Regarding the biological disaster triggered by the giant Chimera Ants... after further confirming the situation, the Extermination Team had already requested the Hunter Association to dispatch elite personnel responsible for the suppression operation in advance, in order to prevent the disaster from spreading beyond NGL.
This matter should have received high priority.
However, the personnel selected by the review department were almost entirely incompetent individuals lacking professional skills.
As a result, even with the advantage of early deployment, these incapable individuals failed to achieve any significant results.
Instead, the scattered Chimera Ant soldiers broke through the defense lines one after another, tearing open shocking gaps.
Compared to their severe dereliction of duty, if any contribution had to be identified, it would probably be the elimination of some Peon Chimera Ants that had not undergone Nen awakening.
However, these Peon Chimera Ants were inherently unable to withstand firearms.
Even if they invaded human towns, they posed little threat.
The real danger always lay with those Officers and Squadron Leaders who had already undergone Nen awakening and developed Nen abilities.
Once they broke into human residential areas, they were bound to unleash a storm of bloodshed.
The reason Morel and the others were so furious, even unable to resist cursing, was precisely because they had already reported the critical intelligence about 'Chimera Ant soldiers undergoing Nen awakening'... yet the review department paid no attention to it.
This negligence, in their view, was utterly incomprehensible.
After Morrow learned about the situation from Kalluto, he naturally found it equally incomprehensible.
However, having already witnessed the absurdity of the review department and suspecting that Pariston was likely pulling strings behind the scenes, he didn't show much surprise.
No matter whether this biological disaster can be properly resolved in the end, we must find a way to shift the blame onto Netero afterward.
This was probably Pariston's operational logic.
Morrow wasn't surprised, but he gained a clearer understanding of what Netero's so-called 'position as chairman' entailed.
Ultimately, after taking that position, one would likely lose some degree of freedom.
No wonder Ging had no interest in the 'chairman position' from the very beginning.
After all, if the goal was to reach the Dark Continent, the power of the Hunter Association itself would undoubtedly be a tremendous asset.
The Chimera Ant soldiers have spread, so this matter can't be contained anymore.
Morrow arrived at a street in the town, his eyes showing contemplation.
At that moment, gunfire erupted on the street, and screams rose from all directions.
The crowd, as if having seen something terrifying, surged toward Morrow's location.
Morrow wore a loose tank top, revealing bandages stained with traces of blood.
Hearing the intense gunfire from ahead, he suddenly looked up and strode forward against the flow of people.
The residents and tourists running past him hesitated when they saw him voluntarily heading toward the conflict.
"Hey, don't go any further!"
A young tourist, his face filled with fear, still stopped to shout at Morrow: "There are monsters up ahead! Bullets don't work on them, you..."
Before he could finish, his companion dragged him away.
"Yeah, I know."
Morrow's voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the chaotic noise and reached the young tourist's ears. With that, he paid no further mind to the gazes of confusion, worry, and astonishment behind him.
By the time he arrived at the scene, the gunfire had already ceased.
Scattered limbs and severed body parts lay strewn about, with copious amounts of blood splattered across the ground, converging into horrifying crimson streams.
To ordinary eyes, such a scene would resemble a living hell.
Yet to the Chimera Ant soldiers, it was merely a commonplace feast.
"Crunch... delicious, so delicious..."
A soldier ant with distinct beetle features was ecstatically gnawing on a severed head, utterly engrossed.
This was an Officer.
Morrow determined its rank within the ant hierarchy based solely on its appearance and the level of aura output radiating from its body.
One more should be enough...
As he observed the Officer completely absorbed in its meal, oblivious to its surroundings, a surge of intense aura output abruptly erupted around Morrow.
The blatant fluctuation of his aura acted like an alarm bell, sharply ringing in the Officer's mind.
"Huh?!"
The beetle Chimera Ant jolted in surprise.
Such powerful life energy... even stronger than Lord Cheetu!
