Joey could not say whether he felt good or bad. The moment Pokkle had said they should provide support, he had already imagined ending up in a situation like this.
They were not far from the Organization Base, and there was a village several miles to the northeast.
Those two locations guaranteed there would be plenty of Chimera Ants nearby. Add in the fact that this was a rescue operation, and running into them was practically inevitable.
Joey's only prayer was that they would not encounter a Squadron Leader or multiple Senior Soldier Ants. Creatures at that level could already see Nen.
As for leaving the group and heading off alone, Pokkle and the others were not that accommodating.
Their formation during the earlier advance had supposedly been intended to guard against Chimera Ant attacks, but putting him in the middle had also been a way of keeping an eye on him. If he made any suspicious move, the two hangers-on would definitely shoot.
So from the moment the group set out, Joey had been constantly working out escape routes in his head.
The explosion from Sheer Heart Attack was the groundwork Joey had laid for his escape.
While spraying the Chimera Ants with gunfire, he would rush toward the blast the instant Heartbreaker Attack exploded, retrieve the miniature tank, and break away from the battlefield into the forest.
What he had not expected was for a Squadron Leader-level crocodile to suddenly appear in the tank's path, changing its target.
That had also forced Joey's plan into a direct confrontation with the crocodile Chimera Ant.
Even so, something about it felt wrong. It was a crocodile, a cold-blooded animal, yet it gave off more heat than the ducklike Chimera Ant nearby with its flat, pointed bill. Was this some kind of joke?
Whatever the reason, Joey had ended up facing the crocodile Chimera Ant. Fortunately, the First Bomb Killer Queen had planted by touching a pebble on the ground had worked quite well.
All things considered, this rare bit of combat experience had cleared up a lot for Joey and deepened his understanding of fighting.
Although the explosion had failed to finish off the crocodile Chimera Ant, things would have ended perfectly for Joey if Pokkle and Ponzu had heeded his warning and escaped with him.
After everything they had gone through, he did not believe Pokkle would still keep Ponzu in NGL.
But at the last moment, Joey had clearly seen Pokkle hesitate, debating whether to seize the opportunity to finish off the badly wounded crocodile Chimera Ant.
That had turned what should have been a perfect ending into this troublesome situation.
Joey was not especially worried about the Chimera Ants pursuing him.
After resting and recovering for half the night, he had regained most of his strength. The earlier intense battle had taken something out of him, but the expenditure was still manageable.
The only real problem was the gunshot wound on his shoulder. Fortunately, the bullet had grazed it, tearing through skin and flesh without lodging in the bone.
At least a wound like this was easier to treat than one with a bullet stuck inside.
But blood kept running down his arm and dripping from the wound, leaving an ideal trail for his pursuers.
At the same time, waves of pain gnawed at Joey's nerves.
Yet that stimulation kept him even calmer as he moved through the forest alone.
The pursuers were only ordinary, lower-ranking Chimera Ants. They could not even see the tank. With a proper plan, taking them out using Killer Queen's ability would not be a problem.
The difficult part was deciding what to do next.
Given the current situation, Joey had two options in mind.
First, hold out until dawn, then carefully head toward the base. No, that's not right.
Suddenly thinking of something, Joey quickly pulled out the map. Ignoring the blood that might smear it, he carefully examined the village to the northeast.
If he remembered correctly, Kite and the others had visited that village too.
He just did not know whether they had been guided there by information Ponzu provided, or whether the village had simply been along their search route.
But compared with anywhere near the base, that village was clearly safer.
Especially now, when his shoulder was bound to give off the smell of blood.
The second option was to return to the battlefield, find Pokkle and Ponzu or eliminate the remaining Chimera Ants, then see whether he could find a map or something similar on the two hangers-on's bodies.
Joey barely considered those two options before choosing the first.
Unless something was seriously wrong with him, he would never decide to walk straight back into the trap.
There was no telling whether Pokkle and Ponzu, who had stayed behind, would survive, or whether the two hangers-on's bodies would still be intact.
And even if their bodies were intact, what guaranteed either of them carried a map showing the way to the checkpoint?
The uncertain reward was nowhere near worth the risk. Under these circumstances, he was better off eliminating his pursuers and hiding.
Having made his decision, Joey began setting up a way to kill the pursuers behind him.
As for simply shaking them off, Joey had never considered that a possibility.
Even without knowing what types his pursuers were, and even without the blood trail from his wound, he knew there was bound to be a skilled tracker among them.
So eliminating them was the best way to escape.
Joey swept his gaze over his surroundings.
The pursuing Chimera Ants were not putting much effort into the chase. After witnessing Joey's strange and powerful abilities earlier, these obvious rank-and-file soldiers even seemed rather dispirited.
One in particular, a humanoid porcupine Chimera Ant with spikes growing from its back, had its eyes half closed and looked utterly listless.
When they reached a stream in the forest, the Chimera Ants stopped beside it.
One with a rooster's head and two short wings began carefully examining the nearby grass, stones, and traces of blood.
It seemed to be the tracker of this four-ant group.
But just as it approached the stream, before it could inspect the blood trail on the nearby stones, it spotted two unusual parallel tracks in a patch of sand beside some weeds.
And those tracks were steadily extending toward it.
In that instant, the rooster Chimera Ant's comb stood straight up, and it let out a shrill cry like a rooster crowing.
But it was clearly less practiced at retreating than at crowing. By the time its cry rang out, the two tracks had already reached its rough chicken feet.
Boom!
The explosion instantly drowned out the rooster's shriek. At the same time, the rattle of gunfire rose from the grass on the opposite bank.
The gunshots were swallowed by the blast's roar. The Chimera Ants on the bank that had escaped the explosion hurriedly rolled away.
But the streamside was the very spot Joey had chosen for his trap. How could he possibly have left them suitable cover?
The sounds of bullets striking flesh and the Chimera Ants' screams rang out together beside the stream.
Meanwhile, Heartbreaker Attack, which had blown the rooster Chimera Ant apart, sped out of the blast without lingering and headed toward the nearest target, a rat-headed Chimera Ant trying to burrow underground.
The Chimera Ant had only just dug a passage and hidden inside. Before it could breathe a sigh of relief, the tank followed it into the hole.
The next second, the tank shot out of the hole amid an explosion and charged toward another Chimera Ant that resembled a scarab beetle.
By then, Joey had already pulled back his rifle and rolled aside.
With a series of sharp thuds, spikes shot from the back of the fallen porcupine Chimera Ant across the stream and struck the spot where Joey had been lying.
Although Joey's marksmanship was not particularly good, the Chimera Ants were large targets out in the open. All he had to do was steady his arms, aim in their general direction, and empty the magazine to inflict considerable damage. Heartbreaker Attack could handle the rest.
After the final two explosions rang out in quick succession, only scattered pieces of Chimera Ant corpses remained on the opposite bank.
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