After Joey and the others had left, Pokkle suddenly turned toward Ponzu.
"What a shame."
"Hm? What is?" Ponzu looked at him, puzzled.
"Joey's likely tied to a bounty. If we handed him over to the client, I bet we'd score a decent reward—and maybe even a merit bonus," Pokkle said bluntly. "I also suspect he's carrying some kind of artifact that accelerates stamina recovery."
"Wanted? A stamina-restoring artifact?"
Ponzu's brows knit in thought.
She had no reason to doubt the "wanted" part—Pokkle had always had a knack for intel gathering.
But claiming Joey had a treasure… what was his basis for that?
After thinking it over carefully, Ponzu recalled a few subtle hints.
Last night, Joey had clearly been out of stamina, likely due to being new to Nen. But by this morning, he'd looked fully recovered. Especially while training earlier—he really did seem to bounce back far too quickly.
And Ponzu knew that kind of recovery speed was impossible for her.
If Pokkle brought it up, it meant he couldn't pull it off either.
Plus, Joey's overprotectiveness of that cloth pouch…
All these little clues lined up, and suddenly Pokkle's guess didn't sound so far-fetched. Maybe even 80% likely.
But Ponzu still shook her head. She trusted her bees, and they hadn't sensed any malice in Joey.
To her, he didn't seem like the kind of person his identity suggested.
More importantly, she was completely over being in NGL.
She wanted no further part of this place.
This trip into NGL had been an awakening for her—a harsh but necessary reminder of how far she had to go.
It showed her just how weak she truly was.
"I used to suspect he was a Reinforcement-type user," Pokkle continued. "But given the speed at which he's recovering stamina and even physical injury, not even a standard Enhancer could pull that off. That's why I revealed his identity when I did."
Pokkle was still talking, clearly unaware of Ponzu's inner thoughts.
"I needed Kite to be on guard. After all, drug cartel members are human scum—there's no getting around that. If he's a wanted man and a trafficker, that makes him scum among scum."
"Even if Joey seems like a decent guy in person, he's got blood on his hands. He's a murderer, a drug pusher. Being eaten alive by Chimera Ants would be a light sentence in his case."
"I don't think Kite intends to let him go free either. He probably just wants to secure the useful intel first."
"But the real clincher?" Pokkle's tone shifted slightly.
"After dark, when the horse bucked unexpectedly, I got a brief glimpse inside Joey's cloth pouch—and felt a trace of aura that didn't belong to him."
"It was faint, vanished in a flash when he adjusted the pouch to hide it, but it was there. That's what confirmed it for me. He's holding something powerful."
Pokkle's final words came like the strike of a judge's gavel.
"…So, what do you plan to do now?" Ponzu asked seriously. "NGL's going to get even more dangerous. Is staying here for some maybe-magic trinket really worth the risk?"
"Kite was right," Pokkle replied without hesitation. "This is the best place for someone who wants to stand on their own. I've been comparing myself to Killua and Gon nonstop. They've grown incredibly fast—and I want to grow stronger too."
"My current power isn't enough, but as long as I avoid direct confrontation with monsters like that Crocodile Ant, this place is ideal for building skill and racking up achievements."
His conviction was clear.
"If Joey completes Kite's mission and gets picked up? Fine, we let it go. But if he runs off midway—we take him down."
To Pokkle, Joey wasn't a threat—he spoke of him like he could be squashed at will.
"Ponzu," Pokkle looked at her earnestly. "Will you stay with me? I need your ability."
Her bees were critical—not only for tracking Joey, but also for gathering intel and avoiding potential ambushes.
But Ponzu didn't hesitate.
"No. I'm too weak right now. Staying behind would only get me killed."
And before Pokkle could try to talk her out of it, she continued.
"The Association will send in an elite extermination team soon. This won't be our only chance to train. Earning merits can wait."
"This world's already full of scumbags. One more Joey won't make a difference. I'm not interested in that so-called artifact. I just want us both out of this mess alive."
Joey had no idea any of this conversation was taking place.
No clue that Ponzu and Pokkle had disagreed.
No clue that Pokkle suspected him of carrying a powerful item.
And certainly no clue that a bee was secretly riding along inside his bag.
But even if Joey had known, he wouldn't have cared much.
To him, Pokkle was just a tool—no real threat.
He already had a pretty clear grasp of Pokkle's power level from their brief interactions.
Taking him out wouldn't be that hard.
If anything, Joey considered saving Pokkle a win—it had prevented Neferpitou from gaining early knowledge of Nen.
A small delay, sure, but it was something.
He remembered how fans of the original manga had loved to rag on Pokkle.
"Man, if only that guy hadn't gotten caught, the ants wouldn't have grown so fast," they'd say.
Joey agreed… kind of.
Still, how long could it realistically delay things?
After all, Pokkle wasn't the only Nen user who'd entered NGL.
Without Pokkle, who's to say some other poor sap—"Blow-Up Man" or "Boom-Head Guy"—wouldn't end up as Neferpitou's guinea pig?
As for Ponzu—Joey only saved her to soothe his lingering regrets from reading the manga.
She was someone else's girlfriend, after all. A cute girl, yeah—but even she hadn't been spared.
Shot in the head.
Body devoured.
Yep, good ol' Togashi never held back.
For now, Joey was focused on refining his Nen control.
He kept aura wrapped around his legs to maintain speed with the group—but because his Ten was still rough, every step leaked energy.
His Zetsu was imperfect too—sometimes his aura would burst out of control.
Sure, he could seal it up quickly afterward—but wasted Nen was wasted Nen.
By contrast, Gon and Killua were perfect.
To Joey's eyes, they didn't seem to be emitting any aura at all.
Frustrated by the inefficiency, Joey called out mid-run, asking how to tighten his control.
Gon, ever friendly, answered—but his explanation was way too vague.
"Just blend Ten into your daily life. You'll stop leaking aura naturally over time!"
"And besides," Gon added, "we don't even need to use Nen at this speed, do we? Just train your legs!"
The way he said it sounded like a genuine, heartfelt question—like he really believed that.
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