Crazy Power-Up

"This is a squad leader-level ant... It does look different."

"Tsk tsk tsk... They look so much like humans, a product of genetic selection..."

"Similar to humanoid races in Magical Beasts."

In a daze, Rammot woke up and heard the voices of several humans talking.

But he didn't open his eyes.

Because the scene before I fainted was still replaying in my mind.

That man... knocked her unconscious with One-Punch Man.

He sensed the other person's presence nearby.

"Hey... you're awake now. If you're awake, stop pretending." Suddenly, a foot kicked Rammot in the chest. He knew he had been exposed. He opened his eyes and looked at the man standing in front of him with a mocking expression and an exaggerated hairstyle.

His eyes widened instantly, and a sinister voice emanated from his throat. "I'll kill you... I'll kill you, you damned human!"

"Heh, you're about to die, and you're still so tough..." Anthony raised an eyebrow, seemingly unconcerned about the ant's murderous aura.

At this moment, Rammot's heart skipped a beat, and his gaze was fixed on the few humans in front of him.

He could sense something flowing on the surface of these people's bodies, as if some kind of switch had been turned on.

Can you see it?

Rita noticed Rammot's gaze and exclaimed, "That's amazing!"

She was referring to the thought.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Immediately, Rammot began to roar and struggle violently. The muscles in his arms bulged, and he used almost all his strength, his veins bulging. However, at this moment, his whole body was bound by straw ropes. The seemingly fragile vegetation was inexplicably incredibly tough, and even with his brute strength, he could not break them.

"It's no use, give up struggling. My Nen has become even stronger under the captain's tutelage!"

Rita said proudly.

"Aaaaaah!!"

But Rammot ignored her words, his eyes bloodshot, his teeth clenched, looking like he was going mad. A few seconds later, with a ripping sound, the straw rope wrapped around his arm suddenly snapped, a sight that immediately made the people present change color.

Rita was also stunned.

Although her Nen is primarily supportive, thanks to subsequent development, she can apply her Nen power to vegetation, enhancing its 'quality' before manipulating it. Even without using much Nen power, it's not something just anyone can break free from.

Most importantly, the ants in front of us rely solely on the strength of our flesh and blood, not on our thoughts.

Smack

Suddenly, all the Rammot ropes binding Ramdo snapped, and he sprang up to attack Anthony.

"You don't seem to grasp the current situation..."

But... just as he stood up, a murmur came from behind him.

A figure suddenly appeared behind him, swiftly grabbing his shoulder and slamming him to the ground.

His face was pressed against the mud, unable to move.

Rammot tried, but found that he couldn't break free from the opponent's suppression.

This human's physical strength... is above his?!

No, it's still something he can't see... at work.

When Rammot attacked and injured people, Anthony and Rita remained calm and shocked, because they knew that with Fante in charge... Chimera Ant at the level of a squad leader couldn't cause any trouble.

Even if their physical abilities are truly abnormal, they can even contend with Nen.

"Ah!!"

Rammot tried to struggle, but Fante, who was straddling him, changed his tactics, pressing his head down firmly and using his knee to brace Lamodo's waist. The Rammot resisted, the more forcefully Fante, expressionless, shoved his head into the pit.

After a while, seeing that Rammot seemed to have inexhaustible strength, Fante's eyes turned cold, veins appeared on the back of his hand, and he increased the force.

Immediately, Rammot's head was squeezed, and the excruciating pain caused him to scream in agony.

"Call..."

With a cigarette still dangling from his lips, Fante exhaled a puff of white smoke and said calmly, "Behave yourself, Ant... Our captain has something he wants to ask you."

As soon as he finished speaking, footsteps approached.

Long and Menchi arrived together from afar.

"Oh? It's already awake... So fast? As expected of an alien species, its vitality is extraordinary..." Long walked closer, looked at the scene before her, and smiled.

Rammot, who had been fighting back fiercely, suddenly... dared not move.

I calmed down.

He was confident he could fight these few unfamiliar humans, but facing this human who could control his life and death... he didn't even have the right to challenge him.

