"Gon, are you okay?"
Since Lu had seen everything, he naturally had to ask—no need to let Todo think Gon was alone.
There shouldn't be any problem anyway. After all, in the original storyline a similar scene had occurred without any accidents.
"I'm fine," Gon replied easily, as if nothing had happened.
"That's good."
Leorio felt like he must be getting old—he couldn't handle these scares anymore. Being called "old man" or "uncle" really wasn't fair.
Only after hearing Gon's answer did Kurapika and Killua stop worrying. Using the elasticity of the spider threads, they climbed back toward the top of the cliff.
"That kid is really something else. You don't see that every day," Menchi remarked from above, having witnessed the entire scene.
"Gon really is one of a kind," Lu added as he climbed up and happened to hear her comment.
"Looks like you did pretty well," Menchi teased, eyeing Lu's bulging backpack.
Toward someone like Lu, who clearly had exceptional talent as a Gourmet Hunter, Menchi was always unusually tolerant.
"Not bad at all," Lu replied, whispering a few words to the man-faced ape beside him.
The ape nodded and, with nimble movements, disappeared back down the cliff in just a few bounds. Lu still hadn't obtained the suspected Spider Eagle King egg. The serpent egg he had acquired earlier had already been used on Hisoka—he needed to replenish his stock.
"However, the exam requires that candidates climb down the cliff and retrieve the eggs personally," Menchi said with a meaningful smile, raising a finger.
"Since that's the rule, of course there won't be any problem," Lu answered with an expression that practically screamed, I'm a law-abiding citizen.
"What a sly guy," Menchi muttered inwardly. She decided she would wait and see what Lu would do if Gon ended up without an egg to submit. For now, she stopped watching him so closely.
Lu shrugged and said nothing more. After a short while, the candidates began climbing up one after another.
"Lu, I saw the man-faced ape go back down. Is something wrong?" Leorio hurried over, looking concerned.
"Relax. It's a good thing," Lu said, thinking about the taste of a king-class egg and feeling his mouth water.
"Oh. That's good, then," Leorio replied.
By now, the group had formed a habit: if Lu said there was no problem, then there truly wasn't. In fact, there might even be a surprise waiting for them.
"Alright, we're up," Gon said, straining as he pulled Tony onto the cliff. Given Todo's size, it took some real effort.
"You're always like this—showing off and taking risks," Leorio said, as the oldest among them, feeling like he was constantly worrying himself sick.
"Didn't I say I was fine?" Gon laughed, clearly not considering the situation dangerous at all. To him, it had even been an enjoyable experience.
Meanwhile, Menchi saw that Buhara's preparations were nearly complete. A large pot had already been filled with water and placed over the fire. The candidates had all returned.
"The ingredient collection phase is over!" Menchi announced loudly.
"Bring your Spider Eagle eggs to me one by one for inspection."
She glanced meaningfully at Lu, but he wasn't worried. If Gon could be defeated that easily, he wouldn't be Gon.
Sure enough, as the candidates stepped forward to submit their eggs one by one, Todo—who had been lying on the ground moments ago—suddenly sprang to his feet. He seemed perfectly fine.
"Don't blame me. This egg belongs to me."
After taking a few steps, Todo stopped and flashed a broad, self-satisfied grin.
"That bastard—unbelievable!"
Leorio had witnessed the entire incident earlier and was furious, ready to charge forward.
"Calm down, Leorio. Gon isn't even angry. And sometimes, just because someone acts shameless doesn't mean they're in the right," Lu said, patting Leorio's arm and motioning for him to look at Gon.
Gon stood there calmly with his arms folded, not the slightest bit upset.
"That's right. Don't be impulsive," Kurapika added. Given how composed Lu looked, it wasn't even certain that Gon had suffered any loss.
Sure enough, when Todo stepped forward and reached into the pocket where he had placed the egg, he found nothing.
"Huh? Where did it go?"
His triumphant smile froze. He turned his pockets inside out, searching frantically—but there wasn't even a fragment of shell to be found.
"Gon, go ahead," Lu said. There was nothing sweeter than pulling someone down from their peak of pride.
"Mm-hmm." Gon nodded.
As if performing a magic trick, he pulled an egg out of his own pocket and stepped past Todo toward Menchi.
"It's with me," Gon said.
"When did you take it?!" Todo stared at the egg in Gon's hand, finally realizing it had never been in his own pocket.
"So the little brother knows how to use tricks too," Menchi remarked, holding the egg up to the sunlight to check for damage. Finding none, she sounded impressed.
"But during the test, why did you hesitate so little to save Candidate 55?" she asked curiously, referring to Todo.
If Gon had failed to submit an egg, then his actions would have seemed like reckless self-sacrifice. But now that he had safeguarded his own interests and retrieved his egg, the meaning was entirely different.
"Because… he called for help, didn't he?" Gon said after thinking for a moment, smiling. That was his honest answer.
Killua and the others, who had just come over, felt slightly deflated. They had expected something more profound.
This is Gon, Lu thought. Completely different from the typical hot-blooded shōnen protagonist.
"What kind of answer is that? Is this kid pure-hearted—or just strange?" Menchi muttered, somewhat speechless. After all that anticipation, she hadn't expected such a simple response.
Satotz, standing nearby, silently nodded. Even he hadn't expected that answer.
"You little rascal, you've really got something," Leorio said, hooking an arm around Gon's neck and tapping his head as the two began to roughhouse.
"Hahaha!"
Everyone was relaxed now. Other candidates sat or stood around, unwinding.
"The eggs aren't cooked yet. Boiled eggs aren't boiled if they haven't been boiled," Lu said seriously.
"We'd better go keep an eye on it."
With that, he headed toward the large pot.
"That makes sense," Kurapika agreed. "We can't relax just yet."
The others stopped joking around and followed Lu over to the pot.
At that moment, Menchi spoke again.