More than twenty examinees were crowded on both sides of the ship's corridor, surrounding Kevin and his three companions.
Bajiao looked serious, his brows tightly furrowed: "It seems today won't be easy."
Goreinu pulled out a club from somewhere, already prepared to fight at any moment.
These people were not ordinary; they were examinees who had successfully entered the second phase of the Hunter Exam, and their combat strength was considerable, especially since there were over twenty of them here.
Having more people was indeed a big advantage.
Bajiao and Goreinu knew clearly that they were prepared to be severely beaten and have all their belongings stolen.
Of course, they weren't without better options, but those were clearly not within their consideration.
"We don't have too much ill will towards you; as long as you hand over the survival supplies you have, and I assume you've also stored quite a bit of food, hand that over too, and we'll let you off."
The leader of the group spoke directly, a smug smile on his face.
"Don't even think about resisting. We're all experts here, not some street thugs," another person warned.
In fact, although these people were quite dissatisfied with Kevin and the others' relaxed state over the past few days, they were still in the middle of the Hunter Exam.
They preferred to snatch the rescue supplies without expending a single soldier, and perhaps grab some food along the way.
Once they started fighting, they might get injured themselves, which would cause significant trouble.
"What are you planning to do, Kevin?" Bajiao asked.
Over the past few days, the four of them had worked together tacitly, and Kevin was usually the one making the decisions.
"If it's a fight, that's no problem either," the usually gentle Goreinu also showed a determined smile at this moment.
Kate didn't speak, just stood there quietly. He knew in his heart that this little crisis was nothing to them, so he appeared extremely relaxed.
"Let me decide? That's a real challenge," Kevin chuckled twice, looking equally at ease.
"That attitude again! We've had enough of seeing you like that these past few days!" a guy in the crowd shouted in dissatisfaction.
"Right, apologize! Apologize for your annoying appearance!"
"Exactly, otherwise, even if you hand over the supplies, we won't let you off!"
The crowd's dissatisfaction was completely ignited, desperately needing an outlet.
With strength in numbers, even the physically weaker examinees followed suit, shouting fanatically.
Kevin silently stared at the guy in the crowd who had spoken first and said coldly, "Heh heh, my choice is for all of you to kneel before me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kevin charged directly to the left, and Kate also moved swiftly, charging to the right, with Bajiao and Goreinu following closely behind.
However, after only a few steps, their speed slowed down, and finally, they just stood in place, their eyes filled with confusion.
Screams came from all around.
Bajiao saw Kevin charge forward like a fierce tiger, throw a punch, and then stop.
But what about the dozen or so people in front of him? The three people who were hit instantly flew out, knocking down a large group of people,
And this large group of people seemed to be swept away by an invisible impact, also flying out one after another.
This scene was like bowling; this group of people instantly fell down in large numbers.
Only one guy stood there trembling, his face full of terror.
It was the one who had shouted for Kevin and the others to apologize.
The situation on the other side was similar, although Kate's side didn't seem to have as strong an impact as Kevin's, the scene was equally exaggerated.
Kate charged into the crowd, quickly swung his hands a few times, and a large group of people immediately fell down.
After Kevin stopped, he patted off non-existent dust from his body and slowly walked up to the only person standing, completely ignoring the crowd of people who had fallen down and were groaning around him.
He raised his hand and gently patted the trembling person's shoulder, dropping a puzzling remark: "Well done."
After speaking, he turned and left.
"What?" The person looked confused and turned his head to look at his companions.
He saw that the group of fallen guys were not unconscious; a few of them were staring at him with wide eyes, cursing through gritted teeth: "You bastard!"
It was then that he suddenly understood why Kevin had done that.
The few of them ignored the groaning sounds outside, closed the door, and the sounds were shut out.
Bajiao and Goreinu followed silently.
It wasn't until they returned to the room that Bajiao said in dissatisfaction, "You two guys are actually this strong? Damn,
I was fully prepared and thought I'd fight alongside you."
Goreinu nodded repeatedly on the side, indicating that he felt the same way.
Kate just smiled slightly and didn't speak.
Kevin looked at the two of them and waved his hand helplessly: "You can't blame me for this. You didn't ask, and I thought you knew."
Who would tell others for no reason that they were very good at fighting?
"Forget it, this is a good thing. I was originally worried about trouble tonight," Bajiao waved his hand helplessly and returned to his room.
This sudden chaos, on the contrary, made him relax, and he honestly lay on his bed to rest.
Kevin and the others did the same.
After the fight just now, those people would likely be much more well-behaved and wouldn't dare to easily target them again.
After all, these examinees weren't stupid; none of those who made it here were fools.
Soon, Kevin fell into a deep sleep.
When he felt the cruise ship stop moving forward, Kevin opened his eyes and looked at the balcony; it was already daylight outside.
What was going on?
He quickly got out of bed. Before he could even ask, the Captain's voice came over the broadcast: "Hello?"
Is anyone still alive? If you're alive, come up to the deck."
