Jamie wasn't dead?
Heart Attack rumbled back toward Joey — but it wasn't following Jamie. It was reacting to the heat signature of Arturo's taser.
With Arturo passed out, Pokkle collapsed, groaning in pain. He wasn't dead — not yet.
Killer Queen raised its hand, Heart Attack returning to its master.
Joey understood now why Jamie survived.
Heart Attack targets the hottest object—and the moment Arturo fired the taser at Joey, the muzzle's heat signature overtook Jamie's pistol.
So the second blast went to the taser instead.
Jamie, bloodied but alive, had scraped by on a technicality.
As for Ponzu, it was Joey's own bait that led her here — the appearance of submission, feigned with a snake created via Gold Experience, resisting the taser blast just enough to make her believe he'd been subdued.
That's what made her rush in.
Joey had prepped for ranged assault—he just hadn't expected a flashbang beam right in the eyes.
Then came the taser, which fried the hamster hidden in his coat — another Gold Experience decoy, but a far squishier one than the snake.
That's how he got stunned. That's why Killer Queen vanished.
Still, thanks to that brave little hamster, Joey had recovered fast enough to turn the tide and drop Arturo.
Now, though...
Jamie had Ponzu by the throat, gun to her temple, breathing hard, nerves on edge.
"Let me and Arturo go — or she dies."
Jamie didn't bother with lies. He knew bluffing Joey would get him killed.
So he laid out the only terms he thought Joey might accept.
Of course, his real goal was simple — he just wanted to live. If Arturo died, so be it.
"Don't move. That includes your Nen beast. Try anything, and even if I die — she goes with me. You really gonna risk that?"
His finger hovered near the trigger, head jerking, eyes twitching, gaze flicking from Joey to Killer Queen to the air itself — like he expected bombing bees to dive at him any second.
Where the hell did this freak get so many disposable suicide pets?
"Do you think she's my ally? Or that, as a former narcotics officer, I'd show mercy just because some woman's life is on the line?"
Joey's voice dripped with contempt. Cold, taunting, unforgiving.
"You're a goddamn amateur. A wannabe thug. You think you get to live?"
But Joey didn't move.
And Jamie saw it. Saw the subtle stillness in Joey's posture. The careful way Killer Queen didn't even twitch.
He'd gambled right.
This girl meant something.
"We were just hired help! If we'd known you were this dangerous, we'd have walked away! I swear, we leave NG—
"Two hundred million Jenny. That's what I want. For both of us to walk away."
Joey smirked. "Now you're talking.
"But… I refuse."
The grin died on Jamie's lips.
A bee landed on his forearm.
He glanced at it.
Then the click came.
That horrible click.
Like a pen being uncapped.
That deadly, clean, final click Joey always made right before someone vanished in a flash.
"You—"
Crack. Flash. Boom. Silence.
Jamie exploded.
Ponzu hit the ground, stunned, eyes wide with horror.
Joey adjusted his jacket.
"One of my favorite things to do," he said, voice steady, eyes cold, "is look a cocky bastard in the face... and say no."
Killer Queen turned, walked over to Arturo's unconscious body, and tapped a finger to the middle of his forehead.
Boom. Gone.
Joey had drawn things out on purpose — buying time for the bee he'd converted into a First Bomb to drift behind Jamie.
There'd been bees buzzing around from the moment Jamie grabbed Ponzu. He hadn't sensed danger — he'd gotten used to the buzzing.
That had been his mistake.
Joey turned toward Pokkle.
Checked him over.
He could reattach the arm. Patch the open wounds.
But the head trauma was too severe.
Pokkle was seizing, unconscious, twitching. He'd need a hospital.
Joey wasn't about to waste his Gold Experience stamina on a guy he barely knew — especially one who'd helped get him nearly killed.
Still…
Joey pulled a signal flare from his coat and launched it into the sky.
Half an hour later, Kite and Andre appeared.
"Looks like you won," Kite said coolly.
Andre grinned, clapping Joey on the shoulder. "Leave the trash to us. Your next spot's prepped. By the time you get there, you'll have a day to rest."
He handed Joey a note with the coordinates of the next Solitary Cell.
Joey nodded. "All right."
"Joey," Ponzu said, turning from where she knelt beside Pokkle.
She stood, bowed deeply. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Joey waved it off.
"Next time I see you," he said without turning around, "I hope you're a licensed Hunter. Until then… goodbye."
No sentiment. No delay. He walked away like none of this mattered.
And Ponzu?
She watched him fade into the sunlight, her expression soft.
They stood in the shadows.
He walked in the light.
And the distance between them only grew.
"It's good to be alive," she whispered, climbing into the supply truck with Pokkle.
His eyes fluttered open. Lips moved.
"Th… thank… you… sor… ry…"
She heard every word.
She smiled and held his hand. "It's okay. Really. I think… I won't be a Hunter after all. I'll go back to the apiary. Raise bees. That's a good life, right?"
Pokkle's eyes watered. He wanted to say no. To argue. But in the end…
He gripped her hand like it was the only thing anchoring him to the world.
"Youth is beautiful, huh?" Andre sniffled, wiping his eyes, slamming the truck doors shut.
Kite stared at the horizon. "V5's taking over NG-L. Same old song. Bioengineered reforestation. They'll fill it with birla trees."
Andre shrugged. "Was always gonna happen."
"Chairman gave the order. One more week and we're out of here. From there… we move on to the Republic of Rocario."
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