They believed the area covered by the Aura was limited and couldn't possibly encompass the entire ruins.
This was common sense, requiring no further thought.
But in fact, Coo's Aura did cover the entire ruins.
This was something Netero and Beyond could never have imagined.
Fortunately, the diluted Aura was like a film of plastic wrap, covering the ruins only in a planar fashion.
Thus, those on the negative first floor could sense the presence of the Aura unilaterally.
Unaware of this, both groups wandered through the passageways.
They didn't necessarily need to find an exit, just to escape the area covered by the Aura.
Time passed, three days blinking by.
Netero and Beyond were in different locations, but they faced the same predicament.
No matter how far they moved, the presence of that Aura seemed to haunt them like a persistent ghost.
At first, neither side could accept it. But as time went on, the strange phenomenon didn't change at all.
They didn't know the reason, and though they felt somewhat helpless, they still didn't risk returning to the surface.
After all, the haunting nature of the Aura made them place even more importance on its deterrent power.
What exactly was it?
The question was like a seed, planted in everyone's hearts, slowly taking root and sprouting.
Until the seventh day, the situation still hadn't improved.
Beyond knew there was a troublesome Scarecrow in the ruins, so he was somewhat anxious.
Nevertheless, before encountering the Scarecrow, they still didn't plan to go to the surface.
On the other side, Netero's team also wandered on the negative first floor.
In another half day, Cluck's Path of Letter's Return would pass, effectively finishing its cooldown.
After that, using the Recipient mechanism, she could roughly determine the direction of Beyond's team's location.
However, the Aura hanging over them remained a threat worthy of caution.
Half a day later, after the Path of Letter's Return had passed, Cluck immediately used her ability.
"Chairman, Beyond is still in the ruins."
Cluck closed her eyes. The vague directional sensation continued to feed her information.
Like a virtual compass needle, influenced by magnetic force, it slowly pointed toward a certain direction.
The direction of their location was... level.
That meant...
"They are also on this floor."
Cluck's eyes snapped open.
"Oh?"
Netero raised an eyebrow, but quickly understood the reason.
Presumably, Beyond and his group also didn't want to court disaster, which meant, like their own side, they were also trapped on the negative first floor by the Aura on the surface.
The saying goes, the bird that sticks its head out gets shot. No one is foolish enough to be that bird.
Thus, cautious behavior was the inevitable result.
"Should we go find them directly?" Morel looked at Netero. "I can use my ability to scout their movements ahead of time."
"Of course, that has always been our objective."
Netero decisively made up his mind.
Although Cluck provided a general direction, the layout of the ruins' negative first floor was like a maze... a sense of direction quickly became muddled.
However, as long as they knew Beyond and his group were also on the negative first floor, their encounter was inevitable.
With the Lichen provided by Law as a backup, Morel could send out smoke-animal scouts without worry, expanding the search range forward and pinpointing the enemy's location before any fighting started.
The only thing to remain cautious about was the Aura that lingered like a persistent ghost.
The Hunter Association's team began their operation. On the other side, Beyond's team was still in a stalemate.
Beyond felt that continuing like this wasn't a solution and often thought of returning to the surface, but Pariston always talked him out of it.
After a full week, their understanding of the Aura had deepened. It was simply unreasonable.
So, there was no need to take risks.
Furthermore, they hadn't encountered the Scarecrow during this time, and Pekotero's ears had been constantly open. If anything moved within his range, he would detect it immediately.
Both sides had abilities akin to vigilance and reconnaissance. Seizing the initiative would not be easy.
A day later, the smoke animals released by Morel seized the initiative, locating Beyond's team.
The smoke creations were very light, so they made almost no sound when stepping on the ground.
This was why Morel's smoke animals had found Beyond first.
But Pekotero's hearing became sharper as the distance closed.
When Morel's smoke animals silently crossed the red line, Pekotero keenly detected them.
The extremely faint sound, only audible when focusing, was a type of sound not heard during this entire time. Therefore, Pekotero immediately went on high alert.
He remained calm, using subtle hand gestures to communicate with his teammates.
In the silent exchange, they decided to have the fastest team member, the machine girl Marione, take action.
After confirming the exact location of the sound, Marione moved without warning. In an instant, she was in front of the smoke mouse.
"Smoke?"
Marione quickly reached out and grabbed the smoke mouse.
She controlled her strength, not harming it.
But the moment she touched it, the smoke mouse dissipated on its own.
Beyond and the others swiftly approached.
Marione looked at her empty right hand, then at Beyond and the others, and said, "A mouse made of white smoke."
"It's Morel's ability," Pariston immediately concluded.
"Oh, I almost forgot the old man's team was here too."
Beyond grinned, knowing Netero had caught up, but felt no sense of crisis.
Everyone looked at him, thinking, 'Can you really forget something like that?'
"Engage?" Muherr asked.
"With a tiger above and wolves below, since we can't avoid them, we have no choice but to deal with them first," Beyond said calmly.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone immediately entered a combat-ready state.
The disappearance of the smoke mouse was a signal... neither side had seized the initiative.
Traps or ambushes had become meaningless.
Morel sent his smoke animals ahead to scout and eliminate potential dangers.
A moment later, the two sides encountered each other head-on in a relatively wide passageway.
Without any preamble, prepared in advance, the moment they met, Beyond's side attacked first.
Golem was the attacker... Nen Bullets converged like rain, spraying towards the Hunter Association's team.
Netero materialized the golden Guanyin behind him, several palms placed in front of the team, blocking all of Golem's Nen Bullets.
The first wave of offense and defense ended in a short moment.
Meanwhile, on the surface, Coo, in her black smoke form, suddenly opened her vertical eye, looking towards the location of Beyond's team and Netero's team.
Her diluted Aura couldn't sense the situation in the underground ruins, but she could somewhat feel the vibrations transmitted from the underground ruins to the surface.
Immediately, the black smoke transformed into a javelin, shooting out with lightning speed.
That speed, carrying the force of wind and thunder, was terrifyingly fast. In the blink of an eye, it had vanished into the distance.