Soon, the Fels family's spaceship entered the Mitne Federation's territory and headed towards the entrance outside the NGL border.
Because they were using the Fels family's gang background and were not official personnel, and their purpose this time was to fund Zege in establishing factories, they smoothly entered the customs checkpoint. However, they also had to undergo thorough inspections. The terms for outsiders were more numerous and stricter than in Donggoutuo.
Forget about any high-tech equipment; entering NGL meant temporary disconnection from the outside world.
"This place… is even more backward than Donggoutuo…"
The only advantage was that after entering NGL territory, unlike in Donggoutuo, there were no soldiers standing guard and watching. They could move relatively freely, but they needed to report to the NGL personnel at regular intervals.
The six of them traveled for a while, walking along a country road. Menchi, carrying a backpack, looked at the peasants working in the fields nearby and said softly.
Along the way, they saw very primitive natural scenery.
But no towns, only villages.
There were also no conspicuous buildings. One should know that even in Donggoutuo, there were still some urbanized territories, much more developed than NGL.
"My feeling is that the soldiers here are more like private armed forces…"
Fante said faintly, blowing smoke rings.
All foreign items would be confiscated, including his cigarettes and lighter. Fortunately, he had prepared some special tobacco in advance, which he could smoke wrapped in paper. He was a heavy smoker.
The NGL soldiers wore white combat uniforms and masks, and their weapons were not sophisticated, not even comparable to external gangs. And due to the lack of complete facilities and venues, for convenience, they directly carved out various types of factories within caves, forming natural shelters.
It was a completely different world from the outside.
The villagers in the distance also saw them and cast unfamiliar and curious glances.
"Let's go."
Oboro urged them faintly.
Menchi and the others had been to NGL before, but last time they had used the Fels family's connections to sneak in… without being discovered. Besides investigating the reproduction of Chimera Ants, they also wanted to scout the route.
Therefore, with a few people leading the way, they could navigate with ease and quickly head to the ant nest.
...
A few nights later.
The six of them entered the mountainous hinterland.
This… was currently the most dangerous area in NGL, and also the area where the ants were active.
Before this, the border guards had already warned them not to approach this place, saying they would not be responsible for anything that happened.
On the surface, Oboro's team was using the excuse of inspecting factories in various places.
Bang bang bang!
Under the cover of night, gunfire and explosions could be heard from ahead.
Oboro raised a finger, and the six people standing on the ground instantly turned into black shadows and disappeared.
A moment later, several white-clad soldiers with guns were seen running over screaming, covered in blood, and occasionally turning back to fire. But soon, a sound of breaking air flew over, and a creature attacked at astonishing speed, instantly decapitating the fleeing soldiers.
It was a Chimera Ant, taller than a human by a head, walking upright.
The soldier ant looked at the corpses at its feet, extended its segmented limbs, grabbed human bones with its hook-like fingers, and slowly turned towards the depths of the forest.
"Hiss… it's really different. It seemed to be thinking just now about how to carry away so much food… I saw human-like intelligence in its eyes." After a moment, Oboro and the others emerged from the shade of the trees above and landed.
Anthony exclaimed in surprise.
"Its physical strength is also much greater than when we first came. That speed, it could even react to bullets…"
Menchi murmured.
"Zege has realized that these humanoid ants are a troublesome problem, but given NGL's situation on the continent and the international circumstances, he has no way to ask for help from the outside world, and no one will help him! If this gets out, it will only expose his weakness and give outsiders an opportunity…"
Oboro said solemnly.
"Looking at the lives of the people in NGL, although this country is like a malignant tumor on the continent, as a leader, Zege seems to treat his subjects quite well… very generously. If we don't consider the contraband they export to the outside world… he's actually a pretty good king."
Fante said.
"Are we almost there?"
Oboro suddenly asked.
"Not far, another hour or two and we'll be there…" Menchi nodded.
"Very good, let's start the plan."
Oboro.
Their current location was still quite far from the ant nest, but they were already within the ants' hunting grounds.
Oboro did not intend to find and kill the Chimera Ant groups one by one.
That would be too inefficient.