Hearing the broadcast, Kevin had no choice but to open the door and go out first.
Kate, Bajiao, and Goreinu also opened their doors and came out. The few of them looked at each other, seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
They walked through the corridor towards the deck.
Along the way, there were bloodstains everywhere, showing how fierce the fighting had been last night.
Along the way, they also encountered other examinees.
These examinees were all in a state of exhaustion, many of them injured, their wounds exposed, walking slowly with a limp, and some even dragging their legs or with bent arms in slings.
"That fight was truly intense," Goreinu couldn't help but exclaim.
Just looking at the appearance of these people and the damaged and dented environment around them, one could imagine how fierce the battle was at that time.
They arrived on the deck, where the Captain was already standing, followed by a group of staff members. These staff members seemed to have been prepared, each carrying a first-aid kit.
The examinees who were still able to move gathered in front of the Captain. Kevin took a rough look and found that only 30 people were left, half of whom had various injuries, and a few were severely injured, leaving a trail of blood as they walked.
"Hey, hey, can't you guys rest a bit? If you try this hard and fail, you can always come back next year, but if you lose your life, you lose everything," Kevin couldn't help but say.
The Captain's words interrupted everyone's chatting and thinking.
"Seeing everyone in good spirits, I'm relieved," the Captain said, lying through his teeth.
"Then congratulations everyone, you have passed the second phase of the assessment. Look over there, that's the location for the third phase of the Hunter Exam. A boat will be here soon to take you over," saying this, the Captain pointed to a small island not far away. The island was close by, clearly visible to the naked eye.
However, some of the examinees present were clearly not satisfied with this result.
The young man who sold the radio asked, "Why did we arrive safely?"
"Why what?" The Captain looked confused.
Another examinee also said with a face full of dissatisfaction, "Didn't you say the ship would sink along the way?"
"Sink? Who told you that? I remember clearly saying that this ship would sail to the examination site for the third phase."
The Captain still looked strange, but a hint of a malicious smile appeared on his face.
Wahachi next to him turned his head away, looking annoyed. Even she had been tricked.
It was then that the examinees realized they had been deceived.
Not just this one examiner, but all the examinees had been played.
"So that's how it is, everything was a facade," Kate said.
Kevin rubbed his forehead helplessly: "We were really openly tricked."
There was no such thing as a shipwreck at all; all the conditions that supposedly could lead to a shipwreck were illusions.
The various pieces of information from the first phase onwards had laid traps, and when the ship set sail in the second phase, these traps deepened, making the examinees who thought they were clever firmly believe that the ship could sink at any moment.
Adding to that the limited survival supplies on the ship and the rules of the second phase of the Hunter Exam, a seemingly obvious test item was laid bare before everyone.
Everyone tacitly prepared for it, and as a result, this deception was deeply imprinted in their minds.
When everyone was preparing for the final potential shipwreck escape, especially on the last night when everyone thought the shipwreck was imminent, the Captain's words were like a spark igniting gunpowder.
But even at that moment, given the chain of events, those words felt reasonable.
After all, this was a Hunter Exam; those words seemed to be increasing the difficulty of the exam, both unexpected and within reason.
"That's just awful."
Bajiao said with a look of displeasure.
"That's too low!"
Goreinu, who was also deceived, was equally displeased.
"Then what was our desperate fight last night for? We paid so much!"
A severely injured examinee roared, his arm broken, his calf twisted and deformed, dragging his heavy body, looking particularly miserable.
The Captain stared at him: "Hmm... does that mean you have brains? Hehehe."
He let out a cold laugh and then said with cold eyes, "However, I am the one who makes the rules. I am the Captain of this ship."
The severely injured examinee finally couldn't bear such an answer and collapsed to the ground.
His injuries no longer allowed him to move.
"Alright, congratulations on having one less competitor. Thank me."
The Captain sneered.
"Heh heh, we really want to rush over and blow your head off right now."
This was the common thought in everyone's hearts.
"Don't frown, smile. Look, the boat to pick you up is here. I hope we are already colleagues the next time we meet."
The Captain let out a hearty laugh and waved his hand.
Subsequently, staff members carrying first-aid kits began to rescue people all over the ship. As for the examinees whose injuries were too severe to be saved, they could only consider themselves unlucky.
On the sea surface.
Yachts slowly approached, a total of ten of them, lining up and stopping below the cruise ship.
"What are you waiting for? Get on the boat."
The Captain urged from the side.
Those examinees who passed the exam but were severely injured also received some simple treatment.
Obviously, the exam would not give them a chance to breathe; even with severe injuries, they had to drag their injured bodies to participate in the next battle.
In this situation, four more people out of the remaining 30 withdrew.
These four were too severely injured and felt they could not achieve good results in the upcoming test.
Forcing themselves would only lead to death.
In the end, a total of 26 people boarded the yachts in groups of two or three. There was also a large ship next to them that carried the injured examinees and some staff members.
