The Divided Chimera Ants

Although Meruem's words threw the entire ant colony into an uproar, not a single ant ultimately took a step to leave. It was not because they did not want to leave, but because they did not dare. What a joke. Who knew whether the Ant King was telling the truth? What if anyone who left was killed by him? Besides, this was not the tyrannical Ant King from the original story who started out by slaughtering his subordinates. The Ant King who forced them to leave for survival, who was indifferent to the Queen's death and the deaths of his subordinates—a King who chilled the hearts of loyal subjects. Meruem, on the other hand, had done nothing wrong so far. When the Queen's death had been mentioned earlier, the faint sadness on his face had also kept the ants originally loyal to the Queen from leaving. After all, the Queen's order had been for them to obey Ant King Meruem from then on. Moreover, Meruem had said he would avenge the Queen in three months, and he had not indiscriminately slaughtered innocents. In other words, Meruem had not gone out of his way to alienate the ants from him. No ant dared challenge the Ant King's authority now. None of them were stupid enough to court death like that.

"Hm? What are you worried about? Whether you leave or stay is your own choice. Even if you choose to leave, I will not attack you. But if you choose to remain, then from now on, you must carry out my orders even if I tell you to kill yourselves. Though I would not send any subordinate loyal to me to their death." Meruem's calm words once again sent the ant colony into an uproar. The ants harboring ulterior motives were becoming restless, yet not one of them dared be the first.

However, as time ticked by, one ant finally took the first step. Meruem gave him an indifferent glance. He was an ant resembling a koala, with a wine gourd in his hand. If Meruem remembered correctly, he was a Squad Captain. In his memories of his previous life, this fellow seemed deeply opposed to the actions of the other ants. He had even seemed to have a death wish, as though life held no meaning for him. Still, Meruem was not surprised that someone had stepped forward first. It was all within his expectations. Once there was a first, there would be a second. Soon, the ant colony that had originally numbered several dozen or over a hundred was reduced to a little more than half. Among the Squad Leaders, Lion Haja, Wolf Welfin, Scorpion Girl Zazan, the crocodile who called himself a big eater, and Panda left with their subordinates. All of them were within Meruem's expectations. Those who left were ambitious Squad Leaders. The only things that surprised Meruem were that Leopard Kite and the mantis had actually stayed, while Panda, who had sided with humans in the original story, had chosen to leave. Sure enough, one should not assume that pandas were harmless herbivores with no fighting power just because they looked cute while eating bamboo. When pandas went berserk, even brown bears had to fear them somewhat. They ate meat too. The mantis had barely been described in the original story, so Meruem would leave him aside for now. Aside from Peggy, the turtle, the chameleon, and the lobster, the other Squad Leaders were all from the Queen's faction, so it was unsurprising that they remained loyal to the King. Judging from the original story, Peggy and the turtle were not ambitious either. Peggy staying, along with the chameleon, was no surprise—they had a foster father-son relationship. The lobster had little presence, but Cheetu staying behind was unexpected. Although Cheetu was not particularly ambitious, he had been exceptionally active in the original story and should not have been able to endure staying behind. But who knew?

Of the Squad Leaders who remained, aside from Lei Zhenzi, Leopard, the mantis, the bull, and the lobster, the others clearly were not combat types. The Squad Leaders who had left were actually the stronger ones. Meruem did not care much, though. Who said support types with poor combat power could not kill? While more Squad Leaders had stayed, half the Squad Captains had left. It seemed not every Squad Leader could properly restrain their subordinates, especially when faced with the choice of freedom. After all, in the original story, the chameleon Squad Leader had been unable to properly control his own subordinates.

"Alright, time's up." When he saw that no more ants were leaving, Meruem felt somewhat gratified. The ants remaining were all subordinates loyal to him. They were also the foundation of his initial force. They might not yet be willing to die for him, but this was enough.

"I am very pleased that you chose me and chose to stay. From today onward, you are my subordinates." Meruem said with a slight upward curl of his lips. Compared to top Nen Users such as Netero and Hamma, these ants would be easy prey. But no matter what, they were still experts compared to other Nen Users. With such a force, along with the information he knew from his previous life, Meruem believed he should be able to survive.

Seeing Meruem's attitude, many ants gradually relaxed and began whispering among themselves in small groups. It could not be helped. The pressure of facing Ant King Meruem was simply too great. On one hand, he was their King. On the other, there was Meruem's suffocatingly powerful strength. Perhaps humans could not sense it, but as members of the ant race, they could vaguely feel it.

"Quiet. What I am about to say, all of you must remember clearly." Meruem spoke again, his tone now somewhat stern. The faint discussions from before fell silent the instant he finished speaking. Or rather, some Squad Captains were so frightened that they barely dared breathe.

