The former Seirin Group had no idea where Law had hidden Sanbica. But at this point, finding her had become irrelevant.
Dove was convinced that Law is a member of the Hunter Association, and since the plan would ultimately involve a direct confrontation with the Association, it only made sense to eliminate such a formidable opponent beforehand.
Therefore, Law, who had shown his toughness to the former Seirin Group, became the thorn that should be removed at this moment.
With eighty-one remaining artificial creatures, and twenty-two elite fighters including Dove himself, Law was designated the top priority kill target. The operation began, sprawling across the vast forest.
The entire unit turned around, heading back to the explosion site.
That place now looked like a patch of bald scalp amidst thick hair, an open clearing with no trace of greenery.
When the group arrived at the scene, the first thing they saw were the corpses of the ten artificial creatures, with their body parts scattered all over the ground and blood flowing everywhere.
Dove pinched his lower lip, looking a little irritated.
From the placement of the remains, the path of battle was clear: Law had fought while retreating southward, and only near the forest's edge had he finished off all the artificial creatures.
Dove walked up to the nearest corpse without avoiding the blood, stepping right through the gore.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and rot, which was quite unpleasant.
The fact that the corpses decayed to this extent in such a short period of time was due both to their unique nature and the climate of Demon Island.
"Moments like this… really make me crave a slice of pizza."
Dove's nostrils flared and his eyes were cold. He pinched his lower lip with his index and middle fingers and kept exerting force. His anger was trapped in his chest with nowhere to vent. He just wanted to eat a piece of pizza to calm himself down.
Hawk, holding a fan-shaped knife, came to his side and said in a deep voice: "We can only determine the general direction. Other than that, there are no clear tracks."
Dove looked in the direction where the remains of the artificial creatures were pointing, then let go of his lower lip and said, "There is only one man on the other side. Even if we have to grind him down, we have to grind him to death. I will divide the artificial creatures into five teams."
At this point, he glanced at his companions in black uniforms not far away and said, "You'll move out with the teams as well. I'll leave the team arrangements to you."
"Yes." Hawk responded with a cold expression.
Just at this moment, a black shadow descended from the sky, kicking up a violent gust of wind as it landed next to Dove. It turned out to be a Scale Lizard.
Dove leapt lightly onto the Scale Lizard's back and said coldly: "We must kill him no matter what!"
With that, the Scale Lizard spread its wings and soared into the sky. Four other Scale Lizards were already circling overhead.
Hawk silently watched as Dove flew off, then turned and walked toward the others.
As per Dove's orders, the remaining twenty-one Nen Users would also be split into five teams to move with the artificial creatures.
He had only taken a few steps when he noticed the eighty-one artificial creatures had already self-organized into five units.
'Each team had at least sixteen artificial creatures, plus four to five core members per squad. Every team was strong enough to kill that guy on their own.'
The teams were quickly divided into five groups, and they marched into the forest at a swift pace.
The hunting operation against Law officially began, and at this moment, Law was resting with his eyes closed inside the hollow of a large treetop, using every second he could to recover his Aura. He had no idea that the prison side had now concentrated all their forces against him.
As time passed, Law almost recovered all his Aura and stepped out of the tree hollow and stood on the branch.
"Ssskss…"
Suddenly, a fist-sized green bug burst from the dense leaves and lunged at his back.
Law swung his sword back and chopped the flying insect. Switching the weapon to blunt mode, he smacked the flying insect mid-air with a loud smack… splitting it into several pieces.
The bug's pale green fluids splattered and dripped to the ground.
The moment he squashed the bug, Law leapt down from the branch.
But as soon as his feet left the tree, nearly a hundred similarly-sized insects erupted from the foliage, swarming the empty space where he had just stood, and then followed Law down in a chaotic dive.
The bug was as fat as a stretched-out pufferfish, with tiny red spots all over its body and a long mouthpart at its mouth.
Suspended midair, Law glanced back expressionlessly at the swarm of bugs trailing behind him.
He landed steadily a moment later. Then, without stopping, he rushed into the bushes in front of him.
The insects fell to the ground one after another, and before they could steady themselves, they started chasing after Law's back, as if they were determined to fight to the death.
Suddenly, the decaying leaves on the forest floor were stirred apart, and a swarm of red armored ants burst from beneath them.
With their pincers raised, they swiftly clamped down on the bugs that had flown right into their jaws.
These red ants were four to five times larger than the bugs and they charged into the swarm of bugs like tigers into a herd of sheep.
The ants weren't picky about targets either, as some even went for Law. One leapt at him but was smacked down and killed with a single swing of his sword.
Law casually picked up the corpse of the ant and the White Smoke Font gave him the information in an instant.
After checking the information, Law's eyes lit up slightly.
"It's edible."
Law murmured, and his ability was activated instantly. The ant's body broke apart layer by layer in an instant, leaving only a ball of tender meat the size of a ping-pong ball, with a hint of blood red in the snow-white texture.
He tossed it into his mouth and chewed. The texture was reminiscent of sashimi, though the flavor wasn't quite there. Still, it was one of the rare things on Demon Island that could be eaten raw.
As the ants and bugs were fighting in a mess, with venom flying everywhere, Law took advantage of the chaos to kill a dozen or so of the armored ants to replenish his energy before retreating from the battlefield in a random direction.
As long as he was in the forest, he was under constant threat of ambush by all manner of flora and fauna. Even a slightly thicker leaf could suddenly split open to reveal a jagged, fang-filled mouth.
The strange and dangerous creatures were countless, but with the help of the White Smoke Font, Law navigated through it all with ease.
Leaving this group of troublesome creatures behind, Law began to actively look for the enemy's traces. Unexpectedly, it didn't take long to find them.
'Sixteen, and there are Nen Users accompanying them.'
After discovering the enemy's traces, Law found a place to hide and observed the enemy's movements quietly from afar.
'There are too many, it's hard to start with this.'
Law pondered in silence. The other party had compressed their teams, making it difficult for him to ambush them.
However, despite the high difficulty, he still has to give it a try.
Even if he had to rely on the dumbest methods, even if the efficiency was poor, it doesn't matter. Before Machi and the others arrive, he must start pulling the enemy's teeth out one by one. The more he could remove, the better.
After making up his mind, Law silently crept toward the team...
Hunting, and being hunted.
Who was the hunter, and who was the prey?
The battlefield was this vast, dense, and deadly forest. And those who can gain home advantage are the true hunter.
Three days later, in the early morning, Law opened his eyes inside a pitch-black space, and there's a faint smile on his lips.
He stretched out his hand and pressed it into the darkness ahead. In an instant, morning light poured in.
"The game continues…"
With those words, he leapt into the sunlight.
In these three days, Law had only taken down eleven creatures, which was extremely inefficient. However, each ambush was a textbook-perfect kill by Hunter Association's standards.
Without exaggeration, among the nearly 800 members of the Hunter Association, there are only a handful who can achieve the same level as Law. Even Biscuit would find it difficult to thrive in such a dangerous environment.
Extremely strong patience, the ability to make use of everything at his disposal, the sharp instincts to seize opportunities, and the decisiveness to strike and vanish in a blink.
Law, in every sense, embodied the essence of a true hunter, and he kept grinding down Dove's forces.
At the same time…
In the waters surrounding Demon Island, a ship cut through the waves.
There were a few people standing on the deck… they were Machi and the others.
The elderly Linne sat quietly in the cabin with her eyes closed, saying nothing.