A soft sigh escaped Ponzu's lips.
No one noticed.
At the exact moment the bullet grazed Bugs Bunny, Killer Queen's thumb pressed down.
Click.
A strange, hollow sound echoed—like a button being activated.
In the next instant, fine cracks spread across Bugs Bunny's body, starting from his toes.
They widened rapidly.
By the time the airborne Chimera Ant was grabbed by the shoulders by the winged figure, the cracks had already crawled up his legs.
Bugs Bunny lifted his head, his face twisted with rage and hatred as he glared at Gon and Killua—
—and then the cracks ignited.
Flames erupted.
They consumed him instantly.
His expression changed in a heartbeat.
Hatred.
Fury.
Distortion.
All of it vanished—replaced by pure fear.
Disbelief.
The explosion was silent.
There was no roar, no shockwave.
Just a sudden, blinding bloom of fire—
Like a firework bursting in the sky.
His body was torn apart mid-air, reduced to scattered flesh and blood within the flames.
The Chimera Ant that had come to provide support faltered mid-flight, its footing lost in that instant.
When the fire faded, nothing remained of Bugs Bunny but drifting fragments.
Like all Chimera Ants, it had possessed a considerable amount of life energy.
But once separated from its body, that energy began to dissipate into nothingness.
Above them, the winged Chimera Ant—its garlic-shaped head, massive snow-white wings, and hardened exoskeleton clearly visible—frowned.
It glanced down at its uninjured feet.
Then at the six humans below.
Without a word, it flapped its wings—
—and vanished into the sky.
Those on the ground watched it leave in silence, their expressions complicated.
Kite was the first to speak.
"The enemy is intelligent. They sent a subordinate first to probe our strength."
His gaze moved across Killer Queen and the pistol in Joey's hand before settling on Joey himself.
"If it weren't for your final attack, that one might have escaped."
A brief pause.
"When did you notice them?"
"I didn't," Joey replied calmly. "But from what I've seen, Chimera Ants rarely act alone."
It was an answer he had prepared in advance—drawn from everything he had observed so far.
There were exceptions.
The sadistic gun-wielding ant.
The fast-moving one—Gido.
Both had acted alone.
But aside from those outliers, most Chimera Ants appeared in groups.
From the very beginning, Joey had assumed the worst-case scenario:
Hidden enemies nearby.
Whether he was right or wrong didn't matter.
Preparing for it never hurt.
Especially since he couldn't think of any other way Bugs Bunny could have escaped Kite's encirclement—unless it had backup.
Compared to Joey's composed seriousness, Gon and Killua looked slightly dejected.
"Want to come with me?"
Kite's voice suddenly cut through the silence as he turned to them.
"What?" Both boys were caught off guard.
"Your performance just now wasn't bad enough to be discouraged," Kite said evenly. "What you lack now is experience."
He looked at them steadily.
"If you want to stand on your own, this is the perfect place to train."
A brief pause.
"But with average nerves, you won't last a single step."
His tone hardened.
"Where I'm going—win or lose—it's hell."
Then his gaze shifted.
"What about you, Joey?"
"…Huh?"
Joey blinked, caught completely off guard.
He had been thinking about how to convince Kite not to take Gon and Killua deeper—but hadn't expected to be dragged into the decision himself.
"I can't."
He answered immediately, without hesitation.
From the beginning, everything he had done was for one goal:
Leave NGL as fast as possible.
He knew exactly what lay ahead.
A pit.
A bottomless one.
There was no way he would jump into it willingly.
At least if he died outside, he might leave behind a complete corpse.
If he died here…
He might end up processed into meat by those pig-headed lunatics.
More importantly—
He knew his limits.
Forget fighting.
Even running, he couldn't keep up with Kite and the others.
"I can't expect you to slow down and wait for me."
Kite's response was immediate—and merciless.
The second half of his words struck straight at Joey's nerves.
"Why not?" Joey shot back, agitation rising. "I'm a citizen of NGL! With something like this happening, am I supposed to just stay here and die?"
This time, the emotion in his voice was real.
But Kite remained expressionless.
"Precisely because you're a citizen—you can't leave."
A pause.
"Unless you plan to stay with the drug organization."
Joey nearly choked.
That's even worse!
The moment I say that, I'll probably get eliminated on the spot!
"…So the checkpoint will detain me," he muttered.
Understanding dawned on him.
An image flashed through his mind—Kira Yoshikage's ID, tucked inside a wallet.
He had already suspected this.
The anesthetic D2 was sold worldwide.
NGL's large-scale cultivation of the Pira trees couldn't exist without support from major powers.
The checkpoints weren't just for controlling entry.
They were also meant to control who left.
Joey had considered this before.
At worst, he thought, he'd be detained.
With Killer Queen, escaping wouldn't be impossible.
Even if things turned hostile, he might still have a chance.
Anything was better than staying in this forest.
But now—
With Kite involved—
Everything became far more dangerous.
Getting "safely detained" felt like a fantasy.
Kite clearly knew something.
Something Joey didn't.
And worse—
He intended to use it.
"That's right."
Kite's cold confirmation shattered Joey's last bit of hope—and confirmed his suspicion.
Joey exhaled slowly.
"What can I even do?" he asked. "At my level, I'd just be a burden."
He wasn't being modest.
He genuinely didn't see how Kite could possibly need him.
Kite answered without hesitation.
"I need you to take us to the drug organization's base."
Joey froze.
"There's information there," Kite continued, "about the V5's funding—and how they've been covering up the organization's existence within NGL."
Joey instinctively wanted to deny everything.
To say he knew nothing.
But the certainty in Kite's tone stopped him.
Suspicion crept in.
"Why do you think I know anything about that?" he asked directly.
Kite met his gaze.
"Because you're one of their contacts."
The answer only deepened Joey's confusion.
But he didn't press further.
He couldn't afford to.
Asking too much would only expose him.
And right now—
Suspicion was the last thing he could risk.
His identity within the drug organization was his only shield.
If that collapsed, then someone like him—someone tied to an ability like Killer Queen—would be nothing more than a dangerous liability.
Something to be eliminated.
Kite showed no killing intent.
But Joey could feel it all the same.
So he had no choice.
Agree.
And try to get something out of it.
Even a slight increase in his chances of survival.
Still—
Inwardly, he cursed Kira Yoshikage more than once.
That damn salaryman…
Did he even control the organization's contacts too?
To have access to that level of information—
His position couldn't have been low.
Could he have been near the top? Third in command, even?
The thought alone was enough to make Joey grit his teeth.
Infuriating.
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