Apex Predator

Lammergeier X

Um... so Gon's, like, canonically kinda manipulative. Additional trigger warning for that?

(≧ڡ≦*)

Flashback - 5 Days before the deadline

Peijin was the capital of the Republic of East Gorteau. It was located on the Southeastern end of the country, only a few kilometers away from the central palace where the Supreme Leader stayed.

Kite, Knov, and Morel had been staying at Peijin for the past several days monitoring the situation and covertly eliminating Chimera Ants found in the city.

One of the royal guards, a cat-ant by the name of Neferpitō, used their nen ability to puppeteer soldiers. These puppets were annoyingly difficult to deal with and required careful planning for each assault. Mostly because none of the Hunters wanted the ants to pinpoint their exact location.

Morel used his nen ability, Deep Purple, to create soldiers made of hazy purple smoke to both monitor the ants and systematically attack the puppets when convenient. He used guerilla-like tactics to deal with them.

Morel was the best for dealing with the puppets, with Knov and Kite acting as support.

Knov supported through his teleportation ability called Hide and Seek. By touching a flat surface, like a wall or the ground, and drawing symbols in a circle, Knov could set and open a portal that lead to an artificial Nen dimension—a four-level mansion containing twenty-one rooms of various sizes. Each portal was linked to a specific room, with the maximum number of entrances being dependent on the size of the room. Every room was completely separate from the others. Normally, each entrance could only lead back to the portal Knov created for it; however, Knov could use a master key to connect any room exit to any previously set portal.

Knov provided Morel with easy transportation.

Meanwhile, Kite remained inside the rooms conducting experiments on the corpse of the ants and Neferpitō's puppets to ascertain their progress in evolution and nen. This was vital information for the long term. Humanity had only a few encounters with chimera ants before, and none had evolved to this extent. This was, as far as the Hunters were aware, an exceptional circumstance for any biologist to study.

Kite theorized understanding how the chimera ants evolved in such a short period of time could, potentially, lead to an even greater understanding of evolution in general and how it could be affected by nen.

Therefore, while Kite was not on the front lines of the assault like Morel, his work was considered equally invaluable.

The Hunters knew one way or another they would defeat the ants.

Whether through slaughter or peace, that was undecided.

Kite had odd faith in Miwa's ability to broker peace. Knov and Morel weren't as optimistic.

In Peijin that day it rained heavily. Morel and Knov stood on one of the many rooftops of the city. The large man hoisted his massive smoking pipe over his shoulder as he surveyed the surrounding area, "There's no doubt."

"All the puppets have vanished," agreed Knov, frowning. The man casually adjusted the collar of his suit, then his glasses.

Morel frowned as well. "Have they resumed the selection process?"

The selection process was a way for the ants to hunt down humans with nen to devour and grow stronger. They were using the guise of a national celebration to invite every human in the country to the capital, and Neferpitō's puppets would sneakily hunt down humans while they traveled.