The morning sunlight could not penetrate the thick fog at the edge of NGL.
The atmosphere in the temporary camp.
Was as oppressive as a powder keg about to explode.
Chairman Netero sat in the very center of the military tent.
He held several photographs that had just been printed through secret channels.
They were the latest images the Hunter Association's intelligence network had captured using satellites and drones.
At tremendous risk.
The photographs showed the capital of the East Gorteau Republic.
Peijin.
That isolated nation under absolute dictatorial rule.
Had now become a hell on earth.
"It's confirmed."
Knov adjusted his glasses, their lenses catching the light.
His voice carried an unmistakable gravity.
"East Gorteau's dictator, Diego, is dead."
"Our intelligence agents searched the palace moat."
"They found half his corpse."
Morel took a fierce drag on his pipe.
Then exhaled a cloud of dense white smoke.
"They've taken over someone else's nest."
"Those ants haven't just evolved terrifying strength."
"They're far too smart for their own good, too."
"They've seized supreme command of an entire nation."
Netero said nothing.
He laid the photographs out one by one on the makeshift field table.
In the photographs.
Densely packed crowds.
Resembled a murky river with no end in sight.
Fully armed soldiers and grotesquely shaped Chimera Ants were herding them along.
They moved blindly toward the capital, Peijin.
"Selection."
Netero pressed a withered finger against a photograph.
A fierce murderous glint flashed in his cloudy eyes.
"That monster calling himself the King."
"Has ordered a nationwide assembly."
"Five million citizens."
"Must all gather in the palace square within ten days."
"For this so-called selection."
Morel clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.
"Selection, my ass."
"That's a one-sided massacre."
"They'll force Nen Abilities to awaken through physical trauma."
"Anyone who