Hunter x Hunter: Card Master, the Strongest in the World.

Chapter 133 Netero extends an olive branch! A friendly spar?

At the same time, Menchi also noticed that Lynn had changed quite a bit.

This is especially evident in their strength!

If Lynn six months ago gave her the feeling of being sharp and outspoken, then Lynn now is much more reserved, like a sharp blade hidden in its sheath.

Although he didn't directly display his prowess, you could feel it just by being around him. Every move he made exuded immense pressure, clearly showing that Lynn's strength had improved dramatically in the past six months!

Time passed slowly, and about twenty minutes later the first group of people returned to the park. As soon as they entered, they smelled an extremely tempting aroma of food, as if a little elf was teasing their noses. Just smelling that aroma in the air was enough to whet their appetites.

Who made this dish? It smells so good!

The group quickly spotted Lynn and the others who were cooking—what, it was the examiners cooking?

Wait a minute? Who is that woman? Where did she come from?

Seeing Erina appear out of nowhere, all the examinees were puzzled, wondering where she came from.

However, their thoughts were quickly drawn away by the rich aroma, and it took them a while to regain their senses through perseverance and reason.

If they hadn't known they couldn't lay a hand on the examiners, they would have had the urge to attack Menqi and the others and snatch the food; it stemmed from their deepest desires.

Let's hurry up and prepare the food; the Hunter Exam is the priority.

Once they become hunters, what delicacies won't they be able to eat!

Due to their lack of experience, they subconsciously believed that once they became hunters, they could easily buy delicacies like those made by Erina, unaware that this was already the pinnacle of cuisine across the six continents.

Gradually, more and more test takers returned to the park, most of them returning with their spoils. At the same time, since the most common meat in the nearby forest is the mongoose, many people also hunted this animal to bring back.

【Hunting】 and 【Cooking】, symbolizing the two major stages of a gourmet hunter, are already half completed, while the other half is equally important, and perhaps even more so.

Even if the ingredients are not good, they can still be made up for with excellent cooking techniques.

But if your cooking skills are terrible, even the best ingredients will be wasted.

In just a short while, Lynn had already seen several candidates turn their lunches into charcoal. Of course, they weren't without options—some of them were already eyeing the dishes that other candidates had already prepared with greedy eyes.

They may not know how to cook, but they can steal!

Lynn and Menchi tacitly approved of this.

The most important thing about Gourmet Hunter is the word "Hunter" at the end, and what best represents a "Hunter" is strength.

People can have aspirations, but the prerequisite is having the corresponding ability.

Otherwise, one cannot become a "hunter," but rather "prey" in the eyes of others. In the extraordinary world, strength is the only true measure of success.

Soon after, a bizarre scene unfolded in the park.

Some people were busy cooking food while also being wary of other test takers, while others were eyeing others covetously, seemingly considering who would be the easiest targets, and some had even already started making their moves.

The whole park was in complete chaos, with all sorts of things happening.

Perhaps because they knew that Lynn had a good relationship with Leorio and the others, not many people were foolish enough to target Leorio's team. This idea actually saved their lives.

Leaving aside Leorio, who is now a Nen user and has been fully enhanced, the other three are not to be trifled with either.

Kiss, born into the Zoldyck family and a master of assassination techniques; Gon, a beast who inherited the excellent genes of the Freecss family; and Kurapika, who trains relentlessly every day to avenge the Phantom Troupe.

With these three on the field, apart from Hisoka, no one else can defeat them.

Finally, two hours flew by.

"Time's up!"

"Now no one is allowed to cook anymore, nor can they steal other people's food. Everyone must bring their dishes up one by one."

Lynn and Menchi sat on the sofa, transforming into food critics.

Well, all I can say is that the overall level is really not impressive.

The roasted whole pig in the original work also shows the culinary skills of these candidates. Being able to cook food properly, without making it too raw or too cooked, is already quite difficult.

As expected, Menchi became temperamental upon seeing the dishes, and her previously upturned lips immediately turned down.

The main reason is that she had just tasted Erina's delicious food, and it would be hard for her to accept eating food that was below average now.

The contrast was like falling from heaven to hell. If Lynn hadn't been there and kept her relatively reserved, she would have been consumed by rage.

Even so, she found it hard to go against her heart, and except for the dishes prepared by a few teams, she marked all the others with an "X".

In contrast, Lynn seemed more humane.

As long as it's not too extreme, he'll approve it directly.

Suddenly, the test-takers were actually grateful to Lynn. This wasn't a favored candidate; he was clearly there to save them!

Given the difficulty level of Menchi, very few people could qualify. However, Lynn was more lenient and allowed many people to advance to the next round, so they stopped objecting.

