The moment the crocodile appeared, Joey instantly recognized it.
A Chimera Ant of the rare Squad Leader rank.
And Sheer Heart Attack—the autonomous bomb tank Joey had deployed—was steadily creeping toward the Crocodile Ant. At that moment, Joey had only one thought for it: What the hell, Sheer Heart Attack?!
But running away wasn't an option. If the crocodile could catch Pokkle's arrow midair, it could definitely see the tank.
So the instant the explosion detonated, Joey charged in—he had to recall Sheer Heart Attack before escaping.
Emerging first from the firelight was the tank, roaring as it turned around and tried to rush back into the blast. Clearly, the explosion hadn't finished the job.
But Joey reached it first. Killer Queen pressed one hand to the ground, the other sweeping up to absorb Sheer Heart Attack back into its left hand.
At that moment, a massive, charred body burst out of the flames, bellowing with raw fury—the Crocodile Ant.
Its bloodshot eyes were filled with murderous intent. Charging on all fours, it immediately locked onto Killer Queen. Then it lunged high, maw wide open, aiming to bite through the Stand's skull.
Instead, it was greeted by the rapid burst of rifle fire from Joey's hands.
At the same time, the Stand vanished mid-air, evading the strike completely.
But the bullets did little to stop the Crocodile Ant. They pierced its hide—but only just, visibly lodged and stopped by its thick armor.
Further away, Pokkle—who had finally snapped back to reality—fired an arrow. This time, it wasn't his signature fast orange arrow, but a slow-moving, jet-black one.
Before it could land, the Crocodile Ant twisted in mid-air and whipped it aside with its tail. The arrow shattered on contact.
However, the black arrow didn't disappear—it exploded into a cloud of black poison mist, engulfing the creature.
But by then, the Crocodile had already landed on the spot where Killer Queen had stood seconds earlier.
It now knew exactly who had tricked it: the human with the gun.
Just as it prepared to charge, Killer Queen reappeared beside Joey, raising its right thumb in the familiar detonation gesture.
Bing.
A clean click—and detonation followed.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the Crocodile Ant's body, and an invisible explosion erupted from within. Flames surged outward as its insides were torn apart.
Joey saw it clearly: massive aura surged inside the creature, instinctively compressing and resisting the explosion from the inside.
"It won't die!"
He instantly understood why the Bee Ant hadn't been killed earlier, and why this one survived despite taking internal damage.
"Run!"
He shouted the warning toward Pokkle, who was once again drawing his bow, then turned on his heel and bolted into the forest.
As he vanished into the undergrowth, Joey brushed his hand along a tree trunk.
But just as he was about to disappear from the Chimera Ants' sight, a sudden burst of gunfire came from behind him.
Sensing danger, Joey dove and rolled, but still felt a searing pain in his shoulder.
Only one person could still be armed: Ponzu, but she'd never shoot him—especially not now.
That meant only one thing—
The Chimera Ant had picked up the gun dropped by the gray-haired fodder hunter!
Kicking off the ground, Joey scrambled behind the nearest tree for cover.
Bang bang bang! Bullets thudded into the trunk. Behind him, Killer Queen calmly pressed its thumb again.
BOOM. The tree Joey had touched exploded at the contact point, smoke and fire providing the perfect screen.
Without pausing, Joey sprinted away from the battlefield. While running, he brushed his fingers along the leaf of a nearby plant.
Once he was far enough from the blast radius, Killer Queen pressed its thumb again.
Another silent explosion. The Crocodile Ant roared with hatred as black smoke obscured the area.
Several Chimera Ants, trembling under the Squad Leader's fury, chased after Joey's direction. Meanwhile, the Crocodile—bleeding heavily, body torn open—stared daggers at Pokkle, who was shielding Ponzu.
And then—the Crocodile suddenly froze.
A chilling numbness crept out from its wounds, quickly spreading through its entire body.
It turned toward Pokkle, but its vision blurred—it couldn't see what was happening.
Only distant shouting echoed in its ears.
Then—agony.
A fiery red arrow shot into its left eye, burning through and exiting out the back of its skull, leaving a charred hole behind.
The Crocodile Ant froze mid-charge.
Confused, disoriented, furious—it had no idea what was happening. Only darkness awaited it.
Its sole remaining eye locked onto Pokkle, full of confusion, disbelief, frustration, and a seething, all-consuming hatred.
If it had the chance, it would devour every last human alive.
That was the final thought the Crocodile Ant ever had.
Pokkle, still panting, had just finished firing his most powerful shot.
Both the black and red arrows were aura attribute transformations—the red arrow increased destructive power by turning aura into a fire element, while the black arrow transformed aura into poison, his specialty.
Not lethal poison—more like a neurotoxin that dulled the five senses.
Though slower, if shattered, the black arrow became a mist of toxins that infiltrated wounds and rapidly took effect.
Even if it didn't pierce flesh, the poison would still trigger.
The explosion of mist had entered the Crocodile's open wounds and taken immediate effect.
Then Pokkle followed with a red arrow aimed at its weakest point—the eye—delivering a fatal blow.
He had adapted on the fly, noting that Joey's bullets couldn't pierce the creature's hide, and decided to target its softest spot instead of going for the usual fast orange arrow.
This moment of absolute clarity in chaos—reading the situation, maximizing his Nen abilities, and striking with precision—showed Pokkle at his peak.
And the gamble had paid off.
With most Chimera Ants chasing after Joey, only one remained behind: the one that had picked up the rifle.
But Pokkle believed Ponzu could handle it.
He barely had time to think before a chill ran down his spine. His eyes widened.
The Crocodile—the one he had just killed—was now enveloped in inky black aura.
Its shattered head—what was left of it—rose slowly, standing upright under the weight of a vengeful, unnatural aura.
"Shit—RUN!"
Without hesitation, Pokkle grabbed Ponzu and sprinted. She screamed, but he didn't stop.
Back at the rifle-wielding Ant's body, it finally collapsed.
Its corpse was covered in dead bees and oozing pustules.
Its finger was still caught on the rifle's trigger.
The gun chattered softly—da-da-da—almost as if saluting their retreat… and heralding the birth of the "New Crocodile."
Read 20 to 40 chapters ahead : patreon.com/Notorious_Zeke