Only after hearing that did the two men dare raise their heads.
When they saw that Leon and June had already gotten some distance away, they hurriedly scrambled to their feet and scurried after them into the emergency stairwell.
Ray had long since vanished from sight.
Apparently, he hadn’t stopped anywhere in the stairwell and had run straight back to camp.
“That chubby guy’s pretty cautious,” Leon remarked with a laugh.
June didn’t respond.
Instead, she carefully checked her handgun and magazine.
“Only five rounds left,” June said.
Leon reassured her, “One bullet for Ray’s life. I’d say that’s a pretty good trade.”
June glanced at Leon, then said meaningfully, “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
The people in the camp did trust June, but more importantly, she held the truth of the old era in her hands, enough to keep the dissenting voices in the camp under control.
But if she lost that deterrent, different voices would inevitably start emerging within the camp.
They might even threaten June’s position.
Leon realized this as well and continued reassuring her.
“Don’t worry. This time was an accident. If Ray hadn’t run off so fast and in such a panic, there would’ve been no need to waste that bullet.”
Blondie and Old Harris both nodded in agreement.
“Ray’s way too much of a coward. If he’d listened to Leon, June wouldn’t have had to waste a bullet,” Jason complained.
By now, the two of them were completely convinced of Leon’s abilities.
After all, he’d genuinely saved their lives.
Old Harris, standing beside Jason, asked curiously, “Second-in-command, how did you know that monster wouldn’t attack people who weren’t moving?”
“Observation,” Leon replied calmly.
Old Harris and Jason immediately turned to look at him in unison.
Even June stared at him with curiosity written all over her face.
“If you’d observed it carefully, you would’ve noticed that the monster didn’t have any eyes. And since it looked a lot like a bat, I was eighty percent sure that bat monster relied on ultrasound to locate its targets.”
June couldn’t help asking, “And what if you’d been wrong?”
Leon calmly analyzed the situation.
“We still would’ve been fine. That bat monster was obviously after Ray. Even if we’d stopped where we were, Ray still would’ve been its primary target.”
Leon made no attempt to hide his “sinister intentions.” Ray wasn’t here anyway, and besides, the whole reason Leon had brought him along in the first place was to use him as a target.
Or, to put it another way, a sacrificial pawn.
After hearing Leon’s explanation, Jason and Old Harris instinctively exchanged glances.
Both could see the deep wariness toward Leon in the other’s eyes.
Someone like Leon was frighteningly shrewd.
But as long as you weren’t the one he had his sights on, following him actually gave you quite a sense of security.
When the four of them returned to camp, they found Ray sitting in a chair, gasping heavily for breath.
The moment he saw June and the others return safely, Ray rushed over with a delighted expression.
“June, thank goodness you’re all okay!”
June asked with concern, “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“It’s all thanks to you, June! If you hadn’t pulled your gun and saved me at the crucial moment, I’d already be off meeting my great-grandma.”
“You have no idea—I really almost met my great-grandma just now! That monster nearly bit me! Its mouth missed me by inches and went right past my shoulder!”
There was still lingering fear in Ray’s voice.
Every word carried the relief of someone who had narrowly escaped death, along with his heartfelt gratitude toward June.
“Leon, please don’t call me for anything like this again. Being bait is way too much trouble. It’s not my fault I’m fat.” Ray looked at Leon with an aggrieved expression.
Leon: “…”
“Next time, don’t run so fast! That bat monster only attacks things that move. If you’d run slower and listened when Leon called out, June wouldn’t have had to waste a bullet,” Jason remarked from the side.
“Huh?! Seriously?” Ray’s eyes widened as he stared blankly at Jason.
Leon didn’t blame Ray.
After all, Leon himself hadn’t exactly acted honorably in this matter, so he deliberately stepped in to smooth things over.
“All right. Everyone made it back safely, and that’s what matters. If there’s nothing else, go get some sleep.”
“Yeah, we’ll head back now. Leon, June, you two should get some rest too.” As Ray spoke, he repeatedly waggled his eyebrows at Leon, then grabbed Jason, who looked like he still had something to say, and dragged him toward the dormitory.
“Damn it, Fatty! Why are you dragging me? I wasn’t finished talking!” Jason cursed in frustration, his brow furrowing.
“You trying to get yourself on their bad side? Didn’t you see Leon telling us to leave?” Ray rolled his eyes at Jason, who clearly didn’t appreciate his good intentions.
Old Harris, walking beside them, wholeheartedly agreed.
“Jason, you should listen to Ray on this one.”
Jason stared in confusion at the two men, who seemed to be speaking in riddles, and was dragged back to the dormitory without really understanding what was going on.
Once the three of them had left, June invited Leon, “Want to come sit in my office for a bit?”
Leon nodded and followed June to her office.
After sitting down, Leon asked curiously, “Is there something else you wanted to talk about, June?”
“I want your opinion on some rules and systems for the camp,” June said, then explained, “There are more and more people here now. We can’t keep managing everything as loosely as we did before.”
Leon’s eyes immediately lit up.
Even if June hadn’t brought it up, he’d been planning to raise the subject himself in another couple of days.
Leon immediately began analyzing the situation in earnest.
“First, we need clearly defined responsibilities. We never properly assigned duties before, and we’re still supporting a bunch of people who do nothing all day. That’s nothing but harmful to the camp’s development.”
“The elderly might not be able to go outside and search for supplies, but we can give them jobs around the camp that they’re capable of doing. As for the children, anyone over ten can be assigned some lighter work.”
“Second, we need to form proper supply-search teams and appoint team leaders to coordinate them. Ideally, we should also establish some kind of contribution-point system.”
“Camp resources could then be exchanged according to each person’s contributions. As for exactly how to implement it, you can discuss that with the people in the camp.”
“I didn’t study management, so I don’t know much about this kind of thing. All I can really do is offer you some suggestions.”
Leon had no intention of getting involved in this side of things.
His position as second-in-command had already been secured, so why would he waste so much of his energy on the trivial details of managing the camp?
As a transmigrator, Leon knew that Feebas was his real golden ticket.
June nodded.
This wasn’t something she’d only started thinking about today.
She had considered these issues before, but until now, she’d always hesitated over where to begin.
After hearing Leon’s suggestions today, she finally made up her mind.
After saying goodbye to June, Leon returned to his room.
He fed Feebas before going to bed.
The sixth day since the Pokémon arrived.
As soon as Leon reached the camp to get his meal, he received a report from Ray—more newcomers had arrived at the camp today.