"As long as I play another five or six games, she'll start taking me seriously in our matches."
"By then, I'll be able to grasp her rhythm... And ultimately, she won't escape death..."
As the Ant King spoke, Menthuthuyoupi walked in.
He held a piece of paper in his hands.
To be precise, it was a will.
It was the will of the Go champion, who could no longer bear the torment and pressure and had chosen to end his life.
"Hahaha..."
Seeing this, Meruem let out a rare low chuckle: "Go call that fool back."
The Go champion's suicide only reinforced Meruem's original belief.
As long as he was willing to learn and improve, surpassing these so-called champions to become the best was merely a matter of time.
In the end, they were all destined to die. And he was destined to become the ruler of the world!
He had that confidence!
As the Ant King remained focused on his games, the Chimera Ant Extermination Team continued their operations.
In the capital, far from the palace, Morel was executing a plan to encircle the entire city.
Using his Nen ability, Deep Purple, he could generate an army of smoke puppets by deeply inhaling from his pipe and exhaling thick smoke.
First, he would release the aura as the core, then wrap it in mist-like smoke.
With this, he could create a freely moving smoke puppet.
At maximum capacity, he could form 216 such puppets.
To enhance their combat effectiveness, he designed them with a certain complexity.
However, this limited him to producing only 50 at a time.
These puppets had high mobility, and human senses alone couldn't distinguish them from real people.
Thus, they roamed freely between buildings, drawing attention, especially from Neferpitou's En perception.
As one of the royal guards, Neferpitou would not easily leave the Ant King's side.
After days of reconnaissance, the extermination team had formed a hypothesis.
Neferpitou's ability likely allowed it to control the puppets from behind the scenes.
To better protect the Ant King, it would likely concentrate its forces in the capital to strengthen the defenses.
And indeed, this was exactly what Neferpitou had done.
She completely ignored the external chaos, and as they had predicted, the Chimera Ants didn't care about human lives.
To them, humans were nothing more than food, unworthy of their attention.
The only reason Neferpitou hadn't eliminated the ones disrupting their plans was that this was a final loose end left to the Ant King's majesty.
Once his board matches concluded, Meruem would personally deal with these insignificant enemies.
Although the royal guards were always by his side, there was always a chance of unforeseen accidents.
Thus, it was best to keep the king inside the palace until the selection process ended.
However, the situation with the Ant King did not unfold as his royal guards had expected.
From morning to night, a full day and night had passed.
Despite playing match after match under the bright palace lights, the Ant King had not won a single game.
Time and time again, he believed he was on the verge of victory, only for his opponent to dismantle his strategy with a single brilliant move, reversing the game.
This prolonged struggle kept Meruem fixated on the board.
"A position as hopeless as shinogi, turned around with just a single move to regain control of the entire board?"
"My entire right flank is completely sealed off..."
Meruem finally saw that the game was beyond saving.
His hand, which had been clutching extra pieces, loosened, letting them scatter across the board.
"No more moves. Checkmate."
As he began resetting the board, he couldn't help but question it all.
"How is this possible? There were 144 moves from the handicap to checkmate. If she hadn't seen through my entire strategy, how could she have reached this point?"
"Another game!"
Without realizing it, Meruem's tone had become more forceful.
From a standard match perspective, it seemed the Ant King was getting desperate.
"Yes!"
However, the blind girl across from him cheerfully agreed, simply happy to continue playing.
"... This is impossible..."
For the first time, a ripple of doubt surfaced in Meruem's heart as he stared at the girl before him.
Boom!
The sky gradually became dark, and the dark clouds with thunder rolled violently in the sky.
The heavy rain fell from the sky, and Neferpitou and others silently guarded around the palace.
Even the numerous puppet soldiers in the city had been recalled.
This surprised Morel and Knov; at first, they suspected it was a trap.
However, upon further analysis, they dismissed the idea.
Such a move actually increased the risk to the Ant King, making it unlikely to be a mere deception.
The royal guards would never take such a risk unless the Ant King himself ordered it or something unexpected happened to him or his surroundings.
Whatever the case, one thing was clear: The enemy had withdrawn their entire large-scale surveillance.
The extermination team swiftly made a decision: "Take advantage of this opening; get as close to the palace as possible!"
"Set up exits around the palace in advance and make full preparations for the action on the day of the decisive battle."
With the help of Knov's Hide and Seek ability, they have the possibility to do this!
"I have to say that this ability is indeed very convenient."
Ging, who watched the whole process, nodded in agreement: "At least, in a place full of dangers, it is very precious to have a paradise where you can avoid crises at any time and get absolute shelter and safety."
Especially in a place like the Dark Continent, Knov's ability is enough to show his precious value!
This is an ability that even Ging recognized!
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