Sheer Heart Attack trundled back across the creek, rejoining Killer Queen's hand. Joey slung the now-empty rifle off his shoulder and tossed it into the water, then winced as he knelt beside the stream to wash the blood from his wounded shoulder.
He also noticed the large purplish bruise blooming across his right arm—leftover damage from the earlier hit by the pillbug-like Chimera Ant.
Face pale, Joey lifted his shirt to wipe away the sweat clinging to his brow. Somehow, this moment made him feel like one of those gritty action heroes, reloading bullets with bloody fingers in some war movie.
He couldn't help but summon Killer Queen and strike a JoJo pose on impulse.
Well, technically, he just needed Killer Queen to help him wrap the wound with a cloth bandage. Once he was sure the bleeding had stopped, Joey turned and slipped back into the forest.
Besides those two major injuries, Joey's body was covered in minor scrapes and cuts—marks from branches, rocks, or the chaos of combat and fleeing. Compared to the fire burning in his shoulder, those were nothing.
Now that he'd discarded the rifle, his only remaining ranged weapon was the handgun he'd brought at the very beginning.
But with Killer Queen by his side, Joey wasn't too worried.
Rather than heading toward the base, he turned northeast—toward the village near the base.
He moved carefully, quietly, brushing away footprints and disturbed foliage wherever he could.
As the horizon began to glow with the pale light of dawn, a stretch of rice paddies came into view.
Following the edge of the field, he spotted houses in the distance—silent, seemingly abandoned. Bloodstains littered the road, scattered debris lay across the village, and a few severely mutilated corpses were visible even from afar.
The smell of blood was suffocating.
With utmost caution, Killer Queen at his side, Joey crossed the embankment and entered the village.
He chose a house with a good vantage point, climbed in through a window, and swept the room for threats. Once he was confident it was safe, he settled by the window, exhaling quietly.
Now, it was time to wait—for Kite and his team to appear.
Of course, Joey wasn't going to wait forever. If they didn't show up by around 3 or 4 p.m., he'd follow his original plan and head to the base.
By that time, the base would likely have been completely overrun by Chimera Ants. But most of the Ants would have moved on, and the remaining forces should be minimal. Unless his luck utterly betrayed him, Joey didn't think he'd run into any trouble if he moved cautiously.
There, he could gather supplies: food, water, weapons—essentials in the worst-case scenario, if Kite never showed up.
He wasn't naive enough to bet his life on the manga's protagonists.
In a world this dangerous and unpredictable, preparing for the worst was the smart choice.
Around 8 a.m., Joey was dozing near the window when a gunshot jerked him awake.
He rubbed his eyes and cautiously peered out toward the edge of the village.
Out among the rice paddies stood a Chimera Ant—its long, fiery-red hair flowing wild, its body armored in green insect carapace. It was laughing maniacally, waving a handgun.
Ahead of it ran a desperate-looking middle-aged man, clearly injured.
Even from a distance, Joey could see the blood—gunshot wounds. The man's ability to run was only due to the Ant playing with its food.
Joey's fists clenched—but he didn't move.
Charging out now wouldn't save the man. He'd only die with him.
Instead, Joey weighed his options: Should he try to ambush the Chimera Ant after it finished its game, or remain hidden and wait for it to leave?
Before he could decide, a shadow darted out of the forest.
Joey barely caught a glimpse. The black blur passed the fleeing man and stopped right in front of the insectoid Ant.
Shhk!
A fountain of blood erupted from the man's neck, his body collapsing instantly.
The black figure now fully visible—tall, sleek, with powerful limbs—shook off a chunk of bone and tossed it casually to the green Ant.
"Is Kill-Resin here?" The voice came from the newcomer, a leopard-faced Chimera Ant clad in animal pelts and shorts. Its tone was lazy, playful.
The green Ant's smug face dropped instantly. It caught the bone and bowed slightly. "Kill-Resin-sama is mopping up the base. I was just—"
Before it could finish, the leopard Ant—Cheetu—was gone.
Swallowing its words, the green Ant glanced down at the mangled corpse, now utterly boring. It tossed the bone into its mouth, crunched it lazily, and strolled toward the woods.
Joey, hidden below the window, had stopped breathing the moment Cheetu appeared.
He recognized him immediately—one of the Squad Leaders.
The fusion of a leopard and a human, fast as lightning, with deadly hunting instincts. His brain might be a little scrambled—sometimes even acting weirdly adorable—but he was lethal. Joey had no chance against him.
He wouldn't even be able to get a word out before losing a limb.
Joey didn't even catch Cheetu's arrival. His base stats weren't high, he had no Nen, and without Killer Queen's trickery, he couldn't fight someone like that at all.
He couldn't exactly reach behind and touch his own neck just to drag Cheetu into a suicide bombing.
Thankfully, Cheetu hadn't noticed him, and the green Ant had wandered off.
But their appearance made Joey even more afraid to leave his hideout.
His fingers were back at his lips, chewing his nails again. He huddled beneath the window, no longer the gun-toting badass from the river.
His trademark frown was tight, eyes filled with grim tension—and fear.
In a place so drenched in blood, where monsters could appear at any second, Joey's tightly wound nerves finally snapped.
Fear crept in with each passing second.
No bees. No sign of Ponzu. No sound of backup. Maybe she died last night. Maybe she and Pokkle escaped.
Around 11 a.m., a shrill animal scream echoed from the direction of the base—long, pained, unnatural. Like something was being tortured by some twisted executioner.
The sound made Joey shiver for minutes before he calmed down.
Around 2 p.m., gunshots rang out again—from the direction the green Ant had gone earlier.
Did it come back? Find another victim?
"Could it be... Ponzu?" Joey whispered. He stopped himself from biting his fingers—blood would only attract Ants.
Not that it mattered. The stench of blood around the village drowned out any trace of his own.
He checked his phone—still only one bar of signal—and put it away again.
Then he pulled out the wallet.
After spending time apart from him, the Nen clinging to it had become slightly more solid—and now began to trickle into Joey's body.
The warmth of that energy calmed his heart.
Just then, Joey looked out the window again.
His eyes widened.
Familiar silhouettes were emerging from the forest…
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