After Joey and the others left, Pokkuru suddenly glanced at Ponzu and sighed.
"What a pity."
"Why?" Ponzu asked, confused.
"Joey is probably tied to a bounty," Pokkuru said frankly. "If we handed him over to the client, we'd likely get a decent reward—and some credit. Besides… I suspect he has some kind of item that accelerates stamina recovery."
"A bounty? And a stamina-boosting item?"
Ponzu frowned, thinking it over. She didn't doubt the bounty—Pokkuru had a sharp instinct for gathering intelligence.
But the second claim?
After a moment of reflection, a few details came to mind.
Last night, Joey had clearly been unable to use Nen. When they found him, he was already exhausted. And yet today, he looked… fine.
More than that—after observing his training up close, his recovery speed had been unusually fast.
Ponzu knew she couldn't recover like that in just a single day.
And if Pokkuru had said it, that meant he couldn't either.
Add to that Joey's excessive caution with the cloth bag he carried…
Piece by piece, the clues lined up.
Pokkuru's guess was, at the very least, highly plausible.
Still, Ponzu shook her head.
She trusted her bees—and they hadn't sensed anything malicious from Joey. More importantly, she had grown increasingly disgusted with NGL. She didn't want anything more to do with it.
For her, this trip had already served its purpose: she had seen her own limits.
"I originally thought he might be an Enhancement-type user," Pokkuru continued, unaware of her thoughts. "But his stamina and recovery go beyond what ordinary Enhancement types can handle. That's why I exposed him earlier."
He went on, almost talking to himself.
"It was also to give Kite a heads-up. There's no denying that members of that drug organization are scum—and if Joey really is a wanted criminal, then he's the worst kind.
"Even if he acted decent during our brief interaction, being a murderer and trafficker… getting eaten by ants would almost be a light punishment.
"I don't think Kite truly intended to let him go. Those conditions were just a way to extract useful information first."
Pokkuru paused briefly, then added:
"And there's something else. While we were riding at night, the horse jolted unexpectedly. A corner of Joey's bag slipped open—and for just a moment, I sensed an aura that didn't belong to him.
"It vanished quickly, hidden when he covered the bag—but it confirmed my suspicion. He's hiding something valuable."
That, in Pokkuru's mind, settled it.
"So what now?" Ponzu asked seriously. "NGL is only going to get more dangerous. Is it really worth staying here for something that might not even exist?"
"Kite was right," Pokkuru replied without hesitation. "This place is the best training ground for anyone who wants to stand on their own.
"I've been watching Gon and Killua—they're improving incredibly fast. I want to grow stronger too.
"I may not be strong enough yet, but as long as I focus on gathering information and avoid direct confrontations with those monsters, this is the perfect place to sharpen myself and build merit."
He had clearly thought this through.
"If Joey completes Kite's task and gets picked up, we leave him alone. But if he tries to run…" Pokkuru's eyes narrowed slightly. "Then we stop him."
From start to finish, he didn't treat Joey as a real threat—more like something he could deal with whenever necessary.
"Ponzu," he said at last, "will you stay with me? I need your ability."
With her bees, they could track Joey more easily—and gather intelligence while avoiding danger.
But Ponzu shook her head immediately.
"No. I'm too weak right now. I'd only slow you down—and it's too dangerous for me."
Before Pokkuru could respond, she added firmly:
"The Association's extermination team will handle this. There are other ways to train, and there's no rush to earn merit.
"And honestly? The world isn't short on scum. One more Joey doesn't make a difference. As for that 'treasure'—I'm not interested.
"I'd rather we leave this mess behind together."
---
Meanwhile, Joey knew nothing about their disagreement.
He didn't know Pokkuru suspected him.
He didn't know about the supposed "treasure."
He didn't even know that a tiny bee had slipped into his bag unnoticed.
And even if he did know?
He wouldn't care much.
To him, Pokkuru wasn't a real threat—just a piece on the board.
Through several encounters, Joey had already gauged his general strength. Handling him wouldn't be difficult.
In fact, saving Pokkuru—and preventing Neferpitou from learning Nen too early—was, in Joey's view, the best possible outcome.
He still remembered how many people had criticized Pokkuru when he read the manga—claiming that without him, the Chimera Ants wouldn't have evolved so quickly.
Joey agreed… to an extent.
But he wasn't optimistic about how much that could really delay things.
After all, Pokkuru wasn't the only Nen user in NGL.
Who knew what might happen next? Another hunter getting captured—having their clothes torn apart, their head crushed, or their brain dissected by Neferpitou…
As for Ponzu?
In Joey's eyes, she was just a pretty girl who already belonged to someone else. Saving her was simply him resolving a lingering regret from the story.
A girl like that—beautiful and lively—only to end up with her head blown off and her body devoured…
Sometimes, you had to admit the author could be merciless.
---
Joey pushed those thoughts aside.
Right now, his focus was on the flow of energy within his body.
The Nen wrapped around his legs allowed him to keep pace with Kite and the others—but his control was crude. Every step wasted energy.
His Zetsu wasn't perfect either. His aura still leaked out in small amounts.
Even though he could close his pores quickly, wasted Nen was still wasted.
In contrast, Gon and Killua moved flawlessly.
Joey couldn't even see their aura.
Unable to figure it out himself, he finally asked while running.
Gon, as always, was approachable—but his explanation was… vague.
"You just need to make Nen part of your daily life," Gon said. "If you keep at it, eventually you'll be able to run without wasting any."
Then he added, almost casually:
"Besides, this speed doesn't even need Nen, right? If you train normally, you should be able to do it."
___________________________
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