Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 378 Birth

Chapter 378 Birth
Melena's soul returns from a cycle of life and death filled with hatred.

Now, residing within this powerful new body, I can do even more.

Besides bringing back the "Love Practice" ability, it's also not difficult to develop some simple Nen abilities.

Chimera ants' ability to achieve evolutionary goals through feeding and mating exhibits a near-perfect compatibility with human genes.

After all her memories returned, Melina truly understood this.

Take, for example, the ability she's using right now.

From conception to completion, it took less than a day.

Its ability is named:
Kidnapping

The ability's effect is simple and direct: by designating a non-ability user as the target and knowing only their appearance and other basic information, one can forcibly bind the target into a materialized, enclosed space from a distance.

Its limitation is that the target must be a non-ability user, and only one person can be kidnapped at a time.

The resulting oath effect makes it very easy to activate the kidnapping ability.

This ability has neither a complex framework nor any unique ability mechanism.

Simply because Melena felt that such a method might be needed in future plans, she casually developed it by taking advantage of the racial talent limit inherent in the Chimera Ant's body.

Using this ability on the queen ant when the ant nest was suddenly attacked was a decisive decision made by Melena in a critical moment.

She had to protect herself as well as the queen ant.

This is all for—

This allowed the queen ant to be born successfully.

Morina looked down at the queen ant's swollen abdomen, and through the soft membrane-like skin and fine blood vessels, she could see the complete body of the ant king.

Just by gazing at it, one can feel the extremely terrifying fluctuations of life energy bound within the "egg sheath".

"The power of Nen... no matter how many times I try it, it always brings me new surprises."

A faint smile appeared on Morina's lips, her tone tinged with a touch of melancholy.

The queen ant had just picked up a fleshy ball when she heard her seemingly talking to herself, so she turned her gaze away.

"What are you talking about?"

She sent out her inquiry via radio waves, her antennae trembling slightly.

Melena raised her gaze slightly, looking at the ant queen's face, which contained a very small amount of human genetic features. She smiled slightly and explained, "Your Majesty, the ability to transfer you to this safe space is precisely Nen."

At this point, Melina sensed a deeper doubt in the ant queen from the trembling of her antennae.

She didn't care whether the queen ant could understand or not, and continued, "This ability is more suitable for causing harm, but if used at the right time, it can actually be a means to help people escape danger."

"What's even more interesting is that this ability cannot be used on Nen users, but you have clearly developed a natural Nen user within you, yet you still meet the conditions for activation."

"That's what I find interesting, though it's probably hard for you to understand."

A faint smile remained on Melina's face.

Even after she had already explained a few things, she didn't care whether the queen ant truly understood. She simply said in a gentle and calm tone, "However, what you should be most concerned about now is ensuring the safe birth of the 'King'."

"you're right."

The queen ant did not fully understand Melena's explanation of Nen abilities.

But now that she was in this safe space, her attention quickly returned to what mattered most.

That is to give birth—

A future king who may rule the entire world.

She picked up the meatball and took a big bite.

"Another rare breed of meat... very good."

She conveyed a message of satisfaction through radio signals.

"With such abundant nutrition, I am sure I can bring a powerful king to this world."

As she chewed, the rich and delicious aroma of the meat filled her mouth, giving her a deep sense of satisfaction.

She quickly swallowed the entire ball of flesh, and then grabbed another one from beside her.

Since the beginning of her pregnancy, the only thing she has to do every day is eat constantly.

The goal is to continuously transfer the energy contained within the fleshy mass to the developing life within the abdomen through one's own body.

"We need more...more..."

She bit into the second fleshy ball, but paused slightly.

This is just a common variety of meat. Although it is reasonably nutritious and tastes decent, it is still far from comparable to the one we just had.

The instant that thought flashed through her mind, she felt a sudden jolt in her abdomen, followed by a sharp, stabbing pain.

"It seems... you also prefer rarer breeds of meat..."

The queen ant endured wave after wave of fetal movements, reaching out to gently stroke her swollen belly.

next to.

Melena narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the queen ant's abdomen.

The intense fetal movement she had just experienced made her clearly sense an aura carrying emotional fluctuations.

Intense and oppressive.

"It'll be soon."

Melina seemed lost in thought.

During this period, she painstakingly provided the queen ant with more rare food varieties in order to accelerate the development of the king ant.

This is also the most important part of the entire plan.

