Three days later—"4th-Dimensional Apartment," GET!
As the saying goes, good things come in pairs. The very day after fully digesting this space-type Nen ability, news of Jed arrived from Anbu Chief Ais's side.
"Your Majesty, we Anbu Twelve Stars have found the man you're seeking. White hair, golden-black eyes, and he wields something even more ominous than our Chimera Ants' Nen. But…" Reporting to Ant King Meruem was Chou Ox, one of the Anbu Twelve Stars—counted among the strongest of the twelve.
"He doesn't use Nen. That power is called Malice. It's very strong, but comes with major side effects. What is it—did you run into a problem?" Meruem first explained Jed's ability, then asked. The Malice ability comes from the movie, but in the original canon there is no such system. Meruem learned by chance that this Hunter world actually contained a movie character—the leader of the Shadow, Jed. Unlike the original timeline—where the film events occur between the Chimera Ant arc and Greed Island—this world has Jed's existence but not the movie's incident, so Meruem suspects Jed hasn't yet begun his revenge plan.
In the film's setup, Malice opposes Nen as a special power: Nen stands for light, Malice for darkness. Netero represents the light of Nen; Jed, the darkness of Malice. Frankly, in Hunter's original settings, that's a pretty shaky premise. The manga does note that sometimes after death a person's Nen can become stronger—but that stronger force is still Nen. Though Nen is presented as life energy, it has nothing to do with "light;" Nen is Nen—a potent life ability that, via vows and restrictions, can erupt with power beyond the user's normal limits. Malice, however, warrants scrutiny. In the film, Jed's Malice represents ill-omen and darkness, a power you can tell at a glance belongs to a villain. And in Malice vs. Nen fights on-screen, it's basically employed like Nen.
In other words, in the Hunter world there really is Malice—but it's essentially a type of Nen. The original states Chairman Netero is the grandmaster of Shingen-ryu. Jed's opposition, then, isn't to Nen itself, but to Shingen-ryu—i.e., a conflict of schools. You can see it directly from their techniques: Netero uses "Hundred-Type Guanyin," while Jed's Malice technique is "Hundred Demons Cursed Malice: Rakshasa." Netero's Shingen-ryu is placid and orthodox; Jed's "Malice-ryu" is extreme, almost cult-like. Jed's abilities also grant and seize life force. Crucially, he's the last bearer of the style. His three subordinates merely wield power bestowed by him.
Another point: in the original, the Heaven's Arena floor masters are formidable. In the movie, they're practically nobodies, getting thrashed by Gon and Killua pre-Ant arc. In canon, even Hisoka wouldn't call a win guaranteed against some floor masters. If those masters were only that strong, Bushidora Ambrosius, whom Hisoka killed, would rank top-three among them.
"Your Majesty, that man you're seeking—Jed—wields tremendous power. I fear… I fear we lack the ability to bring him in." For such words to come from Chou Ox, one of the Anbu Twelve Stars, Jed's strength is beyond doubt. In the film he could temporarily seal Netero's Nen, and even after the seal lifted, they fought for quite a while. In sheer might, he's indeed beneath Netero, but still a fearsome foe—and he has three capable henchmen. If he's unwilling, the Twelve Stars alone can't bring him back. But now Meruem has obtained a new ability—time to test it.
"Report your position now and hold for a moment. Don't engage him—keep a tight tail on them. I'll be there shortly." And bring those three along, too—let them make a scene there. Two months left; give me two more months and I can leave this world. Just wait—when I return, the whole world will know the Chimera Ants' name and tremble.
"Lord Jed, looks like a few little bugs are tailing us—shall I…?" Truth be told, the Chimera Ants haven't been in this world long. Even with extraordinary talent and Meruem's special training, that training focused on combat and Nen usage, not other skills. In practice, they still lack experience. Take now: ants may have special techniques for finding people, but when it comes to tailing… sigh. Even the mohawked brute among Jed's trio noticed. As he spoke, he drew a finger across his throat in a beheading gesture.
