"So this is a squad leader level among ants… they really look different."
"Tsk tsk tsk… they look so much like humans, a product of natural selection…"
"Similar to the humanoid species in monsters."
In a daze, Rammot woke up, hearing the discussion of several humans.
But he didn't open his eyes.
Because the scene before he fainted was still replaying in his mind.
That man… knocked him unconscious with a single punch.
He could sense the opponent's presence nearby.
"Hey… you're awake, stop pretending." Suddenly, a foot kicked Rammot in the chest. He knew he had been discovered and opened his eyes slightly to look at the man standing before him with a mocking expression and exaggerated hairstyle.
His eyes widened instantly, and a low voice came from his throat: "I'll kill you… I'll kill you, you damned human!"
"Oh ho, you're at death's door, and you're still so tough…" Anthony raised an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by the ant's murderous intent.
At this moment, Rammot's heart trembled, his gaze fixed on the humans before him.
He could feel… something flowing on the surface of their bodies, as if some switch had been turned on.
"Can you see it?"
Rita noticed Rammot's gaze and exclaimed, "It's amazing!"
She was referring to Nen.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Immediately, Rammot began to roar and struggle violently. The muscles in his arms bulged, and he used all his might, veins popping out all over his head. However, he was currently bound by grass ropes all over his body. The seemingly fragile vegetation was inexplicably incredibly tough, and even with his robust strength, he couldn't break them.
"It's useless, give up struggling. My Nen ability has become stronger under the Captain's training!"
Rita said proudly.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
But Rammot ignored her words, his eyes bloodshot, his teeth clenched, looking furious. A few seconds later, with a snap, a section of the grass rope around his arm suddenly broke, making everyone present change color.
Rita was also stunned.
Although her Nen ability was primarily supportive, thanks to subsequent development, she could apply Nen to vegetation, increasing its 'quality' to a certain extent before controlling it. Although she didn't use much Nen, it wasn't something anyone could break free from.
Most importantly, the ant before them relied solely on its physical strength, not Nen.
Snap.
Suddenly, all the grass ropes on Rammot broke, and he sprang up, about to attack Anthony.
"You don't seem to understand your current situation…"
However, just as he stood up, a murmur came.
A figure appeared behind him and swiftly grabbed his shoulder, slamming him to the ground.
His face pressed against the dirt, unable to move.
Rammot tried, but found he couldn't break free from the opponent's restraint.
This human's physical strength… surpassed his?!
No, it was still that invisible thing… at play.
Rammot attacked violently, but Anthony and Rita remained unfazed, their shock constant, because they knew that with Phante there… a mere squad-leader level Chimera Ant couldn't cause much trouble.
Even if its physical prowess was indeed monstrous and could contend with Nen abilities.
"Ah!!"
Rammot still wanted to struggle, but Phante, who was on top of him, changed his technique, firmly pressing down on his head and using his knee to pin the ant's waist. The more Rammot resisted, the harder Phante, with his expressionless face, pressed down, pushing his head further into the dirt pit.
After a while, seeing that Rammot seemed to have inexhaustible strength, Phante's eyes turned cold, veins appearing on the back of his hand as he increased the pressure.
Immediately, Rammot's head was squeezed, and the intense pain made him scream.
"Hoo…"
Phante, with a cigarette still in his mouth, exhaled a puff of white smoke and said faintly, "Behave yourself, ant… Our captain has something he wants to ask you."
After speaking, footsteps approached.
Oboro and Menchi arrived together from a distance.
"Oh? You're awake already… So soon? As expected of an alien species, their vitality is extraordinary…" Oboro approached, looking at the scene before him with a smile.
Rammot, who had been struggling fiercely, immediately… stopped moving.
He calmed down.
He had confidence in his ability to fight these unfamiliar humans, but facing this human who could control his life and death… he didn't even have the right to challenge him.
Only he was present, not Colt.
This meant that all the ants were dead… possibly including Colt.