If the Ant King can be born quickly, it can drastically disrupt the human side's battle plan.

Originally, Melina thought there was still plenty of time, after all, there were still more than ten division commander teams inside the ant hive...

But unexpectedly, the humans suddenly changed their tactics and launched a full-scale attack on the ant nest.

Melina deduced from this result that human reinforcements had arrived.

So she decisively moved the queen ant to this space, ensuring her safety while also enraging the direct guards outside, prompting them to launch a major attack and wipe out the humans attacking the ant nest.

With the terrifying strength of their direct guards, they are certainly not something that the humans outside can match.

Even if there were powerful individuals like Moro among those humans, it would be meaningless in the face of the natural disparity in race.

After that, all we need to do is ensure the birth of the queen ant.

That's right.

The only thing needed now is...

Just wait.

Just like countless times before.

Silent, patient waiting.

Upon reaching this point, Melina subtly lifted her hand, remotely pushing the rare, nutrient-rich fleshy ball to a position where the queen ant could more easily pick it up.

Under her calm gaze, the queen ant ate the second fleshy ball and then casually picked up the third rare fleshy ball.

Only after the rare fleshy ball was swallowed did the queen ant's fetal movements gradually subside.

………………

"Boom!"

Inside the ant nest, the sounds of battle began to emanate frequently.

This is because the expeditionary force, led by Kate, has already engaged in direct combat with the soldier ants inside the anthill.

Despite losing an arm, Kate held her own against the division commander who had mastered Nen abilities.

After undergoing a mental transformation, Xiao Jie is no longer as naive as he was at the beginning.

At least when facing soldier ants, he will no longer struggle with the question of "whether or not to kill them".

Every move he made was decisive and swift, his actions clean and efficient.

This shift in mindset not only made his fighting style less slow-burning, but also allowed him to unleash strength far exceeding his previous abilities.

However, even with a change in mindset, Gon's efficiency in killing enemies is still not as good as Kalluto's, who comes from the Zoldyck family.

Kurt has now completely changed his past habit of torturing his prey.

When facing Chimera Ants at the level of army commanders, they can always end the battle in the swiftest and most lethal way, without any unnecessary movements.

Compared to the outstanding performances of Gon and Kurt, Pons, who is more inclined to support, can only deal with lower-level soldier ants.

However, she can also make full use of the bee swarm to build a tight warning network and issue timely warnings to her teammates.

Perhaps there aren't many things I can do...

However, the fact that they were able to resolutely follow the expedition team to attack the ant nest already showed great courage.

The battle within the anthill intensified. The sounds of fierce fighting even reached Neferpitou's location, not to mention Yupi, who was closer to the anthill.

Even Yupi, whose thinking wasn't particularly quick, noticed something amiss.

In Yupi's mind, Her Majesty the Queen's sudden disappearance must be related to these humans.

However, the commotion coming from inside the ant nest indicated that the battle was exceptionally fierce.

The enemy has clearly committed a large number of troops, intending to harm the Queen.

But the question is, if the queen disappeared because of these humans, why did they go to such lengths?
Did they not know that Her Majesty the Queen was not in the anthill?
Or is it simply to clear out the ant colony's forces?
What exactly is going on...?

Since the start of the battle, Yupi has been unable to sort out his doubts or find any answers, and his heart has gradually been enveloped by an unprecedented weariness.

If all problems could be solved quickly and decisively with violence, wouldn't everything be much simpler?

But right now, even though he's using all his might to unleash his most prized violence, he still can't subdue this troublesome human.

Yupi’s many compound eyes were fixed on Moro, who was dancing on the edge of a knife.

His exceptional eyesight allowed him to clearly see the bloody wounds that the strong wind had carved into Moro's body.

This is the price of not using life energy to protect the body, but in terms of the damage output, it is not as good as the previous attacks.

Moreover, despite increasing the number of arms, the hit rate actually decreased.

How long would it take to bring this guy down using only the aftershocks of his energy to build up damage?

If this continues...

Wouldn't that be more advantageous for him?

The strange thing next to him that was constantly growing larger, and the ever-increasing numbers, always made him feel uneasy and a little disturbed.

"hateful!"

Yupi's face was ferocious.

Under the pressure of an uncertain timeframe, his initial belief that "it will be resolved sooner or later" has gradually begun to waver.

The sounds of battle emanating from inside the anthill made him even more concerned.

