In one of NGL's largest and longest rivers, a single Chimera Ant swam toward the sea.
Targer, a massive ant resembling a bipedal crocodile, was moving toward the vast ocean. He had no intention of defying Meruem, but he saw a better future for himself in the sea—a territory where his hunting grounds wouldn't overlap with the King's.
(The water is perfect! I won't lack food here, and the prey is actually worth the effort! For a king of gluttony like me, the open ocean is paradise!)
Along the way, Targer snacked on fish, occasionally gorging himself on large land animals or marine beasts. Among the Squadron Leaders, he was undeniably powerful. His adaptation to water—an environment usually hostile to insects—gave him a massive advantage. He swam through the rain-swollen currents, certain that a glorious future awaited him.
(...What? Something's wrong. The current shifted?)
His vision was obscured by the murky water, but he could feel the flow changing, as if he were suddenly swimming through breaking surf. He was still far from the coast; the water remained fresh and muddy. Before he could process the anomaly, it manifested as a physical force.
"Gwah?! What the hell?!"
Targer was suddenly vaulted out of the water. As he flew through the air, he saw a tidal wave surging upstreamagainst the river's flow. Just as the wall of water was about to crash down on him, a silhouette looked down from the crest of the wave.
"My TUBE: Inamura calls the waves, boy!"
The massive weight of the water struck with the force of an explosion, shattering the river's surface. Targer tumbled through the spray, taking the hit but managing to land on the bank, putting distance between himself and the water.
"Dammit! Who the hell is interfering with my hunt?!"
"That would be me—Sea Hunter and legendary fisherman, Grachan!"
Standing on a surfboard atop the receding wave, a middle-aged man answered the challenge. He wore a traditional twisted headband and a happi coat emblazoned with the characters for "Big Catch." The sun-bronzed man of the sea raised a harpoon high.
"You bastard! You think you can mess with me and walk away?!"
"Wahahaha! A crocodile is a bit out of my jurisdiction, but if it lives in the water, it's prey for my harpoon!"
They shouted over the downpour, their voices loud and aggressive, yet both were calmly measuring the other's strength.
(He took my TSUNAMI: Tidal Wave and stayed on his feet,) Grachan thought. (That's a lively one. A physical brawl will be disadvantageous.)
(An unnatural wave in this rain... that's his ability,) Targer realized. (If he can spam those big ones, I'm in trouble.)
They flared their auras, each confirming their own strengths while looking for a weakness in the other.
"I'm gonna devour you!"
"Crocodile stew is on the menu today!"
In a corner of the rain-lashed NGL, two warriors clashed, each intent on consuming the other.
***
Far from the river, near a different section of the border, the largest faction of independent ants was marching under the scorching sun.
"Lady Zazan, we'll be out of NGL and in the new lands soon. The scouts say they've found a perfect candidate for a base. It's a place worthy of a Queen's debut."
"You've learned how to flatter, haven't you? How surprising," Zazan replied. She sat on a large sofa atop a palanquin carried by worker ants.
Zazan was a Squadron Leader who, aside from her scorpion tail, looked almost entirely like a human woman. She possessed long, wavy hair, sharp beauty, and a glamorous figure that she flaunted in revealing clothes. She gave her soldiers a predatory smile.
"We might be behind the other independent groups, but numbers are everything. It can't be helped."
Pike, a grotesque Captain who was a crude hybrid of human and spider, flushed at her words and began barking orders at the other ants. Because the independent groups attracted the more free-spirited ants, Zazan's faction—the only one to remain in double digits—moved at a crawl. Still, they reached the border without losing a single member, intending to advance toward a human-populated region identified by their scouts.
Ordinarily, their march would have gone unhindered, allowing them to establish a small kingdom.
"I see. It's a good thing I came out here myself, otherwise this would have been a mess."
A girl stood in the path of the twenty-odd ants, backed by about ten Hunters.
"Do you need something, little girl?" Zazan asked with an air of superiority. "Do you understand what it means to stand before a Queen?"
Zazan spoke with ease, but she was already shifting into a combat stance. She could feel the staggering pressure radiating from the small girl.
"I'm on the clock, so I have to check," Biscuit Krueger replied. "What's your business past this point? Depending on your answer, I might just let you pass."
"A foolish question. I am going to build my kingdom. There are lands ahead rich with food and 'materials,' aren't there? Get out of the way, brat, or I'll crush you."
Zazan stood up on her palanquin, flaring her aura and brandishing her scorpion tail. The non-combat worker ants carrying her collapsed under the pressure of her intent. As Pike and the other combat ants readied themselves, the Hunters likewise flared their auras.
"Alright. I'm officially classifying you as an enemy of humanity," Bisky declared, her aura erupting in a violent surge. "To be honest, I wasn't really feeling this mission. But since you're the reason my workload has been so insane lately, I'm going to use you as a stress reliever!"
"Just try it, you midget!"
Under the blazing sun, the two forces collided.
***
The Vanguard led by Netero was sprinting through the deep forests of NGL at incredible speed. Guided by Kite, they took the shortest possible route. No ants had crossed their path yet; they were nearly at the mound.
