"Ka-ka..." A low, muffled explosion like thunder constantly detonated from within Sean's body.
Estimating the progress in his heart, Sean immediately closed the panel. With a sudden flash of inspiration, he raised his hand and threw an empty punch forward.
"Pa." A soft sound. The fist swept past Netero's eyes, and the sound arrived a full half-beat later before finally entering Netero's ears. This caused Netero to fall into a momentary trance.
It was as if he saw the day his own martial arts reached their peak, the punch he threw at his teacher. It was the same. The 'fist speed' exceeded the 'speed of sound'!
It had moved his teacher to tears of excitement, resulting in a reversal of roles where the teacher bowed to the student.
However, what Netero did not expect was that as time flew by—a full sixty-year cycle later—someone would perform this same move in front of him. Only this time, the former student had become the 'teacher,' and Sean, as a prospective Hunter about to obtain his license, had become the 'him' of that time.
It had to be said that fate was a mysterious force, background of teasing people; it looked like another cycle was beginning. Netero could not help but sigh with emotion. 'Is it my turn to bow to him and ask to be his student?'
'Ohohoho. That is a bit of an exaggeration.'
Humanity's strongest had its own unyielding pride.
'So... if you want this old man to bow down in worship, you are still far from ready, kid.'
The old man clapped his hands behind his back, straightened his spine, and watched as Sean finished his 'transformation.' Looking up at this young man whose shadow alone could engulf him, he narrowed his eyes and sneered. "Be careful of pulling up seedlings to help them grow; too much is as bad as too little, kid."
Forcing improvement on an unstable foundation would indeed leave hidden dangers. But for Sean, who had fully inherited Aokiji's profound foundation, so-called hidden dangers did not exist at all.
Sean reached out a hand, patted Netero on the shoulder, and looked at him with sympathy. "Jealousy is nothing. After staying with me for a long time... you'll only get more jealous."
Netero: "..."
As expected of that damn old man's grandson, his words were truly 'pleasant' to hear.
With a shake of his shoulder, he threw off Sean's hand and turned to walk leisurely toward the second lower deck.
"Jealous? Wait until you can pass your great-grandfather's test before you talk big."
Netero spoke meaningfully, "That old thing Maha has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Be careful not to capsize in the gutter."
"Tsk. Kowai don't." Sean replied, "I really don't know if there are any problems in this world that a fist can't solve."
Sean watched Netero flash away and disappear. He gently clenched his fist, instantly crushing the air along with the sound, forming a momentary void.
This void was deep and nothingness; just one look at it would make people feel fear. Fortunately, apart from Sean leaning on the railing and gasing at the scenery, there was no one else on the deck.
Only the whistling gale seemed to be telling someone about everything that had just happened.
The Cockpit.
"Ouch... painful... hiss—what happened to me?"
"Satotz, why are you here?"
"This is the cockpit, not a place you can stay! Get out!"
Following the examinations, the unconscious pilot finally woke up after a long rest. When he opened his sleepy eyes and saw a gentleman with a mustache sitting in his seat controlling the airship, he was dumbfounded.
Scrambling and kicking, he blasted Satotz directly out of the room.
Satotz spread his hands and said repeatedly, "Hi, hi."
He dodged out of the cockpit, only to hear the door slam shut with a heavy "Bang." He had been given the cold shoulder.
"I didn't expect the captain's temper to be so bad." Indeed. In the original story, a legendary captain who dared to kick Gon and Killua and throw them out was not someone with an undeserved reputation.
Satotz simply patted the dust off his clothes. Unbothered, he took out his phone from his pocket, opened the contacts, found a guy labeled "Chicken Head," and dialed the number without hesitation.
"Du du..."
"Hello? Satotz? What wind blew you here? Ka-ba... Ka-ba..."
That guy was definitely eating daifuku again; sooner or later, he would die of obesity. Satotz spoke expressionlessly, "Lippo, let's talk business. Sean Zoldyck is heading to your place."
"Pay attention. Don't annoy him. Be careful, or you'll be in deep trouble."
