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Jimmy glanced back at the three people following him and found it almost ironic.
The strongest one among them right now was Gordon. The same man who had been completely paralyzed the night before.
One dose of antibiotics later, Gordon woke up the next morning, stretched his arms and legs, and the first thing he did was thank Jimmy for saving his life.
Then he added something unexpected.
"The stone spider venom can't be used as anesthesia," Gordon said seriously.
"Because you'd die from pain."
The paralysis came from violent muscle spasms. The victim stayed fully conscious. Every nerve still worked.
In fact, the pain was amplified.
You were numb, but not unconscious.
Gordon had been lucky. When the python swallowed him, he had not struggled. He suffered no external injuries. Jimmy got to him quickly, Once the venom wore off, there was nothing wrong with him at all.
Now the four of them were moving fast, chasing Bill's group toward the Blood Orchid site.
Jimmy led the way, Cloud Cutter in hand, heavy pack on his back.
Ben stayed at the rear, gripping a long wooden pole.
Gordon supported Tran in the middle, helping him keep pace.
Jimmy cut through vines and brush without slowing.
He was thinking about Gordon's luck.
He did not realize the three behind him were thinking the same thing about Jimmy's stamina.
The man had been hacking a path nonstop, carrying a full pack, killing snakes along the way.
At one point, he casually killed a python as thick as a forearm.
Then stuffed it into his pack.
"Lunch," he had said.
"Jimmy," Ben panted. "Let's rest for a bit. I'm done."
Jimmy did not stop.
"Are you sure," he asked calmly. "You're fine letting four people run straight into Jack Byron."
Ben froze.
Jimmy continued. "Gordon says Jack has a satellite phone. And a revolver."
Ben swallowed. "Sam and Gail should be fine, right?"
Jimmy finally looked back.
Ben snapped instantly. "Alright, Alright. Move, Move."
He straightened up and shouted, "Sam, Gail, I'm coming! Don't die before I get there."
---
As they moved, Gordon filled in everything he knew.
Jack had taken the satellite phone from Captain Lis's boat.
He also had a revolver.
Tran cursed Jack openly while worrying about Johnson's group.
Jimmy adjusted their route based on Horus's guidance, choosing the fastest path with almost no wasted distance.
Johnson's group, on the other hand, moved slowly. They stopped often to check direction and doubled back more than once.
By nightfall, the gap between the two teams had shrunk significantly.
High above, Horus had already spotted the snake nesting areas.
And the Blood Orchid.
Late at night, guided by Horus's quiet reports, Jimmy halted the group about a kilometer from the flowering site.
Everyone but Jimmy collapsed from exhaustion.
Jimmy pulled the python from his pack, built a fire, and began cooking.
The others immediately crowded close.
They all knew how snakes hunted.
Heat sensing.
This fire was covered.
Once the meat was set, Jimmy stood up and said he was going to take a leak.
In reality, he stepped aside to speak with Horus.
"Horus, Status."
"Jack reached the riverbank. He's seen the Blood Orchid. It grows along a cliff face. There's a moss-covered fallen tree bridging the gap."
Horus paused.
"Below the cliff is a pool. A lot of pythons, Big ones. Honestly, I could eat for months down there."
"Do nothing," Jimmy said immediately.
"Understood."
Jimmy returned and ate his own meal.
Spirit rations and a bit of Smaug's meat.
Even that massive python would not have lasted him half a meal.
---
When Jimmy came back to the fire, Tran was slicing the cooked snake meat with a small knife, sprinkling seasoning over it.
"Almost ready," Tran said. "Smells amazing."
"Give me a section of tail," Jimmy replied.
The hunt was close now.
And Jack was finally within reach.
Jimmy took the snake tail from Tran, bit into it, and paused.
Surprisingly good.
There was no trace of that usual reptile bitterness. Instead, the meat carried a faint herbal freshness, as if it had absorbed the essence of the jungle itself.
No wonder Horus had been obsessed with these things.
---
They were still eating when a sharp gunshot cracked through the night.
Everyone froze.
That was bad.
"I'm going ahead," Jimmy said instantly. "Follow the path I cut."
Without waiting, he grabbed the Cloud Cutter blade, finished the snake meat in two quick bites, and sprinted into the jungle, hacking a clear route as he went.
"Move, Move," Ben urged the others. "Stay close."
Bang!!
Gunfire echoed again.
Then.
A deafening explosion.
By the time Jimmy reached the clearing, the cliff was already collapsing.
Not cracking.
Not crumbling.
The entire rock face was coming down.
Jimmy stared.
The massive stone ledge where the Blood Orchid had been growing tore loose, rolled violently down the slope, and shattered against the ground.
Whatever flowers had been there were gone.
Crushed.
Pulverized.
Buried beneath hundreds of tons of earth and rock.
The pool below vanished under the landslide.
So did every python in it.
Nothing survived.
Jimmy exhaled slowly.
So much for harvesting anything.
---
Bill had taken a bullet.
Not fatal.
But enough to drop him hard.
Cole, Sam, and Gail were somehow untouched.
The only one who did not make it was Jack.
Nobody needed to be found.
Everyone there knew.
They stood in silence, breathing hard, staring at the buried snakes and shattered cliff.
Survival felt unreal.
---
A beam of light flickered in the distance.
A waterproof flashlight.
Jimmy stepped out from the shadows.
"Who's there," Bill demanded, forcing himself upright.
The revolver in his hand clicked empty.
Sam raised her blade.
Cole lifted the signal flare.
Even Gail picked up a stone.
"Easy," Jimmy said calmly. "Do any of you know Tran, Ben Douglas, or Gordon Mitchell?"
The weapons did not lower.
"Who are you," Sam asked sharply. "How do you know those names?"
"So you do know them," Jimmy said. "Then take a few steps forward. This area isn't stable. If there's another collapse, you don't want to be standing there."
They hesitated.
But they moved.
Slowly.
Jimmy mirrored them, stepping back at the same pace.
"Ben and the others are alive," he added. "They're coming, You can ask them anything you want when they arrive."
"That's impossible," Cole snapped. "They were swallowed. We saw it."
"Yeah," Sam said. "So tell us who you are, and what you want."
Jimmy kept his voice even.
"Right now, I want everyone alive."
Internally, he sighed.
If not for the chance of getting something useful out of this mess, he would not have bothered explaining anything.
Live or die.
That was their problem.
But tonight.
He was still playing the hero.
At least for now...
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