Joey didn't make any sudden moves.
He kept his pace steady, moving through the forest with caution, careful not to betray awareness of the Chimera Ant tailing him.
Taking it down wouldn't be hard. As he ran, his brain had already mapped out several methods.
Regardless of whether the ant struck first, Joey planned to eliminate it soon—because, according to his map, in about half an hour he'd reach another village.
And under the current circumstances, he wasn't about to gamble on whether that village had already been overrun.
He glanced at the map one more time, then tucked it away and reached into his pack.
After a moment's hesitation, he pulled out a bamboo canister, roughly the length of his forearm. It was meant to hold water, but now—it would hold death.
After moving a bit farther, Joey stopped under a towering tree.
He scouted the surroundings with meticulous care.
Then, crouching low, he slipped the bamboo tube into a crevice beneath a cluster of stones at the tree's base.
He triple-checked the area—no ambush, no traps—then sprinted off into the deeper forest.
Thirty seconds later, the hunter arrived.
It flew on gossamer wings, its insectoid body bearing a bee's head, four segmented arms, a bloated abdomen, and a gleaming purple stinger twitching at its tail's end.
It scanned the area with bulbous black eyes, antennae twitching.
After confirming the absence of danger, it fixated on the bamboo canister.
It crept forward, extending one arm to touch it—
BOOM.
The explosion tore it apart.
Killer Queen's First Bomb.
Any object Joey touched could be turned into a trigger. And if the enemy touched it, they'd explode.
Joey had deliberately made the bamboo tube a trap, hoping the ant's curiosity would get the better of it.
And now, a sudden drain of stamina told him what he needed to know.
The trap worked.
He paused for a moment, then began making his way back, carefully. He hadn't gone far, but his alert state slowed his return.
About a minute later, he emerged at a distant vantage point, overlooking the ambush site.
The bee ant was still twitching—not quite dead.
Killer Queen stepped forward.
Its left hand flexed.
The tank dropped.
Sheer Heart Attack.
The skull-faced vehicle screeched to life, tore down the forest floor with its signature arrogance, and—upon contact—detonated again.
The remaining fragments of the Chimera Ant were obliterated.
Smoke. Ash. Silence.
The tank rumbled in place for a few seconds, then reversed course and returned to Killer Queen's hand.
Joey swallowed the rising bile in his throat. His lips twitched.
He didn't retrieve the bamboo canister.
It had done its job, but its failure to instantly kill the ant left him uneasy.
When he'd primed it, he'd done so with lethal intent.
But the ant survived the first blast.
Why?
Was there a limit to how much energy each bomb could hold?
Did his subconscious cap the output?
Or did the ant react in time to avoid the fatal zone?
Too many unknowns.
Too little data.
But there'd be time for analysis later.
If he lived.
If he got out.
Then he'd study everything—Stands, stamina, Nen—until he mastered it all.
Half an hour later, a new group of Chimera Ants arrived at the scene.
Among them, a dog-headed one sniffed the air and pointed toward the direction Joey had run.
They ignored the shredded corpse and gave chase.
Joey, unaware of this new pursuit, checked the time on his phone.
Three o'clock.
He still had at least three to four hours before reaching the base.
And the window was closing fast.
If he didn't make it by nightfall, he was screwed.
Half an hour later, Joey passed the village marked on his map.
From a high ridge, he peered down.
No signs of life.
Collapsed homes. Crushed walls.
Clear signs of a Chimera Ant attack.
His chest tightened. He moved on—more cautious than ever.
But the deeper he went, the more hostile the wilderness became.
This eco-worshipping zone wasn't just infested with Chimera Ants.
There were venomous insects, predators the world had never catalogued, and plants that could paralyze with a touch.
Even with survival training, Joey had to stay hyper-vigilant.
His progress slowed drastically.
The sun dipped westward.
Time running out.
His anxiety built with each step—but anxiety wouldn't save him.
In this place, it would kill him faster.
Killer Queen's presence was his anchor—its constant shadow his only guarantee of survival.
An hour later, Joey slowed.
He smelled blood.
Heavy, iron-rich, human blood.
Then he saw them.
Bodies.
Wearing white tactical uniforms.
Surrounded by rifles. Ammo. Broken gear.
Not villagers.
Organizational personnel.
He was still an hour out from the base.
But Chimera Ants had already made it this far.
Joey looked to the sky.
Nearly six o'clock.
He'd been running for almost three hours straight.
He'd refilled his water at a stream. Eaten.
But Killer Queen's constant presence, and sporadic ability usage, had burned through his stamina.
He was exhausted.