(Book 2) Neferpitou and the human Royal Guard

Chapter 6 Conspiracies.

At Professor Jovesworth's warehouse

"My goodness, boy! What in the devil's name happened to your hand?!" Jovesworth asks in shock when I arrive at his warehouse.

Chuckling, I respond "Not my blood, Professor. But, you may want to check it out later. You got any equipment stored in here that can analyze blood samples?"

"I suppose I can dust off some old equipment to do a minor analysis, but we would need to take this to a proper hospital for anything specific. So, what happened? You didn't get into a deadly scuffle with one of the others, did you?" he asks concerned.

"No, nothing like that. This blood is from some mafia guy that showed up. Not from Donny, a different mafia guy." I elaborate. "I can give you the details later, for now, can you take some samples of this blood for later and come with me? King Meruem requests your presence."

"Alright, but you'd better explain what is going on later." Jovesworth says as he walks away to one of the shelves, coming back with a syringe to extract any of the blood that hasn't been dried. He admittedly has a hard time doing this, seeing as I just left it on my hand like an idiot for a long while, thus a lot of it has dried up. Once he gets a suitable sample, he finds a place to tuck it away for the time being, flying back over to me and perching on my shoulder. As I then walk out of the warehouse with him on my shoulder, he unsummons it and we make our way to the throne room. On our way there, the professor conjures himself a monocle, top hat, and bowtie so that he may be more presentable to King Meruem.

Timeskip to the throne room where Meruem relays what Donny said in the last chapter, along with what was discussed about Harey's blood to Jovesworth and asks for his input on the matter, cuz I'm lazy

"Well now, quite the unexpected turn of events... Is there anything else that needs mentioning?" Jovesworth asks.

"Hound also knew to refer to me as a Royal Guard. Unless someone else mentioned our titles, it becomes almost certain that other chimera ants have infiltrated the mafia at some point." I add.

The professor brings a wing under his beak in contemplation. "Hm, agreed. While I'm not one to jump to quick conclusions like that, it does seem rather likely. Even more so if they didn't act surprised upon seeing us."

"So, have you any advice on how to move forward with this knowledge. Do you have any additional thoughts on the implications?" The King asks Jovesworth.

Jovesworth then answers with "I find it rather odd that they did not even suggest a proper alliance outside of business deals. If they know you are all chimera ants, then it may be quite a strategic move for them to attempt to bring us into their organization. Could they have motives that conflict with our very presence here?"

Pouf then chimes in. "I believe it very likely that this 'Father' wishes to maintain his own power and influence over the humans. Bringing us in would greatly complicate that possibility for him. With us remaining here, it is likely they feel that they can retain their current influence without us interfering. It would make sense, considering how many of our kind attempted to emulate King Meruem and establish their own kingdoms when we left the nest, this possibility seems to be the most probable."

"Indeed." Meruem says. "Though the question remains, do we trust them?"

The professor further contemplates this before saying "I'd say not, but it would not be in our best interest to act just yet. For now, we should just play nice and accept their help. However, we should only request direct financial aid if they are truly willing to lend us resources in exchange for donating the bodies and leaving their operations alone. They may try to send us contaminated food if they deem us a liability. It is wise if we simply make our own purchases to any neighboring regions, for the simple fact of safety, as well as enhancing foreign relations."