[162]: Familiar Energy

What the Six Eyes could see was life energy—it could detect non-human energy even from a great distance.

He couldn't see the exact appearance, but he could perceive the essence. From the creature's own life energy to the residual traces accidentally picked up, everything was visible.

And with that, Cyr noticed something familiar.

Non-human residual energy, but different from that of the ants. It was the lingering trace of another kind of being.

"...Those two sheep?" Cyr dug the memory from his mind.

Two years ago, during the Hunter Exam, he had encountered a brother-sister duo who probably came from the Dark Continent. Their true forms were unknown black fluid-like matter—somewhat similar to Alluka.

As he remembered, after the exam ended, the two had jumped into the sea, looking like they were going to ride the ocean currents back to the Dark Continent...

They'd even invited him to visit sometime.

Wait a second, weren't the Chimera Ants also from the Dark Continent? How did they get here? Could they have drifted across the sea too...?

Judging from the leftover energy of those siblings at the scene, it seemed like they'd been around the Chimera Ants for a while. Quite a while, even.

Could they have run into the ants while drifting at sea...?

It's been two years—are they still not back in the Dark Continent? Or did they go back and then return again? Could they have anything to do with the appearance of the Chimera Ants?

How did the Chimera Ants show up in the original story again?

Cyr withdrew his gaze and turned to ask Pampas, "When did the monsters first appear?"

"Our people discovered them a week ago. As for when they actually arrived, no one knows," Pampas replied, shaking his head with an unreadable tone.

The first people who saw the monsters had probably already been turned into monsters themselves. And in Meteor Street, people disappearing wasn't unusual at all—it didn't raise any alarms. That made it impossible to figure out exactly when the monsters had shown up.

"Isn't this supposed to fall under the Hunter Association's jurisdiction…?" Cyr rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

The Hunter Association held immense authority and was treated with respect and privilege across the world. But those privileges came with responsibilities.

For example… in situations like this, the Hunter Association was expected to step in first.

They were basically a professional hit squad.

"What are you thinking? This is Meteor Street," Pampas said with an odd smile.

An ungoverned zone. The world's dumping ground. A place erased from maps. Even the millions of people living in Meteor Street were considered stateless once they left—it was like they never existed.

Even if the whole place was destroyed, no one would lift a finger.

And the residents of Meteor Street rejected outside help anyway.

"I'll check for myself," Cyr said casually.

He reached down and yanked storage curse off his body, stepped on it, and forcefully pulled out a computer from its mouth—one that was somehow larger than its mouth.

He had shoved it in the same way before—by prying the curse's mouth open with his foot and jamming it in.

Storage Curse, possibly not the brightest creature, just squirmed blankly and reattached itself to him.

To anyone who couldn't see the curse, the sight of the white-haired boy stomping around and pulling out tech from thin air... was a little unhinged.

After Cyr pulled out a computer and various scattered components, no one thought he was crazy anymore. Instead, they assumed it was just a unique manifestation of his ability.

Normally, there was no internet access in Meteor Street. But this was a church, and after some fiddling, the computer successfully came online.

He logged into the Hunter website and began searching for the earliest reports of monster appearances.

After filtering through reports, he found that the first strange incident had occurred two months ago—an entire cruise ship headed to the Balusa Islands had vanished. All that remained were tattered clothes and blood-stained shoes. No bodies were found.

After that, there had been radio silence.

It was like the people had vanished into thin air—right around the Balusa Islands.

"Knew it. It started near the coast..." Cyr muttered, unsurprised as he read the report.

Another species drifting in from the Dark Continent.

Was life so unbearable over there that they had to escape to this side?

And what role did those brother-sister shapeshifters play in all of this?

With how plot-important this all looked, surely the main cast would be involved, right? Hmm... hadn't he seen a video once where Gon turned into some muscle-bound beast who one-shot Hisoka?

"Maro, call Killua. See if they've logged out of the game yet." Cyr ordered, eyes still locked on the screen.

"Got it." the blond young man nodded and stepped aside to make the call.

Three tries. All went unanswered.

"That's odd..." Cyr narrowed his eyes.

In both games and anime, things didn't usually move until the main characters were available. And once they got involved, the plot always rocketed forward.

So why were these monsters showing up in Meteor Street without waiting for the protagonists?

"Ah... I get it now." Cyr muttered after a moment of thought.

