The King's Birth

"Where is this?" Li Yang felt as if he were in a strange place. Water surrounded him, yet he could breathe freely. It was just a little cramped, and he could not move his hands or feet freely. Before long, a wave of weakness and exhaustion washed over him, and Li Yang fell into a deep sleep once more.

"I need more, more nutrients." A giant ant-like creature swallowed the lump of flesh in its hand. The lump was covered in something strange and looked disgustingly vile. "Oh, I can feel him moving. My King, hurry and prepare more of those nutrients for me."

"Yes, my Queen." A group of equally strange monsters answered her.

"Power... I feel filled with power." When Li Yang awoke again, he felt incredibly well. Unlike last time, he felt he could easily break free of the restraints holding him here.

"No, my King. Not yet. It is not time." Li Yang heard a gentle voice say this to him. For some reason, hearing that voice stirred an inexplicable restlessness within him. But he could sense that the voice meant well, so he suppressed the agitation in his heart and fell back into slumber. An unknown liquid flowed through a tubular object connected to Li Yang and into his body. His body began changing once more.

"What is this aura...? How is it still growing stronger?" Several mountains away, an old man with long white whiskers widened his eyes and stared fixedly at the strange buildings clustered together like an ant colony. More precisely, he was staring in Li Yang's direction. "It's getting stronger and stronger."

"This won't do. I can't let this continue." The old man with long white whiskers seemed to have made up his mind. "Morel, Knuckle, stay here. I'll go alone."

"Chairman Netero..."

"Chairman..."

"Enough. I can handle this alone. That's an order." The old man known as Netero was the chairman of the Hunter Association, the strongest organization in the world. In his youth, he had been hailed as the strongest Nen User. Though he was old now and had only fifty percent of his strength, he still ranked among the world's top Nen Users. Even so, a figure as powerful as him was not optimistic about this mission. It would probably be a fight to the death. At that thought, Netero touched his chest. If he failed, this would be his final chance.

"Yes." Seeing that the Chairman had said so, the two men did not argue further. Although they did not know how strong the ants' strongest members were, the ones they had dealt with so far possessed some strength but were no threat. Besides, they trusted their Chairman's abilities. He was unquestionably a top-tier powerhouse.

Netero's muscles bulged all over his body. He bent his legs, pushed off toward the Ant Nest, and shot through the air like an arrow.

"Hm?" At that very moment, the three people standing near the Ant Queen sensed something. In perfect unison, they turned toward the direction from which Chairman Netero was flying.

"We sensed this fellow earlier, but with the King's birth imminent, we didn't want to complicate matters, so we ignored him. Who would have thought he would come here seeking death of his own accord?" The speaker was a handsome man with slightly purplish skin and a pair of enormous butterfly wings on his back.

"Pouf, our duty is to protect the King. Leave the rest to the Squad Leaders." The burly man with deep-red skin spoke. "Pitou, what do you think?"

"Meow, I wonder how long this toy will last." The speaker was a white-haired cat-eared girl, complete with a long cat tail.

The three of them were the three members of the Chimera Ant Royal Guards, a trio loyal only to the Ant King. They were the strongest Chimera Ants besides the Ant King himself. As for the Ant Queen, in their eyes, she would have no further use after giving birth to the Ant King.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" By the time Chairman Netero reached the Ant Nest, the other ants finally noticed him, but it was already too late. Chaos erupted. Ordinary Soldier Ants and Squad Captains could not harm the Chairman at all—not even inconvenience him. They could not even slow Netero's advance. In other words, they were not even qualified to serve as cannon fodder.

Above the Squad Captains were the Squad Leaders. Ants at the Squad Leader level were more than a tier above Squad Captains. Even among human Nen Users, they ranked as formidable powerhouses. Yet they still could not stop Netero's advance, because Netero was simply too powerful. That was the difference between a top-tier master and an ordinary expert.

"Damn it! If this continues, this cursed human will reach Her Majesty the Queen. We can't let him go on." An ant resembling Lei Zhenzi said furiously. This time, he felt utterly powerless. How could someone this powerful have been among the creatures they had once treated as food? "Looks like we'll have to ask those few to act."

