Ponzu wanting to join the hunting team was beyond Morrow's expectations.
With her included, the team's number increased to four.
However, as long as they didn't get too close to the core area of the Chimera Ant Nest during the operation, the overall risk should remain manageable.
While waiting for Kalluto to arrive, Ponzu unreservedly explained the effects of her Manipulation ability to Morrow.
「Infinite Hive Window」
This was Ponzu's Manipulation-type Nen ability.
Through this ability, she could control the 66 giant hornets inhabiting her specially-made hat, not only sharing their vision but also precisely controlling individual hornets from a distance.
Alternatively, she could issue commands to achieve more complex group coordination.
It was worth mentioning that Ponzu's hat functioned like a hive, housing a Queen Bee.
Even if the hornet troops suffered losses, new giant hornets could be quickly bred using the Queen Bee, thus maintaining stable numbers.
This ability combined high reconnaissance capabilities with sustainability, making it a high-level reconnaissance-type ability within the Manipulation category.
Overall, Ponzu's ability was more comprehensive than Morrow had initially speculated. It was suitable not only for reconnaissance and locating prey but also for wide-area surveillance, making it highly practical.
Unfortunately, when the Chimera Ants had surrounded Ponzu earlier, they had likely already detected the connection between her and the hornets.
Therefore, relying on large-scale hornet swarms for surveillance was probably no longer feasible.
However, the purpose of entering NGL this time was hunting, where surveillance wasn't the primary need; enemy detection capability was more important.
Thinking of this, Morrow suddenly asked, "Ponzu, can your hornet swarm distinguish the aura intensity of targets?"
"Yes."
Ponzu replied, "But the feedback they provide is quite rough. They can only signal danger and find it difficult to offer more specific intensity data."
"That's fine, it's easy to solve."
Morrow nodded and directly offered a suggestion. "Once Kalluto arrives, have the hornet swarm memorize each of our aura intensities. Then, set up a corresponding danger level system for the swarm, from weakest to strongest."
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, Ponzu's eyes lit up.
If they used their companions' aura intensities as references, they could establish standards for different levels, allowing the hornet swarm to grasp a simple yet effective identification mechanism.
Why hadn't she thought of using this method to improve and enhance her babies' abilities?
And Morrow, after learning about the Infinite Hive Window ability, could immediately offer targeted improvement suggestions.
So impressive... Ponzu thought to herself silently.
Not long after, Kalluto also arrived at the meeting point.
After introductions, Ponzu followed Morrow's suggestion, releasing the hornet swarm from her hat to start recording their perception of aura intensity from weakest to strongest.
The test results came out quickly.
Ponzu ranked at the bottom of the team. Using her aura output as the baseline, she was designated as the weakest in the team; Level 2.
Naturally, anything weaker than her would be Level 1.
Above her were Kalluto at Level 3, Menchi at Level 4, and Morrow at Level 5.
Anything stronger than Morrow would uniformly be classified as Level 6.
This numerical danger rating system could be further refined by incorporating more concrete and intuitive reference points.
For instance, according to Morrow's Nen tier system, his Lv.74 corresponds to a danger level of 7, while Menchi would be rated at level 6.
However, the bee swarm itself lacks such precise discrimination capabilities, only able to establish a relatively simple identification mechanism through recorded reference samples.
When it comes to the most accurate quantitative identification method, it is undoubtedly Knuckle's Nen ability "Hakoware."
This ability can convert a target's "aura output" and "potential aura" into precise numerical values through Nen mechanisms.
Building on this foundation, with accumulated combat experience, one could eventually train to roughly estimate a target's aura output level through mere visual observation and intuition alone.
In any case, given the current circumstances, the bee swarm's identification level mechanism is already sufficient to form target acquisition capabilities.
That is to say, any level 4 signals detected by the bee swarm that are similar to Menchi's would meet Morrow's minimum hunting criteria.
Before the team departed for NGL, Morrow implanted a Star Mark on Menchi and the others, giving each of them a coin engraved with Star-Marked Divine Script.
If they encountered emergencies during separate operations, Morrow would immediately sense it as long as they destroyed the Star-Marked Divine Script on the coins.
During the journey to NGL, Morrow turned to Kalluto beside him and casually asked, "Kalluto, Killua is staying at a hotel in a nearby town. Don't you want to go see him?"
"I'd like to."
Kalluto said softly, "But that would delay us for at least another day."
Although it had been a long time since he'd seen Killua, Kalluto preferred to continue operating with Morrow rather than meeting his brother.
Morrow smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. You could stay with Killua for a while, and I'll come find you after I finish things here."
"That won't do."
