The act of rescue earned the gratitude and trust of these indigenous people, so it didn't take much effort for Law to get them to accept Bruna's tentacles.
A channel of communication opened, allowing Law and the scarred man to converse normally. Biscuit also attached a tentacle and could hear the conversation between Law and the scarred man.
"Thank you for your assistance."
The opening words once again expressed gratitude, with a clear tone of reverence.
Without Law and Biscuit, their group would have been finished long ago. Moreover, more than half of the Bone Lizard's corpses littering the ground were dealt with by Law and Biscuit.
"You're welcome." Law replied politely.
Subsequently, both sides introduced themselves.
From the scarred man's introduction, Law learned his name.
Slufin… that was the scarred man's name. Their tribe's name was the single character [Slu], and they lived underground in a place carved out of stone, which had barriers protecting them from the various dangerous creatures of the underground world.
"Slufin, I discovered footprints left in the resin on a Dragon Blood Tree above ground. Were those left by your people?"
After basic introductions, Law selected a priority question from the many doubts he had.
"No, the surface is more dangerous than the underground. Even if we knew the way to the surface, our tribe would not easily go above ground." Slufin replied, though he didn't recognize the dragon's blood tree Law mentioned, he could answer with certainty.
Because their tribe's population was not large, they would not rashly venture to the surface, so those footprints could not have been left by them.
Upon hearing this, Law's eyes flickered, 'If the footprints in the resin weren't left by Slufin's tribe, then who could it be?'
"Law, which tribe do you belong to?" While Law was pondering, Slufin's question startled him.
"We..." Law paused, hesitating for a moment. But almost immediately, he cast aside his hesitation and replied, "We are outsiders."
"Outsiders?" In the silent communication, Slufin looked puzzled, as if he didn't quite understand the meaning of this identity.
"Do you know Lake Mobius?" Law asked in return.
Slufin shook his head and said, "Perhaps the chief knows."
Law fell silent for a moment before explaining, "Just think of us as coming from the outside world."
The place where the Six Continents were located was a giant lake on the Dark Continent. But in terms of their respective identities, Law was indeed from the outside world.
Hearing Law's further explanation, Slufin looked horrified and was speechless, mainly because, in his perception, the surface was too dangerous, and even surviving underground was already arduous enough.
Yet, there were actually humans coming from the outside world.
Law couldn't understand where Slufin's horror came from and didn't want to dwell on the topic of identity.
He only wanted to obtain information about the Dark Continent from Slufin's tribe, even if it was just about the underground.
"We're new here. Could we stay at your settlement for a while?"
Knowing there would be many opportunities for answers and aware that they were still in a dangerous area, Law didn't wait for Slufin to extend an invitation and took the initiative to ask himself.
"Of course, my friend." Slufin agreed heartily.
Law responded with a smile.
Biscuit remained silent on the side, but just by listening, she had gathered much information. For example, there was more than just the [Slu Tribe] here, other tribes existed as well, and they had connections with each other.
Not only that, but humans also lived above ground.
In any case, uncovering more information wasn't urgent. The priority was to go to Slufin's settlement and avoid this perilous area.
"The wind will carry the scent of blood far. We've already delayed too long and must leave quickly." Slufin provided two White Silkworms that had lost their owners for Law's group.
According to Slufin's introduction, White Silkworms were gentle herbivorous creatures that coexisted with their tribe.
In a sense, the White Silkworms lived under the protection of his people.
The White Silkworms had a gentle temperament. Law and Ginta rode one, while Biscuit rode another alone.
As soon as they mounted the White Silkworms, several white silky threads adhered to their waists and backs.
Suddenly, a strange sensation emerged… it felt as if they could clearly sense the presence of the White Silkworms, with a very faint connection.
To put it bluntly, it was like a hundred-times weakened version of the Buru Tribe's ability.
The team made simple preparations and was ready to leave this troubled place.
Slufin, riding his White Silkworm, stopped near Law. Just before departure, Bruna had to retract her tentacles, which would close the communication bridge.
This was a particularly troublesome point since the two couldn't understand each other's language.
Before retracting the tentacles, Law noticed that Slufin's tribe showed no reaction to the countless Bone Lizard's corpses on the ground. Puzzled, he asked, "Aren't you out hunting? Why aren't you taking these trophies with you?"
While the team was preparing, Law had chatted with Slufin and learned that Slufin's group was out hunting.
During the earlier battle, Law had obtained information about the Bone Lizards. Although they were rated as C-grade, they were still suitable as food.
So, he was confused why Slufin's group wasn't taking the Bone Lizards with them.
A trace of sorrow flashed in Slufin's eyes as he sighed, "The edible parts of the Bone Lizards are very few, and they're too hard. We don't have extra time or ability to process them."
There were many monsters underground. Bone Lizards were one of the branches of the [Bone Race] and one of the creatures the Slu Tribe least wanted to encounter. They also deeply disliked Bone Lizards.
Because Bone Lizards didn't attack them out of a need for food but purely for the pleasure of killing.
That active killing behavior, not for survival, violated the Slu Tribe's survival beliefs, so they detested Bone Lizards.
Hearing this, Law understood. He then raised his rusty long knife and said, "I can help you."
As soon as he spoke, Slufin was stunned, staring at the rusty blade of Shin. He thought Law was joking, as during the earlier battle, he had seen that Law's knife couldn't cut through the Bone Lizards.
Slufin didn't respond immediately, but his companions, believing this was not a place to linger, urged him to hurry.
Helpless, Slufin conveyed Law's intention to them.
Upon hearing this, the thirty-plus members of the Slu tribe looked at Law with skeptical eyes.
Under their doubtful gazes, Law directly jumped off the White Silkworm and used action to prove his point.
Holding the sword, he effortlessly cut through the hard exoskeleton of a Bone Lizard in front of the Slu Tribe's members. Thanks to the prompts from the White Smoke Font, he didn't dissect it randomly but went straight for the key part.
He cut open the spine area and extracted a strip of meat weighing about five pounds.
Seeing that Law had actually done it, the faces of the Slu Tribe's members showed astonishment.
Bone Lizards were a nightmare for the Slu Tribe, mainly because killing them didn't effectively yield food and only resulted in the loss of companions' lives.
But Law's act of extracting meat in just a few seconds shattered their deeply ingrained perception.
In the unique eyes of the Slu Tribe's members, which are capable of night vision, they seemed to see a gentle, bright light radiating from Law, like the warm sunlight of early spring.