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The rocky terrain shifted and crackled under the harsh weight of the truck's tires as it drove through, dust flying up from the wheels.

While Dinner drove, Killua, Gon, Valentine and Kite sat in the front with Banana, Mon and Spin sitting in the back.

Since there wasn't enough space in the front and with enough flustered bickering back and forth between the two, Valentine had reluctantly sat in Killua's lap. His arms were strongly wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder as her back relaxed against his chest; his arms acting as a seatbelt to keep her in place so that she didn't go flying or move whenever the truck hit a bump.

Meanwhile, Zeus was heatedly glaring into the silverette's skull with his beady, black eyes as he sat atop of Gon's shoulder.

Color painted the young blonde's cheeks and her face grew hot, warmth slowly traveling up her neck as she kept her eyes forward.

She swore that they had all planned this out and done it on purpose. It was almost like the whole group had sensed that the two liked one another and hadn't done anything about it, so they did.

Judging by how Gon kept glancing towards them and tried to keep his smile at bay.

Which he was obviously failing at.

'It's been days.. no, it's been months since it last rained here',Kite spoke up and the four glanced towards him,'The weather this year has been so unstable. It's possible that it's even affecting the wildlife in some way, though it's hard to say just yet'

'So, the insect with a large leg could be a mutation influenced by these conditions'

Hearing this, Valentine glanced between their older companions and slowly brought her lip in between her teeth.

If the insect had grown that large and they were a carnivorous animal, what kinds of things would they eat just to survive.

'But, why would it have grown larger?'

'In order to survive more easily?',Mon guessed,'If it were bigger, it would have a much better chance of securing it's food'

Glancing towards Zeus, Valentine noticed that he was much larger than any other hawk she had come across and it was either because of the species of hawk he was or his species evolutionary track.

'Yeah, that's true, but it would need more too, wouldn't it?',Banana asked,'It may be larger, but that doesn't always assist in survival. Environments one thing, but I think this is related to the chimera ant's nature'

'I agree',Spin stated,'They do reproduce in a unique way that isn't found in any other organism'

Turning around, Gon looked between the group and pulled his eyebrows together.

'They do?',The green haired boy spoke up,'How?'

'They reproduce though a special process known as phagogenesis',Kite explained, causing the four to turn his way and curious expressions formed on their faces.

'Phago..genesis?'

"What is that..?"

'What does it mean?'

Tilting his head to the side, a low chirp left Zeus's beak and he shifted atop of Gon's shoulder, getting a more comfortable grip with his talons before he looked towards Kite; his head still tilted to the side in curiosity.

'When a Chimera Ant Queen eats other creatures, she's then able to impart characteristics of those creatures on to the subsequent generation. So you see, in other words, ingesting multiple species allows her to pass on a mix of all kinds of different genes to her offspring. With each feeding, she lays between one and five eggs. The first generation of births are completely infertile, so they become worker or soldier ants',Kite explained and turned his gaze towards the window, watching the rocky terrain as they sped through,'They live their lives in service to the Queen as well as her eventual successors. Those successors become the king and queen of the next generation. The Queen is always looking to consume the genes of strong organisms; this allows her to pass their traits down to her offspring and she may even devour her preferred fodder species to it's complete extinction'

'Extinction!? Really?'

'Yes, her appetite is voracious and it can drive her to consume her own body weight many times over in a single day',Spin told them,'That's why Chimera Ants are under a designated quarantine, level one'

Tightening his grip around Valentine's waist only slightly, Killua turned his head and looked towards Kite, the fading light shinning in through casted a shadow over their faces as the young girl's beautiful eyes glistened like a freshly made pot of gold in the dim lightning.

'So if she sets her eyes on you, you're finished, huh?',The silverette asked,'Judging by the size of that claw, she's at least two meters long. That thing could eat a human in no time at all'

Everyone went silent, except for the groans of discomfort and Kite glanced towards the silverette out of the corner of his eyes, looking into the young boy's strong gaze, before he looked forward once more.

'Yes, you're right about that'

With a frown pulling at her lips, Valentine looked up at Killua and as he looked down at her, worried gold and hardened oceanic eyes locked onto one another, both colors clashing together as they shone in the dull lighting.

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In the rustic woven browns, in the golden grains, the pier was all the solid foundation and stretched into a welcoming sea.

The soft beat of footfall echoed throughout the air as the group met up with the rest of Kite's team and the gentle swaying of waves symphonies in the wind.

'Meet Gon, Valentine, Killua and Zeus. I had mentioned them on the phone'

A small man with glasses gently pushed the spectacles up his face and stared at the children, a welcoming smile on his lips.

'Hello there, my name is L-Lin Koshi. Pleasure to meet you'

'And my name is Podungo Lapoy',The young woman introduced herself,'Glad to have you on board'

Bright smiles formed on Gon and Valentine's faces as they looked between the other two members, slowly lifting their hands, waving slightly.

