Komugi's young face was streaked with tears as she sobbed quietly, praying silently for her Commander-in-Chief.
Suddenly, steady footsteps echoed outside the door.
Komugi, who was blind, perked up immediately.
Most people might have missed it, but Komugi relied heavily on her hearing, which was incredibly sharp.
She could easily tell who was approaching.
'Could it be the Commander-in-Chief returning?'
"Is... is it you, Commander-in-Chief?" she asked timidly, opening her eyes at the same time.
They were beautiful eyes, but the pupils were covered with a grayish-white layer, dulling their original charm. It was hard not to feel a pang of sadness.
In truth, Komugi herself wasn't unattractive, though her hairstyle was messy and she sometimes had a runny nose, giving her a somewhat untidy look.
"It's me," came a calm, strong voice, and a dark green figure stepped into the room.
Meruem looked at Komugi, whose expression shifted from worry to joy, and sighed softly inside.
"There was an attack on the palace just now, but it's all over now. Let's keep playing chess."
With that, Meruem gathered the scattered chess pieces from the corner and laid them out in front of Komugi.
This was Larry's way of closing this chapter, letting the Chimera Ant King play the final, unfinished game with Komugi.
It was like fulfilling the king's last wish.
"So that's it. I'm glad nothing happened to you, Commander-in-Chief," Komugi said obediently, feeling genuinely happy to continue their game.
Over their time together, both the Ant King and Komugi had grown to deeply respect each other.
Even sensitive Komugi didn't realize that the ant king before her had changed into a wild monster. The real Ant King was already gone.
It was a kind of white lie.
Her eyes then glanced at Komugi, who was beaming with joy.
Meruem didn't say anything else but made the first move: "7-2-3."
Since Komugi was blind, the Ant King always announced his moves aloud during their chess games.
Naturally, playing board games without sight isn't easy.
Yet, Komugi had not only achieved a remarkable ranking of 3.3 but also reached the level of a world champion and even defeated Meruem multiple times.
This clearly showed her exceptional talent in military strategy.
As time passed, the room was filled only with the sounds of chess pieces being placed and Meruem's voice calling out moves.
Komugi was so focused on the game that she didn't notice the footsteps approaching the door.
Larry and the others quietly watched the two, each with different emotions. Some sighed, others looked on with sympathy.
After a while, Meruem placed his final piece and declared, "8-5-6, check!"
The game was over.
This marked the end of their chess matches.
Meruem, who had never won a game while alive, was finally helped to victory by Ditto after his death.
It was also the first time Komugi had lost during a military ceremony.
"I... lost," she said in surprise.
"Congratulations, General!" she added, her smile brightening.
Though she had lost, Komugi felt happier than she would have
If she'd won, because the General had finally beaten her.
"There's something I want to tell you," Meruem said in a serious tone.
"With so many state affairs coming up, there might not be many chances to play chess with you in the future."
Ditto couldn't always play with Komugi either, so Meruem used his busy schedule as an excuse.
"From now on, just focus on your military studies and don't worry about anything else," he said. "I'll come to see you when I have free time."
This was Larry's arrangement for Komugi, the best he could do for the poor girl.
"Okay," she replied. "I'll work hard on my military etiquette and prepare for the next time I meet the commander-in-chief!"
Her expression shifted briefly but then brightened again.
'They'd be able to play chess together again someday... right?'
The last chess piece falling not only marked victory but also signaled the end of the Chimera Ant incident.
For Komugi, it meant she could finally relax and enjoy the peace without worrying about anything else.
Thanks to Porygon Z, she could travel to multiple places at once, and sometimes she'd even let Ditto come over for a game of chess.
Although the Chimera Ant incident had concluded, its effects were still spreading.
News of the Ant King's death quickly reached many influential figures, high-ranking officials from various countries, some of whom had even been involved in creating the Chimera Ants.
When they found out the Ant King was dead but Netero, the key figure, remained unharmed, their expressions changed drastically.
After digging deeper, their attention shifted to Larry, who was now known as the [World's Strongest].
If Larry hadn't been there, things probably would have unfolded as they expected.
Coupled with his impressive performance at the recent [New Five] meeting, Larry had become the focus of every nation's attention.
His strength was beyond anyone's imagination, far surpassing even Netero's.
After thorough investigation, countries discovered that the massive explosion at the experimental site was actually caused by Larry's nen best, and reportedly, it was from just a single attack.
Some believed it, but most couldn't wrap their heads around the idea.
To create such devastation, they thought you'd need massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction.
As a result, Larry became a figure that top leaders worldwide kept a close eye on.
But Larry didn't care about all that political attention.
What mattered to him were the gains he made from this whole incident, and this time, those gains were pretty significant.
First, there was the Pokemon that had been bred, mythical beast Pokemon like Machamp and Genesect.
This meant he now had two SS-level Pokemon, which was the biggest advantage gained during this time.
The second benefit was the experience points earned.
The experience points from the Ant King were split evenly between Genesect and Tyranitar.
Genesect didn't improve much since, as an SS-level being, this amount of experience wasn't enough to make a big difference.
But for Tyranitar, it was a different story.
Even half of those experience points was a substantial boost, enough to push him past the S+ level and bring him up to the same level as the enhanced Ant King.
However, he was still stuck between S+ and SS levels, which showed just how tough that next leap was.
The experience required to break into SS-level status is enormous, but once crossed, it opens up a whole new world.
To put it into perspective, even the strongest S-level fighters seem like ants compared to the weakest SS-level ones.
Inside the Dwun Castle, the scene was well-organized and thriving.
The Chimera Ants brought here had fully adapted to Greed Island.
Some chose to stay in the castle and help out with chores, like cleaning Dwun's room, which was messier than even Ging's.
When Gon arrived after clearing Greed Island, he found garbage scattered everywhere and barely any space to live.
Taking on this tough and important task fell primarily to the Chimera Ant Bears.
Meanwhile, other Chimera Ants curious about new experiences were spread out across the island, serving as NPCs.
This group included Octopus Ikalgo, who played many roles in the original story.
They would gather at the gym under the lighthouse at specific times to train under Razor's guidance.
After a period of training, their strength had skyrocketed, and most had developed their own unique abilities.
"It's great to see how well they've integrated into Greed Island," Larry said, nodding as Dwun shared the update.