Ten minutes later, only Gel and Law remained in the house. As for Millia, after much persuasion, Law finally managed to convince her to leave.
The flickering lamplight cast shadows across the room. Gel leaned against the wall by the door, while Law sat on the edge of the bed.
The two exchanged glances. After a moment, Gel spoke first: "Your Nen Ability can ignore the ant swarms on the grassland, right?"
"Yeah." Law nodded. It wasn't surprising that Gel knew this, given they had fought before.
"I'll pay you a sufficient reward. Take me with you," Gel stated bluntly.
For Pro Hunters, transactions in the form of commissions were common. For instance, Ging's request to Pyon to translate ancient texts also fell under the category of independent transactions within the Association.
By the way, after obtaining the Selbo script, Ging had developed a keen interest in ancient languages and was currently studying them intently.
Given his talent, it wouldn't take more than a few years before he no longer needed to rely on others for translations.
Having witnessed the overwhelming number of ants on the grassland firsthand, Gel knew her chances of successfully crossing it alone were slim. That's why she thought of Law's Nen Ability and came to him with this request.
At Gel's demand, Law scratched his head and said, "I'm afraid that won't be possible."
"Is it that you can't, or you don't want to?" Gel's expression shifted slightly.
"I can do it, but I have another method in mind for crossing the grassland." Law replied.
"What method?"
Law looked at her and smiled, "Extermination."
A few minutes later, Gel placed the poisons she carried on the table… ten glass vials of varying colors.
Law examined the ten poisons before taking out four of his own and placing them alongside Gel's.
Among the four toxins, three had been obtained from Gel in the past. The ten toxins Gel brought this time didn't include those three, so with the addition of Law's four, there were now fourteen different toxins on the table.
Earlier, Law had explained his alternative method for crossing the grassland: concocting a highly contagious and lethal poison capable of wiping out all the ants. Gel, however, believed that given their current environment, achieving this would be extremely difficult.
When Law asked Gel to hand over the lethal poisons she carried, she didn't immediately agree. Instead, she set a condition: If they fail, Law must take her with him when leaving the grassland.
Law agreed without hesitation, so Gel likewise provided the ten lethal poisons without further argument. In her view, whether Law succeeded or failed, she would be able to leave the grassland safely… and that was enough.
Gel glanced at the toxins Law had brought out and immediately recognized them, "Black scorpion, red-headed dart frog, and spurred sea slug… these three aren't lethal. If you're trying to mix a compound poison, adding these will do more harm than good."
"Sounds about right." Law said, leaning over the table to examine the fourteen toxins up close.
Gel could tell his response was half-hearted and shook her head, "I'll wait for your good news."
With that, she opened the door and left.
Her words of encouragement were just as perfunctory, as she was counting on Law's failure so he'd take her out of the grassland.
Law watched the door close and smirked dismissively. Raising his right hand, he summoned the [Surprise Box] stored within Kuro's space and placed it beside the poisons.
The square box had a clown pattern on one side. Law casually placed it down, accidentally positioning the clown face away from him. The box then jiggled a few times on the table, automatically adjusting its direction until the clown was facing Law again.
"Surprise, surprise!"
As if sensing that Law was about to use it, the box uttered the word [Surprise] in a bizarre, singsong tone.
"Fuse these fourteen poisons into a highly contagious, biological super-poison." Law said, pointing at the poisons on the table and stating his demand clearly.
"Surprise, surprise!"
The box repeated the same phrase, but this time, its lid flipped open, revealing a pitch-black void inside.
The clown painted on its surface stretched its sausage-like red lips into a grotesque grin.
Seeing the lid open, Law picked up the glass vials and poured one-fifth of each toxin into the box. Once all fourteen had been added, the lid abruptly snapped shut.
Then, Law silently expanded his Domain to shield himself, watching as the box began bouncing around, still chanting [Surprise!]
He had mastered the usage of the [Surprise Box] through the White Smoke Font, so he knew that whether it was [Strengthening] or [Fusion], there was a possibility of failure, which was equivalent to the restriction of the box.
"Surprise, surprise!"
The box bounced several times before, five or six seconds later, the lid suddenly burst open, spewing out a gelatinous poison.
Most of it shot straight toward Law, while the clown on the box let out a piercing, mocking laugh.
"Failed, huh."
Law remained calm as the poison flew toward him, only to be halted midair by his Domain.
The rest of the toxin splattered onto the floor, instantly corroding the surface and sending up wisps of acrid smoke.
The box continued laughing maniacally for a while before finally quieting down and repeating its cheerful [Surprise].
Law collected the failed toxin mixture, encased it in a Nen Sphere, and set it aside for now.
"Fourteen poisons… fuse them into a highly contagious, biological super-poison."
Law repeated his request, and the box, ever obedient, opened its lid once more. Law again poured in the remaining toxins.
A few moments later, the box's clown erupted into another round of shrill laughter. Another failure.
Over the next stretch of time, Law attempted the fusion four more times, failing each time. Now, he was down to his last batch of materials.
"One last chance..." Law muttered, eyeing the remaining poisons with a dark expression.
'Talk about terrible luck!'
"Surprise, surprise!" The box chirped relentlessly, as if mocking him.
"Fourteen toxins… fuse them into a highly contagious, biological super-poison."
Exhaling slowly, Law made his final request. Once the lid opened, he poured in the last of the materials and waited.
Five or six seconds passed. This time, the clown didn't laugh… it just kept chanting [Surprise!] before the lid slowly lifted, revealing a small, marble-sized globule of toxin floating out.
"Success."
Law's eyes lit up, and he used his Nen to control the small ball of poison and put it into the glass vial. This was his key to escaping this place.
After setting the glowing emerald-green vial down with care, he patted the box and grinned, "Thanks."
The [Surprise Box] gave no response. Though its power had grown significantly due to the enhancement of Post-Mortem Nen, its nature leaned more toward being an object than a Nen Beast.
Thus, even with its boosted abilities, its intelligence remained limited.
Creatures like Law's Kuro or Kite's [Crazy Slots] were far rarer manifestations of Nen Abilities.
After storing the box and the vial of fused poison, Law disposed of the failed mixtures and lay down on the bed, ready to rest.
'Before testing whether this poison actually works... I should visit the treasury first.'
With that thought, Law closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.