"It seems this year will be more interesting than usual."
Old Captain Maxim noticed the branch Roy was carrying on his shoulder, and vaguely remembered someone who also liked fishing.
When first met, he also had a fishing rod on his shoulder, with a red orb at the end, the only person to pass the test that session... it seems his name was—Ging Freecss.
Maxim faintly remembered this name.
"Welcome... welcome... Roy Zoldyck, we meet again."
A round of applause sounded, Pariston opened his arms, smiling as he walked forward to welcome Roy aboard.
As a result, Roy ignored him and walked straight past to the bow, sat cross-legged, and cast his rod to continue fishing, honing his Nen ability.
Dead water is nothing compared to the living sea, the moving "Sea God" would add more difficulty to fishing, Roy remained as stable as a rock, swaying slightly with the ship, behind him was Wutong, silently guarding his back, facing everyone without saying a word.
"He-he-he... Little Shiel got ignored again. Earlier it was the weirdo... now the Zoldyck..."
Clark glanced at the vast sea behind him, the blue sea surface was unruffled, seemingly without a trace of the weirdo; just wondering if the guy had drowned when suddenly a hand grasped the edge of the ship, climbing up wetly...
Illumi saw... that golden-haired one was watching his elder brother,
He opened his arms, trying to do what? Hug...?
'Danger!' Pariston suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck, turning to face a pair of empty eyes.
It's the weirdo!
"Creak... creak..." The weirdo sat against the railing, also noticing Pariston's gaze, simply closing his eyes, seemingly... out of sight, out of mind.
Thin bodyguard Gol noticed something unusual, quietly reminded, "This person is strange."
Pariston gave Illumi a deep look, shrugged indifferently, "That's why... it's interesting..."
Roy Zoldyck had arrived, everything else became unimportant... he, along with Clark and Gol, found a place to stay,
Old Captain Maxim, seeing everyone was here, clapped his hands and ordered his first mate Gus to bring out a box, glanced around, and loudly shouted, "Everyone look here!"
"Everyone take a number tag to wear!"
Numerous gazes fell on Gus, who wore a red headscarf, reversed the box, dumping out a pile of number tags,
White base, black numbers, and a red button beside, roughly estimated to be over a hundred....
"What's this for? Registering exam numbers?" Bald Ninja flashed forward, first to approach, casually grabbed a number tag, holding it in his hand, curiously pressing the red button midway... but was stopped by old Captain Maxim.
"If you don't mind being eliminated now, go ahead and press it." Maxim held his pipe in his mouth, exhaling smoke that scared Bald Ninja, who trembled, almost dropping the number tag....
"So serious, old man, why didn't you say earlier?" Yuusuke was slightly angry.
As an elite Jonin from Sakura Country's Cloud Hidden Stream, if he got eliminated here before entering the official exam venue for the Hunter Exam... not only would he lose face, but he'd have to commit seppuku if his master found out! Simply too disgraceful!
"Humph... say earlier?" Maxim looked around, raised his voice, "Don't think there's nothing to do once you're on board!"
"I'm telling you, from the moment your front foot stepped on this deck, the Hunter Exam has already begun!"
"If you're hoping for a fluke, you might as well quit early!"
"Since we're all here, who the heck would quit? Old geezer, just tell us! What do you want us to do?" someone impatiently shouted.
"Good!" Even when insulted, Maxim remained unfazed, took a number tag in his hand, showed it to everyone, "One number tag represents one point, this part of the exam is actually very simple, it's called 'Point Contest'!"
"Whoever accumulates the most points before reaching the official venue on Doli Island wins."
Old Captain paused here, squinting at the crowd, raising a finger, "Only the top ten will be taken!"
No, wait...
"You're encouraging everyone to slaughter each other!" someone realized the implication... what 'Point Contest'?
It clearly meant everyone here would kill each other until only ten were left!
This realization stirred up a thousand waves... Yuusuke, Snakekeeper, Sakamoto Days, Kurta Race girl... Kate, Wutong all turned their heads sharply... Maxim laughed heartily, took a puff from his pipe, "That's why we prepared the 'Surrender Button' in advance..."
The old man pressed the red button on the number tag, emitting a piercing "beep," grinning maliciously, "If you can't bear it, surrender, we will intervene."
"However, pressing it..."
Maxim glanced at Yuusuke, "Means losing your exam qualification."
"Hoo~" A gust of sea breeze blew, carrying away all the noise on the deck.
The sound of pages turning echoed, a Kurta Race girl broke the silence, "As far as I know, normally it wouldn't be this harsh, even in the last session, mass elimination of candidates only occurred upon reaching the official venue."
"Well, you said it, that was the past." Maxim said nonchalantly, "Each session has its rules, you can appeal to the association if you're not satisfied!"
"Anyway, it's the orders from above. Can't pin it on me." Maxim silently added another sentence in his mind.
"Then there's nothing more to say." Pariston, following the reckless Bald Ninja, was the first to step forward, took "Number 1," pinned it to his chest, looked around, his gaze briefly stopping on Roy, smirking sinisterly....
"I wholeheartedly support the association's decision, garbage should be swept away early to avoid tarnishing the association's reputation!"
"It's this guy again!" The image of Donovan being slapped into minced meat was still vivid in one's mind, Yuusuke, Snakekeeper, Sakamoto Days, Bandage Man... glared angrily, yet dared not speak, only after Pariston, Clark, Gol each took a number and retreated to the side, did they step forward to take numbers and find a place to hide...
Along the way, a sudden scream erupted, it turned out someone behind saw the person in front take a number, and while they were unprepared, stabbed his kidney, snatched the number from his hand, and ran....
From this point, it was as if a boulder had been thrown into a still lake, a knife sparking off a massacre!
"Welcome to the real Hunter World." Maxim noticed the person with the knife going in white, coming out red, instructed Gus and other crew members to intervene promptly if they heard someone press the 'Surrender Button,' turned and went back to the captain's chamber, closed the door behind.
Getting old, couldn't stand the bloodshed, those from above really didn't understand to show some sympathy to this old man....
Old Captain thought, leaning back into a chair, simply closed his eyes and napped for a while... leaving a ship of exam candidates playing a game of grim escape in the middle of a slaughterhouse...
"Whoosh——" On the deck, a full-scale brawl broke out... a flying knife carelessly targeted Roy!