Kalluto shook his head almost immediately, his expression serious. "I want to help."
"Alright."
Seeing this, Morrow didn't bring up the matter again.
The group soon reached the NGL border, choosing to infiltrate directly rather than through normal channels.
The area near the border was barren wasteland, requiring several hours of walking to reach the lush forest region.
Most NGL citizens lived in the forests, residing in scattered villages and maintaining a natural, pastoral lifestyle through farming and hunting.
They deeply revered nature, so even if someone died from attacks by large wild animals, they would simply view it as the natural order of survival of the fittest and not be particularly concerned.
Now that the Chimera Ants had formed a substantial army, it could be inferred that human villages within a hundred-kilometer radius of the Chimera Ant Nest had likely been completely wiped out.
And to maintain food freshness while satisfying the Chimera Ant Queen's increasingly rapid feeding pace... once humans in the nearby areas were hunted to extinction, Chimera Ant soldiers would have to form expeditionary forces to capture humans from regions farther from the nest.
This also meant the Chimera Ant soldiers' activity range would become more dispersed.
For Morrow, the farther from the Chimera Ant Nest, the lower the risk during hunting operations.
Morrow's team soon entered NGL's forest region.
"Buzz buzz..."
Ponzu released the bee swarm, issuing instructions to immediately switch to vision-sharing mode upon identifying any danger level signals.
As the swarm of bees spread deeper into the forest, the team steadily advanced.
After traversing dozens of kilometers through the woods, they discovered a silent village on flat ground near a stream.
Before getting too close, Morrow and the others already caught the strong stench of decaying corpses carried through the air.
Most of the village's residents had likely been slaughtered by the Chimera Ants like toys.
But this area was still far from the Chimera Ant Nest, so theoretically, the Chimera Ants' hunting operations shouldn't have reached here yet.
"Probably some independent actions by the Chimera Ants, not for obtaining food, but simply to satisfy their hunting desires."
Morrow gazed at the village's outline in the night.
While integrating human genes, the Chimera Ants also inherited human self-awareness and personality traits.
This led many Chimera Ants to act on their own accord.
For them, as long as they completed tasks assigned by their superiors like cattle or horses, they could spend the remaining time however they pleased.
And toying with and slaughtering humans had become a common way to satisfy their psychological desires.
This innate brutal nature, once combined with Nen awakening, would become even more unrestrained and reckless.
Menchi frowned deeply and said coldly, "Worse than I imagined."
"Indeed terrible."
Morrow withdrew his gaze from the village and said calmly, "But this is something humans are capable of too. Even in a different species' body, the evil engraved in their genes can't be suppressed by the ants' natural command structure and discipline."
"..."
Menchi was momentarily speechless.
Without the intervention of human genes, even if Chimera Ants hunted a species to extinction, it would ultimately be for the survival of their colony.
All their hunting behavior would always aim to obtain food necessary for survival.
However, after human genes were mixed in... hunting was no longer just for feeding.
Soon, several large hornets returned from the dark, silent village.
Ponzu looked at Morrow and reported, "The village is full of corpses, no other signs of life."
"Hmm."
Morrow nodded slightly, "Continue forward. There's likely at least one Chimera Ant squad nearby."
This area had probably been turned into a playground by some Chimera Ant team.
It was likely they would linger nearby for entertainment after completing their daily hunting missions.
The team continued deeper into the forest.
After just a few kilometers, Ponzu received a danger level signal from one of her hornets and immediately switched to vision-sharing mode.
"Found a Chimera Ant squad."
Ponzu suddenly stopped, covering her right eye as she clearly saw a group of Chimera Ants moving through the forest via the shared vision.
"Twelve level ones, one level four, ten o'clock direction, approximately seven kilometers away."
Combining the information fed back by the hornets, Ponzu quickly reported accurate reconnaissance data.
Hearing this, Morrow only cared about the Chimera Ant identified as a level four danger signal.
This meant the Chimera Ant had mastered Nen, with an aura output level even approaching Menchi's.
While it couldn't be completely confirmed whether this level four Chimera Ant was a Squadron Leader or an Officer, the physical strength of Chimera Ants indeed far exceeded common sense.
To be able to move freely so quickly after such a brutal forced Nen awakening... if it were a human, after such a baptism, even if not crippled, they would at least need to lie in bed for a month.
"I'll go ahead first, Kalluto. Protect Ponzu and follow after."
After giving the instruction, Morrow swiftly headed toward the 10 o'clock direction.
Seeing him move so quickly, Menchi followed without hesitation.
Kalluto yearned for battle deep down, but at this moment, he could only watch helplessly as Morrow and Menchi charged toward the front lines.
