The "Strongest Gon" that this fan had envisioned undoubtedly possessed the most powerful physical form in existence. To reach the ultimate goal of surpassing the original, he required an ability that could reinforce his body to the absolute limit, even if only for a brief window.
"Muscle Savings Withdrawal: Muscle is Power..."
No matter how superior the physical stats, they are meaningless if they cannot be controlled. A total synchronization of flesh and aura is the baseline for high-level melee combat.
"Muscle Dialogue: Muscle Control..."
Furthermore, for Gon—a natural Manipulator—to overcome the "Adult Gon" of the original story (an Enhancer), he had to dismantle the very laws of Nen category mastery.
"GLORY TO MUSCLE: MIGHT IS RIGHT!"
The three Hatsu Gon had mastered had evolved significantly from his initial concepts. Through countless battles and grueling training, the hazy vision within the "fan's" mind had finally coalesced into the perfect result.
"Ability Synthesis: Union Activate—'The Strongest Gon I Aimed For'!!"
Gon's body was completely reconstructed.
Through Body Composition: 100% Muscle, he transcended the biological classification of a living organism, becoming an entity composed entirely of muscle tissue. This allowed his entire form to fall under the category of "Manipulation." Through Perfect Communication, his surface was hardened to a density exceeding any known metal, while his interior was dissolved into a state of fluid, liquid muscle.
Despite this already being an affront to common sense, the final Hatsu—Glory to Muscle—boosted his Enhancement rates beyond the breaking point, pushing him into a higher dimension of power.
His physical size did not change, yet he was packed with muscle far beyond his volume. His weight became so immense that he began to sink into the earth, which was already being indirectly reinforced by his roiling aura. His skin took on a dark, metallic luster—an "exoskeleton" of compressed muscle that held his human shape together against the pressure.
The liquid muscle within moved with a density that put lead to shame, achieving instant top speed from a standstill without the need for acceleration. The only drawback was the extreme heat generated by such high-density exertion.
To compensate, Gon's hair-like muscle tissue lengthened rapidly, acting as a massive heat-dissipation radiator. The soaring body temperature created a violent updraft, manifesting the "Heaven-Piercing Hair" of the original.
His eyes, now 100% muscle tissue, had lost their human light, creating a terrifying, hollow gaze. Every breath and movement radiated a pressure that made it hard to believe he was still the same species.
"Meruem," Gon said, his voice echoing with a heavy, physical weight. "I'm the one you're fighting, right?"
By some miracle of fate, the "Strongest Gon" that the fan had aimed for was a mirror image of the original—at least in appearance.
"I don't want to get the Chairman involved. Over here. Follow me."
In place of the original Adult Gon, the fan's ultimate vision had descended.
"...!?"
Meruem stared in shock as Gon turned his back and walked away. It was an act of supreme arrogance, treating a King like a child—the posture of an absolute sovereign who didn't doubt his own power for a single second.
"You... you dare show your back to me?! To the King?!"
A whirlwind of emotions swirled within Meruem. Humiliation and fury reached a boiling point, and the Solar Furnacewithin his chest hit critical mass. His body turned a searing crimson as he dropped into a low stance and lunged at Gon's back with everything he had.
Even Netero, whose mind was accustomed to the god-speed of his own prayers, could only perceive the blow a fraction of a second before impact. It wasn't just fast; it was as if Meruem had erased the time between the start of his movement and the destination. The earth beneath his feet shattered and then froze, unable to keep up with his velocity.
In this world of frozen time, Netero and Meruem witnessed the impossible.
While everything else stood still, Gon moved with a sickeningly fluid grace. He simply stepped to the side. Meruem's fist tore through the empty air where Gon had been, the wind pressure and shockwave alone leveling several kilometers of wasteland in front of him.
Gon's sightless eyes looked down at the overextended King. His left leg ballooned to twice its size and lashed out with zero telegraphing.
It pulverized the King Shield. It shattered The King's Armament. The kick slammed into Meruem's abdomen and sent him soaring.
"Guh—?! Aaaagh!!"
When the force of the kick finally equalized with gravity, Meruem was so high in the air that he could see the palace of Memphis in the far distance. He fought to keep his consciousness from fading. Seeing Gon looking up at him casually, Meruem used his mid-air shields as platforms and dove back down, flanked by a corona of high-heat hair-muscle.
"BE CRUSHED BY THE SUN!!"
Combining The King's Armament and Ruler of the Sun, Meruem manifested a miniature, hand-held star. Seeing the energy of a literal sun descending toward them, Gon looked over at Netero, who was still in the blast zone, and took his stance.
"First comes Rock... Jan... Ken..."
Time seemed to move in slow motion for Netero. He watched the falling sun and the boy waiting to catch it.
"HEAVEN'S FALL!!"
"PAPER!!!"
Meruem's pseudo-sun was caught by Gon's open palm. With a violent shove, Gon inverted the energy, reflecting it back into the sky. The column of fire tore through the clouds and the atmosphere, revealing the vacuum of space before the explosion caught Meruem and blew him into the stratosphere.
"Huff... cough... ugh..."
Meruem descended, his left arm charred to the bone by his own reflected energy. He landed and struggled to catch his breath.
"Can we end this now?" Gon asked, his voice flat, tinged with a hint of pity.
Meruem's pride flared. He looked at the boy and screamed in his heart: I cannot lose! I have to go back to her!!
He lunged again, his legs literally tearing themselves apart from the force of his stride. It was a charge carrying the hopes of his kind and his new human subjects.
"—?!"
Meruem's red glow shifted to a brilliant cyan. His body dissolved, losing its physical form entirely.
"Ka!"
