Chapter 156: Aether
"Thanks to you, humanity has been saved."
"Mord, this time you are the hero of all mankind."
....
Hunter Headquarters, Directly Affiliated First Hospital.
Outside the Chairman's hospital room.
Kite and others gathered around Mord, expressing their gratitude.
Mord's expression remained placid as he glanced in the direction of Netero's hospital room.
He understood clearly that even without his involvement, the Chimera Ants posed no real threat to humanity.
The newly born King of Ants simply couldn't comprehend humanity's bottomless malice.
This profound malice wasn't about the various injustices in human society that the King of Ants had mentioned, nor was it even about the Poor Man's Rose hidden in Netero's chest.
Human malice stems from humanity's limitless tolerance as social creatures.
Admittedly, from an individual perspective, the King of Ants' brutal killing of human children upon his birth, and even directly devouring brains under Pitou's suggestion—such bloody scenes were considered intolerable evil by many.
But for humanity as a whole, these were insignificant.
As individuals, we can choose to eat meat or abstain from it. Some vegetarians might even vehemently criticize meat-eaters.
Yet when humanity acts as a collective, we continue to enjoy the stable society built upon oppressing other species. We don't even recognize how terrifying the "sin" of domestication and slaughter truly is. Not only have we grown accustomed to it, but even discussing such matters seems pretentious.
Only for livestock like chickens, ducks, pigs, and cattle can this be called malice.
For humans, it's essentially evolution.
Humans are humans, ants are ants—this is the fundamental boundary.
Moreover, humanity has no intention of repenting, nor is there anything worth repenting for.
Therefore, no matter what the King of Ants discussed with Netero, even if he spoke with eloquence that could make rivers flow backward, it would be utterly useless. Whether he was good or evil, kind or malicious—none of it mattered.
Imagine a pig suddenly trying to replace humanity's position and begin domesticating humans.
Humanity would never permit any other creature to pose even the slightest threat to them.
The Poor Man's Rose was merely a small toy created by humans.
Ants, after all, are just ants.
As for salvation?
Mord chuckled softly—this world wasn't his to save.
Then, under the astonished gazes of everyone present, he turned and walked away.
...
During this selection process, the death toll in East Gorteau reached 478,594 people, including 12,905 soldiers. Additionally, 46,613 citizens died within 24 hours of awakening from Pouf's hypnosis due to physical discomfort.
NGL, combined with East Gorteau, had five million survivors from both countries, all treated as refugees.
The remaining three nations of the Mitene Union accepted these five million refugees under the condition of equally distributing the national assets and territorial administration rights of former East Gorteau and NGL.
East Gorteau was temporarily placed under the rule of international security maintenance organizations, effectively becoming a defunct state.
As for NGL, to prevent the vacant land from becoming a new source of conflict, international security agencies proposed designating it as a permanent nature reserve. This proposal was approved by the international parliament and fully entrusted to the Hunter Association.
This was the only benefit the Hunter Association gained from this battle.
The cost was one of Netero's arms, one of his legs, and his resignation.
The television broadcast showed Netero stepping down as chairman of the Hunter Association.
"Well, I'm Netero."
"I will be resigning from the position of chairman. I leave the future matters in your hands."
"The next chairman shall be decided through an election."
"My condition is that all hunters must participate in the voting. If the voter turnout does not reach ninety-five percent, the election shall be deemed invalid and must be held again."
"The details regarding the election timing and format will be left to the Zodiacs to decide."
"Difficulty level: D."
"Well then, I leave it to you. Take care."
...
In the recording, Netero still appeared with all his limbs intact, clearly indicating it had been filmed before his departure for East Gorteau.
Mord glanced at it, turned off the television, and spoke to the old man beside him: "Is this really alright?"
The old man sitting next to him was none other than Netero himself.
Netero chuckled and said, "In my current state, I'm nothing but a cripple, no longer fit to serve as the association's chairman. Let me enjoy some peaceful days."
"Enough about me. What about you? What are your plans now?" Netero looked at Mord and asked.
"To pursue the limits of martial arts," Mord replied calmly.
"?!"
Netero was momentarily stunned, then burst into hearty laughter: "You're already widely recognized as the world's strongest Nen user, having reached realms I never achieved in my prime. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were showing off."
"Can you see the shackles binding your body?" Mord suddenly asked.
"So you've reached that stage after all," Netero fell silent. He stood up and walked into the house, eventually retrieving an ancient text from a hidden compartment in his study and handing it to Mord.
"This ancient text records certain events from thousands of years ago. In ancient times, humans also attuned to some special energy called Aether, though they weren't called Nen users. They had another name—Aether Adepts," Netero explained.
Mord took the ancient text and began flipping through its pages, growing increasingly astonished with each turn.
"This is also why I chose to journey to the Dark Continent back then—I wanted to find the truth there," Netero gazed out the window, pausing briefly before continuing. "Unfortunately, my strength proved insufficient, and I indirectly caused the death of my friend's child. Since then, I've sworn never to return."
This ancient text was authored by an ancient Aether Adept.
It documented the stages of attunement among ancient humans. When Aether Adepts reached a certain level of Aether accumulation through their training, they would encounter a bottleneck—that was when they could perceive the shackles binding them.
Only by breaking these shackles could one reach an entirely new realm.
Both the King of Ants and Mord had reached this state, their spiritual awareness having grown powerful enough to recognize the existence of these personal constraints.
Shattering all one's shackles would lead to an entirely new domain, allowing one to roam freely between heaven and hell.
How utterly captivating.
Previously, no matter how powerful a Nen user became, they ultimately couldn't withstand the erosion of time, eventually turning to dust.
But now Mord had glimpsed a thread of hope.
However, this ancient text only contained fragmented records without explaining methods to break the shackles. Through his conversation with Netero, Mord learned that humans from the Six Continents originally came from the Dark Continent. Therefore, the Dark Continent must contain relevant clues about this matter.
The theory of shackles coincides with the prevailing explanations of the ultimate principles of various Nen Ability systems in this world.
As for the Dark Continent, it was always part of the plan to venture there eventually.
"Also, this is a keepsake Zald left at the Association. Since you were his disciple, it should be returned to you." Netero retrieved a box from behind him and handed it over. "Seeing your current achievements, he must have died without regrets."
Mord reached out to accept the wooden box and expressed his thanks.
***
T/N: So yeah, the fic is in its final phase, I think only 50-60-ish chapters are left, and the author fucked it up. Like some Chinese fics, the og author added some qi and cultivators bullshit Sigh! But since the starting of the book was good enough for me, I kind of feel bad if I left it as it is, so I'll be changing all the qi and cultivator shit to Aether (yeah, I'm a big fan of TBATE) and its equivalents. Though I don't think the latter parts will be good since the author already made the MC too strong, and there won't be any enemies except in the Dark Continent, I hope you'll continue to read this fic.
Enjoy Reading :)