The Selection was a cruel yet systematic Nen awakening ritual.
The King needed an army.
Thus, under the orchestration of Neferpitou and Shaiapouf, the entire population of East Gorteau would be thrown into the blender known as the 'Selection.'
Including infants, only about 1% of the nation's approximately five million people would ultimately pass the Selection and be transformed into Nen-using soldiers loyal solely to the King.
This Selection plan was particularly well-suited for a country like East Gorteau.
Because whether it was the NGL Autonomous Nation or the Republic of East Gorteau, both shared a common trait.
That was the lack of modern communication methods like mobile phones, with information flow strictly controlled.
This lag in information dissemination greatly delayed the public's awareness of the Chimera Ant threat and prevented them from learning about the changes in the capital, Peijin, in real time.
Exploiting this information gap, East Gorteau became the perfect breeding ground to implement the 'Selection Plan' seamlessly.
"This assembly requires the participation of infants and the sick as well... Public transportation fees for trains and buses are fully waived..."
The radio continued broadcasting the announcement.
The ten-day Selection was about to begin, which also meant the citizens of the capital, Peijin, had likely already become sacrifices to the 'Selection.'
From this moment on, the entire population of East Gorteau would begin migrating toward the capital, Peijin, like a colony of ants.
However, Neferpitou and Shaiapouf would not simply wait for all the citizens to gather.
They would undoubtedly use Manipulation abilities, deploying a large number of puppets to secretly commence the Selection in advance.
Due to the slow information transmission within East Gorteau and the pretext of nationwide mobilization, even if they covertly cleared out the residents of a particular area, it would not raise suspicion or cause chaos.
Under this cover, the selection ritual targeting five million citizens would proceed with extreme efficiency.
For the Extermination Team, with the Chimera Ants having revealed their cards, it was imperative not to allow the enemy to advance their plan unchecked.
After all, with each additional casualty, Chairman Netero would bear a heavier burden of responsibility afterward.
Moreover, halting the Selection itself was also a way to weaken the King's reserve combat strength.
Morrow put away the radio, his gaze solemn.
He understood the Extermination Team's motivation stemmed from their fear that the Royal Guards would use Manipulation abilities to control a terrifyingly large army of Nen users.
But only he knew the true crisis hidden behind the Selection ritual went far beyond that.
There was also the King's racial trait of 'growing stronger by consuming.'
At least for now, while the King disdained delving deeply into the Nen system, this racial trait was his most terrifying aspect.
Once the Royal Guards could stably mass-produce Nen user 'fodder,' the King's aura output would experience explosive growth.
The only silver lining was that the King had no interest in developing Nen abilities; otherwise, the situation would become even more dire.
On the other hand, due to their insistence on 'army quality,' Neferpitou and Shaiapouf would undoubtedly raise the standards during the Selection to pick humans with above-average mental and physical attributes. This stringent demand for quality naturally significantly reduced production efficiency, thereby slowing the King's rapid strengthening process through feeding.
At least in the short term, they wouldn't have to face a King whose power was rapidly expanding due to frenzied consumption.
Based on available intelligence, Morrow silently deduced the likely decision-making directions of Neferpitou and Shaiapouf moving forward.
But such contemplation was ultimately rather meaningless.
He had ultimately failed to persuade Netero to directly drop the Poor Man's Rose on the capital palace.
Since that was the case, the Chairman's outcome would most likely still follow the original trajectory, dragging the King into hell by tarnishing his martial heart.
Therefore, what truly needed consideration now was which day Netero would launch the full-scale assault on the palace.
And as members of the Extermination Team, how they could create an environment for the Chairman to face the King one-on-one.
Currently, only Neferpitou and Shaiapouf remained among the Royal Guards.
Yet even so, restraining monsters of this caliber was extremely difficult, let alone completely dividing the battlefield.
Theoretically, unless the King was willing to leave voluntarily, it was nearly impossible to lure him to an area far enough from the Poor Man's Rose's blast radius.
And if they couldn't achieve this... Netero's self-destruction backup plan would likely bury the entire Extermination Team along with him.
"Relatively speaking, Neferpitou remains the most troublesome," Morrow murmured to himself, heading toward the direction of distant rising cooking smoke.