Lei Zhenzi knew his own strength. He was roughly equal to the Squad Leaders from earlier, and going out there would only mean certain death. The few he referred to were the three members of the Ant King's Royal Guards who had spoken earlier. Their strength was overwhelming. Perhaps they could stop the intruder.

"Your name is Kolt, right? What brings you here?" Compared with the other two, Pitou was somewhat moody and intensely playful, but she was much easier to talk to.

"Oh, I see. I can't believe those Squad Leaders were so useless. They couldn't stop a single enemy." Youpi was the physically strongest of the three, but since his body was composed entirely of magical beasts, his intelligence was somewhat lacking. In terms of strength, however, he was at the very pinnacle.

"Don't let your guard down, Youpi. The enemy is extremely powerful. Those Squad Leaders and Squad Captains who disappeared earlier were probably killed by this man." Butterfly-man Pouf reminded him. Even so, he had complete confidence in Youpi's strength. He did not believe that any human among those they had called food could possess abilities greater than theirs.

"Don't worry, Pouf. I'll take care of this guy." Youpi, nicknamed Rabbit Youpi, cracked his wrists and stood up. His powerful muscles displayed his tremendous explosive strength.

"Ho ho ho ho ho~ Looks like these are the last ones before I reach the Queen." After casually crushing a Squad Leader struggling in his hand to death, Chairman Netero continued forward. "Looks like a rather troublesome fellow has arrived."

"Ah, human. Were you the one causing trouble earlier? You look like nothing more than an old man." Youpi emerged from the other side of the cavern, looked Netero up and down, and spoke.

"Ho ho ho ho ho. Come." Facing a Royal Guard, Chairman Netero became serious. Although he did not know Youpi's identity, he could feel the tremendous energy within him. Youpi was somewhat inferior to him, but he was still astonishingly powerful.

"Oh~ heh heh~" Chairman Netero's entire aura changed. Enormous Nen erupted from his aged body.

"What is that?" A statue resembling both a bodhisattva and a Buddha Form appeared behind Chairman Netero. It was the manifestation of Enhancement Type Nen brought to its absolute limit. This old man was truly a terrifying opponent.

"Bang!" Before Youpi could react, a palm slammed him into the ground. Countless more palm strikes followed, relentlessly pummeling Youpi as he lay buried in the earth. One of the mighty Royal Guards, Youpi, was completely unable to fight back against Netero.

"Argh! Damn it! Who the hell do you think you are? I'm one of the King's Royal Guards!" An even more powerful surge of Nen burst from Youpi, producing a massive explosion. It forcibly blasted Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva away.

"What a monster." Netero spoke after escaping the center of the explosion.

The fierce battle between the two caused the entire Ant Nest to tremble. Only then did the remaining Squad Leaders realize how powerful the Royal Guards were. It was a despairingly overwhelming strength. The gap between their levels was simply too great.

"Damn it, what is Youpi doing? Doesn't he know this will interfere with the King's birth?" Butterfly-man Pouf watched the distance unhappily.

"The human fighting him is no ordinary man. He's incredibly strong. I never imagined there would be a human expert at this level." Cat-girl Pitou offered her assessment.

"Oh~ My King, no, not yet. Just a little longer. Please endure, please endure~" A giant ant with an enormous belly spoke as she gently caressed the egg inside it. Yes, it was an egg. She was using her life to hatch it. Even if the first thing the egg's original owner did after birth would be to leave, even if he did not care in the slightest whether she lived or died, she still loved him. Perhaps that was maternal love, regardless of species.

"Endure? Who are you? You're so gentle and warm. Who am I? Oh, I'm Li Yang, but I'm also the King!" The creature inside the giant egg seemed to be thinking and arguing with itself. "The King? Yes, I'm both Li Yang and the King." As time passed, Li Yang's soul gradually merged with the instincts of his species. There was no devouring and no destruction. There was only rebirth—a new hope, a new future belonging to the Chimera Ants.