Meruem appeared directly behind Gon and landed a blow, then vanished again instantly. He had evolved Beelzebubbeyond mere particles; he was now capable of Quantum Teleportation. He began a cycle of appearing, striking, and vanishing—the ultimate hit-and-run strategy meant to accumulate damage on the giant.
"Hmph!!"
Gon anticipated the moment the quantization would have to end for an attack. He spread his arms and spun in a brutal, radial clothesline. The "lazy" all-range defense caught Meruem mid-teleport and sent him tumbling.
"You... bastard!!?"
In the split second Meruem lost sight of his target, Gon took his stance again, his fist clenched tight.
"First comes Rock..."
An absurd amount of aura gathered in his fist. It was compressed, and compressed, and compressed until it glowed with a blinding white light—
Then, it swallowed that light entirely, cloaked in a darkness like a black hole.
"..."
Gon waited for any approach. Meruem, sensing this was the final exchange, steeled his resolve to bet everything on one last strike. He tore off his own charred left arm, using it as a catalyst to manifest a power far beyond his pseudo-sun.
Netero, his eyes bloodshot, watched as the two strongest beings in the garden unleashed their final moves.
"GOD-ANNIHILATING CREMATION!!!"
"ROCK!!!"
The fist of hellfire that could burn even a god met the fist of pure, abyssal aura.
Despite the staggering energy involved, there was a strange lack of collateral damage as the two forces neutralized each other. But as the smoke cleared, the winner was clear.
"Forgive me, Komugi... I cannot keep my promise..."
The black fist had shattered the cremation strike. It slammed into Meruem's chest, erasing the Solar Furnaceand taking most of his torso with it.
Meruem lay on the ground, his life force a flickering ember. He spoke with the last of his strength, choosing his words as a King for his nation.
"Chairman of the Hunters... I wish to speak of the aftermath."
Netero sat cross-legged beside him and nodded. Gon stood behind them, looking awkward and guilty for having "overdone it."
"After I am gone... Diego shall resume the administration. I ask for a lenient response... treat them as a human nation. I have ordered the surviving ants to obey your Association... please, look after them, and the ones left in NGL."
It was a bold request for a defeated power, but it hadn't been a war; it had been a duel. Netero gave a firm nod, then slapped the leg of the hovering Gon.
"Strong one... you who defeated me. I have a favor," Meruem wheezed.
"...If I can," Gon whispered.
"There is a human in the palace named Komugi. Tell her how I fought. Tell her that I... that I was satisfied. Please."
It was a request that could have been seen as a spiteful trick—making the one who killed him deliver the news to his loved one—but Gon saw the absolute sincerity in Meruem's eyes and bowed.
Meruem looked up at the sky. He had regrets in his short, tumultuous life, but he was at peace. He began to close his eyes—
Suddenly, a battered, headless body cradling its own head arrived silently at Meruem's side.
"Mmuh?!"
"Pitou?!"
Before Netero or Gon could react, the skeletal prima donna of the dead cracked and shattered. From within emerged a serene, white-clad nurse.
Mad Doctor.
The surgical tools behind the nurse plunged into both Pitou and Meruem. The ability began to break down Pitou's remaining mass to reconstruct Meruem's body. While the sight of post-mortem Nen was inherently unsettling, the act was a display of pure, selfless love.
"...Hunter, I beg of you. Cast aside your pride. For the sake of my subjects' devotion... and for my own lingering attachment... save me...!"
Using All-Encompassing Mastery, Meruem realized that Pitou's sacrifice alone wouldn't be enough to stabilize them. He cast aside his royal dignity and begged Netero and Gon for his life.
"You got it!" Netero shouted.
Netero reached into his pouch and used Knov's Spare Key. He manifested a portal and literally yanked Leorio and Kurapika out of the four-dimensional mansion.
"Emergency! No time for details, just save them!!"
"What the hell?! Why are we out here without—wait, what is this?! Gon, what happened to you?! What ARE you?!" Leorio screamed.
"Just start the treatment, Leorio!" Kurapika shouted, already moving. "If we don't act, Gon's overkill is going to leave us with more than just one corpse!!"
"Dammit, I know! One-Man Doctor: DAMAGE CONVERT!!"
"Chain of the Encourager: INSPIRE CHAIN!!"
Though they had been thrown from a high-tech hospital into a dirt wasteland, Leorio's greatest strength was his ability to operate anywhere. Under the open sky, a desperate battle to save a life that had transcended lethal damage began.
"...I hope they make it in time," Gon said, reverting from his "Strongest" form back to his standard self.
"It was a spectacular match. I can't say you went too far," Netero mused. "As Chairman, you have my thanks for the win."
The two sat a short distance away, watching the medical team work, expecting Knov to arrive soon to pick up Killua.
"GOOOON!! ♥"
Before Knov could arrive, a bruised and broken clown reached them via a spectacular head-first slide.
"Ah... I only saw a glimpse, but that was enough!! You... Gon... you finally reached it, didn't you?! ♥"
Hisoka was leaking a mixture of blood and "love" from his nose and mouth. He had caught a distance view of the "Heaven-Piercing Hair" form and was currently experiencing the greatest high of his life.
"I'm so sad I missed the fight, but I have a new dream now! ♥ Chairman, you saw it, didn't you?! How was he?!"
"...He is undoubtedly the strongest," Netero answered honestly. "I can't see a single path to victory against him."
"Ah... aah... it's too much! ♥ Ugh... huff...!"
The clown collapsed onto the dirt in a state of terminal ecstasy. His primary physician, Leorio, was too busy saving the King's life to notice.
The clash between the Hunters and the Chimera Ants had ended. Humanity had achieved a historic victory over the Dark Continent.
***
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