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"I hope you can make it to the end."
The captain chuckled lightly at the two of them, then turned and headed towards the ship's cabin.
Three hours later...
"This vessel is about to encounter a storm even more violent than before."
As the examinees were resting in the ship's cabin, the captain's deep voice came through the broadcast.
"Those of you who are afraid of dying, get on the lifeboats and scram to a nearby island."
Upon hearing that there was an even more violent storm than before, the examinees in the cabin instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"What!?"
"I can't take it anymore!"
The cabin door was pushed open with a "bang." Hundreds of examinees chaotically rushed out of the cabin, jumped onto the lifeboats, and left the ship.
"Gutless things."
The captain and several sailors looked at the examinees rowing away, their faces full of disdain.
"In the end, only two remain."
They looked towards Illumi and Bradley at the bow of the ship. At this moment, Illumi was still sitting cross-legged on the deck, cultivating his En.
Location: Port Dorey, docks.
Time: 09:40.
A three-masted sailing ship was moored at the docks, attracting the attention of some passersby, but only two people disembarked from it.
"Hey, you two."
As Illumi and Bradley were disembarking and about to leave, the captain called out to them.
"Why do you want to become Hunters?"
Illumi and Bradley didn't stop, passed by the captain, leaped over the ship's rail, and landed steadily on the dock.
"It's just to make certain things more convenient."
Illumi's slightly composed voice reached his ears. Watching their receding figures, the captain took out an aluminum flask and took a swig.
"Isn't it for wealth and fame?"
"These two are no ordinary individuals."
Illumi and Bradley arrived at the nearest bus stop outside the docks. There was a map of Dorey Island at the stop.
"What are you pushing for? In a hurry to reincarnate?"
"If you push again, I'll..."
A large crowd was squeezed in front of the station map. Illumi and King Bradley forcibly pushed their way in, drawing curses from a group of people.
But when they turned and saw King Bradley's appearance, they immediately wilted.
"Using this clue, find the examination venue."
In front of the map, Illumi held up the piece of paper in his hand. It simply stated the examination time, but the location of the examination needed to be found by the examinees based on the single clue provided.
"Let's go take a taxi."
Illumi put away the paper and walked out of the bus station with Bradley. Bus stations were mostly just tests for the examinees, and he didn't want to waste time.
After getting far enough away from the docks, the two found a random taxi on the street. After determining that the driver was just an ordinary person, they took the taxi to Zaban City.
The clue given on the paper was neither too difficult nor too simple, like a riddle.
After arriving in Zaban City, Illumi and Bradley headed to Zaban City's famous food street.
According to the clue, one of the entrances to the examination venue was in one of the shops on the food street.
After a long while, Illumi stopped in front of a restaurant named [Lambert]. The two of them stepped into the main entrance of the restaurant.
"Welcome, you two."
A well-built middle-aged man with a suit jacket and graying hair at his temples stepped forward and respectfully welcomed Illumi and his companion.
"Take us to the venue."
Illumi directly handed the paper to the man. He didn't want to waste words; examinees were not guides and didn't need to exchange secret codes.
"You two, please follow me."
The middle-aged man put away the paper, still maintaining his professional smile, and led the two to a small private room at the very back of the restaurant.
"Well then, I wish you both success in passing the test."
The middle-aged man offered a polite blessing and, as he exited the private room, closed the door behind him.
"Click~"
With the sound of a brake releasing, a slight "hum" echoed in the private room.
Illumi looked up at the area above the private room's main door. It displayed numbers like [B1]. It was clearly an elevator.
After a long while, a "ding" sounded in the room. They had reached level [B100], and the elevator stopped descending.
"Clack."
Bradley gripped the doorknob with one hand and pushed it open.
"Tap..."
Crisp footsteps echoed in the empty passage 300 meters underground. Under the gaze of numerous examinees, Illumi and Bradley entered.
"There are still some people with decent presence."
Illumi raised an eyebrow slightly. Among the mob, he had noticed a few individuals with rather sharp gazes.
"You two, these are your numbers."
A green-bean-like man¹ appeared in front of Illumi, handing out a number tag with each hand: No. 136 and No. 137. This meant there were already 135 examinees here.
After Illumi and Bradley arrived at the examination venue, another two hundred examinees arrived successively.
"You're new, aren't you?"
A short man, about thirty years old, approached Illumi and Bradley, smiling.
"To participate in the Hunter Examination at such a young age, truly remarkable."
He looked at Illumi, who was a head shorter than him, scratched the back of his head, and smiled kindly.
"I'm Tonpa, a veteran who has participated in the Hunter Examination 21 times."
Tonpa extended his right hand, wanting to shake Illumi's.
But Illumi and Bradley didn't even glance at him, walking straight past him to the front of the crowd.
Tonpa looked at their receding backs, his face showing unwillingness, and tiptoed after them.
"Tap... tap..."
With a series of crisp footsteps, the examinees blocking Illumi and Bradley's path involuntarily made way.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Illumi stopped because a blond young man in a gorgeous suit stood before him.
"Oh my~ Did I block your way?"
"So sorry, so sorry, ahahaha..."
The blond young man turned around, revealing an extremely insincere, gentle smile that was instantly annoying.
"However, you can't blame me for this."
"Because I was facing away from you two, I couldn't see what was behind me."
Illumi narrowed his eyes. This annoying smile, and that extremely familiar style of dress.
Undoubtedly, it was Pariston. He was also participating in this Hunter Examination.
"My, my, why aren't you two speaking?"
Pariston looked at Illumi and his companion with a puzzled expression, then, as if suddenly realizing something, he exclaimed in enlightenment.
"Could it be that you two can't speak, or perhaps you don't understand what I'm saying?"
The language of the Hunter world was universal. Only a very few ethnic groups used unique languages. If an ordinary person were provoked by him like this, they would definitely be angry by now.
"Ignore him."
Illumi's voice was icy. The two of them directly bypassed Pariston and stood at the very front of the crowd.
No more examinees were appearing now, so the examiner should be arriving soon.
"Ah~ I understand. You two can't hear what others are saying, right!"
Pariston, with an "I get it" expression, came to Illumi's side, bent down, and revealed an insincere yet gentle smile.