While the Hunter Exam was underway, in another place, a group of people had gathered to discuss plans for revenge.
In the southern part of the Yorbian Continent, north of the Balsa Island, lies the city of Martinez, renowned as the "City of Night."
True to its na, even in the deep of night, Martinez is ablaze with lights, its streets and alleys filled with neon glow.
Amidst this vibrant atmosphere, a figure starkly out of place walks the streets. This person is of massive build, draped in a large black robe that covers every inch of their body. Even their face is hidden in shadow, making it difficult to discern.
"Damn it, just because I'm broke for a mont, they beat up and threw out!" Suddenly, a stream of curses emanates from a nearby alley, followed by the ergence of a man with a sleazy, sharp-featured face.
The man holds a half-empty bottle of alcohol, his face as red as a monkey butt.
Completely drunk, he staggers aimlessly, his eyes unfocused, muttering curses under his breath. His unsteady steps pause and start, his body swaying like a roly-poly toy, seemingly on the verge of collapse.
At this mont, the man, too drunk to support himself, suddenly lurches towards the black-robed figure about to enter the alley.
"Thud!"
The middle-aged man ultimately doesn't collide with the black-robed figure but instead falls heavily to the ground. Splashes of dirty water leave muddy spots on his already filthy clothes.
"Hey, kid, are you blind? Can't you help up?" Too drunk to get up on his own, the fallen man vents his anger on the black-robed figure nearby.
As if his own inability to stand was the black-robed figure fault. Cursing loudly, he swings the bottle in his hand, squinting his blurry eyes to look up at the black-robed figure.
From this angle, he can just make out part of the face, but the light is too dim for him to see clearly.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a thunderous flash of lightning streaks across the ink-black sky. In that instant, the lightning illuminates every dark corner of the "City of Night." Even for just a mont, the man manages to see the black-robed figure face clearly by the light.
It is a face of sheer horror!
One might say it's not a face a human should have!
Hidden beneath the black robe, the face is covered with countless dense green scales, resembling a walking lizard!
It's utterly repulsive!
The man instinctively wants to scream, but no sound cos out. Almost simultaneously, he feels the world spinning, and then he witnesses a second unforgettable scene in his life.
Why the second? Because the first was the black-robed figure face. He sees a headless body, its clothes stained with filth, still clutching a bottle in its hand.
Ah... is that ?
"Thud!"
The quiet alley echoes with another sound, but this ti it's not the fall of a rear but a head...
Glancing at the grueso corpse of the middle-aged man, the black-robed figure flicks off a few drops of blood from their fingers and strides deeper into the alley.
Under the dim moonlight, the figure in the black robe had fingers and a face still covered with nurous scales, along with exceptionally sharp claws!
In the alley, only a terrified head remained, along with a mutilated body from which blood flowed like a trickling stream.
After turning several corners in succession, the black-robed figure finally arrived at the destination. With a forceful twist, the handle was turned, and the door opened to reveal a rectangular ceremonial table.
On both the left and right sides of the table, there were three chairs each, and one chair directly in front of the table. In total, there were seven chairs.
At this mont, four of the seven chairs were already occupied.
"Gluttony, you're late again."
A man sitting on the right side of the table frowned, clearly displeased with the black-robed figure tardiness.
Although the man was criticizing the black-robed figure for being late, he himself had his legs propped up on the table, exuding an air of carefree nonchalance.
The black-robed figure remained silent, quietly taking a seat next to the man. A faint scent of blood accompanied the black-robed figure's arrival, perating the surroundings.
The man nose twitched slightly, and he seed about to speak again, but was stopped by soone else.
"Enough, Greed. There's no need to say more. Gluttony is just like that. Today focus isn't on this!" The one sitting directly in front of the table, the head seat, Pride, spoke with a commanding tone filled with arrogance.
Pride was a man wearing gold-rimd glasses, appearing quite scholarly, yet his tone was brimming with haughtiness!
Greed pursed his lips and stopped talking, also retracting his previously propped-up legs.
Seeing this, Lust, sitting across the table, covered her mouth and chuckled softly, her voluptuous figure trembling with laughter.
Next to Lust sat Sloth, who was less sitting and more sprawled out.
Although his butt was on the chair, his body was bent over, his face resting on the table, like a high school student catching up on sleep during a break.
Only his slightly open, squinting eyes indicated that he was still awake.
On both sides of the table, one chair each remained empty. These belonged to the deceased Wrath and Envy.
In this unknown room, the infamous S-class criminals, the mbers of The Seven Deadly Sins, had gathered! They had co together to discuss the deaths of Wrath and Envy!
