CHAPTER 181: WE’VE ALL WORKED HARD!

On a desolate stretch of wilderness far from the palace, a glowing golden dragon suddenly dispersed, transforming from its condensed draconic form into countless tiny specks of light.

Both the Ant King, who had been hanging from the dragon’s claw by his tail and Netero, seated on the dragon’s back, remained composed.

As if they had long been prepared for what was to come.

The two descended straight from the sky, trailing streaks of light like falling meteors.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two consecutive thuds echoed as both landed safely, though they kicked up clouds of dust.

Despite the thick dust swirling around them, their bodies were enveloped in Aura, leaving them unaffected.

The golden dragon’s disappearance was meticulously calculated by Zeno—the fixed amount of Aura used could only sustain flight for this distance.

It vanished precisely upon reaching this location and this place had been carefully chosen by Netero.

"This is the testing ground for weapons of war." Netero watched the Ant King’s retreating figure with a composed expression.

"Hold nothing back. Fight with all your might."

Weapons of war naturally refer to certain weapons of mass destruction, which aligns perfectly with the concept of the ’Poor man rose’.

This place isn’t just suitable for deploying weapons of war—it’s also ideal for battles between the strong.

Especially for beings whose power has reached their level.

This desolate location, devoid of people, ensures that using the ’Poor man rose’ won’t affect anyone else.

Clearly, Netero had already made his preparations.

Preparations in every sense of the word!

Let this old man enjoy the thrill of battle before his death!

Netero’s muscles tensed slightly, his expression solemn, his eyes brimming with intense fighting spirit.

"Why do you wish to fight?" The Ant King crossed his arms and surveyed the surroundings, quickly realizing this was a carefully chosen battlefield.

With a flick of his tail, the Ant King slowly turned around and uttered something Netero didn’t expect.

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Netero’s mouth fell slightly open, his stern expression faltering, even his fighting spirit wavering.

"You stand no chance." The Ant King’s deep eyes bore into Netero, his words matching his domineering aura perfectly.

"Why are you so eager to throw your life away?"

The Ant King didn’t believe anyone could defeat him—not this old human before him, nor the younger one he’d seen earlier in the palace.

At least, not in the realm of combat.

So he couldn’t comprehend Netero’s seemingly suicidal behavior.

In truth, the Ant King wasn’t entirely wrong—Netero was here to die.

The Ant King was merely collateral.

Seeing the Ant King wasn’t joking, Netero had no choice but to reignite his fighting spirit.

Netero dug at his ear with his pinky, his expression displeased as he said.

"We haven’t even fought yet. How can you be so sure I can’t defeat you?"

At this moment, a faint sense of foreboding crept into Netero’s mind.

This battle might not be as straightforward as he’d anticipated.

Not because of any gap in strength, but because his opponent’s mindset had shifted!

After a pause, the Ant King’s cold stern expression remained unchanged as he continued.

"You don’t strike me as the type of idiot who can’t assess the situation."

"When I was born into this world, I initially believed no one deserved to exist. But now my perspective has changed. A select few are worthy of survival. For example, you... or that girl (Komugi)."

****

Meanwhile, inside the palace’s first floor, at the same time the Ant King and Netero arrived at their battlefield, the fight here was already nearing its conclusion.

Mega Lucario gripped his bone staff, pure Aura surging from his body to envelop the gleaming weapon in dense Aura.

Azure-blue Aura waves mingled within, dyeing the bone staff with a blue hue that amplified its power.

The heroic Aura warrior stood majestically before Menthuthuyoupi, radiating terrifying strength.

"Raaah!" In the next moment, Mega Lucario lunged forward, vanishing from Menthuthuyoupi’s sight.

Normal-type move—Extreme Speed!

"BOOM!!"

Almost instantly, the bone staff struck Menthuthuyoupi’s chest with an explosive impact.

Menthuthuyoupi’s previously invincible flesh was instantly torn open, leaving a gaping hole where the bone staff had landed!

The massive hole ran straight through, encompassing most of the torso.

Menthuthuyoupi’s mangled body was immediately sent flying backward, splattering blood across the ground.

From Mega Evolution to the strike, Lucario’s entire sequence of actions was completed in an instant!

Countless boosts from Power-Up Punch, combined with Mega Evolution and finally, the Extreme Speed.

The force behind Lucario’s bone club reached a terrifying level.

Even the evolved Menthuthuyoupi could hardly withstand it—his entire torso was practically shattered.

But that wasn’t enough.

The vitality of this Chimera Ants was horrifyingly tenacious.

His head had to be crushed as well.

