By the time they arrived at the campsite, it was completely dark, and the temperature in the forest was slowly dropping.
Joey, his clothes soaked with sweat, felt icy cold after the cold wind blew.
However, having confirmed the presence of strange insects in the forest, the group abandoned any intention of starting a fire.
Pons continued trying to contact any potential nearby teams using bees, while Pokkuru divided the remaining four into two groups for night watch.
Joey was assigned to the latter half of the night, presumably because Pokkuru noticed his poor condition.
Joey didn't refuse; he was truly exhausted from the journey.
So, after nodding in agreement, he found a large tree, leaned against the trunk, and drifted into a light sleep.
His mind remained tense, preventing him from relaxing. The slightest disturbance would startle him awake, so his sleep was poor.
He feared both an attack by the chimera ants and the possibility of Pokkuru and the others abandoning him.
Fortunately, none of these things happened, and his wallet continued to pump him up, making him noticeably more alert when he changed shifts in the middle of the night.
Peng Si and Bao Ku'er didn't seem to have rested or adjusted, but they hadn't gotten any feedback.
The bees hadn't brought back any useful information, as if the team that infiltrated NGL had been attacked and wiped out.
Bao Ku'er and Bao Ku'er didn't look too good about this, but the sight of the two leaning on each other was quite satisfying for Joey.
He took out his phone, hiding it from the light, and carefully checked the time.
It was already 12:30 AM. Based on the previous sunset times, the sun would probably rise around 4 AM, bringing some light and warmth to the forest.
Putting away his phone, he took out a flatbread. Since he had no water, Joey could only swallow the flatbread little by little with the help of saliva.
He tightened his damp clothes and shivered.
Replenishing his energy was crucial in the current situation, even though Joey didn't feel particularly hungry.
At the same time, he quietly reached for his wallet and carefully transferred it little by little to the bag on his back.
The Nen emanating from the wallet had become very faint; it would probably disappear completely after about an hour of continued absorption.
Joey didn't want to test what would happen after the Nen disappeared, so he put it away beforehand, no longer keeping it close to
his body. However, perhaps because the bag was also on Joey's back, he soon felt a faint connection between the wallet and himself again.
But perhaps due to the distance, the Nen transfer was slow this time.
Joey thought for a moment, then took the bag off and placed it on the grass nearby, finally severing the connection completely.
Around 2:00 AM, Pokkuru woke up the "Soybean Crew." Pons's bees had finally brought back useful information: a team several kilometers to their north had responded and sent out a distress signal, clearly facing a crisis.
Even though the news wasn't good, Joey saw a hint of excitement and relief on their faces.
It seemed that for them, the real pressure was not being able to contact anyone!
After discussing it, Pokkuru and Pons decided to go and provide support.
Joey couldn't dissuade them, so she picked up the cloth bag, tied it tightly, and followed the group.
A few miles wasn't far for their pace, but in the dense forest under the cover of night, it still took the five of them over half an hour to follow the bees to the message delivery point.
However, all that remained were the mangled corpses of humans and insects.
The human corpses showed signs of being torn and damaged, while the insect corpses were all broken into several pieces, suggesting the leader of the squad possessed considerable combat skills.
Moreover, judging from the number of corpses nearby, Pokkuru deduced that some members of the squad were still alive, but their whereabouts were unknown.
After Pokkuru nodded to the two bystanders, they dispersed and displayed their special abilities: tracking.
Gray Eyebrows was particularly adept at observing nearby traces, quickly distinguishing various marks even under the moonlight.
Joey, following beside him, overheard a lot of his muttered advice.
The ash-haired fellow seemed to have an extremely sensitive nose, quickly spotting anything unusual even amidst the overwhelming stench of blood.
Near a large tree, he seemed to have discovered some important clue and turned to tell Pokkuru.
However, as he turned, he suddenly heard a strange rustling sound above him.
At the same time, he saw the astonishment in everyone's eyes, a mixture of shock and resentment.
Why?
The thought had barely formed in his mind when Ash's nostrils were filled with a foul stench, and his vision was suddenly obscured by a darkness made of sharp teeth.
Thump!
The headless corpse collapsed to the ground, an orange arrow slicing through the air, striking the monster with the pink, worm-like head that had swallowed Ash whole.
Green liquid, mixed with red and white substances, spurted out from where the arrow had pierced through. Pokkuru shouted, "Run!"
but it was too late. A cracking sound echoed from the nearby forest, and then one after another, strange-looking chimera ants emerged.
Joey quickly scanned the area and saw at least five monsters appear.
Clearly, these monstrous things had been waiting for some time.
Killer Queen appeared instantly beside Joey, her Withering Heart-Piercing Attack falling to the ground.
The rat-a-tat-tat of rifle fire erupted without warning from Joey and the Gray-Eyebrowed Bystander.
The chimera ants seemed to know the power of firearms, hiding behind nearby trees the moment the rifles spat fire.
Pokkuru's hands flashed with orange light, and arrows, propelled by her bursts of power, pierced the chimera ants that hadn't had time to dodge, faster than bullets.
In just one exchange, three chimera ants were instantly killed, their appearances not even worth noting.
But just then, a whooshing sound suddenly rang out, and several fist-sized stones shot out from the forest.
Killer Queen, a close-combat Stand user, was beside Joey and had been on guard until the Chimera Ants approached.
She spotted the stones immediately and punched them.
Graybrow, a bystander, lacked Joey's defense and was struck directly, flying backward and crashing into a tree.
Behind the tree, a Chimera Ant with a rhinoceros beetle-like horn was waiting. With a sickening thud, Graybrow's chest was instantly pierced by the beetle's horn before he could even get up.
However, Graybrow's rifle seized the opportunity to strike the Chimera Ant's head, and as it prepared to retreat, Graybrow pulled the trigger with a ferocious expression.
With a series of thuds, the rhinoceros beetle's body gradually lost its ability to resist, finally slamming into Graybrow, whose eyes were fading.
But Graybrow no longer had the chance to push away the Chimera Ant's corpse.
On the other side, Pokkuru dodged the stone, pulled Pons aside, and with a flash of orange light, an arrow shot towards the stone thrower at a speed faster than the stone itself.
But the next second, a thick, pale arm covered in fine scales grabbed the arrow.
Then, a figure, taller than a normal Chimera Ant, emerged from behind a tree, its face resembling that of a crocodile, its cold eyes gleaming with curiosity as it looked at the arrow in its hand.
"What is this?"
The rather gruff voice sent a chill down Pokkuru's spine.
But just then, an even louder roar rang out beside the Crocodile Chimera Ant: "The roast chicken's gone!"
As the Crocodile Chimera Ant crushed the arrow in its hand and turned to look at the source of the sound, a deafening explosion and a burst of flames instantly engulfed it.
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