When everything around Joey finally settled, he realized he was back inside 4th Dimensional Mansion.
His heart thudded fast, betraying a tension his calm face didn't show.
He raised his wrist. The ticking hands of his watch told him the time: 14 minutes and 31 seconds until midnight.
Killer Queen's third bomb – Bites the Dust.
The strongest ability of Killer Queen. One that rewinds time by exactly one hour upon activation or detonation.
In the moment his heart had been utterly crushed by despair, Killer Queen's Third Bomb had triggered.
Joey had long suspected this ability existed.
Back when he first crossed over—still in soul form—he'd glimpsed the truth: Killer Queen had taken the form of Yoshikage Kira disguised as Kosaku Kawajiri.
Especially that split black-and-white watermelon hairstyle—iconic of the time Kira awakened Bites the Dust.
But ever since Joey had regained consciousness and control over his body in this world, he'd never truly fallen into despair.
Which meant Bites the Dust had never activated.
Not until now—when the King's overwhelming pressure pushed him to the brink.
The first activation rewinds time exactly one hour.
From then on, Killer Queen, anchored to Komugi, would detonate anyone who tried to extract information about Joey from her—or to whom she might inadvertently reveal it.
And each activation would rewind time again.
There was, however, a key difference between the initial trigger and subsequent ones.
Joey retained all memories from the one-hour span prior to the first rewind.
But future re-triggers would leave Joey memoryless. Instead, Komugi—the new host—would retain the memories of events.
In other words:
Komugi had become Joey's living bomb.
Any time she, willingly or not, disclosed information about him—Bites the Dust would trigger.
Joey now found himself in a precarious role: a Stand user temporarily stripped of his own Stand, while Komugi bore Killer Queen's protection despite not being a Stand user herself.
He knew Komugi would never willingly reveal his existence—she didn't even know him.
But inadvertent triggers were still possible.
Because during Bites the Dust's active time, Killer Queen would protect Komugi completely.
Even Joey couldn't touch her.
Even if he got hurt, Killer Queen wouldn't interfere.
Joey's mind raced—analytical lightning striking at every possibility.
Once again, Dragon Dive would fall onto the palace—because Bites the Dust enforced recurrence of previous events.
If something happened in the first timeline, it must happen again, regardless of context.
If Komugi had dropped a cup during that span, it would shatter again—even out of nowhere.
If someone had triggered Bites the Dust and died from it, they'd explode again at the same moment, regardless of how the events around them shifted.
Only Killer Queen existed outside those absolute rules.
So—when Dragon Dive struck again, and a bolt targeted Komugi—Killer Queen would protect her.
This contradiction—this "rule-breaking clause"—was key.
If Meruem, the King, arrived and saw Killer Queen, that would qualify as "exposure."
Bites the Dust would detonate.
Meruem would die.
Time would rewind—again—to nearly an hour before infiltration began.
That would mean: next time, the moment they stormed the palace, Meruem would die instantly.
But Joey didn't put much faith in that scenario.
Because if Komugi—who now held the rewind memory—realized the King died after seeing Killer Queen, she'd likely try to change that outcome.
Which would cause an even earlier rewind—to before 11 PM.
That said, the current timeline was most likely still the first rewind.
Meaning: no one had died from Bites the Dust yet.
Unfortunately, Joey's original watch was destroyed in his fight with Youpi—making it impossible to confirm the time precisely.
If he could, he'd time Killer Queen's recall to a few seconds after entering the palace.
Wait—
A new thought struck Joey.
When Meruem stormed the tower to rescue Komugi, Netero and Zeno arrived nearly simultaneously—within three seconds.
Which meant: they too might see Killer Queen and trigger the bomb.
Joey realized: he'd have to manually recall Killer Queenexactly two seconds after the King exploded—to avoid repeated rewinds.
But with no precise time marker, that was almost impossible.
His lips cracked dry as he licked them.
The logic spiraled out of control.
