"Yo, he lost. Here, you can have him back." Unlike the Troupe, who faced a formidable enemy, Cheetu casually tossed the half-dead Bonolenov in his hand toward Phinks. Bonolenov was not much weaker than Cheetu, but unfortunately, Bonolenov's moves were tied to sound, while Cheetu's speed surpassed that limit. Combined with Bonolenov's carelessness, that was how he lost to Cheetu. If his opponent had been Machi or Franklin, Cheetu would not have won so easily. At that moment, Cheetu had also activated one of his Nen abilities, which he called—Cheetu's Speed Mode. He looked no different from before, except a pair of wings had appeared beneath his feet, and his thighs had become swollen and muscular-looking.
"What?" "Why are you giving him back to us? Aren't you going to kill him?"
"Huh? I never intended to be enemies with you from the start." Faced with the Troupe's questions, Cheetu spoke honestly. "I only came to rescue this traitor and bring her back to the King."
"Tsk, tsk. A traitor? I see." Phinks stroked his chin in thought. "I have a question," he said to Cheetu.
"Will you—or rather, will that one—come back?" Phinks pointed at Zazan, who was clamped between Crab's two pincers.
"Her? She probably won't be coming back. The King has other matters for them to handle." Cheetu clapped his hands.
Them? That meant there was more than one monster as strong as this guy? And there was someone called the King, too. Just how strong were these monsters? Forget it. None of this had anything to do with us.
"Then you can go," Phinks decided.
"Huh? Phinks, is that okay?" Shalnark asked in confusion.
"Well, our mission is only to eliminate the Queen here. As long as that one isn't here anymore, our task is complete." Seeing that Shalnark was not the only one confused, Phinks explained to them. Then, in a voice only those nearby could hear, he said, "You saw that guy's strength, right? Which of you is confident you can handle that kind of speed? I hate to admit it, but it's impossible for us to take down these guys without getting hurt, or with only a small cost. And who knows how strong the King they mentioned is? Even if we kill these guys, who knows whether it'll draw even stronger monsters here? Didn't you hear what this leopard guy said just now? There's obviously more than one person with strength comparable to his. Our task now is to wait for the leader to return. Since there's no conflict of interest, we should just let them leave."
"Hey, not bad. Gorilla Phinks actually learned how to think."
"Do you want to die?"
"Ahh, it's rare to meet such a good opponent. I wanted to play with him a few more times." Cheetu seemed rather unwilling to leave without getting a satisfying fight.
"Idiot! We're carrying out the King's mission right now! I don't want to fail on our very first assignment! Hurry up and send Lady Zazan back." Kangaroo Woman violently smacked Cheetu on the head and snarled.
"Yeah, yeah, you manly woman. No one will ever like you." Cheetu muttered under his breath.
"Lord Cheetu! What did you just say? I didn't hear you clearly." Kangaroo Woman's face darkened, and she clearly showed signs of going berserk.
"Ahahahaha, I said we should hurry and bring Zazan to the King and finish the mission."
At the same time, the small squads Meruem had sent to various regions to bring back the Squad Leaders who had left the Ant Nest that day were all on their way back. Unfortunately, including Zazan, they had only brought back three Squad Leaders. Panda had refused Meruem, while Wolf Welfin had vanished without a trace. However, there were reports that someone had spotted Welfin near Meteor City.
"Meteor City? Gyro? Interesting." Meruem smiled upon hearing the report. Three Squad Leaders, plus that person, would be enough to draw the outside world's fire and hold out until Meruem's plan was complete.
"Yo, isn't this Queen Zazan, who was nearly killed by humans? So you're still alive. I thought you'd found some remote corner to hide in." In the East Gorteau Republic's royal palace council chamber, a massive Crocodile faced Zazan, who had already regained her scorpion form. The Squad Leaders were far from harmonious; they all disliked one another. Of course, the Squad Leaders who followed Meruem were an exception, because Meruem deeply hated infighting. With the Ant King suppressing them, no Squad Leader dared to openly mock another or pull little tricks. At least, not openly. Incidentally, Zazan's injuries had already been healed by Chimera Ant doctors such as Octopus Blair. As time passed, the Chimera Ants following Meruem had all made tremendous progress.
"Hmph. Do you want to die, Gudo? Or do you want to experience the feeling of being on the verge of death?" Zazan said with a look of disgust. She had never gotten along with this Crocodile, and now, with his mockery added in, she found him even more irritating. But she did not dare make a move here—not because she feared the Crocodile, but because this palace was Meruem's territory.
