The Forest of Medusa was a vast expanse of gray-white stone forest.
Looking down from above, all that met the eye were dense gray-white spikes, as if a giant had scattered a large handful of caltrops here.
The various gray-white spikes intertwined endlessly, exuding a sense of menace.
Approaching the Forest of Medusa from above was quite oppressive.
Imagining falling from the air into that was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"So this is the Forest of Medusa..."
"It's different from what I imagined."
"Heh, in what world is this a forest?"
Shiro's tone was full of resentment. He had hoped to possibly find tobacco materials in a forest, but this place would probably yield nothing but lime.
Nique, the vegetarian, was also very disappointed.
Forests usually contained an abundance of natural vegan ingredients, but here, there wasn't a hint of green, let alone vegetables.
Coo glanced nonchalantly at everyone, who were all focused on the Forest of Medusa below, and said calmly, "I know very little about the Forest of Medusa. Once you go down, you'd better be careful."
"We know to be careful without you reminding us. Hey, what do you think that thing down there is?"
Shiro pointed to the top of a gray-white caltrop tree below, where an eagle sculpture about the size of a truck stood.
It was indeed a sculpture they were looking at, but it didn't feel that simple.
"Who made that sculpture out of boredom?"
"Maybe it's alive?"
"Are you saying the eagle is playing a game of statue?"
"I didn't say that..."
Following Shiro's direction, everyone spotted the eagle perched silently on the stone forest.
Its gray-white color matched the caltrop stone forest below, but the eagle was so lifelike that one could easily mistake it for a living creature at a glance.
"Since we're landing anyway, let's go over and have a closer look."
Kuro slowly descended towards the stone eagle's location.
He descended very slowly to have ample time to find a suitable landing spot.
However, as they drew closer, they could see that those gray-white spikes, which resembled antennae, were intertwined and overlapping, leaving no room to land.
Law observed carefully and found the spike density was astonishingly high. Trying to land directly into the Forest of Medusa would inevitably get them skewered like meat on a stick.
To descend, they would have to open a path through that intertwined gray-white spike pile.
But Law wasn't in a hurry. He controlled the air mass, making Kuro hover a mere few meters above the spikes.
Just as everyone prepared to carefully observe the gray-white stone eagle, it suddenly, without any warning, flapped its wings and flew into the air. It made a swift turn and actively lunged towards Kuro.
In terms of size, Kuro was more than twice the size of the gray-white stone eagle, so where the stone eagle got its confidence was anyone's guess.
Everyone calmly watched the stone eagle approach, noting that as it flapped its wings, it continuously showered down a powder resembling lime.
Seeing the stone eagle coming, Law made his move.
Domain!
An orb shot from his palm, growing larger with the wind, precisely lassoed the gray-white stone eagle, transforming into a tight cage that held the stone eagle firmly in the air.
On Kuro's back, Coo covertly swept her gaze over Law.
Having traveled together this long, she still hadn't figured out Law's abilities.
Yesterday she saw him use one kind of trick, today another.
She always felt Law's abilities could derive countless uses.
Like now, just throwing out a Nen Mass could stop the gray stone eagle in mid-air.
During over three months of travel, this was the first time Coo saw this.
Law turned his hand, pulling the restrained stone eagle closer.
Up close, the stone eagle had no trace of life, let alone Nen.
Those eagle eyes lacked any sparkle at all.
The others took this chance to examine the stone eagle, growing puzzled.
'This thing was just a stone carving, right?'
"Nana."
Law signaled to Bruna to establish a communication channel.
Newcomers as they were, any living thing could serve as an intelligence source... they would catch whatever they could.
Bruna nodded slightly, extending a tentacle to place on the stone eagle's head.
But the moment her tentacle touched the stone eagle, she pulled it back as if shocked.
"Are you okay?"
Law asked immediately.
The others also looked at Bruna with concern.
"I'm fine."
Bruna shook her head, looking at the stone eagle with confusion.
"What happened just now?"
"When I touched it, my mind filled with harsh, noisy static. This is the first time I've encountered something like this."
"Hmm?"
Law frowned. If Bruna's ability didn't work on the stone eagle, then the stone eagle had no value.
"How about I try again?"
"Alright."
Law hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed to Bruna trying again.
However, before Bruna moved, he focused all his attention on her, ready to prevent any accident.
Under everyone's watch, Bruna attempted to establish a mental bridge a second time, but failed again.
That kind of noise made communication impossible... the mind could hardly endure it.
Bruna found it hard to describe that unpleasant feeling. It was like during a call where the other side had continuous static that never stopped.
Unable to establish a mental bridge, Bruna herself didn't know why, and Law and the others certainly couldn't either.
Since guessing was pointless, Law simply strangled the stone eagle trapped in his domain.
Crack!
The stone eagle's body shattered, not into blood, but into a large amount of debris and grayish-white powder.
"Indeed, not alive."
With a gesture, Law brought the eagle's head to him from a distance, letting the remaining fragments fall into the forest.
Seeing Law retrieve the huge eagle head, everyone gathered around for a close look at the cross-section.
"It's just stone, pretty hard too."
Uvogin knocked on the eagle head, producing a dull thud.
Who knew how this stone eagle had moved... they hadn't seen any flow of Nen at all.
After the observation, Law handed the eagle head to Ai-chan for analysis, then controlled the air mass, having Kuro descend.
After approaching the intertwined gray-white diamond spikes, Law simply released his Domain from a distance and effortlessly opened a large gap, allowing Kuro to pass through and land inside the Forest of Medusa.
Initially, they thought the light in the forest would be very dim, given the terrifying spike density above.
However, the forest floor emitted a milky white light. Countless specks of light rose from that milky white ground glow, like swarms of fireflies dancing, or like falling catkins and snowflakes.
The scenery presented before them was breathtakingly beautiful.
Yet, underneath the dazzling surface often lies deadly danger.
Before figuring out what these milky white lights and specks were, Law firmly protected everyone within his Domain.