Hunter x Hunter : Germain Joins The Hunt

"These are the known intelligence on the Chimera Ants. You all take a look first."

Germain, Zeno, and Silva didn't hesitate and immediately gathered around. They took the documents, dividing them into three parts and began reading.

The document in Germain's hands was an evaluation of the Chimera Ants' danger level. He compared it to his memories of the Botanical Weapon and the Immortality Disease.

"Comprehensive Evaluation: Chimera Ant B / Botanical Weapon B+ / Immortality Disease B+"

"Violence: Chimera Ant C~B (some are A-) / Botanical Weapon B (some A-) / Immortality Disease C- (some A-)"

"Quantity: Chimera Ant B / Botanical Weapon C / Immortality Disease E"

"Reproduction Ability: Chimera Ant B-1 / Botanical Weapon B-2 / Immortality Disease B-2"

"Destructive Power: Chimera Ant A / Botanical Weapon A- / Immortality Disease B-"

It's immediately clear that, except for "violence," the Chimera Ants are superior in almost every category compared to the Botanical Weapon and the Immortality Disease. However, their overall rating is still lower.

This is mainly because, throughout history, the Chimera Ants have been defeated by humans too many times. If it weren't for Meruem and the Royal Guards being special, humans already have established ways to deal with them.

In comparison, the Botanical Weapon and the Immortality Disease rarely appear in the Six Continents. Aside from Don Freecss and Germain's team, no one else has been able to deal with these "disasters."

Therefore, the Botanical Weapon and Immortality Disease are rated higher than the Chimera Ants.

After Germain finished reading this part, which he had seen many times in the "New Century Chronicles, Eastern Volume," he exchanged documents with Silva and began reading the new one.

The exchanged document contained information on the Chimera Ants' active officers, army leaders, and soldiers.

Some of this information came from encounters with other Hunter professions, while some was provided by the human faction that the Chimera Ants had allied with.

Germain saw some familiar names, like Gyro.

Gyro was the only Chimera Ant who, relying solely on its willpower, directly broke free from the Ant Queen's control from the very start. In its previous life as a human, it was the founder of the NGL (Neo Green Life) Autonomous Region.

Now, Gyro's whereabouts were unknown.

However, Germain didn't pay much attention to this, as his main enemies were not the Chimera Ants listed on this file.

What was noteworthy, however, was that many of the Squadron Leaders and army leaders on this list had awakened Nen abilities. This was because some Hunters who had fought against them had fallen into their hands.

Such things were unavoidable; it was just a matter of time.

The Chimera Ants were greedily expanding outward, and that meant someone had to investigate or stop them. Ordinary humans couldn't handle it, so only Nen users could.

The result of this was that those Nen users either became food for the Ant Queen or King, or were turned into puppets by Neferpitou to provide knowledge or serve as punching bags.

After quickly scanning through the information, Germain exchanged intelligence files with Zeno. This time, the files in his hands contained information on Meruem and his three guards.

"Ant King" Meruem.

"One of the Three Guards" Menthuthuyoupi.

"One of the Three Guards" Shaiapouf.

"One of the Three Guards" Neferpitou.

There was very little information about these four, but it was known that they were at the top of the Chimera Ants' power pyramid. The gap in strength between the Three Royal Guards and the Squadron Leader was vast.

Any of the Three Royal Guards could easily crush a Squadron Leader, not to mention the army leaders and soldiers below them.

It was these four individuals that Germain and his team would have to face.

Netero, wearing wooden sandals with only one sole, walked a few steps along the edge of the crater he had created with punch after punch, stroking his white beard.

With his half-bald head and sleeves fluttering, he looked like someone with the mystical aura of a Taoist priest or a monk.

"No matter how the rear-operation meetings go, I think the final decision will likely favor the lowest-cost, highest-success-rate decapitation strategy..."

"If that's the case, I'll need to create some space and face Meruem one-on-one."

The name of the Ant King—"Meruem"—was learned from the group of chimera ants sent to attack humans, from the dying words of the ant queen.

Netero had been there at the time. Since the ant queen communicated with the chimera ants through radio waves, her last words were relayed by them.

Once the ant queen finished speaking, she died. Her last regret was not being able to tell the Ant King his "true name" or witness him ruling the world.

These sub-humans are such a hassle... Their intelligence is too high, their emotions too many; they're practically just special humans.

Just like dictators in human history.

For the benefit of a small group, they want to rule the world, causing countless innocent people to die and dragging the entire human world into the abyss.

In Netero's eyes, at that moment, there was a mixture of coldness and pity.

"Therefore, I need someone to distract or stop the three Royal Guards. As long as they don't interfere with my battle with Meruem, that's all that matters. That's why I called you here."

He turned around, and when facing the group, his expression shifted to one of a cheerful smile.

"But now, it's too early to talk about all that. We'll need to hold the meetings one by one, follow the procedures step by step, and allocate funds bit by bit... Heh heh, the next stretch of time is going to be pretty boring."

No, something feels off.

Zeno and Silva exchanged a glance and frowned, both feeling a strange sensation, as if they vaguely saw a fox tail swishing behind Netero.

Netero extended his right index finger and made a gesture.

"How about this? Let's four of us hold a mock battle. It'll serve to get familiar with each other's battle intensity, and also kill some time. How about it?"

Netero looked excited.

Zeno had his hands behind his back and glanced at Germain.

"So, you really intend for us to be this kid's sharpening stone, huh?"

"Ah, you figured it out so quickly?"

Netero stuck out his tongue, made a funny face, and lightly tapped his forehead while tilting his head in a playful way.

The more Germain looked, the more familiar Netero's expression became. Soon, he saw a resemblance to Bisky in Netero's face.

Bisky was everywhere.

He wasn't sure, though—whether Netero's expression was originally learned from Bisky or if Bisky had copied Netero's.

Netero lowered his hands and smiled as he looked at Zeno and Silva.

"But, starting from now, who's sharpening whose blade… that's not so clear, is it?"

The room fell silent.

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