Ant King Extermination Battle V

"Unbelievable. That Lovskiy was so strong, yet he was just being toyed with." Silva found it hard to believe. He'd seen powerful Nen Users before, and he'd killed plenty of them—he'd taken down countless experts of all sizes. But he'd never faced an enemy this strong. If he'd held even a shred of contempt for Meruem when the fight began, now only respect and wariness remained.

The Zoldyck Family was formidable, no doubt, but their greatest strength as assassins lay not in head-on combat, but in stealth. This monster before them, however, had reached a level where he was practically immune to assassination. Silva didn't know if poison would work, but he felt that with his current strength, assassinating Meruem was basically an impossible task.

"I heard this Ant King and the Chimera Ants came from the Dark Continent. Are there many creatures there as strong as him? That's exciting." Beyond wore an eager expression. No wonder he was said to be just like Chairman Netero in his youth—his adventurous spirit rivaled even the Freecss family, the ultimate adventurers.

"Stop thinking about that nonsense. Focus on how to deal with this monster first. If I'm not mistaken, once he's done playing, Lovskiy is dead. I'd say Lovskiy can last at most five more moves. And that female ant standing over there—she's probably no pushover either. Anyone bold enough to watch from the sidelines at a time like this isn't simple." Zeno analyzed calmly. His combat experience was the highest among them, of course excluding the missing Maha Zoldyck. But what he didn't know was that in the original story, Pitou was itching to fight him, and judging by the plot, Zeno was clearly at a disadvantage. He also didn't know that Meruem wasn't toying with Lovskiy—he was learning his techniques, or rather, blatantly stealing them.

"Hey, Xiedi, should we help that Thick Eyebrows guy later? He's about to get killed soon." The bearded, slovenly uncle tugged at the pants of the long-haired youth standing beside him. The uncle was sitting cross-legged, while the youth remained standing.

"If you want to die, go ahead. I'll warn you one more time: don't touch me." The long-haired youth called Xiedi snatched his pant leg back from the bearded uncle's hand. A strange yellow stain still marked the spot.

"Tch, so heartless. Ah-woo." The bearded uncle picked his nose while grumbling, then covered his mouth with a long yawn. He was the least tense, laziest, and most unmotivated among them. If a bed appeared on the ground, he'd be the first—or the only one—to lie down.

"Alright, I've learned your martial arts. Thanks for the lesson." Just as Zeno finished speaking, on the third exchange of blows, Meruem suddenly said this to Lovskiy.

Lovskiy was stunned, but he had no time to dwell on it. Drenched in sweat, he only wanted to kill this monster as soon as possible. After fighting so long, Meruem hadn't even broken a sweat—it was unscientific. If this dragged on, Lovskiy would be worn down to death.

"I've seen through your moves. Now I can send you off. But as thanks for contributing your fighting techniques, I'll kill you with Netero's signature move. How about that? Feel honored." Meruem didn't care what Lovskiy thought. Since he'd already learned his opponent's skills, the man had no more value.

"Damn ant, you think you've won—" A massive Guanyin statue appeared before Lovskiy, identical to Chairman Netero's.

"What?" "That move?" "Impossible!" "That's Father's—"

"Lovskiy, die." Ignoring the shocked cries and stares of the others, Meruem lightly swung a palm at Lovskiy.

"100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva." Meruem curled his middle finger against his thumb, forming an elegant orchid finger—a required gesture for the technique. The giant Guanyin's hands slammed heavily into Lovskiy, hitting him squarely before he could even dodge.

"That monster can even use the Chairman's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva. It's safe to say his Nen ability isn't just ignoring defense. It's probably similar to that Phantom Troupe leader who stole others' abilities in Yorknew City. We just don't know the conditions or how he acquires them." Zeno closed his eyes, as if unwilling to watch Lovskiy get crushed into a meat patty. But he didn't know that Meruem's ability wasn't theft—it was learning, fusion, and improvement. That was far more terrifying than theft. Stolen things were never truly one's own, always carrying some unnaturalness or flaw. But learning, fusing, and improving allowed 100% utilization.