"Look up."
Oboro crouched down and smiled.
Phante heard the voice and mercilessly grabbed the ant's long hair, pulling its head up to face the captain.
"Rammot… that's your name, right?"
"!!!"
Rammot's pupils contracted.
How did this… man know his name?
"What's the situation in the ant nest now? What stage is the Queen at in giving birth to the Ant King? Also, where are your main hunting grounds?"
"Different areas should be managed by different division chiefs, right? Their respective territories…"
Oboro asked a series of questions.
"You'll die… you'll all die…" Rammot was arrogant and unruly. Because he possessed a higher-sequence life form than humans from birth, he had always looked down on weak creatures like humans.
Even knowing Oboro's terrifying power… he still maintained his 'superior's pride.'
Let alone humans, even among the strictly hierarchical Chimera Ants, as a squad leader, he had no respect for the other division chiefs. No one had made him bow his head in submission yet!
"It seems you're not going to talk… That's understandable…"
Oboro nodded.
The smile on his face suddenly vanished.
"Do you know… any conscious and mature creature will change, and so will you… It's just that you haven't encountered anything that can stir your soul yet…" Oboro said, raising a hand and placing it on Rammot's head.
Seeing this, Phante immediately released the ant and stepped back.
In other words, the ant was now free and could attack at any time.
But… as Oboro's palm touched Rammot's forehead, the ant's facial features contorted, its face turned pale… sweat quickly beaded and flowed down its cheeks.
In Rammot's perception, all the scenes before him turned black, and he couldn't see anything… Only the man squatting before him was quietly staring at him.
Under this mental impact, his spirit hallucinated… the man's figure continuously grew larger, instantly reaching nearly a hundred meters tall, like an insurmountable mountain.
The oppressive aura, as solid as substance, made Rammot unable to breathe.
Especially the hand pressing on his head, radiating warmth… yet emitting a signal.
Submit… or die!
This was a will and power that Rammot had never experienced before, so terrifying that even his soul seemed to be convulsing…
Is this… really a human?
In just these few seconds, the ant, which had been fierce moments ago, seemed to have lost all its spirit, its face haggard, like a completely different creature.
Gulp.
The ant swallowed, actually nodding voluntarily, not daring to look directly at Oboro, its body trembling slightly.
Rammot wanted to open his mouth to answer Oboro's question.
But he saw Oboro gently pat his head, as if very satisfied with his attitude, but…
"I've lost interest in listening to you now…"
With that, Oboro's hand on Rammot's head suddenly burst into ghost fire, transforming into a soul-like state.
Immediately, it plunged directly into the ant's head.
Then, Menchi and the others nearby watched as the captain's eyes lit up, while Rammot lost consciousness, his body stiffening.
"Hiss… Is the Captain reading the target's soul memory?!"
Anthony gasped in shock.
"The Captain's Nen ability is originally soul-based… and the soul is closely related to a person's consciousness." Menchi said, crossing her arms, showing no surprise or doubt.
"Actually, every type of Nen ability is very diverse and can be developed with many functions and effects based on this foundation. The problem is, for each additional effect developed on top of the basic Nen ability, the difficulty increases exponentially, and Nen abilities are too complex to control. Most people, after stabilizing a single Nen ability, will then work on a second effect…"
"Westward Journey, one of the Twelve Zodiacs killed by the Captain, his three Nen monkeys and weapon were multi-layered effects with two variations…"
It's the same for Kuroro's Nen ability in the Phantom Troupe.
The ultimate skill of a thief is the basic ability to steal others' abilities for his own use.
The second is the bookmark.
If Kuroro were still alive, he might develop a third type in the future…
Zeno Zoldyck's Nen ability is also like this.
The Emission-type Dragon Head Play, and Dragon Star Cluster…
"Most people's Nen abilities are relatively simple… but the drawbacks of complexity do not exist for him. There may be people in this world who understand Nen and have attainments above him, but I haven't seen any." Menchi said.