The moment it sensed Morrow's aura fluctuation, the ecstatic expression on its face vanished instantly, replaced by ferocity and vigilance.
Without the slightest hesitation, and before even getting a clear look at Morrow, the beetle Chimera Ant hurled the head aside and raised its dark, hardened pincer toward the source of the aura.
Under the surge of aura, the massive pincer detached from its limb and shot directly at Morrow with a sharp, forceful momentum.
This appeared to be its Nen ability; explosively releasing aura to launch its pincer as a mid-to-long-range weapon.
Moreover, a rope of condensed Nen connected the pincer to its wrist, likely serving as a retrieval mechanism.
Overall, the ability seemed rather comical.
But it was a common form of Nen development among Officer-level Chimera Ants.
Morrow casually raised his left hand, effortlessly and steadily catching the incoming pincer, while simultaneously condensing a Shooting Star imbued with Essence Siphon in the same hand.
With his current aura output level as high as Lv.89, facing this Officer Chimera Ant whose aura amount hovered around Lv.60, he had more than enough leeway to use his aura for both offense and defense.
"It... it was caught?!"
Seeing its attack intercepted, the beetle Chimera Ant's expression shifted, but it then twisted into a vicious grin.
"Too bad, my ability isn't that simple. Retrieve!"
It roared sharply, activating its ability.
The Nen rope connecting to its wrist tightened like a suddenly engaged gear, rapidly retracting with a harsh, grating sound.
However, the expected scene of the pincer breaking free did not occur.
The dark giant pincer remained firmly gripped in Morrow's hand, unmoving.
Instead, the beetle Chimera Ant itself was yanked forward, stumbling and nearly losing its balance.
Morrow sighed softly, abruptly exerting force with his left hand.
Crack.
The dark, hardened pincer shattered into pieces.
The beetle Chimera Ant's eyes widened in sheer terror.
Morrow's figure blurred as he appeared beside the beetle Chimera Ant.
He hadn't used his Astral Step ability but had instead propelled his body at high speed to the opponent's blind spot using sheer Emission-type explosive force.
Snap. Morrow casually pressed Shooting Star · Essence Siphon against the Chimera Ant beetle's head before nonchalantly withdrawing his hand and striding forward.
"Even with Pariston's interference, the review department can't even bother with formalities for trash like this who don't even understand 'abilities'... They just hand the commission directly to those slackers in the Association..."
The murmurs drifted lightly into the Chimera Ant beetle's ears.
Before it could grasp the meaning, its head, covered in hard carapace, shattered like a watermelon under the point-blank blast of Shooting Star · Essence Siphon.
Thud.
The Chimera Ant that had been feasting moments ago collapsed heavily to the ground, now a headless corpse.
Specks of emerald light floated up from the body and flew toward Morrow.
As the healing energy seeped in, the wounds beneath Morrow's bandages completed their final stage of recovery.
Including this one, this was the fourth Officer-level Chimera Ant he had casually eliminated along the way.
Rip.
Striding forward, Morrow tore off all the bandages wrapped around his body.
The nine penetrating wounds that had been there were now completely healed, leaving no trace.
Such efficient healing was also thanks to the Chimera Ants' innate robust vitality.
This species started with such high innate talent, truly the ideal mobile recovery blood bags.
It was a pity he lacked spatial abilities like Hide and Seek; otherwise, he could have kept a herd of Chimera Ants in a conjured space.
Then, whenever he needed healing, he could just open a passage and toss a Shooting Star · Essence Siphon inside.
Before Chairman Netero's follow-up arrangements are settled, I'll clear out these scattered Chimera Ant soldiers and see if I can reach level 90 in one go.
Morrow passed through the deserted streets and reached the outskirts of town.
With intelligence support, he quickly chose a direction.
—--
A two-lane road stretched straight across an endless green plain.
On either side, low shrubs and trees grew intertwined, about a meter tall, forming a natural concealment zone.
Such terrain made it easy to hide one's tracks and was perfect for ambushes.
That had been Morel's original plan.
But after observing the target's astonishing speed from afar, he immediately changed his mind.
It was a speed-type Chimera Ant; the kind they struggled most against, especially since they had to prevent its escape.
So Morel acted decisively, emerging from the bushes with Shoot and using his ability to swiftly form Knuckle's likeness from white smoke.
They abandoned stealth, standing boldly in the middle of the road, waiting for the target's arrival.
Dust billowed at the road's end.
Cheetu, with his hybrid cheetah-human features, raced like the wind down the road and soon noticed Morel's group blocking his path ahead.
More special humans...
Seeing the aura swirling around them, Cheetu licked his lips excitedly with his tongue.
Since leaving NGL, he had encountered one special human on the road.
Unfortunately, they were too weak and died before he could fully enjoy himself.
But he had to admit, the taste of special humans was truly unforgettable, far superior to ordinary humans.
At this thought, a greedy, exhilarated expression spread across Cheetu's face. Despite his anticipation for the upcoming 'game,' he remained vigilant.
When the Chimera Ant Nest was attacked, he had been out on a hunting mission, so he hadn't witnessed the battle firsthand.
But one thing was certain to him.
Among the exceptional humans, there truly existed formidable experts, even monsters.
This was why Cheetu would never underestimate any exceptional human based solely on his senses.
However, their true strength could only be determined through actual combat.
Even if he couldn't win, he was confident he could retreat unscathed thanks to his speed advantage.
Heh, let's test your abilities first!
Cheetu made no attempt to hide his excitement, his aura flaring aggressively around him.
Tap!
In the next instant, he appeared before Morel at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
"Huh?!"
Faced with Cheetu's unexpectedly explosive speed, Morel's pupils contracted sharply behind his sunglasses.
It was even faster than what he had observed earlier!
Though inwardly shaken, his extensive combat experience prompted him to instinctively swing his smoke pipe, aiming a fierce strike at Cheetu.
Cheetu pivoted his foot effortlessly, sidestepping the massive pipe as it whistled through the air. He even had the leisure to glance at the patterns on the pipe.
A bit faster than the guy from yesterday, but... still too slow.
Cheetu sneered inwardly before darting past the pipe and unleashing a rapid series of punches at Morel's chest.
Thud, thud, thud...!
Heavy impacts echoed one after another, sending ripples of white aura bursting from Morel's torso.
So fast!
Throughout the entire exchange, Morel couldn't track the trajectory of Cheetu's punches at all.
Fortunately, the force behind the blows wasn't particularly strong.
Clearly, while Cheetu possessed innate, astonishing speed, his application of Nen Techniques was crude, unable to synchronize the flow of his aura with his movements.
In other words, his speed, which should have dictated the flow of battle, not only failed to realize its full potential but also undermined the latent advantages of his aura output.
As long as Cheetu couldn't overcome this flaw, there was no need to worry excessively about defensive pressure.
The only thing to remain cautious of was Cheetu's yet-unrevealed Nen ability.
Morel endured the barrage calmly, pulling his smoke pipe back.
Almost simultaneously, Shoot manipulated two disembodied fists flying through the air, accurately predicting Cheetu's movement path.
"Oh, not bad."
Yet Cheetu still evaded Shoot's attacks with ease, returning several punches of his own.
Without a second thought for Shoot's reaction, he pivoted and charged straight toward Knuckle, who was positioned slightly farther back.
One more to go. Once I hit him... the tail-tag game can begin!
Cheetu grinned, effortlessly dodging Knuckle's offensive moves before countering with his own punches.
Thud, thud, thud!
His fists shot out but passed straight through 'Knuckle's' body, only dispersing a few wisps of white smoke.
"Huh?"
Cheetu immediately noticed the odd sensation. At that moment, a rush of wind sounded beside him.
The real Knuckle leaped out from the bushes, closing in at his signature sprinting speed and landing a heavy punch squarely on Cheetu's flank.
After landing the hit, Knuckle didn't press his advantage, swiftly retreating to create distance.
