Roy and the others pretended not to notice and nodded.
"Thank you for the trouble."
"Hm? I remember there was also Examinee No. 407. Where is she?"
"She thinks the living conditions in your place are terrible, so she's waiting by the entrance."
Lippo: "..."
…
Because Roy's group arrived at the bottom of Trick Tower first, the other examinees initially also wanted to climb down from the outside of the tower.
But after a well-known climber was carried off by a flock of human-faced, bird-bodied monsters, everyone obediently began searching the top of the tower for the mechanism to descend.
In the end, the five-man "minority obeys the majority" mechanism that Gon and the others cleared in the original story was never triggered by any examinees.
Left with no choice, Lippo canceled that stage. The five-man prisoner squad led by Bendot lost their chance to earn reduced sentences because that part of the test was removed, and they were left crying in despair.
At the bottom of Trick Tower, after Roy and the others arrived early, they first celebrated passing three phases of the Exam. After that, naturally, what awaited them was three long and boring days of waiting.
The five of them came to the empty hall at the bottom of the tower and began intense, sweat-drenched training.
"There are still more tests waiting for you. You must stay alert at all times, and you can't neglect your training either. If you want to grow stronger, if you want power, then you can't waste a single chance to train!"
Now that they had realized just how vast this world was, and how powerful true strength could be, Gon and the others felt Roy was absolutely right. Since they rarely had such a stretch of free time, they immediately began training until they were drenched in sweat.
They did endless push-ups, clapped their hands together, threw punch after punch, practiced flying kicks into the air, and ran laps around the bottom floor of Trick Tower. They didn't let a single form of physical conditioning go to waste.
More than six hours later, when Hisoka arrived at the bottom floor with a slash across his shoulder, wearing his usual leisurely expression, this was the scene that greeted him.
"You're all working very hard."
Hisoka found a place to sit down. The strange smile never left his face as he quietly watched Gon and the others train.
As more and more examinees reached the finish line, the bottom floor gradually became livelier. Then these people, who had passed the third phase and could be considered elites no matter what, simply stood to the side and watched the entire training routine of Gon and the others.
Over the full seventy-two hours, Gon and the others trained for at least more than forty of them. The rest of the time, aside from eating and using the bathroom, was spent meditating and training their Nen.
Of course, the examinees who didn't understand Nen thought Gon and the others were merely resting and recovering their stamina. But Hisoka could tell at a glance how Nen was flowing through Gon's body. Precisely because of that, he understood far better than the others just how insane these people were.
Over those three days, they slept at most six hours. Every other moment was spent training. If they weren't exercising their bodies, they were cultivating Nen. Training maniacs like this would be strange only if they didn't become strong.
Kurapika was, after all, a descendant of the Kurta Clan and naturally possessed extraordinary talent.
There was even less need to mention Gon. As Ging's son, both his talent and bloodline were top-class.
Killua, too, was the most gifted member in the history of the Zoldyck family, and his body had been subjected to countless brutal ordeals since childhood.
And with Roy carrying Senzu Beans in case of accidents, the four of them trained like mad over these three days, never slacking off for even a moment.
Thus, the third phase of the Exam came to an end in this bizarre atmosphere.
What came next was naturally the Hunter Association airship sent to pick them up.
One by one, all the examinees boarded and headed for the next destination.
If nothing unexpected happened, then the next place should be—
Battleship Island!
…
…
"What did you just say? Say that again!!!"
At a small inn on Battleship Island, Roy was desperately holding Android 18 back, while the little old man and little old woman in front of them were trembling all over.
Nearby, Gon, Killua, and the many other examinees had already fled far away from them and were huddled in the corner, shivering.
"Say that again. All the treasure and valuables we recover from this sea area have to be handed over to the Hunter Association?!!!"
The expression on Android 18's face was terrifying beyond words.
Every dragon has a reverse scale, and without question, that demand had touched Android 18's.
The old man and old woman were already clutching each other, too frightened to speak.
Because of the turbulence in her emotions, Android 18 let a tiny bit of her aura leak out.
And that aura wasn't aimed at any one person. It spread indiscriminately.
Naturally, every examinee present felt it.
Hanzo, hiding off to the side, swallowed hard. "I thought only that man was monstrously strong. I never expected the woman beside him to be this terrifying too!"
Pokkle and Bodoro, hiding with him, were both dripping cold sweat as they nodded in complete agreement.
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]