Inside the Ant Nest
"I wonder if Colt will be able to secure human aid..." Bihorn arms crossed, watched with concern as the octopus Chira Ant desperately perford ergency asures on the Queen.
Though he possessed the greatest strength among the Squadron Leaders, he was utterly useless when it ca to dical treatnt.
He could only hope Colt would return with reinforcents...
"Probably not likely." The small bear Chira Ant wearing a purple headband muttered softly, yet his voice echoed clearly through the chamber.
Among the Chira Ants, the bear was arguably the cutest—at first glance, he resembled a plush teddy bear.
As a Squadron Leader loyal to the Queen, his temperant was easygoing, devoid of ambition.
He believed seeking help from humans was an impossibility.
After all, the two sides were still enemies—how could any creature willingly aid their foe?
In the corner, the chaleon leoron stood silently, his bulging eyes fixed intently on the red book in his hands.
Unbeknownst even to himself, his usually calm and carefree expression had gradually darkened.
He gently traced the book’s cover with his fingers as fragnted mories surfaced in his mind—albeit slowly, leaving him montarily unable to comprehend why he was reacting this way.
Except...
A surge of inexplicable rage welled up within him.
Directed at that Ant King!
***
Outside the Ant Nest
"Even from a distance, it looks ugly. Up close, it’s even worse." Akira tilted his head slightly, scanning the exterior of the ant nest and indeed found it hideous.
But it was understandable—this entire nest was built by the lowest-ranking worker ants.
Among the lowest-tier Chira Ant soldiers, so were designated for combat while others handled nial tasks.
For instance, there were pig-type Chira Ants specialized in "cooking" food and crawling insect-types for nest construction...
Akira sensed no powerful auras nearby, confirming the Ant King and the three Royal Guards had already left.
Had they still been here, they would have detected his presence.
As it happened, the Ant King had just departed to consu the last remaining food provided by the Royal Guards within the nest.
But the Ant King refused ordinary food, craving only special als (Nen Users).
Left with no choice, the Royal Guards escorted the Ant King outside to hunt for Nen Users.
Yet all humans within countless miles had been evacuated in advance, leaving the Ant King without even basic sustenance.
Seeing this, the Royal Guards led the Ant King away from this "useless" nation, flying toward another direction.
Their destination was the Republic of East Gorteau, located opposite the NGL.
Both NGL and East Gorteau were part of the Balsa Islands·Mitene Union.
One lay at the westernmost edge, the other at the easternmost.
Akira speculated the Chira Ants might have flown straight in a random direction, thus reaching East Gorteau.
Otherwise, they would have logically headed to the neighboring Republic of Rokario or other adjacent islands.
"Tap, tap..."
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from within the nest, brimming with urgency and impatience.
With the queen near death and the Ant King gone with the Royal Guards, the remaining soldier ants grew restless.
Devoid of higher intelligence, they only sought to escape into the vast world outside to reproduce freely.
These soldier ants stood no chance of breaking free.
But the nest was a labyrinth with multiple entrances—far too many for Akira alone to cover.
But he was a Pokemon Master.
In an instant, figures materialized behind Akira before vanishing just as quickly.
His Pokemon had dispersed to other tunnels.
As swarms of soldier ants rushed out eagerly, they were t with terrifying auras.
"Where do you think you’re going? Need a hand?"
****
"Hmm?"
"Sothing’s coming?"
Bihorn suddenly turned toward the tunnel they’d co from, where a sinister aura now faintly lingered.
What could it be?!
All squadron leaders present fixed their gazes on the tunnel—except leoron, still deep in thought.
"Tap-tap, tap-tap..." The bear twitched its ears, carefully analyzing the approaching footsteps.
"From the sound, multiple creatures are coming—mostly our kind, and one..."
"Is that... a human?"
At the sa ti, Akira figure slowly erged from the cave entrance, allowing the Squadron Leaders present to clearly see the newcor’s appearance.
An actual human?
"How is this possible? Is he here to help, or..." Bihorn was initially startled but then realized they couldn’t yet determine the other party’s intentions.
If he was here to eliminate them, that would be troubleso.
