East Gorteau Republic

Under Meruem's leadership, the Chimera Ants arrived at the original Ant King's stronghold—the East Gorteau Republic. To be honest, Meruem could have chosen another country, or even stayed in NGL. But the problem was that NGL's human population had dwindled to nearly nothing; if the Chimera Ants needed to expand, NGL was clearly not a good choice. Although Meruem had told Netero he meant no harm to humans, that was complete nonsense given the situation. And even if Meruem had no ill will toward humans, would humans really let him off? The answer: heh.

Compared to other small nations, the East Gorteau Republic was much easier to conquer. First, its military strength was quite poor. Second, there were no notable or moderately skilled Nen Users. For the ant army under Meruem's command, it was like bullying the weak—to exaggerate, even a single Squad Captain could take the East Gorteau Republic's palace. Moreover, the current ruler of the East Gorteau Republic was just a puppet substitute. The real leader had long since retired, and his subordinates were a bunch of clowns who could only bully ordinary people, useless against Nen Users. Of course, the palace was well-built and looked comfortable to live in. Most importantly, this country had no Rose Bombs. Other nations might possess weapons capable of dealing a devastating blow to the ants, and Meruem didn't want to take that risk. So the East Gorteau Republic became a good choice.

"Wu Tian, Imperial We appoint you as Prime Minister. From now on, you will manage daily affairs. We entrust the administration of our ant tribe to you." After easily dealing with the East Gorteau Republic's palace guards and occupying the palace, Meruem, seated on the presidential throne, began assigning official positions to the Squad Leaders. Wu Tian here was the old turtle who had once served as a butler.

"Thank you for Your Majesty's trust. This old minister will do his utmost." The old turtle's eyes narrowed into slits with satisfaction, clearly pleased with his position. Well, to be fair, his eyes were almost slits even when he wasn't smiling.

"Blair, Imperial We appoint you as Royal Physician, responsible for treating all wounded warriors of our Chimera Ant clan." Next to receive a title was the octopus from the original story, who had some medical abilities.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Compared to the old turtle's attitude, the octopus's response was noticeably colder. Ants like this, loyal to the Queen, still harbored some resentment over her death. But bound by the Queen's orders and recognizing that Meruem truly had the ability to lead the Chimera Ant clan to glory, these Queen loyalists continued to follow him. Over time, however, these ants would eventually become devoted to Meruem. After all, in the original story, if the Ant King hadn't been bloodthirsty, indiscriminately killing, or directly responsible for the Queen's death, almost all ants would have obeyed him—at least on the surface.

"Bihorn, Imperial We appoint you as Commander of the Imperial Guards, responsible for the vigilance and defense of our entire ant tribe. The safety of our Chimera Ant clan depends on you." Although the Imperial Guards had nothing to do with a Commander, and a General had no connection to security duties, the Chimera Ants didn't understand that. Besides, wasn't mixing things up all the rage now?

"Thank you for Your Majesty's favor." Bihorn, the old bull known for having the greatest brute strength among the Chimera Ants below the Royal Guards, was thrilled with this title, even if he didn't fully understand it—it sounded impressive. Look, look, the first two had four characters, but he had six! Bihorn flexed his muscles, only to wilt when he saw Youpi standing by the King's side. Clearly, this old bull, claiming the world's greatest strength, had once tested his might against Youpi. The result? He got crushed like a dog.

"Peggy, Imperial We appoint you as Grand Scholar of the Cabinet, responsible for imparting knowledge to our entire ant tribe. Do not disappoint Imperial We." The owl Peggy, the foster father of the chameleon in his past life, had appeared in the original story as a scholarly figure. His Nen ability was unknown, but unfortunately, he was killed instantly when the King first appeared. So appointing him as Grand Scholar was putting his talents to good use.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. This minister will absorb all the knowledge of human society and pass it on to our ant tribe." Peggy spoke with a serious, old-school scholar's demeanor. He was also the first Squad Leader among the Chimera Ants to think of giving each ant a name.

"Kite, Kolt, Meleoron, Ace, Bloster." The remaining five Squad Leaders were assigned different positions. The goofy leopard Kite became Chief of the Reconnaissance Corps, since he was fast—basically, this role was for scouts. The chameleon Meleoron and the mantis Ace were placed in the Shadow Unit, with Ace as its head due to his high combat ability. The lobster Bloster was appointed Minister of Artillery, handling long-range combat. Kolt was made Sky General, responsible for aerial engagements. As for the King's three Royal Guards, they had no need for titles, so they served as Meruem's personal troops.

"Kolt, stay. The rest of you may disperse. Remember tomorrow's Nen training." Meruem kept Kolt, who had been distracted earlier, and dismissed the other Squad Leaders to rest. The so-called Nen training was meant to teach these Squad Leaders the proper use of Nen, preventing them from going down the wrong path—like the leopard in the original story, who abandoned his speed advantage for a ridiculous barrier-based game.

