This revelation was almost as impactful as recovering their own human memories moments ago. Suddenly, everything about Meleoron's drastic change in personality made sense, it all stemmed from witnessing his adoptive father's heartbreaking death firsthand.
"Let me ask you this, do you want to live as humans now, or as chimera ants?" Larry asked, now that their human memories were restored. This question would also help him figure out how to handle their situation moving forward.
"Human," Bihorn quickly answered. "We definitely want to go back to living as humans." His words sparked nods of agreement from the others.
Clearly, they preferred to continue living as humans rather than as chimera ants. In other words, their personalities remained humane, unlike other chimera ants like Zazan and Wilfen, who likely sought to exploit the ants' abilities.
"Alright, then you have only one option," Larry said. "I'll send you to an island.
It's a place rich with resources, you won't get bored even if you spend your entire life there.
Plus, I can help you find work to do while you're there. You all can accept that, right?"
Larry's words rekindled hope within the chimera ants. Could they really live as humans again?
Being confined to one island wasn't a problem for them; it was just like moving their lives from one place to another.
When none of them objected, Larry took out his phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Ging, do you need any manpower on Greed Island? Just say the word, and I'll send them your way immediately."
A few moment ago, in a forest thick with tall trees, someone murmured, "I wonder what's going on over there right now?
I heard that the Chimera Ants have become incredibly powerful lately. Want to go check them out?
These creatures are fascinating for research and truly deserve their reputation as beings from the Dark Continent. After mixing in human genes, they've developed some surprising abilities.
Still, no matter how strong they get, it probably won't lead to anything major, especially since that guy went there too. Those ants shouldn't be able to cause much trouble."
A man walked quietly through the forest, lost in thought. He wore a loose blue and white robe and had a dark scarf wrapped around his neck. It seemed like he wore that scarf all year round.
Maybe it was to keep away mosquitoes and dust, or perhaps it was handy for covering his face when he didn't want to be recognized. His hair, which was usually tied up with the scarf, was now loose, letting it breathe after being tied up all day.
Despite his handsome features, he didn't seem to care much about his appearance. With his messy hair down, he looked more like a homeless person than anything else. This man was Ging.
Suddenly, a phone rang, "beep~beep~", breaking the silence of the forest.
Ging's eyes flickered with surprise. There shouldn't have been any signal here. How did he get a call? If anyone could make the impossible happen, it was only one person: Larry.
Sure enough, when Ging checked his phone, "Larry" appeared on the screen. What a coincidence, he'd just been thinking about him, and now he was calling. Since it was Larry, it made sense he could get a call even deep in the forest.
This was actually why Larry could make calls in the NGL Autonomous Region, a place with no signal. Thanks to Porygon Z's influence in the network world, calls could be made and received even where there was no conventional reception.
Porygon Z had been upgraded to S-level after killing countless Chimera Ants and absorbing data from the network world, making this impossible feat a reality. Porygon Z had finally been promoted from A+ level to S-level, becoming the seventh Pokémon in Larry's collection to reach that elite rank.
For Porygon Z, breaking into the S-level wasn't just about a sudden boost in strength, it also meant its control over the network world had significantly improved. At this stage, Porygon Z had started to fulfill Larry's expectations, evolving from simply using the network to actually creating it.
Although its ability to build a network was still basic and limited to simple tasks, it was already impressive. Being able to create its own online world was a major milestone.
Looking ahead, Larry felt more confident relying on Porygon Z's self-made online world, which he thought of as his personal four-dimensional apartment where he could store everything gathered from the Dark Continent. If it was a rare plant, for example, he could even nurture it there with roots and soil.
Ging's doubts lingered only briefly before he pressed the answer button on his phone.
"Hello?Ging, does Greed Island need extra hands?" Larry's voice came through immediately.
"Greed Island is definitely short-staffed, but it depends on what kind of help you're offering."
"Razor and the others have been managing things for years, but they could really use more reliable people, none of those crooked characters." Ging wondered why Larry suddenly seemed so concerned about the island's workforce.
"How could it be bad? The people I'm sending are all good talent," Larry replied. "They've only just learned Nen and haven't fully developed their abilities yet."
'Just learned Nen?' Larry's words made Ging realize something, could these new recruits actually be Chimera Ants?
"But their Nen skills are far from ordinary. One of them even qualifies as an Exorcist." As Larry spoke, his gaze shifted to Hina, standing beside him.
Hina was a member of Leol's squad, a group led by Leol (formerly known as Hagya), the ambitious lion-type Chimera Ant. She looked almost exactly like a human girl and had a lively, cheerful personality.
With blonde hair and dressed in yellow furry clothing, she wore a cute pink plush-like creature on her head that resembled a hat.
Originally called Hirin, she chose to change her name to Hina. After the King's death, she traveled alongside the human Bizeff and the wolf-like Chimera Ant Welfin to Meteor City, searching for Gyro (Zairo).
In the original story, the leopard-type Chimera Ant Cheetu was affected by Knuckle's Nen ability, Hakoware, a curse-like condition that would cause automatic aura interest accumulation and eventual forced removal from battle.
It was Hina, the Exorcist-type Chimera Ant with the power to remove Nen-based curses, who helped him. Using her ability, she extracted the curse-like Nen condition affecting Cheetu, causing her belly to swell enormously, a known side effect of absorbing that aura.
While Hina could not read minds or erase thoughts, her power to nullify lingering Nen effects was rare and invaluable. When the topic of such a Nen Exorcist was brought up later, Ging showed a flash of interest, after all, such abilities were incredibly rare, and even more so among Chimera Ants.
Then Larry said, "Alright, I'll have you come over now, and you can take them with you to explain everything," before hanging up.
'Wait, come over now?' Even quick-witted Ging was thrown off by the sudden chain of events.
First, Larry called asking does he need help. Now, he wanted Ging to come over in person?
Suddenly, Ging remembered something he had heard about Larry having a nen beast that could... Before he could finish the thought, countless fragments of space started falling around him.