"No!!! I won't die! I will definitely escape!"
The brown bear Squadron Leader, who viewed humans as mere food, clearly could not accept a fate where he became someone else's meal. He immediately used Portal of Transit to warp back to his previous position.
He then frantically pushed his Nen, attempting to open a much further exit in a short amount of time.
Unfortunately for him, if Allen could close the distance in just over a second once, he could naturally return just as fast.
Before the Squadron Leader could fulfill the activation conditions of his ability, a roar, the sound of the sonic barrier breaking, echoed through the sky. Immediately after, an indescribable, massive force surged from behind him!
BOOM!
CRACK!
With just one punch, the spinal column supporting his upper body shattered. He was sent flying dozens of meters horizontally, tumbling across the ground until he slammed into a large tree and came to a halt.
Normally, if a human suffered such an injury, they would have expired instantly. But the tenacious vitality of a Chimera Ant kept the bear Squadron Leader stubbornly alive, even as his waist was twisted into a horrific, mangled spiral.
"Apologies, but your life or death is not for you to decide, it's for me to decide. After all, food doesn't get a choice, does it?"
Allen walked slowly toward him and crouched down, staring into the Squadron Leader's eyes, which were filled with despair.
"Foolish ant. From the moment you chose to prey on humans, you sealed your destruction at the hands of humanity. Real humans are not the weaklings you imagine; they are the most terrifying, selfish, and cruel creatures in this world. For us, anything that threatens our existence is eliminated without hesitation."
"Keep dreaming! No one can destroy us! The Queen will give birth to the invincible King! And he will rule the entire world!" the Squadron Leader retorted with what little strength he had left.
Before the Queen's death, the ants' genetic programming still profoundly influenced his spirit and will. Nothing could shake his loyalty to the colony. It was a biological instinct, much like how most humans cannot escape a strong reproductive drive.
Hearing this, Allen couldn't help but mock him: "Invincible? Rule the world? Don't make me laugh!"
"No matter what the Queen eventually spawns, it will be defeated by humans. To humanity, you are merely beasts that have recently evolved intellect but remain far from civilized. In fact, even your Queen was a tool created by humans for their own internal power struggles."
"It's a bit sad to say, but humans have only ever had one true enemy: themselves. Compared to the small number of people you've eaten, the brutal wars between human nations can easily cause casualties ten or even a hundred times greater."
"Also, regarding your ability, I have a small suggestion: Why did you limit the number of portals to two? Why not create more? That way, your movement would become unpredictable, allowing you to execute complex tactics."
"Impossible... that's not true! You're lying!" The Squadron Leader's eyes bulged in shock. He could not believe that the Chimera Ant Queen, whom he revered as a deity, was merely a tool created by humans.
"Believe it or not. I'm just fulfilling some prerequisites for seizing your ability. Besides, I wanted to see how you ants would react to the truth behind it all. Now that I've seen it, this might be a trump card against the King later. I'm sure he, with his high self-esteem, will be filled with anger, tension, and anxiety once he learns he isn't some 'chosen one' but just a tool. He'll lose his cool and turn into a wounded beast."
With those words, Allen crushed the Squadron Leader's chest with a single punch and summoned the Red Dragon to devour him.
Once it was done, he asked in a low voice, "Well? What was the Aura count for this cocoon?"
"160,000! Delicious! Simply delicious! More! Give me more food like this!" Vaelstrasz's voice carried unabashed joy and excitement.
"Oh? Exactly as I predicted. Chimera Ants have a rigid internal hierarchy. This means that the nutrition and life force consumed to create a soldier ant, Officer, Squadron Leader, Royal Guard, or King are completely different. With each rank, there is a leap from quantitative to qualitative change," Allen analyzed seriously, rubbing his chin.
At this moment, he understood why Feitan, of the Phantom Troupe, couldn't deal any damage to Zazan, the self-proclaimed Queen in Meteor City, even when using a sharp blade reinforced with Ko, eventually breaking his sword instead.
On one hand, Zazan's defensive power spiked significantly after her transformation. On the other hand, her Aura volume was simply far higher than his.
Thinking of this, Allen sighed slightly. "In that case, Morel truly deserves his status as the MVP of the Extermination Team. He took down two Squadron Leaders single-handedly and, despite being exhausted, managed to stall one of the Royal Guards. It's like picking a Support at the start of a game and accidentally ending up 'Godlike' during the team fight."
Morel's specialty was the ocean; land was never his home turf. Yet, despite this, he produced a stellar combat record. His subsequent promotion to Triple-Star Hunter was absolutely earned, a true master of tactics and micro-management.
Just as Allen was considering how to bag more Squadron Leaders, Illumi and Kalluto finally finished their hunt. They returned with a group of soldier ants riddled with Nen needles and one Officer.
From the other direction, Bodoro and Baise emerged from the woods, controlling another squad of ants. They had successfully captured two separate scouting parties that had been heading toward nearby villages.
Seeing this, Allen nodded with satisfaction. "Excellent work! Follow yesterday's procedure and initiate their Nen development. I just seized a rather interesting ability myself."
"Oh? What kind of ability?" Baise asked curiously.
"It's a secret for now. If necessary, I'll use it in the coming battles, and you'll see for yourself," Allen replied with a mysterious smile.
Baise rolled her eyes. "Tch! I really don't get it. You already have so many abilities, and you barely use most of them. Why do you keep taking more?"
"Two reasons," Allen held up two fingers. "First, just because I don't use them now doesn't mean I won't use them later, and it certainly doesn't mean they're useless. More abilities mean more trump cards to surprise an opponent. Especially when facing certain 'rule-breaking' abilities, you must counter them with equally 'rule-breaking' powers. Second, I have a bit of a collector's habit. I like taking the abilities that interest me from my enemies and making them all mine."
"Agreed. If I had an ability like yours, I would definitely snatch the target's Nen before killing them. The more abilities you possess, the harder it is for enemies to guard against you. it would make assassinations much simpler," Illumi said with a hint of envy.
He wasn't the only one; Kalluto wore a similar expression. Anyone who had seen the Red Dragon's power would inevitably covet it. However, since Chairman Netero's defeat, most people buried that greed deep in their hearts, not daring to show it.
In that battle, the terrifying speed, reaction time, and endless stream of Nen abilities Allen displayed, coupled with his monstrous Aura volume in dragon-human form and his ability to fly freely, made everyone realize he had quietly become an extremely dangerous and nearly unbeatable figure.
As the saying goes: when you become strong enough, you'll find that almost everyone around you is a "good person." You won't find many "bad people" at all. This isn't because human morality has suddenly improved; it's simply that most people don't dare to have bad intentions toward you, lest they suffer total destruction.