Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 379 We must kill him here.

Let's go back ten seconds.

Inside and outside the anthill, fierce battles erupted everywhere.

But no matter how intense the battle outside was, it wouldn't affect Melena and the Queen Ant inside the materialized space.

At this moment, the queen ant, who had just finished eating a large amount of food, suddenly felt a tearing pain in her abdomen.

She attributed the pain solely to the overly vigorous vitality of the soon-to-be-born queen ant and didn't really take it to heart.

This wasn't the first time I'd experienced similar fetal movement.

Even as she sat upright in the chair, Melina could keenly sense a chilling aura emanating from the increasingly intense fetal movements.

That was not a manifestation of vitality, but rather a revelation of a cold and tyrannical will.

It was as if the unborn ant king, unable to bear the cramped cage any longer, was announcing his impatience and existence in the most brutal way.

"Hiss...ahhhhh..."

Before Melena could react, the queen ant suddenly trembled violently, threw her head back, and let out a shrill scream.

The excruciating pain, far more intense than before, made her suddenly realize the true intentions of the fetus in her womb.

It wasn't waiting to be born; it wanted to tear her apart and burst forth.

"Pfft!"

Almost at the same moment, a fist pierced through the queen ant's abdomen from the inside, and viscous liquid gushed out.

An extremely cold aura spread out, and Morina's eyes suddenly narrowed.

The queen ant let out an even more heart-wrenching wail.

But Melina ignored this.

She stared intently at the gash in the queen ant's body, created by the fist, where powerful and chilling fluctuations of life energy were surging forth.

"Ah……"

Seeing the ant king's brutality, Morina showed no fear, but instead a satisfied smile slowly appeared on her face.

From that moment on, she was certain.

An existence even more terrifying than the direct guards has truly been born.

This ant king will surely bring utter disaster and despair to humanity.

And that's exactly the result she wanted to see.

At this moment.

Even though the overwhelming pressure was fraught with deadly danger, Melina remained calm and composed.

the reason is simple.

Her kidnapping ability is limited to those without such abilities.

The fact that the king ant just pierced the queen ant's abdomen with his fist means that they have transformed from "one" into two independent individuals.

That is to say-

Melena calmly watched the fist still embedded in the queen ant's abdomen, watching as the opponent was about to exert its strength and tear the queen ant apart completely.

But in the next instant,

The ant king, whose body was still mostly inside the queen ant's body, vanished into thin air without any warning.

To be precise, he was determined to be an independent ability user by the rules of the kidnapping space, and was thus forcibly expelled from this space.

It was precisely because of his sudden disappearance that the queen ant narrowly escaped the tragic fate of being disemboweled on the spot.

"My child...where is my child...?"

The queen ant struggled to lift her head, ignoring the excruciating pain in her abdomen, and tried to get up.

Even in that brief moment, she directly felt the "King's" chilling intention to tear her body apart.

But she didn't care at all.

All she cared about was the king's current situation and safety.

Unable to get up, she could only turn to Morina with difficulty, her eyes filled with panic.

Melena remained seated in her chair, looking down at the struggling queen ant.

Unlike before, a hint of cruelty had quietly surfaced deep within her calm eyes.

Chimera ants are creatures that typically revolve around a queen ant responsible for reproduction.

When the king ant is born, it will not replace the queen ant's position. Instead, it will leave the colony with its direct guards and establish its own rule.

The queen ant remains in the nest, constantly reproducing new direct guards and the next king ant, until the end of her life.

However, if the queen ant dies, the soldier ants of the entire nest will scatter and spread all over the world, pushing their reproductive capacity to the extreme.

Their practice involves forcibly mating with other female species, turning them into tools for reproduction.

For Melena, allowing the queen ant to continue breeding the next generation of king ants might pose a greater threat to humanity in the future.

But all of this is predicated on humanity standing idly by.

But even the birth of this ant king is fraught with danger.

Not to mention the next one.

Therefore, Melina would prefer to see the queen ant die.

Once the queen ant dies, the soldier ants in the nest are freed and spread to all parts of the world.

The newly born queen ant will become the primary target of human extermination, attracting the vast majority of attention.

In this way, the other soldier ants can more easily escape from this battlefield vortex.

"what a pity."

Melena gazed calmly at the Queen Ant and muttered to herself, "Killing the hostage takes precedence over accepting the ransom."

Meanwhile, deep within the ant nest.

The space above the mattress where the queen ant once rested rippled slightly.

The Ant King, who had been forcibly expelled from the kidnapped space, suddenly appeared, standing firmly on its two feet, sinking deeply into the soft cushion.

His head had a unique crown-like structure, and a pair of long earlobes slid down the sides of his face, ending at his collarbone.

His strong, muscular body was covered in a skin color that was a mix of dark green and turquoise.

