The Newborn Ant King

"King!!" The three Royal Guards cried out in delight as they came to their senses.

The transmigrator—or rather, the newborn Ant King—waved a hand at the three Royal Guards, signaling for them not to interrupt yet.

"Good afternoon, esteemed Hunter Association Chairman Netero." The Ant King spoke to Netero, who stood opposite him, with impeccable manners. Of course, the scene would have been more harmonious if he were not holding half of the other man's right arm. "First, allow me to introduce myself. I am the King of the Chimera Ant race from the Dark Continent. My name is Meruem Li." This newborn Ant King was completely different from the one in the original story—not just in appearance, but in soul and mindset as well. After all, he was a transmigrator.

As a transmigrator, Meruem Li had been deeply dissatisfied with the previous Ant King's appearance: that enormous green mushroom head, Buddha-like oversized earlobes, that inexplicable syringe-shaped tail, and those grasshopper-like strange markings. Most importantly, he had no lower body. As a man who loved life and had ambitions, Meruem could never accept such a design. So when he was reborn, he altered his appearance. He now had a human-like exterior. Not every Chimera Ant creation took on a monstrous form; quite a few Brigade Leaders and Squad Leaders looked human. For example, Fina, the Brigade Leader beside Lion Division Leader Haga, had an entirely human appearance. Originally, Meruem had planned to change his skin color too, but that was beyond his ability. So the current Meruem was essentially an improved version of the original Meruem, with the mushroom head and syringe tail removed and every aspect of his body brought closer to human form. Most importantly, unlike the prematurely born, incomplete original Ant King and his arrogant mindset, this Ant King had fully completed the race's ultimate evolution.

His strength might have surpassed even the reborn Ant King from his previous life after being blasted by the Rose Bomb. Moreover, as a transmigrator, he already possessed firmly formed values and ways of thinking. That basically ruled out the possibility of him becoming the philosophical Ant King from the original story. More importantly, he knew that he was not the strongest in the Hunter World. Even in his current, most perfect evolved state, it remained uncertain whether he could withstand the Rose Bomb's radiation if he were hit by it. Chimera Ants were rated B-class in the Hunter World. Not to mention the countless terrifying things in the Dark Continent, even among Nen Users in the Hunter World, he could not claim absolute dominance. Someone from the Freecss Family had explored the Dark Continent, after all. Humanity in the Hunter World was far from as simple as it seemed. Though he could utterly defeat the aged Netero, who retained only fifty percent of his strength, it was hard to say what would happen if he faced one of the world's three strongest Nen Users. The Hunter World was absolutely beyond ordinary people's imagination. Even the scant hints dropped in the Phantom Troupe arc about the Demon King's melody suggested that Demon Kings might exist in this world, not to mention the even more terrifying Dark Continent.

Netero silently watched him, waiting for Meruem's next words. Would it be life or death? Mutual destruction, or a lucky escape?

"First, I have no intention of becoming humanity's enemy." As expected, Meruem's next sentence took Netero by surprise. Against such a powerful opponent, Netero had no confidence at all. If they truly fought, he might only be able to activate the nuclear bomb inside his body.

"I am the King of the Chimera Ant race. First and foremost, I seek a place for my race to survive. You may laugh, but we Chimera Ants are a weak race that escaped from the Dark Continent. I hope humanity can acknowledge us and allow the Chimera Ant race to survive on this continent. I hope you can convey my goodwill to the rest of humanity. In return, I can provide you humans with information about the Dark Continent. If humanity ever needs assistance, you may seek us out as well. We need only a small area to ensure the continuation of our entire race." Yes, as a transmigrator, Meruem knew that Netero had a nuclear bomb inside him that could take his life. He had no desire to be killed shortly after being born. He had made up those words on the spot. Whether Netero believed them had nothing to do with him. He merely wanted Netero gone as soon as possible so he could plan his next move. Naturally, he did not mention at all the humans the previous Ant Queen had eaten and killed while producing the ants.

