"Ten million?"
"Does Teacher Sean mean that staying one night in this hotel costs ten million Jenny?"
"Hey, hey. You're joking, right? Why would a hotel renovated from this broken ship charge that much money?"
Hanzo and the other candidates, having heard Sean's words, finally reacted. They glared angrily at the couple, Ginna and Banna. They looked kind and amiable, but turned out to be a pair of black-hearted old fogies. This was completely lions opening their mouths wide—price gouging on the spot.
"Hehe. You all misunderstood. It's not ten million for the accommodation fee, but ten million just for the deposit. The room rate is paid separately."
"Am I right? Two examiners?"
Number 2 looked down at Ginna and Banna. His words were like a hand grenade thrown into the crowd of candidates, instantly detonating everyone's anger with a loud boom.
"Ten million is just the deposit?" Leorio was so angry his seasickness vanished, his eyes widening in disbelief.
Beside him, Gon also let out a startled "Eh?". With his simple mind, it was hard to imagine what kind of hotel would be that expensive.
"This fee is indeed too much." Kurapika, who was usually calm and rarely showed emotion on his face, couldn't help but click his tongue.
Not to mention the short-tempered guys like Hanzo, Cherry, and Geretta.
"Old man, are you playing us?"
"Ten million is enough for me to stay in a six-star hotel for half a year."
"Hey! They're treating us like royalty to be slaughtered!"
"Damn it. If you don't need your eyes, dig them out and sell them! Can't you see there are children here? What money would they have?"
Killua and Gon... Although it made sense, they felt a bit insulted. Thanks.
The crowd was furious. A group of candidates surrounded them. Ginna and Banna remained unmoved, not even blinking as they said, "That is indeed the case."
"The deposit is ten million Jenny, not a penny less. Otherwise, I'm afraid we cannot offer you accommodation."
"Of course," Banna changed her tone, looking at Sean with a smile. "You are an exception."
"Our hotel is fully open to you. We will provide accommodation for free."
"You can choose any room you like. Even if you want our master bedroom, we will move out immediately to clear the room for you."
"Ahem," Ginna added. "In addition, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will also be provided to you for free. We hope you have a pleasant short stay."
What? What did that mean? Discriminatory treatment? Why was Teacher Sean free? Why did they have to pay? And a ten million Jenny deposit at that?
Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, Hanzo, and the rest of the candidates fell silent.
They were all dumbfounded. Even Number 2 couldn't help but sweep a meaningful glance at the Ginna and Banna couple, feeling somewhat surprised.
But was this really okay?
'I have no problem with it. But the others might not agree.'
A cold wind blew past. The deck, which had fallen into silence, suddenly exploded into chaos.
Motherfucker, double standards, right?
"Why doesn't Teacher Sean have to pay while we do?"
"I don't accept this! This is naked double standards!"
"Where is the Hunter Exam Committee? I want to file a complaint!"
"Son of a bitch, is there any justice left? You don't treat us like humans at all, do you?"
The clamor reached a fever pitch. Gon came to Sean's side and quietly tugged at his sleeve. "Ne, Uncle, do you know them?"
If there was no relationship, why would he get special care?
"Perhaps... it's not that Teacher Sean knows them, but that they recognized Teacher Sean." Kurapika pondered for a moment, associating it with what he had seen along the way, and offered his guess.
This guess was close to the truth. Ginna and Banna glanced at the blonde youth with high regard. They took a few extra looks at the ethnic-style tabard he was wearing; it looked familiar, as if they had seen it somewhere before.
However, since Teacher Sean could receive such preferential treatment, in other words—
"Hey, Boss. As Teacher Sean's friends, can the few of us stay for free too?"
Leorio shamelessly tried to ride on Sean's coattails, rubbing his hands together and looking at the Ginna and Banna couple with anticipation, but was ruthlessly rejected by the pair!
There were only two types of candidates here: Sean Zoldyck, and everyone other than Sean Zoldyck!
"If you don't have money, don't think about staying here." Ginna put his hands behind his back and coughed dryly. "Of course... we are not unreasonable people."
The old man's gaze swept over the indignant candidates one by one as he spoke slowly. "If you really don't have money, I do have another way for you all to pay this sum."
"What way?" If the old man couldn't give a reasonable explanation, watch out or they'd rush him!
Hanzo, Bourbon, Ponzu, and others stared tightly at Ginna.
Ginna pushed up the reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, pointed at the sunken ships around them, and smiled. "Hohohoho. The method? Naturally, it is to utilize existing resources."
"Do you see the sunken ships in the surrounding waters? As long as you can salvage treasures of equivalent value from them, the hotel will be open to you."
'So... this should be the test for this round, right?'
Kurapika reacted immediately, frowning as he stole a glance at Sean. 'But what does this have to do with the sky anomaly?'
Unfortunately, the young man didn't seem to notice his gaze, or perhaps he noticed but couldn't be bothered to respond. With a thought, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he leaped up and appeared on the bow of the Battleship Island ship. He sat down cross-legged, imitating his main body, and began fishing.
[Fruit Ability Awakening in progress]
'Trait [Water] mastery is close at hand.'
Number 2 held the Kusanagi Sword flat. Nen surged, and hundreds of Armament Haki-infused Nen threads shot out from the tip of the blade into the sea, splashing up waves. Like spirit snakes flicking their tongues, they searched everywhere for traces of treasure.
Sean's fans, led by Pokkle, panicked.
"Hey, Teacher Sean, this isn't Laugh Tale, there's no One Piece here!"
"You said you were free, so why are you fighting over it with us fans?"
Although they said that...
But... "I spend money based on my ability, why should I take it for free?"
"Are you looking down on me?"
Um. That sounded like it made some damn sense... but bullshit?!
Wasn't free stuff great? What kind of twisted logic was this?
Gon, Kurapika, and the other candidates were speechless.
Indescribable envy, jealousy, and hate.
The corners of Ginna and Banna's mouths twitched violently. Living for so many years, this was the first time they had experienced what it was like to press a warm face against a cold ass.
"Ahem. Old man... The Chairman saw that. He shouldn't blame us for not going easy, right?" Banna glanced cautiously at the camera hidden in the corner, its faint electronic arc flashing briefly.
Inside the Chairman's office.
Netero stared at the TV, clearly stunned for a moment, his expression looking quite strange.
"Hohoho. Strange. He doesn't even want free treatment? That brat Sean wouldn't be eyeing the treasures in those sunken ships, would he?"
'It's not that my grandson is eyeing them... it should be you eyeing them.' Maha, old and wise, couldn't be bothered to expose Netero's petty thoughts.
Using the pretext of the Hunter Exam to organize candidates to salvage treasure from sunken ships... when it came to being stingy, Chairman Netero was truly the stingiest.
"Hehehe. I heard that the 'Nen Dragon' Sean Zoldyck summoned when he fought the Chairman was the result of him fishing by the stream."
"I wonder if I can feast my eyes again this time."
In the Vice Chairman's office, Pariston finished a bottle of red wine, a flush appearing on his face. Leaning back in his chair, his gaze was fixed dead on Sean.
The young man turned a deaf ear to everything, focused solely on fishing. Resonating with his main body from afar, constantly receiving Kuzan's lifelong insights, he shouted back over his shoulder.
"Hey, old man, don't you have a parasol?"
Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Hanzo, Hisoka, Illumi, and the rest of the candidates had all slipped into the sea to look for treasure.
Only the Ginna and Banna couple and Sean were left staring at each other in awkward silence.
"We do... We do. Old woman, take out the parasol from my room and set it up for Lord Sean Zoldyck to block the sun!"
Ginna waved his hand. Granny Banna ducked into the cabin and came out carrying a parasol. She set it up, blocking the scorching sunlight for Number 2.
"Strength limit broken twice. You have good strength, Auntie," Sean praised Granny Banna, which was rare.
Banna smiled. "Hehe. No good anymore. I'm old."
"Compared to you, our couple's meager skill... it's embarrassing to even mention," Ginna said with a chuckle, hands behind his back, following Banna to stand behind Sean.
A layer of Nen coated the couple's unnoticed eyes as they used Gyo to gaze out at the sea.
Beneath the calm surface, countless Armament Haki Nen threads densely filled the surrounding sea area for nearly a kilometer. This amount of aura was truly astonishing!
Clearly, he had already broken the aura limit. Three-fold limit break. Only then could one do such an exaggerated thing!
"At first, when Lippo called me, this ridiculous old man didn't believe it."
"Now it seems that Lord Saiyu dying at your hands is not such a surprising thing after all."
Ginna sighed. Banna nodded in deep agreement, selling out Lippo without hesitation.
"Lippo?" Sean sneered. "He's a smart man."
"But he wouldn't go so far as to order you two around."
The young man turned his head to look at Ginna and Banna, a faint smile on his face. "It's Netero playing tricks behind the scenes, isn't it?"
"Sigh. The majestic Chairman actually openly signaled his subordinates to cheat. The Hunter Association is really disappointing."
Uh. We didn't say that? We, the couple, didn't say anything? Chairman... you should have seen that, right?
Ginna and Banna stole a glance at the camera.
In the Chairman's office, Netero's mouth twitched. He pretended not to see anything and turned his face away directly.
Hoho. So what if I'm discovered? Isn't this old man doing it for your own good? Go complain if you have the ability. This old man wants to see who in the court dares to sue this official.
On the bow, Ginna and Banna looked at each other with bitter smiles. They couldn't touch that topic. They simply coughed dryly and changed the subject. "Ahem. The younger generation is to be feared."
"When this old man was your age, I never imagined that one day I would pull the Zodiacs off their horses."
"To be able to do such a thing, presumably you have already achieved a three-fold limit break, right?"
In his early twenties, yet achieving a three-fold limit break. Only in this way could he kill Saiyu, and even exchange blows with the Chairman without falling behind, eventually defeating him.
It was a pity... "It's not without reason that you wear reading glasses."
Number 2 crooked his finger. An Armament Haki Nen thread pulled out a golden goblet, which leaped out of the water and landed with a clatter in front of Ginna and Banna.
The young man gave them a meaningful look and smiled. "Who told you I was a three-fold limit break?"
"You aren't?" Ginna and Banna were stunned.
Sean narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"Three-fold limit break... that was the past."
"The current me—my Nen ability should be a four-fold limit break!"
[Reminder: Fruit Ability Awakening Complete]
Whoosh. A stream of cold air blew from the Sunny to Battleship Island.
Sean and Number 2 stopped their movements simultaneously, sensing something in their hearts. They looked at the void blooming before them—
A bicycle, accompanied by an extending consciousness space, creaked and wobbled as it appeared in front of the two.
Kuzan adjusted his eye mask and looked at Sean with a complicated expression. He opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of cold air. He hadn't expected—this day would come so soon!
"Ararara."