A single word, brief yet resolute and indisputable.
Ponzu remained somewhat dazed, unable to believe she had escaped certain death in this manner.
She desperately wanted to ask if it was truly acceptable for her to flee like this.
But Morrow's tone made her feel that asking even one more question might burden him.
Driven by a fierce will to survive, Ponzu gritted her teeth and forced her half-exhausted body upright. Relying on her hornets' tracking ability, she quickly locked onto the direction toward the NGL border.
However, after taking only a few steps, she belatedly halted.
Because the Chimera Ant army had surrounded the area completely.
Though restricted by the golden chains, their hybrid genetic makeup still allowed them potential ranged attacks.
For beings with innate hunting instincts, such methods came as naturally as breathing.
Hesitant, Ponzu found herself caught in a dilemma.
Morrow immediately noticed her pause.
He quickly saw through her concerns.
The golden chains only imposed physical restrictions, not immobilizing control like a binding spell.
In this situation, the soldier ants with unknown biological abilities still posed a certain degree of threat.
Realizing this, Morrow strode forward decisively, grabbing Ponzu by the back collar.
Ponzu felt her collar tighten abruptly, startling her.
Before she could react, Morrow exerted force with his bare hands, hurling her through the air.
Whoosh!
Ponzu didn't even have time to scream before her body became a dark shadow arcing over the towering treetops toward the NGL border.
Morrow withdrew his hand without a second glance.
In his view, since Ponzu had mastered Nen, she should remain unharmed even at that landing speed in the forest outskirts with Ken protecting her.
As for how Ponzu had survived this long...
Morrow already had his suspicions.
Most likely through using her hornet swarm for vigilance and scouting.
This suggested her ability was likely a reconnaissance-type within Manipulation.
Some Manipulation abilities, when targeting insects or small animals, typically became non-combat reconnaissance skills.
Often, these would develop features like shared vision with the controlled creatures.
Ponzu's case was somewhat special.
Even before learning Nen, she had established an emotional bond with her hornet swarm.
With this foundation, even if her Nen type wasn't Manipulation, developing related Manipulation abilities would be much easier.
Following this logic, Morrow guessed Ponzu could probably perform multi-threaded reconnaissance control.
Only this possibility explained her survival until now.
For a pure reconnaissance ability, it's quite impressive. It would be a shame if she died here...
As these thoughts crossed Morrow's mind, his calm gaze swept over the Chimera Ants still restrained by golden chains.
With his current Lv.74 aura output, materializing over five hundred golden chains simultaneously while maintaining prolonged control... From the essence of the ability system, this was absolutely impossible.
But with the intervention of the Vows and Limitations system, the impossible became possible.
Although the cost of implanting Star Marks isn't high, it can't withstand large quantities...
Morrow casually condensed a Shooting Star in his right palm, thinking to himself: Only Squadron Leaders and Officers are worth investing in. Fortunately, these ants' physical characteristics are clearly distinguishable, making it easy to identify their ranks.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Morrow quickly decided to first eliminate the Peons.
After all, he still needed to go deeper and implant Star Marks on more Squadron Leaders and Officers.
Therefore, he couldn't waste too much of his aura output quota on Peons, lest it reduce his margin for error.
Moreover, even if Peons could awaken Nen abilities, with their sparse human genes, they would at best be nothing more than cannon fodder that couldn't provide any experience.
Having made up his mind, Morrow wasn't worried at all about his ability information being leaked.
While continuously compressing the Shooting Star in his palm, he spoke to the Chimera Ants present in a threatening tone: "If you don't want to die, don't make any rash moves."
Hearing Morrow's threat, those Squadron Leaders and Officers possessing human intelligence became momentarily suspicious and uncertain, secretly weighing the pros and cons.
「What joke is this? Can we even move right now?!」
「Will these chains disappear?」
「Will they? If they do, should we... attack?」
「If we attack, we'll die, right...」
「Damn human, being intimidated by him like this is too humiliating!!!」
「Tch, this guy isn't simple. I don't want to be cannon fodder anyway.」
「So even among special humans there are strong and weak ones. Compared to that female from earlier... tsk, this guy is not just a little bit stronger.」
「Hey hey... you're not actually scared out of your wits, are you?!」
「Herodotus, if you're so capable, then you charge first. I guarantee I'll follow.」
「Nonsense, with Peons taking the lead, why should I charge first??」
「Stop arguing. Carefully sense it, the energy fluctuations of these chains are decaying. They might actually disappear.」
「Hmm... indeed, this seems to be the fluctuation of aura.」
Chimera Ants could communicate through electromagnetic waves.
