Infiltrator X Conspiracy

Kevin's sudden words terrified Peggy, who turned sharply to look behind her.

However, he saw nothing.

He didn't want Kevin to misunderstand his actions because of the sudden change, after all, he had come sincerely to negotiate terms.

But he also didn't want anyone following him, because he was betraying their Queen —although he didn't acknowledge this after his memories were fully restored.

However, seeing that there was no one behind him, he instinctively thought it was a false alarm and breathed a sigh of relief.

But then I immediately realized that Kevin wouldn't make things up without reason, so there's only one possibility: there really is someone, and they're invisible.

Among the people he knew, the only one who could become invisible was a former Division Leader.

"Meruem? Is that you? You actually dared to sneak back into the lair?" Peggy asked with a hint of certainty.

Kevin also detected a hint of panic in the other person's words, but that was probably normal.

Kevin locked his sights on the shadows, but didn't take any action. He simply stared intently. Under this invisible pressure, blurry movements began to appear in the shadows.

Like a layer of canvas being cut away, the shape of a Chimeric Ant slowly emerges.

"Chameleon —what a perfect match." Kevin muttered to himself as he looked at the Chimeric Ant that had been revealed.

Chameleon, with their ability to become invisible and stealthily infiltrate, are indeed a perfect fit.

"Meruem, why didn't you come back to save the day before?" Peggy asked, looking at the Chameleon Chimeric Ant in front of her.

Meruem simply looked at Peggy without saying anything immediately.

After a long while, he silently took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and put it in his mouth.

This scene intrigued Kevin, who crossed his arms and watched with amusement.

This was the first time he had seen a Chimeric Ant so human-like—its smoking movements and posture clearly indicated that it had been a heavy smoker even when it was still human.

Moreover, judging from his posture and expression, he is clearly someone who has regained his memories, and is one of the rebellious Chimeric Ant outside.

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Meruem slowly said, "Don't pretend to be my father. You must have recognized me long ago, right?"

"You!"

Peggy was genuinely surprised; her voice changed, and she took a step back.

When did your memories awaken?

"I only regained my memories of you last night. I really embarrassed myself in front of you before."

This was truly an unexpected turn of events. Kevin couldn't help but chuckle as he watched.

However, Meruem seemed more temperamental than the more cautious Peggy.

After catching up with his father, he turned to Kevin, his voice firm and unwavering. "Unlike my father, I despise these wicked Chimera Ant, even though I've been forced to become one of them. I still loathe them."

"My family and my hometown were destroyed by them. That's why I'm willing to help you wipe out those wicked Chimera Ant. They all know my abilities, so they'll approve of the information I bring back."

Hearing her son say such things, Peggy opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say anything and just remained silent.

After all, this was a good thing for him, as his main purpose was to protect those innocent Chimera Ant, including his son.

Now his son has become a member of the operation and has voluntarily surrendered.

"If you're willing to abandon darkness and embrace the light, that's certainly wonderful. But how can I trust you? The risks we face are disproportionate, aren't they?"

Kevin said calmly.

These words made Meruem fall silent for a moment.

Letting him go back, who knows if he'll actually help Kevin and the others lure those Chimera Ant back to set a trap, or if he'll simply reveal the truth, rebel, and escape to the outside world.

Leaving him here will at least keep those Chimera Ant outside watching.

However, if he were allowed to carry the message out, the Chimera Ant outside would have a stronger sense of self-determination and will to survive, making them more likely to escape.

Therefore, keeping him here is the most cost-effective option.

The main problem is that Kevin doesn't have anything he can effectively use to limit his opponent.

Although Peggy is still here, Kevin, as an outsider, has no way of judging whether there is any deep emotional bond between them after the Chimeric Ant were reborn.

The risks are completely disproportionate.

As a defector, he had to offer something convincing enough to convince others.

After a moment of silence, Meruem looked up at Kevin and couldn't help but ask, "How did you find me?"

He was aware of his Nen ability; it wasn't just simple invisibility.

Kevin smiled at this, looked at Meruem, and said with a hint of praise, "Your Nen ability is undoubtedly very strong in terms of infiltration. Although it may seem like your Nen ability is invisibility, its true core is certainly not like that."

Invisibility might only allow them to Men Qi and his group's detection, but once inside the lair, things would be much more complicated.

"Although I didn't enclose the entire nest with a circle, my Nen Beast are hidden in various places, and their senses are equally powerful."

"Essentially, you were already exposed the moment your aura suddenly appeared in the nest, it's just that you appear and disappear intermittently, making it difficult to pinpoint your location."

"What truly exposed you was our previous conversation, which seems to have touched a nerve with you."

So Kevin actually believed Meruem, because the other party was exposed at the same time that Peggy was explaining his own situation.

If Kevin hadn't suddenly experienced a surge of emotion, he might not have been able to spot the other person.

After all, such a sudden emotional fluctuation, especially so close by, would be hard to miss.

When Peggy knelt down to beg, Meruem's malice towards her was quite evident.

"Well, it seems I don't fully understand the strength of human powerhouses yet," Meruem sighed.

He then explained his Nen ability concisely, "Invisibility is just my most basic manifestation. My true Nen ability is actually [Perfect Plan]. When I hold my breath, I enter a state where I am not detected by others. That is not invisibility, but a conceptual, inconspicuous state."

As he spoke, he held his breath right in front of the two of them, and his body vanished instantly.

Kevin frowned as the other person suddenly disappeared, then shook his head, but still couldn't see them.

With a thought, the circle instantly expanded and then contracted.

In less than a second, they immediately sensed Meruem hiding his body.

The other party didn't move at all.

