Absorbing the Post-Mortem Nen from the stone box would likely push the average proficiency of his six Nen Categories past the 60% threshold.
According to previous experience, the duration of forced Zetsu state would last at least half a year.
Law wasn't afraid of danger. After all, he had Kuro as a natural bodyguard, who is capable of protecting him. He was just afraid that he would not be able to do what he promised Linne.
Now that she had given her approval, he had no more reservations.
On the way back to the room, Linne asked several questions in succession, all related to Law's recent trip.
In this regard, Law held nothing back and answered all the questions. He knew that the Dark Continent was the last remaining obsession of this old master.
A few minutes later, Law returned to the room with Linne in tow.
On the exquisite round table, the stone box lies motionless, and the black Post-Mortem Nen coiling around it like a hyperactive child, restless and volatile, likely due to the living beings in the room.
If the stone box is placed in a place where there are no living things around, it might have calmed down.
Seeing the high-intensity Post-Mortem Nen covering the stone box, even someone as experienced as Linne couldn't help but raise her eyelids and show a surprised expression.
"Can you exorcise it?"
She couldn't help but ask Law.
Once a Nen Exorcist begins to exorcise Nen, there will only be two results, success or failure. There is no giving up halfway.
If one fails to exorcise Post-Mortem Nen of this magnitude, death is almost certain. Even if one survives by chance, they will most likely live an extremely painful life.
She asked this because she wanted to know how confident Law was. If it was less than 50%, then she felt it wasn't worth the risk.
"Yes." Law said firmly.
Seeing his unwavering confidence, Linne's surprise deepened. But since he was so sure, she didn't press further.
"Is there anything we can do?" Ging asked.
"No, just stay away from it." Law walked to the table and stretched out his hands to press on the stone box.
Ging nodded, and he and Linne stepped back a distance.
There's no preparation or ritual… it just started so hastily, which somewhat subverted Ging's understanding of Nen Exorcist.
The moment Law touched the stone box, the White Smoke Font once again gave a choice. This time, Law chose to absorb.
The instant Law confirmed, the black Post-Mortem Nen erupted like flames doused in gasoline, exploding outward and filling most of the room in seconds.
At the moment when the black Post-Mortem Nen surged, Ging and Linne, who had retreated to the corner, used Ken almost at the same time, their bodies covered with Nen.
The change came suddenly and disappeared as quickly.
Just as Ging and Linne used their Aura to cover their bodies, the expanding Post-Mortem Nen twisted inward, as if sucked into a vortex.
Within moments, it vanished completely.
At the same time, they saw Law close his eyes tightly, and the Aura in his body slowly shrank into his body and then disappeared.
'Since the effect of the limitation has already appeared, it means that Law has successfully exorcise the Post-Mortem Nen, otherwise, he would not have entered Zetsu state.'
'But… isn't this too quick and too easy?'
Ging walked towards Law. At this time, Kuro came out from the back of Law's hand, stood in front of Ging, and said, "Don't disturb Law. The Nen Exorcism is not completely over yet. He still needs some time to digest it."
"Understood."
After hearing what Kuro said, Ging nodded, then sat cross-legged on the ground, with his arms folded, looking at the motionless Law.
Meanwhile, Linne sat leisurely on a nearby sofa, with her gaze fixed on Law who had entered Zetsu state.
While waiting, Ging looked up at Kuro floating in the air and wondered, "If the restriction for Nen Exorcism is forced Zetsu, then how can you appear?"
"Great question." Kuro crossed his legs in the air and said seriously, "Because I'm just that awesome."
Ging was speechless and turned his attention back to Law.
…
At this time, Law was in the memory space created by the black Post-Mortem Nen.
After he absorbed the Post-Mortem Nen on the stone box, as expected, the data of the Six Nen Categories broke through 60% and he immediately entered Zetsu state.
The time limit is a whole year, but if he continued to use Ren, the time could be shortened by more than half.
Just as he was about to exit the mental space, he was suddenly pulled into the memory space of black Post-Mortem Nen.
Scenes flashed before him like a rapid slideshow, and he stood by as a spectator, witnessing every moment of the shifting scenes as though he were there himself.
This Post-Mortem Nen does not come from a single individual, but rather is a collective resentment that comes from every living sacrifice.
The civilization that dwelled in the underground space had a culture of ritual sacrifice, and the offerings were living humans.
The sacrificial hall where the stone statue stood was the site of these offerings.
The process of sacrifice involved first gouging out the eyes, followed by devout worship from the crowd, after which the victim was left on the ancient script-covered floor to starve to death.
The reason for removing the eyes was their belief that by taking away the physical eyes, they would be able to glimpse the appearance of the gods with the spiritual 'eye of the mind', and the extracted eyes were then all placed inside a stone box.
The so-called gods are naturally the formless Void.
The scenes shifted quickly, but they were almost all the same. It was all the process of sacrifice, and came from memory fragments of different resentments.
Perhaps because so many strands of resentment had fused into one, the remaining memory fragments had ultimately condensed into a single image, making Law's plan to know more fall through.
However, through these memory fragments, he finally understood why the bodies in the underground space remained so well-preserved and why every corpse lacked eyes. To sum it up in one sentence, it was self-inflicted.
Tens of thousands of people died all at once, all killed by the Void, and their eyes were also taken by them.
Since the people of the underground space had no distinct racial name, for now, they would be referred to as the Selbo people.
In the beginning, the existence of the Void had benefited the Selbo people without threatening their lives.
Unaware of the Void's true nature, the Selbo people worshipped it as a god. Not only because Void had driven away dangers, but also because it had taken away their illnesses. And this was the beginning of their downfall.
To express their gratitude for the Void's actions, the Selbo people began offering living sacrifices, unaware that the Void, a non-living entity, had merely been acting on instinct and had not helped them out of benevolence.
Its attacks on the giant creatures were because those targets had strong life forces.
Taking away the Selbo people's illnesses was because viruses and bacteria were food sources for the Void.
The fact that the two could coexist peacefully was already the greatest fortune for the Selbo people. However, their foolish act of offering living sacrifices ultimately doomed their entire race.
There is a strange [Seed] stored in the stone box, which will absorb all the flesh and blood but had never showed any sign of sprouting.
To the Selbo people, this seed might have been a divine relic fallen into the mortal world, waiting for the day it would awaken.
Thus, after offering living sacrifices to the Void, they placed the gouged-out eyes into the stone box, feeding them to the [Seed] as nourishment.
The eyes were removed because the Void had no physical form, and feeding the seed with eyes was done in hopes that the [Seed] would one day 'open its eyes'.
The eyes placed inside the stone box were naturally all devoured by the [Seed], and the lingering Post-Mortem Nen from those who were sacrificed began to cling to the box.
Under the Void's protection, the Selbo people's population grew rapidly, and as the number of people increased, they became more ruthless in sacrifices, and the heads were sent off in droves. Therefore, the Post-Mortem Nen on the stone box accumulated over the years reached its current magnitude.
The root of that Post-Mortem Nen, in the final analysis, is spiritual energy, and spiritual energy can affect the Void's actions. Therefore, the Void, affected by the Post-Mortem Nen, acted against its instincts for the first time and attacked the humans it had never been interested in before.
Law emerged from the memory space and slowly opened his eyes.
There was no trace of Post-Mortem Nen on the stone box, and he had also entered the Zetsu state. Until the one-year deadline passed, he couldn't even use the most basic Ten.
He did not explain anything to Ging or Linne immediately, but wanted to open the stone box to see what the [Seed] inside was.
However, no matter how much force he applied, the stone box refused to budge.