It had to be because the monsters showing up in Meteor Street were just cannon fodder.

The type of enemies that didn't need main characters to handle. In fact, maybe in the original story, they were wiped out by Meteor Street locals—or maybe even by the summoned Phantom Troupe.

If they were just cannon fodder, then yeah, Killua and the others wouldn't bother coming here.

The Chimera Ants must be here just to give the Phantom Troupe some screen time to flex.

And the monsters' strength? Not exactly weak—but not top-tier either. Strong enough to make the Troupe shine, but not so strong they'd struggle.

Still, Cyr couldn't figure out why the Chimera Ants would come to Meteor Street of all places. There were other nations around the Balsa Islands... why choose this junkyard?

With that in mind, he directly called the Hunter Exam Committee. The chairman was still Netero, and—most importantly—he picked up quicker.

After all, the support departments were way more efficient than the main Hunter Association. They actually believed in customer service.

"Hello, this is the Hunter Exam Commi—" the operator began, only to be cut off.

"Put me through to Chairman Netero. If not, then that bald guy... uh, the bean-faced one." Cyr spoke fast and direct.

"...Please hold." The operator froze for a second, then quickly responded.

A few minutes later, the voice on the other end changed—it was the bean-faced secretary who always followed Netero around.

"Hello?" The bean-faced man greeted politely.

"When you guys go after the Chimera Ant King, make sure you call me." Cyr said bluntly, getting straight to the point.

"Uh…" The secretary, having no idea who was speaking, wiped some nervous sweat from his brow.

"Who's calling?" Netero, seeing the bean-faced man sweat, stroked his beard and chuckled.

"My Hunter ID is…" Cyr rattled off a string of numbers.

The secretary quickly looked up the ID and matched it to a face.

"It's One-Star Bounty Hunter, Cyr DeVille." he reported to Netero immediately.

"I'll take it," Netero said, holding out his hand.

The secretary handed over the phone.

"Old—uh, Chairman. Remember to call me when it's time to take on the Ant King," Cyr said with a cheeky grin, nearly calling him old man but catching himself.

"The Ant King? You mean the Chimera Ant King? How do you know about that? Has he already been born? Or have you seen him?" Netero laughed heartily before bombarding him with questions.

Even the Hunter Association wasn't sure if the Ant King had actually appeared yet. What they did know was that a Queen would lay eggs and create more Chimera Ants.

"Oh, he hasn't? Well, I heard it from some Chimera Ants I met before. They were bragging that their King would lead them to conquer the world and keep humans as livestock." Cyr lied without hesitation, casually pushing the blame onto the nonexistent boasting ants.

"So I figured the Association would definitely want to deal with the Ant King." Cyr added.

A species that fed on humans was bound to be hunted down by humanity.

Even in a normal world, any animal that attacked or ate a human was usually killed.

Because once an animal got a taste for human flesh, it would start hunting people—and teach its offspring to do the same.

"So the Ant King has been born… This is going to be quite a problem..." Netero sighed, his face briefly shadowed with worry.

But the next moment, he was all smiles again—completely calm, as if everything was already under control.

"Mind if I ask—where exactly did you see the Chimera Ants?" Netero asked again.

"Well…" Cyr glanced at the map, casually dragging his finger over a few countries near the Balsa Islands.

"I passed by the Balsa Islands—near the border of the NGL Autonomous Nation." he lied smoothly, not even blinking.

After all, NGL was so cut off from the world that they didn't even allow electronics, let alone internet access. No one from there would be able to call him out. And the Hunter Association? Good luck getting any intel from NGL.

That country was seriously backward. We're talking the kind that believes in "fate decides life or death" and refuses entry to medical teams with cash and equipment—even during deadly epidemics.

Other countries weren't nearly as stubbornly closed off.

Come to think of it, both NGL and Meteor Street were perfect breeding grounds for Chimera Ants. The main cast's battlefield was probably going to be over there.

Meteor Street was full of undocumented, untraceable residents—technically nonexistent on any official maps. Compared to that, NGL was at least a recognized nation, and far more likely to receive international aid.

The trail had gone cold at the Balsa Islands. If the Chimera Ants had attacked any other country, there would've been news about it. But he searched the entire net and found nothing.

So what kind of places have information blackouts like that? Only Meteor Street and NGL.

If the ones in Meteor Street were just cannon fodder, then the main Chimera Ant forces must be gathering in NGL.

