"It's a bit troublesome"
A hint of paleness appeared on the horizon.
Oboro walked outside the ants' territory and came to a dilapidated village that had been looted and slaughtered by the Chimera Ants.
Hearing the footsteps, Anthony and Fant emerged from a wooden house.
"Team leader!" they exclaimed, shocked when they saw Oboro's appearance.
He looked completely disheveled naked, with blood covering his body. It was obvious he had just survived an intense battle.
Oboro's injuries had almost healed. He had encountered a few ants on the way and used his life-stealing Hatsu to recover. However, the damage caused by Neferpitou couldn't be underestimated. He still needed rest. His current vitality could only repair the surface wounds and some injuries to his internal organs.
"I'm fine," Oboro smiled slightly.
"You" Fant realized something was off.
The reason for their surprise was that according to the plan, they weren't supposed to take any action in the ant territory they were just meant to observe. Oboro's mission was only to collect souls.
"Well I killed that cat woman," Oboro nodded.
"Hiss" Anthony's eyes widened in disbelief.
Both he and Fant knew exactly what Neferpitou was capable of.
Fant understood Oboro's expression and said in a deep voice, "Neferpitou is dead, which means our future plans need to be changed"
This was precisely why Oboro hadn't wanted to face Neferpitou head-on from the beginning.
First, Kite's soul had been absorbed by him, which meant Kite couldn't be reborn. Even if his body was eaten by the Queen and part of his genes were fused for rebirth, he couldn't awaken his memories from before death he would be just an empty shell.
Secondly, the reason Chairman Netero, Morel, and the others hadn't immediately launched an attack on the ant nest was because the old man had sensed Neferpitou's strength. He realized he might not win if he acted rashly not to mention there were other high-level ants like the Squadron Leaders in the nest. So he began to adjust his status. Moreover, compared to the number of Chimera Ants, the Hunter Association members were too few, and those capable of joining this battle were even fewer.
Therefore, everything needed to be planned carefully and handled with caution.
Now Neferpitou was dead. Even if the timeline was delayed and Pouf and Youpi hatched, the threat they posed to Netero was far less than Neferpitou's.
Given the Chairman's character, once he realized the two Royal Guards wouldn't pose a serious threat to him Netero would definitely nip the danger in the bud with lightning speed before the King was born.
There might not be a month or so of training time
And Netero could do this!
This meant that the subsequent transfer of the King, Pouf, and Youpi to East Gorteau might not happen.
It wouldn't be easy for Oboro to harvest the remaining Squadron Leaders
"Yes, we need to make Netero cautious. At least we have to wait until the King is born," Oboro said calmly.
"Relying solely on the remaining ants in the colony the Chairman won't dare to act rashly, right? After all, even if the Association sends out a team, the number of people won't be too large, and the basic-level Hunters won't have any real combat power," Anthony said.
Even though Oboro killed ants so easily and enthusiastically, it wasn't a big problem for him and Fant to deal with some Squadron Leader-level Chimera Ants.
But they were all Star Hunters and there weren't many of them in the Association.
Moreover, Star rating didn't represent strength. After Oboro's training and cultivation, the two's strength could completely match some Two-Star Hunters, especially Fant who was an Enhancer.
"The Chairman's strength is at least equal to yours, team leader" Fant gave Oboro a meaningful look.
Oboro smiled and said nothing.
Anthony closed his mouth. Fant's meaning was obvious.
What Oboro could do, the Chairman could likely do just as easily
Numbers might sometimes be advantageous, but in the face of absolute strength, they could only cause slight ripples at best.
"We have to find a way to delay it," Fant lit a cigarette and took a drag.
His brows furrowed in concentration.
The teammates all knew something about Oboro's Nen abilities, though not much.
Oboro had once said that the King would burst out of the Queen's abdomen on his own and would be born prematurely but this wouldn't affect his terrifying power.
Oboro needed to ensure that the King died alongside Netero without losing strength, because the quality of the soul dropped was directly related to the individual's vitality and power. If the Chairman stormed the nest, judging from Oboro's description of the King, Meruem might be born earlier after sensing the enemy's presence Although he would eventually fight with Netero, his strength might be affected.
Then the 'soul weight' that Oboro cared about most would probably diminish.
"Don't worry, I have a solution" Oboro patted Fant's shoulder and walked toward the cabin. "I'm really tired. I'm going to take a nap first."
Fant and Anthony looked at each other before following.
Meanwhile, after escaping NGL with Gon, Killua found Kite's biological investigation team members and immediately sent a notice to the Association.
It soon attracted the attention of the Association headquarters, who naturally passed the information to V5.
V5 behaved as usual and immediately gave Netero a death order with no intention of taking action themselves.
The Association had reached its current position thanks to V5. To the outside world, the Hunter Association was still a private organization and not one of V5's subordinate institutions. In V5's view, this kind of situation didn't need their soldiers they could just let Netero clean up the mess.
Besides there was still Oboro in the Association!
Otherwise, wouldn't the various benefits and social status they had secured for the Hunter Association over the years be wasted investments?
Netero knew what V5 was thinking, but he didn't care Since the younger generation couldn't handle it, he had the responsibility and obligation to step up.
Additionally, he wanted to see what these creatures called Chimera Ants were truly capable of.
"Chairman, this is the information sent by Killua and Kite's team" In the headquarters office, Beans took a document from the fax machine and placed it on Netero's desk.
The Chairman stood before the French window, gazing at the cityscape, lost in thought.
Hearing Beans' voice, he turned, sat down, and picked up the report.
The papers contained information about the Chimera Ants their habits and characteristics, including their ability to fuse genes from other creatures, class sequences, and naturally, details about Neferpitou.