At this point, Peggy had even moved closer and reached out to touch where Meruem had been. However, in his perception, he did not touch anyone, but in reality, he had touched him.

Taking another breath, Meruem revealed himself.

"How did you do that? How did the circle shrink back so quickly?"

Meruem had already realized he had been exposed; he was swept aside.

Peggy then realized that the other person had just used a circle.

Kevin simply smiled and didn't say anything more. The circle is a universally acknowledged skill that shouldn't be used lightly in combat.

Because that's equivalent to spreading your body's energy outwards. While it allows for extremely detailed detection of the surrounding environment, the problem is that it also makes you easier for your opponent to spot you. This means that your own body's outer defenses are relatively weak, which can be extremely dangerous in combat.

Only true masters, those who have deeply cultivated this art, can quickly control the flow of energy to achieve the ability to accurately probe their surroundings during combat.

This is a result that requires time, experience, and training to achieve.

Even Neferpitou can't do that right now.

That's why the two Chimeric Ant who had witnessed the Cat Woman's power were so surprised.

"Don't be surprised," Kevin said. "Your Nen ability is very useful. Nobody uses En all the time, not even when they're on guard."

The circle is a reconnaissance skill that is only activated under specific circumstances, when a certain movement occurs.

The other party's alibi is even more outrageous.

This kind of conceptual invisibility is practically a deadly weapon for assassination.

Although there is a limitation to holding your breath, the time you can hold your breath can be extended by training and strengthening your body.

It's important to know that Kevin's current ability to hold his breath is far beyond the physical limits of a normal person.

However, this limitation means that Meruem's breath-holding time won't be too long.

But if it can definitely last for several minutes, or even more than ten minutes, that's already terrifying—enough time to infiltrate an area, appear next to the target, and launch a fatal attack.

"To gain your trust, I can tell you about another Nen ability I've been hiding."

"There's more?" This genuinely surprised Kevin.

In his opinion, the other party's Nen ability was already quite powerful, but he didn't expect them to have such a hidden skill.

"This is a complementary effect of my previous Nen ability, [Partner Perfector], which allows me to extend the alibi effect to others through arm contact."

Kevin squinted at Meruem in front of him.

He was truly moved.

If the opponent's first Nen ability is a very good infiltration Nen ability, then the opponent's second Nen ability is simply a fatal blow.

"You have to enter a state similar to 'absolute' to activate this ability, right?"

Kevin looked at the other person and suddenly asked.

Meruem paused for a moment, then nodded. Besides holding one's breath, one would naturally need to enter a state akin to absolute stillness; otherwise, how could one remain inconspicuous?

Kevin understood.

In this state, the other party must be incredibly vulnerable.

A wide-range attack would definitely cripple Meruem, forcing him to breathe and reveal his body.

Furthermore, this Nen ability also means that Meruem is not an offensive fighter; his opponent's basic strength can definitely be described as weak.

Therefore, you either need to do something decisive and kill the enemy, or you need to conduct simple reconnaissance.

But all this talk cannot ultimately conceal the immense power of this Nen ability.

Kevin paused for a moment, considered the situation briefly, and then made a decision. "I approve of your self-rescue efforts. Now that you've joined us, let me assign you some tasks."

"Let's talk about compensation first. Even though you're trying to save yourselves, you need to see a future for yourself."

As he spoke, Kevin raised his right hand.

An invisible Nen cut a gash in his palm, and a drop of blood welled up from it.

The drop of blood was enveloped in pure Qi Refining, like a bright red ruby encased in a transparent container.

"This is a little thing I obtained from your Queen. It can be considered part of my bloodline genes, or you can simply recognize it as part of human bloodline genes. It's very simple; it can be used to weave a cocoon to envelop you."

"After a period of time, you will be reborn. And you, reborn, will no longer be complete aliens as you are now; you will become more like humans—"

"Well, have you ever played role-playing games? If not, that's fine too. You can understand. I can make you look like humans dressed in strange clothes and with unusual appearances."

Even if you walk down the street, no one will think you're some kind of Chimera Ant or anything like that; they'll just think you're people pretending to be some kind of animal. Do you understand?

Upon hearing Kevin's words, Peggy immediately became extremely excited.

He has always been very proud of his human identity. The reason he previously leaned towards Chimera Ant was because he knew that with his current appearance, he could no longer integrate into the human community.

As Anti-drug Hunter, he had truly witnessed the dark side of humanity and was keenly aware of its depravity.

With an appearance at least close to human, many problems would be easily solved. Meruem also became excited—he didn't like his current appearance, and smoking no longer felt the same.

"This ability can also help Chimera Ant whose memories haven't fully returned to recover more of their memories, so—choose the right people."

Kevin said this while looking at Peggy. He gave the two of them different tasks.

"Peggy, your task is to select suitable people from the current Loyalist Faction. I will leave them a way out. You know what to do."

This isn't a fool, so there's not much to worry about. Peggy nodded solemnly. He had achieved his goal on this trip, and it was even better than he had imagined.

At this moment, Kevin looked at Meruem.

"Your Nen ability is excellent, but this isn't something I can decide on my own, so I need to take precautions."

As he spoke, Kevin suddenly appeared in front of Meruem and punched him in the stomach.

The fierce bombardment caused Meruem's body to involuntarily curl up, but he felt no pain and touched the place where he had been hit with a blank expression.

Peggy was startled, but calmed down after seeing that everything was alright.

"It doesn't hurt?"

The punch was clearly delivered with great force, and I could feel the opponent's power in my body, but I wasn't hurt.

"Not bad," Kevin withdrew his hand. "Then it's been a pleasure working with you. Follow this maid; she'll take you to Kite, and you can discuss things there."

A Maid Nen Beast appeared beside them at just the right moment.