Facing Morrow's threat, they still didn't display the high discipline characteristic of ant colonies, instead revealing extremely human-like aspects.
If these were ants who regarded their duties as the highest principle, they wouldn't be having so many complicated thoughts right now, they would simply swarm forward without hesitation.
Although Morrow couldn't hear their secret communications, he could predict their subsequent reactions.
After all, only Chimera Ants at the Squadron Leader and Officer levels understood how to assess situations and weigh pros and cons.
Morrow's previous words were specifically directed at them.
As for the Peons below the Officer level...
Once he released the golden chains, these Chimera Ants without autonomous consciousness would definitely attack him directly.
At that time, he would sweep them all clean in one go.
It would only take the effort of raising his hand, and it would further intimidate the remaining Squadron Leaders and Officers.
Almost ready.
The Shooting Star in Morrow's palm had compressed to only the size of an adult's fist. Those Squadron Leaders and Officers possessed the innate ability to see aura, allowing them to perceive the aura surrounding Morrow and clearly discern the dangerous emanation from the Shooting Star.
The primary reason for their hesitation was precisely this Shooting Star in Morrow's hand.
At that moment, Morrow suddenly tossed the phosphorescent green Shooting Star into the air.
The Squadron Leaders and Officers present reflexively looked up at the Shooting Star.
This aura... it's ominous...
The phosphorescent green light reflected in their varied pupils, their only shared sensation being an indescribable sense of crisis, along with shock and fear toward this new phenomenon.
So life energy could become this dangerous!
They all realized another facet of so-called life energy, while simultaneously tensing their muscles under the intense threat.
What would happen next?!
The Chimera Ants braced as if facing a formidable enemy.
Then a faint shattering sound suddenly echoed through the forest.
It was the sound of the golden chains restraining their bodies breaking.
In the blink of an eye, they had all shattered.
The Squadron Leaders and Officers regained their freedom, but the phosphorescent green Shooting Star suspended above Morrow hung like a Sword of Damocles, making them dare not act rashly.
The Chimera Ant Peons, however, had no such reservations.
Just as Morrow had anticipated, the over four hundred Peons in the area swarmed toward him the moment the golden chains shattered and vanished.
Facing the onslaught of the ant horde, Morrow paid them no mind.
He lifted his foot and took a step.
Heading deeper into the forest.
At that same moment, the phosphorescent green Shooting Star hovering in the air suddenly shot toward the area in front of Morrow.
More precisely, it flew toward the group of Peons closest to him.
Thud, thud...!
The Shooting Star pierced through one Peon after another in an instant.
Like a homing arrow, it required little manipulation from Morrow to swiftly penetrate the life force of the Peons at lightning speed.
When this scene unfolded before the eyes of the Squadron Leaders and Officers, expressions of disbelief replaced any other emotion they might have shown.
What kind of power was this?
How formidable, how brutal, and how utterly unreasonable.
The firearms they had seized from humans were utterly insignificant in the face of such power.
Watching the Shooting Star reap the lives of the Peons as if traversing unopposed territory, the Squadron Leaders and Officers stared wide-eyed in terror.
The intense sense of crisis looming over them began to morph into an aura of death.
This indicated that, in that moment, they had lost all will to resist.
So humans weren't entirely prey to be hunted at will.
The deadly phosphorescent green Shooting Star whirled rapidly through the forest, taking merely two seconds to completely intimidate the Squadron Leaders and Officers who had once held humans in contempt.
But the Peons knew no retreat.
Even as the Shooting Star crushed their companions' lives with overwhelming force, they still charged at Morrow fearlessly.
Yet, in the face of such absolute power, akin to a dimensional suppression, their fearlessness was futile.
Morrow stepped over the corpses ahead, the Shooting Star circling around him like a grim reaper, slaughtering wave after wave of charging Peons.
This scene perfectly embodied his initial warning: move, and you die. And so, when the final Peon was pierced through by the Shooting Star and fell to the ground, the group of Squadron Leaders and Officers present dared not make a single move from start to finish, not even breathing without extreme caution.