"No, I can't let this distract me... Hmm?"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration pierced through Yupi's layers of confusion.

If at this moment you show excessive concern for the situation in the ant nest, and thus react by desperately trying to rush back to the nest...

Could this actually lure the other party into taking the bait?

Yupi, who had been unable to solve the problem by violence for a long time, came up with a plan at this moment.

A tactic to lure the enemy that perfectly aligns with his operational logic.

"Boom!"

As if to cooperate with his thoughts, the ant nest once again emitted a violent commotion.

Yupi, somewhat prepared, managed to squeeze out obvious frustration and worry amidst his anger.

Its compound eyes frequently looked in the opposite direction of the ant nest.

Even the offensive that was looming over Moro at that moment showed obvious signs of disorder.

"This monster... was indeed disturbed by the commotion from the ant nest."

Nakuru keenly noticed Yupi's reaction, and a sense of unease settled in his heart.

They deliberately created obvious fighting noises when attacking the ant nest.

This was a strategy devised by the expeditionary force before the operation began.

The goal was to exploit the guards' instinctive obsession with their "duty" to disrupt their mindset and rhythm in battle.

Yupi's current reaction is exactly what Nakul wanted to see.

Moro also noticed that Yupina's reaction was clearly affected.

It's just... a little strange.

"His initial reaction was not decisive enough, and his focus was always on 'killing me,' which felt somewhat incongruous. What's even stranger is that... his will to defend the ant nest was not strong, as if the safety of the queen ant was not as important as getting rid of me."

Moro frowned almost imperceptibly.

This sense of incongruity actually stems from the presence of certain "original" images in his mind.

When scenes from memories overlap with the present reality, a sense of disharmony naturally arises.

Just as Moro was trying to figure out what felt off, Yupi suddenly abandoned his attack and turned to charge towards the anthill with all his might.

"Ok?"

Morrow almost reflexively activated his Star Leap ability on Yupi's sprint path.

Don't miss any opportunity to accumulate ignition counts.

This was the operational strategy he consistently employed throughout the entire battle.

The flying star was launched from the ground as expected and was stepped on by Youpi's right foot as he ran forward.

With a muffled thud, it still failed to cause any real damage.

Yupi paid no attention to this and charged toward the anthill without regard for anything else.

He didn't even notice that a sixth cluster of sparks had quietly appeared above his right knee.

The prolonged battle not only rapidly depleted the morale of both sides, but also silently accumulated their respective gains.

The appearance of the sixth cluster of sparks signifies that only the final step remains.

However, as Moro pursued Youpi, a particular image that was overlapping in his mind became even more prominent.

It wasn't until he saw Nakoruru's eager attack that Moro suddenly understood the source of the unease.

He's seducing her!

Without any hesitation, Moro quickly spoke up to remind him.

Yupi felt another surge of anger upon hearing his shout.

This damn human is so troublesome.

Now that his plan had been exposed, Yupi decisively changed his target and suddenly turned to Nakoruru.

Because of his reckless movement, Nakulu was already in a relatively dangerous situation even after hearing the warning.

"No way... this seemingly simple-minded monster actually knows how to use tricks?!"

Nakulu could hardly believe he had been fooled.

He broke out in a cold sweat, abruptly stopped, and turned to run.

But Yupi wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by, and immediately gave chase.

This is the perfect opportunity to force Moro to come to his aid, thus exposing a weakness.

Not far away, Moro was indeed moving closer to Yupi.

“Yuppi’s reaction just now was indeed a ploy to lure the enemy, but… he seemed too confident in the safety of the queen ant, which is a bit abnormal. After all, she is a queen ant who has no ability to protect herself, not the king ant.”

Moro frowned slightly, pondering to himself: "Even if you trust Shayapuf the most, you shouldn't have prioritized killing me over the Queen Ant... What's going on with this abnormality? Did I miscalculate something?"

He didn't have much time to think.

Although Nakoroo was incredibly fast at escaping, he still had to hurry and help him out just in case.

There was one last spark.

Once lit, Yupi will be finished off.

The importance of this matter slightly overshadowed the unusual feeling in Moro's heart.

at this time.

Yupi had had enough of seeing Nakuru running so fast.

Whether it was to lure Moro over, or if he genuinely wanted to kill Nakoruru...

At that moment, he truly erupted.

Its crimson body swelled up like a balloon.

But at this moment.

Inside the ant nest.