Mega Lucario tightened its grip on the bone club, leaning its body slightly backward, its right arm pulling the club back.

With a javelin-throwing motion, it hurled the bone club forward in an instant!

"BOOM!"

The bone club flying at extreme speed and pierced Menthuthuyoupi’s skull with pinpoint accuracy, exploding it apart.

Like a watermelon smashed open by an iron rod.

At this point, even the incredibly resilient Menthuthuyoupi had no chance of regenerating anymore.

He is truly dead!

The bone club formed from Aura slowly dissipated, while beneath Menthuthuyoupi’s shattered corpse, a spatial rift appeared.

Porygon-Z transported the remains into the spatial passage.

Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, Menthuthuyoupi—all three Royal Guards were dead!

"Haaah... Finally, it’s over." Knov, who had been hiding in the corner, put away his handkerchief and let out a soft sigh, his expression heavy.

Though he hadn’t done much, simply being present on the battlefield was enough to make his heart race.

A battle of this level was something they had no chance—no, no right—to participate in.

The once-lavishly decorated arena had completely vanished.

The staircase leading to the second floor was now nothing but scattered rubble.

The surrounding walls had crumbled into heaps of ruins.

If not for the few remaining pillars, the entire place would have already collapsed, buried under countless slabs of stone.

Even the ground was riddled with craters, with the slightly better spots marked by deep fissures—nowhere remained intact.

He and Meleoron had no choice but to huddle in the corner.

More than once, he had considered retreating into the ;Four-Dimensional Mansion’.

Fortunately, they had won in the end.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" Knov kicked aside a nearby rock, trying to clear a path.

The staircase to the second floor was completely destroyed.

Might as well head outside first to check the situation.

Just then, Mega Lucario’s figure flickered and abruptly vanished from the spot.

***

On the second-floor platform

Akira stood leisurely, gazing into the distance.

That was the direction Netero and the Ant King had gone.

Behind him stood Mega Gardevoir, Mega Lucario and Gengar, having just finished their tasks.

"Since everything here is settled, it’s time to meet the final enemy." Akira murmured.

"I wonder just how much EXP the Ant King will provide after devouring all three Royal Guards?"

In the next second, Akira and the three Pokemon disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only the faintest whisper.

***

Meanwhile, on a distant wasteland.

The Ant King continued to pour out his thoughts.

With each word the Ant King spoke, Netero’s expression grew darker.

Compared to the Ant King whose mindset had shifted, he would rather face an even stronger Ant King.

At least the latter would allow him to focus wholeheartedly on the battle.

But now, it was affecting him.

Netero saw it clearly—through these experiences, the Ant King’s beliefs had wavered from the pure Chimera Ant.

Now, it was caught between the Chimera Ants and humans, no longer pure.

’What a pain~’

’Can’t even let me enjoy my final battle properly?’

Netero sighed inwardly, his long-accumulated fighting spirit swayed by the Ant King’s words.

The current Ant King was far more difficult to deal with than when he had first been born, both in terms of strength and the evolution of his thoughts.

"I have no intention of fighting you." The Ant King shifted from his standing posture, casually sitting cross-legged on the ground, resting his chin on one hand as he gazed calmly at Netero.

"The only reason I agreed to come here was to facilitate our conversation."

This wasn’t just empty talk—the change in posture clearly signaled his lack of fighting intent.

During his time in East Gorteau, he had undergone significant changes.

This transformation was largely due to the girl Komugi.

She had pulled the Ant King away from pure beast-like thinking towards humanity, teaching him to reason with human logic.

One could say Shaiapouf’s concerns had never been misplaced.

Had the Ant King not met Komugi, he might have developed exactly as Shaiapouf had hoped.

Yet in truth, neither outcome would have spared him from death.

Long before Netero’s arrival, he had received calls from V5 officials demanding the complete eradication of this creature.

Even without Netero, humanity would have found other means to eliminate the Ant King.

The ’Poor man rose’ was one such method.

The irony was palpable—after vowing to eradicate this dangerous species, they ultimately classified the remaining Chimera Ants as New-Type Magical Beasts and left them be.

The entire Chimera Ant incident had merely been political maneuvering among nations.

Once the game ended, they simply labeled the few remaining Chimera Ants as New-Type Magical Beasts.

And so the matter was settled.

"Sigh~" Netero exhaled softly. "Nothing ever goes smoothly for this old man~ Every single one of you is like this. Ant King, we’ve both had our struggles~"

Netero began walking slowly towards the Ant King.

As he moved, his naturally hanging arms gradually stirred.

’This—!’

The previously composed Ant King suddenly focused his gaze, locking onto the approaching old man.

