The Chimera Ant Extermination Team was utterly confused. There had been no signs of the King for a week now, and that either meant he had died, or had escaped to somewhere unknown. Although they hoped for the former, they had no chances to mistake the King for dead, forcing them to look for him regardless. Inside Knov's Four Dimensional Mansion, they theorized where he might be.
"If the path of the destruction caused by the King never went outside of NGL, that means he's realized he's being tracked this way, and possibly gone to another island, or worse, continent." A large, stubborn man wielding an enormous smoking pipe said.
Both of his apprentices, Knuckle and Shoot, spoke up.
"But Master Morel, based on the rate the King is traveling at, he wouldn't have even been able to leave the Mitene Union yet!"
"I think Knuckle is right. There haven't been any reports of new magical beasts or cryptids on other continents either."
Knov sighed. "Hmph. Don't forget about the possibility that the Royal Guard has a transport ability like mine. Though, Knuckle and Shoot are right in that it's highly likely the King is still in NGL, given that Nen abilities are not relevant."
"That's what you might think. You're the Extermination Team, right?"
The unknown voice put the four present Hunters on alert. Did a Chimera Ant infiltrate Knov's dimension? What kind of ability were they using to produce this voice without a body? How did they even get in? As Knuckle began to activate his En and the other Hunters prepared for battle, the voice spoke again.
"Woah, woah! I'm here to help you guys." Despite this, Knuckle held his En but detected nothing. Soon, though, within his En, what seemed to be a chameleon Ant began to appear.
"Now, before you attack me, just hear me out. My name is Meleoron, and I'm here to help kill that bastard King. He's in a mountain range west of here, but I'll save the specifics for later." He returned to a non-camouflaged state.
Knov and Morel were rather surprised by this, but as experienced Hunters, they weren't quick to trust a Chimera Ant, as many of them wouldn't dare to betray the King.
"Why would you want to help us? A-and how did you even get in?" Shoot said, conjuring three floating hands for self-defense.
"Actually, I just followed you in. On the former question, though, big guy, pompadour, you were there at the Queen's death, right?" They nodded. The Queen had been the mother of all Chimera Ants in NGL, but was murdered by her son, the King, after he ripped out of her womb.
"Yeah, what of it?" Knuckle didn't appreciate being called "pompadour", but held his ire for a later time.
"One of the ants the King killed before you arrived was named Peggy. In our human lives, before we were consumed by the Queen, Peggy was my foster father; he always carried the NGL Bible with him. But that bastard…he didn't even leave a body to bury, damn it! In fact, just to spite that piece of crap, I'll just tell you what the Royal Guard said now!"
"…" As Meleoron rambled on, the senior Hunters were shocked at the information being given to them, but weren't certain that they were not being led into a trap. Knuckle and Shoot, however, were convinced the story was truthful, as almost any other scenario Meleoron could've told them would be more believable.
"Look, if you don't trust me yet, I'll tell you about me and my subordinates' abilities, so that you all can trust I'm on your side. My ability is called 'Perfect Plan', which makes me undetectable in every way in addition to my invisibility." The chameleon Ant turned his ability on and off, fooling even Knuckle's En. "I can also extend this ability to other people with 'God's Accomplice', so if one of you has a powerful attack, we could even maim the King!"
While Meleoron listed off the other Ants' abilities, Knov remained somewhat suspicious, but Morel was now convinced that Meleoron was a reliable lead on where the King and his Royal Guard were. Taking a moment to formulate a plan, he then spoke.
"Alright, listen up everybody." Morel said. "Knuckle, Shoot, stay here until I give you further instructions. Meleoron, go find Palm, Knov's apprentice." He scribbled something onto a scrap of paper. "Let her clearly see you, give her this note, and come back here. Knov, bring Meleoron to Doli City, and make sure nobody tries to kill him. On that note, this may sound backwards, but don't use Perfect Plan, just your regular camouflage. Trust me, it has to do with the note." Morel whispered something to Knov, who turned back to the Ant and nodded.
"Alright, we'll be off to Palm then." Meleoron activated his biological invisibility, and with Knov using his Master Key for the desired exit, walked out of the dimension with him.
