Chapter 1132

After just a preliminary probe, Netero accepted Su Xiao into the Ant King subjugation squad. Knuckle Bine said nothing, and strangely, the usually cautious Morel Mackernasey also said nothing.

"Chairman, in that case, the Ant King subjugation squad has reached 5 people. Isn't this number a bit too high?"

Hearing Knuckle's words, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow; the number was higher than he had imagined. The five people the other party mentioned were not the total number of people subjugating the Chimera Ants, but the number of people fighting the Ant King.

According to the development of the original plot, it should have been Chairman Netero fighting the Ant King one-on-one, but now it had become five people besieging the Ant King.

Excluding Netero and Su Xiao, who were the other three? This was quite intriguing; those three moved faster than Su Xiao.

"Don't worry, the odds of winning are higher with five people."

Netero chuckled. Although Netero was already at the advanced age of 110, he was not serious or rigid; on the contrary, he was a vibrant and humorous old man who still loved to challenge himself at his age.

If one spoke of individual strength, even the V5 organization had to be wary of Netero, which was why the Hunter Association had so many special privileges.

"Morel, Knuckle, you take people to scout near the capital of the Republic of East Gorteau first. Once the timing is right, you can consider attacking the capital. The Ant King subjugation squad has already gathered five people; I have other matters to handle here."

"Yes, Chairman."

"Leave it to us. If we don't wait for the signal, we will decide the timing of the attack ourselves."

"That's fine."

Netero watched Morel and Knuckle leave; there were other Hunter Association personnel near the capital.

"Did you come here specifically to find helpers?"

Su Xiao suddenly had a feeling that the reason he could meet Netero and the others here was because they had been hanging around the capital, looking for someone, or rather, waiting for someone to find them.

"That's right. This was a suggestion from a member of the subjugation squad. Things are exactly as he predicted; there are indeed many 'like-minded' people near the capital."

Netero signaled for Su Xiao to follow him. Su Xiao hesitated for a moment before choosing to follow. Not long after, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Amu, who had been lying in wait nearby, arrived to rendezvous with Su Xiao.

"Are these the other helpers?"

Netero looked at Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Amu with interest.

"You can think of the three of us as a small squad."

"Is that so? Then that's no problem."

Netero stroked his beard, not delving into the origins of Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Amu.

The place Netero was taking Su Xiao to was a small town near the capital of the Republic of East Gorteau. When Su Xiao walked into this town, he suddenly had the illusion that time had regressed several hundred years.

The ground of the town was paved with stone slabs. Due to a lack of repairs over a long period, the slabs had become uneven; stepping on them could cause mud to spray out from the gaps.

The town's buildings were mostly two-story structures, basically made of wood or stone; there were no concrete buildings at all. The shop doors along the street hung banners of a single color, which were things similar to plaques.

Occasionally, a horse-drawn carriage would pass by on the street; as for cars, such things were strictly prohibited in the Republic of East Gorteau.

This was a deformed country that exuded a primitive beauty. Coming here, one could definitely experience the feeling of time regressing several hundred years.

"Such a strange sight can only be seen in the Republic of East Gorteau."

Netero had been here before; that was 30 years ago. And now, almost nothing here had changed, except that the buildings on both sides of the street were a bit more dilapidated.

"By the way, I don't know what to call you yet?"

Netero had his back to Su Xiao, his eyes searching for a certain shop on both sides of the street.

"Bai Ye."

Su Xiao was admiring the scenery of the town, and he couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart; this place had actually not been occupied by the Chimera Ants.

"Bai Ye, a codename very suitable for use when killing people."

Netero heard that this was a fake name, but he didn't delve into it.

After the two went deep into the south side of the town, they arrived in front of an inn. This was the most 'luxurious' inn in the town, belonging to the few three-story buildings.

As soon as Su Xiao walked into the inn, a middle-aged, short, and fat man came up to greet them. He served as the owner, cook, and receptionist; this was a husband-and-wife shop.

"Are the two guests travelers from out of town?"

The owner came up to get close; in this godforsaken place, outside travelers were the biggest source of income.

"We have already booked a room..."

Chairman Netero exchanged a few words with the innkeeper, and the innkeeper became even more enthusiastic, leading the two to the third floor.

Su Xiao walked on the wooden stairs that creaked with every step. He had a new understanding of the poverty level of the Republic of East Gorteau. If it wasn't that the Hunter Association lacked funds, then it could only mean that this was indeed the most luxurious inn in the town.

In front of a guest room on the inner side of the third floor, the lock on the door was rusted shut, the paint on the door was peeling off in large patches, and wisps of blue smoke drifted out from the deformed door frame.

As soon as the innkeeper pushed the door open, the thick smoke rushing toward his face made him tilt his head back, and he coughed dryly again and again.

The room was like a 'fairyland,' with thick smoke rolling; three figures could be vaguely seen within the thick smoke.

"Smokey, if you weren't a Qiyuezhe, you definitely wouldn't live past 60."

A female voice came from within the thick smoke.

"Who told me to be a Qiyuezhe."

This time it was a slightly hoarse, but full-voiced male voice.

"Dust, you say something too; this old Smokey is getting more and more arrogant."

That female voice was quite provocative.

"If you don't want to wait here, you can leave; no one is forcing you."

"Hey, kid, aren't you being too arrogant?"

That female voice had already begun to turn cold.

"I am not arrogant. At least I won't go around provoking others, nor will I take the initiative to offend others."

"You deserve it for your adventure group to die out."

"You... say that again... what you said before."

The last male voice was calm to the point of having no ripples; no anger, no threats, and no arrogance, just calm, deathly calm.

"I say, can't you two get along peacefully? One likes to provoke, and the other can make people want to kill within three sentences. Dust, your level of venomous tongue is a talent. That deceased leader of the Brotherhood had it hard enough, or perhaps this is caused by acquired trauma."

The one who came out to smooth things over was a man named Old Smokey. Just by the sound of his voice, one could tell that this guy was not young.

"I am not venomous. People are hypocritical; once the truth is spoken, it makes people angry. Just like you standing out to mediate so hypocritically right now; in fact, your true thought is to kill everyone else in the room."

"Stop it, if you say any more, I won't be able to help but slaughter you."

"If you had that ability, you wouldn't need to care about my thoughts at all. Based on the comparison of our combat power, you are very likely unable to do that."

"You... *huff*—"

Old Smokey seemed to have taken a puff of smoke to calm down, and then fell into silence.

"The three of you, we are about to fight side by side, so there is no need to stir up internal conflict."

Netero, standing at the door, spoke up. He didn't walk into the room; the smoke inside the room was truly too thick.

"So... so much smoke, it's on fire! Someone come and put out the fire!!"

A loud shout came from the street below.