Given the current combat capabilities of the human faction, aside from relying on Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, there were almost no other methods to reliably restrain Neferpitou, who had already mastered a mature Nen system.
In comparison, although Shaiapouf's aura output level was also high, his tendency toward strategic manipulation over brute force made him the easiest to restrain among the three guards.
Fortunately, he had already exhausted every effort to eliminate Youpi before the King's birth...
Regardless of how the upcoming operation plan is formulated, I must make some preparations in advance.
As these thoughts circulated, Morrow's feet erupted with aura, propelling him like a streak of light toward the distant human settlement.
His infiltration into East Gorteau this time was not only to harvest Star Marks to heal his injuries but also to make advance preparations regarding the girl named 'Komugi.'
In terms of the ideal plan, one could only hope the King would still, as in the original timeline, begin engaging with various board games to pass the time.
Only by developing in this direction could they prevent the possibility of the King turning his whimsical interest toward deeply studying the Nen system.
Otherwise, once the King truly developed an interest in 'Nen,' everything would become truly irreparable.
—--
The Extermination Team members were also closely monitoring the National Foundation Day ceremony initiated by East Gorteau's President, Diego.
The demand for 100% attendance; this almost harsh condition spoke volumes.
Their reactions aligned almost perfectly with Morrow's predictions.
However, until Chairman Netero formally issued orders, even if the team entertained thoughts of interference, they couldn't act independently.
Netero, seemingly anticipating their reactions, sent the Extermination Team a message containing specific instructions on the very day East Gorteau announced the ceremony. The information specified the operation time as midnight on the eve of the ceremony and required the Extermination Team to split into two groups to lure the Royal Guard away from the King.
Beyond that, there were no other restrictions.
This meant Netero had completely delegated decision-making authority to the Extermination Team.
Thus, upon receiving this directive from the Chairman, the team immediately launched their interference operations.
However... Killua chose to withdraw from the Extermination Team.
He was going home.
Hearing this reason, Morel and the others didn't press for details or try to persuade him to stay.
They simply expressed sincere gratitude for everything Killua had contributed to the extermination mission thus far.
In truth, Gon had also considered withdrawing from the operation.
His reasoning was simple: he wanted to continue searching for Ging and entrust Kite's hope of restoring his arm to him.
Clearly, he still blamed himself for Kite losing his arm.
But Kite didn't agree with Gon's perspective and had no intention of quitting the mission.
As a professional Beast Hunter, once involved in a biological disaster caused by the Chimera Ants, he felt responsible to fight until the very end.
Because of this, Gon ultimately chose to stay and face the coming battles alongside Kite.
Before leaving, Killua privately asked Kalluto for his preference.
"Want to come home with me?"
'...'
Faced with his brother's question, Kalluto remained silent for a moment before finally shaking his head.
"I want to stay with Morrow."
Killua smiled faintly, unsurprised by the response.
"Honestly, I'd like to stay with Gon and the teacher too, but..."
He gazed up at the star-filled sky, leaving the sentence unfinished as he sighed softly.
"Don't push yourself too hard, alright?"
With those words, Killua turned and walked away.
He had reasons he needed to return, and could no longer keep running from them.
Kalluto silently watched his brother's retreating figure, a flicker of guilt passing through his heart.
Kalluto understood exactly why Killua was so determined to go home.
It was simply because, after regaining his memories, he'd finally remembered Alluka, the one the family had imprisoned as a monster.
And now he was utterly consumed by overwhelming guilt.
The only reason he'd held on this long was because there were also important people here in Killua's heart.
But as time passed, that guilt toward Alluka could no longer be suppressed.
Knowing this was precisely why Kalluto always felt someone like his brother Killua truly didn't belong in their family.
Brother, I'm sorry...
Kalluto murmured inwardly.
To the members of the Zoldyck Family, Alluka was no longer considered family but a monster full of potential threat.
Kalluto felt the same way.
So he would never consider helping Killua with this matter.
Moreover, compared to rescuing Alluka, staying with Morrow was far more important in Kalluto's view.
Despite Killua's departure, the team's morale remained unaffected.
The very next day after East Gorteau announced its decree, the Extermination Team members swiftly infiltrated the nation according to their respective roles and began executing the interference plan.
However, they soon discovered that while the Chimera Ants were publicly mobilizing all citizens to the capital under the guise of the National Foundation Day ceremony, they had secretly already begun the Selection ritual.
