The coin bomb had already been stabilized by Killer Queen's ability.
No matter if it was cracked, smashed, or shattered — its explosive effect remained intact.
The moment it was touched by a living being, it would detonate.
Clearly, someone had made contact with the fragments. Joey suspected the man with glasses.
Of course, there was also the possibility that a Nen beast had touched the coin fragment.
But that introduced another issue — Nen beasts don't have body heat or flesh. Such entities shouldn't be able to trigger a bomb that specifically responds to biological contact.
Killer Queen's bomb triggers when touched by something with vital signs — most obviously demonstrated by the Heart Attack mechanism. If mere impact were enough, the bombs would be too unstable to use.
As for whether the enemy had a flesh-and-blood conjured clone, Joey doubted it — most Nen users didn't mess around with full-body doppelgängers. But he couldn't completely rule it out.
Regardless of who or what triggered the First Bomb, one thing was clear:
Joey had obtained critical intel.
An Emitter, using Joey's own coin as a marker to target him.
If the man with glasses was the user, then his first shot to destroy the coin, plus that throat-slitting gesture, were all likely pre-activation steps for his ability.
Especially that move of adjusting his glasses — that detail smelled like misdirection.
"No… the glasses are probably a red herring. The bullet attack aligns more with Emitter-type skills," Joey concluded.
It wasn't a hard deduction. Their tricks weren't particularly subtle.
If the glasses were conjured, that would point toward a Conjurer. But the bullet's emergence and trajectory screamed Emitter-style cross-spatial attacks.
If this guy had actually trained in both systems, his bullet output would be much weaker. That was Nen's equivalent exchange in action.
Everything came back to memory capacity theory.
"You can't have everything — the more detailed or cross-typed your ability, the more memory it consumes."
"They clearly don't see me as a threat. Makes sense. A guy who just awakened Nen a month ago? If I didn't have Killer Queen, I probably wouldn't even be worth sending Nen users after."
Joey had no doubts about this.
And using Nen beasts to retrieve the coin fragments likely meant the enemy's next ability required those pieces. Otherwise, they wouldn't risk handling a volatile object like that.
Even if they had Nen beasts, no one would waste precious aura to retrieve bombs… unless it was absolutely necessary.
He needed to watch out for the pistol's output. The power level of the earlier bullet and the one that broke the coin didn't match.
Also — how was he being tracked?
Joey's eyes narrowed as he stared toward the spot where a bullet had struck.
As for the second enemy, that guy was likely a Manipulator.
And possibly the most dangerous of the two. Manipulator-type abilities often came with ridiculous rules, but once those conditions were met, they were terrifyingly effective.
Then there was the tracking problem.
Joey had noticed it — a Nen beast emerged wherever the bullets landed.
It looked like these beasts had been hidden inside the bullets, matching them in size.
Joey flicked a Nen bullet of his own toward one. The tiny beast dodged, only to be tackled and swallowed whole by a nearby mouse Joey had previously conjured.
Its beady black eyes swiveled, already locking onto the next beast.
When Joey followed the bee to Ponzu, he found a girl far removed from the radiant figure he'd met a month ago.
Her body was filthy. Her face pale. Her entire frame looked like it was about to collapse.
"Joey, we need to leave — now! There's still time!" Ponzu's voice was frantic, shaking with desperation.
"It's all my fault! I dragged Pokkle into this, and now I've pulled you in too! Please, let's go — before it's too late!"
Joey sidestepped her grasp, putting a bit of space between them.
Right then, a bullet popped into the air and slammed into the nearby cliff wall.
"You… you've been marked…" Ponzu's voice trembled. "How… how could this happen?"
She slumped to the ground, as if the last ounce of strength had drained out of her.
Joey, however, stared down at her, his eyes glinting. "You know their ability?"
She didn't answer. Her gaze was glassy, unfocused.
So much for backup. What he got instead was a broken wreck.
Joey sighed. He couldn't leave her behind.
She had chased after the Kakin mercs, located him, and even tried to pull him away from danger.
That was more than enough for Joey to repay the favor — she'd helped him before, even had a few pleasant conversations with him during his early days in NGL.
He wasn't a monster.
"Pull yourself together, Ponzu," he said sharply. "If you want to save Pokkle and leave NGL alive, then tell me everything you know. We don't have much time."
Elsewhere, one of Joey's conjured snakes silently slithered up behind a Nen beast. Its jaws stretched wide, and it devoured the little construct in one gulp.
"Do we still have a chance?" Ponzu's voice was faint but trembling with hope.
Joey saw it in her eyes — if he said "no," she'd break.
"Of course," he said, grinning. "I have no plans to die here."
His signature arched eyebrows lifted with confidence.
To Ponzu, it was like light shining from his body.
Something pure. Something invincible.
Her gaze slowly steadied.
"They said they were mercenaries from Kakin, but they're actually remnants of the Ten Dons' elite task force," she began. "After the Ten Dons were killed, they went rogue. Now they're an A-rank bounty crew, taking shady contracts from dark clients, often in league with Kakin's Ai Ai Mafia Family."
"Ten Dons?" Joey frowned. "You mean the heads of the six-continental underworld?"
He remembered them.
The Ten Dons once controlled all major mafia families across the world.
Their deadliest enforcers? The Shadow Beasts.
Most of them were wiped out during the Yorknew incident — slaughtered by Phantom Troupe, while the Dons themselves were assassinated by Illumi Zoldyck.
Joey had figured that showing up post-Yorknew meant he'd never encounter any Shadow Beasts.
But with the Dons dead, the mafia's power balance had collapsed — and their enforcers had either gone solo or turned to new gigs.
"There shouldn't be many Shadow Beasts left," he muttered.
"You mean the two chasing me are ex-Beasts?" he asked.
Ponzu shook her head.
"No. They're sub-commanders who worked under the Beasts. B-rank bounty targets with full Nen mastery."
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