What collision?
"Sean left the mountain?" Zigg looked at Maha in surprise. "When did he leave?"
"Noon. He's also on tonight's airship." Maha picked up his tea and took a sip. *Ptooey*—too hot.
Seeing this, Zigg added some cool water for him and said with a laugh, "Father, don't you usually treat that kid like a precious treasure?"
"Afraid he'll fall if you hold him, afraid he'll melt if you keep him in your mouth. Why did you suddenly let him leave the mountain?"
'Who treats him like a treasure? Does that brat deserve it?' Maha snorted. "I'm afraid he was born just to piss me off!"
"He dared to talk back to his grandpa over a servant. Tell me, doesn't that kid deserve a beating?"
'Deserve it or not, didn't you still agree?' Zigg smiled. "If you weren't willing, Father, could that kid really overturn the heavens?"
'Oh, but he did. He really did almost overturn me.' Recalling the scene of Sean instantly learning "spinning water," Maha still couldn't help but be amazed. "Zigg... you think this old man didn't try to stop him?"
"The problem is, this old man *couldn't* stop him!"
The old man directly told Zigg about Sean instantly learning "spinning water".
Zigg was stunned for a moment, only recovering after a long while. He sighed, "That's impressive. If Netero finds out, he'll probably accuse me of lying to him again."
"You told him about Sean passing the test?" Maha raised an eyebrow.
Zigg nodded. "Mn. He said, if what I said was true, with Sean's current level, passing the Hunter Exam would be more than easy."
"I knew that brat was up to no good!" Maha flew into a rage. "Bullshit Hunter Exam! Zigg... I see it now, he's just here to steal my grandson!"
"Telling my grandson to go be a dog for his Hunter Association! You just wait 'til he gets here. This old man is going to beat his ass raw!"
Zigg: "..."
He sighed silently. 'As expected... Father is still holding a grudge against Netero for tricking him into going to the Dark Continent.'
'Even after so many years, some things just can't be erased by time.'
"Now we just have to see if the two of them are fated. If they can run into each other at the airport, I guess his trip won't be for nothing."
*Whir... whir... whir.*
The propellers chopped through the air, letting out a buzzing hum.
After a twenty-minute journey, Sean, with Sarasa, could already see the outline of the capital's airport in the distance.
Airship after airship, under the control of the ground command center, took off and landed.
Never mind Sarasa screaming in excitement; even Sean, who had lived two lives, was a little thrilled.
He had flown in airplanes and ridden in hot air balloons in his past life, but this combination of the two... this was his first time experiencing it. No, *about* to experience it.
*Screech!*
He slammed on the brakes, stopping in a secluded spot. Sean lifted Sarasa down by the waist. The "Nen" dissipated, and Tsubone's form appeared.
The little girl once again witnessed the magical scene of "car turning into a person," her eyes wide.
"Don't just stand there, let's go." Sean glanced at Sarasa, signaling for Tsubone to keep an eye on the girl, so she wouldn't wander off and get lost like an idiot.
Tsubone understood. With one hand carrying the packaged "Pot Shadow Ninja" and the other holding Sarasa's hand, she followed Sean into the airport.
Once in the lobby, Tsubone went to buy tickets. Sarasa saw a little kid gnawing on a chicken leg and started clamoring about robbing the airport's fried chicken joint.
Helpless, Sean had to pay for three servings of fried chicken with fries and cola. They sat in the public rest area, and he and Sarasa began to feast. Of course, Sean had already mentally added this expense to Gotoh's tab.
"Dear passengers: Airship G3214 has safely arrived at its destination."
"Please take all your carry-on luggage and follow the crew to disembark in an orderly manner."
The airport announcement rang out as usual.
Just as Sean was savoring a delicious fried chicken leg...
Two figures, one large and one small, passed through the bustling crowd and arrived at the exit.
"Chairman, I'll go call a car." Beans, clutching a briefcase, was about to head out on his short legs to hail a cab.
But halfway there, Netero grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him up. "Beans... hungry? How about we get something to eat first."
"Er... are you hungry, Chairman? I'll go buy something."
"Buy? Isn't there some right over there?"
With a flash, an old hand appeared as if by magic in front of Sean, pinched a french fry, and stuffed it into its owner's mouth.
'Dammit! In this day and age, I've seen people snatch phones, I've seen people snatch wallets, but this is the first time I've ever seen someone snatch a french fry!'
He stopped chewing his chicken leg. Sean looked up, wanting to see which blind idiot was so desperate to be a hungry ghost!
The moment he saw those signature long earlobes, Sean froze. He never expected to run into the man known as the strongest human alive, the Hunter Association's Chairman—Netero!
"Hohoho. Young man, I'm hungry. You don't mind sharing, do you?" After downing the fry, Netero looked at Sean with a grin. 'So similar, too similar. Must be Zoldyck stock, no doubt about it!'
"Old man, you're so shameless! Who said you could steal our food?!"
However, while Sean was still stunned, Sarasa got angry. People from Meteor City were used to stealing from others; they had never seen others steal from *them*!
'This old man really doesn't know what's good for him!'
The tough girl was furious. With a chicken leg still in her mouth, she charged at Netero, waving her small fists and fiercely pounding his stomach.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms! Muda... Muda! Muda!"
Grease from the chicken leg splattered, landing all over Netero.
Netero and Beans: "..."
They were completely dumbfounded. They thought this little girl was just a random passerby, but now it seemed they were mistaken.
"Your little girlfriend?" While being "beaten," Netero glanced at Sean.
Sean shrugged, saying nothing. Sarasa whipped her pigtails, flew up, and kicked Netero in the knee. "Smelly old man! Who's his girlfriend!"
"Eat my Leaf Whirlwind!"
"Muda!"
The chicken leg flew *swoosh* and, as luck would have it, landed right in Beans's mouth.
They were both short, about 1.3 or 1.4 meters. Beans "luckily" got to taste the saliva-chicken. He opened his mouth and *blaargh*, he puked.
"Ohohoho... Interesting! Too interesting!" Taking Sarasa's kick as if it were nothing, Netero stretched out a hand, picked Sarasa up, and looked at Sean with a laugh. "Sean, treating my assistant like this... this old man can't pretend he didn't see."
Sean's mouth twitched. He was surprised Netero recognized him. He threw up his hands shamelessly. "Do whatever you want. It's not like this girl is anything to me."
"Hey! I'm standing up for you, you know?!" Sarasa turned her head, looking at Sean in disbelief. 'My heart is cold... If Uvogin were here, he would definitely have charged in regardless...'
Fortunately, the smelly old man didn't seem intent on doing anything to her. With a casual toss, he threw her to Tsubone, who had heard the commotion and rushed over.
"Young Master... Chairman Netero." Tsubone caught Sarasa, held her close, and nodded to Netero. She calmly brought her over to stand by Sean.
'Brat, still saying she's not with you?' Netero raised an eyebrow at Sean. "What do you say now?"
"Assaulting a centenarian... I seem to recall that's a serious crime here in the Republic of Padokea."