Chapter 140: What a Pity
"Aren't there supposed to be three Royal Guards for the King of Ants?" Killua asked.
"And the Chairman told us to distract two of them, but didn't specify which two?" Kite also voiced his doubt.
As for Knuckle and Morel, who had been by Netero's side for years, they were already familiar with the old man's way of working. They exchanged a smile and spoke in unison.
"When the time comes, we'll know."
"Given the Chairman's personality, if he said it like that, then only two guards will appear before us when the time comes."
"Alright, finish your dinner and get a good rest." Morel stood up and said, "Starting tomorrow, every battle we face will be a tough one."
...
Republic of East Gorteau.
In a dilapidated temple deep in the mountains, Netero sat meditating before a crumbling Buddha statue.
Mord glanced at him, then turned and followed Zeno as they left.
Like the NGL, East Gorteau was a closed-off country. Of course, infiltration was as easy as breathing for the three of them.
As Zeno led the way, he spoke: "When I was young, I came here for an assassination mission. It's a highly centralized, authoritarian state."
"A powerful secret informant organization called the 'finger-pointing group' controls all intelligence in the country. There are rewards for reporting enemy spies, obtaining evidence of revolution, or controlling escape scenes."
"If the number of reports exceeds a certain threshold, all members of the group are promoted one rank. Conversely, if false reports are made or a member commits a crime, the entire group is punished."
Mord, following silently behind, added, "That's quite a clear system of rewards and punishments."
Zeno shook his head and said, "No, their nature is quite vicious."
"Members and their families are kept under separate surveillance. Even if the entire group agrees to flee, the families left behind will be executed, or at best, imprisoned for life. If they try to escape with their families and are caught, they are killed on the spot."
"To feed a small privileged class, the remaining people are mostly starving to the point of being unrecognizable. Yet the government broadcasts fake news on TV claiming that 'more than half of the people in other countries starve to death before the age of ten.'"
"Aid supplies sent from various places never reach the common people. Those things are long since exchanged for luxury cars, jewels, and missiles."
Even after all these years, Zeno remembered it so clearly, a testament to how deeply these events had left an impression on him.
"If I may ask, old man Zeno, how old were you at the time?" Mord inquired.
"About the same age as Killua is now," Zeno stopped walking and looked up. "Even though so many years have passed, it's highly likely they still use the informant reward system."
Mord followed Zeno's gaze to a small village not far down the mountain.
Using his En, Mord scanned the area—there wasn't a single living person in the entire village.
Two figures entered the village.
Though deliberately concealed, Mord easily detected signs of a past struggle in this settlement.
After advancing further, Mord spotted several wild dogs and scattered, mutilated limbs in a wasteland outside the village.
Sensing danger, the dogs whimpered and scattered in all directions.
"The burial pits were too shallow, allowing wild dogs to dig them up."
Zeno sneered coldly and remarked, "It's likely the entire village was buried here."
But Mord saw further implications.
"The true purpose of the National Assembly is this. It wouldn't be surprising if one day all humans from villages and cities disappeared..."
Mord glanced back toward the mountain where Netero sat in meditation and said, "The selection has already begun."
Zeno fell silent for a moment, pondered carefully, and agreed with Mord's perspective. "Thinking about it, gathering the entire nation's population for a one-time selection would be incredibly time-consuming and labor-intensive, especially with over five million people in this country..."
"But processing them village by village, town by town, makes it much simpler."
"However, this method has a major flaw: people would grow suspicious if family or coworkers suddenly vanished. That's why they're using the National Assembly as a cover—even if victims remain uncontacted for long periods, it won't raise alarms."
"East Gorteau is a country that strictly prohibits mobile phone use, making it natural for people to assume lost contact is due to travel. This allows the selection to proceed smoothly."
Mord glanced at Zeno.
This old fox truly lived up to the saying "age brings wisdom."
With just fragments of information, he could deduce so much.
Mord nodded and added, "The King of Ants' palace lies in the southeast of East Gorteau. They need only conduct the selection from the farthest regions inward. By claiming the government will uniformly announce departure times to the capital palace—only notifying people right before leaving—those in the same area can't communicate in advance or leave freely. This prevents no-shows or panic-induced unrest."
Selecting from five million East Gorteau citizens, even with a mere 1% survival rate, would still yield fifty thousand soldier ants.
And these fifty thousand soldiers would all be Nen users.
"Truly terrifying. As expected of creatures from that place," Zeno mused, seemingly recalling something.
"Since we're waiting for the old man anyway, why not join me in something to pass the time?" Mord suggested.
Zeno knew exactly what Mord had in mind.
He patted his back and replied, "I'm too old for such antics, unlike you youngsters. I'll stay here and keep watch over your chairman."
What a shrewd old coot—utterly unwilling to take a loss.
Mord's remaining funds would be better spent on Milluki's tech research than hiring Zeno.
Using Zeno to deal with Cat Girl's puppet soldiers would be like swatting a fly with a missile—far too wasteful.
"In that case, I'll take my leave. I'll return by the agreed time."
Before his voice fully faded, he had already vanished without a trace.
Zeno watched Mord's departing figure, his thoughts drifting to his own grandchildren. Whether it was Illumi or Killua, each was exceptionally gifted—true geniuses that might appear only once in a million, or even ten million people.
Yet compared to Mord, they fell far short.
Only through the strength of descendants could the family's prosperity endure.
If only he were a member of the Zoldyck Family.
It was a pity the family had no daughters; if there were, Zeno would not have hesitated to marry his granddaughter to Mord.
In his view, the union of two extraordinarily powerful bloodlines would give rise to even stronger offspring.