Without the protection of the Royal Guards, these Squadron Leaders stood no chance against the enemy.
"It seems everyone’s gathered here. That makes things easier." Akira glanced around and nodded.
Since they were all assembled here, it was convenient.
He continued walking forward, stopping at the center of the room, briefly glancing at the dying ant queen on the ground without speaking.
Only then did Bihorn and the other Squadron Leaders fully notice the Chira Ants following behind Akira.
There was a pink koala drinking alcohol, Hina with her adorable expression and an utterly ordinary soldier ant... These were Chira Ants Akira deed acceptable—though not Squadron Leaders, they still had value in living.
As for the soldier ant, it was actually Colt’s younger sister, who also retained mories from her human life.
However, because she had been very young as a human and had beco a mute soldier ant, this fact had never been exposed.
"You are..." Bihorn was confused.
Was this human here to help or to eliminate them?
If he was here to help, where was Colt?
And could he alone really save the queen?
But if he was here to eliminate them, why bring those fellow ants along instead of killing them outright?
So, he was the first to speak up, though whether it was due to the overwhelming pressure Akira exuded was unclear.
Originally, as a bull-type Chira Ant, Bihorn voice was quite booming.
Yet now, he instinctively lowered his tone, placing himself in a subordinate position.
However, before he could finish his question, a graceful figure suddenly appeared in the room.
A flash of pink light, followed by rippling waves of Aura, struck every Chira Ant present.
Psychic-type move—Hypnosis!
’So he really is here to eliminate us?!’
Bihorn and the other Chira Ants widened their eyes in shock, wanting to resist—but it was already too late.
In an instant, all the Chira Ants in the room froze in place, their eyes losing focus as if their souls had been drained.
The spacious room fell into dead silence, save for the faint groans of the queen.
An eerie scene unfolded.
The Chira Ants stood motionless, their heads drooping as if trapped in an illusion.
But Akira knew they were rely imrsed in their own consciousness.
Once their mories were restored, they would awaken.
Communicating with Chira Ants who had regained their human mories would undoubtedly be easier.
As for the ant queen on the verge of death... His Pokemon had plenty of ways to heal injuries.
As long as there was still a breath left, they could pull her back from the brink of death.
Just one ’Soft-Boiled’ from Blissey could restore half her health.
Two would fully heal her.
But Akira had no intention of saving the queen.
Unlike the other Chira Ants who had once been human, he held no goodwill toward this queen.
He wouldn’t lift a finger to save her—not killing her outright was already generous.
If he rembered correctly, Kite who was now reborn, was still inside her body.
***
After soti, the Chira Ants began to wake up one by one.
Yet upon regaining consciousness, their emotions seed even more subdued than before.
Their once-clear eyes were now filled with complex expressions.
Like Colt monts ago, they struggled to accept their current reality.
If they had originally clung only to the desire to protect the Queen, then with the full awakening of their human mories, their convictions began to waver.
What were they supposed to do now?
With human souls but monstrous appearances, could they ever live normal lives again?
Akira wasn’t surprised by the Chira Ants’ silent deanor.
Like Colt, they needed ti to process everything.
"What a disaster..." Bihorn muttered, staring down at his pale blue skin, thick hide and the imnse power coursing through his body.
Even the long bull horns atop his head made it impossible to recognize him as human anymore.
Truthfully, many people would willingly beco Chira Ants—especially at the Squadron Leader level.
They could retain most of their human mories while gaining new talents and strength they never had before.
Compared to most humans, Chira Ants possessed far greater potential, their power skyrocketing as if by cheat codes.
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, where strength dictated fate, this was invaluable.
If word got out, countless people might even volunteer to be devoured by the Queen, just for a taste of that overwhelming power.
But Bihorn and the others present were not among them.
The humans the Queen had consud were mostly residents of the NGL.
The only exception was the unlucky Pokkle, who had been eaten too late—by then, the Queen was already nurturing the Ant King, so he never reincarnated, rely serving as nutrients for the monarch.
Had he been captured earlier or later, things might have been different.
Earlier, he could have been reborn as a Squadron Leader-level Chira Ant—far surpassing his original potential.
