This ant had long pink and purple hair, with strands that resembled snakes writhing atop her head. Her strange, captivating face gave her a Medusa-like appearance from mythology, but the long scorpion tail behind her revealed her true identity as a scorpion-type chimera ant.
She was the division leader known as Scorpion Girl Zazan. "The scent in the air is fading fast, and the number of soldier ants is clearly dropping," she muttered.
"There are enemies in the woods!" With a sly smile, Zazan moved forward with light, cat-like steps, her excitement barely hidden as she headed deeper into the forest.
This time, she ventured out not just to hunt meat for the queen but also to test a new ability she had recently gained. Since she was able to easily take down those soldier ants, her strength couldn't be too low, making them perfect as her first test subjects.
"Pike, move up front and handle those enemies first," Zazan instructed calmly as she stepped forward, directing her order toward the forest on the other side.
Meanwhile, Knov watched quietly, feeling a mix of admiration and surprise. 'What a handy ability,' he thought, as he observed Morel casually exhale a plume of white smoke.
Knov noticed that after Morel released the smoke, he mentally controlled it to drift deep into the forest. A small portion of his mind was hidden within the smoke, allowing him to sense enemies, much like a "En" ability.
This skill effectively expanded his perception range. Normally, a first-class nen ability user's "En" spans about 50 meters, and Morel, being at that level, wouldn't exceed that by much. But with this white smoke, he could use a small amount of aura to mimic the "En" effect over a much larger area, making it perfect for scouting.
On top of that, the smoke wasn't just for sensing. When needed, Morel could condense the mentally charged white smoke into weapons like needles to attack foes, explaining how those soldier ants had fallen.
This ability combined exploration and offense in a practical way, showing how Morel had taken a simple skill and elevated it to a powerful level. His natural talent helped, too, his lung capacity was far greater than average, allowing him to release a large amount of smoke at once. Plus, his exceptional control over aura let him shape and manipulate the smoke into various forms with ease.
Morel had developed his controlling white smoke ability to its fullest. For offense, he summoned the Purple Smoke Mecha Squad and Purple Smoke Clone, using his nen abilites Deep Purple.
For exploration, he used Purple Smoke Rabbit and Purple Smoke Field. For movement, there was Purple Smoke Blanket. Beyond these, he could also create tough "ropes" and indestructible "cages" out of the smoke.
His abilities covered a wide range of functions, making him a well-rounded and formidable hexagonal warrior. Knov chuckled quietly, relieved that these enemies weren't too strong.
"I was really scared just now," Morel said with a hearty laugh.
After using the purple smoke field to check their opponent's strength and realizing they weren't that strong, he went straight to assassinate them with white smoke. It was clear that Morel had relaxed a bit, thankfully, the enemy wasn't as tough as he had imagined. By now, all the ordinary chimera ants in the forest had been wiped out.
"But some slipped through," Larry said thoughtfully, staring up at the thick canopy above. The dense green leaves blocked much of the light, casting shadows that made it hard to see what was happening in the treetops.
Hearing this, Morel's expression turned serious. His purple smoke field only covered the mid and lower levels of the forest since covering everything would drain too much aura. What if a chimera ant had come from the treetops?
In an instant, the four of them vanished. Moments later, a massive spider web dropped from above, spreading across the lawn where they had just stood.
But this wasn't an ordinary web, it was a mental web, rich with intense aura. Its speed and attack range were impressive, making it tough for anyone to dodge.
The four looked up simultaneously. At the top of a large tree, a strange chimera ant crawled.
Judging by its shape, it was a spider-type chimera ant, though it looked disgusting, mainly because of its face, a huge yellow spider with the greasy, smug expression of a middle-aged man.
"Did he escape?" Pike sneered from above, his voice dripping with disgust.
Larry crossed his arms, glaring up at Pike. Both the ant's face and tone made him want to punch him. Pike was the captain of the soldiers under Scorpion Lady Zazan and had captured Pokkle before. He was strong.
Chimera ants were ranked by strength: soldier ants, captains, division commanders, direct guards, and the ant king. Morel had just killed ordinary soldier ants, but Pike was a captain under Zazan, a much tougher opponent. And worse, a stronger presence was approaching through the forest.
"This thing is really disgusting. Do all Chimera Ants look like this?" Morel swung his big pipe twice, spat, and voiced what a lot of people were thinking, the Chimera Ants are seriously ugly.
Pike looked especially nasty. "It doesn't matter if you dodge, I can always attack again."
After saying that, Pike prepared to turn around, aiming to face its back toward the people. Like ordinary spiders, its attack method involved capturing enemies by shooting webs.
But since it had developed some mental abilities, it also created its own special power. That was the aura web that had just fallen to the ground.
As Pike began to turn, it caught a glimpse of Larry and the others. 'Wait, were there only three people?' It remembered four. In Pike's peripheral vision, only three figures appeared.
"Did I see that wrong?" Pike scratched its head, doubting its own eyes.
Before it could think further, its head suddenly split in half. The upper half vanished into thin air, while the lower half collapsed along with the rest of its body.
"Portal!" Knov shouted coldly. He spread his hands apart, creating a channel of aura linking them. The portion of Pike's head caught between his palms disappeared instantly.
This was one of Knov's Nen abilities, Hide and Seek. Although primarily used for transport and infiltration, it could also serve as an offensive technique. Like opening a door to another space, Knov created an entrance to his 4-Dimensional Mansion.
The part of Pike's head that passed through the portal was severed cleanly, forcibly isolated in another dimension and cut off from the rest of its body, as if sliced away by an invisible blade. In this way, half of Pike's head was erased into Knov's personal space.