Unlike the ants led by Meruem, who diligently trained after occupying East Gorteau Republic, the five teams of Squad Leaders that had left back then split into countless pairs of Squad Captain groups and continuously radiated outward from the NGL autonomous region, preying on humans. The ants had never possessed any sense of right or wrong. To them, humans were food. Combined with bodies naturally stronger than ordinary humans and a powerful talent for Nen, the ants that left were practically unstoppable. The Loka Loka Republic, closest to the NGL autonomous region, became the country most frequently attacked by the ants. Or rather, it was the region hardest hit by the ant disaster.
Unfortunately, the ants were not as powerful as they imagined. Certainly, even Squad Captains and Soldier Ants were stronger than humans from the moment they were born. But once humans learned Nen, their many bizarre abilities made killing ants a very easy task.
It was worth mentioning that Soldier Ants who had not learned Nen could be easily eliminated even by ordinary humans using firearms such as pistols. Squad Captains, however, were not so easy to deal with. Their vitality far surpassed that of humans, and they possessed the terrifying talent of almost instantly comprehending Nen. The harm they inflicted on ordinary humans was horrifying. But the ants were not invincible. Powerful Nen Users among humanity could easily slaughter these ants that had only recently been born. Just as ants massacred ordinary people, they could be massacred in turn. It made perfect sense when one thought about it. Humanity's population base was millions, even tens of millions of times greater than that of the ants. As long as one in ten thousand people possessed Nen, and one in a hundred thousand had greater Nen talent than the ants, that would be enough to deal with them.
The enormous difference in population was the ants' first disadvantage. Their second was that although they could naturally learn Nen, their understanding and foundation in Nen were simply too poor. They could rely on racial talent to defeat ordinary Nen Users, but once they encountered an expert, it would become nothing short of a slaughter. Every powerful Nen User had their own trump card.
The ants' reckless behavior had long since alerted humanity. Over the past few days, television stations everywhere had reported news of bizarre monsters attacking humans. Lion Division Leader Haga even appeared on television personally, and after the interview, he ate the female reporter.
It was practically a global announcement: We are monsters, we eat people, hurry up and organize heroes to destroy us.
Faced with such blatant provocation from another race, Nen Users from various regions quickly organized themselves under the Hunter Association's lead to eliminate the ants roaming everywhere. Seeing such pig-headed teammates, Meruem, who happened to watch the news, felt utterly exasperated. Hagga's actions were practically sabotaging the ants that had left. Many humans had originally taken a wait-and-see attitude toward whether Chimera Ants even existed. But after Hagga's stunt, humanity's attitude toward the Chimera Ant race changed from watchful suspicion to united hostility. Meruem had intended for those ants to distract humanity and buy him more time. Now it had become a matter of focusing everyone's attention on wiping them out. Once the ants outside were eliminated, the ants led by Meruem and holed up in East Gorteau Republic would likely be exposed soon afterward. The ants in the original story had not even lasted a month.
"This won't do. At the very least, I have to stall until after my decisive battle with that old man Netero in three months." Standing at the highest point of the palace, Meruem gazed into the distance and muttered, "My beloved subordinates are still slowly growing stronger. Now is not the time for war. Hm, it seems those who left will have to get a bargain."
With that, he took a step straight forward. Then, pulled by gravity, Meruem fell vertically downward. Yet throughout the entire process, he maintained that same nonchalant expression. All I could say was: I gave that act a perfect ten.
"Oh~~~~~~ It's been a long time since I came back. Nothing's changed at all." Standing atop a garbage heap like a small mountain, a blond boy in a vest with a baby face that looked easy to bully held his right hand to his brow and sighed. Beside him stood a strange man wrapped head to toe in bandages and wearing boxing gloves, a cute girl with glasses, a little girl in a black kimono, a short boy almost entirely hidden beneath a black cloak, and finally a tall man dressed in bizarre clothing like a Pharaoh. These six people in strange attire were the legendary, infamous A-rank wanted band of thieves—the Phantom Troupe.
All around them were heaps of garbage piled into small mountains. Beneath the trash heaps stood numerous trucks, and around the trucks, a group of people dressed in what looked like white protective suits searched the garbage for anything useful.
After passing through a strange mist filled with the stench of decay, three figures wearing gas masks and biohazard suits appeared.
"What's the situation?" asked the blond baby-faced boy, Shalnark of the Troupe. From the looks of it, the Troupe's six members knew these three people.