"Alright. After they get back, we follow Meleoron to the King. For now, I'll call Chairman Netero, and see what he can do about this."
"Should we seriously leave those two kids behind, then? If Meleoron isn't lying, then we need all the firepower we can get." Shoot asked. The white-haired child he fought for the Shogi tile gave him quite a bit of trouble, but Shoot had to take it to get into the Extermination Team.
Morel chuckled, and dialed a few numbers into his phone. "Nah. If they're too weak, they would just slow us down. And if they're good enough, I have a feeling they'll end up right where we need them to be."
"Gon, Killua, wake the HELL up!"
Gon and Killua's training kicked in, prompting them to get into a fighting stance as soon as they were disturbed. However, after seeing that their master, Bisky, was present, both teens fully woke and greeted her.
"What are you doing at the hotel, hag? We're hiding from that psycho Palm! Plus, it's the middle of the ni-" Killua received a prompt slap from his mentor, and she continued.
"You still have a chance at getting on the Extermination Team! Go find a man named Knov! He wears glasses and a tuxedo, and he's on the rooftops! He's on his way to the border, so leave! NOW!"
Both boys, understanding the opportunity granted to them, jumped out of their room's window onto a nearby rooftop, and lept from roof to roof. Slowly but surely, they covered the distance between them and the border. Although they did not know it, the pair had little time to find Knov before he disappeared into his realm. Using his sharply honed senses, Gon noticed the lingering scent of two individuals: a human, and a Chimera Ant.
"Killua, there's an Ant around here. Get ready to fight."
"Heh. Use your En in case they ambush us, Gon."
Meanwhile, Knov tried to conceal himself in the darkness while still moving towards an entrance to the mansion. Using Zetsu to conceal his aura, he and the invisible Ant on his back slowly crept towards it.
"Psst. Hey Knov, why are we hiding?"
Gon looked in the direction of the whisper, and with his sharp eyesight and En, caught a glimpse of Knov's figure and felt the shape of a chameleon-like human.
"Killua, I see Knov! The Ant's over there too!"
"I've got this, Gon. Godspeed!"
Electricity coursed through Killua's body, lightning shooting from his limbs. Before Knov could look back, Killua ran in front of him, ending the pursuit. However, the Ant was nowhere to be found.
"Holy hell, what was that!?" Killua looked around, but couldn't find the source of the voice.
"Calm down, Meleoron. He would just be one of the new members of the team. Congratulations…Killua, was it?" Knov lifted himself up and dusted off his pants, while Meleoron revealed himself.
A familiar voice interrupted. "Wait, I thought they were our enemies!" Killua looked back, and saw that Gon had finally caught up with him.
"You must be Gon, then. Don't worry about Meleoron. At Morel's discretion, he joined our team. I hope that he won't sabotage the mission again." Knov shot a glare at the Ant, who shot one back at him.
"Speaking of the team, let's cut to the chase. What changed? Why bring us in now?" Killua questioned.
Knov sighed. "Frankly, if what Meleoron is saying is true, then we have a far greater risk of failure with our team as it is. We also have the Chairman en route, hopefully with some more reinforcements. But, to get to the point, we need you to join for your firepower. I've seen that from you, Killua, but what about your friend?"
"But I need to save Kite, mister!"
"Gon, to be honest, if you're any weaker than Killua, I cannot even allow you to get close to Kite's killer, for you would surely die."
However reasonable Knov may have been, Gon didn't understand.
Why would he stop me? He needs everyone he can get, right? Kite was the only link I had to my father…without him, Ging might as well be dead!
He won't stop me.
He can't stop me!
"Put me on the team, or…or I'll kill you!"
With tears in his eyes, Gon clenched his fist, and cupped it with his other hand.
"First comes rock…"
Knov's instincts let him know that Gon was not bluffing. Even his extensive experience with Nen would not let him muster up a Ken, or even a Ko, that could fully protect him from the enhanced aura surrounding Gon's hand. His offensive technique, Scream, would potentially kill Gon if he used it, but he resolved to protect himself if need be. Killua ran towards Gon, but before he had to subdue Gon, Meleoron spoke.
"Gon, kid, calm down! No one's coming back after you kill Knov! That Kite would be ashamed of this, kid!"
