Chapter 110: Chimera Ant
While Mord was investigating the strange disease source in the Khongyon Kingdom, at the southern tip of the Balsa Islands in the Yorbian Continent, a creature was washed ashore by the waves.
Dragging its injured body, it entered a cave ahead.
This creature was none other than the Chimera Ant Queen!
Why didn't those guys just kill me?
The Chimera Ant Queen couldn't quite understand, but it didn't matter to her anymore. The most urgent matter now was to find a way to recover quickly.
The Chimera Ant Queen had lost one arm and was severely injured.
I can't die yet. I still have a mission I must fulfill.
She looked at the fish in the pond ahead, used her left fingertips to pick up a small worm from the soil nearby, then held it above the pond, waiting for the fish to take the bait.
The moment the fish bit, the Chimera Ant Queen's claw pierced through its body.
The entire motion was completely natural, as if she inherently knew she could fish this way.
The Queen began chewing greedily on the plump fish in her grasp.
Not enough... No matter how much of this food I eat, it's never enough...
But I can't move yet. I mustn't be impatient. I need to recover my body first.
First restore my body, then...
Hunt a big prey!
...
Hunter Association Headquarters.
Netero's face was dark. The other staff in the office didn't know what could make their usually kind-hearted elder so furious.
The result of the negotiations.
Was receiving a statement of apology from the Federation of Ochima, along with the punishment of one military officer.
The Federation of Ochima claimed that the feedback they received indicated there were no Hunter Association members in the city, which was why they launched the missile strike.
Everything was attributed to this involved officer's work error.
Their explanation was flawless.
The Hunter Association had no grounds to pursue the matter further.
The other four member nations of V5 also stated that since the Federation of Ochima had already provided an explanation for the incident, the matter should end here.
At this point, even Netero could do nothing more.
Netero's expression was extremely grim as he dialed Mord's number, having promised to give him an explanation.
In the vice president's office, Pariston watched Netero's livid face through the transparent glass window, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, wearing his signature smile.
He was also on the phone.
"Successfully delivered that thing. It should have reached the destination five days ago."
"What do we do next? Just sit and wait?" A man's voice came from the other end of the line, somewhat deep and resonant.
"Wait?" Pariston laughed. "I never wait passively. Many things in this world are the same—waiting never yields results."
"I've already had someone discreetly leak the information to various national biodiversity survey agencies. We'll soon have fish biting."
"Good, I'll await your positive news."
Pariston hung up the phone and looked out at Netero. How many years had it been since he last saw Netero take such interest in a young hunter?
Since the establishment of the Hunter Association, there had been countless individuals with astonishing talent, but the last person to receive such attention from Netero was still Ging!
At the thought of Ging, Pariston's expression involuntarily turned serious...
Who knows where this guy has gone off to.
It would be such a shame if you missed this grand spectacle.
...
In a mountain castle.
Mord hung up the phone, his face calm.
He never held much hope for the Hunter Association's negotiations to begin with. Without hope, there would be no disappointment.
When others have bigger fists than you, they hold the power of reason.
He opened his computer and began searching for recent flights to countries and regions near NGL, as well as the people who had traveled there.
After searching, Mord discovered a familiar name.
Kite!
In a remote jungle on the Yorbian Continent.
Five people gathered together.
The leader was a man with a slender build, long white hair, a pointed chin, and a blue baseball cap. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and brown shoes from top to bottom.
The white-haired man looked up at his companions and asked, "Where did Jelly and Woodman go?"
"They went to the discovery site," replied a large, raccoon-like man standing opposite him.
This group was the biological investigation team led by Kite.
The large man who just spoke was named Monta Yuras. Due to his tall stature, he was responsible for the daily transport work.
Beside Monta was a man with an afro, named Stick Dinner, the team's cook.
The other two women were Banana Kavaro, who carried a dog capable of tracking scents with her, and Spinner Clow, a red-haired beauty wearing a tilted hat and chewing gum, who was skilled at using computers for intelligence gathering.
Of course, all four of them shared a common identity—they were biologists.
The white-haired man needs no introduction—he was none other than Ging's disciple, the One-Star Hunter Kite.
"They're as quick to act as ever," Kite remarked.
"Speaking of which, it turned out just as you predicted, Kite," the large man Monta said, taking a small bottle from his backpack and handing it over.
Inside the transparent glass bottle was something resembling an insect's claw.
"This is extremely similar to a Chimera Ant's claw, specifically a Queen Ant's claw. Computer analysis shows a 99% match," Monta explained.
"It's about the size of a human finger," Kite said, taking the bottle and examining it carefully. "This means there could be giant ants among them."
"Could it be a sudden mutation causing them to grow larger? Regular Chimera Ants are no different from normal ants in size," Banana asked.
Kite nodded: "That's possible, or it could be a completely new species we've discovered."
"Anyway, we can't draw conclusions based on this alone, which is why we need to conduct an investigation."
However, the opportunity for this investigation came about unexpectedly.
Kite and his team were originally carrying out a mission in the Kakin Kingdom. When they completed their wildlife exploration survey commission, the Kakin official in charge of liaising with them said the following:
"This is amazing."
"This is equivalent to 200 years of work by our national investigation agencies. We feel terrible that we can't offer you additional compensation."
"Then as an exchange, I'll strongly recommend you to nations with close ties."
"Oh, right, just treat this as my soliloquy."
"I heard someone brought parts of some strange creature into Balsa Islands."
"It's suspected to be an unregistered creature that violates regulations, so it can't be listed."
"But the discoverer said rather than letting public authorities take it for nothing, it'd be better to sell it at high price to licensed hunters..."
It was precisely these words from this high-ranking official of the Kakin Empire that prompted Kite and his team's investigation journey.