"It's very nice to meet you, as well!"

'Glad to be here, Mr. Lin and you too, Ms. Podungo'

Nodding his head slightly, Killua gave the two new members a small smile and waved vaguely.

'Likewise'

'Back to business, so where was the leg discovered?'

Lifting her hand, Podungo pointed to the left and they all looked towards that side of the beach.

'On the beach right over there'

'And a-according to the locals here, one day it just w-washed up on the shore'

Walking towards the patch of beach where the leg was found, they all started looking around the warm sand and Zeus spread his wings, flying off of Gon's shoulder, beady black eyes looking around.

'There's a forest right behind us'

'Well, if it ran in there, it'll be difficult to find it'

Looking towards the tree line, a soft breeze gently blew through the beach and golden wisps of hair softly tickled the young girl's cheek as she narrowed her eyes.

"Well, if it did run in there, Zeus shouldn't have too hard of a time finding anything",Valentine stated and some of the group looked towards her, while others continued to search,"But even if he does find something, there's no telling if it's still alive"

'That's a good point',Dinner spoke up and turned towards the young girl, causing her to look up at him,'We don't even know if it ended up on the same island that it's leg drifted to'

'Let's find out then'

Turning towards the woman, Valentine watched as a snow white puppy poked his head out of her backpack and jumped to the ground, causing the blonde's eyes to glisten.

Jumping to the ground, the dog looked up at Banana expectedly and as soon as she put the vial in front of his nose, causing him to sniff it curiously.

'Here, just remember this scent'

'I can help too!'

Looking at Gon weirdly at he ran over and leaned down, sniffing at the vial, Banana looked up at Valentine and Killua for an explanation.

Smiling a bit, Killua placed his hand on his hip and glanced towards Valentine as she chuckled slightly, lifting her hand to stifle the sound.

'Gon's sense of smell is just as good as a dog's'

Watching as Gon crawled around on all fours, sniffing at the sand, Valentine could understand why people who had only just met him would think it was strange and she couldn't help but admire his sense of smell.

After a while of sniffing around, the dog walked up to a tree and peed on it, before returning to the group.

'Shoot, he can't find anything'

'I suppose that the scent may have disappeared, it probably rained since then'

'Nothing from me either'

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Killua turned and looked down at Valentine.

'Let's hope that Zeus has some better luck'

Looking up at him, Valentine nodded slowly and frowned, hoping that he had found something as well.

A loud screech filled the air and looking towards it, the group watched as a blue hawk raced towards them.

Holding up her arm, Valentine smiled softly as Zeus spread his wings and slowed down, spreading his talons before they gently latched onto her arm, settling down with a low churr.

Watching as he ruffled his feathers and lifted his right wing, itching it, Valentine sighed softly, looking towards the others as she slowly shook his head.

He hadn't found anything either.

'I guess that means that the Chimera Ant isn't here'

Looking away from them, Kite scanned the area with his dark eyes and hummed lowly.

'We should consider the possibility it may have washed ashore elsewhere',Kite spoke up and then, looked back towards the group,'Which direction do the currents flow here?'

'It's complicated, directions reverse between day and night'

'And it changes with the seasons too, it can even be different on certain days'

A loud pop echoed through the air as Spin's hum popped and she placed her hand on her hip.

'It'll be tough to pinpoint a precise location'

Walking up to the woman, Gon smiled up at her and she glanced down at him.

'Well, it's too early to give up',The green-haired boy stated,'Let's just split up and search'

Smiling back down at him, she nodded her head and rose her eyebrows slightly, an impressed look in her eyes.

'Good idea'

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Having split up, the three walked through the area and followed after Zeus as he flew ahead of them, leading the three as they all looked around; keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

'Still nothing',Gon sighed out as they met back up with the others.

'It's pointless to be searching blindly like this, let's go back to Yorknew City',Kite suggested,'If we're lucky, we may be able to find a new lead to follow'

As they drove back to the city, everyone was asleep; except for Zeus and Kite, and Valentine was gently resting her head on Killua's chest, soft breaths leaving her lips.

His arms gently held her to his chest and gentle breaths left his lips, his head softly leaned forward so that his cheek was resting atop of the blonde's head.

Staring out the window, Kite couldn't help but think about the chimera ant leg he had seen and the sight of it, just couldn't escape his mind.

But little did the group know, that not too far from where they were, a Chimera Ant had just been born and had confirmed their worst fears.

A Chimera Ant had been born with human genes.

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Hey guys, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and I'm sorry if it's not too good, I just got off of counseling so my writing may be a bit odd lol.

But the next chapter should hopefully be better and I'm sorry for the lack of Villua moments, but I promise you that there are going to be a lot more this season.

Anyway, if you guys have any questions I'll be happy to answer them (unless they contain spoilers) and I'll see you all in the next chapter!