Chapter 189: Harvest and Anomaly
Pitch-black Nen began to seep out of the Monkey-Ant's charred, mangled corpse.
It was exactly as Ronin had predicted. At that same moment, his four Shadow Clones finally hit their limit and dissipated into white smoke.
Since the clones were pure Chakra constructs, no aura returned to Ronin. His Yin Seal had already reverted to its dormant state following the King's death, but his remaining reserves were more than enough to handle the aftermath.
The collapse of the clones meant the Four Violet Flames Formation had lost its fuel. The purple walls shattered into glowing embers, and the fire consuming the monkey faded.
Then, the Post-Mortem Nen exploded.
The survivors from Benket's squad, who had been marveling at Ronin's power, watched in horror as the monkey's corpse slowly lurched to its feet.
In life, the Guard had moved with a humanoid, bipedal grace. Now, driven by a post-death curse, it reverted to a primal, quadrupedal beast.
Its face, melted and unrecognizable from the purple fire, peeled back in a silent, toothy snarl.
Enveloped in an oily, black aura of pure malice, the creature vanished.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact rocked the cavern before the squad could even process the disappearance.
Ronin had moved faster. He intercepted the "Dead Monkey" mid-lunge, leaping into the air and driving a fist directly into the center of the black-shrouded corpse.
A chasm of power existed between them.
As the undead Guard was hammered back into the crater, the scouts realized they were watching a god at work.
Ronin's Sharingan tracked every twitch of the curse. Even with the power-up of death, the Guard's speed wasn't enough to pressure him.
As a pure Enhancer, Ronin unleashed the rawest form of his power. He channeled aura into his fist using a technique that surpassed even the Big Bang Impact's efficiency, then layered the explosive release of the Cherry Blossom Impact on top.
The combined strike delivered 150% of his maximum output.
The Post-Mortem Nen hadn't granted the monkey a new ability; it had simply overclocked its physical stats. Against Ronin, that was like charging a machine gun with a toothpick.
A prototype to the end, Ronin thought.
The lack of growth in the "Budget" King was mirrored in his guards. They were shadows of the monsters they could have become.
Ronin's hand touched the dead monkey's chest. The Four Symbols Seal spread across the black Nen like a virus.
Under the influence of the Fuinjutsu, the pitch-black aura was forcibly drawn back into the flesh, compressed and locked behind the seal's formula.
The corpse thrashed, a final, frantic protest of a dying soul.
But Ronin's grip was a vice. He pinned the creature to the floor, holding it immobile as the seal locked.
When the ritual was complete, the Guard was a hollow, inanimate shell once more.
Fuinjutsu works on Post-Mortem Nen, Ronin confirmed.
Now he had a new research topic: If I unseal it later, can I use Chakra Threads to puppet an undead Guard powered by its own death-curse?
And more practically: How do I keep this ticking time-bomb in my pocket?
Ronin pulled out a Fun Fun Cloth. Under the stunned gazes of the survivors, he bundled the sealed Guard and the broken King into a single, palm-sized package.
He had a nagging question. Was the Queen really the only one here?
His thoughts drifted to the Chimera Ant that appeared in the NGL in the original timeline. Was that creature truly a wanderer from the Dark Continent that "luckily" drifted to the shores of Lake Mobius?
Looking at this cave, Ronin felt a wave of suspicion.
If I hadn't been here, how would Muherr have handled the colony?
In the original timeline, this colony had seemingly caused no waves. At most, it had claimed Vanessa as a casualty.
Wait. What if Beyond Netero used this ruin as a nursery?
What if the NGL Queen was a deliberate delivery—a biological weapon harvested from Mahavi and planted to destabilize the region?
Ronin turned his gaze toward the abyss behind the Great Trees.
The three ants were dead. The balance was broken. On the cliffs above, the spiders began to shriek, a discordant, vibrating sound of territorial reclamation.
Benket's eyes were fixed on the Golden Throne.
Seeing Ronin look toward the trees, Benket made his move. He gestured to his men, and they charged toward the golden chair.
Ronin ignored them.
He focused on the trees. Amidst the spiders' screaming, several pods on the branches ripened instantly and fell to the floor.
From one pod, a small, multi-legged creature crawled out.
A Scorpion.
It was a miniature version of the giant guardian Ronin had seen earlier. Even as a newborn, it didn't look for its mother. It followed a primal biological imperative. It scuttled toward a nearby spider carcass—killed in the earlier crossfire—and began to gorge itself.
On the cliffs, the spider swarm surged. They ignored the trees, their eight compound eyes locking onto the scorpions and the humans.
Specifically, they targeted the group at the Golden Throne.
A warning hiss echoed through the hollow as the spiders scrambled down the cliffside on their long, bristled legs.
Benket's team reached the throne. They began trying to pry the gold from the floor, but they quickly realized the chair was part of the mountain. It was anchored into the bedrock with a strength that defied logic.
When they tried to dig around the base, their shovels hit something that felt like reinforced steel.
Even a Nen-enhanced shovel only produced a shower of sparks and a metallic "Clang."
Something is wrong, Ronin thought.
Mashur and Vanessa regrouped at his side. They didn't care about the gold. They watched the trees and the spiders.
The trio moved in unison, heading toward the Great Trees and the rift behind them.
Benket saw them leave. He hesitated, looking at the throne, then at the trees. To him, the trees were research data—valuable to the Association, but not as lucrative as a chair made of solid gold.
He chose the gamble.
"DEFENSIVE LINE!" Benket barked.
The support gunners in his unit manifested their Collaborative SUV—the same one they used to cross the flying-ant zone.
Colin and the combat specialists stepped forward, forming a wall of fire and steel to hold back the tide of spiders while the scavengers worked on the throne.
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