After speaking, she glanced at Anthony again. "Don't even think about it. People are different… Let alone you, even I can't achieve that level. His path is only suitable for himself, not for others to imitate… We can't imitate him either. To put it simply, even if the Captain personally guided you, developing two Nen abilities would be your limit…"
"Cough cough cough… I know, you don't have to say it so bluntly, I have my pride, okay?"
Anthony sighed.
"However… I heard that there's another anomaly like the Captain in the Association."
Fante inserted himself into the conversation, holding a cigarette.
"Ging Freecss?"
Menchi raised an eyebrow.
"Mhm…"
"That guy, like the Captain, is very mysterious to people in the Association… Few people know his true strength."
While they were talking, Oboro finished his work.
He extracted Rammot's soul and deactivated his ability.
The ant, now a hollow shell, fell to the ground, its eyes wide in death.
"Found it?"
"Let's go, to the next battlefield…"
Oboro curled his lips.
Meanwhile, Gabvich and Rita quickly began packing their belongings.
Their team needed to have a thorough understanding of the Chimera Ants' activity areas… Because after letting Colt go, the division chiefs might not come looking for trouble again, in order to ensure the Queen's successful reproduction. And Oboro didn't want to enter the ants' core territory, but the Queen needed a large amount of food for reproduction, meaning the ants would have to keep hunting… perhaps they would bypass them.
Given Colt's intelligence, he should realize that his existence alone, even with all the division chiefs combined, might not be enough to counter the threat.
Therefore, he needed to have a complete understanding of the Chimera Ants' current situation.
And his Nen ability to read soul memories could only be used when the target was conscious, which was why he brought Rammot back.
It was like a computer; to search for data, you must first turn it on… a crashed computer wouldn't work.
Here, Oboro led Menchi and the others, continuing their plan to hunt the ant colony.
...
Meanwhile, Colt returned to the ant nest at high speed.
Peggy the Penguin, Guido the Leopard, Biff the Bull, and other division chiefs had already received the news and gathered here.
Each division chief's appearance had distinct characteristics of other creatures.
They were typical composite genes.
Frogs, turtles, crocodiles, scorpions…
"Yo, Colt… you look quite pathetic!" Guido the Leopard, leaning against a wall, burst into laughter as the dispirited Colt entered the cave, not taking it seriously.
Colt glanced at him but didn't reply.
"Are they all dead?"
Peggy the Penguin hurried forward and asked.
Before Colt returned, he had already sent signals through other ants to relay the news back first.
"Mhm…"
Colt leaned against the wall with one hand, as if finally relieved, and slid down to the ground, his body limp against the wall.
"It was too terrifying… That was not the human we knew… or rather, he only had a human appearance, but his danger level…" Colt muttered dazedly.
"Oh?"
At this moment, a woman with an exquisite face and long, wavy red hair on the side, her eyes filled with curiosity, flicked her long scorpion tail and stopped grooming her beautiful fingernails. "Creatures as weak as humans, could they be stronger than us?"
Zazan the Scorpion.
"Colt, you didn't run back because you were afraid of dying, did you?"
Haga the Lion laughed heartily.
"Alright, stop arguing, listen to what he has to say first."
The frog-like division chief stepped forward to mediate.
Peggy looked at everyone and calmly explained, "The reason Colt returned is to convey intelligence and information about the opponent to us. This is very important to us! Compared to that, dying in battle is the lowest form of action. After all, we can't guarantee how many such special species exist among humans."
After resting for a while, Colt seemed to have finally calmed down and looked at his companions. "I… find it difficult to explain to you the ability of that human…"
He first said this, then recounted his experiences from his outing.
The focus was on 'Nen.'
"Nen… what the hell is that?"
Biff the Bull scratched his head.
"Some kind of energy?"
Peggy, however, frowned deeply.
Then he hurried back to his nest to search for books.
"What's this nonsense, talking so mysteriously? You weren't scared silly, were you?"
