Watching Vaelstrasz incinerate the dying Cheetu into a cocoon and swallow him whole, Allen instantly acquired the opponent's ability.
Just as he had predicted, it was a form of teleportation with a maximum range of twenty meters.
To his surprise, there were actually no restrictions on direction; the leopard had simply been so obsessively focused on speed that he never considered moving in any direction other than forward.
Realizing this, Allen couldn't help but shake his head with a chuckle. "A 'Stupid Leopard' through and through. He must have dumped every talent point into speed and reflexes, leaving his intelligence severely stunted. He didn't even understand the mechanics of his own ability. Truly a freak among freaks."
Ridicule aside, Cheetu was still a Squadron Leader. His aura capacity and physical toughness were nothing to scoff at.
Specifically, the Essence of Life extracted from him could significantly strengthen and enhance leg muscle power.
Stowing the flame-red dagger, Perdition's Blade, back into his waist pouch, Allen hopped onto the Red Dragon's back and took to the skies again, heading toward the next incident site.
Cheetu's ability, so different from the original story, taught him a valuable lesson.
Except for the three Royal Guards, whose traits were fixed from the gestation period, the abilities of Squadron Leaders and Officers were likely to undergo unpredictable changes due to their early systematic training in Nen.
He could not afford to rely too heavily on the memories of the original plot in his mind, or he might end up paying a heavy price.
As Allen flew at high speed at a low altitude, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
By instinct, he pulled it out and pressed the answer key.
Instantly, Morel's frantic voice came through from the other side: "Allen! Where are you right now?"
"A city in central Rokario! I just finished off a Squadron Leader that looked like a leopard. Is there trouble on your end?" Allen asked point-blank.
"You killed one already? So fast!" Morel's tone was thick with astonishment.
The large-scale Chimera Ant invasion of the human world had only begun a few hours ago. Neither the government nor the Hunter Association had time to react yet; only the few who had followed the Chairman to NGL were barely able to mobilize.
"Of course! Don't forget, I've always been known for speed and efficiency. As long as I have an accurate location, these ants won't be able to stay rowdy for long," Allen replied with a cold laugh.
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony. I have an urgent favor to ask. The Association just received a report that the border city closest to NGL is being invaded by a massive force of Chimera Ants. There are at least two Squadron Leaders and about four hundred soldier ants and Officers. Furthermore, I can't get in touch with my two disciples, nor Gon or Killua. Could you please go and check on them?" Morel pleaded in a deeply worried tone.
"OK! No problem. Leave it to me."
Allen agreed without hesitation and signaled the Red Dragon to change course.
While he didn't believe Gon and Killua would be in any real danger given their current strength, he decided to take a look.
After all, in the anime, those two protagonists had gone on a killing spree through the ant army with an aura capacity of just over 20,000.
Even though the quality of the Chimera Ant army had improved significantly due to their mastery of Nen, the boys were also more than three times stronger than their original selves.
Combined with the fact that many Hunters were originally stationed in that border city, theoretically, nothing major should go wrong.
However, what Allen didn't know was that his judgment was the exact opposite of the reality on the ground.
The timing of the ants' attack coincided perfectly with the end of the duel between Gon/Killua and Morel's two disciples, the latter of whom were temporarily incapacitated.
Meanwhile, Gon and Killua were being held back in the outskirts by the Squadron Leader Bihorn and couldn't make it back in time.
The vast city was left with only Palm and a few logistics-focused Hunters, who were no match for the ants in either numbers or quality.
"Dammit! There are too many of them! we won't last much longer!"
A female Hunter in jeans kicked away a lunging soldier ant and shouted to her companion.
"I know! But if we retreat, what happens to the civilians?" a fat man nearby barked back, gritting his teeth.
As they spoke, a wolf-like Chimera Ant suddenly dropped from the sky onto a nearby rooftop.
He moved on all fours and carried a device resembling a missile launcher on his back.
Before the two Hunters could react, two small missiles were fired, streaking toward them at high speed.
"Watch out!"
The fat man shoved the woman in jeans out of the way.
Unfortunately, he was hit directly by one of the missiles.
Strangely, the missile didn't explode as expected. Instead, it implanted a plant created from Nen into his body.
The woman who had been pushed aside didn't escape her fate either; the other missile banked, caught up to her, and struck her directly in the back.
Seeing that both Hunters had been hit, the wolf-like ant hopped down from the roof and said with a smirk, "My name is Welfin! From this moment on, I am the master of you two!"
"What?"
The woman looked at him in shock, unable to believe her ears.
But as the will to resist flared up in her heart, the plant implanted by the missile began to grow at an alarming rate.
"Hahahaha! It seems you don't understand your situation. Allow me to introduce my ability—Missileman. Once activated, it will pursue the target until it hits. Upon impact, it injects a plant called the Black Centipede into the body. If you defy my orders, the Black Centipede will grow rapidly and eventually tear your body apart. But if you don't resist, it stops growing. Simple rules, aren't they?"
Welfin laughed wildly as he explained his ability. In his eyes, these two couldn't possibly escape his grasp.
"You want to control us?" the fat man squinted, testing the waters.
Welfin nodded without thinking. "Exactly! I suggest you forget your human identities from now on. If you perform well, I might even ask Pitou-sama to remodel you into one of our kind."
"In your dreams! Even if we die, we won't betray our humanity," the woman stated resolutely.
The fat man refused to be outdone, sneering mockingly, "That's right! I doubt beasts like you, who have only just gained sapience, could ever understand human pride and dignity!"
"Well, that's a pity. It looks like you'll be torn apart by the Black Centipede soon then," Welfin shrugged with mock regret.
Just as he was preparing to enjoy the upcoming bloody spectacle, the sun overhead was suddenly obscured by a massive dark shadow.
The moment the Squadron Leader looked up, he saw a giant Red Dragon hovering directly above his head.
The terrifying pressure was so immense that Welfin felt the blood in his veins freeze. His fur began to fall out in clumps as if from extreme stress, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably...