Chapter 684 If...

The next day.

Moses left the temple with Rat Jewel.

Menchi and Shizuku wanted to go with him to help, but Moses refused and asked them to stay at the temple as well.

This way, Moses could feel more at ease.

Although Menchi and Shizuku wanted to go to NGL, they ultimately couldn't go against Moses's wishes and stayed at the temple.

…

Hunter Association's Headquarters.

Beans, with dark circles under his eyes, sat in his office, his round face showing clear signs of exhaustion.

"With the Chairman handling the Chimera Ant situation, we probably don't need reinforcements. But why is Mr. Moses so insistent on going there…?"

Letting out a tired sigh, Beans slumped into his office chair.

The stress of the past few days had left him physically and mentally exhausted.

But the root cause was someone not doing their job...

That someone wasn't Netero, but Pariston, who was sitting in the vice-chairman's office.

Beans glanced in the direction of the vice-chairman's office and sighed weakly.

Inside the Hunter Association, there are many members who relied on Pariston for commission assignments.

Because the commissions that Pariston arranges for them are usually low-risk, and regardless of the outcome, they would receive a reward.

In short, it was easy money.

This group was jokingly referred to as the 'Temp Hunters'.

The reason why Pariston was able to secure his position as vice-chairman was partly due to their support.

Since these Temp Hunters often avoid more dangerous commissions, none of them had been involved in the recent resource allocations.

Beans had tried to bring the issue to Pariston's attention, but each time he was brushed off with a casual dismissal.

'Why would you let someone like that be the vice-chairman, Chairman?'

At times like these, Beans couldn't help but inwardly criticize Netero's decision.

In Beans's opinion, even if someone with no work experience like Moses were to sit in the vice-chairman's seat, he would undoubtedly outperform Pariston.

'Mr. Moses has also gone to NGL. With him and the Chairman working together, they should be able to resolve the Chimera Ant incident quickly.'

Although Beans still believed that having Moses help deal with the calamities would be the best use of his abilities, given the current situation, he could only try to look on the bright side.

...

NGL, a forest.

In investigate the current state of the Chimera Ants, Kite led Gon and Killua into NGL territory.

The trajectory of fate hadn't changed much.

Kite and the two boys arrived at a small village filled with deathly silence.

After a brief search, they did not find anyone. Instead, they caught the scent of rotting corpses wafting from the other side of the village.

Following the smell, they discovered that the stench came from livestock impaled on trees.

These livestock had been dead for some time, and white maggots could be seen wriggling on some parts of their bodies.

"Hanging food on tree branches..."

Kite stared at the impaled livestock and frowned, "This is the behavior of a red-backed shrike, but..."

"But what?"

Killua asked curiously.

Kite raised his hand to his chin, his gaze swept over the bloodstains dripping beneath the trees, and he said in a deep voice: "The purpose has changed. This clearly isn't for feeding. It's more like they're enjoying the act of killing."

From the moment he saw the livestock impaled on the trees, Kite realized that there was at least one Chimera Ant nearby that had absorbed the genes of a red-backed shrike.

The key issue was-

These Chimera Ants, which have spread across the NGL, have undoubtedly become more brutal.

After hearing Kite's explanation, Gon and Killua were still somewhat confused.

Kite didn't waste too much time explaining. Instead, he seemed to make a decision and turned to look at Gon and Killua.

"I need to confirm something. This will determine whether you two stay or leave."

"Huh?"

Killua and Gon were slightly taken aback.

Kite didn't elaborate.

"Come with me."

He turned around and walked towards the forest not far away.

Killua and Gon looked at each other and could only quickly catch up with Kite.

In the forest.

A nimble, humanoid figure darted through the trees.

This figure is not a human, but a Chimera Ant that had absorbed the genes of red-headed shrike, rabbit, human, etc.. His name was Rammot.

He had a humanoid body, rabbit ears and teeth, and the wings of a red-backed shrike...

"Are there any fish that slip through the net?"

Rammot followed the scent of humans that had suddenly drifted on the wind and headed towards the small village where he had stayed for a while before.

That place was originally the area he was responsible for, but he had already hunted all the humans there, so he had turned it into a playground for his amusement.

Over time, he grew bored and began to move to other areas.

But he hadn't expected to suddenly catch the unmistakable scent of humans.

Rammot, who was running, suddenly stopped and looked up at the three figures approaching from ahead.

These three figures were none other than Kite, Gon, and Killua, who had come looking for him.

"Sure enough, there are still some fish that slipped through the net, huh? Hmm? That's..."

Rammot looked at Kite, Gon, and Killua as they walked toward him, his eyes gradually widened, and then an uncontrollable grin spread across his face.

"Covered in a glowing aura of life force... Are these the special humans Cheetu mentioned? Heh... My luck is really good!"

Noticing the Aura surrounding Kite and the two boys, Rammot became agitated and excited, and a wave of malice radiated from him.

Kite examined Rammot, then turned his head to look at Killua and Gon beside him, and said calmly:

"He's just a Chimera Ant Peon. We'll keep running into creatures like him on our journey. If you can't even defeat him, then turn back immediately to avoid getting in my way."

"No problem."

Gon walked towards Rammot with a serious look in his eyes.

Killua rolled up his sleeves and said with a slightly grim face: "Don't underestimate us."

Given the difference in Nen Techniques, he didn't think dealing with this Chimera Ant would be much trouble.

Kite watched Gon and Killua's backs with a calm expression, then raised his gaze to Rammot, who was brimming with hostility.

There was one detail that Gon and Killua hadn't noticed.

The Chimera Ant in front of him clearly had not opened his Aura Nodes or awakened Nen Abilities, but he could see the Aura surrounding them.

'At most, this guy was just an Officer-level Chimera Ant, yet it had such talent...'

Kite knew exactly what this meant.

'If...'

Kite thought of a certain possibility, and a sense of unease crept into his heart.