What is most eye-catching is the strong and thick tail behind him.

At its tail end was shaped like a giant syringe, exuding an alien aura.

If Morrow were also present, it would confirm that the Ant King's appearance is similar to that in the original comics.

However, upon closer inspection, the differences can be seen at a glance.

Those were the eyes of the Ant King, which had two pupils and an outline resembling an infinity symbol.

"Ok?"

Being excluded from the materialized space, a slightly strange experience, made the newly born Ant King feel a vague sense of unease.

But the sounds of battle that followed interrupted his thoughts.

then--

The Ant King released its aura.

This is how they announced their birth.

..............................

Its overwhelming and malevolent aura was as dazzling as the sun, carrying an overwhelming presence.

As the fluctuations in the aura swept outwards like a tidal wave, every human and chimera ant on the battlefield was shaken to their core.

No need to see it with your own eyes.

Both sides understood at the same instant.

The King Ant was born.

The bodyguards, who were originally eagerly seeking answers, were filled with indescribable excitement and awe the moment they sensed this aura.

On the other hand, the humans felt as if an invisible boulder was pressing down on their chests, and intense pressure instantly swept over their entire bodies.

What a terrifying aura this is...

Aside from Netero, who has weathered many storms, and Morrow, who has some understanding of the Chimera Ant King's strength.

Faced with this aura, the rest of the expedition team couldn't even find the right words to describe their feelings.

That goes beyond what the word "monster" can describe.

Inside a passageway of an ant nest.

Killua is still searching for the Queen Ant's whereabouts.

But as the ant king's aura swept across the ant nest, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Immediately afterward, it decisively abandoned the mission and ran towards the lower level of the ant nest.

In the shadows, Shayapouf was keeping a close eye on Killua's every move.

But the moment he sensed the ant king's presence, he didn't hesitate at all and flew excitedly toward the ant queen's palace.

As for Killua's existence...

At this moment, it had become insignificant to Xiao Yapu.

Even the clone left in the smoke cage was too lazy to continue playing along with Mo Laowu and Xiu Tuo, and directly restrained its previous ferocious attack.

In fact, during the time before the Ant King appeared, in order to reliably restrain Morel and Shuto, Shayapov deliberately manipulated his clones to act in accordance with his guard duties.

That is to make the clones launch a frenzied attack on the two of them as if they had lost their minds. Of course, this kind of chaotic attack is essentially a bluff and cannot truly threaten Mo Laowu and Xiutuo.

However, he successfully trapped Mo Laowu and Xiutuo in a false pretense, making them mistakenly believe that they had truly restrained their opponent.

In reality, it was nothing more than a play orchestrated by Xiao Yapufu to seize the initiative by exploiting information asymmetry.

Faced with the sudden change in Xiao Yapufu's clone, Mo Laowu and Xiu Tuo had no time to think it through.

The ominous aura emanating from the Ant King rang fiercely in their hearts like an alarm bell.

"The operation has failed..."

Mo Laowu's face darkened, and he quickly made a judgment, releasing the "Prison Lockdown" ability without hesitation.

According to the original plan, as long as we proceed steadily, even if we cannot eliminate all the chimera ants in one fell swoop, we can at least prevent the birth of the ant queen.

However, the premature birth of the king ant completely disrupted their plans.

Once the King Ant joins the battle, the power gap between the two sides will be instantly broken.

Therefore, the most important thing right now is to evacuate immediately and retreat to a safe place.

After gaining the ability to lift the prison lockdown, Mo Laowu quickly looked at Xiutuo.

Even though the sunglasses obscured his eyes, Xiu Tuo immediately understood Mo Laowu's intentions thanks to the tacit understanding between master and apprentice over the years.

Moreover, under such circumstances, their only option is to abandon the fight and prioritize preserving their strength.

"How come it's so fast?"

Mo Laowu, who had already decided to evacuate, sighed inwardly.

At the time, the chairman followed Moro's advice and decided to risk attacking the ant nest ahead of schedule, believing that there was no need to rush.

After all, experts have estimated the timeframe to be two months.

Unexpectedly, the ant king was born in less than twenty days, let alone two months...

"Hopefully, the chairman will achieve some results. At the very least, we should take down one of the Ant King's direct guards."

Given the situation, the best outcome Morel anticipated was that, now that the dust had settled, he could at least weaken the forces surrounding the Ant King.

Kate, who was also inside the anthill, made the decision to evacuate in an instant.

Just as he was about to greet Xiao Jie and the others, he saw Nobu, whose face was slightly pale.

Nob gestured for them to come closer, while looking incredulously up at the dark passageway.

How could it be so fast...?

The moment Norb sensed the presence of the queen ant, he was incredibly grateful that he had entered the anthill a step ahead of time.

Otherwise, if it had been a little while into the night, the members of the expedition team trapped in the anthill would probably have been in dire straits.

