The smoke soldiers vanished without a trace.
This was clearly the effect of a Space-Type Ability.
Moses immediately turned to Morel.
Morel frowned deeply. Sensing Moses' questioning gaze, he quickly explained:
"The smoke soldiers disappeared, but not because they were attacked, but because they exceeded the controllable range, causing my Nen to destabilize and dissipate. What bothers me is… the dispersed Nen couldn't return."
"Seems like some kind of Nen Space..."
Hearing Morel's explanation, Biscuit raised her hand to her chin, her eyes showing a thoughtful look.
Only a Nen Space Ability could simultaneously transport a Nen Beast away while also isolating the Nen that should have returned.
"So, what do we do now?"
Kanzai turned his head toward Moses.
The sea of flowers had appeared abruptly and then vanished just as suddenly, leaving behind only clusters of green stems and roots.
And now, stepping into those green stems and roots would result in being teleported to an unknown space.
This situation was essentially them being trapped here.
"Let's test it further."
Moses stared at the spot where the smoke soldiers had disappeared, then glanced at Ging.
With just a look, Ging understood Moses's intention and nodded slightly.
They couldn't just sit around and wait for death, they had to figure out what was going on.
Using smoke soldiers to scout was one method, and attempting an attack was another.
Moses retracted his gaze and condensed a Nen Bullet the size of a ping-pong ball between his fingers.
Although the size of this Nen Bullet is small, the power contained in it was nothing to scoff at.
Muherr and others, who were in the team as prisoners, looked at the small Nen Bullet condensed between Moses's fingers, and almost all of them secretly called Moses a monster in their hearts.
They could all sense the terrifying Aura emanating from the Nen Bullet. Even their Ken might not be enough to defend against such a compact yet overwhelmingly powerful attack.
And that was precisely what made it terrifying.
Moses looked at the greenery-covered ground in front of him and decisively flicked the Nen Bullet forward.
At that moment-
The Nen Bullet that Moses was watching flying out of his finger suddenly distorted, and then the surrounding scenery rapidly twisted and transformed along with it.
"Huh?"
The sudden change caused Moses to conjure the Black Sword in an instant and enter combat state.
But in the next second-
the Nen Bullet that should have hit its target vanished.
Disappearing along with the Nen Bullet were all the companions around him, as well as the green stems and roots of the flowerless plants around them.
In just that brief moment-
Everything that should have been there vanished amid the twisting and distortion.
Moses's expression shifted slightly, but he didn't lose his composure.
'Is it an illusion...? Or is it a Manipulation-Type Ability that alters perception?'
Gripping the Black Sword tightly, Moses quickly scanned his surroundings.
The place he stood was still a plain with sparse greenery.
But his companions were gone.
When Moses refocused his gaze, his pupils abruptly constricted.
About seven or eight meters in front of him, there was a monster was standing on the ground covered with clumps of green grass.
The monster stood atop a cluster of vivid green, root-like structures. At the ends of willow-branch-like tendrils were what appeared to be human brains, each one supported by the green roots and clustered together like a grotesque bouquet.
And floating around the roots were numerous green specks of light.
This unknown entity had manifested out of thin air.
When Moses saw it, he was shocked by its appearance, and at the same time, he immediately felt the gaze from this unidentified creature.
That's right-
Despite lacking any visible organs like eyes, Moses could distinctly feel its gaze.
"Human… brains? "
Moses stared at the exposed, vascular-covered brains suspended by the willow-like roots, his mind reeling.
He had no idea what this thing was.
But the phenomena that had just occurred were undoubtedly this creature's doing.
His astonished gaze paused for a moment on the blood vessels above the brain. and Moses could see that those blood vessels were throbbing in a rhythmic manner like pulses.
This was clearly a living being.
But it was too bizarre-
So bizarre that even without sensing any immediate threat, one would instinctively regard it as dangerous.
The brain-like entity stood silently on the ground, almost as if it were quietly observing Moses in return.
Moses didn't act recklessly. Instead, while keeping an eye on the creature, he maintained a battle-ready stance with his Black Sword.
The two faced each other in the vast, open plain.
But compared to this brain-like entity, which suddenly appeared, Moses needed to quickly figure out what was happening and confirm the status and whereabouts of his companions.
So he decided to test the creature with an attack.
[Super Speed: Crossbow]
Moses abruptly straightened his arm, and the Black Sword in his hand shot like a bolt toward the brain-like entity.
As if it could track the flying blade, the creature's lower root-like appendages began writhing like underwater plants.
At the same time-
A ring of light emanated from the brain-like entity.
The Black Sword, which was flying towards the brain-like entity, dissolved and evaporated without a sound upon contact with the ring of light.
Seeing this scene, Moses's heart skipped a beat, and almost reflexively, he conjured another Black Sword.
However, he didn't attack again, and instead retreated to create distance.
The brain-like entity 'watched' as Moses retreated, but it made no substantial moves.
Its almost docile behavior made Moses's reaction seem somewhat excessive in comparison.
Seeing that the brain-like entity remained motionless, Moses suppressed the urge to attack again.
'What the hell is this thing...'
Moses muttered to himself in his heart, his eyes extremely solemn.
Truth be told-
He'd rather face all kinds of giant beasts than deal with these bizarre entities of the Dark Continent.
Because most of the time, there was no room for trial and error.
Just like the current situation-
He had no idea what was happening, and the strange phenomena he encountered offered no clues to figure things out.
As his thoughts raced, Moses decided to attack once more.
Using his Black Sword, he dug out a chunk of earth the size of a washbasin, then held it in his left hand, his eyes fixed on the brain-like entity ahead.
[Shu]
His Aura swiftly gathered around the earthen clod in his hand.
Immediately afterwards, Moses exerted force with his bare hands, and the earthen clod wrapped with Aura shot towards the brain-like entity.
But just as the earthen clod was about to hit the brain-like entity, it abruptly vanished into thin air.
Whoosh-
The earthen clod flew past, cutting through the air with a sharp.
Moses's pupils shrank, and his focus reached its peak at this moment.
"What do you want?"
At this moment, a somewhat unclear voice suddenly sounded in Moses's mind.
'Huh?'
Moses's heart trembled, and his first thought was that it was Perception's voice.
But a second later, he dismissed that idea.
Because this voice is obviously different from Perception, as it carried a hint of human-like emotion that Perception never had.
'So-'
'Who was the source of this voice?'
'Could it be… that cluster of human brains supported by roots he had just seen?'
Just as Moses was beginning to have such doubts, the voice sounded again.
"I know what you desire."
After that, without waiting for Moses to react, the voice continued.
"I can fulfill your wish."
The moment the voice faded, Moses was stunned for a moment, as the surrounding environment suddenly changed drastically.
No-
To be more precise-
the surrounding environment was replaced instantly.
So abruptly that it gave Moses the feeling that he had been teleported somewhere else.