The fire had almost burned out, leaving only residual warmth.
The sound of wind and rain outside carried a chill, and the remaining warmth from the fire inside the tree hollow felt precarious.
Law stared blankly at Biscuit for a moment, then turned his gaze to the nearly extinguished fire before looking around the tree hollow.
Tonpa lay in the corner, his breathing weak but steady. Kuro, tasked with keeping watch, sat motionless in front of the bark. Bruna, having lost half of her antennae, was nestled close to him, sleeping peacefully.
"What's wrong with you?"
Perhaps because Law's reaction upon waking was strange, Biscuit frowned slightly, a trace of confusion flashing across her somewhat pale face.
"Nothing."
Law instinctively raised a hand to his forehead, his thoughts in disarray. Without thinking, he replied, "It was a nightmare, right…"
To Biscuit, this matched her earlier assumption, and combined with Law's odd behavior upon waking, it all seemed to make sense. However, Law's tone when he said this was uncertain.
Biscuit didn't notice this. She looked at the fire and said, "Although Tonpa's injuries have been treated, judging by his condition, he won't be able to move for at least a week."
"Mhm." Law lowered his eyelids, gleaning more information from Biscuit's words.
He silently reached out, plucked a few pieces of firewood from the tree hollow's wall, removed the moisture, and tossed them into the nearly extinguished fire.
He had done this same action when leaving in his dream. Doing it a second time now made the memory of the dream feel even clearer.
'Both Tonpa and Biscuit's injuries had been treated. That meant one leaf of the Grass Jelly had been used, leaving only two. And after sleeping, my Aura had mostly recovered… I could go outside to check for potential threats.'
'If there was any difference…'
'I had woken up startled, which led to Biscuit's concerned questioning. This hadn't happened in the dream.'
Law's thoughts couldn't help but sink back into that dream. It felt too real, and every detail was vividly clear: the mushrooms and the flesh-eyed creatures, the vine flowers and the red-patterned butterflies, that strange tree with hands holding up its head, and that eyeless crow.
'Perhaps it really was just a dream. That would explain the sudden thickening and then sudden disappearance of the fog, and the sudden appearance of those unknown creatures.'
"Law."
Biscuit's voice suddenly sounded by his ear, pulling him out of his contemplation.
"Huh?"
Law abruptly looked up at Biscuit.
"You… seem a bit distracted?" Biscuit said.
"Is that so?" Law pretended not to care and smiled casually, "Maybe it's because I'm feeling a bit lost."
"Because of the attack in the rain?" Biscuit looked at him.
Law fell silent for a moment but didn't answer. Instead, he said, "You almost died."
"So what?" Biscuit raised an eyebrow.
'Biscuit, you really know how to kill a conversation, you know that?'
Law held his forehead, feeling helpless, "I was the one who brought you to the Dark Continent."
"And then?" Biscuit clasped her hands together, resting them on her thighs, her expression calm. She had a vague idea that the attack in the heavy rain had caused Law to develop some thoughts and emotions that were meaningless for the journey ahead.
Seeing Biscuit's attitude, Law didn't know how to continue.
Many things had been clear before they decided to come to the Dark Continent, and they had mentally prepared themselves thoroughly.
However, if a close companion died before his eyes, it was absolutely impossible to just let it go.
Because he hadn't experienced it, he truly didn't know what it would feel like. But having almost experienced it once, he felt a bit of fear and confusion.
Law remained silent. Biscuit looked at him with an expression that said 'you idiot', heaved a deep sigh, and then said, "You don't have a Hunter License, but I know your understanding of the Hunter profession is deep enough… including the attitude of pursuing something, and the risk of life and death."
"Besides, this trip was something I wanted to join. Even if I die on this journey, I have absolutely no regrets."
Hearing this, Law took a deep breath and smiled, "I was being overly sentimental. Sorry."
Biscuit shook her head slightly, then turned her gaze to the fire, which was gradually growing stronger.
Law looked at Biscuit illuminated by the firelight, thinking about all the help she had given him in the past.
In this warm, enclosed space, he felt an impulse to pour out the experiences of his previous life.
He held back, then called Kuro over.
"What?" Kuro's attitude was somewhat hostile.
"Come back." Law raised his right hand, "I need to go out for a bit."
Hearing this, Kuro didn't say much and turned into black smoke, getting into the back of Law's right hand.
"What are you going out for?" Biscuit suddenly asked.
At this moment, Law seemed to have largely forgotten the existence of the nightmare and replied naturally, "To check for any threats nearby."
If this had been the dream from earlier, this conversation wouldn't have happened.
"I'll go with you." Biscuit stood up.
Law's eyes flickered. His raised hand, which had been moving, paused awkwardly for a moment. Then he pointed at Tonpa and Bruna and said seriously, "You need to stay here and guard them."
Biscuit glanced at Tonpa and Bruna, thinking that someone indeed needed to stay and guard them, so she nodded and said, "Alright, then be careful."
"Mhm."
Law nodded, took out some canned food from Kuro's space, originally just a day's worth, but after a thought, he took out two more days' worth, then walked to the entrance of the tree hollow and, under Biscuit's gaze, pulled aside the somewhat thick bark.
"I'm going."
Law stood outside the tree hollow, looking at Biscuit as he sealed the bark back into place.
The rain was extremely heavy, and even the lush canopy couldn't block it. Droplets of rain directly pelted Law's body.
Law didn't use his Domain immediately, allowing the rain to hit his skin and seep into his clothes.
It was very cold, just like the initial sensation… colder than ordinary rain, carrying a kind of chill that seemed to drill into the bone marrow, slowly freezing the blood.
Law suppressed the inexplicable emotions in his heart, expanded his Domain, isolating the rain, and simultaneously extracted the water that had soaked his clothes and hair.
After doing this, he jumped down from the tree and began investigating the surroundings.
The search ended quickly. No potential threats were found, not even a single small insect was discovered.
"Law, go into the forest to find some ingredients. Hurry up and cook that chicken." Kuro suddenly said.
Law didn't respond, but he still walked deeper into the forest, suddenly reminded of that dream.
'Would there be fog here?'
However, not only did no white fog appear, but the heavy rain also didn't stop.
'Indeed, it was just a strange dream. Perhaps it was caused by some anxiety from Biscuit nearly dying from her severe injuries, which prompted the creation of that dream.'
'It must be like that. This is reality now.'
Thinking this way, Law suddenly stopped after walking a few hundred meters, vigilantly looking at the space ahead.
A basketball-sized object floated in the air, looking like a ball formed by numerous tangled bean sprouts, each one wriggling.
"Does that count as a vegetable?" Kuro seemed to not have grasped the situation, his tone excited.
Because Law had said that cooking that chicken required one vegetable and one fruit.