"Very good. You did this quite well. Once those three squadron leaders have digested that thing, bring them to me. I have more orders for them." Meruem's voice was light, but every ant present heard it clearly. Beside the throne where Meruem sat stood the most trusted of his three Royal Guards—the cat-girl Pitou.
Knowing the story, Meruem was well aware that among the Royal Guard, only the cat-girl would most faithfully carry out his orders. The three were all exceedingly loyal, ready to sacrifice their lives for him, but the butterfly Pouf loved to twist orders with his own interpretations and pull little stunts. His intention was "everything for me," but that was the most headache-inducing part—do you punish him or praise him? As for the bunny-brute Youpi—simple-minded. If you wanted him to fight or smash things, fine; if you wanted him to handle something complicated… heh. Pitou, however, was the most satisfactory subordinate for Meruem to use—of course, absolutely not because Meruem had a soft spot for cat-girls. Ahem—move that hand off someone's tail first.
Beyond the Guard were the squadron leaders; some had their own little schemes, but nothing serious. That said, when it came to trust, Meruem still preferred Pitou—both for her ability and her looks.
"Right, how's that matter coming along?" Meruem asked toward a patch of shadow.
"Your Majesty, no problem. The church has fully launched. Just in the Republic of East Gorteau we've already developed a hundred thousand followers. Among them, a thousand have become core believers willing to accept Chimera Ant transformation." A deep voice replied.
"Only a hundred thousand? That's not enough! Keep spreading our doctrine and widen the scope. Soon someone will draw human attention. That will be the perfect time for you to proselytize." On the throne, Meruem propped his head with his left hand, toying with the cat-girl's tail with his right, speaking with amused ease.
"Yes." The reply was crisp, but the shadow hesitated, as if wanting to say more.
"If you have something to say, speak. I pardon you in advance."
"Your Majesty, why do you value this so-called church so much? If we're just transforming people, there's no need to care about their consent, right? If it's merely enhancing soldiers, we could simply summon more humans, then have Lord Pouf…"
"Hypnosis, followed by Pitou doing mass conversions, yes?" Before the shadow finished, Meruem cut him off. The idea matched the original plan for human transformation to a tee. That approach was fast, but riddled with fatal flaws. The original King and Guard were too arrogant, thinking themselves the strongest beings in the world and that no one could stop them—so they made a spectacle of it. Stirring up such a ruckus, of course humans would respond accordingly—cue the Rose nuke. Don't assume everyone else is a fool.
"What I just said is only one of the shortcomings. I've said before—we Chimera Ants are not the strongest in this world. I suppose many in our tribe share your view—and you represent them, don't you?" As he spoke, Meruem drew Pitou's tail to his cheek for a rub, then lifted it to his nose and took a deep breath. Mm, what a nice scent. Standing by the throne, Pitou kept a straight face and posture, but a faint blush still surfaced on her cheeks.
"Your servant is fearful. Your Majesty, we aren't questioning your methods—only… have some doubts." The one in the shadows had no time to mind Meruem teasing Pitou; he was scared just by that one sentence and hurried to explain. Meruem detested any squadron leaders gathering for secret plots.
"No need to be so tense. I'm no tyrant; I won't take offense over trifles." He continued stroking Pitou's silky tail as he spoke.
"It's normal you have questions. What I said were only some of the flaws in your proposal. The second shortcoming is this: after transforming humans against their will—have you considered their reaction upon waking?"
"Reaction? Shouldn't they fight for our race and become our combat strength?" The shadow sounded matter-of-fact.
"How could they? Put yourself in their place—if someone suddenly transformed you into that animal humans call a pig, would you sit there happily eating, waiting to be slaughtered?"
"I would find a way to kill that human."
"There you go. If you'd think that way, so will humans. Turn them into ants and the most likely outcome is they become enemies of our race."
"But we could still…"
"You mean hypnosis and control?"
"Your Majesty is wise."
"Naive. Leaving aside whether our tribe even has a technique to perfectly control others without reducing their combat power—if we did, wouldn't it be better to directly control human upper echelons and make them fight each other? And hypnosis has limits. Once they wake, our race will face fiercer retaliation." Like Welfin and Zaiyroad in the original—once their human memories resurfaced, they immediately betrayed the ants. The human heart—the thing unique to sapient beings—cannot be perfectly controlled.
"But there is something in this world that can make humans willingly give—kill their own offspring, even—sacrifice their own lives." That thing is religious faith. The brainwashing of faith is more fearsome than pyramid schemes. In his previous life, Meruem knew of many who slew children to "prove the Way," even killed wives to do so. Yes—developing believers and founding a church was one of Meruem's plans. Faith can drive people mad—especially zealots, with whom no normal human can reason. In other words, if Meruem's plan succeeded, he would gain a group of fanatics loyal to the death—and volunteers for transformation. In terms of loyalty, far more reliable than many squadron leaders. Most crucially, Meruem had discovered that on the Hunter Continent there were almost no large religions—only a few small tribal beliefs in isolated places. The vast majority of humans had no faith. That was an opportunity. Meruem would give them faith—and the god of that faith would be Meruem Yang himself. Remember, the Hunter world is not a peaceful one—there is too much sorrow and injustice. Meteor City, for one.
Where there are people, there is oppression; where there is oppression, there is injustice; where there is injustice, there is resentment. Want power? Join our Cult of God! Our church exists to create a fair, just world without oppression and hunger, where all are happy. Want revenge? Join our church—our almighty Ant God will grant you strength. Those faces unlike humans? That's what the Ant God's envoys look like; you should feel honored. After death you will return to the Ant God's embrace and gain eternal life in the divine kingdom.
In his previous life, such propaganda was cliché and few would believe it. But this world is different. While religions exist, they are small and obscure. Many humans are as clean as blank paper. This is the best time and soil to spread a church. Perhaps in the most developed cities and nations it would be hard to develop—but in a peripheral, underdeveloped country like East Gorteau, it's ideal. Add a touch of hypnotic guidance on the side—once Meruem established and grew a church in the Hunter world, the effect would be devastating. Heads of state wouldn't dare rashly move against the ants—at least not on the surface.
Even so, while Meruem thought this way, the other ants didn't really understand why their king was putting so much effort into something they thought was "simple."
"Forget it—you probably still don't get it. Just do as I've instructed." Meruem's tone carried a hint of hating iron for not becoming steel. The Chimera Ants had no true strategists. Not that they lacked smart individuals, but none with sustainable, long-term strategic vision. Open strategies are king!
"Yes, Your Majesty." The shadow, after listening so long, still looked uncomprehending yet awed. By the way, the one in the shadows was named Snake—one of the Anbu Twelve Stars, the Serpent, in charge alongside four others of the church affair.
"By the plan, all that remains is news of that man. Heh—finding him has been assigned to six of the Anbu Twelve Stars. Each of those six could go toe-to-toe with the Phantom Troupe—maybe not win, but far stronger than any Shadow Beast. I trust we'll have news soon." Meruem muttered to himself. The "man" he meant was formidable, and he'd appeared in Hunter x Hunter—albeit in a movie. In a sense his dominance and strength seemed even greater than Netero's—at least as the film presented it.
Do you know Resentment? Yes—this was the big boss from "Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission," a man who toyed with Heaven's Arena at will and sealed Netero's Nen. The user of En—Jed.
At the same time, three massive auras of Nen erupted in the royal council hall.
(End of Chapter)
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