"First, move Kate and the others to the 4D apartment, then move Morrow and Nakoruru outside..."

Nob knelt on one knee, opening the entrance to the passage. While waiting for Kate and the others to arrive, he unconsciously bit his thumb and sighed inwardly:
"This operation not only failed to prevent the birth of the Ant King, but also made the direct guards even stronger..."

As the only person to have witnessed Netero and Neferpitou's battle firsthand, he knew clearly that given more time, the Chairman would surely be able to defeat Neferpitou.

But what we lack most right now is time.

This means that Netero didn't have time to kill Neferbitt.

Even more troublesome is that Neferpitou has grown stronger in the battle.

It is foreseeable that if the next wave of attacks is blocked, this ant king's direct guard will only become more difficult to deal with.

Outside the ant nest.

The mental pressure that Yupina felt like he was constantly accumulating debt vanished in an instant as the scent of the King Ant spread.

A king was born.

And it is incredibly powerful.

This sudden turn of events not only instantly relieved his tense state of mind, but also brought him an unprecedented sense of peace.

He thus entered a rare state of extreme calm.

Even my thoughts seemed to become exceptionally clear at that moment.

Anger, anxiety, impatience...

Being swayed by such emotions and fighting instinctively according to one's temperament prevents one from unleashing their true power.

This attack from humans did not have serious consequences.

What about next time?

The birth of the King Ant prompted Yupi to consider how to better fulfill his duties as a direct guard.

As the thought process continued, Yupina's rapidly expanding body slowly and gradually returned to its original state.

Seeing this, Nakuru didn't care what Yupi was thinking anymore and took the opportunity to run straight to Moro's location.

It's time to leave!
Nakuru's gaze toward Moro conveyed this message.

However, he was astonished to see that Moro showed no intention of retreating and instead continued to charge towards Yupi.

"Moro?!"

Naku's expression changed slightly.

Moro had no time to explain his motives to Nakoruru.

The spark is just one step away from detonation.

Despite the limitation that it can only affect a single target at a time, it also grants the Oath effect where accumulated sparks can be reignited as the distance closes.

But Moro knew in his heart that he absolutely could not let this opportunity slip by.

Yupi hasn't fully mastered the use of Nen yet, which is the easiest stage to deal with him.

Moreover, even if the accumulated sparks can be preserved, we must consider that the other party may later resolve the crisis through exorcism.

Therefore, there was no room for wishful thinking or hesitation in Moro's mind.

He must completely resolve the issue of Yupi here.

As for other matters—

We'll consider it later.

With this thought in mind, Moro first threw a deception star behind him, and then went straight for Yupi.

Yupi, who was in an extremely calm state, only glanced at Moro before running towards the anthill without looking back.

"With shield, return to the king's side as soon as possible and take on the duty of protection."

"Using spears, they kill threatening humans outside the anthill, shouldering the responsibility of repelling the enemy."

Two choices swirled in Yupi's mind.

But he made his choice quickly.

That means killing Moro right here.

This decision was made after he realized how difficult Moro was to deal with during the battle.

So, as Yupi approached the anthill, he calmly waited for Moro to get close.

That moment arrived as promised.

Immediately, Yupi turned around and his multiple arms, poised to strike, shot towards Morrow's body like sharp spears.

But before that, the dazzling starlight filled the space ahead of time.

Countless tiny specks of light were smashed apart by spear-like arms.

Puff, puff...

Yupi's spear-like arm pierced through various parts of Morrow's body, splattering blood everywhere.

"what……!"

Seeing this result, Yupi experienced the thrill of battle for the first time.

Is this the wonderful use of "strategy and tactics"?
It's so useful!

Thinking this, Yupi suddenly pulled his arm back and looked at the bloody holes that were showing in Moro's abdomen, arms, and thighs.

But before he could fully appreciate the results of the battle, he suddenly noticed Moro's gaze.

Calm and composed, yet revealing murderous intent.

"Ok?"

Yupi's gaze sharpened.

next moment,
A series of flying stars passed through Moro's abdominal cavity while he was still suspended in the air.

More accurately, it came straight out of the bloody hole in his abdomen.

With the distance so close and Moreo's body providing cover, Yupi had no time to react.

The flying stars then bombarded Yupi's abdomen in succession.

The seventh spark has finally been ignited.

Yupi was startled, feeling as if his vision had suddenly been pulled away.

Immediately afterwards, a searing pain, as if burned by flames, shot through my entire body.

"What's going on...?!"

He looked down and saw his own body, completely bewildered as to what was happening.

Nakuro, who had just witnessed this scene, and Nobu, who had just emerged from the passageway of the four-dimensional apartment, both saw an incredible sight.

Yupi's soul actually floated out of his body and was completely enveloped by the ghostly blue flames.

(End of this chapter)