Only after all the examinees had boarded the yachts did the cruise ship, which had completed its mission, slowly sail into the distance.
With a roar, the huge steel vessel slowly sank into the water.
The yachts started and sailed towards the island, finally stopping around a small ship. This small ship was one or two sizes larger than the yachts.
A wild man stood at the bow of the ship. He had medium-length hair like a savage, scattered wildly.
He wore animal skins all over, and his exposed skin was covered with various scars. His whole being exuded a beast-like power.
"This guy looks like a beast."
Bajiao frowned and said as he looked at the other party.
Goreinu, who was on the same boat as him, had a solemn expression. They both felt a strong threat from this man.
Almost all the examinees were on high alert, including Kate and Kevin. Because this man released his aura without any concealment. Although there was no malice, his wild personality made this aura extremely oppressive.
From his outward appearance alone, he was one of the strongest people Kevin had ever met.
Of course, this did not necessarily mean his strength was the strongest, but among the people Kevin knew, besides Jin and Bisky, there should be no one stronger than him.
"What a beast."
Kate muttered to himself. This was the common assessment of all people with keen intuition after seeing him.
"Hahahaha! I am the Wilderness Hunter, Zakaru, the examiner for the third phase of the Hunter Exam!"
This man's voice was like the roar of a beast.
"As for the testing ground for this phase, if you're not stupid, you should be able to guess it's on the island behind us.
"The exam time is three days. I will wait for you on the shore after three days. Remember, there are only eight spots to advance in this exam, and the way to determine the spots is based on points."
Saying this, he flicked his hands downwards, and circular adhesive tags flew out.
These tags were marked with numbers and were made of some special material, flashing with light,
clearly displaying the numbers.
Everyone found that the numbers on their chests were different, and they looked at each other.
Among them, Kevin and Kate were the most conspicuous. The numbers on both of their chests were 100 points, which was the highest score among everyone present.
The lowest was only 50 points, while Bajiao's score was 75 points and Goreinu's was 70 points.
Besides Kevin and Kate, the young man who sold the radio earlier had a score as high as 90 points on his chest.
Kevin speculated that this should be because he had independently activated Nen.
Because Kevin noticed that the Nen on his body was already intertwined, although somewhat unstable, this was a characteristic of Nen being stimulated and learning to be controlled. It was estimated to have awakened that night, which was unexpected.
He just didn't know which type was activated.
It might just be that he simply learned Nen and controlled it. On the path he had trained, he had been training both his physique and will, which is why he was able to use and control Nen under certain circumstances.
Otherwise, it would be like a Specialist type, directly awakening a Nen Ability and then learning to control Nen.
In this situation, it was impossible to determine which type it was.
There was also an examinee named Rock, whose score on his chest was 95 points.
Kevin remembered him; he was also a Nen User, but he always kept to himself and didn't have much presence.
However, he looked at himself and Kate, looking at the tags on their chests, and then looked at his own tag,
seeming very surprised.
Did he not expect us to be stronger than him?
This shows that this guy is very confident in himself and should be a skilled Nen User.
Kevin thought this, labeling this guy as someone to be wary of.
An examinee reached out and tugged at the tag on his chest, finding that it couldn't be pulled off at all.
"Don't waste your effort. You can't pull it off yourself. Only others can take it from your chest. Now, listen to me explain the rules."
All the examinees fell silent and watched the examiner attentively.
"You will enter the island from different directions and conduct [Hunting] within the island. Your prey can be other examinees or the creatures on the island.
"This island is called [Ancient Beast Island]. It is a wild place with a large number of ferocious beasts and is very dangerous.
"I have affixed different score tags to each beast. As long as you successfully hunt them, you can take the score tags.
"Finally, your total score will be calculated. Remember, the score on your individual chest will not be included in the total score. On the contrary,
If your own score tag is taken by someone else, your own score will be deducted."
After explaining the rules, the examiner didn't give everyone time to hesitate and directly waved his hand to give the order.
The yachts immediately separated, forming two arcs, sailing around both sides of the island, and began to transport the examinees to different locations.
The yacht that Kevin and Kate were on sailed all the way to the back of the island. It seemed they were the last two to land on the island. "It seems we are being targeted."
Kevin said with a smile as he watched Kate get on the island first.
"Isn't that what we expected?"
Kate also smiled and responded.
"I hope we don't have a decisive battle on the island."
Kevin said.
Kate shook his head: "No, this is definitely not the last phase of the Hunter Exam."
He knew that the Hunter Exam usually had four or five phases.
He preferred to have a good fight with Kevin in such a fair and just setting.
Although he knew he was almost certainly not Kevin's opponent.
He had been undergoing basic Nen Training and had not built his own Nen Ability.
In other words, he had to rely on his current situation and fight in close combat with Kevin, who was a Strengthening System user.
The probability of winning was extremely low, almost impossible.
But he still wanted to fight, wanted to see how much the gap between him and Kevin had widened now.
Whether it had become even more distant.