The creature calling herself "Queen" looked strikingly human—so much so that she was arguably more beautiful than most actual humans.
Long, wavy hair in a pinkish-lavender hue. Narrow, upturned eyes gave her a seductive charm, while golden irises revealed the cold ruthlessness of a beast. A red gemstone-shaped tattoo gleamed in the center of her forehead. Her lips were painted a pale lilac, and she wore a scandalously tiny bikini—every inch of her body radiating danger and allure.
But her inhuman traits were unmistakable—most obviously in the long tail trailing behind her.
Its pointed tip looked like a venomous stinger, sharp as a bee's, with a peach-pink heart at the end. Honestly, she looked less like an ant, and more like… a succubus.
Curly hair, purple lips, skimpy clothes—this character model was pretty common, usually reserved for villains or femme fatales.
Ah. So that's how Chimera hierarchy works. Cyr mused. It's not strength that makes the Queen—just the ability to give birth. That's what makes the Ant King.
While thinking this, he casually caught the Queen's lashing tail in one hand.
The tip glittered with a metallic sheen, aimed squarely at his carotid artery—but thanks to his Infinity, it stopped short.
"So that's how she's turning people into monsters… through the tail." Cyr pinched the tip between his fingers. It was covered in a hard shell, as tough as steel, with fine bristles like irritating velvet.
A sharp stab, followed by an injection of some mysterious power—and poof. Another monster is born.
"Let go of me—!" The Queen, Zazan, tried to yank her tail back, but couldn't break free from the boy's grip no matter how she struggled.
That tail was a core weapon. And if brute force didn't work…
"Clingy men aren't my type," Zazan said with a sultry smile, her tone suggestive as she met Cyr's eyes.
She didn't even get to finish her sentence before a brutal punch landed square on her face.
Her head snapped back from the force, and her whole body slammed to the ground.
"Really?" Cyr crouched beside her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and lifting her head with a calm expression.
"I thought I was pretty well-liked, actually."
He wasn't wrong. People turned to stare at him in the streets all the time. He constantly got asked for his contact info. When shopping, he often got freebies—or even the occasional waived bill.
He was totally popular.
Just no taste, these monsters.
"Not that it matters. I've got zero interest in your kind of ant anyway."
If you wanted something appealing, animal-based monsters like cats or dogs were way cuter and more marketable.
A lot of weebs were into beast girls, after all.
Not Cyr though. He firmly believed fluffy creatures were meant to be pets only. If one of his adorable pets ever turned into a humanoid, he'd immediately order it to turn back—and ban it from transforming again.
"You…" Zazan's nose caught the scent of her own blood.
Her face… was completely destroyed.
That single punch had shattered her nasal bone and caved in her mid-face. What had once been a seductive and stunning beauty was now a bloodied, misshapen monster.
But it didn't matter. As long as she regained her freedom, she could just reshape her face again.
"Has your Ant King been born yet?" Cyr asked.
"…" Zazan's expression went blank at the mention of the King—especially remembering how his forced birth had left the Queen on the brink of death.
"If you're the Queen," Cyr's gaze dropped to her abdomen, "then the King should've come from you…"
She wasn't pregnant. No eggs in the nest either.
Her method was transforming people into monsters—not birthing them.
Which raised a question: was the Ant King also artificially transformed? But that didn't make sense—he wasn't supposed to show up in Meteor City…
Unless—there were two Queens?
One in NGL who gave birth to the King, and one here in Meteor City?
But the more likely explanation was… this monster was lying.
She wasn't a Queen at all.
"Tch. I knew it. You're a fake." Cyr clicked his tongue in irritation. "A knockoff pretending to be Queen."
And if he was annoyed, there was no way he was going to let the source of his irritation off easy.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he grabbed her tail again and began slamming her over and over into the floor.
Only when her entire body was covered in wounds, soaked in blood from head to toe, did he finally stop.
"Answer me. When was the Ant King born?" Cyr asked, looking at the monster whose chest barely rose with breath.
"…I don't know," Zazan whispered weakly.
When the King was born, each of the squad leaders—those like her who valued freedom—left on their own, choosing to carve out their own domains and compete for power.
She had come to Meteor City.
Even far from the King, her devotion to the Queen—her willingness to give everything for the King—was etched into her DNA.
She would never betray him.
"You ran into two others, didn't you?" Cyr continued, switching topics. "Weird-looking siblings with goat horns. Dressed like clowns."
"…," Zazan recalled the strange duo but said nothing.
Those two had been by the Queen's side even before her children were born. They never did anything—just stood and observed.
When the Queen was carrying the King, they never left her side, as if they were dying to dissect the unborn child just to study every inch of him.
Creepy pair. They never spoke to anyone besides the Queen.
Bang. Another slam against the ground.
"What, did you go mute now?" Cyr asked impatiently.
He asked a simple question and got silence in return.
"…They're with the King." Zazan finally murmured, lying face down, her expression hidden.
"So it really is connected to those two…" Cyr stood up, expression clear with understanding.
Then he casually stepped on her head.
With a sound like a balloon bursting, her skull exploded like an overripe watermelon.
He'd tolerated her uncooperative attitude twice—more than enough.
If she wasn't going to cooperate, then she was useless.
And the useless? Should die.
"Those two sticking by the Ant King's side means… the King has already been born," Cyr muttered to himself as he walked away, deep in thought.
Gon and the others—protagonists of this whole thing—were still trapped in Greed Island. Yet the Ant King was already here?
Was this how it was supposed to go?
When did the King get born in the original timeline?
A brainstorm spun in his head.
Outside the nest, a group of people in hazmat suits, holding guns and heavy weaponry, spotted him emerging.
They all instinctively lowered their weapons.
"Is it a monster?"
"No, that's clearly a human."
Murmurs spread as their eyes locked on the white-haired boy.
No one had seen him enter—he'd used Zetsu. But now he walked out calmly on foot.
He'd gone in alone.
And came out alone.
Not a single drop of blood on him. Relaxed. Untouched.
"It's been handled. Oh, and make sure to sanitize properly these days. Even if Meteor City's already a hellhole," Cyr said with a breezy tone as he approached them, steps light.
With all the trash releasing toxins around the clock, did it even matter if they disinfected or not?
"Actually… forget I said anything," he added casually as he brushed past them.
"Who… is he?" one of them asked, baffled.
That tone, that confidence—it felt like he was someone above them.
But…
None of them had ever seen him before.
"Did he just say the monsters inside… are already taken care of?"
"Was he serious?"
"Should we… go check?"
"Who's going in?"
"..."
The group stood frozen in front of the nest, hesitating, uncertain.
°°°
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