The idea was good, but he was not the only ant present. "Oh, King, that fellow nearly killed you just now—no, offended you. He cannot be forgiven so easily. Humans are such weak creatures; we can—" Before he could finish, the somewhat neurotic Pouf began getting carried away. Of the three Royal Guards, all were fiercely loyal to the Ant King, but Pouf was loyal to the title of King itself. In other words, no matter who became Ant King, Pouf would be loyal to him. Everything Pouf did was for the one who bore the title of King, and he would even do things he believed were good for the King. Of the three Royal Guards, Meruem preferred Pitou. It was not merely because the catgirl was cute, but because Neferpitou was loyal to Meruem himself, the Ant King, and would do everything in her power to fulfill any task he gave her. In the original story, even after dying, Neferpitou had still carried out the Ant King's order to heal Komugi. None of that was the point, though. The point was that Meruem currently had no confidence in facing the Rose Bomb's poison—or rather, radiation. He did not know whether Netero had a Rose Bomb implanted in his body at this point. Logically, he should not have. But Meruem did not want to take that risk. What if Netero had lost his mind and decided to plant a bomb inside himself for fun?

"Shut up." A tremendous force instantly struck Pouf, cutting off his unfinished words.

"Am I the King, or are you the King?" In an instant, Meruem unleashed a suffocatingly powerful aura of Nen, locking firmly onto Pouf, who had disrupted his plans. His expression no longer held its previous warmth, and cold sweat streamed down Pouf's forehead.

"You are." He struggled to force out the two words.

"King, please calm your anger. Pouf merely—" Rabbit and Neferpitou hurriedly tried to explain on Pouf's behalf. They might not necessarily agree with him, but the three of them all belonged to the Ant King's Royal Guards.

"No explanation is needed. There will not be a next time." Meruem spoke coldly. Yet the instant he turned to Netero, his tone returned to its previous warmth. "My apologies. My subordinate lacks manners. Please forgive the spectacle."

"Hohohoho, it's nothing. But let me ask you this: what if we refuse your request?" Netero had seen much in his life. Though he did not know why the Ant King, who held an absolute advantage, was treating him so politely and negotiating from such an apparently weaker position, Chimera Ants had always been bloodthirsty and cruel in his impression. Unless he knew there was a nuclear bomb inside me? For an instant, that thought crossed Netero's mind, but he soon found it too absurd. The Ant King had only just been born—how could he possibly know? And even if he did, considering the strength the Ant King had displayed, with proper preparation, the bomb might not even be able to hit him.

"Refuse? Then we go to war." Meruem had known Netero would ask that. Humanity's hidden strength was formidable, but that did not mean he should yield endlessly. Endless concessions would only make the other side think he was easy to bully. If the Chimera Ants truly began slaughtering people in prosperous cities, humanity would suffer considerable losses as well. "Chairman, with my strength and my incompetent subordinates, even if humanity wished to eliminate us, I'm afraid it would have to pay a price." The threat in his words was unmistakable.

"Three months, Chairman. I hope that three months from now, you will bring me good news—that my race and I may coexist with humanity on this land." As he said this, Meruem's tone grew increasingly mild.

"Oh hohohoho, very well. I will convey your wishes. But personally, I will never agree. You damned man-eating creatures." Netero deliberately provoked him. By instinct, he felt that those higher-ups might actually agree to the ants' request. Humanity's upper echelons had long coveted the Dark Continent, and the ants themselves possessed considerable value. Some powerful figure might even turn the ants into a private army. They might not take the ants' danger seriously at all. After all, only ordinary civilians had died during the ants' birth. The deaths and injuries of commoners had nothing to do with them—or rather, they simply did not care. To them, a loyal dog that could bite was far more valuable. Magical beasts ate humans too, and intelligent species existed among them. Yet certain powerful figures still kept dangerous magical beasts. There was nothing Netero could do about that. It would be all too easy for the Ant King to bypass him and reach some agreement with certain human higher-ups. In the end, he was merely the Chairman of the Hunter Association, not the president of the World Federation.

"Hmph. Don't try to provoke me, old man." Meruem looked at Netero. "That matter is settled. Now, let's discuss your problem."

"Old bastard, in three months, I will definitely kill you and avenge the Queen." Meruem's eyes blazed with murderous intent.

Yes, in this life, the Queen had died just as she had in his previous life. But unlike the original story, the Queen's death was not directly related to the Ant King's birth. Instead, it was inseparable from Netero's surprise attack.

Whether in the original story or this life, the Ant King and Netero had irreconcilable conflict. In the original story, Netero had insisted on sacrificing himself to kill the Ant King. In this life, whether Netero insisted on killing the Ant King no longer mattered. What mattered was the Queen. Unlike the heartless Ant King of the original story, Meruem felt quite fond of the Queen who had given birth to him. At the very least, before he was born, he had felt her profound maternal love.