He needed a conspicuous location, without any concealment, to stay within the enemy's territory… This way, the ants would come in waves, actively delivering themselves. Menchi and the other four would act as bait, luring the ant colonies from various places towards him.
It was like playing a game, luring monsters together in a map instance, and then having a mage stand by, unleashing area-of-effect damage skills.
Wiping out a large area in one go!
Isn't that wonderful?
After a while, Menchi, who was very familiar with this area, led Oboro to the foot of a mountain.
This mountain was very conspicuous in the entire forest, like a sharp spire in the center of a jade-green sea of trees, nearly a hundred meters high.
The mountain was steep and bare, without vegetation… and unlike a conventional mountain range, it was a single peak.
Oboro showed a satisfied expression.
With a movement, he instantly dashed towards the summit.
At the peak, the cold wind howled. With his hands in his pockets, he stood under the round moon in the night sky, able to overlook an area of more than ten kilometers around.
Oboro slowly sat down and shouted down the mountain, "Let's begin!"
Menchi and the others first hid their backpacks and belongings, then began to warm up, stretching their limbs.
Gabvich used his Nen ability on the others, enabling telepathic communication at any time.
Once ready, the five exchanged glances and instantly scattered, darting off in different directions into the forest.
"What a beautiful view…"
On the mountaintop, Oboro sat cross-legged, took off his sunglasses, propped his chin with one hand, and said with a smile.
...
It didn't take long before Rita was the first to find traces of Chimera Ants.
Her Nen ability was incredibly convenient for finding targets.
When she arrived, she happened to see more than a dozen soldier ants gathered around human corpses, piled into a small mound.
They had likely wiped out a nearby village.
Because they required a large amount of food, the Chimera Ants' territory must have been constantly expanding… Within a fixed area, let alone humans, even wild beasts would have been completely wiped out by them.
Rita walked directly out from the forest and waved to the ants guarding the food.
"Hello! My name is Rita! I'm a human female!"
"My captain wants to meet you!"
Rita shouted heartily.
Her loud voice could be heard not only by the ants in front of her but likely by even the smallest creatures a hundred meters away.
The Chimera Ants immediately charged forward without a word.
Ordinary soldier ants, when hunting, would first temporarily place their prey in one location, and then after clearing an area, they would transport the food back to the nest… This was what differentiated them from ordinary ants; they possessed intelligence and thought.
Rita dodged the ants' attacks, engaging them… Soon, the leading Chimera Ant realized it couldn't handle this human, so it let out a screech, signaling its companions. Their method of communication was no longer limited to just their antennae…
Another Chimera Ant escaped to find nearby companions for support.
And Rita was surrounded by more than a dozen ants.
But she handled it with ease.
Oboro had already instructed them not to kill the ants once they found them, but to cause trouble first and then attract more Chimera Ants.
Rita was executing Oboro's plan perfectly.
In less than ten minutes, rustling sounds could be heard from the nearby forest.
Immediately after, Rita saw that she was now surrounded by twenty to thirty more Chimera Ants, forming an even larger circle, shrinking their formation and closing in on her.
Seeing this, Rita knew it was time to retreat.
She bent her knees and leaped, instantly soaring several meters up a tree trunk, then darting back and forth between branches, deliberately slowing her pace so the ants could catch up… and not lose their target.
...
"Captain, I'm still three kilometers from your position. I'll arrive in a few minutes. There are about thirty ants, heading southeast!"
"Captain, I have twenty-four here, a bit further away, on the back!"
"Report, Captain! I've attracted nearly forty!"
"Cap…tain… I I…"
Half an hour later, several teammates' voices sounded in Oboro's mind one after another.
The first batch of 'goods' had arrived.
"No need to bring them all the way to the foot of the mountain. Within about a kilometer is fine…" Oboro replied.
"Yes!"
The five responded in unison.
Then, Oboro rotated his neck and said jokingly, "It's time to get to work!"
He stood up, his gaze sweeping across the forest, confirming the directions and positions of his teammates.
The next second, his expression turned grim.
Endless Nen power erupted.
Beneath the round moon in the night sky, the figure standing on the mountaintop instantly summoned a thick ghost fog, which rolled out in all directions like clouds and rain over the forest, engulfing an area of over a thousand meters in an instant.
