About the Chimera Ants

As Joey walked on, the manga plot points he still remembered kept flashing through his mind.

Hunter x Hunter was an old series, after all. If the anime had not received a remake, and rumors that its notoriously unreliable creator was preparing to resume publication had not suddenly surfaced before his transmigration, he might have forgotten the plot long ago.

Even so, several years had already passed since he had transmigrated. It would have been a miracle if he could still recall most of the details from the manga and anime.

Fortunately, Joey still remembered some iconic scenes, the basic setting, and the broad strokes of the plot.

For instance, Ponzu had been shot in the head and eaten. Pokkle had been captured, allowing the ants to consume someone with Nen and learn of its existence. Kite had received a bloodstained message and led a group to a base, where they encountered Chimera Ants and fought them.

Then, after leaving the base, Kite's group had been surrounded. Finally, Neferpitou, one of the King's Royal Guards, appeared and fought Kite, while Killua knocked out Gon before he could lose his temper and fled under Kite's cover.

Joey did not dwell on what happened next. Instead, he looked down at the phone in his hand, which he had just switched on.

The beetle-shaped flip phone was probably the model Leorio had recommended most highly in the anime. It had a long standby time, good reception, a reasonable price, and a remarkably durable build.

Yoshikage Kira had pretty good taste. Yet despite that inward compliment, Joey found nothing useful as he searched through the phone.

The phone book contained no numbers.

There was not a single text message. Even payment reminders, advertisements, and other service notifications had been wiped clean.

There was no call history either, nor a single photo. If one bar had not been blinking in the signal indicator, Joey would have suspected this was a brand-new phone without so much as a SIM card.

As for its other functions, the simple phone laid them all out plainly for Joey: a compass, an alarm, a blank notepad, a voice recorder, a camera, a calendar, and Snake!

With absolutely no idea whom he could call, Joey checked the time on the phone, then tucked it back inside his clothes.

The battery was well charged. Even using it as a watch or flashlight would be useful, never mind the fact that it could record video.

The distant explosions had stopped several minutes earlier, and the additional drain on his stamina had also ceased a short while ago.

That suggested Chariot had either finished its task and was on its way back, or had been held up.

The fact that the explosions consumed stamina had unexpectedly revealed an advantage. And since he felt no discomfort in his hand, Chariot probably had not sustained any damage either.

But when Joey thought of Chariot's toughness, that seemed only natural. Even Star Platinum could not smash it.

Ordinary attacks probably could not leave so much as a mark on Chariot, so naturally he would feel nothing in his hand.

Still, there was no use overthinking it. Hoping Chariot would return soon was more practical.

By his reckoning, he had been moving through the woods for over ten minutes since leaving the village. Whether or not Chariot could wipe out the Chimera Ants there, any ants that discovered what had happened would report the deaths. When that happened, the Chimera Ants sent to investigate the village would very likely be Squadron Leaders.

Those creatures were nothing like the rank-and-file Chimera Ant soldiers.

If Joey wanted to stay safe, he needed to put more distance behind him before dark.

Once night fell, this forest would undoubtedly become the domain of those Chimera Ants, which combined the abilities of countless creatures.

The Chimera Ants' unusual method of phagogenesis meant their evolution would become terrifying if left unchecked.

Phagogenesis, as the name suggested, meant that the Chimera Ant Queen only needed to ingest enough food to produce offspring, without any need for mating between male and female.

Those offspring would also inherit the traits of the creatures the Queen ate.

In other words, the greater the variety of food, the more genetically diverse the Chimera Ant offspring would be.

At the same time, only the Queen and the King had the right to reproduce within the colony, which also gave the Chimera Ants their extremely greedy, belligerent, and aggressive disposition.

The Chimera Ants also had a clearly defined division of labor. Their Queen would keep migrating in search of a suitable location, increasing the number of Soldier Ants along the way to build an army loyal to her. Only once she found somewhere satisfactory would she stop and produce large numbers of Construction Ants.

These Construction Ants would build a nest to the Queen's satisfaction at incredible speed, after which she would live there until her death.

During that time, however, the Queen would produce a King at regular intervals.

The King would not remain in the nest for long. After being born, he would take his Royal Guards and leave to wander, mating with various species during his travels to produce the next generation of Queens.

Throughout this process, the Chimera Ants maintained a strict hierarchy.

Beneath the King were the Royal Guards the Queen had prepared for him. After the King and his Royal Guards departed, the Squadron Leaders ranked directly beneath the Queen. Each had clearly assigned duties and commanded large numbers of Platoon Leaders, also known as Senior Soldier Ants, and ordinary soldiers, or Junior Soldier Ants.

The situation Joey now faced was that a Chimera Ant Queen who had already found a home and built her nest was plundering the surrounding area for creatures to feed on as she gestated the next King.

And because this Queen had consumed large numbers of humans, the Chimera Ants she subsequently produced had gained intelligence.

That meant Joey was facing a group of intelligent Chimera Ant pursuers who also possessed the abilities of various creatures. No matter how he looked at it, that was an unpleasant and frightening prospect.

Creak, creak, creak...

The sound of the Sheer Heart Attack Chariot rolling along came from behind Joey, drawing closer and making him stop in his tracks.

Then Joey saw Chariot racing toward him, leaving a trail of tread marks through the woods.

Killer Queen stepped forward at just the right moment and extended his left hand. With a whoosh, Chariot became a streak of blue light and vanished into the back of Killer Queen's left hand.

But Joey's expression darkened as he looked at the two narrow tread marks.

Chariot's return proved that all the Chimera Ants within the village had been eliminated, but the two tracks it had left on its way back had plainly exposed his whereabouts.

Joey could not be certain whether any Chimera Ants nearby had followed the tread marks while remaining hidden, but all he could do now was get away as quickly as possible.

Turning around, Joey tightened the backpack against his back and quickened his pace again.

But after walking some distance with his back to the village, Joey's brows drew into a deep frown. He had seen Killer Queen gesturing beside him, clearly telling him there was a Chimera Ant behind him.

Damn it!

So I really had been exposed.

Joey was not surprised. In fact, his deliberate turn to expose his back had partly been intended to lure any possible pursuer into attacking him.

But the pursuer's decision gave Joey an unsettling suspicion.

Was it holding back because it was overly cautious, or could it see Killer Queen?

If it was the former, that was fine. But if it was the latter, I was in trouble!

Either way, Joey had to deal with the pursuer as quickly as possible. With a monster like that on his trail, once its reinforcements arrived, death would be inevitable no matter how many tricks he had.