Time flies, and it's already the end of March.
By now, after extensive training, Menchi and her companions had developed the ability to remain calm and practice their Nen even when disturbed by ghosts. When the ghost fog interfered with their perception, they could respond quickly to hidden dangers and sudden attacks.
Under Oboro's training, their improvement was particularly striking. Beyond their five senses becoming more acute, they had developed a sixth sense for perceiving danger human intuition.
Intuition can be trained. What we call intuition or the sixth sense is actually the brain processing visible information when receiving certain signals and making vague predictions. It's just that this "information" hasn't been fully analyzed, resulting in a lack of conscious awareness.
Of course, some gifted people in this world possess innate talents. The training method Oboro employed was simply acquired refinement for ordinary people.
"Let's go," Oboro said.
The next day, the team of six packed their bags and prepared to depart for NGL. Oboro was about to begin hunting Chimera Ants and absorbing souls and black fog on a large scale. He needed to stay ahead of the Hunter Association.
According to the original timeline, Kite had led Killua and Gon on a month-long biological survey in the Kakin Empire in early April. They then went to the southern region of the Yubian continent, an area called Nanpis, where they finally confirmed the existence of Chimera Ants.
However, back in the Republic of Padokea, Killua's return to Greed Island had been delayed because of Jed's situation. Perhaps the duo's meeting with Kite would also be delayed, which would naturally benefit Oboro's plan.
Whether it was hunting Chimera Ants or absorbing souls, he didn't want outsiders to know. Otherwise, the Association might condemn their team in the name of safety, believing they had discovered the Chimera Ants long ago but failed to report it. The Zodiacs, particularly the Dog, would never miss such an opportunity to discredit them.
The Fells family's spaceship descended slowly from the sky, the wind from its propellers causing the surrounding wilderness grass and trees to sway.
"How is it?" Oboro asked Menchi, who had just returned from a phone call several dozen meters away, before boarding the spaceship.
"Kite is indeed in the Kakin Empire," Menchi replied softly. "It seems he and his team have discovered some clues and submitted information to the Association, but they're all small ant samples. They can't determine the source of the dangerous species yet. After all, NGL is a closed country located in the Mitnie Federation. Given NGL's special national conditions, it's more difficult for Association members to enter than East Gorteau it's almost impossible. What's more, no one suspects the Chimera Ant Queen would be there."
"Good," Oboro smiled. Then they both boarded the spaceship and departed.
Initially, most Chimera Ants in NGL were ordinary soldier ants, the lowest rank produced by the Queen. They needed to build nests and collect food typical ant behavior. Moreover, the Chimera Ants at that stage still retained the original appearance of an ant colony, without anthropomorphic thinking or consciousness. But as the Queen consumed more food and nutrition, the ants she produced naturally became stronger, and evolution occurred.
It was a very typical pattern of feeding and reproduction. As long as she ate, she could lay eggs. During egg-laying, some of her biological characteristics were retained, which explained why the captains and squadron leaders had such strange appearances. In other words, the greater the variety of food, the greater the genetic diversity.
Ordinary soldier ants couldn't reproduce. The Chimera Ants were warlike and extremely aggressive. Because of their feeding and mating characteristics, the Queen gave birth to increasingly stronger offspring. They were greedy and constantly searched for food with perfect genes. Any life form targeted by the Chimera Ants and considered a "delicacy" would often face extinction.
At first, most ants in the nest were soldier ants, and the food they provided to the Queen was mostly various wild beasts. But after consuming humans, she laid eggs that allowed multiple genes to merge, creating superior life forms and along with it came human thinking and memory.
This explained why some corps captains and squadron leaders subsequently awakened memories from their human past lives.
When Menchi and her team arrived, although the ants in NGL were running rampant, they were barely within a controllable range, and most were soldier ants. By now, the ant population must have exploded exponentially. As for the squadron leaders, they had probably been born long ago.
The spacecraft headed for NGL. For ordinary international forces, entering NGL was extremely difficult, but for the Fells family, which controlled the world's mafia, it was relatively easy. The purpose and original intention of NGL's creation was to destroy the human world. This closed country continuously supplied drugs, guns, and other contraband to the world, and the Fells family provided NGL with distribution channels. The two parties had become business partners.
This was something Oboro had planned a few years ago. The market share that the Fells family provided to Gyro was actually only a small part, but for NGL, which had always been regarded as a thorn in the side of V5, it was quite important. Most importantly, the Fells family, with its criminal background, was seen as kindred in Gyro's eyes.
In the cabin's living room, Oboro briefed his teammates about NGL and Gyro.
"Gyro is a rare hero," Oboro said. "He managed to make NGL an independent system and develop its own economic chain under the targeting and suppression of V5. It's quite extraordinary that he's survived until now. However, he's also very cautious. I originally wanted to meet with him representing the Fells family but was rejected. He doesn't want to expose himself to outsiders. Even among his subordinates, few have seen his true face."
"Why do you want to see him?" Anthony asked, puzzled. They were going to kill ants, not engage in diplomacy this had nothing to do with their mission.