"First. Who's next?" Meruem coldly scanned the people around him.

"Are you coming all at once, or still one-on-one?"

"Wait... I'm... not dead yet." A blood-soaked figure crawled out of the crater left by the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva. Multiple fractures, some bones turned to powder, most internal organs ruptured, blood vessels burst all over, and his shoulders below were crushed into pulp. Staying alive like this was a miracle. As for fighting, even an ordinary person could kill him now.

"You survived my full-force strike?" Meruem looked at Lovskiy in surprise. What did a full-force strike mean? Even Netero would lose limbs if hit. This unremarkable man had clung to life through sheer tenacity—unbelievable.

"Is it that ability of yours, 'God's Ability'?" A decent power, greatly boosting survivability. A practical skill. But useless to him. This level of enhancement wouldn't do much for his body. If an opponent could hurt him badly enough to kill, they'd have done it already. No amount of body reinforcement would change that. Meruem had only fought Lovskiy so long to learn his martial arts. Simply put, Lovskiy's defense was 50, speed and power 20. His ability could boost defense to 100, speed and power to 90. But Meruem's defense was already 300, speed and power around 400. So this Nen ability did little for him. Of course, these numbers were just an example, not actual calculations.

"I can still fight!" Lovskiy staggered.

"Are you seeking death? I admire your willingness to die in battle, but I don't approve of giving up just because you can't win. Has one failure crushed your spirit? Can't you train until you surpass me and challenge me again? Your capacity is limited. Go. Since you survived my full-force strike, I won't kill you, and I won't fight you again." Meruem turned away from Lovskiy.

Lovskiy closed his eyes, as if deep in thought.

No one disturbed him—not his companions, not Meruem, not Pitou.

After a long while, Lovskiy opened his eyes. His entire aura shifted. Though his body was covered in wounds, no one would underestimate him now.

"Heh... I got lectured by a monster. If we both survive this, next time we meet, I will definitely defeat you." Lovskiy stared at Meruem, speaking each word firmly.

"Next time, I won't let you live so easily. I'll kill you." Meruem was slightly annoyed at being called a monster, but he didn't dwell on it. As for next time? They'd talk when they met. Soon, he'd leave the Hunter World to explore other worlds. Whether he'd return was uncertain. Even if he did, he'd be far stronger. What would Lovskiy fight him with then? His ass?

Lovskiy trembled as he walked out of the palace. Everyone made way for him. His resolve had earned him the respect of not being killed, even if they scorned his one-on-one approach. That didn't stop the others from changing their view of him.

Chimera Ant Extermination Team—Lovskiy, withdrawn.

"My King." Unlike the extermination team, Pitou didn't understand Meruem's reasoning. Why let that guy go? Openly challenging the King, saying he'd defeat him next time—how insolent. Though Pitou didn't think that guy could ever beat the King no matter how hard he trained, that shift in aura might actually let him wound the King next time. It was just Pitou's intuition. But shouldn't weaklings' provocations be crushed? If not killed, at least turned into a toy. The King's actions—she couldn't understand. A question mark might as well have been floating over her head.

"Pitou, this world is vast. Sometimes more variables, more unknowns, more challenges—isn't that better? I finally understand a bit of Netero's attitude back then. He knew he couldn't beat me, yet he still fought. Challenging the strong makes you stronger. I want to fight those stronger than me now. The path of martial arts is like rowing upstream—if you don't advance, you fall back. You can't crush someone in the cradle just because they might threaten you. Don't be a coward. Just fight! Face them head-on!" Pitou only grew more confused. Were there really beings stronger than the King? Meruem had once said humans in this world could defeat him, but Pitou always thought he was lying. What she didn't know was that even if this world didn't have them, others might.

PS: The Hunter arc is nearing its end. Less than ten chapters left. A new arc begins soon.

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