This upcoming expedition was a global event, and the Hunter Association would play a key role in it. Naturally, it attracted a lot of pro hunters who wanted to take part.
Hanzo and Pokkle, who had only recently gotten their Hunter licenses, also wanted to join in on this major event.
Unfortunately, they didn't even make it past the initial screening and were eliminated before the interviews.
Pokkle, wearing his usual purple soft hat and carrying a bow, recognized the man in the black cloak in front of him—so he seemed a bit nervous.
To be fair, most professional Hunters nowadays would definitely recognize Germain, the "Rat" from the Zodiacs.
It was said that among the Hunter Association's exploration team, most of the Zodiacs were present—except for Germain, the "Rat," and Ging, the "Boar."
That was a bit strange, since both Germain and Ging were widely acknowledged as two of the strongest members of the Zodiacs. And yet, they were the only ones not participating in the exploration team.
However, it didn't take long for people to speculate the reasons behind it.
The Hunter Association's exploration team sent this time was the vanguard, and the Association would send out second and third batches of teams later.
Many believed that Germain and Ging would join the subsequent teams.
After all, it would take two months by sea to travel from the Six Continents to the Dark Continent (which is, in fact, a hypothetical Dark Continent).
Anything could happen during those two months. Without strong and decisive professional hunters as leaders, there could easily be chaos on the sea.
This was actually a rumor intentionally spread by the Hunter Association, to prevent too much attention from focusing on Germain and Ging.
Most people around the world probably wouldn't know that the exploration team heading out was merely bait to attract attention. Germain, Ging, and others were the real main force.
Pokkle was aware of these rumors, and in his mind, Germain had become the examiner who would decide if he could join the second or third batch of teams heading to the Dark Continent.
It was surprising. Even though the professional Hunter exam had been over for more than six months, he was once again facing a similar examiner and challenge.
This time, the examiner was still the famous Germain.
Ever since Pokkle became a professional Hunter, he had seen or heard about Germain more than once.
Even though Germain, like Chairman Netero and Ging, was a legendary figure who was hard to find, his name still echoed throughout the professional Hunter circle.
"Fastest One-Star Hunter," "The Destroyer of the Phantom Troupe and the Shadow Beasts," "The Greatest Contributor to the Chimera Ant Battle," and so on. Each of these honors was well-known and far beyond Pokkle's reach.
Pokkle had a general idea of why he failed the exam.
He was probably the least talented among his batch of newly licensed Hunters, so his progress in Nen had been the slowest.
Pokkle applied to join the Hunter Association's exploration team mostly as a gamble. Naturally, he was eliminated without surprise.
Hanzō, on the other hand, had far greater talent than Pokkle, ranking just below Killua and Gon among their peers.
However, Hanzō had only learned the basics and some advanced Nen techniques in a few months. He still lacked actual combat experience in Nen, so he was also eliminated.
Before participating in the Hunter Exam, Illumi and Kurapika had already learned Nen abilities, so they naturally weren't part of the comparison group of their peers.
Hanzō and Pokkle only began to understand why Illumi and Kurapika were so strong during the exam after they learned Nen abilities. They also understood where their amazing powers came from.
Therefore, when they heard that Kurapika was joining the Hunter Association's exploration team, they were only slightly surprised, but in the end, they found it reasonable.
After all, they knew that Kurapika was way ahead of them in Nen combat.
More importantly, based on the intelligence they gathered, Kurapika's teacher was the man in front of them—Germain.
A good teacher breeds talented students.
The disciples of the "Zodiac" were all well-known within the professional Hunter circle, so it was only natural to think that Kurapika, Germain's disciple, would shine in the future.
Hanzō also realized that Germain might be one of the examiners for the second or third batches of the Hunter Association's exploration team.
It wasn't surprising that Hanzō and Pokkle thought this way.
After their applications were rejected, they both received a vague message from the Hunter Association.
"If you haven't given up on joining the great cause of exploring the Dark Continent and opening a new era for humanity, go to Greed Island."
This was the reason Hanzō and Pokkle had ended up on Greed Island—through the call of the wealthy Battera, they managed to enter the Nen-user game.
Many other rejected professional Hunters also received this message, and perhaps they were all rushing toward Greed Island.
Initially, Hanzō and Pokkle guessed that the Hunter Association's purpose was to let them hone their Nen abilities on Greed Island.
But after seeing Germain, they couldn't help but think of another possibility.
It seemed that the second and third batches of the Hunter Association's exploration team selection were going to take place on Greed Island, with the examiner being "Rat" Germain.
Hanzō and Pokkle were quite familiar with this situation because it was essentially a repeat of the professional Hunter Exam.
The two of them exchanged a glance, immediately imagining this possibility, and were glad that they had met Killua and Gon. They were able to learn this information early, giving them an edge in the selection.
As for why Killua and Gon knew Germain, upon further thought, it wasn't surprising. Since they had a close relationship with Kurapika, it was only natural they'd be connected to Germain as well.
In fact, both Hanzo and Pokkle's guesses were mostly correct. The Hunter Association indeed planned to conduct a selection process for future expedition team members on Greed Island.
However, the examiners were not Germain, but rather Granny Linne and her group.
Through numerous trials and background checks, only the selected members would be qualified to enter the Dark Continent Library and Research Institute in Limeiro Castle, and would then proceed to the next stage of training.
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