Ultimately, 46 people passed the second exam.

This number falls within a reasonable range.

Before long, the airship arrived above the venue, with the Hunter Association logo printed on both sides.

This is an airship belonging to the Hunter Association's review committee.

Once the airship landed, the candidates and examiners boarded it.

This also marks the perfect end to the first day of the Hunter Exam.

The candidates all went aboard the airship to rest for the night, and the next morning they would face their third exam.

In just the first day of the two exams, the number of candidates who had crossed the narrow bridge from thousands of applicants to reach the main venue dropped from 439 to 46!

at night.

Everyone was resting in their rooms, enjoying this hard-won leisure time, except for Lynn, who went to see someone.

An old man.

The rest area on the airship.

"Hehehe, this is our second meeting, isn't it, Lynn?"

With an air of otherworldly wisdom, Netero sat on the leather sofa, gently picked up a cup of tea from the table, and slowly began to speak.

"Yes, the last time we met was at the food competition six months ago."

Lynn sat directly opposite Netero, scrutinizing him closely.

Netero was wearing a custom-made robe, with an overall blue and white color scheme, which was probably his most common attire.

In the original work, Chairman Netero only showed three different outfits, one of which was the ordinary clothes he was wearing now, which was also the most common.

The second type is a regular sports T-shirt, used for moving around. The last type, and the most special one, is the "heart" T-shirt.

Even among Nen users, there are legends surrounding this outfit; it is said that when Chairman Netero held the Absolute Faith...

When I think of it, I will put on this outfit.

It's a legend because almost no one has actually witnessed it, since Chairman Netero is from the last century.

After becoming the president of the Hunter Association, he rarely had the opportunity to fight in public.

Perhaps some of Chairman Netero's contemporaries, such as Gourmet Hunter Lin Nie, had seen the chairman wearing the "heart" T-shirt.

Tonight's meeting was triggered by the Bean Man approaching him, and he only just learned that Netero was also on this ship.

And it seems they were targeting him.

And that's how this meeting between the old man and the young man came about.

"Yes, time really flies," Netero remarked with a touch of melancholy. "Six months have passed in the blink of an eye."

"I'm practically halfway to my coffin now."

"Grandpa, you're too kind. You're the strongest in the world." Lynn shook his head slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Netero's joke. Don't let the old man's constant talk of being old fool you; in a real fight, he's still one of the strongest in the six continents.

"The strongest in the world? That was half a century ago." Netero stroked his hooked beard. "I probably don't even have half the strength I had at my peak now."

"I am no longer the strongest in the world."

"Time is passing, and I will only get weaker. There will always be successors who will surpass me. Young talents should not be underestimated."

"Even—there's a monster right in front of me right now~" Netero said blatantly.

Lynn casually took a sip of tea, his expression indifferent, as if Netero wasn't referring to him at all.

Seeing this, Netero stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point: "Bissie, Gal, and Kangzai have all told me about you. You're a powerful exorcist, exactly the kind of talent the association needs."

"I don't need to bring up the invitation to join again; your presence here speaks volumes. But I'd like to hire you as a professional exorcist for the association."

"There's a base salary every month, the work you'll be assigned will be absolutely within your budget, you have complete freedom and autonomy to choose your tasks, there will be additional rewards for successful completion, and the association will also do its best to ensure your safety—what do you say?"

Netero's eyes gleamed. Making Lynn a professional exorcist for the association was one of the things he had asked Lynn to do tonight.

Of course, this isn't about binding him to the association, but simply providing another avenue so that Lynn can consider the Hunter Association when taking on Nen removal jobs.

Exorcists are rare, and skilled exorcists are even rarer.

The value of Lynn's possessions is naturally immeasurable.

Therefore, it is absolutely worthwhile for him to personally extend an olive branch and discuss this matter.

Lynn was not surprised by this; she had more or less guessed that Netero would say these things.

In the past, he wasn't strong enough, so even with such an extraordinary ability as the Exorcism skill, he had to be careful, lest he be caught with a hidden treasure. Even the Hunter Association wasn't entirely trustworthy.

Now that he has enough strength as a backing to support him in demonstrating his value, he naturally has no reason to miss out on such a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.

It can both make money and provide Death Thought to help Gengar grow.

"Okay, I accept." Lynn's reply reassured Netero, meaning the association now had another powerful exorcist!

"Alright, then I'd like to thank you in advance for your contributions to the association." Netero smiled, a hint of fighting spirit flashing in his eyes, before adding, "I have a second matter to discuss with you today."

"Would you be interested in sparring with this old man?"

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