Hakoware, activate!
He raised a hand toward Cheetu, provocatively curling his finger.
Instantly, A.P.R. materialized out of thin air, crawling onto Cheetu's shoulder.
"What is that?!"
Cheetu was about to respond to Knuckle's provocation when his attention was caught by this suddenly appearing small object. Without thinking, he swung his palm to strike it.
Smack!
A.P.R. was sent flying by the blow, but it flipped gracefully in mid-air, completely unharmed.
Seeing this, Cheetu felt a slight pang of alarm.
Before he could ponder it further, he noticed that heavy white smoke had quietly begun to permeate the surroundings.
This smoke... Tch, I'd better make a run for it first.
Cheetu decisively burst into speed, flashing past the area enveloped by the white smoke.
The fundamental reason driving his decision was his awareness that 'there are troublesome individuals among humans too.'
In contrast, Morel had miscalculated this.
Or rather, it was the stark contrast between Cheetu's initially arrogant attitude and his current behavior of fleeing without hesitation.
Damn, it's too late to encircle him...
Morel frowned, watching helplessly as Cheetu ran beyond the range of the Smoky Jail ability.
But he reacted quickly, immediately taunting, "Oh, you're pretty good at running away, huh."
"Haha, such a childish provocation."
Cheetu maintained a light, brisk step in place while glancing sideways at Morel, his tone unusually serious:
"If I hadn't set the 'tail-catching participants' to four earlier, I would've already been able to... Hmph, never mind. If you can actually catch up to me, just try it."
Before his words faded, Cheetu burst into laughter and sprinted wildly along the road.
Watching Cheetu's back rapidly receding into the distance, Morel, Shoot, and Knuckle all furrowed their brows.
"It seems we need to find someone skilled at... Hm?"
As Morel spoke, he suddenly noticed a figure standing further down the road, someone who hadn't been there moments before.
"Morrow?"
Squinting to see the person clearly, Morel was slightly startled.
At the same time, Cheetu also spotted Morrow.
Another one. Cheetu's mind raced, and he took the opportunity to throw a punch at Morrow, intending to leave a mark on him first.
But the moment he threw his punch, a shower of brilliant starlight suddenly drifted toward his face.
Though Cheetu was alert, he couldn't retract his punch in time.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh–!
Morrow shifted his body with seemingly effortless ease, causing the extremely fast and fierce jabs to completely miss, only stirring up the sound of cutting air.
"What?!"
His usually unstoppable super-speed attacks all missing shocked Cheetu greatly.
Just then, the surrounding specks of starlight rapidly coalesced around Cheetu, transforming into a golden chain.
Cheetu's movements were abruptly restrained, and his expression drastically changed.
Observing this outcome, Morrow calmly watched Cheetu, directly forming a Deceptive Shooting Star in his hand.
Clatter.
The next moment, the golden chain shattered with a sound.
This guy feels particularly dangerous. No, I need to run fast!
His mind somewhat flustered, Cheetu had long abandoned his earlier playful attitude.
The moment the chains broke, he flashed past Morrow without hesitation, speeding away into the distance at top speed.
Morrow did not pursue, merely casually tossing the already aura-charged Deceptive Shooting Star.
A few seconds later, a violent explosion erupted on the distant road.
「Lv.89→Lv.90」
Tree Rings absorbed the experience from Cheetu and actually leveled up.
"Oh?"
Morrow raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised that after killing Cheetu, he had directly leveled up to 90.
It seemed that Youpi's experience had brought him just one step away from level 90.
"Consider it an unexpected gain," Morrow muttered to himself.
On the road behind them, Morel, Shoot, and Knuckle stared in astonishment at the terrifying explosion in the distance.
They were not only shocked by the immense aura Morrow was now displaying but also bewildered as to why Morrow, who should have been lying severely injured in a hospital bed, was here at all.
Moreover, judging by the fluidity of his movements, there was no sign of any serious injury!
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