The forest was eerily silent, with only the occasional short-lived chirping of insects breaking the stillness.
Law closed his eyes and suppressed the boiling thoughts in his mind. Whether it was a goal, a vision, or a dream... it had to start with the first step.
After a brief moment, he reopened his eyes, smiled slightly, and then walked briskly toward the immobilized survivors.
At this time, Tonpa had already adjusted his mood so that no one could tell anything was wrong.
"Law, they are poisoned." Seeing Law coming over, Buhara glanced at the survivors on the ground.
Before Law could respond, Tonpa interjected, "They're beyond saving. This is the venom of the Rotting Spider. There's no specialized antidote, so they're done for. Even if they were rushed to a fully equipped hospital, there's no saving them."
Tonpa's tone carried a hint of pity, but his words were calculated to crush the survivors' will to live.
And indeed, after hearing Tonpa's words, the immobilized survivors all showed despair in their eyes.
"So, you knew about it, huh?"
Law suddenly looked at Tonpa, whose face immediately froze. He was terrified that Law might have seen through his malicious intent.
"Indeed, there's no specialized antidote for the Rotting Spider's venom." Law withdrew his gaze from Tonpa. He could clearly see the despair etched on the survivors' faces.
Just as Tonpa said, given the current circumstances, this group of people is indeed beyond saving.
Rotting Spiders didn't eat living things, and they only consumed corpses. Their hunting method wasn't to wait in ambush or rely on their venom, but to pounce on their targets, just like the actions of the five carrion spiders just now.
Although they only fed on corpses, they often spared their prey's life initially, wrapping them in webbing and injecting venom, patiently waiting for the prey to die from the poison.
This deliberate poisoning wasn't random, as it was akin to seasoning during cooking.
Yes, the humans suspended in the web weren't just victims… they were dishes being 'prepared' by the Rotting Spiders, though in a crude and simplistic manner.
In this world, humans were no longer at the top of the food chain. Creatures that fed on humans existed, and some of which even used more refined culinary techniques to prepare their prey.
Since there is no specific antidote, there is no hope...
The 26 survivors who had thought they'd escaped death now plunged back into despair, falling from heaven to hell once more.
Since they were unable to speak, they could only express indescribable despair with their eyes.
No one wanted to die if they could live.
'Hehe, this is the kind of risk one must bear during the Hunter Exam.' Tonpa thought to himself.
"Don't worry, I can save you."
Law's sudden, confident declaration broke the silence. There was indeed no special antidote before, but there is one now.
He could have used the power of God Hand to help remove the venoms from this group of people's bodies, but doing so might have taken up the pages of the book. Since the white smoke font had told him how to detoxify the venom, he decided to use that method.
Now, he has absolute trust in the white smoke font.
After leaving behind a word of hope for the survivors, Law instructed Buhara to watch over them and then left to gather the necessary materials for the antidote.
Watching Law leave, Tonpa frowned and muttered coldly: "As if that's possible."
If Law had been present, Tonpa wouldn't have dared speak in such a tone. And the reason he said this was to crush the survivors' newly rekindled hope.
However, having seen Law silently dealt with five Rotting Spiders, the survivors placed their trust in him, and they're unwilling to be swayed by Tonpa's negativity.
After noticing the subtle shift in the survivors' attitudes, Tonpa clenched his teeth in frustration.
"If Law says he can do it, then he absolutely can." Buhara now has almost unreserved faith in Law. This is the conclusion he has come to since he got along with Law.
"Tch…"
Tonpa retreated to the side with disappointed look, debating whether to slip away while he had the chance.
He had mentally categorized Law as someone who should never be provoked, so Buhara, who was traveling with Law, naturally could not be provoked either. Since he couldn't derive any satisfaction from staying with them, it seemed pointless to remain here.
Buhara and the survivors waited for Law to come back, while Tonpa wrestled with indecision.
Ten minutes later, Law returned with two plants in hand.
They were two different plants, one plant was entirely green with diamond-shaped leaves, while the other had crimson stalks speckled with white, resembling cattail leaves.
As long as one is near an area where Rotting Spiders thrive, they can find these two plants. Crushing one leaf from each plant into a paste and ingesting it can neutralize the spider's venom, though the antidote takes 30 minutes to an hour to fully take effect.