He was the only one present; Kourudo.

That means all the ants died... possibly including Kourudo.

"Raise your head."

Long squatted down and smiled.

Upon hearing this, Fante grabbed Ant's long hair without hesitation, pulled his head up, and made him face the captain.

"Rammot... that's your name, right?"

"!!!"

Rammot's pupils contracted.

How... how did this man know his name? "What's the situation inside the anthill right now? How far along is the Chimera Ant King's pregnancy with the king? Also, where are your main hunting grounds, Chimera Ant?"

"Different regions should be under the jurisdiction of different Squadron Leader, right? Each has its own territory..."

Long asked several questions in a row.

"You will die... you will all die..." Rammot arrogant and unruly. Because he had been born with a higher sequence of life than humans, he had always looked down on humans as weak creatures.

Even knowing how terrible Oboro was... he still maintained his 'pride as a superior'.

Let alone humans, even among the hierarchically structured Chimera Ant, as a squad leader, he showed absolutely no respect to the other division Squadron Leader. There was no one he could command his obedience to! "Looks like he's not planning to say anything... that makes sense..."

Long nodded.

The smile on his face suddenly vanished.

"You know... any conscious and mature being will change, and so will you... it's just that you haven't encountered anything that can stir your soul yet..." Oboro said, raising a hand and placing it on the top of Rammot's head.

Seeing this, Fante immediately released the ant, stood up, and backed away.

In other words, the ant is now free, and it can attack at will.

But... when Oboro's palm touched Rammot's forehead, the ant's features immediately twisted and deformed, its face turned pale... sweat quickly seeped out and flowed down its cheeks.

In Rammot's perception, the entire scene before him turned pitch black, and he could see nothing... except for the man squatting in front of him, who was quietly watching him.

Under this shock, he began to hallucinate... The man's body continued to grow larger, reaching a height of nearly 100 meters in the blink of an eye, like an insurmountable mountain.

The immense, almost tangible pressure made it impossible for Rammot to breathe.

In particular, the man's hand on his head, still warm, sent a signal.

Surrender...or die! This was a will and power that Rammot had never felt before, so terrifying that even his soul seemed to be convulsing...

Is this... really a human?

In those few short seconds, the ant, which had just looked fierce, seemed to have lost all its energy, its face looking dejected, completely different from a human.

Glug.

The ant swallowed hard, then nodded, not daring to look directly at Long, its body trembling slightly.

Rammot wanted to open his mouth to answer Oboro's question.

But then he saw Long suddenly pat his head lightly, as if she was very satisfied with his attitude, but...

"I'm no longer interested in listening to you..."

After he finished speaking, the hand that Oboro had placed on Rammot's head suddenly ignited with will-o'-the-wisps and transformed into a spirit-like state.

Immediately afterwards, it probed directly into the ant's head.

Then, Menchi and the others watched as the captain's eyes gleamed, and Rammot lost his mind and his body stiffened.

"Hiss... Captain, are you reading the target's soul memories?!"

Anthony gasped.

"The captain's Nen is originally soul-based... and the soul is closely related to a person's sanity." Menchi crossed his arms, showing no surprise or oddity. "Actually, each type of Nen is very diverse, and many uses and effects can be developed based on it. The problem is, with each additional effect developed on top of a basic Nen, the difficulty increases exponentially, and Nen are too complex to control easily. Most people only delve into a second effect after their single Nen has stabilized..."

"The Zodiacs Saiyu who was killed by the captain, his three monkey spirits, and his weapon all possessed two multi-layered effects of transformation..."

The same applies to Chrollo's Nen within the Phantom Troupe.

The Skill Hunter, their basic ability, is to steal the abilities of others for their own use.

The second type is Bookmark Theme.

If Chrollo were still alive, a third type might be developed in the future...

The same applies to Zeno Zoldyck's Nen.

The Dragon Head of the Emission, and the Dragon Dive...

"Most people's Nen are relatively simple...and the drawbacks of complexity don't exist for him. There may be people in this world who have a higher understanding and mastery of Nen than him, but I have never seen them," Menchi said.