This discovery didn't surprise Morel and the others.
After all, East Gorteau's population numbered approximately five million people. Even if the Royal Guards of the King possessed immensely powerful Manipulation abilities, it would be extremely difficult to complete the entire Selection ritual for five million people within just three days.
Moreover, considering the potential chaos that could arise during the Selection process, it was reasonable for the Royal Guards to choose to operate covertly.
"As expected, it's a powerful Manipulation ability that uses numerous puppets to achieve efficient screening..."
After inspecting an empty village, Morel became even more convinced that the King's Royal Guards were advancing the Selection process by utilizing a vast number of puppets.
Judging from the scale and scope, the strength of this Manipulation ability had already exceeded their initial expectations.
This undoubtedly brought them invisible pressure.
Before the day of the final assault arrived, no one could predict whether they would only face the two Royal Guards, Neferpitou and Shaiapouf.
Or if, on top of that, they would also have to deal with a troublesome army of Nen users.
However, this pressure did not shake the Extermination Team's determination to resolve this biological disaster.
Until the fourth day.
The Extermination Team welcomed two new members.
One of them was Morel's brother Grachan, the Nen user with the Conjuration skateboard ability whom Morrow had previously met.
Originally, after confirming the intelligence that among the Chimera Ant soldiers there were those with genes from crocodiles, freshwater fish, and other creatures, Morel immediately recommended Grachan to the Review Department.
But the recommendation was rejected.
Furious, Morel obtained Netero's approval and had Grachan bypass the Review Department to join them directly.
However, Morel did not know that before he sought Netero's consent, Netero had already received a strict order from V5: Resolve this incident at all costs, but all consequences and responsibilities would be borne by the Hunter Association.
This might also be one of the reasons why Netero agreed to Morel's irregular actions when he was being obstructed by 'someone.'
The other new member was Gel of the Zodiac Twelve, the Snake.
Her joining also bypassed the review procedures, with a touch of coincidence involved.
Gel had previously taken notice of the long-term biological survey commissions issued by the Kakin Empire.
But she was only interested in venomous snakes, so she only selected a small portion of relevant commissions and did not establish long-term cooperation with Kakin.
Due to her profession, she had come to know quite a few Beast Hunters while carrying out commissions.
Among the Beast Hunters listed as 'missing' in this incident, there happened to be people she knew.
This became one of the reasons she continued to follow this biological disaster closely.
Although Gel had always maintained her own independent stance and stayed away from political matters within the Association, after the Review Department rejected her action application, she originally had no intention of forcibly violating regulations.
The reason she bypassed the Review Department to join the Extermination Team now was that she had received an invitation from Netero.
However... Netero did not invite Gel because she had proactively applied, but because Morrow, upon learning of the situation, had proposed a substantial suggestion.
He believed that Gel's toxin ability might become one of the keys to breaking through the Royal Guards.
Netero held the same view.
Thus, the current outcome came to be.
With the addition of two new members to the Extermination Team, they now had more leeway to arrange containment plans.
But in reality, there was yet another new member.
—--
In the bustling train station, Komugi, leaning on her cane with a runny nose and tightly closed eyes, kept bowing to the tall, thin man before her:
"Thank you so much for taking the trouble to accompany me all the way here, Mr. Hisoka."
The tall, thin man was actually Morrow, who had altered his appearance and physique using his Biological Mutation ability.
Wearing an unfamiliar face, he smiled at Komugi, who seemed to be bowing so rapidly it left afterimages, and said gently, "It was no trouble at all. But you, even if someone is there to meet you at the station, you must be extra careful and stay safe."
"Mhm, mhm! I'll get on the train now!"
As she replied, Komugi bowed again but accidentally bumped her head hard against the train doorframe, yelping in pain.
Without even rubbing her forehead, she gripped her cane tightly with one hand and frantically waved the other in Morrow's direction. "I'm fine, really!"
Just then, the train whistle blew, drowning out Morrow's farewell.
The train slowly started moving, following the tracks into the distance.
Morrow stood silently, gazing in the direction where the train had disappeared.
Over the past two days, he had deliberately made contact with Komugi in advance. After gaining her trust, he had successfully implanted a Star Mark on her.
"You're still the same as ever~"
At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind.