After walking a bit further, Akira spotted another familiar face.
"Hey, future Chairman, I’m voting for you too!"
Biscuit Krueger, still clad in her red princess dress, stood with her hands on her hips, radiating confidence in Akira.
Though at this point, it wasn’t even about confidence anymore.
Despite the long line, conversations carried easily.
The fact that countless people had declared their votes for Akira was common knowledge now.
There was no need to tally—if they kept their word, Akira becoming the next Chairman was a foregone conclusion.
So Biscuit’s words weren’t just empty talk.
Like the others, she stepped aside to let the two humans and one cat pass.
This wasn’t just a few individuals yielding—it had beco an unspoken consensus.
Everyone intended to let the incoming Chairman take the very front of the line.
Let the new Chairman cast the first vote.
Ahead of Biscuit were more of Akira’s old acquaintances—mbers of the Extermination Team he had t not long ago: Morel, Knuckle and Shoot.
"Hahahaha! Mr. Akira, under your leadership, the Hunter Association is sure to thrive!"
"We’re voting for you too!"
Morel, puffing on his large pipe, gave Akira a thumbs-up before stepping aside with the other three.
Akira, accompanied by a beaming nchi and a curious owth, continued forward.
"They all respect you so much, Master!"
owth watched as the crowd regarded his master with respect, his feline eyes crinkling with joy.
He loved seeing his master welcod by everyone—because his master was the greatest person in the world. (using he pronouns now cause this cat can talk like human)
Gon and Killua stood further ahead, eyeing owth with curiosity.
Akira didn’t even need to ask—he already knew who they’d vote for.
After passing countless familiar and unfamiliar faces, Akira finally reached soone unexpected yet inevitable.
"Hohohoho, future Chairman, the Hunter Association will soon be in your hands."
Chairman Netero stood at the very front of the line, smiling knowingly, as if he had foreseen this mont.
And indeed, he had.
The reason he had ticulously demonstrated how to open the secret chamber to Akira earlier was because he already knew Akira would be the new chairman.
Akira himself might not have realized it, but as the current chairman, he was well aware of Akira’s current prestige.
His appointnt as chairman was a foregone conclusion.
Scouring the entire Hunter Association, there wasn’t a second person as perfect as him.
Akira was a monstrous all-rounder—not just in combat, but also in reputation and achievents.
Heavens Arena played a part in this as well.
The title of "Strongest Floor Master" promoted by Heavens Arena and the "Martial Arts Tournant" it hosted were both excellent opportunities for Akira to expand his fa.
With all these factors combined, even Pariston, the vice-chairman, couldn’t match Akira’s soaring reputation.
"Old man? Why are you here?"
Akira hadn’t expected Netero to be at the front of the line—or even in the voting procession at all.
Generally, the higher-ups of the Association didn’t join the voting queue, opting to cast their votes privately instead.
For example, The Twelve Zodiac.
In the original tiline, Netero should have already been dead by now.
During the election for the new chairman, his portrait and flowers had even been placed on the morial stand.
"This is the election for the new chairman. Having the old chairman here serves as a symbol, don’t you think?"
"But I shouldn’t be the first. That position rightfully belongs to you."
Netero looked at the young man before him, a trace of nostalgia flashing in his eyes.
Back in the day, he had been just as young.
It was a pity that ti waited for no one.
With that, Netero stepped aside, just like those before him, voluntarily yielding his spot.
"Go ahead. Let our future chairman cast the first vote."
"Ding-ding-ding..."
As a series of crisp chis rang out, everyone in the procession straightened up.
Midnight had arrived!
Akira stared at the imposing doors ahead, his resolve growing firr by the second.
Then, with a gentle push—
The doors swung open, revealing the grand hall in its entirety.
The hall was enormous, filled with countless seats that could accommodate a massive crowd.
At the very front stood a stage, were Pyon, Kanzai, and Ginta.
Before them sat an iron box—the ballot box.
Akira walked steadily toward it, his steps asured and calm.
Behind him were Netero, nchi, owth...
Everyone followed in an orderly line, forming a straight, unbroken procession.
Akira was like a leader, guiding the entire group forward.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the ballot box.
The other two were fine, but Pyon kept staring intently at him.
", Gel, Ging and Cheadle—we all voted for you."
As Akira cast his ballot, Pyon leaned in close, whispering into his ear.
Akira nodded.
By now, he had learned to remain unfazed.
