the test questions have not changed."
"Hiss" Anthony regained his composure when he saw that Oboro was safe and sound.
But after listening to the captain's explanation, he gasped.
Oboro actually deduced it like this?
He didn't catch any useful information at all. Judging from the expressions of Menchi and Gabwich, it was probably the same.
The three people's minds went blank.
In such a short time, Oboro analyzed the rules and counterattacked?
"When I transform into an elf, it means that I am also qualified to ask questions. The answerers don't know what the questions are, so they can only rely on gambling"
"So what's your topic?"
"The question must be consistent with both affirmation and negation, otherwise the rules are useless. My question is very simple. I just want to ask these elves, are you dead?" Oboro raised the corner of his mouth.
"Ah?" Gabwich's mouth opened wide.
Some of the elves answered yes, while others answered no.
According to this statement, how could those who answered no still die?
"Among them, those who answered no had their soul fire extinguished by my Nen pressure, not the rules. Because after I answered the question, their 'unchanging' rules have disappeared, and it is easy to cause harm to them. The reason I asked the question is that this rule is a closed loop. If I simply kill them, I will still become an elf. Only after they answer the question can I return to my original state," Oboro explained.
He must make Menchi and the other two familiar with and gradually understand the "power of rules."
There are signs and indications about the rules and conditions of play, so you must carefully observe and analyze them.
Otherwiseit would be difficult to resist.
If he hadn't reacted quickly enough, even a strong Nen user of his level would have stopped here.
Menchi's mouth felt a little dry. Even though Oboro had explained it very clearly, she couldn't guarantee that she could survive if she were to face this kind of creature again.
"Take a break," Oboro said to the three people who were still in shock.
Afterwards, he picked up the body of a dead elf, pulled aside the hair at the back of its head, and examined it carefully.
It was discovered that the skull embedded in the back of the elf's head was not the result of some acquired ability, but was innate.
This little skull was their real brain.
And the power of rules also burst out from the skull.
But now that it was dead, that energy had disappeared
"It's amazing Although the rules are simple, the constraints and changes they impose are extremely strong, which is very similar to Alluka's ability, but not as complicated. The reason why it is not as powerful as Alluka is because the strength of the rules is proportional to the energy Since it is a link in the food chain, then how do they eat? Can they get some kind of compensation by assimilating humans into elves? Or is it a way to become stronger? Well their lifespan is not short, and increasing the number of members is also a way to become stronger"
"Why are they targeting humans?"
Oboro touched the elf's skull and applied a little force. The body that had been indestructible just now was suddenly crushed into pieces like tofu.
This elfwas not the advanced life form he imagined.
"Dark Continent hehe it's a bit interesting."