After saying that, he glanced at Anthony again. "Don't even think about it. People are different... Let alone you, even I couldn't do that. His path is only suitable for him to walk, not for others to imitate... We certainly can't imitate him. To put it simply, even if the captain personally guided you, developing two Nen would be your limit..."

"Cough cough cough... I know you don't have to be so blunt, I have my pride too, okay?"

Anthony sighed.

"However... I heard that there is another outlier like the captain in the Association."

Fante, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, joined the conversation.

"Ging Freecss?"

Menchi raised her eyelids slightly.

"Um..."

"That guy, like the captain, is very mysterious to the people in the Association... Not many people know about his true strength."

Just as they were talking, Oboro finished.

He extracted Rammot's soul and withdrew his powers.

The ant, on the other hand, was reduced to an empty shell of flesh and blood, lying on the ground with its eyes wide open in death.

"Has it been found?"

"Let's go, to the next battlefield..."

Long raised the corners of her mouth.

Meanwhile, Gabe Vich and Rita hurriedly began packing their luggage.

Their squad needed to have a thorough understanding of the Chimera Ant's activity area... because after releasing Kourudo, the division Squadron Leader, in order to ensure the Queen's smooth delivery, might not come looking for trouble again. Oboro didn't want to step into the ants' core territory, but the Queen's delivery required a large amount of food, meaning the ants would still have to hunt constantly... and might even avoid them.

Given Kourudo's intelligence, he should realize that even if all the Squadron Leader were gathered together, they might not be able to defeat him.

Therefore, he needs to have a thorough understanding of the current situation of the Chimera Ant.

His Nen to read soul memories can only be used when the target is conscious, which is why he brought Rammot back.

Just like a computer, if you want to find information, you must first turn it on... a crash won't work.

Meanwhile, Long led Menchi and the others to continue their plan to hunt the ant colony.

Meanwhile, Kourudo quickly returned to the anthill.

Peggy, Cheetah Cheetu, Bullhead Bihorn, and other Squadron Leader had already received the message and assembled here.

Each Squadron Leader has a distinctive appearance, unlike any other creature.

It is a typical complex gene.

Frogs, turtles, crocodiles, scorpions...

"Oh dear, Kourudo... what a sorry sight!" As soon as Kourudo, still looking dejected, entered the cave, the leopard Cheetu, who was leaning against the wall, burst into laughter, never acting properly.

Kourudo glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Are they all dead?

Peggy quickly stepped forward and asked.

Before Kourudo returned, he had already sent a signal to the other ants to bring back the message.

"Um..."

Kourudo leaned against the wall with one hand, as if finally letting out a sigh of relief, and slumped to the ground against the wall.

"It's terrifying... It's not a human being as we know it at all... Or rather, it just has the appearance of a human, but is dangerous..." Kourudo muttered listlessly.

"Oh?"

At this moment, a woman with a delicate face and long, fiery red wavy hair stood to the side, her eyes filled with curiosity. She flicked her long scorpion tail and stopped arranging her beautiful nails. "Could such weak creatures as humans be stronger than us?"

Scorpion Zazan.

"Kourudo, you didn't come back because you're afraid of dying, did you?"

Lion Haggya laughed loudly.

"Alright, stop arguing and listen to what he has to say."

The Squadron Leader in to smooth things over.

Peggy looked at everyone and calmly explained, "The reason Kourudo came back is to pass on intelligence and information about the enemy to us, which is extremely important to us! Compared to that, dying in battle is the least desirable option. After all, we can't guarantee how many such special species there are among humans."

After resting for a while, Kourudo seemed to have finally calmed down, looking at his companions. "I... it's difficult for me to explain to you that human's ability..."

He started by saying one sentence, and then began to recount his experience of this trip.

The key point is the mention of 'thinking'.

"Nian... what the hell is that?"

Niu Bihorn scratched his head.

"A kind of energy?"

Peggy, however, had a furrowed brow.

Then he hurriedly ran to his lair to search for books.