Cyr linked all these seemingly unrelated bits of info together and came to a conclusion that was logical—and scarily close to the truth.

Which meant… there was no reason to stick with the Hunter Association. He could just go to NGL on his own.

"Alright, that's all. I'm hanging up now." Without giving Netero time to respond, Cyr ended the call. He was going solo.

Who knew whether the Ant King had been born yet? And if he went with the Association, he'd have to keep bullshitting them. Better to move independently.

"Monsters are showing up in NGL too? You're going there?" Pampas asked, visibly skeptical.

"Planning to check it out in a few days." Cyr replied casually, shoving the computer back into Choubao's mouth.

"You haven't even solved the problem in your own backyard, and now you're running off to NGL for the fun of it?" Xide chimed in with a sarcastic drawl.

He looked like a straight-laced guy, but man, that tone…

And anyway—this wasn't even his hometown.

"…Whatever." Cyr scratched his head, slightly exasperated. "I've got something to ask someone over there anyway."

He said it casually and headed for the door.

"Be careful." Xide warned in a low voice.

"Hah? It's just a bunch of cannon fodder, right?" The white-haired boy sneered, full of cocky energy.

"I'll be back soon." He stepped through the door—and vanished.

"Wanna bet how long he'll take?" Pampas nudged Syd with his elbow, gesturing with his chin.

"Hard to say. I've never been able to gauge his actual strength." Syd shook his head, clearly resigned.

To them, the monsters weren't weak, but they weren't terrifying either. Still, they couldn't leave—the kids here needed protection.

"…Yeah." Pampas' expression shifted, remembering the time Syd had thought that kid was a total weakling.

The vibe turned… complicated.

Not even Syd could gauge Cyr's true power anymore.

And frankly… neither could he.

---

A faint, salty, metallic smell lingered in the air—coming from the monster nest made entirely of sticky white silk. It reminded Cyr of tentacle monsters and their slimy secretions.

Inside, countless tunnels branched off in all directions. The layout resembled a maze.

But to Cyr, it was all pointless effort.

"You look… delicious."

"A super rare delicacy." A creature resembling a starved hellhound slinked out of the shadows, drooling greedily.

"Not human. Not ant. More like a dog…" Cyr tilted his head, calmly observing it.

So far, none of these creatures had looked alike. You could say they were united only by how bizarrely and hideously different they all were.

"If I offer you to the Queen, she'll definitely praise me—!" the monster howled, leaping forward.

Its razor-sharp claws swung straight for the white-haired boy's body.

But then—stopped.

"What… what the hell?" The creature's voice was full of disbelief. It hesitated, trying again. It raised a claw and swiped—only to freeze again, just before making contact.

"No matter how you try, you can't touch me. See?" Cyr raised his own hand and pressed it to the creature's claws.

"Good dog. Shake." He grabbed its paw and gave it a firm shake, up and down.

But even then, the monster never truly touched his skin.

What looked like contact—was actually a minuscule, invisible gap.

"What did you do?!" the monster panicked, trying to pull away—only to find its paw tightly gripped. Horror filled its eyes, the fear in its voice sounding eerily like someone being violated.

"Oh, nothing really…" Cyr smiled. His grip tightened.

"Just… saying hi."

With a twist of his wrist, he ripped the creature's arm clean off.

A muffled, choked howl of pain echoed through the cave. Blood splashed across the white silk like red plum blossoms falling on snow.

"Claws… bone structure… kinda like a dog, but not quite." He weighed the severed limb in his hand for a moment, then—losing interest—tossed it aside.

He walked casually toward one of the tunnels, brushing past the now-silent monster.

The same creature that had just been screaming and lunging to kill him didn't even move. It stood frozen like a lifeless statue.

Only after Cyr's silhouette vanished into the darkness did the creature collapse—like a broken puppet falling apart.

Even in death, it made no sound—just a soft puff of dust.

Blood trickled over the silk and was silently absorbed, staining the white threads a deep red.

A silent massacre unfolded within the nest. More and more webs turned red.

And with each drop of blood, the place grew quieter.

---

"Cleanup complete." Cyr paused, sensing the cave's remaining life.

Only one entity left.

"Time for the so-called Queen."

He strolled forward at an easy pace, heading toward the final chamber.

After all, in any good game—you always clear the minions before you pull the boss.

°°°

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