Chapter 50

Friends is the fiftieth chapter of The Promised Neverland manga.

Synopsis
As the children near the end of the forest, they learn more about the farms.

Plot
The chapter starts with the children cheering, as they have nearly reached the end of the forest. As Sonju planned, it is the fifth day of their journey. He says that ahead they will rise up and be at the end of the forest. For now though, the should rest and complete the travel the next day.

As him and Mujika watch the children prepare dinner, she comments that the children learn fast, Sonju does not reply, but is slightly impressed at this too, being the "Premium Goods", nurtured at the best plantation.

After dinner, the children are optimistic about reaching their destination B06-32, while the younger kids are saddened by having to part from the two demons soon. Gilda seems to be deep in though, and Ray asks what is wrong. She answers that she is rethinking her plans because of the "stories of old" that Sonju told them. Emma says that it is good to know that a human world does exist, however they had originally thought that there would be human groups here in the world, They thought that there were human cities, but there is not anything like that, and in addition no humans to join them to help rescue the kids left back at Grace Field, which means that they are back to Square One with the plans.

Emma asks Sonju if there are any more human runaways like them and if he may have head of them. Ray infers that since there are many more plantations, William Minerva may have left hidden instruction for them like the ones they found, so therefore other kids may have escaped. Sonju says that he has never heard of that, and if there were more escapees, there would be one or two at best.

The children are shocked by this answer, and Emma asks why. Sonju explains that there is no similarity between them all except that they are plantations, and the majority of plantations are for factory farming.

This is the mass production of "cheap meat", where all the children are kept in poor conditions, barely alive, and fattened for their eventual slaughter. In the factory farms, the children have no names, they cannot speak, and have no free will, and could never be able to think of escaping and plan a way out, and even if that was possible, with their poor health, the humans would not be able to get very far.

Sonju also reveals that there are only four Premium Farms similar to their own, and if he has hidden these instructions in other farms, it would only have to be those four farms - theirs, and the other three. He knows of how they found out the truth and how they escaped, but he doubts that a successful escape could happen often. Moreover, he knows that they are aware of how hard it is to survive in the demon world ne out, so runaways are unlikely.

Finally, he tells them of "cattle raiders", demons that are addicted to eating humans, attack plantations in order to take the food for themselves, though that is rare. That is all the knowledge he has, he concludes saying that there are no humans around that are comparable to them in intelligence and knowledge, these are the facts, or at least the extent of the two demons' knowledge.

Later, Emma is approached Mujika, who asks if she is fine after Sonju's disappointing revelations. Emma says that it is fine, and that even though what was revealed was a shock, they will be able to find a way to secure a new place and recruit more people to help them, she does not want to sit around and do nothing. Mujika is surprised by her sudden change in mood, and Emma then asks if she wants to see her family, and shows happy pictures of the children that they left behind, before getting to Norman. She never wants to get her promise to him to never give up and to never lose another child and free them all.

She says that she is aware that will be a difficult task, and they have no plan, but she will do whatever it takes to overcome all the obstacles in their way, to do the impossible. As Mujika smiles, she thinks that it is not the fact that her motivation has always been in her, but actually that she has no choice but to embrace it.

Emma then says that she can't think of Mujika as a demon at all because of their kindness, compared to the bloodthirsty demons that sought to eat them. She does not reply, and in a demon language, says "True enough, in these thousand years we have decayed into disarray...", before changing the subject, saying that this is the first time she got to see and talk to humans, and become their friends, instead of enemies or food. She seems them as different from living beings.

Mujika is happy to have met Emma and the children, and Emma returns the feelings, thanking her for the past six days. The chapter ends with her praying for the gods to have mercy on the children that showed them friendship despite the difference.

Like last chapter, there is another message from the mysterious man, he compliments someone for their "splendid" perfect performance. On a small bed, there is Conny's bunny, Little Bunny. Minerva explains that these pages can only be seen by those who earn a full score, and wonder how many people will be able to that. He tells the ambiguous person that the test was not a quiz, but rather a diversion, and hopes that it was challenging enough to entertain them.

But after he poses the question, what if he told them that the routine exams that they go through every day are a matter of life and death. He announces that he is William Minerva, and the end of Chapter 49 repeats here, with him announcing his motivation to end the "Neverland" and seal a new promise, and that he is waiting for them, though again, it is unknown who "they" are.

Research Elements
In this chapter we have the following Research Elements:
 * There are only three other top class farms like Grace Field. Most of the farms that exist are factory farms that mass-produce humans in horrible environments.
 * There are demons who steal from farms so they can eat.

Trivia

 * It is the fifth day of their travel to B06-32.