"...Chairman Netero, I have a report from the Third Wave," Knov said, not slowing his pace. "In the outer villages of NGL that were untouched by the raids, they've found several Chimera Ants living peacefully among the humans. Under NGL's philosophy of accepting nature as it is, they've been welcomed as new residents."
"Ho ho. That is both good news and bad news," Netero mused. "Should we rejoice at the possibility of coexistence, or lament the bitter taste of having to destroy them anyway?"
The report stirred complex emotions in Netero—a mix of hope and grim reality.
(Beans says the Mitene Union leaders are likely to demand the total extermination of the species,) Netero thought. (Depending on the King's nature, I'd like to aim for a peaceful resolution... but I suspect blood will be spilled regardless.)
As they entered the wasteland where the mound stood, Netero sensed something approaching like a bullet.
Hundred-Type Guanyin: Light Form — Third Palm.
With speed surpassing thought, the Guanyin's palms slammed together. Whatever had been flying toward them was pulverized into dust and liquid.
"Oh?! That was filthy. I didn't feel any bloodlust, so I crushed it by reflex. What was that?"
The group stopped to inspect the remains. It was impossible to tell the original shape or even the color of the object Netero had intercepted.
"Given where we are, it was likely an ant, but it felt too small," Knov noted. "It had incredible speed, yet none of us sensed an attack. I have no idea what it was."
Gon sniffed the air. "The scent is definitely an insect. And there's the smell of decay... I think it's a human. And... seafood? It smells like octopus."
"I get the insect and the rot, but what the hell is an octopus doing this far inland?!" Killua barked.
"Don't blame me, I just smell it! Octopus has a very distinct scent!"
As Gon and Killua bickered, Netero crushed another incoming projectile.
"Hmm. That one came from a completely different direction. Do they have multiple snipers, or just a very fast way of moving?"
"More importantly, they're firing from a distance that even we can't perceive," Morel added, frowning. "They haven't even touched my Smoky Ring."
Morel's ability, Deep Purple, allowed him to spread smoke that acted as an extension of his En. Even with his smoke widely deployed, he couldn't find the sniper.
"I can't find the shooter," Killua noted. "But I noticed with the second one—the bullet just 'appeared' suddenly. It's likely a teleportation ability, like Knov's."
The group stood on guard. Killua, flaring his Godspeed, parried a third projectile and pinned it to the ground.
"Ew, gross! It's a flea?! It's huge!"
Struggling on the ground was a flea the size of a fist. After a moment of twitching from the impact, it recovered and used its powerful legs to leap back into the brush. Kite looked at the creature with a puzzled expression.
"NGL has no native fleas of that size. Morel, did that thing teleport in, or did it just jump?"
"I can't say for sure, but it felt like it just manifested in mid-air. Looking at how it jumped just now, there's no way it reached that 'bullet' speed on its own."
While the attack was strange, the threat level seemed low. The group began to discuss how to flush out the sniper. However, Hisoka, who had been silently shuffling his cards, gave a sharp laugh.
"Caught you. ♦"
Hisoka activated his Bungee Gum, which had been hidden by In and enhanced by his Panic Card. He yanked a hidden catch out of the forest and dragged it before the group.
"This is our sniper. I can't see them, but based on the volume, there are two of them? I guess fleas have a homing instinct. ♣"
Hisoka had attached his gum to the flea that escaped. What he had dragged in looked like empty space, but the distortion in the aura was obvious. The area wrapped in Bungee Gum writhed as if something were struggling inside.
"What now? I can just crush them if you want, but I assume the Chairman wants to chat. ♦"
"Much appreciated," Netero said, stepping forward. "You're Chimera Ants, I assume? We aren't here to exterminate you without a word. We know the King has left. We'd like to speak with those who stayed behind. Could you guide us?"
There was silence for a moment. Then, realizing they couldn't escape, the snipers deactivated their invisibility.
"Stinks! I'm not into hugging corpses! I'm not resisting, so get this stuff off me already!"
"Meleoron, you're just gonna give up?! Only the non-combatants are left in the mound!"
"If they wanted to kill us, they wouldn't have bothered capturing us. Let's just hand them over to old man Peggy, Ikalgo."
A chameleon-type ant and a man wearing a heavy fur coat were bickering. The man moved, but his eyes were lifeless, and a stench of rot drifted from him.
"Meleoron and Ikalgo... you speak naturally and have individual names," Netero observed. "Aside from your appearance, you're no different from humans."
"Most of us have our human memories," Meleoron replied, sounding surprisingly friendly now that he knew they weren't being executed. "Though most people's names are missing or forgotten."
Encouraged by Meleoron's lack of hostility, Ikalgo deactivated his disguise. He withdrew his tentacles from the corpse he had been using as a host for his flea-rifles. The ant that emerged was reddish, with a round torso and a body of pure, trained muscle.
"Wait, you're not a squid—you're an octopus," Gon noted.
"Don't call me an octopus!"
Netero's Hunters had finally made contact with the residents of the mound.