Out of the seven mbers, two were gone. Although these two were considered the weakest in terms of strength, it was still a significant loss!
This loss referred not only to strength! But also to reputation! For Pride, the latter might be even more damaging!
Na: Pride
Strength: A to S-
Nen Ability: The Supre , Specialist Type
The wider the Nen user reputation and the higher their status, the stronger their abilities in all aspects. Conversely, if their reputation diminishes, their abilities weaken. Additionally, he possesses the ability to exude an aura of dominance, causing those with weak wills to unconsciously submit.
As the leader of The Seven Deadly Sins, Pride is an extrely rare Specialist Type Nen user! According to Hisoka personality classification, Specialist Type Nen users are usually individualists with strong leadership qualities.
Chrollo, the leader of the Phantom Troupe, is also a Specialist Type Nen user. Pride fits this description perfectly. His Nen ability, like Chrollo "Skill Hunter," is highly unique, setting it apart from other Nen types.
Moreover, they share another common trait—their potential is imasurable!
Based on the information revealed in the manga so far, Chrollo Nen ability has yet to show any upper limit, seemingly allowing him to steal an unlimited number of Nen abilities!
Pride was no different, he could elevate his strength by promoting his reputation and enhancing his status. There was still no visible limit to his potential for growth!
Could he reach S-class in the future, or even beco stronger?
Therefore, Pride placed imnse importance on his reputation, valuing strength far more than his companions! This ti, gathering the mbers was to discuss who would take charge of the mission of retaliation.
In Pride view, retaliation was essential, as only this could compensate for any potential damage to his reputation!
After all, he had been stuck at his current level of strength for a long ti, and he desperately hoped to reach that dreamt-of realm.
To attain the strength of the world top-tier individuals!
"We can't afford to provoke Netero side, so our target this ti is that so-called hero, that kid nad Akira!"
"Is the Hunter Association so internally corrupt that they dare to claim a nobody like him single-handedly defeated Wrath and Envy!"
Pride seed to laugh in extre anger, criticizing the news from the Hunter Association with an utterly arrogant tone. In his view, the truth was most likely that the veteran hunter Satotz and Pyon, one of the Twelve Zodiacs, had joined forces to defeat Wrath and Envy.
Even this was an exaggeration in his eyes, Pride actually believed they had barely held on until reinforcents arrived.
From the information he had gathered, the one who ca to support was another of the Twelve Zodiacs—the Dragon, Botobai!
He had heard of Botobai strength, even he wouldn't dare claim victory in a direct confrontation. It was entirely reasonable for Wrath and Envy to have died at Botobai hands!
However, this didn't an Pride underestimated Akira. On the contrary, he had also heard of Akira extraordinary ability to remove Nen curses.
This was one of the reasons he didn't believe Akira was the main force behind defeating Wrath and Envy. The notion that Nen exorcists are poor fighters was deeply ingrained.
"Boss, let handle this. I'm really eager to get my hands on that guy Nen removal ability. My collection of slaves is missing such a rare talent!" Pride glanced at Lust, who was smiling seductively, then turned to Gluttony, who had been silent all along.
After a mont of contemplation, he spoke again.
"No, I have other plans for you and Sloth. This ti, Gluttony will take action."
Lust expression shifted slightly, about to say sothing, but Pride interrupted again.
"Don't worry, I'll have Gluttony bring that kid back alive. Soone with such a Nen removal ability must be under our control!"
"You and Sloth will go to the Ten Dons. We've reached a cooperation with them, and now is the ti when your Nen abilities are needed." A glint of determination flashed in Pride eyes.
The Ten Dons were the leaders of the world underworld, each overseeing one of the ten regions across the six continents. In other words, they were the ten most powerful figures in the global underworld, known as the "Ten Dons!".
It's worth noting that while their positions were fixed, the individuals holding them were not. Each of the Ten Dons ca from a powerful underworld family. If one of them died unexpectedly, their family would send a replacent.
In fact, the Ten Dons had contacted him earlier; they seed to be secretly conducting experints on human modification.
They selected the most capable fighters from their respective gangs, combining Nen abilities with technological enhancents. Hoping this would raise the experintal subjects strength to new heights! They nad this force—the Shadow Beasts!
Pride didn't approve of this.
He believed that integrating technological modifications with Nen abilities wouldn't significantly enhance one's strength. At the very least, he was certain that this thod couldn't reach the level he aspired to.
It seed that the experint had hit a bottleneck, so the Ten Dons ca knocking, hoping that he could send Lust and Sloth, whose Nen abilities were particularly unique, to assist. When combined, Lust and Sloth Nen abilities could completely control a person.