"I know where your sister is." Back at the Ant Nest, Kolt hadn't left like the other Squad Leaders, but he also hadn't planned to follow Meruem. The Queen, whom he valued most, was dead. In his past life, he had died protecting his sister; protection was his obsession in this life. Yet ironically, after being reborn, he had made the Queen—who had devoured both him and the sister he protected—the being he would sacrifice his life to guard. With the Queen dead, he lost his purpose for protection and his drive to live. Unlike the original story, Kite hadn't appeared, and Kolt didn't know where to go. Perhaps giving up and quietly dying was Kolt's fate. But Meruem was a transmigrator; of course, he knew that Kolt's sister had also been reborn as an ant, and he even knew who she had become.

A single sentence—"I know where your sister is"—restored most of Kolt's past-life memories. Finally, hope rekindled, and Kolt chose to follow Meruem. Yes, Kolt finally remembered who he was meant to protect: his little sister.

"Your Majesty." As expected, Kolt spoke first. Who would have thought that Kolt, known for his stern and rigid demeanor, would become so impatient and unsettled upon hearing news of his sister? Indeed, ants and humans alike have their own emotions.

"Soldier Ant Reina." Meruem slowly uttered four words.

Watching Kolt hold Reina and sob loudly, Meruem was filled with emotion. Ants and humans were essentially the same—they could cry, laugh, get angry, and grieve; they wept when sad and laughed when happy. Once upon a time, or rather in their past lives, they too were human. Since they had become ants in this life, why not live it to the fullest? Leading the Chimera Ant clan to dominate the world didn't seem like a bad idea.

"Um, Squad Leader, sir. Could you please not do this?" Unlike Kolt's unrestrained emotional release, Reina was completely bewildered. A lofty Squad Leader had suddenly rushed up to her, inexplicably hugged her, and burst into tears—it was very unsettling. Yes, in the original story, Reina had left with Hagga's squad, but this time she hadn't. After all, staying with the King was far safer than with the Squad Leaders. Besides, Meruem had been keeping an eye on this little Soldier Ant; even if Reina had tried to leave with Hagga's squad, he would have brought her back. This was a great way to win loyalty—trading a single Soldier Ant for a Squad Leader's complete devotion was a deal that couldn't be lost.

But siblings were siblings after all. Even if their past-life memories had almost completely faded, the same blood still flowed in their veins. Fading memories allowed them to recall each other once more. In the original story, they had both found some happiness—Reina returned to her hometown, and Kolt found a new purpose in protecting the reincarnated Kite. But brother and sister might never see each other again. In this life, however, thanks to Meruem, they could meet once more. Whether their ending would be as good as the original's remained uncertain. Was this good or bad? Perhaps only heaven knew.

"Then, let me become stronger. Lead this adorable group of subordinates to dominate the world. Let's see how far I can go this time." Alone in the palace, Meruem took out a severed arm—the arm of the Hunter Association's Chairman, Netero. Slowly raising the arm, a massive, ominous red figure with horns on its head appeared behind Meruem, its mouth wide open. Meruem gently placed the severed arm into the monster's mouth. This was Meruem's unique Nen ability, which he had named—Taotie.

From then on, every ant entered intense special training. Born with bodies and talents far superior to humans, even a little training could turn them into powerhouses—Soldier Ants included. While Soldier Ants might not match normal humans in intelligence, they made up for it with simpler minds. Almost all the Nen abilities they developed, except for a rare few, were Enhancement-type. Conversely, among the Squad Leaders and Squad Captains, not a single one was an Enhancement-type Nen User. Besides the Soldier Ants, the only other Enhancement-type in the Chimera Ant clan was Pouf. At the same time, the ants weren't just improving their Nen; Meruem also ordered Pitou, Pouf, and Blair to conduct another experiment to boost the tribe's strength—the Ant Modification Project, also known as Artificial Ants. This involved transforming humans into artificial ants, much like Palm in the original story. Meruem also issued another command that puzzled some ants: no more eating humans. The ants who had regained their past-life memories strongly agreed with this order. In truth, Meruem's primary reason for this command was simple—he didn't eat humans. As a transmigrator, aside from a few with peculiar tastes, no predecessor could stomach human flesh or brains. Just thinking about it was nauseating. Compared to bloody, stinking human meat, Meruem preferred fine cuisine—like the Red-Cooked Pork that the First Emperor had loved.

PS: Please **! Please recommend! Also, thanks to reader sar0825 for the tip! Trust your instincts—you're not wrong! Hope everyone enjoys my book! (??ω??) But I usually update in the morning or afternoon; due to work, I only occasionally update this late!