"Don't rush. Once we clear this town and hit the open country, you can test their strength. Though those ones don't seem human. Be careful—our plan hasn't started yet; don't stir up too much noise. Find out their purpose. If their aptitude looks good, consider granting them Malice. If not, kill them." Jed's tone was casual—like discussing dinner. Cloaks, the villains' requisite garb, hid the expressions of the other three. In truth, Jed's face was grave. He'd sensed the six behind him—not just noticed, but earlier than expected—and they weren't weak. At least not weaker than his three companions; it still didn't warrant concern, but their identity did. Hopefully not the Hunter Association. His plan hadn't begun, and he'd rather not cross Netero just yet—though he didn't fear him.
"Yes, my lord." It's odd to see a burly giant bowing and scraping to a slim youth, but in the Hunter world there's nothing more normal.
"It's time." Reaching the outskirts, the brute suddenly launched an attack at the six hiding. Pale blue, massive, flame-like ki blasts fired as if cost nothing. Here the ants' inexperience shows—who tails a target clustered together? Perhaps only a few with exceptional perception can hide well—or you'd need squadron-leader class?
"Not good—we've been made!" The six were plenty strong, and though it was an ambush, the attacks were too linear—no one was hit.
"What do we do, captain? The King's order was not to act rashly and wait for him. But it seems they don't intend to let us keep following." The speaker was a handsome, somewhat melancholy-looking youth—if you ignored the tail, ear, and the tongue lolling from his mouth, his looks weren't bad. As the best sensor among the six, he clearly felt the one bringing up the rear of the four radiated terrifying, ill-omened power. At least squadron leaders might not be his match—and these were the King's squadron leaders.
"Esteemed sir, we mean no harm. We only ask that you wait here for a moment. A most exalted gentleman wishes to meet you." Unlike the anxious Dog, Chou Ox, leader of the six, stayed calm. He knew the foe's power was dreadful, but if they could stall until Meruem arrived, everything became simple.
"Heh, interesting. You don't seem to be from the Hunter Association." Answering a question with a non-answer, Jed eyed the Twelve Stars with interest. He left unsaid: while the Association takes on some outsiders at the fringes, fully fledged Hunters aren't non-human. It seemed a new organization had sprung up during his absence. Beasts, perhaps? Jed had only recently revived, so he knew nothing of the Chimera Ants.
"Hunters? Forgive us, esteemed sir—we don't know about Hunters. We are of the Chimera Ants, here by our King's order to accompany you. If we have offended, we beg your pardon. Please wait—our King will be here shortly." Chou Ox reiterated their task: keep Jed waiting. Know the times and you're a wise man. The opponents were stronger, no need to clash, and their mission was to stall, not to attack. His tone was fairly courteous; among the ants, the strong are honored, and Jed's power had clearly won the division captains' respect.
"Oh? A King? I can wait here for a while—provided you're qualified. Purgatory, Ogre, Asura, test these self-styled 'Chimera' fellows." Noting someone called a King hadn't arrived, Jed elected to stay out. On one hand, though the foes weren't weak, his three subordinates had been trained by his own hand. A good warm-up before the plan.
"Yes, Lord Jed." The three answered respectfully.
"Perfect. Then let Lord Ogre crush you self-proclaimed ants. Don't be too weak—make it fun." The mohawked brute jabbed a finger at the ants and taunted.
"Captain!" The Twelve Stars' faces darkened with anger. They might call themselves Chimera Ants, but that didn't mean they enjoyed being called insects. They acknowledged Jed's power, but not necessarily these three. If not for Meruem's order not to act rashly, they'd have torn the trio apart already.
"Goat (Wei), Monkey (Shen), Dog (Xu)—you three, go. Remember, no killing!" Chou Ox's face was equally grim. Time to show a little strength, or risk being looked down upon. More importantly—when have Chimera Ants ever been afraid?
(End of Chapter)
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