Maybe the only true way forward was to visually confirm Meruem's death, and then end the effect.
But for that, he'd have to get from the palace entrance to the eastern tower in two seconds.
Impossible.
No—
He'd wait for a rewind to land before 11 PM, then simply let an hour pass, and recall Killer Queen safely.
That was the safest bet.
Any casualties would be limited to palace inhabitants.
The Extermination Team would remain untouched.
That one shot—where palace elites might be wiped—was Joey's best strategic advantage.
Only during that first rewind could he accurately predict his own actions.
But...
There was still a risk.
What if Komugi initiated another rewind before the hour was up?
For example:
If the trigger happened at 11:30 PM, time rewinds to 10:30 PM.
Then, only if the clock again hits 11:30 will the previous target die.
If another trigger occurred at 11:20, time would rewind even earlier.
Joey would have no way of knowing which rewind he was in, who was about to die, or how far back he'd gone.
Meruem? The Royal Guards? Or others in the palace?
If Komugi kept triggering Bites the Dust like a broken clock resetting itself—
It would be an infinite nesting doll of detonations.
No—
Joey shook his head.
The answer was simpler.
Komugi was blind. She wasn't a Nen user.
He just had to wait for a rewind that pushed the clock before 11 PM, then wait patiently as the hour passed.
Then recall Killer Queen.
Any more thinking would only spiral him deeper into a time loop of madness.
Still...
Once he did reclaim Killer Queen, the palace would be in high alert.
His next moves would be even more dangerous.
Bites the Dust wasn't a guaranteed victory.
It merely started a new game of death and chance.
If it wiped a key target—great.
If not, and Komugi accidentally reset things again...
He'd drag the Extermination Team into another rewind—yet deeper despair.
Some might ask—
Would Joey be unable to trigger Bites the Dust again, now that he had hope?
Impossible.
Because Killer Queen didn't just gauge Joey's despair.
She judged the entire situation.
When true despair descended, Killer Queen would nullify any hope, and independently decide if the trigger condition was met.
Otherwise—what kind of pathetic Stand would this be?
No, that wasn't how she worked.
But then a dark question crept in.
What if he deactivated Bites the Dust... now?
Things would likely return to how they were before the first rewind.
He'd have to kill Pouf and Leol again, rush to Shoot, and then touch Youpi's flesh held in Hotel Rafflesia—to detonate him.
Then they'd all face the final boss: Neferpitou.
But could they win?
Joey's conclusion: No.
With Knuckle down, there was no one who could tag Pitou with a death-flag ability.
Joey and Meleoron teaming up for a kill was... fantasy.
Terpsichora would react the moment Killer Queen appeared and flatten Joey.
Maybe Meleoron and Knov could gamble on a stealth kill using Hide and Seek.
The range was large, and if it hit, it was guaranteed death.
But was it possible?
Maybe.
But the risk—
What if Pitou's death triggered Terpsichora to possess her corpse, creating something even worse?
No one would dare approach.
And if that puppet had extra, unknown Nen tricks, like advanced puppeteering...
Things would spiral.
No.
To kill Pitou, she had to be utterly vaporized.
Knov had to land the kill—and Joey had to follow up instantly, before Terpsichora could activate.
Just like how he'd disposed of Pouf's corpse.
But Terpsichora remained the greatest uncertainty.
Would she let Joey—or anyone—touch Pitou's body?
Almost certainly not.
This plan had too many flaws. Too many moving parts.
And worst of all:
Youpi couldn't be allowed to kill Gon or Killua in the meantime.
So Knov would have to help deal with Youpi, too.
But if Youpi was that strong...
Could Knov even survive that?
The numbers didn't add up.
So the most stable solution—
Was to let Bites the Dust kill one of the Royal Guards—or the King—before infiltration began.
Then the rest of the team could fight the survivors.
And Netero could focus everything on whoever remained.
Whether it was Meruem or Pitou...
As long as Joey's side could finish their fights quickly—
The tide of war might shift.