He picked up a piece of fried chicken and tossed it into his mouth, eating with great pleasure.
"What are you standing there for? Eat something. We're going home."
Tsubone acknowledged with a "Yes," and accompanied Sean in enjoying a free brunch. Afterward, she found an empty spot, transformed into a motorcycle, and with a roar, carried Sean out of the airport, heading straight for Kukuroo Mountain.
"I almost forgot to ask that kid when he's going to take the test."
On the second floor of the terminal, Netero watched Sean leave with his hands behind his back, sighing to himself.
Beans finally caught up, panting heavily. Hearing Netero's words, he felt incredibly wronged. "It's because you were in such a hurry, Chairman. I didn't even get to get an autograph."
"Ho ho. You think I wanted to?" Netero squinted at Beans. 'Is this baldly trying to rebel?' He said, annoyed, "This old man just didn't want that brat to see me lose my composure."
'Materializing a Heart Lake in less than a day... Beans, you just didn't see that kid's smug face.'
'Even if I wanted to see, you would have had to pull me in,' Beans muttered under his breath. When he looked up, he was met with the angry iron fist of humanity's strongest!
"Alright, stop complaining. Give Ging a call. Tell him this old man has something important to discuss."
Beans took the punch squarely and held his head, aggrieved. "Ging won't necessarily answer."
"That guy is a pig. He doesn't even come to the usual meetings. You expect to find him with a single phone call?"
"He'll answer." Netero looked out the window, his voice distant. "His son is only three. No matter how unreliable a father is, he'll always find some time to go back and see."
"Achoo Who's talking about me?"
On Whale Island, the "unreliable father" Netero mentioned had his hat pulled over his eyes. He was lying lazily by a stream deep in the jungle, pillowing his head on his arms, about to take a nice nap. He suddenly sneezed, startling a certain clown.
"See, Kite! I told you your master is a lazy bum. His house is right there, and he won't even go back to look. Poor little Gon, lost his father's love the moment he was born."
"Shut up!" Kite, wearing a blue baseball cap, was roasting a fish. He quickly clamped a hand over the Crazy Clown's mouth.
"Tsk. I told you long ago, Nen abilities are a reflection of the heart. Kite, if you didn't think that in your heart, it wouldn't say it." Ging sat up from the grass with a grunt, picked up the fish Kite had just roasted, and took a delicious bite. His eyes widened. "No salt."
Kite shook his head, dug into his pocket, and tossed a salt shaker over. "It's not my place to interfere in Master's affairs. I just think that since we're here, it wouldn't be a bad thing to go back and see little Gon occasionally, just to make the kid happy."
Ging sprinkled the salt and savagely bit off the fish head. "With Mito and Grandma there, the kid won't be wronged," he said, unconcerned.
"Fatherly love! Fatherly love! Kite, you're covering my mouth again! Let go! I swear I'll curse this bastard to death today... Mmph. Mmph."
"Clang!" Kite balled up a fist and punched the clown, nearly knocking his red nose crooked. Kite expressionlessly shook his hand and began to eat the other roasted fish, slow and methodical. Compared to Ging's sloppy, disheveled way of eating, Kite's small, refined bites were almost absurdly elegant!
If anyone saw them, they probably wouldn't believe this pair was master and student.
"Burp Ah" The fish was gone in a second. Ging let out a satisfied burp, pressed his hat down, and lay back down. He was so lazy that even when the phone in his pocket rang, he didn't want to answer it.
In the end, Kite silently fished the phone out of his pocket.
"Hello, Ging? It's me, Netero."
A familiar "ho ho" laugh came from the other end. Ging was a bit surprised. He lifted his hat, reluctantly took the phone from Kite, and yawned. "Oh, it's the Chairman. What's up, old man? Why'd you think to call me?"
"Yoo, you picked up." Netero gave a sly smile. "My son Beyond is no good, and you're no good as a father either."
"Kite's there with you, isn't he? Still haven't gone home?"
Kite gave a dry cough. He met Ging's warning gaze and silently pressed his hat down.
"Ho ho. You don't have to say anything; this old man can guess. Anyway, that's not why I'm calling you."
Netero's voice paused, then returned, tinged with a smile.
"Ging, your record has been broken. Someone... materialized a Heart Lake in less than one day."
'?!' Ging and Kite: "..."
The latter's back went ramrod straight. He blurted out, "Impossible!"
"Master said that understanding Shingen-ryu and materializing a Heart Lake is a long process. Without a certain accumulation of life experience, it's impossible to materialize a Heart Lake in such a short time."
"Logically, that's correct. But the world is vast and full of wonders, child." Netero sighed faintly. "Just today, a little after nine in the morning, this old man witnessed history."
"Who is it?" Ging, for the first time, showed interest and sat up.
"Sean Zoldyck."
'Zoldyck?' Ging raised an eyebrow. "Is that the Zoldyck family I'm thinking of?"
Netero's laughter was playful. "Besides their family, I don't think anyone else would dare to be called Zoldyck."
"True. The world's number one family of assassins. Just thinking about it is terrifying." Ging suppressed his voice in a low laugh. "Now that you put it that way, Chairman, I'd really like to meet this 'predecessor'."
"Materializing a Heart Lake in less than a day... his inner world must be more interesting than some ruins."
"Ahem." A dry cough suddenly came from the other end of the line. Ging's "predecessor" almost made Netero faint. "The 'predecessor' is an 11-year-old kid. How did he become a 'predecessor' in your mouth?"
"Ging, when you have time, you should interact with society more. Stop fiddling with that crappy game of yours, or always drilling into deserted corners."
"Huh?" Ging and Kite didn't hear the "game" or "corners" parts. But the words "11-year-old" came through loud and clear!
An 11-year-old... materialized a Heart Lake... in less than a day. If they didn't know Netero wasn't the type to lie, Ging and Kite would have thought their ears were playing tricks on them, that they'd misheard!
The master and student stared at each other blankly, dumbfounded.
The certain mischievous old man, noticing the silence on the other end, smiled wickedly, muttering, 'It's better for everyone to lose their composure than for me to be the only one.'
'It's about time you unreliable kids had your eyes opened.'
"Oh ho ho ho."
'So this is how happy it feels to see others lose their composure.' Beans, standing behind Netero, pouted. He suddenly understood why the Chairman had run off in such a hurry.
'It's just as he said. He didn't want Mr. Ben An to see him lose his composure!'
"Incredible! My Mr. Ben An!"