Falling into the unknown abyss along with the seawater, accompanied by the roaring sound of water, the intense vibration upon landing made Law realize they had reached the bottom.
Perhaps due to its death, the light from the anglerfish went out, and darkness returned.
Before Law could adjust his position, the seawater crashing onto the ground swept them far away. In the pitch-black darkness, only the sound of flowing water washing over the ground and the noise of falling objects from above remained.
His eyes couldn't see anything, but the tactile sensations of his body persisted. He could feel himself enveloped by icy seawater.
Suddenly, the seawater surrounding them vanished without warning. Law and the others fell from the water onto hard ground, with uneven vibrations coming from beneath them.
The environment continued to change rapidly, leaving them disoriented and surrounded by an eerie bizarreness.
Law stood up, took out his phone, which, though without signal, had multiple functions, and turned on the flashlight feature. The flash next to the camera lit up with white light.
By the flashlight's glow, they could see that the wet ground resembled rock layers. However, the limits of the light were still shrouded in darkness. Based solely on the ground, they could initially conclude that this was an underground cave.
"Be careful. Those sea monsters came down with us. There's no guarantee they can't move on land." Law reminded quietly.
Logically, sea monsters of that size falling from such a height would likely be killed by the impact.
However, a large amount of seawater had also fallen with them. Although it was unclear how the seawater had disappeared, before it vanished, the water could have acted as a cushion, meaning the sea monsters might not have died from the fall.
Biscuit nodded slightly upon hearing this and crouched down to tap the ground, producing a dull sound.
The stone was very hard.
Law had Kuro emerge and took out two high-power flashlights from his space, handing one to Biscuit and keeping one for himself before putting away his phone.
The high-power flashlights could illuminate far into the distance. Law shone one in a certain direction and immediately caught a glimpse of a sea monster's body, startling him.
Biscuit also used her flashlight to scan the surroundings. The light eventually fell on darkness or corners of sea monsters' bodies. The sea monsters she illuminated were all motionless, unsure if they were dead from the fall.
To be safe, Law and Biscuit didn't rashly investigate.
"Wake Tonpa up." Law said to Kuro.
Plak!
Without hesitation, Kuro slapped Tonpa awake. The latter opened his mouth to scream, but Kuro was quick, delivering another slap to successfully silence him.
Without much explanation, Tonpa managed to understand that their environment was far from friendly.
"Use your Nen Ability to probe the surroundings. See if you can find something like an exit." Law said.
Tonpa took a deep breath, barely controlling his inner unease, and used his Nen Ability, [Foresee the Future]. The Aura floating around him transformed into invisible sound waves that spread into the endless darkness around them.
The probing sound waves) could cover a range of ten thousand meters, sharing similarities with bat ultrasound detection but superior in function. This could be considered a high-level fusion of Nen and bionics.
The invisible sound waves weaved through the area, and the detected information was fed back into Tonpa's mind, forming clear images.
Law and Biscuit waited patiently for the results. They weren't aware of the specifics of Tonpa's probing process, but they noticed his breathing was gradually becoming heavier, even showing signs of disruption.
It was a sign of fear.
'Are there living things in the darkness?'
Law's eyelids drooped slightly. He didn't interrupt Tonpa's probing process but guessed internally.
He was used to Tonpa's various fears. It wasn't entirely Tonpa's fault, as being in the Dark Waters meant encountering countless experiences that defied common sense. Any weaker individual with low mental resilience would likely react the same way.
After about a minute, Tonpa withdrew his Aura, his body trembling slightly.
Kuro watched Tonpa's performance, his silver eyes flashing with disdain, 'We had been in the Dark Waters for weeks, yet this guy showed no improvement.'
"Well?" Law asked.
"It's very vast. I couldn't find anything like an exit. In every direction around us, there are super-sized sea monsters. They're motionless, and I can't tell if they're still alive."
Tonpa's voice trembled. He swallowed hard and added, "Also, two kilometers away at three o'clock and one kilometer away at six o'clock, there are many unidentified creatures. They're heading toward us."
"Unidentified creatures? What about their size and appearance? Roughly how many are there?" Law fired off several questions in succession.
"They're about the size of a bear, moving on all fours. Because they're moving at high speed, I can't make out their exact appearance. There are at least five hundred of them. Shouldn't we get out of here?" Tonpa said fearfully.
Trapped in a pitch-black space with limited visibility, everything was incredibly inconvenient.
The five hundred unidentified creatures Tonpa mentioned had a over ninety-five percent chance of possessing night vision. This put them at a significant disadvantage.
Although they could deploy En to sense all movements in the darkness, maintaining En would weaken their defenses. Combined with the large number of unidentified creatures, it posed a considerable risk.
Law and Biscuit quickly pondered the situation. After a moment, they exchanged glances and reached the same conclusion.
Avoid combat!
Even though they desperately wanted to figure out where they were, it was best not to engage with those unknown creatures.
"Let's go."
Law made the decision promptly.
The group moved in the opposite direction. Law instructed Tonpa to continue emitting sound waves to probe for any exits or similar openings.
After about three minutes of running, Tonpa suppressed his fear and whispered, "Those unidentified creatures have stopped. They're devouring the sea monsters, and their numbers are increasing."
Law and Biscuit exchanged silent looks, 'What kind of place was this? An underground cave deep beneath the sea?'
'It was so vast and bizarrely devoid of any rock pillars, with no sense of wind movement at all.'
After ten minutes of rapid movement, they had covered six to seven kilometers.
"Still the same?" Law asked.
"Well, it's still empty terrain." Tonpa replied.
Law frowned upon hearing this, 'Even for a seafloor cave, this place's structure was too strange.'
Just then, a red light suddenly appeared ahead.
A human-sized body appeared abruptly before them, floating mid-air, its form flowing with a lava-like red glow.
Through the light, they could see that the body resembled a jellyfish, slightly transparent, with the light emanating from the red fluid flowing within it.
Law and Biscuit came to an abrupt halt, cautiously watching the suddenly appearing unknown entity.
"I-I didn't detect it." Tonpa also stopped, hurriedly explaining.
Tonpa's sound waves had completely failed to detect the presence of this entity. It was as if it had popped out of nowhere.
"Buru buru."
The jellyfish entity tilted its head, looking at them and emitting a curious sound.