"There are over three hundred victims and martyrs in total. Even bombs haven't worked. We're racking our brains for a solution." The gas-masked man's tone carried helplessness and bitterness. "Even the definition of death itself has caused disagreements at the meeting."
"What do you mean?" the six members of the Troupe asked, confused.
"Please follow me." The gas-masked man calmly led the six to a corpse covered by a white sheet. "Please take a look." He yanked the sheet away, revealing the body underneath. What an ugly corpse it was. Rather than calling it a corpse, it would be more fitting to call it a monster. It had a pig's head, protruding fangs, strange sharp horns, one human arm, one pig's hoof, and a body covered in bizarre fatty tissue, like a corpse assembled from mismatched organs and flesh.
"A few days ago, he was still human." It was impossible to tell whether the gas-masked man's tone held fear or anger.
"There's no difference between this and being dead, is there?" Phinks said.
"But some people support allowing those who have turned into monsters to live. Still, the majority at the meeting believes that whether they can return to normal or not, once they have become monsters, they should be counted as dead," the gas-masked man explained.
"Nothing has changed at all. Even when seeking revenge, you still argue over whether your companions were killed or transformed. I really can't understand the way you people think." Though Phinks spoke calmly, anyone observant enough could see Nen gradually radiating from his body like a drawn sword. "Leave it to us. By the end of today, we'll eliminate that insect calling herself Queen." Was it anger over the companions killed in the past? Or rage over the destruction of his former home? Perhaps it was neither.
"Ooh, Phinks is fired up!" Shalnark, the blond baby-faced boy, clapped as he made his carefree jab.
"He feels like some hot-blooded idiot!" Shizuku chimed in from the side.
"Shut up."
Meteor City Council Building
"I am the Queen!! I'll say it again—surrender at once. Those who defy me will face extreme punishment, while those who obey me will settle in paradise." An arrogant voice rang out from within the Council Building. At that moment, the building was covered in a mass of disgusting, spiderweb-like slime.
"Mother's greatest failure was having to use such an ancient and terribly inefficient method as laying eggs to increase her forces." Inside the building, Scorpion Girl Zazan sat upon a throne as she spoke. Around her stood many beautiful women whose bodies clearly did not belong to humans. They were Soldier Ants, but different from the Soldier Ants born from the Queen.
"And her only success was giving birth to me." Just then, two Soldier Ants escorted a human young man through the door.
"Kill me! Come on, kill me! You bastard!" Though the young man kept shouting defiantly, fear was hidden in his voice—fear of Zazan.
"Hehehe, you have potential. You may live." Zazan rose with a soft laugh, and the stinger on her scorpion tail instantly pierced the young man's body.
"Ahhhhhhh!" The young man's body instantly swelled, his face began to elongate, and sharp teeth grew from his mouth. In the brief span of fifteen minutes, a human young man had turned into a monster resembling an ant.
"Welcome, chosen one, to paradise. Swear allegiance to the Queen," said the female ant standing beside Zazan. The young man who had turned into a monster seemed to have had his mind altered as well. He bent at the waist and gently kissed the ground beneath Zazan's feet. He no longer resembled the mortal enemy he had been moments ago.
"I am the new Queen! This is my ability—Aesthetic Transformation Injection."
Just then, the six members of the Phantom Troupe arrived before the Council Building.
"Let's break through from the front," Phinks said.
A great battle was on the verge of breaking out: Phantom Troupe VS Chimera Ant Squad Leader Zazan.
"Ah, w(?Д?)w, looks like I arrived too early. Big bosses usually make their entrance last. Should I go play somewhere else?" A yellow figure like lightning arrived at the other side of the Council Building at the same time. "Never mind. If the King finds out I haven't been doing my job properly, he'll probably kill me." The yellow figure seemed to recall something, shuddered, and immediately dismissed that idea.
"Alright, then I'll watch this show from the sidelines." The yellow figure clasped his hands together and made another decision. "Let me see how much you've improved, my former companions. (?￣△￣)? Ah-ha, anyway, the King said it was fine as long as I brought them back alive." The goofy style of the latter half completely ruined the cool atmosphere he had built up before.
PS: Please support me! Please recommend this story! And once again, thanks to reader sar0825 for the tip! I hope everyone likes this book! (?￣△￣)? I usually update in the morning or afternoon, though. Because of work, I only occasionally update this late!
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