Later, he might have survived until Kite and the others arrived, before Neferpitou birth.
But fate had snatched him at the worst possible mont—what a badluck.
Bihorn and the others, as NGL residents, were mbers of the eco Green Life organization.
They had never craved power, content with simple, peaceful lives.
So rather than becoming these monstrous forms, they would have much preferred to remain human.
But ti could not be reversed.
anwhile, leoron had also regained his human mories.
Unlike the others, whose faces were shadowed with gloom, tears stread down his cheeks.
Drop by drop, they fell like a kite with a severed string, finally landing on the red cover of a book he held.
Clutching the book, leoron slowly walked to the side before collapsing to his knees.
Before him lay the corpse of Peggy the Penguin!
Already headless, Peggy’s remains had been further gnawed on by the Ant King.
Only scattered fragnts of his body remained, a sight even more pitiful than before.
leoron knelt before the corpse, wiping tears from his face with his hand, letting out soft sobs intermittently.
He rembered... Peggy the Penguin was his adoptive father!
His adoptive father had been a scholar in NGL, who later took him in and the two lived together.
Though he was called an adoptive father, he act more like a father than his biological one.
Those were truly wonderful days.
They ate together, read together...
But the appearance of the Chira Ants shattered everything!
Both of them were devoured, ending up in this monstrous state.
Yet even after becoming like this, his adoptive father still didn’t survive.
If soone were standing in front of leoron now, they would see his eyes wide with fury.
It was an expression of unparalleled hatred and grief!
At this mont, leoron loathing for the Ant King reached its peak!
Blood debts must be repaid with blood!
Akira gave leoron a rather peculiar look, his expression unreadable.
Mainly because leoron emotional turmoil felt eerily familiar to him.
Right now, leoron sowhat resembled Eren from Attack on Titan.
One harbored the desire to kill the Ant King.
The other sought to eradicate all Titans.
The forr’s outco remained uncertain, but the latter had carried it out ruthlessly.
Eren had truly wiped everything clean—even himself.
"leoron, what’s wrong with you?" Bihorn sensed sothing was off again.
Perhaps it was due to becoming a bovine Chira Ant, but he often felt his mind couldn’t keep up.
First, the sudden appearance of this human and now leoron’s reaction—he couldn’t grasp the reason behind any of it.
He could understand crying, he himself felt the urge to weep, given how they’d been transford from ordinary humans.
But why kneel before Peggy’s corpse?
"Penguin Peggy... was my... adoptive father in my human life!" leoron spoke haltingly, his voice choked with sobs.
By the end, he abruptly stood and turned around.
Now, everyone present could see leoron current expression.
His face was contorted with rage, brimming with fury.
This was nothing like the leisurely, sun-loving leoron from before.
That leoron was dead.
Now, there was only a human consud by vengeance against the Ant King for his adoptive father’s brutal death!
So Peggy was leoron’s adoptive father?!
Hearing this, Bihorn, Bloster and the other squadron leaders widened their eyes in shock.
This revelation was second only to the impact of their restored human mories.
Now they understood leoron’s drastic change in deanor.
To witness his adoptive father’s grueso death before his very eyes...
"Let ask you this, do you want to live as humans now, or as Chira Ants?"
Since they’d regained their human mories, Akira posed this final question.
It would make handling them easier later.
"Of course as humans."
"We definitely want to return to human lives."
Bihorn words drew nods from the other Chira Ants.
Resuming their human lives was undoubtedly the best outco.
Fortunately, they were mild-mannered.
Had it been Zazan, Welfin, or others, they’d likely have sought to exploit their Chira Ant abilities.
"Good. In that case, you have only one option. I’ll send you to an island."
"That island is quite resourceful—you could live there comfortably for the rest of your lives without growing bored."
"You can also take on odd jobs there to help others."
"Does that sound acceptable to all of you?"
Akira’s words reignited hope in the Chira Ants.
They could actually live on as humans?
Being confined to an island was no issue at all.
To them, it simply ant relocating their lives—a trivial matter.
Seeing no objections from the Chira Ants, Akira pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Hello? Ging, does Greed Island need extra hands?"
---------------------------
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