Deadline × To × Live.Ikalgo and Palm send Welfin to set up a hostage exchange with Mereum for their friends, Ikalgo calling Welfin by his original name while revealing they and Bloster were originally Gyro's subordinates. Ikalgo also reveals to Welfin that he believes Gyro is reborn as a Chimera Ant. Welfin meets Youpi and relays the message, only to decide to interrogate the Royal Guard after learning he has no memory of being human. Having finally finished the selection while realizing something is wrong as Pitou's corpse puppets ceased function, Pouf finds Youpi dead and flies to alert Meruem. Meruem, having regained some memory from both the word "game" and a Gungi King piece Pouf missed, deems the Royal Guard had forfeited and demands answers. Meanwhile, noting their questionable methods are proof of their humanity, Palm and Ikalgo hide Komugi in a safe place as the former reveals to Ikalgo that they are stalling for time as Meruem is slowly dying of radiation poisoning from being exposed to the Miniature Rose.