Chapter 111: Bait
In a cave in the NGL Autonomous Region.
The rock ceiling was densely covered with enormous insect eggs, each pulsating rhythmically like a heart.
The Chimera Ant Queen looked up at the eggs she had laid.
"The eggs in this area should hatch soon."
The next moment.
Several large eggs cracked open, and giant Chimera Ant soldiers—each combining biological features with ant DNA—emerged from them.
Sensing the Queen's presence, all Chimera Ant soldiers trembled and instinctively lowered their heads.
"Soldiers, to birth a stronger King... I must consume more nutritious food!"
"Go find better food!"
With this command.
Countless Chimera Ant soldiers vibrated their wings and flew out of the cave.
For them, the Queen's command was absolute.
Inside the cave.
The Chimera Ant Queen looked around her dwelling.
"This space is becoming too small."
"To birth a stronger King, I need a larger nest, one where I don't have to worry about enemies, giving my pregnant body sufficient time to rest!"
"To birth a stronger King, I need more robust soldiers!"
...
Sazan Private Exhibition Hall.
Collector Guans watched another group of professional hunters arrive, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
"Follow me."
Guans led the five people behind him to the deepest room of his exhibition hall, pointing at a display case ahead as he spoke: "This is what you're looking for."
Inside the transparent glass display case lay the limb of an unknown creature.
"What do you think, Uncle?" asked the only woman in the group.
The woman wore blue traditional clothing, her appearance not exactly stunning but with an ethereal quality, wearing embroidered cloth shoes on her feet.
She stood in stark contrast to the modern equipment around her.
"This... this is clearly an unregistered creature," said a middle-aged man with graying hair behind the blue-clad woman after some thought. "Superficially it looks like an insect's leg, but we've never discovered insects with legs this large."
"The hook has features other insects don't possess," added another hunter.
The middle-aged man nodded, "Right, ordinary insects only have two, but this one has six."
"Could they be tarsal segments that evolved to become like human fingers?" the blue-clad woman pondered for a moment before asking.
"That makes sense. The lower part still has spines, looking very much like a tibia. If we take samples for detailed investigation, we should obtain more information."
The middle-aged man turned to face the collector Guans and said, "Would you be willing to sell us a portion of it?"
Guans placed a hand over his chest and replied with a smile, "I'd be delighted. I hope it can be of help to you."
...
In the mountain castle.
"Boss, the plane is ready," the butler announced from outside the door, bowing.
"Understood. We'll depart now," Mord said, closing his laptop.
...
Elsewhere.
Kite and his team finally found the person who had first discovered the Chimera Ant Queen's limb in a coastal village south of Yorknew City.
"Where did you find that foot?" Kite asked the fisherman before him.
The fisherman led Kite's group to the discovery site and explained, "I found it right here on this beach. It must have been washed ashore by the waves."
The tall Monta glanced around, his gaze eventually settling on the dense forest not far from the beach. "The woods behind are very thick. If that creature escaped into the forest, it would be difficult to track down."
"Maybe the creature is already dead. We don't even know if it would drift to the same island," Spinner added.
"Whether it's on this island or not, we'll find out by searching," Banana said, opening her large backpack and releasing the special search dog inside. She let it smell the Chimera Ant Queen's claw to memorize the scent, then set the dog to lead the search.
They searched until sunset but found no traces.
"Little White's tracking abilities have been proven over the years. Since even it couldn't find anything, that means the target really isn't here..." Banana remarked.
Kite nodded and said, "It might have been washed further away by the waves. Which direction do the tides flow from here?"
A local fisherman replied, "The currents here are complex. The flow direction is completely different between day and night, and it varies with seasons and specific days."
In other words, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint a location.
While Kite and the other biological survey hunters, phantom beast hunters... were still diligently searching for traces of the Chimera Ant, the private jet carrying Mord was already heading straight for NGL.
...
On the plane.
Mord browsed through information about the Chimera Ant on the Hunter-exclusive website.
The Chimera Ant Queen—a Level 1 quarantine designated insect species.
The reason an ant could receive such treatment was entirely due to its reproductive method.
Chimera Ants employ a special egg-laying form called Phagogenesis.
The Chimera Ant Queen inherits characteristics of other organisms by consuming them, passing these traits to the next generation.
Each feeding allows her to lay one to five eggs, while the soldier ants of this generation lack reproductive ability.
The Chimera Ant Queen preserves her species by ingesting genetic material from stronger organisms, often continuously consuming her chosen species until that species becomes extinct!
This is the true danger of the Chimera Ant Queen.
Moreover, the Chimera Ant Queen has a voracious appetite, capable of consuming several times her own body weight in food each day. Each queen has different preferences, hence they are also known as gourmet ants.
The most critical point is this: according to intelligence records, ordinary Chimera Ant Queens are only about ten centimeters in size.
Yet the one Pariston created is at least two meters tall.
This means it can easily consume more creatures, including humans.
Mord was mentally calculating the timeline. Currently, Kite and his team hadn't yet set out for NGL. Based on the original progression, the Chimera Ant Queen shouldn't have given birth to the Royal Guards at this point.
If it's only at the Squadron Leader level—and Squadron Leaders who haven't even mastered Nen abilities—they pose no threat to Mord in his current state.
He must reach NGL before Kite.
This time, without Gon and Killua slowing them down as deadweights, Kite, with his capabilities, might just bulldoze through and eliminate the queen before she even gives birth to the Cat Girl.
In the NGL Autonomous Region, a young boy took his little sister to the river to fish.
"Reina is five years old and quite frail. She often gets breathless at night. I'm nine, four years older than Reina, so I have to protect her."
The boy glanced at his adorable little sister beside him, feeling a surge of strength throughout his body...