After explaining the method to Buhara and Tonpa, Law then asked them to divide the two plants into twenty-six portions and administer them to the survivors.
"These two leaves can neutralize the venom of the Rotting Spider?" Tonpa didn't want to believe it. After all, if it was so simple, why didn't anyone know about it?
Hearing Tonpa's question, Law simply nodded, as he's unwilling to waste words on Tonpa. Whether it worked or not would soon become apparent.
The method was indeed straightforward, and the antidote plants were easy to locate near Rotting Spider's habitats. However, the lack of widespread knowledge wasn't surprising.
There are tens of thousands of species in the Amaromi Forest, and many of them are poisonous. Similar ecosystems existed worldwide, so cataloging antidotes for every poison was an impossible task.
If Law is willing, he can use the function of the white smoke font to uncover antidotes for unknown poisons and compile them into a book to share with the world. Such a monumental contribution might even earn him a Triple-Star Hunter title.
Seeing that Law wasn't interested in further discussion, Tonpa wisely kept his mouth shut.
Within five minutes, the antidote began taking effect, and the survivors' mouths were able to move.
"Thank you! Truly, thank you so much!"
"We thought we were done for. It's a miracle we met you."
The fact that they could talk was a good sign, proof that the antidote was effective. Since they knew they were safe now, the survivors were all very excited and expressed their heartfelt thanks to Law and his companions.
'It really works…'
Tonpa glanced at Law, whose expression remained calm and unshaken, and felt a little numb.
Half an hour later, the venom was almost entirely neutralized, and the survivors could stand again. Among them, a middle-aged man draped in animal hide muttered, "Who would've thought that a mix of Honeyleaf and Spotted Grass could neutralize the venom of the Rotting Spider?"
Seeing that everyone stood up, Law decided it was time to leave and said, "Although the poison has been resolved, your bodies may still experience lingering aftereffects, so it's best for you to stay here and recover fully before moving. Also, you should seriously consider withdrawing from this year's exam."
"Buhara, let's go."
After saying that, Law prepared to leave.
"Wait, benefactor, I haven't asked for your name yet." The middle-aged man draped in animal hide called out urgently.
"Law."
"Your full name?" The middle-aged man asked again.
Law glanced at the middle-aged man and said calmly: "That is the full name."
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Benefactor, may I share your method of neutralizing the Rotting Spider's venom publicly in your name?"
"Go ahead." Law replied indifferently.
At this time, the twenty-six people present all silently memorized Law's appearance and name.
"Law, Buhara, I think I'll stay here to take care of them." Tonpa suddenly said.
"Oh?"
Law turned to look at him.
"Well, I still have some drinks here. I can share them with the others later. Once they have regained some energy, I'll take them back to Amaromi Village." Tonpa said with gentle tone.
Hearing Tonpa's words, the survivors, who were still not yet able to move freely, were immediately touched. But they had no idea the drinks were laced with potent laxatives.
"You had drinks this whole time?!" Buhara exclaimed in surprise.
Seeing Buhara made a move to grab one of the drinks, Tonpa's mouth twitched slightly. He realized he might have overplayed his hand by using the drinks to increase his persuasiveness.
"Fine, you can stay, but can I pick a can?" Law suddenly smiled.
Tonpa's emotions churned, but his face remained expressionless as he opened his bag, revealing the drinks inside.
He didn't dare reveal any suspicion at this time.
Law walked over, then reached out and pressed the can of drinks in Tonpa's bag. After that, he activated his God Hand, extracted all the laxative ingredients inside, and then silently injected the laxative into Tonpa's body.
After finishing his subtle sabotage, Law casually grabbed two cans of drinks and said with a smile: "Thanks, I'll help myself."
As he said this, he kept one can for himself and tossed the other to Buhara.
"Let's go. Take care, everyone."
Law waved the drink in his hand and left with Buhara.
Everyone presents watched the two leave. Except for Tonpa, everyone else looked at Law's departing figure with gratitude.
'You brought this on yourself!'
Tonpa gritted his teeth. Letting Law take two drinks brought him no satisfaction, only a lingering sense of fear.
But the poor Tonpa was completely unaware that Law had transferred the laxatives into his own body.