Without exception, their faces were etched with shock and terror.
All because Morrow's demonstration of Nen had been excessively brutal, like casually crushing swathes of ants underfoot, utterly shattering their understanding and worldview.
"..."
The forest fell into a deathly silence as the Chimera Ants watched Morrow's figure gradually merge into the darkness of the woods.
If they didn't move...
Would they truly be safe?
That dangerously luminous object had already dissipated, and its instigator had clearly moved far away.
Yet, the Chimera Ants felt no sense of relief or survival.
Even with the source of danger gone, the complex humanity ingrained in their genes kept them unsettled and wary.
Could they move now?
If they did, would they be struck through the skull by that deadly thing the very next second?
The mere thought of that possibility...
Kept these Chimera Ants from daring to act recklessly.
Or rather, they were waiting for someone else to make the first move.
But the problem was, no one took the initiative.
Morrow hadn't expected the deterrent effect to be this potent.
He had no intention of killing the Squadron Leaders and Officers here, but he also didn't want these Chimera Ants interfering with his plans.
So, the longer he could keep them "rooted in place," the more advantageous it would be for his subsequent actions.
Thirty-four…
That was the final count of prey Morrow had left behind.
It was also the result of his selection based on the criterion of human characteristics.
Based on the Chimera Ant military structure, at least five or six of these thirty-four should be at the Squadron Leader level.
However, the number of low-level soldiers exceeded expectations.
And aside from that lion Chimera Ant, I don't have much recollection of the other Squadron Leaders and Officers…
Has the "plot" deviated, or is it that... these Chimera Ants never appeared in the original work to begin with?
It's not entirely impossible.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Morrow abruptly accelerated, his figure darting swiftly through the forest.
He couldn't be certain how events would unfold from here.
Judging by the current situation, the number of soldiers was indeed abnormally high, but it could also be because they had gathered to hunt Ponzu.
So, rather than the quantity, Morrow was more concerned about those unfamiliar Squadron Leaders and Officers…
It gave him a sense that the plot had already diverged.
Yet he also recalled that, according to the original storyline, after Netero, Morel, and Knov arrived in NGL, they didn't launch a direct assault on the Chimera Ant Nest.
Their strategy was to gradually whittle down the enemy's forces.
First, Morel used smoke to create cover, then Knov utilized his Hide and Seek ability to transport batches of soldiers before Netero.
In this methodical, eroding-like manner, it took a full month to reduce the Chimera Ant forces by more than half.
Perhaps those Squadron Leaders and Officers from earlier were just the unlucky ones Netero used for warm-up.
There's no point dwelling on this now.
Morrow shook his head slightly, refocusing on the Star Mark farming plan.
In the time that followed, Morrow advanced steadily deeper into the forest.
Due to the Chimera Ant Queen's specific demand for exceptional humans, the Chimera Ant patrols hunting outside paid particular attention to the presence of such individuals. Moreover, with Morrow making such a conspicuous display, he could easily lure one Chimera Ant squad after another.
However, perhaps because his efficiency in implanting Star Marks was too high, he couldn't gather large numbers of enemies like Ponzu did.
And the Chimera Ant squads he encountered were mostly led by Officers.
Morrow didn't force the issue, or rather, he accepted whatever came his way.
Sixty-seven now. If it weren't for Ponzu, I'd probably only have invested in around thirty at most.
After a day and night, Morrow had screened another thirty-three Chimera Ants and implanted Star Marks on them.
At the same time, as he gradually ventured deeper, over just half a day, he could clearly sense the density of Chimera Ant squads increasing.
This meant...
He was likely getting closer and closer to the nest.
And now, what he needed to pay attention to was whether the Royal Guards had been born yet.
And where Kite's team was.
Just as Morrow thought of this, suddenly, a thick, almost tangible ominous aura swept through the distant forest like a storm, violently interrupting his thoughts.
Although he could instantly tell that the source of the aura was still extremely far away, the sheer malice, as if it could directly pollute the air, still made Morrow feel oppressed.
This feeling...
Morrow's pupils contracted sharply as the image of Neferpitou flashed through his mind.
If this aura truly originated from Neferpitou, then that meant...
This Royal Guard had entered combat mode!