Change and Home

__________ POV Narration__________

The meeting didn't actually last a long time. It just had Ashton explain how exactly he had become an ant and why he decided to do so.

Kite was especially interested since he had already talked to Ashton about finding more on Chimaera Ants, now he could hazard a guess that Ashton knew a lot more about them.

But that wasn't all of it. He also told everyone about the possibility of a much larger horde and the fact that they needed to be prepared for the worst.

Currently, humanity had quite a few able warriors. They were all spread around all of the cities. But that simply wouldn't do. They needed to build a huge metropolis in the best spot possible for both agriculture and industry, and move everyone in that place.

Only by concentrating their defences into one point would humanity have more chances to survive the next horde.

In truth, Cheadle had already started planning for that. She started connecting all of the city tunnels, creating an underground network. She planned to have it branch off into an even larger maze.

Above that maze would be built the largest city that humanity could afford to build on this new continent.

This plan, however, would take at least two years of work, and that was just because everyone was enhanced by an abundant amount of Nen. It made them all stronger and more endurant.

They didn't know if they had two years left. They needed to draft as much workforce to that project as soon as possible.

Until then, most of the warriors of humanity would be guarding the shore. With Ashton there, it would be easy to transport an entire army rather quickly.

Ashton himself could fly at unimaginable speeds, he'd just need to rip open space and allow the soldiers to march into the rift.

Then he'd just have to take them out at the warzone. But it was better if such a set-up wasn't needed. That method was kept as a last resort.

If anything, Ashton himself was currently humanities last resort. Maha and Kite were also strong, but they would both die in seconds when fighting Ashton. The same stood for all of the leaders.

Even if they banded together, Ashton would likely be able to turn them into trees in seconds. The spores he could release from his skin were just as dangerous as the ones from the blooming flowers he liked growing.

Morel found the situation to be rather frightening, he always found Ashton to be a strange man. But he also knew he could trust him. Now he was just confused as to whether or not the person in front of them was actually the old and jaded scientist he had once seen.

He was simply a different person altogether.

The old chairman Iisac Netero was actually once friends with this version of Ashton, not the one he had turned into while closing himself in laboratories.

Now, Morel could finally understand why Netero found the old scientist to be so worth his time. He went from an explosive and threatening crazed man, to an understandable and easy-going individual.

But he was also reliable, anyone at the table knew that he was someone that humanity owed a lot to. He was the very reason they were all still alive to this day. At least a good portion of them.

Now, the meeting ended on a high note. No one was truly depressed when learning of the estimated number of beasts they had to face. After all, 'Humanity has gone through worse and survived.'

That was the phrase that Ashton told them. It managed to calm them down to a great extent. But it didn't put out the fire underneath them.

They understood that this was now a race. Who would win was to be decided by how much humans were prepared to defend themselves.

The next stopping point for Ashton was quite predictable. He learned from Cheadle that Pitou was with Momoze, so he was obviously going to visit the two of them.

Kite wasn't quite pleased with him intending to leave so early, but they'd get to talk another time. Kurapika was much in the same mind, he was going to wait for an opportunity to speak to the old scientist in person.

But for now, Ashton was simply flying towards the residence of the princes. By now, most of them were done with their Nen training. But they were still living together, purely out of convenience.

Ashton landed in their courtyard, he was greeted by a familiar face. Pointing a gun at him.

It was none other than Theta, she saw a brooding figure land in the middle of the courtyard, she could see a large three-meter long tail on its lower back. She took a second before shouting.

"Intruder!" She was about to press her radio button and alarm the rest of the guards, as well as the princes.

But Ashton just turned around and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She recognized him instantly, she was also instantly embarrassed.

"S-sorry! I didn't recognize you at all!" She said as she took a bow. Ashton just scratched his head a bit. 'Well, ain't this one familiar'

"Theta, it's been a while! Care to tell me if Momoze is in her room or something?" The Chimaera Ant asked with a smile. That friendly smile managed to reveal his jagged teeth slightly. It made Theta flinch in surprise.

She then also noticed the distinct colour of his eyes. It made her gulp a bit.

"Y-yeah... She's in her room... Are you alright?" She seemed genuinely concerned. It made Ashton smile even more.

"Never better. Just feel like greeting her first is a given." Ashton said as he slowly looked around the courtyard.

"I'll be going. See ya around~" Ashton turned around and started walking towards Momoze's room. But he didn't have to walk for long.

He spotted the princess running out of her room with a panic. Seems like Theta's initial scream still alerted a few people.

Momoze's eyes instantly widened when seeing Ashton. The fact that he had a strange tail, jagged teeth and black sclera with yellow pupils didn't seem to even register to her.

She simply ran to him and jumped him. It was a rather odd sight, Ashton wasn't really taken by surprise, he was rather expecting some scorn, but affection was also welcome.

He just smiled while in her embrace. Hugging her back came naturally too.

Then, a much faster figure dashed out from the side. It was none other than Pitou. She also seemed to be rather happy. She decided that tackling Ashton was the right move to make in that situation...

The three of them all came to the ground. Ashton would've been able to keep his footing, but he still chose to fall since there was no reason to ruin Pitou's excitement.

A warm feeling appeared in his heart at that moment, he looked at the sky in glee. He felt a joy he hadn't felt in a long time... A feeling of belonging.

"I'm home~"

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