"Kite" Netero asked as he read.
"Killua said that the cat-like ant's strength was terrifying. To cover his and Gon's escape, Kite chose to stay behind Now his fate is unknown, and they cannot contact him," Beans recounted truthfully before setting the file down.
Netero took out his cell phone and dialed a number to contact Killua directly, wanting to ask some questions personally.
"You mean Kite didn't even have time to react and was seriously injured after just one encounter?" After listening to Killua's description, Netero narrowed his eyes and confirmed with a smile.
"Yes," Killua responded.
Even from the dangerous situation, Netero could sense the fear in Killua's trembling voice.
"Thank you for your hard work," the Chairman offered comfort.
"So, who do you think is stronger, me or that ant? Judge based on your intuition"
"Is that so? Wow That's really exciting."
Obviously, Killua had given his answer.
"You guys should leave first and wait for the Association's next arrangements."
After chatting a while longer, Netero hung up.
He looked at Beans and said, "Call them all here everyone."
"Yes," Beans replied.
The Twelve Zodiacs!
At noon, in the conference room, the Twelve Zodiacs gathered together. Even Ging and Pariston showed up.
Everyone had heard about the Chimera Ants and Kite
Kite was very likely dead now But Ging, as his teacher, appeared unmoved. Not long after entering the room, he fell asleep sitting in his chair.
This scene made several of the more thoughtful women like Cheadle, Cluck, and Geru very unhappy.
They didn't see any worry or sadness on this man's face it was infuriating!
No wonder everyone found him so annoying!
Soon, the Chairman arrived late.
It was called a discussion, but in fact, Netero simply gave orders unilaterally and made arrangements regarding the Chimera Ants.
Ging still seemed absent-minded, and Pariston, sitting opposite him, wore his usual smile.
Neither of them had come today to discuss the matter of ants.
Because they had already anticipated what would happen.
Ging looked at Pariston with a calm expression
Beep, beep
In less than ten minutes, Netero had arranged everything. Just as the meeting was ending and everyone was about to leave, the old man's cell phone suddenly rang.
Ging's expression changed.
Pariston also focused his attention on the Chairman
At the same time, a feeling resonated in their hearts: Here it comes!
"Is that Oboro?" Netero answered the phone and laughed openly.
"Wowit seems you know everything"
Everyone watched the Chairman chatting with Oboro, each with different thoughts.
Oboro hadn't appeared at the Association for a long time.
Including Menchi and others.
The Association currently had no idea what Oboro and his team were doing or where they were.
But at this sensitive time, the call came
"Have you been to NGL?"
After a moment, Netero raised his eyebrows, and the expressions of the Twelve Zodiacs changed as well.
Then, the Chairman activated the speakerphone so everyone could hear Oboro's voice.
It seemed Oboro had requested this.
"I'm at NGL now!"
These words from Oboro made Pariston and Ging straighten up simultaneously.
"I have a more detailed document on the Chimera Ants, and I've sent someone to deliver it We must be cautious in defeating them. If you, Chairman, are to personally take charge, I hope that all members carrying out the mission, including yourself, will receive targeted training first because these ants are more dangerous than you think. I heard about Kite's situation The ant he encountered was a Royal Guard. To be honest, even with your current condition, the chances of winning in a head-on fight are not great."
The room fell into complete silence.
Pariston seemed calm on the surface, but his heart was in turmoil.
Oboro in NGL? Impossible! He's more likely sneaking to some sea area in the Dark Continent. Could I have guessed wrong?
Pariston didn't care about NGL and the ants All his energy was focused on finding evidence of Oboro's smuggling. He had discovered that the Fells family had private waters in the Republic of Batocchia, the location of Hero Island. Not long ago, a ferry belonging to a company under the Fells family had passed through the Ferry Office's blockade under the pretext of exploiting offshore resources, returning within a certain period.
He had obtained the passenger list, which included Menchi, Gabbish, and two others. Though they were disguised and used pseudonyms Menchi had previously gone to Kakin to give Kite information about the Chimera Ants, but it was clearly a smokescreen.
The actual starting point of their smuggling route was the Republic of Batocchia.
Moreover, with the current power and influence of the Fells family, they could force V5 to make certain concessions, such as permitting offshore resource exploitation But while the ship had gone and returned with seemingly the same crew members, names, and appearances, it wasn't clear if they were actually the same people.
This was entirely possible with Oboro's Nen abilities.
But why? Why would he admit he was in NGL at this very moment?
"He said that to everyone to disguise the fact that he had gone to the Dark Continent and delay time There can be no signal outside the scope of the human world He hopes that the Association will focus on the ants. Calling at this time will make people believe he is near NGL. In fact it's very likely some kind of ability, or it isn't him!" Pariston thought secretly.
"I'm still confused There were only three people with Menchi on the boat, which made me think it was fake, but it was actually true"
There was a high probability that Kite was truly dead!
After hearing what Oboro said, Ging suddenly had a realization.
His previously emotionless face finally showed a hint of gravity.
The killer who had slain Kite was the ant
But the person who extinguished Kite's hope of survival might be Oboro!
Ging had guessed it.
Although he wasn't certain.
Because he didn't know the limitations and specific effects of Oboro's soul connection ability
Of course, Ging didn't blame him, because the primary cause of Kite's death was the ants.
However, Kite's soul was likely to
Before arriving, Ging had already read the information about the Chimera Ants
He had noticed something.
Since human genes had been integrated, judging from the ants' behavior, certain human elements had been added elements they couldn't rid themselves of.
A clue had emerged
Soul!
The host's regret that already existed in the genetic cells a kind of human consciousness.