"You don't seem like a bad person. Neither the bees nor the horse beneath us feel any hostility from you,"
Ponzu suddenly whispered into Joey's ear—not long after his muttering from earlier.
The warm breath on his earlobe sent a shiver through him. His signature arched brows twitched, and he instinctively shifted in his seat.
"I've said it before—I'm just an ordinary salaryman who longs for a peaceful life. I only joined the organization because I had no choice. I was born and raised in NGL—where else could I go?"
Joey spoke with a touch of resignation, loud enough for the others to hear.
"Well, you're pretty damn dedicated to the role," Killua piped up from nearby.
"Dedicated? More like trying not to stand out and not be looked down on. A delicate balance."
Joey's answer was complicated. Probably how Kira Yoshikage had once rationalized his own existence.
Of course, if that bastard had dropped the whole severed-hand fetish, Joey might even have thanked him—hell, he'd dedicate a song:
"Thank you… because of you…"
"You're full of contradictions. Still, seems like you did well for yourself in that group," Killua commented.
He wasn't one for idealistic nonsense. Born into an assassin family, raised on blood and darkness—Killua had met plenty of scum.
Hell, his own relatives were world-class trash. Years of exposure had sharpened his instinct for detecting perverts and creeps.
And Joey… Joey had that scent.
"Yeah, you're not normal at all," Killua muttered with a slight grin.
"No, I'm very normal. I get regular health checkups. Doctors say I'm perfectly healthy."
Joey grinned, aura slipping seamlessly back into Zetsu.
"Then you must've seen a quack. I could recommend a good doctor. Though, full disclosure—he probably wouldn't like you."
"Appreciate it, but I firmly believe I'm normal," Joey replied with polite defiance.
"It's always the ones who say they're normal that you gotta watch out for," Ponzu chimed in, rolling her eyes.
"So even you think I'm weird?" Joey's trademark brows smoothed out, and he chuckled with a sly squint.
Whether he was normal or not, he had no clue. But he did know Kira once got checked and passed as "mentally sound." That said more about the doctor than Kira.
"I have a boyfriend, by the way," Ponzu said with a wry smile, pinching Joey lightly at the waist.
Joey didn't flinch. "You ever heard the saying? 'If you swing your hoe just right, there's no corner that can't be stolen.'"
"If you say one more word, I'll let loose a Red Arrow and shut you up permanently," Basho growled, finally speaking up.
Joey froze, then let out a laugh—but abruptly stopped as Kite's cold voice cut through.
"Your aura's messy. If you can't maintain Zetsu for at least ten minutes next time, I'll personally shut your mouth."
The entire squad snorted or laughed quietly as Joey shut up for real and shifted back into Ten.
As for the flirting—he wasn't actually interested. Ponzu wasn't his type anyway.
But in that lighthearted back-and-forth, the once-heavy atmosphere started to lift.
Their horses weren't slow. As dusk turned into full night, they drew near the borderline.
Far ahead, Joey spotted two massive trees looming over the horizon.
If he had to describe their size… he'd say he felt like a caterpillar at the base. And that one leaf—just one—would be enough to feed him for life.
Maybe only after he emerged from his cocoon could he glimpse even a sliver of those towering titans.
They were simply monumental—centuries, maybe millennia in the making. Joey couldn't begin to guess.
Just seeing them from a distance stirred something deep in his chest.
Instinctively, he pulled out his phone and snapped a few blurry shots in the moonlight.
"Damn it. This resolution is trash."
He wanted to chuck the phone but instead turned it toward Ponzu and Gon, catching both mid-laugh. Killua, however, was too fast to capture—just a blur.
Didn't matter. Joey casually took a selfie next.
Of course, after days of running, sweating, and fighting, he looked like a total mess.
But beneath the grime, his handsome features were still obvious.
Short black hair, sharp bone structure, and those expressive arched brows gave him a striking presence.
At nearly 180cm tall, fit and muscular, he looked every bit the dependable kind.
Joey was honestly quite satisfied with how he looked.
"Let's move," Kite ordered.
Joey hopped off his horse mid-selfie, and Kite gave Dina—the local translator—his final instructions.
They'd spent a little over three hours traveling from the village to the border. The sun had fully set.
Joey glanced at his phone: 7:50 PM.
After three solid hours of practice, Joey had mostly grasped Zetsu.
If you excluded freaks like Gon and Killua, who'd grown up learning how to suppress their presence from childhood, this was an insanely fast pace.
Of course, he couldn't maintain it indefinitely—but his goal had never been full mastery.
He just needed to use Zetsu on his upper body, while maintaining Ten in his legs.
That way, he could keep his speed up and save energy without burning through his aura reserves.
He wasn't sure how long he could hold this hybrid state—but on the way here, he'd already sustained full Zetsu for over 30 minutes.
The squad exchanged glances. In unison, they took off—their acceleration outpacing the horses they left behind.
The two government "escorts" tried to ask something—maybe about why Kite's group stopped.
But after watching the four of them rocket forward faster than steeds, they could only gape in silence.
Dina, the translator, chuckled.
"They've still got work to do. We'll head back to the outpost. NGL's internal situation has drastically changed—I need to report to the Association."
The two observers exchanged looks, then nodded.
Even if they hadn't seen any Chimera Ants personally, the abandoned village, the blood, the corpses—it was enough to tell them something was very wrong.
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