Meleoron's words stung, but Gon knew that he was right. Even aside from the shame Kite would feel were he still here, if Gon killed a Hunter like Knov, Ging, who was a Hunter himself, would never want to meet him.
Gon stopped charging his Jajanken, letting his arms go limp.
"Th-thank you, Meleoron." Knov said, cold sweat dripping down his face. He had almost acted in self defense, at best amputating Gon's arm and at worst killing the child. He then turned to Gon himself. "Under normal circumstances, I would likely chastise you for almost forcing me to kill you."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Knov." Gon sobbed out. Knov only pushed up his glasses in response, somewhat pitiless but nodding in acknowledgement.
"Yes. You are quite emotional, but even great Hunters are." Gon looked up at Knov in anticipation. "I think that your strength alone should put you on the team."
Before Gon could celebrate or thank him, Knov spoke again. "Congratulations, both of you. Follow me." Both Gon and Killua eagerly followed his command.
Knov led the others to a seemingly ordinary bush, and to the surprise of Gon and Killua, stepped down into the ground, only his head outside of the imperceptible portal he had prepared.
"Go ahead. This portal is my ability."
Gon jumped in after Knov, with Meleoron and Killua following suit. They arrived in a large room evenly covered with large white tiles, with Morel, his students, the old Chairman, and a squadron of soldiers surrounding a giant robotic suit. Two of the soldiers in particular stood out, due to their aura: a woman with long, blonde hair and a short, tanned man, who spoke.
"The hell? These are just kids! Why the fuck are we bringing 'em?"
"Shut it, Dolph! These kids probably know Nen, and if the goddamn Chairman of the Hunter Association is alright with them, then they're good!" The woman yelled back at him.
To stop the bickering between the Stone Wall members, Morel spoke up. "Alright everyone, settle down. Gon, Killua, you know the Hunters on our team, but we also have some new faces. We've hired three members of the Stone Wall, an elite band of mercenaries, along with some of their requested back-up."
"Hey there! I'm Rendue, the guy with the mohawk is Dolph, and that's Golem in the robot, along with their squadron!"
She began to ask the boys if they were mercenaries, to which Killua sighed. Dolph shushed her, afterwards saying "Shut up! The old man is gonna give us the assignment now." In spite of this, he continued to mutter about "kids" and how "they would only be a burden" throughout the debriefing.
The old man among them spoke. "Ahem. Alright everybody. I believe that an introduction is in order. I am Isaac Netero, 12th Chairman of the Hunter Association, though really, I'm just some old man. When the nature of this mission was first revealed to you, you may have heard that there were only threat level B biohazards in the NGL. However, this mission is now considered a level A- priority. If any of you wish to ensure your safety, you may leave now. This is the last chance you will receive, understand?"
No one in the room moved an inch.
"Very well. In order to explain to you the circumstances surrounding this event, I must disclose information on the Chimera Ants. They are an invasive species from the Dark Continent that reproduces through phagogenesis, one of whom is Meleoron." He waved his hand. "He is part of the squad, however, so do not engage him unless he becomes hostile. We have reason to believe that one of them has acquired a Nen ability which has opened an entrance to an unknown landmass, possibly outside of the Known World."
"Even the V5 are unaware of this anomaly, which is why it is of the utmost importance that we perform this mission as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there is a reason that we could not send in any of our Hunters to pioneer this mission. According to Meleoron, the Chimera Ant King, his Royal Guard, and the Ant Squadrons have entered, meaning that the most powerful Chimera Ants could be anywhere on the planet right now. This means that the entrance is our only way to find them before they breed out of control, and become man's apex predators. Any questions?"
Still, nobody moved. Then, the once quiet robot spoke.
"BESIDES PAYMENT, WHAT ELSE DO YOU OFFER?"
"Well, besides the previously discussed 10 billion Jenny split 30-70 between upfront payment and completion for each of you, in exchange for your silence regarding the mission, you can expect full access to the Hunter Associations services, including a permanent single-star license."
"VERY WELL."
The room stood silent for a moment, before Meleoron spoke up.
"Well, the hell are we waiting for? Knov, open an exit in west NGL! I'll lead you all to the entrance!"
Knov sighed, and used the Master Key to open a portal to the western mountains.