"Hah?" The chewing sound paused. A certain bounty hunter with a chicken-comb hairstyle and flashy pink-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose dug at his ear, speaking in disbelief, "Sean Zoldyck? Who is that? Is it worth you being this scared?"
Yes. Scared. Based on Lippo's understanding of Satotz, for the other party to say "you'll be in deep trouble," it was not easy at all.
"Don't you know who the Zoldycks are? That family of assassins! He fought the Chairman today and crushed him."
"Pffft!" A mouthful of daifuku sprayed out. Lippo let out a strange cry of "Yare yare," pushed up the glasses on his nose, and almost choked to death.
Crushed my ass.
"Is it you, Satotz, talking nonsense, or have I, Lippo, gone deaf?" Lippo roared into the phone, "Trouble yourself to explain to me what the hell 'crushed' means! That's the Chairman! The strongest human!"
"Literal meaning." Satotz seemed to have anticipated Lippo's reaction. He spent some extra effort describing the scene of Sean fighting Netero, as well as his stunning performance of clearing two stages consecutively, recounting it all to Lippo.
On the other end of the phone, the voice disappeared. The excitement was gone, the person seemed numb, leaving only a long silence and the faint hiss of electric current.
"Holy sh*t... if what you say is true... why doesn't the Chairman just give him the Hunter License and be done with it?"
If he's that awesome, why the hell is he taking the exam?
"So, isn't that why I specifically came to remind you?"
Satotz said calmly, "You don't need to worry too much. Just do what you need to do."
"That guy Sean Zoldyck is strong, but facing the strange and bizarre 'problems' of your Trick Tower, he might not necessarily pass."
That was true. Lippo let out a breath and said confidently, "My stage doesn't just test strength. If he really can't pass, he can't blame me."
Satotz nodded in deep agreement. "Of course. Afterwards, I will collect your corpse. You don't need to worry about that either."
Lippo: "..."
F*ck you!
With a "Pa," he hung up the phone directly.
"Du..." The busy tone came from the other end of the phone.
Satotz shrugged expressionlessly and shoved the phone back into his pocket. As a friend, he had already given the necessary reminders.
If a certain Chicken Head didn't appreciate it, then it was no longer Satotz's business.
"Tap tap..." The gentleman stepped in his leather shoes, walking straight and disappearing like a stiff-limbed robot.
Leaving only the empty corridor, where the humming sound of propellers shredding the air echoed from time to time.
The Next Day.
The sun rose, casting the first rays of morning light.
The airship, fully loaded with examinees, finally arrived at the third stage—Trick Tower!
"Creak..." The hatch opened, and examined walked out one after another.
Gon hung behind Sean and shouted confidently, "Uncle, let's go too."
Number Two, hands in pockets, nodded. He glanced imperceptibly at the deck of the airship. Sean waved at him, then said faintly to Netero beside him, "I'm leaving, old man."
Netero: "?"
"The exam isn't over. Where are you going? You promised this old man you would participate in the entire exam."
"Isn't Number Two there?" Sean curled his lip indifferently, his figure flashing repeatedly before vanishing from Netero's sight in an instant.
A black line appeared on Lord Chairman's smooth forehead. Watching him leave, he chuckled, "Want to run? Stinky brat, you can't run away."
"Hohoho...Beans...give the order to start an emergency meeting."
"Meeting content—discuss breaking the rules to absorb Sean Zoldyck as a Hunter!"
"Ah—oh." A surprised sound came from the other end of the phone. Beans' small hand holding the phone trembled, and he looked guiltily at the sofa. The sofa was empty. Fortunately, a certain old man who had been freeloading all the way had left. Otherwise, his small head might have been twisted off on the spot!
"So, the Chairman is trying soft tactics since hard ones didn't work?"
"Forcibly shoving the Hunter identity onto Teacher Ben An?"
"It's just that, this way, guys like Pariston and Saiyu probably won't agree..."
Hanging up the phone, Beans pushed open the door with a heavy heart and passed down the notice.
Sure enough, upon learning that Netero wanted to break convention and absorb a 'newcomer' in an unprecedented way...
The Twelve Zodiacs exploded in an uproar!