A division chief sneered, seemingly not understanding Colt's words at all.
After a perfunctory remark, he walked away.
"Wasting time… I thought it was something serious."
"Let's go, let's go…"
The other division chiefs also expressed their attitudes and turned to leave.
This scene made Colt's heart sink.
These division chiefs each had their own personalities, and not every one of them was as mature and thoughtful as him and Peggy, knowing to think twice before acting.
Although they were companions, their cohesion was limited to only a few.
Colt knew that the best way to make them believe was to bring a living 'human special species' before them; otherwise, just talking wouldn't work.
The ants had killed too many humans… their impression of humans was deeply ingrained.
"Hee hee…"
Before leaving, Guido the Leopard patted Colt on the shoulder and said with a relaxed smile, "It's okay, everyone makes mistakes sometimes… If you really can't handle it, I can help you. With my speed, I can definitely kill him instantly, leaving him no chance to escape."
As he spoke, he swayed his leopard tail.
"Hmm… I'm quite interested in this prey you described. What do you say?"
"…"
Colt stood up, pushed Guido aside, and left with a heavy expression.
After all, this happened within his territory.
Even though he had narrowly escaped and returned, he hadn't garnered the attention of most division chiefs; instead, he had mostly been met with ridicule.
He decided to talk to Peggy properly.
If that human were to head directly for the ant nest… the consequences would be unimaginable.
As for his other companions… Colt understood that unless the enemy attacked their doorstep, he couldn't count on them for now.
...
Time passed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.
Oboro, using the memories read from Rammot's soul, led Menchi and the others to constantly roam the outskirts of the Chimera Ants' activity areas.
The ants were bound to come out…
Because in the more central areas, the food had long been hunted clean… and after the Queen had eaten humans and enjoyed that delicacy, she only set her sights on humans, no longer seeking other creatures as sustenance. Therefore, Oboro could continuously harvest souls and black mist.
Up to now, he had lost count of the number of ants he had eliminated.
They came wave after wave…
Host: Oboro.
Age: 27 years old.
Specialty: Three-Star Ancient Text Hunter.
Combat Rank: Martial Arts God, World-Class Hunter (Rank 7).
Overall Attribute Evaluation: Tier 3 Superhuman.
Nen Abilities: Spacetime Rupture, Thresh's Passive Skill: Dark Passage, Senna's Passive Skill: Redemption.
Redemption Effect: (Attack Range +60m, 100% Critical Hit Chance, 89% Life Steal.)
Dark Passage Effect: Armor Stack, Spell Power Increase +36758.
The next day, amidst the ant carcasses scattered everywhere, Oboro stood in the center and glanced at the system panel.
Attack range increased to 60 meters.
Life steal is almost maxed out.
Before Kite, Killua, and Gon arrive, he should be able to fully evolve the additional attributes as planned.
It is worth mentioning here that initially… soul drops were probabilistic; not every target killed would drop a soul. But after subsequently merging with the effects from Jed's soul, the characteristics of curse energy manifested, allowing the souls, which could originally only inflict mental attacks on living beings, to directly damage and absorb the target's soul under the substantial influence of curse energy. This greatly increased the soul recovery rate.
This led to the astonishing values of armor and magic power, increasing by tens of times.
Before this, his armor and magic power were only a few thousand points.
As for his ranking, it increased from 8th to 7th, moving up one spot.
This is solely related to the Nen rating, likely due to the increase in magic power, not overall strength.
Furthermore… although the values of armor and magic power look intimidating, the actual improvement is closely related to the strength of the deceased's soul… In other words, with each soul collected, magic power and armor increase, but the actual improvement varies.
"The comprehensive attributes related to physical strength are still Tier 3 superhuman… Breaking through to Tier 4 requires transcending the dimension of life… it's indeed not easy…"
Oboro closed the panel, sighing.
"It's about time… It's time to send them a test subject…"
____________________
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