In the Ant King’s eyes, Netero now brought his hands together before his chest.

Though the motion appeared leisurely, it produced a series of bizarre afterimages...

An ordinary observer would have missed it entirely—even Neferpitou had failed to react in time.

But the Ant King was different.

He saw every movement with perfect clarity and precisely because he saw so clearly, he was astonished.

The old man’s motions were impeccably efficient, stripped of all excess, refined to their absolute limit.

This was the culmination of Netero’s lifelong dedication to training.

Countless repetitions had yielded speed beyond ordinary comprehension!

The scene was surreal—simultaneously fast and slow, defying common sense.

The afterimages were merely an optical illusion.

In truth, Netero had completed the motion of bringing his hands together in an instant.

"Clap!"

With a sound almost too faint to hear, Netero’s aged yet powerful palms met perfectly.

In that moment, a circular golden radiance erupted from Netero’s center, blazing like the sun!

Like an expanding golden moon, it rose slowly behind Netero’s form.

In just a few seconds, it rapidly expanded from the size of a person to vaguely matching the nearby hilltops.

In an instant, the dim wilderness illuminated only by the soft moonlight was abruptly bathed in countless warm golden rays.

The Ant King stared blankly at the solemn-faced Netero, behind whom the golden radiance swiftly transformed into a form.

The next moment, the faint outline of a dazzling golden Guanyin statue appeared before the Ant King’s eyes.

The golden Guanyin exuded majesty, towering in stature with thousands of arms.

Each arm held a different pose, not a single gesture repeated.

Bathed in the golden light, Netero’s body also took on a golden hue, like the last rays of sunset.

Yet it shone far more brilliantly than that.

Simultaneously, his entire demeanor underwent an instantaneous transformation.

As if transcending the mundane, no longer part of this turbid mortal world.

This was the [Hyakushiki Kannon]!

Netero suddenly opened his eyes, a gleam flashing within—the long-dormant edge finally revealed itself!

As his eyes opened, Netero shifted his previously clasped right hand into a knife-hand stance, striking toward the Ant King with lightning speed!

Though the movement appeared deceptively slow, it reached the Ant King in the blink of an eye.

This was the Ant King’s first experience of something like this, causing it to momentarily freeze, eager to analyze this technique in greater detail.

All previous enemies it had encountered were unworthy of mention—at best, the squint-eyed man from East Gorteau’s palace.

As the strongest guard of the East Gorteau Republic, the squint-eyed man was somewhat capable.

This much could be discerned from the Aura surrounding him.

But he was still someone the Ant King could kill with a casual flick of its tail.

From birth, the Ant King possessed terrifying power.

So much so that it had never encountered so-called "technique" until now.

Or perhaps it simply never needed technique.

Because pure strength alone sufficed to defeat any foe.

Yet in this moment, the Ant King realized it lacked something.

Something this old man before it possessed.

That was the power known as "technique."

"BOOM!!"

Lost in thought, the Ant King was struck squarely by Netero’s knife-hand, producing a thunderous explosion that echoed across the wilderness.

First Hand!

The heavy knife-hand, infused with immense Aura, generating an explosive impact upon landing.

The once-flat ground was now a massive crater, the earth reduced to swirling dust under the blow.

’Hmm?!’

Netero’s eyes widened, his gaze fixed intently on the thick dust cloud, not daring to blink for even a second.

Within the dust, something seemed to stir—then, with a casual wave from the Ant King, the "restless" dust immediately settled.

From his chaotic state, he become calm again as he obediently settling back to the ground.

"A remarkable move. This only increases your value as someone worth keeping alive." The Ant King brushed the dust from his body, persisting in his proposition despite Netero’s attack.

"You could serve as my teacher, instructing me in these abilities. In return, I can give you whatever you desire. Or you could simply teach me that last technique."

"Seems I really am getting old~" Looking at the Ant King, who seemed completely unfazed, Netero subconsciously sighed.

"That hand blade technique—I can’t teach you that. It’s my Nen ability and Nen abilities can’t be taught."

"No, I wasn’t referring to that hand blade." The Ant King sat cross-legged on the ground again, as if nothing had just happened, and remained seated.

"Rather, it’s the ability where your movements appear extremely slow but are in fact incredibly fast. I want to learn that."

If one ignored the massive crater beside him.

[He actually wants to learn Hatsu?]

Netero stroked his mustache, his mind roiling with shock.

He couldn’t imagine how much harder it would be to fight this Ant King if he also mastered humanity’s most advanced techniques.

"I’m sorry, but I won’t teach you that."

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