Originally, he had refused. In his view, cooperating with the Ten Dons was like making a deal with the devil, and their credibility couldn't be guaranteed. However, after the deaths of Wrath and Envy, Pride desire for power had reached its peak.
The Ten Dons promised that if Lust and Sloth could help them succeed, they would arrange for Pride to beco one of them—one of the ten highest-ranking figures in the world's underworld!
For Pride, this was an incredibly tempting offer. In his eyes, if he could truly ascend to that position and make it known, he might very well achieve the realm he had always dread of! After this incident, Pride changed his original stance. He wanted to push further, even if it ant taking so risks!
Unbeknownst to Akira, because he casually killed two people, he inadvertently facilitated a collaboration between the Seven Deadly Sins and the Ten Dons.
This later led to a significant boost in the strength of the Shadow Beasts' mbers.
This was yet another butterfly effect caused by Akira arrival in this world.
"It's decided then, Gluttony, that kid is yours. Rember, we need him alive!"
Gluttony nodded, a bloodthirsty grin hidden beneath the shadows of his black robe. He wondered what that person would taste like... Perhaps he could even acquire that formidable Nen-removal ability!
Gluttony heart burned with excitent, his mind consud by the thought of savoring Akira.
Hehehe...
Pride seed to sense sothing and added calmly.
"Don't go overboard. We can't risk compromising his Nen-removal ability. Greed, you go with Gluttony."
Pride still wasn't at ease. Despite Gluttony usually silent deanor, when it ca to eating, he beca a ravenous beast, intent on devouring everything in sight.
He couldn't afford to lose their precious Nen-removal talent, so he needed Greed to keep an eye on him.
"Fine, fine..." Greed glanced at Gluttony, who was radiating an intense desire for food, sighed, and reluctantly agreed.
"Boss, you better have Lust introduce to a few more clients next ti. It's been a while since I've had a good candidate."
As he spoke, a dense yellow Nen aura erupted from Greed body, its magnitude no less than that of Pride himself!
This overwhelming Nen aura, like the surging Yellow River, poured out endlessly, as if it were infinite. Every mber of the Seven Deadly Sins was extraordinary!
Wrath and Envy were rely at the bottom of the hierarchy.
...
Outside the Trick Tower, seventy-two hours passed in the blink of an eye.
One by one, the examinees erged from the stone gate, greeted by the bright daylight. After spending three full days inside the Trick Tower, so examinees were montarily blinded by the glaring sunlight, tears streaming down their faces.
And what awaited them... was the fourth exam!
Lippo and another assistant stood before the crowd, with a lottery box placed in front of them. The fourth exam was called "Hunter and Hunted"!
Each examinee would step forward in the order of their ranking upon reaching the bottom floor and draw a number from the box, which would determine their target!
The exam venue was "Zevil Island," visible to the naked eye from the base of the Trick Tower.
If following the old version of the ani, the next exam should have taken place on Battleship Island. From this, it seed that the world developnt was primarily based on the new version of the ani.
This was sothing Akira had already noticed during the second exam, when nchi didn't include the sushi-making segnt.
Following the rules, Akira slowly stepped out from the crowd, approached Lippo, and drew a number while giving Lippo a playful look. Lippo was like a mouse encountering a cat, not daring to look directly at Akira, his eyes darting around.
Anyone with eyes could tell sothing was off with him! He was extrely nervous!
Leorio pushed up his small round glasses with his right hand and spoke with a serious tone.
"Could it be that this examiner has Parkinson?"
The bald ninja beside him nodded, agreeing that Leorio guess made sense.
Akira casually picked his number and left, which made the anxious Lippo breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps the pressure Akira brought was too overwhelming, because when Hisoka ca to draw his number later, Lippo found that he wasn't scared at all.
After everyone had drawn their numbers, Lippo instructed them to peel off the film on their tags, revealing the numbers underneath. The examinees imdiately connected this to the examiner words about "hunting and being hunted," and they all covered their numbers with their hands, their movents surprisingly synchronized!
Seeing this, a hint of cunning flashed in Lippo eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly as he continued explaining the rules.
The exam would be scored on a point system. One own number tag was worth three points, and the target number tag was also worth three points.
Other participants' number tags were worth one point each, and a total of six points was required to pass.
This ant that, while ensuring their own number tag wasn't stolen, examinees could choose to either hunt one target or hunt three other participants.
If their own number tag was taken, passing would beco much more difficult!
Boarding the yacht prepared by the Hunter Association, the examinees set off toward Zevil Island.
-------------------------------
Read 35 Chapters ahead on patreon and i add nchi smut there hehe.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator
Reviews
All reviews (0)