Netero walked along the edge of the basin he had carved out with punch after punch, his wooden clogs—nothing but a single sole—scraping the ground. He stroked his white beard.
With his thinning hair and fluttering sleeves, he looked like an immortal Daoist or monk.
"No matter how many meetings we hold to plan the operation, I think the final decision will favor the decapitation strategy. It has the lowest cost and the highest chance of success..."
"If that's the case, then I'll need to create some distance and face Meruem one-on-one."
The name of the Ant King—"Meruem"—had come from the Chimera Ants who had sided with humanity. They had learned it from the dying Ant Queen.
Netero had been there at the time. Since the Ant Queen and the Chimera Ants communicated mostly through radio waves, the other ants had relayed her last words together.
The Ant Queen had died as soon as she finished speaking. Her final regret was that she hadn't been able to tell the Ant King his "true name" herself, or see him reign over the world.
These demi-humans really were troublesome... They were too intelligent and too emotional. They were practically a special kind of human.
Like the dictators in human history.
For the sake of a small group's interests, they wanted to rule the world. That meant countless innocent people would die, and the whole human world would be dragged into an abyss.
At that moment, Netero's eyes held both coldness and compassion.
"So, I need someone to draw off or hold back the Three Royal Guards. As long as they don't interfere with my fight against Meruem, that's enough. That's why I asked you all here."
He turned to face everyone, wearing his usual broad, genial smile.
"But it's too early to