"Gudo, Zazan, both of you should say less." The speaker was a huge Lion, Squad Leader Leol. Formerly Hagga. Unlike Gudo, who had not been explained in the original work, and Zazan, who had been killed by Feitan, Leol's performance in the original work had been quite outstanding. At the very least, he had already been able to skillfully use his Hatsu and had developed a borrowing Nen ability similar to Chrollo, the Phantom Troupe leader's, Bandit's Secret. He had merely lost by a narrow margin because his lung capacity was insufficient, suffocating to death—or rather, dying of carbon dioxide poisoning. Otherwise, the outcome of his battle against Morel would not have been certain. His strength ranked among the top few Squad Leaders. Of course, that was only based on the original work's information. After undergoing Nen training under Meruem, even Soldier Ants could not be underestimated.
"What are you supposed to be? What gives you the right to order me around?" Zazan had already been furious over nearly being killed by Feitan and then being ridiculed by a Squad Captain. At that moment, she was like a powder keg that would ignite at the slightest spark. Anyone who touched her would be unlucky.
"Hmph." A vicious glint flashed through Leol's eyes, but he endured it in the end. His ambitions were considerable, and he was extremely calculating. In the original work, he had realized early on that humans were not simple, so he had returned early to side with the Ant King rather than being killed like the other Squad Leaders who had left. Incidentally, he had also used television appearances to screw over the other Chimera Ants once. "Do you know why the King summoned us here this time?"
"No idea, but maybe his own strength isn't enough, so he needs the strength of Squad Leaders like us. Ahahaha." Gudo spoke carelessly. Unlike the other two, that was simply his personality.
"Perhaps the King truly isn't the strongest in this world, but he certainly doesn't need the weak strength of someone like you." A mocking voice rang beside the three Squad Leaders' ears. Then, a small figure appeared before them.
"Who are you?" Gudo the Crocodile was furious at the mockery, but he was no fool, so he would not rashly attack without thinking.
"Me? Former Squad Captain—Gaster. Current Rooster of the Anbu Twelve Stars. By the King's order, I've come to deliver something to traitors like you." The small boy with a rooster comb atop his head held a box as he spoke to Gudo, his tone dripping with mockery.
"A mere Squad Captain dares act arrogantly before me? Hmph, I'll eat you. Even if the King finds out, he won't punish me over a mere Squad Captain." The moment Gudo the Crocodile heard that the other party was only a Squad Captain, he charged at Gaster. Generally speaking, Squad Captains were not as strong as Squad Leaders. Naturally, there were exceptions. For instance, although Meleoron the chameleon possessed an extremely powerful Nen ability, his own combat ability might not even surpass that of a Soldier Ant. But that was only an exception. Under equal conditions, a Squad Captain could not defeat a Squad Leader. Just as a Squad Leader could not defeat the Royal Guards. But all of that was based on equal conditions. Under equal conditions, humans would have had difficulty defeating Chimera Ants too, yet the Chimera Ants had still nearly been wiped out in the original work. The Squad Captains trained by Meruem were not so simple, especially the twelve Squad Captains of the Anbu Twelve Stars, who were the strongest aside from the few Squad Leaders following Meruem. Even someone like Cheetu, whose strength ranked among the Troupe's top members, could be killed by them if he let his guard down. Unless one possessed absolutely overwhelming power, anything could happen in battle.
"Idiot." Seeing Gudo's actions, Zazan's expression carried a hint of gloating. She had suffered at the hands of these Squad Captains before. The moment her body had recovered, she had wanted to settle things with that Kangaroo Woman from before. Unfortunately, she had been beaten instead. She had heard that the other party was also one of the Anbu Twelve Stars' candidates. How could someone who had not fully mastered Nen possibly be a match for someone who had developed their Nen abilities in every aspect? She truly did not know how the King had trained these people, to make even mere Squad Captains so powerful. And the time spent had been only a little over a month. If I hadn't left, I would have received that kind of training too. If only I could receive training as well. I would definitely become stronger than all of them. At that thought, Zazan's heart burned with passion. She had already made up her mind. This time, she had to obtain the King's training.
Unlike Zazan's gloating, Leol considered more. He planned to rescue the little one just before Gudo killed him, so that he could earn a favor and enter the King's sights more quickly. Just like Gudo, he believed that a Squad Captain could not possibly defeat a Squad Leader.
"Overestimating yourself." Mockery again. As Gudo's destructive attack rushed toward him, the small Gaster merely slowly uttered four words. Once he activated Nen, the other's speed was nothing special in his eyes.
"The rooster crows, the hen lays eggs—Hen Crowing at Dawn!" Gaster's eyes turned blue, and strange light enveloped Gudo's entire body.
"What? My strength?!"
Before you continue