Hiroshi smiled and waved off the praise. "It's nothing, really."
"No, no, Aoki! You're totally a genius among geniuses!" Gon said earnestly, grinning as he held out his fist. "If there's a chance, can we spar sometime?"
"Of course!" Hiroshi chuckled, bumping fists with him.
At that very moment—
He felt it again.
A subtle increase in Luck.
His smile grew even brighter.
"Sorry to interrupt," Kite cut in with a helpless tone. "But this isn't really the best place to chat. We should get moving."
Hiroshi nodded without complaint.
Together, they went to recover Neferpitou's body.
Her chest cavity had been obliterated by Hiroshi's Ken-enhanced punch. A gaping, bloody crater exposed shattered ribs and ruined organs—lungs, heart, stomach—everything reduced to pulp.
Her face was frozen in a mask of terror.
But none of the three present gave it any sympathy.
In this world, killers must be prepared to be killed.
No one mourned for Neferpitou.
Meanwhile, deep within the NGL Autonomous Region...
In a hidden underground chamber, the Chimera Ant Queen lay on a makeshift mattress, her swollen belly twitching unnaturally.
Suddenly—
A hand pressed out from inside her stomach.
"No...!" the Queen cried, panic overtaking her. "It's not time yet! My child isn't ready!"
Riiip!
The hand tore her open.
"AAAGHHH!"
With her shriek of agony, the newborn emerged—a tall figure with emerald-green skin, deep crimson eyes, and a crown-like carapace.
His face was cold. His tail long and sharp, like a spear.
Covered in amniotic fluid and slime, he shook once—and all of it evaporated in an instant.
"The King…" whispered Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf, both falling to their knees in awe.
They hadn't expected this. The King was born early.
"She's dead," the King said flatly, glancing into the distance.
"What…?!" Both Royal Guards looked stunned.
Neferpitou—the first-born and strongest of them—dead?
"How?! No human should be strong enough to kill her!" Shaiapouf exclaimed.
"She just left not long ago!" added Youpi. "No way a human could take her down this quickly!"
The King didn't respond. His eyes narrowed.
He shared a unique bond with his three Royal Guards. He knew.
Neferpitou was dead.
"Humans... perhaps they're not as worthless as I thought," the King said, a dark smile spreading across his face.
He raised a finger and pointed.
"Seven kilometers that way."
"She died on a mountain. I want the one who killed her—alive. I want to study him."
Murderous glee tinged his voice.
The two Guards exchanged uneasy looks.
They turned to glance at the Queen—her abdomen torn, internal organs shredded, gasping weakly on the floor.
But in the end… she was the past.
The King was their future.
"Yes, my King!" they said in unison, bowing.
Half an hour later...
They arrived at the mountain range.
"There's Pitou's scent," Youpi said grimly after sniffing the air. "She bled a lot."
Pouf's face was stormy as well.
The two began searching the area.
Eventually, they arrived at a forest clearing.
Several massive trees had been snapped like twigs. The earth was torn, blackened with dried blood.
"You were right… she's really dead," Youpi said in disbelief.
"No... this can't be!" Pouf trembled. "Humans are weak! Feeble creatures we could kill with a flick of the wrist!"
"How could one of them kill Neferpitou?!"
"Even if they know Nen, so did she!"
The realization filled both with fear.
If the killer could take down Pitou, they could kill them, too.
And from the look of the scene—no sign of blood but hers.
A clean kill.
No injuries on the opponent.
"They may have beaten Pitou, but they're no match for the King!" Youpi suddenly said, trying to rally himself.
"Right!" Pouf echoed, as if waking from a trance. "The King is the strongest!"
"He's the culmination of the finest genes. The ultimate body. The ultimate mind!"
"As long as he exists, humanity is no threat!"
The thought of the King gave them stability once more.
Their fear faded.
Somewhere far away...
The V5 Emergency Summit
The alliance of the five most powerful nations on Earth—the human world's hidden rulers.
More influential than the United Nations.
Here, true decisions were made.
"The Hunter Association has just acquired the corpse of a Chimera Ant Royal Guard," one leader announced.
Silence fell over the room.
"Already?"
"Is the report confirmed?"
"Was it Netero? One of the Five Great Nen Masters?"
All eyes turned to the speaker.
He nodded solemnly. "Confirmed. The NGL branch received the body fifteen minutes ago."
The room went completely still.
Everyone's expressions soured.
The Chimera Ants came from the Dark Continent—a species they had deliberately unleashed into the human world.
Many here had hoped Netero would die.
He'd ruled as the world's strongest Nen user for too long.
The Ants were meant to be their weapon to dethrone him.
"And the one who killed the Guard," the speaker continued, "was not Netero. Not one of the Five Greats. Not even a known veteran."
"It was a rookie—a newly awakened Nen user named... Aoki Hiroshi."