"Mr. Satotz too?" Menchi asked in confusion.
"Though I hate to admit it, he's the same type of person," Satotz said calmly. "Except he prefers to hide in the shadows even more than we do. In truth, Hunters instinctively seek out worthy opponents. For him, the Hunter Exam may simply be an arena for finding equals."
"An arena?" Menchi echoed.
"He doesn't only look for opponents in formal matches. Whenever he encounters someone strong—anywhere—he'll want to test himself. That man is extremely dangerous. When we would normally slam on the brakes, he instead steps on the accelerator. Simply put, he's an anomaly among anomalies," Satotz said cautiously.
It seemed that in the examiners' eyes, Lu was the most gifted and promising candidate, while Hisoka was the most dangerous—a walking terrorist. Every cell in his body pulsed with killing intent.
He truly was a dangerous man.
"Ah ha… ah ha ha ha…"
Hisoka could play with his cards alone and suddenly start laughing to himself for no reason. Completely abnormal.
This dangerous individual would usually "lend a hand to the King of Hell" whenever someone got in his way—making sure the underworld wouldn't have to work overtime at night.
"Phew…"
"Let's take a break," Lu said, catching his breath.
The three of them had just thoroughly explored the entire airship from inside to out. Only after satisfying their curiosity did they finally feel tired. Youth really had its advantages.
"This airship doesn't seem to have anything very fun," Killua said, sprawled in his chair. He was clearly dissatisfied with the adventure—there hadn't been enough danger or excitement.
"Really? I thought it was pretty fun. What do you think, Lu?" Gon asked. He had seen many strange and interesting things that didn't exist on Whale Island, so he was quite satisfied.
"It was alright," Lu replied.
"Lu, look—look!" Gon suddenly noticed a stretch of shimmering lights outside.
Lu turned his head and realized that at some point the airship had flown past the thick cloud layer and was now above the city. The city at night was brightly lit. From the sky, it looked like a dazzling sea of stars.
"It's beautiful—like sparkling jewels," Gon said happily. It was his first time seeing such a stunning night view.
"It really is nice," Lu agreed. Viewing it this way was even more comfortable than looking down from a plane.
"You've never seen a night view from above before, Gon?" Killua asked.
He rested his chin in his hand, gazing at the night scenery with boredom. Seeing Gon so excited made him curious. After all, he was completely used to sights like this.
"Only once, when that magical beast brought us to the exam site—but the forest had no lights. What about you, Killua?" Gon asked.
"We have a private airship at home. I've seen night views so many times it's annoying," Killua replied casually.
As a top assassin family, of course they had an airship. Otherwise, how could they rush off to kill people so efficiently? A good assassin always prepares everything in advance.
"That's so unfair…" Gon said, feeling slightly dejected.
"But you're seeing it now, aren't you?" Lu raised an eyebrow.
"That's true." Gon's emotions came and went quickly.
"Even if I didn't want to see it, I'd have to. The entire mountain we live on belongs to our family," Killua said nonchalantly.
"Huh?" Gon blinked.
"And we have around a hundred servants," Killua added.
"Killua, if your family is that rich, what do your parents do?" Gon asked.
"They're killing machines," Killua replied.
"Both of them?" Gon asked.
"Probably both," Lu chimed in.
"Hahaha—!"
Killua stared at the two of them for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"You two are really interesting. Gon, you're the first person to ask me that with such a serious expression. And Lu, you're the first to guess so solemnly. This is really amusing," Killua said.
Inside, Killua felt a subtle sense of relief. What he had truly been worried about was whether his new companions would avoid him because of his family's profession. If that happened, he would return to his old life—and he didn't want that.
Once you've experienced brilliance and freedom, who would willingly return to a life of quiet isolation? Once a calm lake has been stirred into waves, how could it ever become stagnant again?
"Why? It's true, isn't it?" Gon said firmly.
"You knew?" Killua's expression turned serious.
"If Lu says so, then it's definitely right. And my instincts tell me it's true too," Gon replied.
Lu merely grinned and said nothing.
"How strange. I thought my charm was that people could never tell whether I'm serious or joking," Killua muttered.
"What charm?" Gon asked, confused.
"You're overthinking it," Lu said, patting Killua on the shoulder.
"…" Killua choked on his words.
After collecting himself, he continued:
"My entire family works as professional assassins. As long as there's money, we'll kill anyone. And in my generation, I'm the one my elders expect the most from. Since I was young, I've undergone special assassination training arranged by them. But in the end… I couldn't take it anymore."
"Because I don't want to walk a path someone else laid out for me. I told them my life is mine to decide. My parents and brothers went crazy with anger. My mom cried and said I didn't understand what great potential I had as an assassin, begging me to obey. They're such stubborn people—anyone would go mad. Eventually, our whole family fought. I beat my mom and my older brother half to death and escaped from that house."
"They must be furious now. If they find me, they'll definitely take revenge. But once I become a Hunter, the first thing I'll do is capture my entire family. Their lives would fetch a very high price."
As he spoke, Killua grew increasingly animated, gesturing excitedly as though he had already achieved his dream. It sounded wonderful—but clearly, he had never heard the saying: "Dreams are beautiful, but reality is harsh."
"Killua, you're amazing," Gon said sincerely.
"Huh?" Killua snapped out of his excitement.
"Killua, you really are amazing. I could never try to surpass my dad like that. I've never even thought about it," Gon admitted.
His admiration for Ging was etched into his bones—it wasn't something easily changed.
"Really? Maybe wanting to capture my dad does carry that meaning," Killua said thoughtfully.
After Gon said that, he realized he hadn't even noticed how impressive that sounded.
"I believe you'll definitely do it, Killua," Gon said with a smile.
"That's not convincing at all. You've never even seen how strong my dad is. Ruo, what about you?" Killua said, feeling Gon's confidence was a bit too easy.
Killua believed Lu was more rational.