If soone had told him they didn’t vote for him, that might have gotten a reaction out of him.
Thinking about it, it was almost terrifying—hunters everywhere were voting for him.
Ironically, he hadn’t even voted for himself.
He’d never imagined he would beco chairman.
He’d assud things would roughly follow the original tiline, with Pariston and Cheadle being the top contenders.
But not only did he have overwhelming support, it seed like far more people had co to vote this ti.
In other words, there was a high probability that the 95% voter turnout requirent would be t, making this vote valid and binding.
So he didn’t pay much attention to this election.
He was just here to et with Beyond and casually cast his vote along the way.
He even voted for Ging.
Voting for Ging was practically no different from casting a blank ballot.
As for why he voted for Ging?
You could liken it to voting for that cheeky friend of yours during class elections—pretty much the sa idea.
After Akira cast his vote, Chairman Netero followed closely behind...
The massive line of voters moved one after another, and the voting concluded quickly.
****
Although most people had arrived right at midnight to cast their votes, rules were rules.
The Twelve Zodiac waited until the deadline before starting the tally.
Yet the final results left them utterly stunned.
"Beans, are you sure there’s no mistake here?"
"Isn’t this data a bit too exaggerated?"
Kanzai swallowed hard, staring blankly at the final tally, voicing what most were thinking.
"This... was counted one ballot at a ti. It’s surprising, yes, but it’s definitely accurate."
Beans wiped his sweat with a small handkerchief, equally shocked by the outco.
Each of them held a sheet of paper with the compiled results.
It listed every candidate who had received votes, along with voter turnout, absentees and other data.
The most eye-catching detail was the top line:
First place: Akira, 489 votes (73.9%)
The entire Hunter Association had only 661 mbers, and a staggering 489 of them had voted for Akira!
The percentage in parentheses next to the vote count showed that 73.9% of the hunters had chosen Akira.
Compared to second-place Pariston, it was an overwhelming landslide victory!
"Ho ho ho, this is the first ti voter turnout has been this high. If I recall, back in my day, I only got around 60% or so."
Netero stroked his beard, looking even happier about Akira’s results than he had been about his own.
"Excluding invalid and absent votes, this election achieved a 96% turnout, eting the requirents."
"In other words, the new Chairman is Mr. Akira."
As Beans spoke, he inexplicably recalled his first eting with Akira.
Even though it was their first encounter, Akira had addressed him the sa way Chairman Netero did—calling him "Beans."
’The new Chairman, huh...’
Pariston stared at the voting results in his hands, his trademark fake smile still plastered on his face.
He had sowhat anticipated this outco, but he hadn’t expected such a crushing margin.
’What a sha. I didn’t get to have my fun before leaving.’
’Oh well. Ti to focus on the Dark Continent.’
"Then, if there are no objections, I hereby officially declare Akira as the 13th Chairman of the Hunter Association!"
Netero subtly glanced at Pariston before raising his voice to seal the decision.
Once the eting concluded, Netero tasked Beans with handling the publicity.
Over the next two days, the news of the new Chairman’s election would be announced across all six continents.
****
"So, you’re the Chairman now~"
Pyon said in a sweet, lilting voice, her pink eyes fixed entirely on Akira.
"We already knew about this before the voting took place, didn’t we?"
Akira shrugged, speaking with so resignation.
After the results ca out, Pyon had imdiately called him.
Akira simply brought her over to discuss things face-to-face.
After a mont of contemplation, Akira continued, "We might need to elect a new vice president soon."
"Eh? Why?"
Seeing Pyon’s puzzled expression, Akira decided to keep it simple:
"Because Pariston is going to the Dark Continent, so he’ll be resigning as vice president."
"And from how things look now, the team he joined has beco my team."
???
"Pariston is going to the Dark Continent? And it’s your team? Are you going to the Dark Continent too?"
Pyon lightly covered her mouth with her hand, her voice filled with disbelief.
For Pyon, who wasn’t aware of the later Kakin Empire plans, suddenly learning this information was indeed shocking.
So Akira briefly explained the whole situation to her.
...
"I see..."
"But you just beca chairman. Wouldn’t going to the Dark Continent an resigning from this position too?"
Though Pyon mostly understood now, she still didn’t know how Akira would handle this.
"Well, actually becoming chairman wasn’t part of my original plans at all. Sohow I just ended up becoming chairman."
Akira sighed at this point - truly, plans couldn’t keep up with changes.