"What the hell? You're making it sound so mysterious. Are you scared out of your wits?"

A Squadron Leader scoffed, as if he hadn't understood or comprehended Kourudo's words at all.

After giving a perfunctory reply, he walked away.

"Wasting time...I thought it was something serious."

"Let's go, let's go..."

The other division Squadron Leader also expressed their opinions and turned to leave.

This scene made Kourudo's heart sink.

These Squadron Leader each have their own personalities, and not every one of them is as mature and thoughtful as he and Peggy.

Although they are companions, their cohesion is limited to only a few individuals.

Kourudo knew that the best way to convince them was to bring a living, breathing 'special human species' to their doorstep; otherwise, words alone would be useless.

Ants have killed far too many humans... Their impression of humans is deeply ingrained.

"Whee..."

Before leaving, Leopard Cheetu patted Kourudo on the shoulder and said with a relaxed smile, "It's okay, there are always times when you make a mistake... If you really can't handle it, I can help you. With my speed, I can definitely kill him in one go, and he won't be able to escape."

As he spoke, he swayed his leopard tail.

"Hmm... I'm quite interested in the prey you described. What do you say?"

"..."

Kourudo stood up, pushed the leopard away, and left with a heavy expression.

After all, it happened on their own territory.

Even though he managed to escape and return, he failed to attract the attention of most Squadron Leader; instead, he was met with ridicule.

He was going to have a serious talk with Peggy.

If that human were to head straight for the anthill... the consequences would be unimaginable.

As for his other companions... Kourudo understood that they couldn't be relied on for the time being unless the enemy attacked their doorstep.

Time passed little by little.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month has passed.

Using the memories he read from Rammot's soul, Menchi and the others to wander around the outer edge of the Chimera Ant' activity range.

The ants will definitely come out...

Because in the more central areas, the food has long been hunted away... and after the queen ant has eaten humans and enjoyed this delicacy, she only focuses on humans and no longer seeks other creatures as food. Therefore, the souls and black mist that Oboro can harvest are endless.

To this day, he has lost count of the number of ants that have been wiped out.

One wave after another...

Host: Oboro.

Age: 27.

Specialty: Three-star Ancient Literature Hunter x Hunter.

Combat Rank: Martial Arts Master, World-Class Hunter x Hunter (Ranked 7th).

Overall attribute evaluation: Third-order superhuman.

Nen: Chronobreak, Thresh's passive skill Damnation, Senna's passive skill Absolution.

Absolution effect: (Attack range +60 meters, critical strike chance 100%, Life Steal 89%). Damnation effect: Armor stacking, spell power increase by 36758.

The next day, amidst the ant carcasses scattered on the ground, Oboro stood in the center and glanced at the system panel.

The attack range has been increased to 60 meters.

Life Steal is almost full.

Before Kite, Killua, and Gon arrive, the additional attributes should be able to undergo a complete transformation as planned.

It's worth mentioning that initially... the drop of souls was probabilistic; killing a target didn't guarantee a soul would appear. However, after merging with the effects of Jed's soul, the characteristics of the Cursed Grudge became apparent. Souls, which originally could only inflict mental attacks on living beings, could now directly harm and absorb the target's soul under the Cursed Grudge's tangible influence. This greatly increased the soul recovery rate.

That's why the armor and spell power stats are so amazing, increasing by dozens of times.

Before this, his armor and spell power were only a few thousand points.

As for the ranking, it rose from 8th to 7th, improving by one place.

This only relates to the rating of Nen, which should be the effect of increased spell power, not overall strength.

In addition... although the numbers for armor and spell power look frightening, the actual improvement they bring is closely related to the strength of the deceased's soul... that is to say, every time you pick up a soul, your spell power and armor will increase, but the actual improvement will vary.

"It's a comprehensive attribute related to physical strength, and he's only a third-tier superhuman... Breaking through to the fourth tier requires breaking through the dimension of life... That's really not easy..."

Long closed the panel and sighed.

"That's about enough... it's time to send them a lab mouse..."