Over the next few days, everything unfolded exactly as Hisoka had predicted: the number of Chimera Ants mastering Nen began to skyrocket.
While they only encountered two Officers capable of using Ten on the first day, that number spiked several times over by the second. Moreover, it wasn't just the Officers; even ordinary soldier ants began appearing as Nen users.
By the time a week had passed, roughly a third of the Chimera Ant hunting parties encountered were using basic Nen, and the number of those developing unique Hatsu was steadily rising.
To put this in perspective, the entire Hunter Association had only a few hundred registered members! Now, the number of ants capable of using Nen was several times the total population of the Association.
Though most of their understanding was still limited to using Aura to reinforce their bodies, claws, and fists, they simply had the advantage of numbers.
The mysterious disappearance of multiple hunting parties over several consecutive days quickly alerted the Squadron Leaders and the Queen. Realizing enemies were nearby, they began deploying organized military platoons for patrols and search-and-destroy missions.
These units often consisted of over a hundred ants and invariably included many with flight capabilities, making them an absolute nightmare to deal with.
Even for an elite team like Allen's, it was impossible to guarantee the rapid annihilation of over a hundred ants at once. If even a single ant escaped, it would immediately bring down a crushing encirclement consisting of at least one Royal Guard, ten Squadron Leaders, a hundred Officers, and two thousand soldier ants.
Among them, the Royal Guards and Squadron Leaders were Nen users without exception, including figures prominent in the original story, such as Cheetu the cheetah, Leol the lion, and Bloster the lobster...
But there were many more unfamiliar faces as well.
To squeeze every last drop of benefit from the Chimera Ant army, Allen chose not to engage in a head-on confrontation too early. Instead, he employed guerrilla tactics, striking patrol squads within a thirty-kilometer radius of the nest. Every time they succeeded, they relocated immediately. He gave the enemy zero opportunity to pin them down.
By the middle of May, he had devoured over two thousand cocoons!
Among them were six Squadron Leaders, a hundred Officers, and the rest were low-level soldier ants.
As the first phase of the hunt concluded, not even counting the reserves stored in the Red Dragon's stomach, Allen's own Aura volume had broken the million mark thanks to the reinforcement of Essence of Life. It now sat at a staggering 1.2 million. Even when he only maintained basic Ten, he radiated an indescribable, suffocating pressure.
Even more terrifying, using the Essence of Life extracted from the cocoons, Vaelstrasz had completed a partial restructuring of his muscles. His reaction speed had doubled, while his raw strength and explosiveness had increased fourfold.
As a witness to these changes, Kalluto finally understood why his older brother, his father, and his grandfather referred to this youth, only slightly older than himself, as a monster. It wasn't hyperbole; it was the most accurate description possible.
In this period, Allen's Aura had visibly doubled. At the start, he merely gave off an invisible pressure; now, anyone stepping within ten meters of him felt a powerful sense of suffocation. It had taken just over ten days. This terrifying rate of growth was far beyond anything Kalluto could comprehend.
"Something on your mind?"
Allen noticed the "cross-dressing youth's" gaze and looked up with a curious expression. This wasn't the first time he'd caught Kalluto staring; it had become especially frequent lately.
"Can you... can you tell me what kind of mindset you had when you first created that red Nen beast?" Kalluto gathered his courage to ask.
Inquiring about another person's Nen ability was a major taboo, so he appeared exceptionally nervous. Illumi seemed to realize this as well, turning around to fix his younger brother with a warning stare.
But Allen just laughed it off. "Of course! Though I'm curious why you're interested. Are you... planning to imitate me and create something similar?"
Kalluto hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Yes! Currently, I am too weak to accomplish what I want to do. I need to become stronger as quickly as possible!"
"A solid reason. But the problem is, I don't think I'm a suitable target for imitation. When I started, my resolve was to bet everything—either win all the way or lose every single thing I have. Most importantly, I used some extremely specific and rare mediums."
Allen didn't hide anything, candidly describing the process of creating the Red Dragon. After all, there wouldn't be a second Red Dragon egg in this world, so it was impossible for anyone to create a Nen beast with similar capabilities.
Kalluto, unaware of this detail, looked enlightened. He muttered to himself, "Betting everything... a resolve where failure is not an option? No wonder you could create such a powerful Nen beast!"
"I suggest you don't try to imitate him. Some things simply cannot be copied. Attempting to mimic someone else's Nen is extremely dangerous and can lead to results worse than death. And do not ever try to utilize that thing's power," Illumi interjected, his voice unusually stern.
"Don't worry, Brother. I won't violate the family rules."
Kalluto clearly knew who "that thing" referred to and obediently lowered his head. Illumi looked satisfied. "Good. Just don't be like Killua; he's not a good role model."
They must be talking about Alluka and Nanika sharing a body...
Though the brothers didn't explicitly name "that thing," Allen guessed the truth based on his knowledge of the plot. Aside from Nanika, there probably wasn't a second person who could make Illumi show such a wary expression.
However, he was curious if Nanika's "wish-granting" ability, which was essentially a bug in reality, could help him fix his fragmented game system. At the very least, he'd like to learn a few more primary professions or unlock two or three other characters from his account. At the very least, if she could fix the world outside the dungeons so he could complete his Hunter epic quests, that would be great.
By the end of the third raid, he had already gathered the Ancient Leaf and the Mature Black Dragon Sinew. They were currently sitting in his bags. Unfortunately, they were currently just display pieces and collectibles with zero utility. If he hadn't upgraded to 18-slot Onyxia Hide Backpacks, he would have destroyed them long ago to save space.
With newfound expectations for Nanika's wish-granting, Allen led the team out of the Chimera Ants' active territory. He planned to fall back to the neighboring country to rest, regroup, and await the arrival of Chairman Netero and the Extermination Team.
Specifically, he was eager to meet Morel, the talent who could turn a Support into an MVP. He also needed to drop off Ponzu in a safe zone and report the latest intel on the Chimera Ants to the Chairman.