Oboro held the Lantern of Rigg in his hand, took out Jed's soul, which had been imprisoned and transformed within the lantern, held it in his palm, and raised it in mid-air…
The dense ghosts, like cats smelling fish, all flew over, biting and devouring Jed's black soul.
Then, these originally ethereal ghosts underwent a transformation.
As if dyed with ink, they exuded an ominous aura similar to curse energy.
The ghosts roared, their cries echoing through the heavens.
"Go."
Oboro said softly.
As his voice fell, the sky-filling ghost shadows, along with the ethereal mist, swooped down from the mountaintop towards the ground.
Southeast, about a kilometer away.
Anthony's naked eye could already see the mist appearing on the distant mountain peak, rippling through the sky and earth.
He laughed heartily, suddenly stopped running, turned around, and looked at the ants that had been chasing him, spreading his hands. "You still want to gang up on me? Sorry, my companions have arrived…" Saying this, he fell backward.
A surge of green mist, like a tide, instantly engulfed his figure, swallowing him.
Like soft cotton clouds, it supported and hid his fallen body.
The ants chirped, looking at each other in confusion, unable to react in time… The mist had already reached them, brushing past their bodies and enveloping the space.
Instantly, everything around became misty, with extremely low visibility, rendering everything invisible.
Then, a black shadow shot out from the mist, pouncing towards them.
The Chimera Ants instinctively attacked, but found their limbs passing through the black ghosts, unable to touch them… as if the ghosts didn't exist.
But… as the black specters drilled into their bodies.
The ants stiffened on the spot as if struck by a heavy blow, began to tremble slightly, and let out pained cries.
A few seconds later, the ghosts emerged from their bodies again. The difference was, they held something in their hands… souls!
The souls of the Chimera Ants.
Oboro's passive skill seemed to no longer require killing the target and waiting for its soul to drop… but to directly take the soul!
The application of Nen abilities had become more brutal and simpler!
All of this… was thanks to Jed's soul-transformed curse energy.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
Black shadows shuttled back and forth in the area where the Chimera Ants stood, lost within the mist. They couldn't escape at all; their positions had long been locked by the specters, and they couldn't discern directions.
Their attacks were also rendered ineffective.
In just about two minutes, as the ethereal mist receded and disappeared from the forest.
Anthony finally saw the scene left behind: dozens of Chimera Ants, with no injuries on their bodies… but all lifeless, lying on the ground.
"Captain, am I seeing things? Did your ghosts… change color? They feel different too… What's going on?" Anthony exclaimed.
"Secret."
Oboro.
"…No way, Captain, you're not even protecting your own people!" Anthony said resentfully.
"It's not about protection… It's related to the development of Nen abilities, mixed with some rules of ability reversal and energy application. It's very complex and tedious. Even if I explained it, with your brain, you probably wouldn't understand, so… let's save the effort."
"Uh…"
Anthony, "Wow… Amazing! It seems… you weren't fully serious when you were training us before, and yet we were tortured so badly…"
"Stop chattering… Let's go find the second wave of targets!"
Menchi's cold voice interrupted their conversation.
"This woman, isn't she surprised at all? I feel like the Captain's application and development of Nen is beyond our comprehension… How did he achieve such large-scale destructive power? Before, these ghosts only affected our minds… meaning Nen abilities are singular in nature, but now they've changed. The difficulty of developing each Nen ability further, on top of the original foundation, increases exponentially… It's not that easy."
"Moreover, the Captain has always been with us, and I haven't seen him…"
Anthony thought to himself, but he still rushed to continue the action.
"Shut up! You're really annoying."
Menchi said coldly.
"Wuwuwu… I'm so sad…"
"Anthony… Big Brother… Captain's strength… isn't it something… we've always known… Haven't you… accepted… this fact yet…"
Gabvich stammered.
"You brat, you're kicking me while I'm down too? Can't you comfort me a little?"
"Menchi often scolds you… we're used to it…"
"…"
Anthony.
Everyone knew Menchi had a fiery temper, except for the Captain who could keep her in check.
If anyone else provoked her, she would really grab a knife and go berserk, regardless of who it was.
____________________
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