"First, our race's full name is the Chimera Ant Hybrid Ants. We came from a place called the Dark Continent. That place is completely different from where we are now. In that world, every living creature possesses immense and terrifying power. Do you understand? The power of life you speak of now is called Nen. On the Dark Continent, ninety percent of living creatures possess this ability." Meruem calmly described some details about the Chimera Ants and the Dark Continent.

"So that means there are lots of delicious things there?" The one who spoke was the goofy, dim-witted Leopard. Naturally, the delicious things he meant were Nen Users among humans. Only such an idiot would casually interrupt. Even if the other Squad Leaders had doubts, they would not voice them and interrupt Meruem.

"How dare you? Is the King's speech something you can interrupt?" Butterfly Man Pouf could not stand such behavior. To him, this was the gravest disrespect toward the King.

"Come on, I was just curious." Cheetu said casually, resting both hands behind his head without a care in the world. For feline creatures, curiosity could sometimes be more important than life itself. After all, curiosity killed the cat, and leopards were felines too. In truth, the goofy leopard was not the only curious one. Neferpitou was also very curious, but she would not take the initiative to interrupt the King. Still, when she saw the goofy leopard voice her own question, she silently gave him a thumbs-up. Well done.

"You..." In an instant, Pouf gathered his Nen. It looked like he intended to teach this little leopard an unforgettable lesson. Cheetu immediately sensed danger—his fur stood on end. That was something cats often did when they sensed danger.

"Pouf, enough." Meruem merely gave a light wave of his hand, and Pouf's Nen was suppressed. The difference between them was plainly enormous.

"If I remember correctly, your name is Cheetu, right? I would also like to turn the creatures of the Dark Continent into delicious food. Unfortunately, I cannot. Many creatures there are stronger than me."

"What?" "How is that possible?" "You must be joking, right?" The first reaction of every Chimera Ant present was: Are you fucking kidding me? This included the Ant King's Royal Guards. In their eyes, Ant King Meruem was the strongest existence in the world. If someone claimed there were creatures stronger than the Ant King, they would surely think that person's brain had gone bad.

"I would also like to say I am merely joking with you, but this is the truth. The original purpose of our Chimera Ant Hybrid Ant race coming to this continent was simply to flee from disaster." Meruem dropped another bombshell.

"You think you are strong? What I want to say is that we are weak. The creatures of the Dark Continent can be ranked S, A, B, C, and D by strength. Our Chimera Ant Hybrid Ant race is merely B-rank."

"Eh? So that's it. I'm only B-rank? Then what rank are you, King? A?" Cheetu truly was a champion among idiots. He pulled a long face and spoke with regret.

"What are you saying, bastard? The King is definitely S-rank! S-rank!" Pouf became excited again. S-rank? Why not say M-rank? Heh. In their view, perhaps the Chimera Ants truly had fled here as Meruem said, but the strength of their King was definitely among the strongest.

"Cheetu, Pouf, I think you misunderstand. It is not that you are B-rank. Our entire Chimera Ant Hybrid Ant race is B-rank in overall strength. That includes me." Shock. Absolute shock. What a joke. Such a powerful Ant King was merely B-rank? Then what were they? E-rank? F-rank? Or even G-rank? For a moment, nearly every ant's mind was in chaos. If Meruem had not been the one saying this, they might have cracked open his head to see whether it was broken.

"Alright, let me briefly introduce several creatures from the Dark Continent. First is Ai, a mist-like creature. It is a mist-like creature formed from a gaseous life-form; in other words, a type of high-density gas. Its ability is what is known as Desire Dependence. Ai can greatly stir up a person's desires, causing them to lose reason and slaughter each other. Even those with mild symptoms, or those who resist with willpower, may suffer mental breakdowns. Next is Gold Silver Bloom, a spherical plant weapon. It can utterly crush opponents and is a dangerous plant similar to a man-eating flower. Then there is Hell Bell, which can spread murderous intent and make people slaughter each other through that murderous intent. Next is Zobae Disease, a bacterial life-form that infects people with a disease, making life worse than death while preventing them from dying. To some extent, it grants immortality, but makes even death impossible to seek. It allows the infected to go without food or water and never age. This is because those afflicted only eat themselves. Finally, there is Pap, the Nurturing Beast, an extremely dangerous monster that exchanges happiness and life at equal value. It drains the target's life while feeding happiness back to them, eventually sucking them dry into a corpse." Ant King Meruem described five horrifying creatures in an extremely calm tone. After hearing the King's words, not only the Squad Captains and Squad Leaders, but even the supremely proud Royal Guards felt that if they faced any of those five monsters, their chances of survival would be negligible.

"So we were that weak on the Dark Continent." Cheetu sighed. He was not alone. Nearly every ant present had the same thought. Yes, even the seemingly powerful Chimera Ant race appeared tiny before the incomparably terrifying Dark Continent. After all, up to now, only the Freecss Family had explored merely a portion of the Dark Continent.