Making His Way Through the Forest

Joey made no unnecessary moves in his haste. Instead, he kept to his own pace as he made his way through the forest.

Dealing with the Chimera Ant behind him would not be difficult. He had already quickly thought of several ways to do it as he moved through the woods.

Whether his pursuer made the first move or not, he would take care of it soon. According to the map, another half hour or so of travel would bring him close to a village.

Under the circumstances, Joey really did not dare gamble on whether Chimera Ants had invaded that village.

After studying the map carefully once more, Joey tucked it back inside his clothes and reached into the bundle on his back.

After a moment's hesitation, he pulled out a bamboo tube as long as his forearm. He used it to carry water, and it was the item in his bundle best suited to the situation.

After continuing for some distance, Joey abruptly stopped beneath a tall tree. He carefully surveyed his surroundings, then hid the bamboo tube among a jumble of rocks at its base.

He checked once more that nothing was amiss nearby before turning and running into the forest.

Barely half a minute after Joey left, a bee-like humanoid appeared beneath the tree where he had hidden the tube. It beat wings as thin as a cicada's, with a bee's head, four jointed arms, two long hind legs, a swollen abdomen, and a sharp, purple-tinged stinger at its tip.

Its large black eyes scanned the ground beneath the tree several times. Only after confirming there were no traps did it turn its gaze to the bamboo tube.

The bee Chimera Ant cautiously approached and reached out an arm to pick up the tube.

The instant its fingertips touched the bamboo tube, an explosion erupted without warning!

The blast tore the bee Chimera Ant apart in an instant.

Killer Queen's First Bomb could turn anything it touched into a bomb, which would explode the moment an enemy touched it.

Clearly, Joey had secretly touched the bamboo tube he left behind and turned it into a bomb. As long as the Chimera Ant watching him grew curious about the tube and touched it, an explosion would be waiting.

About half a minute after leaving, Joey received no feedback from Killer Queen, but suddenly felt a portion of his stamina vanish. That told him his plan had worked. After a brief hesitation, he turned and headed back.

He had not gone far to begin with, but he needed to stay on guard, so his return was not particularly fast.

About a minute later, Joey reappeared a considerable distance from the tree.

From afar, he saw the bee Chimera Ant's shattered body. It did not seem entirely dead, however, and some of its remains were still writhing on the ground. The back of Killer Queen's left hand shifted slightly behind Joey, and a tank dropped to the ground.

Its treads left two tracks in the soil, and its swaggering voice rang through the forest. A moment later, the tank reached the Chimera Ant and abruptly exploded.

The Chimera Ant's mangled body was thrown into the air again, but this time, it landed in completely scattered pieces.

A low voice came from the skull-faced tank's mouth. After a brief assessment, it turned and sped back.

Joey pressed his lips together and fought back the urge to vomit. He glanced once more at the Chimera Ant's remains scattered across the ground and the intact bamboo tube farther away. Without approaching to retrieve it, he turned and vanished into the forest.

The bamboo tube bomb's failure to kill the creature was somewhat unexpected.

When he had Killer Queen touch the tube, he had intended to blow his pursuer to death. Yet the explosion had drained some of his stamina without achieving the result he wanted.

The reason deserved some thought.

Was there a limit to how much stamina the bomb could draw each time? If so, did that mean its power was limited too?

Or had I thought an explosion fueled by that much stamina would be enough to kill the Chimera Ant, and subconsciously limited the amount I supplied?

Or had the Chimera Ant done something before the explosion, preventing a blast that should have killed it from having its intended effect?

There was too little data. For now, Joey could not determine why the Chimera Ant had not died immediately in the explosion.

But he was in no hurry. As long as he escaped alive this time, he would have plenty of time to study his abilities. Then he would figure out all these things-Stands, stamina, and Nen.

About half an hour after Joey left, several Chimera Ants arrived at the site of the bee Chimera Ant's death. One with a dog's head twitched its nose a few times, then raised a hand and pointed in the direction Joey had gone. Without giving the scattered chunks of flesh another look, the Chimera Ants set off in pursuit.

Although Joey did not know that Chimera Ants were gradually closing in behind him, a glance at the time on his phone gave him a growing sense of urgency.

It was already three in the afternoon, and reaching the base would still take at least three or four hours. That left him little time. He could only hope nothing unexpected happened along the way. If he failed to reach the base before dark, he would be in danger.

After running for less than half an hour, Joey passed the village marked on the map.

Looking toward it from a distant hillside, he saw no villagers. Many of the houses had collapsed, however, making it clear that the village had already suffered a Chimera Ant attack.

The sight weighed on Joey's heart and made him even more vigilant.

As he continued running, Joey gradually experienced the dangers of the deep forest firsthand. In this region, which had always upheld ideals of nature conservation, the invasive Chimera Ants were not the only threat to humans in the woods. Numerous undocumented wild beasts and venomous insects lurked there too.

Even with some wilderness survival experience, Joey had to be doubly careful while traveling through such an environment, which slowed his progress considerably.

As he watched the sun overhead sink steadily toward the west, Joey grew increasingly anxious.

But anxiety would do nothing to help him here. It would only put him in greater danger. Without Killer Queen constantly nearby, he might already have been injured and forced to stop in these woods.

After continuing for another hour or so, however, Joey slowly eased his pace. The smell of blood filled his nose, and numerous human corpses came into view.

All the corpses wore white combat uniforms, with firearms and other weapons lying nearby.

Clearly, these people were not ordinary NGL villagers, but personnel belonging to the organization.

The organization's base was still about an hour away, yet signs of Chimera Ant activity had already appeared.

The organization was most likely under attack as well, or had already been overrun.

All things considered, the situation ahead looked grim.

Joey looked up at the sky again. It was nearly six now, and he had been traveling through the forest for almost three hours straight.

Although he had found a stream along the way and replenished his water and food, constantly keeping Killer Queen manifested-and occasionally using its abilities-had still left Joey deeply exhausted.