The firewood burned fiercely, crackling and popping, as sparks flew into the night sky.
Killua rested his chin on his hand and, in the silence of the others, repeated his question once more: "Do you think we could become the Floor Master of the Heavens Arena now?"
"That depends on which Floor Master we're challenging," said Hanzō, resting his hands on his knees. His bald head gleamed brightly in the firelight like a glowing bulb. "There's a gap between Floor Masters, after all."
"So, it's basically down to luck?" asked Pokkle, who wore a tall soft hat and carried a bow and arrow on his back.
"More or less... I heard from Killua and Gon before that Mr. Germain's disciple—Kurapika—is one of the Floor Masters of the Heavens Arena. If we're challenging him, the chance of winning would be pretty low, right?"
"Yeah... if it's him, definitely."
Hanzō and Pokkle exchanged words, more or less answering Killua's question.
Killua lowered his gaze to his own hands. Between his fingers, faint electric sparks flickered and crackled softly.
Since Kurapika was mentioned, he couldn't help but recall the three relatively formal battles he had fought against him.
The first was during the last exam of the 1999 Hunter Hunter professional test, the second at the end of the Heavens Arena trials, and the last was during their team period on Greed Island.
Without exception, Killua lost them all. But in that final battle, he felt himself getting closer to Kurapika's level.
Next time I face Kurapika, can I beat him?
He wasn't sure.
But if I had to pick a Floor Master to challenge and defeat to become the new one, it would definitely be Kurapika...
In truth, Killua didn't care much about the status, position, or benefits that came with being the Heavens Arena Floor Master.
What he cared about most was to defeat this young man—who had beaten him multiple times—officially, and in a proper setting.
"You guys are getting a bit off-topic, aren't you?" Milluki fanned his neck with his chubby hand. "Aren't we supposed to be talking about whether we've been tricked?"
"Tricked?" Gon had been watching the live broadcast of Zushi's battle just now, so he hadn't paid much attention to the conversation between the three brothers of the Zoldyck family.
Milluki had spent over half a year with this unpredictable spiky-haired boy, so he knew his personality well enough to patiently explain.
"Before I cleared the main story of Greed Island Z, I was posting on the forum when I saw someone discover a secret large-scale dungeon."
"So, I started investigating and gathered some seemingly reliable information. That's how we came to plan this operation."
"No wonder you managed to find the hidden door and the way in faster than me, a ninja," Hanzō said, stroking his chin and nodding in relief.
"Of course, I came prepared."
Milluki rarely got praised, especially in the Zoldyck family where frustration was the usual lesson. He couldn't help but lift his chin proudly.
"In short, the name of this large dungeon is 'King of the Chimera Ants.' It's hard not to think of the Chimera Ant invasion at the end of 1998."
"This dungeon is obviously based on that event…"
"To unlock the hidden door, you need to complete the missions given by 'Octopus' Ikalgo, 'Wolf' Welfin, and 'White Rabbit' Hina."
"After that, they mention how terrifying the King of the Chimera Ants is. That's when you get the prerequisite to enter the hidden door."
"Once inside, the enemies we face will be countless ferocious Chimera Ants."
"And Ikalgo, Welfin, and Hina will suddenly appear to help and guide us forward."
"From the story, it's clear that they belong to the kind-hearted faction among the Chimera Ants, those willing to coexist peacefully with humans.
The 'Chimera Ant King' and his subordinates, however, have the exact opposite attitude..."
Milluki became more and more excited as he spoke.
As a seasoned gamer, he was already immersing himself deeply into the plot.
"The Chimera Ant King..." Killua murmured thoughtfully.
"I remember, it was Chairman Netero and Germain who eradicated the Chimera Ant King Meruem… Is this dungeon going to have us fight Ant King Meruem himself?"
"Definitely not," Milluki shook his head.
"I've asked my dad and grandpa — they were in the Republic of East Gorteau back then, so they know just how terrifying Meruem really was."
"This Ant King here couldn't possibly be at Meruem's level. For one, Greed Island wouldn't create a boss that powerful. Even if they did, there's no one here who could actually beat him."
"Even if we combined all our strength, we wouldn't stand a chance against Meruem — we probably couldn't even get past his guards. There's no way Greed Island Z would design a boss with that kind of difficulty."
"So, from what I can deduce, the Ant King in this dungeon is probably stronger than Razor from the Port City of Soufrabi. That would make this dungeon tougher than the main storyline."
Milluki's analysis was thorough and convincing.
Everyone couldn't help but be impressed, and then Gon led the applause, followed by the others.
"All right," Milluki said, unusually blushing, interrupting them.
"The question now is — we still haven't actually encountered the Ant King. What's going on?"
They had already entered the dungeon following the method discussed on the forum and started leveling up, battling monsters, and collecting cards.
Guided by Ikalgo, Welfin, and Hina, they would reach different areas separately to challenge the three guards under the Ant King.
Of course, these three guards were far apart from each other, deep within their respective stages, and would not be cooperating.
Everyone only needed one Guard each to gang up together and defeat the three Guards.
Once they unlocked the achievement of defeating the three Royal Guards, they would learn the location of the Ant King.
After they joined forces and defeated the three Royal Guards, they came to this area earlier today.
But they waited for a long time and didn't even catch a glimpse of Ant King.
Milluki had no choice but to check the forum for guides again.
Finally, he found the trigger condition — they had to wait here in the wilderness until midnight.
However, it was already 12:16 AM, and they still hadn't seen the Ant King.
This made Milluki start to wonder if the people on the forum had tricked him.
So far, only their team, Team Tsezguerra and Team Kazsule had cleared the main storyline.
But no team had ever completed this large-scale dungeon.
Maybe the forum's guide was an April Fool's joke after all, since no one had ever succeeded...
Still, they were willing to try.
If they managed to see and defeat the Ant King, they would become the very first team to clear both the main storyline and the large dungeon.
Although Milluki didn't say it out loud, his hands-on attitude showed he really loved the game "Greed Island Z."
If they could get the achievement for being the first team to clear both the main story and the dungeon, he would feel the greatest sense of accomplishment.
"There's no choice," Milluki sighed.
"At this point, we can only wait a little longer. If by 1 AM the Ant King still…"
"Shh."
Killua suddenly put his finger to his lips, signaling everyone to be quiet.
"He's coming. I hear something, and I can sense his presence."
Everyone was startled and then looked in the same direction.
On the arch-shaped stone pillar, a figure was standing, exuding a strong oppressive aura.
The Ant King has arrived!
*******
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