"My plan is to stay in the position for now. After Pariston leaves, the vice president will likely be Cheadle Yorkshire of the Twelve Zodiacs."
"With the help of Beans, handling association affairs should be manageable."
"Plus with my abilities, if anything urgent cos up, I can return from the Dark Continent in very short ti."
After so consideration, Akira ultimately decided to remain as chairman for now.
If it didn’t work out later, he could always find an excuse to resign.
"I see, that does seem like a reasonable approach."
"Without you, we might not have been able to elect the next chairman at all, so it’s better not to resign."
Pyon said this with a serious expression, though her adorable face made the solemn look even more endearing.
Akira knew Pyon was right.
In the original tiline, eting these voting requirents had been extrely difficult - needing 95% participation rate and the top candidate requiring over half the votes.
After multiple rounds of voting, no candidate had fully t the requirents.
If not for this fortunate coincidence, they truly might not have been able to elect a new chairman.
****
With the Hunter Association operating at full capacity, news of the 13th Hunter Association Chairman election results quickly spread across the six continents.
Akira’s reputation received yet another boost.
Though there had been many previous promotions, this latest news would shock countless people.
Because Akira had beco the 13th Hunter Association Chairman!
Previously, the general public’s strongest impressions of Akira were as ’Heavens Arena’s Strongest Floor Master’, ’The World’s Strongest’ ...
But now there was a new title to add!
That of Hunter Association Chairman!
People had mixed reactions to this news.
So were confused - these were mostly Pariston’s loyal fans or supporters of other hunters.
So felt fear—these were mostly notorious criminals from the Six Continents.
But far more people felt joy and reverence—those who had eagerly awaited this mont.
Since Akira first made his mark at Heavens Arena, he had amassed an enormous following.
Every single one of them cheered ecstatically at his ascension to Chairman.
Almost instantly, Akira’s rchandise at Heavens Arena saw another surge in popularity, with fans rushing to buy them.
After the last Martial Arts Tournant, the Heavens Arena managent had learned their "lesson."
Instead of selling rchandise only during tournants, they now maintained dedicated rchandise counters year-round.
Without exception, all the rchandise featured Akira.
As it turned out, the managent had made the right call, successfully capitalizing on the Hunter Association’s current hype.
So were even planning to compile Akira’s notable achievents and most outstanding exploits into a book.
This would allow others to read about them and better understand just how formidable Akira was.
This montum far surpassed even when Netero was elected Chairman!
****
Zoldyck Family
In a dimly lit room, Only the faint glow of a television illuminated Maha’s face, making him look like a ghost ford from old age.
"Heh, the new Chairman, huh~"
"So that old man finally retired? I thought he’d keep the position for another hundred years."
Maha chuckled softly, his voice raspy, as if he had drunk extrely strong liquor.
He had originally thought Netero might still be Chairman by the ti he died.
At least he lived long enough to see the next Chairman take office.
"Akira as Chairman... truly the most fitting candidate."
Maha stared at Akira’s image on the screen, his cloudy eyes flashing with nostalgia.
He had never forgotten that battle with Akira.
From that day onward, he knew this young man was anything but ordinary.
Though, it was a bit sad—he couldn’t defeat either of the last two Hunter Association Chairn.
Netero was one thing, but Akira was simply impossible to fight.
****
teor City
At its very center—the most bustling area—stood a few eccentrically dressed figures outside a shop.
The shop had glass walls, and inside, a television played.
"Boss, isn’t that the guy who..."
Kortopi lightly brushed aside his bangs, looking at the screen before turning to Chrollo beside him.
Though Kortopi didn’t finish his sentence, both Chrollo and Pakunoda understood.
"The new Hunter Association Chairman... No wonder, given his overwhelming strength."
Chrollo’s deep-set eyes fixed intently on Akira’s image on the screen, but a sense of powerlessness welled up within him.
The gap between them and Akira was far too vast...
After the Phantom Troupe lost more than half its mbers, he had returned to teor City to recruit new ones.
But even after all this ti, he had barely found one passable candidate.
Filling the remaining vacancies seed like an impossible dream.
As for revenge... Chrollo had buried that thought deep within his heart.
In fact, ever since then, they had been constantly hiding, not daring to make a single move—terrified of attracting Akira’s attention.
With a light sigh, Chrollo turned and walked away, with Kortopi and Pakunoda quickly following behind.
------------------------------
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