Departure Joey didn't run far. Instead, he hid in a thicket, carefully observing the large tree he had touched, and the explosion that had paused briefly before moving in the direction he had left.
Clearly, the lurking chimera ant had been watching Joey closely and had given chase after him after discovering his escape.
A slight smile played on Joey's lips.
He wasn't afraid of being chased; he was only afraid that the ant would deliberately dodge his attack.
Through his earlier observations, Joey had determined the ant's movement pattern: like the ape-like chimera ant that had prepared to ambush him, it climbed and leaped among the trees.
Deliberately running towards areas with less dense vegetation was tantamount to telling the ant, "I've discovered the key to your evasion of the tank's attacks."
But Joey had no choice. Whether it was setting a trap or genuinely trying to evade pursuit, this was his optimal solution; the key was whether the ant would fall for it.
Clearly, the chimera ant chasing him was rather inexperienced.
Thus, as soon as the ant stepped onto the tree he had touched, Joey would instantly activate the first bomb's ability.
Through repeated use of his ability, Joey had developed some insights into the use of his first bomb.
While the tree was a single entity, not every touch by Joey would automatically count as a bomb. Instead, a certain area extending from the point of contact constituted his bomb zone.
Anyone touching this area would trigger the bomb's effect, causing an instant explosion.
After several uses of his ability, Joey calculated a rough range: a spherical area with a diameter of fifty centimeters centered on the point of contact. Any object within this area was considered part of his first bomb.
Therefore, Joey's purpose in detonating the bomb wasn't to kill the target, but rather to break the tree, causing the chimera ants leaping among the branches to momentarily lose their footing, thus creating an opportunity for the pursuing Skull Chariot to catch up and explode.
This battle plan was fraught with uncertainty and risk, but it was also the fastest way Joey could eliminate the enemy.
Joey needed to end the battle quickly, because with each explosion of the Skull Chariot, his stamina was being rapidly depleted!
Every time a chariot exploded, Joey's chances of victory decreased.
Sweat soaked his clothes, and despite his best efforts to control his breathing while hiding, he was still breathing heavily.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his legs were trembling slightly.
He knew he only had one chance. If he couldn't finish off the Chimera Ants with a single combo, his only option might be to abandon his weapon and flee.
But that was equally risky. The Skull Chariot had already proven itself to be useless in terms of speed.
If Joey chose to escape by severing his arm, not only would the Skull Chariot buy him little time, but the pain would also have a significant impact on him, and the smell of blood would cause him considerable trouble.
At the same time, losing an arm while killing the Emperor would be troublesome, so Joey wouldn't make the choice to cut off his arm unless absolutely necessary.
Joey raised his hand, grabbed the rifle, and carefully aimed the muzzle at the tree. At this moment, he looked more like a vicious wolf that had been driven to the brink of despair.
Rather than running away with a severed hand, a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble might offer a greater chance of survival!
However, the skeleton chariot that had guided Joey to the monster's location suddenly changed direction just as it approached the tree, much to Joey's anxious anticipation!
Joey's face turned ashen as she watched the chariot disappear into the distance!
How could this be? Had the enemy seen through her plan? But that was impossible; she hadn't shown the first bomb to them. Could it simply be the enemy's caution?
Or perhaps the pistols and grenades had instilled a sense of danger?
Or was the death of her companion causing hesitation, or was the enemy waiting for more allies to arrive to reduce the risk of pursuit?
Cold sweat trickled down her temples, and Joey's eyebrows furrowed again, unconsciously biting her left thumbnail.
Distance, speed, detonation point, timing—Joey had roughly calculated and planned all of these. Now that the chimera ant had changed direction, even if it reverted to the tree he had turned into a bomb, the subsequent attacks from the skeleton tank after the explosion would have a time difference with the first bomb's surprise attack.
Moreover, that thing clearly wasn't planning to go that way; things seemed to be developing in the worst possible direction!
Joey's eyes reddened, like a gambler about to lose everything. But thankfully, there was one thing that kept him from snapping: the skeleton tank, while still pursuing, hadn't exploded again.
This meant his remaining stamina hadn't been indefinitely depleted; he still had a chance!
Joey quickly considered what other methods he could use to quickly find and eliminate the enemy, but none of the several plans that flashed through his mind satisfied him. This made him bite his nails even more fiercely, his fingertips even showing signs of being bitten through. Was his only option
to actively jump out and intercept the tank to retrieve it?
Joey vowed that if he had a chance to survive, he would perfectly control the tank!
He swallowed hard; blood was seeping from his fingertips without him realizing it, but the pain in his fingers made his thoughts clearer. He still had a chance; the first bomb hadn't been exposed yet! With
that thought, he suddenly stood up, ready to chase after the withered, piercing attack, but just then, a flash of extremely fast red light streaked through the distant woods.
Joey's steps faltered abruptly. Someone?
The red light seemed to be shaped like an arrow; Joey was uncertain.
Boom!
The tank's explosion came three seconds after the red light hit its target, but Joey was prepared and carefully looked in the direction of the explosion in the firelight.
He saw several figures flash past in the dimly lit woods, illuminated by the firelight.
Two were shorter but quick, two were of normal height but reacted a little slower. Joey made his judgment instantly, also noticing their distinctive, differently colored clothing.
For someone to dare to wander around in the deep forest at this time of day, and not even using firearms, Joey already had a guess about their identity.
Of the hunters appearing in NGL at this time, only Pons and his group, whom he had been longing to see dead by a headshot, were recognizable to him, and their characteristics matched those he had glimpsed in a fleeting moment.
Memories seemed to be triggered, and a scene from an anime flashed by.
Pons' group's leader should be Baku, who had obtained a hunter's license, and the rest were two or three minor characters who had been easily dealt with by the Chimera Ants.
But how did they end up here?
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