"Kakin originally offered a bounty for biological investigation several years ago," Oboro explained. "It's hard to trace exactly when the Chimera Ants appeared in the human world. I don't know when Beyond started planning this conspiracy, but it was probably before he returned from the Dark Continent and handed over the 'Beyond Diary' to V5. Pariston likely joined later, so he's not the mastermind. The mastermind is still Beyond."
Oboro detailed his understanding of the whole story with slight embellishments.
"In fact, Chimera Ants have existed in the human world for a long time but weren't taken seriously. Due to environmental limitations and isolation from humans, these ants appeared no different from ordinary ones. They were scattered worldwide and ignored precisely because they seemed so normal. Fortunately, Kite is thorough if it were someone else, it would probably have taken much longer to discover the true nature of the Chimera Ants."
"The Queen entered the Mitnie Federation later. Her original habitat was likely between the human world and the Dark Continent, or in a remote sea area, probably on a small island. Because resources were scarce, she needed substantial food to reproduce, and her original base could no longer satisfy her needs, so she came to the human world."
"The fact that Chimera Ants are scattered around the world is undoubtedly because Beyond wanted to understand and observe this creature's characteristics and determine which environment best suited its survival and reproduction. It also introduces an element of uncertainty, making it difficult to completely eliminate the Chimera Ants."
"Hiss." Hearing this, several team members looked at each other and gasped. They secretly thought Oboro was even more cunning than Beyond. To eliminate the Chairman, his plan was deliberate and calculating.
"What he wants isn't only Netero," Oboro said softly. "I believe his original idea was more likely to let mankind face a huge disaster and cause the collapse of human society. This would give him the opportunity to go to the Dark Continent again. But the final outcome was that Netero confronted the Ant King and fell."
"Captain, are you so sure that this Ant King you mentioned can kill the old man?" Anthony was skeptical. Although Oboro had told them about the Ant King, those were just his speculations and might not be accurate. Moreover, in Oboro's description, the so-called Ant King seemed almost transcendent.
"Yes the Ant King born from the Queen is her son. So shouldn't the Queen be more powerful than the Ant King?" Gabwich also looked puzzled and spoke haltingly.
"The Ant King is a product of evolution, a perfect genetic work of art belonging to another dimension of life," Oboro smiled. "The Queen's own genes have been fixed and won't evolve further. The two are incomparable."
"As for the Chimera Ant hierarchy, at the bottom are soldier ants and worker ants. These two types pose the least threat and can be killed by ordinary Nen users. These are the species you filmed initially. But now it's different Officers have appeared in the colony."
"Officers?" the team asked.
"That's right. They are ants with intelligence no less than humans. They can launch offensives in an organized manner like human armies. Some can even use human tools, weapons, and firearms. You must understand that the newer generations of Chimera Ants have better genes. During reproduction, the Queen has been screening genes, eliminating bad ones and selecting good ones. This makes the Chimera Ants increasingly stronger, in both size and intelligence. With bare hands, they can easily kill adult human men."
The team fell silent.
"Above the Officers are the Captains ants at this level are fundamentally different from the soldiers, soldier ants, and worker ants below them," Oboro continued. "Even as Nen users, if you're not strong enough, you may fall to them."
"Can't I hurt them with my Nen?" Fant frowned.
"You can, but don't treat them as inferior creatures. In pure physical strength, they far surpass humans. To put it bluntly, they can use their physical attributes to overcome the gap created by Nen. If your strength isn't sufficient and the gap isn't wide enough, you won't win."
"How long has it been? Have these ants evolved to this level already?" Anthony couldn't help swallowing anxiously.
"Don't be too nervous. With your abilities, you should handle them easily," Oboro smiled.
"Phew I was scared to death," Anthony sighed with relief.
"Above the Captains are the Squadron Leaders subordinates who report directly to the Queen. One-on-one, you can attack them without major problems. But if you encounter two or more, don't fight retreat first," Oboro warned.
"Captain have you really never been to the Dark Continent?" Gabwich blinked and asked again.
It was incredible that Oboro knew so much about Chimera Ants despite never visiting NGL. Even if Beyond had brought the Chimera Ants from the human continent, he would likely be confused about their current situation.
These creatures came from the Dark Continent, and Oboro seemed to have knowledge about that mysterious land. It was hard to believe he hadn't been there.
"I really haven't been there," Oboro smiled sincerely at his teammates.
Their faces were full of doubt, but they had to believe him. Considering his age, it was indeed impossible for Oboro to have visited that continent he had only become a Nen user as a teenager. There simply wasn't enough time, and reaching the Dark Continent was extraordinarily difficult.
"I estimate this ant incident will last at least a few months, possibly until August at the earliest," Oboro added. "This period is crucial for you. Consider this mission a test before going to the Dark Continent. If you can't handle this level of danger, I won't take you there no matter how much you beg."
"Remember," he concluded, "these ants in the Dark Continent are equivalent to the insects beneath human feet. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" they replied in unison.