The airship arrived at the Hunter Association headquarters helipad early the next morning.
From the cabin windows, one could see the crowd gathered outside.
As soon as the spinning propellers stopped, the airship door opened, releasing the boarding ladder to the ground.
A group of people, who had been waiting for quite some time, immediately gathered around.
Most of them were members of the Hunter Association, with only a few others present.
Some stood by the ladder, gazing at the cabin door.
Others were busy typing messages on their phones, while a few were preparing red carpets and flowers.
When the Chimera Ant Extermination Team, led by Chairman Netero, descended the ladder, the crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause, whistles, and cheers.
However, the team presented to the public consisted of only five people: Netero, Morel, Knov, Germain, and Knuckle.
Shoot still needed more time to recover in bed.
Due to their Chimera Ant appearances, Palm, Meleoron, Ikalgo, Welfin, Bloster, and Hina were not suitable for public exposure during such a sensitive time.
For now, they had to remain inside the airship, silently listening to the cheers and jubilations outside, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.
Once the crowd dispersed, insiders would quietly escort them off the airship and settle them into a secluded apartment.
The heroes among them would receive flowers and awards, but these would only come in the shadows, away from the spotlight.
Only much later would their achievements be revealed to the public.
Even then, if no special circumstances arose, their stories would likely remain low-profile.
After all, no writer or mangaka was going to create a biography dedicated to them.
Leading the group welcoming the Chimera Ant Extermination Team were the Association Secretary Beans, and two members of the Zodiac, Cheadle and Mizaistom Nana.
"Dog" Cheadle and "Ox" Mizaistom arrived at the Hunter Association headquarters quite early, even leaving their tasks behind specifically for this.
Their tasks weren't urgent to begin with, especially since Chairman Netero himself had ordered them to head to the headquarters immediately.
This made their arrival exceptionally fast.
Normally, one member of the "Zodiac" would definitely have arrived before them—"Rat" Pariston Hill.
Pariston, who became the Vice Chairman of the Hunter Association less than a year ago, spent most of his time at the headquarters.
Whenever something major happened within the Association, he would suddenly show up to make his presence known, almost as if he were the actual chairman.
Yet, Netero always indulged him.
But this time, the typically flamboyant Pariston was surprisingly absent.
Many people found this strange, but those with sharp minds had already figured out why and wisely chose to stay silent about it.
At the welcoming event happening before them, everyone's focus was naturally on Chairman Netero, followed by Germain, and then Morel, Knov, and Knuckle.
After exchanging a few words with Netero, Cheadle paused for a moment before turning toward Germain.
She stopped in front of Germain, quickly sizing him up. Then, this "dog lady" adjusted her glasses in a composed manner and extended her hand to him.
"Germain, I'm Cheadle. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your performance this time was impressive."
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too."
Germain shook hands with Cheadle briefly before letting go.
Right after, Mizaistom approached them. His hat and outfit were covered in black-and-white cow patterns.
The admiration that the "Zodiac" members held for Chairman Netero was evident. To match the titles of "Dog" and "Ox" given by the Chairman, both Cheadle and Mizaistom went to great lengths with their appearances.
Cheadle dressed like a dog lady, while Mizaistom wore clothes resembling a cow. They embraced their roles with pride, and most professional hunters didn't see any issue with this.
Only the anti-chairman faction or some neutral parties thought the reverence for Chairman Netero was a bit excessive.
Still, even personal admiration needed a solid foundation. Not everyone could inspire such loyalty like Netero.
Chairman Netero's prestige was something he had built over decades.
Mizaistom also shook hands with Germain.
The two members of the "Zodiac Twelve" didn't show excessive enthusiasm towards Germain; their handshake was brief and formal.
In contrast, Beans, wearing white gloves, held Germain's hands tightly, joy evident on his face as he gently shook them.
Beans already knew that Chairman Netero had a "Poor Man's Rose" installed in his body, which was on the verge of detonating.
If Germain hadn't arrived in time and defeated the Ant King, Meruem, Chairman Netero might have been forced to take that drastic step.
If that had happened, Beans would have been preparing Netero's funeral right now.
He was genuinely grateful to Germain.
At times like this, no one would bring up the fact that Netero privately sought Germain's help, bypassing the Association's protocols.
The outcome was positive, so they could deal with the formalities afterward.
Morel, Knov, and Knuckle weren't left out either; they received plenty of praise from the group.
However, they all knew who the real hero of the Chimera Ant Extermination was, so they willingly let Germain take the spotlight.
After chatting briefly and letting reporters snap a few photos, the crowd in front of the airship finally started to disperse.
Entering the first-floor lobby of the Hunter Association headquarters, the reporters were the first to part ways—they weren't allowed to follow further.
On the second floor, Netero instructed most of the members to return to their posts, so the crowd thinned out even more.
By the time they reached the Chairman's office, only Netero, Germain, Cheadle, Mizaistom, Morel, Knov, Knuckle, and Beans were left.
Beans was about to pour tea for everyone when Netero quietly tugged at the back of his suit and winked at him with his right eye.
"Chairman…?"
"Beans," Netero said in a low voice, "those two DVDs I gave you earlier—return them to me later."
Beans immediately remembered. Before the final battle of the Chimera Ant Extermination, Chairman Netero had indeed entrusted him with two DVDs containing his last words.
Although Netero enjoyed teasing Beans, he always trusted him with critical matters.
The content of the DVDs was undoubtedly significant.
By entrusting them to Beans, Netero made it clear that Beans would be responsible for sharing their contents with everyone in the future.
Netero's trust in Beans was unquestionable.
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