Compared to the reactions of his other teammates, Ponzu wore a look of shock and suspicion.
A Level 4 danger signal... it made her realize that the Chimera Ants had already mastered Nen.
When she was surrounded by a large group of Chimera Ants before, she had faced Chimera Ants at the Officer and Squadron Leader levels, and at that time, they clearly didn't understand Nen abilities.
But how many days had it been since then?
Not only had they mastered Nen, but they had even raised their Nen output to a level close to her master Menchi's?
It was only at this moment that Ponzu truly grasped the terror of the Chimera Ant species.
A distance of 7 kilometers.
Morrow quickly closed in.
However, the aura he emitted while sprinting acted like an alarm, giving the Chimera Ants time to react in advance.
But Morrow didn't care about this at all. Upon arriving, he immediately focused on the only Chimera Ant in the area releasing aura output.
It was a Chimera Ant with an owl-like human face.
Judging by the proportion of its features, it was most likely an Officer.
"A rare specimen!"
The owl Chimera Ant Officer, upon seeing Morrow, immediately showed extreme excitement and laughed loudly, "Haha, so lucky! I've been wanting to–"
Before he could finish, his vision blurred, and his field of view suddenly flipped.
Morrow had teleported before him like a ghost, reaching out with one hand and directly plucking off his head.
"Huh?"
The owl Chimera Ant didn't even have time to react, his entire head falling into a state of dazed confusion.
Morrow exerted force with his fingers, and the head burst apart with a crack.
Then, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up, revealing a nearly exhilarated smile.
This should only be an Officer. But after Nen awakening, he started with an aura output close to Lv. 60. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to use it, and his actual combat strength was likely inferior to a Lv. 30 combat-type Nen user. Looking at it this way... The aura output level of Squadron Leaders should be even higher, right? That's great. This place... Will definitely allow me to easily reach Lv. 81.
The smile on Morrow's face grew increasingly excited.
This scene, witnessed by the surrounding Peon ants who still retained simple intelligence, along with the sight of their Officer being casually crushed, made them feel... for the first time... a fear born of instinct.
A few seconds later.
Menchi also arrived at the scene and saw the headless Chimera Ant corpse on the ground, along with over a dozen low-level soldier ants of various forms.
These soldier ants were clearly wary of Morrow but didn't know to flee from his overwhelming presence.
As a result, they all made tentative movements to close the distance.
Morrow suppressed his excited smile and looked at the newly arrived Menchi, saying, "These are all low-level soldier ants who don't understand Nen. Leave them to Ponzu and Kalluto to get a feel for combat."
"Alright."
After confirming the threat level of these soldier ants, Menchi had a similar idea.
—--
Over the next two days, relying on Ponzu's bee swarm for reconnaissance, Morrow only needed to operate in areas far from the Chimera Ant Nest to efficiently and continuously hunt down those Chimera Ant squads that were keen on acting on their own.
In just two days, Morrow's level rose from Lv.74 to Lv.76.
The vast majority of this experience came from the contributions of numerous Officers.
Additionally, he had actually encountered four Chimera Ants of Squadron Leader level.
One Squadron Leader, who had fused with tiger genes, even had an aura output exceeding Lv.70.
However, its actual combat ability in a head-on fight was at most equivalent to Lv.50.
Yet, killing it provided a solid Lv.70 level of experience gain.
This was practically an ideal hunt; low risk, high reward.
At this rate, he estimated it wouldn't take more than half a month to smoothly reach Lv.81.
There was just one phenomenon that bothered Morrow quite a bit.
He had already hunted dozens of Chimera Ant squads, but so far, he hadn't encountered a single Chimera Ant that he had implanted with a Star Mark.
Moreover, the aura output levels between Squadron Leaders and Officers didn't seem to be entirely defined by their ranks.
Some Squadron Leaders, in terms of aura output alone, were even noticeably weaker than Officers... Morrow didn't delve too deeply into it, focusing instead on leveling up.
—--
On the third day after the team entered NGL, Ponzu once again received information from a returning hornet.
"Two at level 5, one at level 6 or higher... Wait, my baby... died?"
Ponzu's expression changed, and she was about to switch to a shared vision.
The next moment, she completely lost contact with that hornet; clearly, it had been eliminated by the scouting target.
Hearing that there were two targets with aura output similar to Morrow's, and one even surpassing him, Menchi and Kalluto couldn't help but tense up.
But Morrow knew exactly what was happening.
Someone was stealing his targets.
Level 5 was equivalent to Lv.70 or above; likely Morel and Knov.
And the one far exceeding Lv.80 was definitely Netero.
Let's see how Chairman Netero plans to proceed next... Morrow thought to himself.