In a yellow wasteland shrouded in ghostly mist, Oboro and his team hunted Chimera ants. They found themselves completely surrounded by the ant colony.
This was another corner of the Chimera Ants' territory, long separated from the forest. The different territories were administered by different division commanders, each with their own army. In their quest to find food for the queen, they competed fiercely for contributions, often fighting each other.
Naturally, different division commanders adopted different offensive strategies and policies when facing the enemy. This time, the number of Chimera ants dispatched exceeded 10,000, the strongest ant army Oboro and his team had encountered recently. However, with Oboro present, no matter how numerous the ants were, they couldn't gain any advantage. At most, they could delay the inevitable.
Anthony and Fant moved through the fog, performing circular Nen techniques. The ghostly fog's effect on the aura had no effect on them, allowing the pair to hide within it while mercilessly slaughtering the ants that rushed in from all directions.
As for Menchi, Gabwich, and Rita, they had already left NGL. They'd gone to the sea area outside the planned Yorbian continent, taking care of some business along the way.
Pariston knew that Oboro coveted the Chimera Ants and wanted to do something about it, but he didn't know Oboro's true purpose. Based on Pariston's thought patterns, Oboro was certain that Pariston was monitoring NGL's situation, primarily to keep an eye on him.
Therefore, he had Menchi and the other two appear in a coastal city on the Yorbian continent as a diversion. Meanwhile, they created a false impression on a distant island, far from any area that humans could survey. Oboro had already used the power of the Fells family to obtain the necessary permissions. The location of the island was similar to the coordinates where he had killed Xiyou.
Although this might not completely hide their activities from Pariston, it would at least distract his attention. It would make him think that Oboro had finally lost his patience and wanted to reach the Dark Continent before Beyond, thus breaking his agreement with Netero. This pretense and motivation was enough to get Pariston's attention.
"Forget the Division Commander, even the ants at the Troop Captain level didn't show up." The battle had lasted from morning to night. When it finally ended, Anthony took off his blood-soaked coat in disgust.
He remained amazed at his captain's terrifying ability. Within a one-kilometer radius, the area had become a hazy zone where all intruding life forms were silently claimed by the ghosts. Moreover, since the fog blocked perception, it became a protective shield that minimized the dangers he and Fant faced.
In contrast, the ants that entered the fog stumbled around like headless flies.
"Menchi should have informed Kite's team. The Association probably knows as well," Fant didn't share Anthony's mysophobia. Without tidying up, he just sat down on the floor, lit a cigarette and looked at Oboro. "He'll keep it a secret for us, won't he?"
Fant meant Kite. Menchi had revealed only a small part of the information about the Chimera Ants to him. Oboro had done this to keep the Association's hunters in the dark, and also to ensure that the information would appear to have been discovered by Kite himself, rather than coming from them.
Kite was a disciple of Ging, and because of the relationship between Oboro and the Twelve Zodiacs, Fant didn't fully trust him.
Sitting on an ant corpse, Oboro chuckled. "Dragon can guess a little. Without confirmation, he won't expose us; Pariston won't know either."
"In other words, Ging will know," Fant said, catching the hidden meaning.
"You can be sure of his discretion, at least he won't join forces with Pariston until Netero dies."
Fant nodded. Since the captain had a plan, he felt reassured.
The four of them were different from Menchi. She was originally a member of the Hunters' Association, while they had followed Oboro before officially joining the Association. They didn't share such a strong sense of belonging to the organization. Even though they knew that some of the Association hunters they considered their comrades would die in this premeditated plan, they didn't care much.
If nothing unexpected happened, the Association would soon send someone to investigate. There were quite a few people who had previously accepted Kakin Biological's investigative missions.
The first wave would inevitably be defeated by the Chimera Ants due to the information asymmetry, and would become experimental material for the Ants' research on "Nen". These first researchers would also be the weakest. Once the Association realized what was happening, they would likely issue an order prohibiting ordinary members from conducting deeper investigations into the NGL and upgrade the mission's classification.
"Captain, considering the aggressive nature of the Chimera Ants, they can't be that patient, right? Didn't you say that there are some formidable individuals among these division commanders?" Anthony changed the subject.
The number of Chimera ants that had died at their hands was countless. In this situation, the ant colony's lack of a strong counterattack seemed rather strange. His eyes focused on the distant horizon under the deep night sky.
"Though they are aggressive, they also fear death. They're not stupid," Oboro replied calmly.
"It's already here, you just haven't noticed it."
Fant and Anthony followed his gaze simultaneously. Both of their expressions turned serious as the realization dawned on them.
There were Division Commander-level Chimera Ants lurking nearby, but they were far enough away that their aura was extremely concealed. Most importantly, even in the dark, the commander could clearly see everything that was happening on the battlefield.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. They really are a higher life form, a species from the Dark Continent.
At the same time, several miles away on a hillside, a division commander with a human-like metal necklace around his neck and a face resembling a red panda, led his two deputies, both troop captains, to occupy the high ground while they observed the now silent battlefield.
The two captains couldn't see anything, they could only sense that the ant colony's signal had been lost. But Division Commander Nairo saw everything clearly.
"Are they all dead?" a captain stared at Nairo.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you talking? Did you see the human's appearance clearly?" Another captain raised his hand and waved it in front of the red panda's face.
Nairo took a step back, his throat clearing. "Let's go, we're going back!"
The two captains exchanged looks.
Now, Nairo finally understood what Korudo and Peggy had meant. During this time, some division commanders had become angry because of the rampant slaughter of these humans in their territory. However, they were always restrained by Korudo and Peggy. Seeing that these division commanders were about to fight among themselves, Nairo, as a centrist, had volunteered.
Even with a large army of ants at his disposal!
Although his eyesight was excellent, he couldn't see everything clearly. However, he could sense the 'mysterious energy' that Korudo had mentioned, an unspeakable aura of terror.
This was a transcendent species that existed above his level of life, a ruler.
In Nairo's eyes, the sky above the battlefield was marked with two huge words: RESTRICTED AREA!
"He found me, but he didn't seem to have any intention of killing me," sweat ran down Nairo's face. After he finished speaking, he immediately turned and left.
"This is not human."