Knov's words froze the entire 4th Dimensional Mansion.
"Are you sure? How reliable is that intel?"
Morel was the first to regain composure.
"The King, Pouf, and Youpi were spotted outside the palace. Neferpitou… is missing."
Knov rubbed his hands. His trembling had faded, but his movements remained jittery.
"And when the King detected me—his aura was filled with rage. Bloodlust."
"That means the King's En spans over two kilometers."
Killua zeroed in on the most alarming data.
En size didn't define power entirely—
But a Nen user with a massive En was always a threat.
Nen battles weren't about flaring aura and clashing heads…
But when one side's aura was overwhelmingly dominant, the scales tipped from the very start.
"So you think Pitou's 'disappearance' means dead or critically wounded."
Kite latched onto a different angle.
"And it had to be someone outside the palace who pulled it off—that's the only thing that would push the King into such a fury."
"Could it be someone Chairman Netero called in? Backup we didn't know about?"
Knuckle raised the possibility.
"We lost contact with the old man days ago," Morel said with a frown.
"But based on what Knov described, it's very likely something happened to Pitou."
"And the King's decision to attack Knov instead of capture him confirms it."
"He wasn't interrogating for intel. He was lashing out. Which means—he already knew something."
Morel's analysis made Joey furrow his brow.
If the King had no solid intel, he'd have captured Knov alive.
But something must've shattered the King's calm veneer.
Yet Joey couldn't forget one thing—from the intelligence gathered these past ten days, and from his knowledge of the manga…
Meruem was the type to control his emotions with terrifying precision.
The King was always calm.
Rage? That wasn't him.
Even if all three Royal Guards were blown to pieces before his eyes, Meruem might only say:
"Impressive."
And calmly praise the attacker.
So why would Pitou's death provoke such fury?
Unless—
Joey's mind flashed to the blind girl with the constant sniffle.
Komugi.
The only person the King had shown any emotion toward.
Could she have done something to cause the King's restraint to snap?
Or—did something happen to her that the King couldn't forgive?
Whatever the case…
Meruem's sudden actions had upended their plans.
But the infiltration window was now less than thirty minutes away.
There wasn't much room for adjustments.
The only thing they could do now was shuffle assignments if necessary.
If Pitou really was out of commission, then the agents originally designated to handle her could pivot to reinforce against Youpi and Pouf.
After all, Pitou had the largest portion of the team assigned to her.
Which meant Kite and Joey would now be reassigned to target Youpi.
Joey quickly conferred with Shoot.
The plan was simple:
Once Shoot secured a piece of Youpi's body, Joey would touch it to activate Killer Queen's First Bomb.
Shoot agreed immediately—
It had already been one of the original contingency plans.
Joey had always been designated a roaming backup, set to follow Knov and respond flexibly.
But the last time, Knov's actions were restricted after Pouf's unexpected countermeasures were revealed.
Back then, taking down even one Royal Guard was the most valuable goal.
That was still true.
Still… Joey couldn't discount another possibility:
Pitou wasn't dead.
Everything might be a trap. A ruse.
But there was simply not enough intel to support that.
Alternatively, with Pitou's En gone, the team now had no idea where the King or Guards actually were.
The last confirmed sighting had Meruem and the others outside the palace.
If they really had left, and the infiltration team entered an empty throne hall…
Well, then their mission was already a success.
If Pitou had been compromised and Meruem responded, it could only mean Netero had deployed his ace.
In that case, they were now the diversion.
Which honestly… would be a relief.
Facing Meruem and the Guards was no small burden.
Every single member had accepted the possibility of death from the moment this mission began.
Ten seconds to infiltration.
Morel began his countdown once more.
Two minutes before infiltration.
Above East Gorteau, riding a monstrous avian beast, Chairman Netero and Zeno Zoldyck leapt into the skies.
The first to sense the anomaly was Pouf, who had been using En around the throne hall.
A strange intuition sparked—
"Look up."
So he did.
It was a fleeting sensation—
But a few seconds later, it proved correct.
"Something's approaching."
Pouf's expression hardened.
"An enemy…?"
He immediately withdrew his En, channeling aura upward, along with clouds of his shimmering scales.
At the same moment, Youpi, stationed atop the throne hall roof, also reacted.
Sensing Pouf's shift, he spread new flesh wings and looked skyward.
And then—
The Dragon.
An immense glowing dragon-shaped aura construct spiraled through the sky.
Both Guards fixated on it.
Pouf's En brushed against it—
And he recoiled instantly, pulling it back.
Because he'd seen what followed.
Two figures.
Two lethal threats.
Even he—Pouf—didn't think he could beat them.
He shot a glance toward Youpi—
Then burst apart, becoming a storm of Nen-wrapped clones.
At that moment, Dragon Dive split—
Fracturing into countless glowing serpents of light, turning into arrows descending toward the palace.
Youpi didn't speak.
He moved.
Muscles surged in his legs—
He leapt, wings flaring, rocketing skyward like a missile.
But waiting for him above—
Chairman Netero.
For a heartbeat, Youpi couldn't even register movement.
But a thought echoed in his mind.
"Heh."
The old man never moved his lips.
But Youpi heard the words anyway.
"I ran a few scenarios. This one's real bad for you, little ant."
It wasn't spoken aloud.
It was transmitted—
Compressed into that 0.1 seconds of eye contact.
Like a life-flash before death.
A slow-motion glimpse of the end.
Youpi understood it wasn't déjà vu.
He had received pure thought—and reacted instinctively.
He heightened all his senses in an instant.
Then he saw it:
Netero's speed.
Blinding.
The attack struck—unavoidable.
"I hope you vanish."
The blow smashed Youpi straight out of the air, sending him hurtling from the palace.
He tried to scream "King!" but the wind stole his voice.
Rage swelled. His form began to mutate mid-flight.
And then—
BOOM.
In a burst of fury, his aura exploded.
His body reconstituted as he plunged to the ground.
As he fell, he expanded his En—
But it couldn't sense inside the palace.
He twisted further, mutated again—
Claws sharpened. Arms and legs bulged grotesquely.
Faces appeared across his body—
Horrid masks with gun-like muzzles for mouths.
His wings unfurled violently, halting his fall.
From below, he saw it—
Dragon Dive raining across the entire palace.
BOOM!
All those fleshy faces fired light beams behind him, combining with his wingbeats to launch him back toward the palace like a scarlet comet.
Meanwhile—
Netero and Zeno had already landed.
Ignoring the buzzing Pouf clones,
They headed straight for the second floor of the throne hall, where the King had been spotted.
As they did, the infiltration countdown hit:
+1.3 seconds.