Whether it was Beyond's team or Netero's team, they likely would require the assistance of the Gatekeeper.
After all, in the history of humanity's voyages to date, without exception, they had all relied on the Gatekeeper's assistance to set foot on the Dark Continent's coastline.
In other words, according to known formal written records, humanity had never successfully reached the Dark Continent by their own power.
But Law could.
Even without the turtle's assistance, he could have crossed the Dark Waters on a ship of not particularly good quality.
Therefore, his motivation to seek out the Gatekeeper was very weak.
If there were an unavoidable reason, it would be hatred.
Back then, just before their return to the Six Continents, a certain member of the Gatekeeper Clan delivered [Wither] right before Law and his group.
Had it not been for Law's timely use of his God Hand's ability and the supportive Divine Script at that moment, they would have been annihilated by [Wither].
One of the purposes of returning to the Dark Continent this time was to set foot in places they couldn't enter during the first exploration. Another was to throw [Wither] right back into the face of that Magical Beast member.
However, Law was well aware that the Gatekeeper stationed on the Imaginary Continent and the one who flung the Calamity at them were not the same individual. Therefore, the reason for seeking out the local Gatekeeper simply to clear his grudge was quite weak.
Most importantly, Law's Zetsu had not yet fully been unsealed.
Although his reply to Biscuit included the word 'for now', his decision leaned more towards not making contact with the Imaginary Continent's Gatekeeper.
If he could use Nen freely, he would definitely want to make contact with the Gatekeeper.
On the first day after the team landed, they did not split up to act freely. Entering from the forest edge, they proceeded about fifty kilometers inward before setting up camp in a clearing, spending their first day on the Imaginary Continent peacefully.
Unlike what they might have imagined, the level of danger hidden within the forest wasn't very high. This was why everyone chose to camp on-site rather than spend the night inside the Hide-and-Seek space.
If they were to rate it using the danger levels of the Six Continents' magical areas, this forest would be rated around Level D in Law's eyes… a level where even an ordinary Hunter could survive safely.
Of course, this unnamed forest was extremely vast, but it was merely a corner of the Imaginary Continent. Therefore, they couldn't yet draw a definitive conclusion about the danger level the entire Imaginary Continent possessed.
"The B.W. will likely take about a month more before possibly reaching the Imaginary Continent. And this forest clearly isn't qualified to serve as a preliminary training ground for going to the Dark Continent."
Law stood atop a large tree in the forest, gazing towards the distant forest shrouded in morning mist, which looked like a vast sea of clouds.
"But Shiro and Buhara seem very eager to explore this place."
Law felt the forest near the coastline was too ordinary, so he didn't want to waste time here. Instead, he wanted the team to go to a more dangerous region.
However, from the moment they entered the forest, Law could see Shiro and Buhara's barely concealed desire to explore.
The former was searching for tobacco ingredients, the latter for unknown ingredients.
Both were top professionals in their respective fields. In their eyes, this forest contained unknown tobacco ingredients never before discovered, as well as rare ingredients never before found.
Law stood on the treetop pondering for a long time, ultimately abandoning the idea of moving.
He had to respect his teammates' needs. Moreover, relocating would take time, and what he lacked most right now was time.
Thinking this, he leapt down from the treetop, landing directly at the edge of the camp.
The forest floor was covered with decaying leaves and broken branches, a paradise for insects.
To avoid the hidden dangers of poisonous insects lurking in the decaying leaves, before setting up camp here, they first cleared away the leaves and branches, creating an open area, and sprinkled a circle of insect repellent powder around the edge.
Then, they pitched several tents on the cleared ground, creating a temporary camp.
Although they could use Knov's Hide-and-Seek as a mobile camp, only Knov could freely enter and exit. Without developing [Spare Keys], its convenience wasn't high.
Therefore, unless necessary, they wouldn't use the Hide-and-Seek as a camp. After all, the Hide-and-Seek was more suited as a storage warehouse for materials and a safe space for immediate refuge.
Law stepped over the insect repellent powder at the camp's edge and walked towards the others, who had just gotten up.
Bruna was sitting on a wooden chair outside the camp, fiddling with a camera containing several photos taken yesterday. Per Tonpa's request, she had to photoshop Tonpa to look more aesthetically pleasing.
Stargie sat beside Bruna, quietly watching her clumsily edit the photo.
It was a photo with only Tonpa in the frame, the background being several trees. The only distinctive feature was that these tree species didn't exist on the Six Continents.
Under Stargie's quiet gaze, Bruna, guided by her own aesthetic sense and Tonpa's request to look 'more beautiful', was somewhat inclined to photoshop Tonpa into a plump alien.
Not far away, Biscuit, wearing thin clothes, was doing morning exercises in a corner of the clearing… or rather, launching one-sided attacks on Tonpa.
Shiro was brushing his teeth and washing his face, while Buhara, with Knov's help, was moving the tools needed to cook breakfast out from the Hide-and-Seek.
In the original three-person team, cooking was always Law's job, but Buhara had taken over the chef position after joining the team.
"Where's Nique?"
Law approached Buhara and Knov, who were setting up cooking tools.
"Gathering food nearby, not far," Knov replied.
"Looking for grass?"
"Yeah, the grass in the forest seems to suit his taste quite well."
Upon hearing this, Law shook his head slightly. Just yesterday, Nique felt it was dangerous, yet this morning he went off alone to search for fresh grass nearby.
If they hadn't already verified the low danger level of this place yesterday, Law would have immediately gone to find Nique and reprimand him.
A while later, Nique returned to camp with a large bundle of dewy grass, looking very satisfied.
At that moment, Buhara also finished preparing breakfast. The ingredients were all sourced from the forest: mushroom soup and fried bird eggs.
Everyone sat around a makeshift table eating breakfast, resembling a family out camping.
Law took a sip of the mushroom soup and immediately gave Buhara a thumbs-up, making Buhara unable to hide his smile.
After drinking more than half the soup in his bowl, Law looked at everyone and said, "After breakfast, you are free to move around, but you must not act alone. You must be in groups of at least two."
"I want to go deeper into the forest," Shiro said, a gleam in his eyes.
Buhara glanced at Shiro and said, "I'd like to go too."
Law looked at the two and nodded slightly.
After breakfast, Law, Stargie, and Biscuit remained at the camp. The others formed a single team and headed into the forest depths to explore.
Initially, Tonpa didn't plan to participate. After all, having roamed the Dark Continent with Law for years, he felt this forest was somewhat trivial. But similarly, he had a clear understanding of his own role.
So, despite being somewhat reluctant, he chose to participate.
With his ability present, the team's risks during exploration would be greatly reduced.
After they left the camp, Law immediately began his training without delay, striving to unseal sooner.
…
B.W., Second Floor, a lavishly decorated single room.
A man with a brutish face sat shirtless on the bed. Behind him stood a red-haired woman with clown makeup painted on her face.
"Tsk tsk."
The woman stared intently at the man's back.
There, bulging, pipe-like unknown tumors protruded, covered with veins, pulsating slowly like a pulse.