'Not the Ant King, still at the Squadron Leader level!'
'Above Leol, below Shaiapouf...'
"Splash..." The waves crashed against the reef, shattering into fine spray....
In Roy's world of cognition.
Specks of light gathered into a human form.
Disconnecting for the fourth time, exiting [re: The Game of the Dead].
Roy "revived" in his "world of cognition." He carefully savored the mace blow the [Pig-headed General] had just thrown. It already had the taste of his father's full-strength attack.
In the original story, Silva descended from the sky and one-shot the cheetah, Cheetu, displaying extraordinary speed and power. In terms of constitution, he was probably a notch above the [Pig-headed General] who had just evolved into a [Pig-headed Marshal].
Twenty-two minutes.
Test site, in the underground passage.
Geru counted the time, maintaining the "God" character's operation. Fine beads of sweat began to form on her clear forehead.
"Nen" was the only way to support the "Phantom" character's operation. Once the "Nen" consumption began to intensify, it meant... a huge change had occurred within the illusion.
"That young man has encountered that mutated Pig-headed Man."
Without the [Monster Encyclopedia] to "Appraise," Geru could only use "mutation" to describe the Pig-headed General.
Shamefully, although she had some strength and would even join the Zodiacs as the "Snake" in the future, her specialty was not actually combat.
She could deal with Sajin, Gordian, and the others, but she couldn't beat the [Pig-headed General]. She had her neck snapped on the spot, which led to the scene of her first entry into the illusion, fleeing in disgrace.
"Captain Yuke, go help her." Even a straight-laced guy can be sharp-minded.
Botobai glanced over and noticed that Geru, who had been maintaining her "Nen" output, was faintly beginning to struggle... As the head examiner, he took the initiative. He opened his right hand, and a stream of "Nen" flowed out, landing on the ground. In the blink of an eye, it formed a "soldier" with a face painted in camouflage, wearing a military uniform and a beret.
As soon as he appeared, he snapped his heels together, stood ramrod straight, and raised his right hand in a salute to Botobai.
He shouted loudly, "Captain Yuke, reporting for duty!"
"Go."
"Sir!"
Right turn.
Forward march.
The soldier was disciplined and well-trained. He came to Geru's side, raised his right hand, and saluted.
Geru was indeed struggling. She didn't insist, handing the pharmacology book, which was branded with the "God" character "Phantom," to "Captain Yuke."
Relieved of the burden, she snuck a glance at Botobai, faintly guessing: '"One-Man Army"... is this his "Nen Beast," or his "Nen ability"?'
In the illusion.
After a brief rest, Roy returned to [The Game of the Dead] for the fifth time through the "Gate to the Dark Continent"...
This time, he immediately activated [Eye of Delusion Breaking], predicted the [Pig-headed General]'s overhead mace smash, grazed past the chain, and, holding both swords, slashed at its chest!
"Sshla—" The Crimson Swords frictioned against the air, catching fire... Two "Flying Slashes" in a V-shape crossed nearly thirty meters and struck the [Pig-headed General]'s chest.
The latter didn't dodge or evade, just relied on its protective Nen to tank the blow!
Ripples of Nen spread across its chest.
'It's [Ken]!' Roy's pupils shrank.
He could clearly feel this "hardness"...
'This is a defensive power that ordinary [Ten] simply cannot achieve.'
One must know, his Crimson Swords, wreathed in his [Ten], could pierce both the flesh and armor of "Barbarians" like Sajin and Gordian.
It was impossible for them not to leave even a scratch.
Only [Ken], which was more advanced than [Ten], could achieve this!
[Ken], an advanced application technique combining [Ten] and [Ren]. A technique that uses more aura than usual to envelop the body to strengthen one's own attack and defense.
If [Ten] is a "Nen membrane," just spreading aura flatly on the body's surface, then [Ken] is "Nen armor," condensing more "Nen" to form a "hard" suit of armor. Not only is its attack power a notch above [Ten], but its defensive power is also much stronger.
Therefore... a battle between elite Nen users is often a battle of [Ken] versus [Ken]. Excluding the "intelligence" factor... whether one can break the opponent's [Ken], or exhaust the opponent's "Nen" so they can no longer maintain [Ken],
...becomes the key to deciding the battle's outcome.
"Bang!" The two slashes failed to break its defense... The [Pig-headed General] seized the opening in Roy's attack, swinging its chain, "Klang klang..."
A heavy "Heavy Strike"!
It brought the axe down, instantly splitting open his chest.
Fifth reset, failure.
Twenty-three minutes and forty-two seconds. The "memory" "saved"...
Real world.
In the barbecue restaurant at the entrance.
The two old men drank their tea, neither speaking. They had been like this for a full fifteen minutes.
A heavy atmosphere was spreading... Beanman held his breath, nearly suffocating. He barely managed to hear the Chairman speak: "Zeno, tell that child to stop."
Netero put down his teacup and said faintly, "Twenty-plus minutes is already a remarkable achievement."
"You and I both know... what that child is facing...."
His white hair flashy, Zeno just rubbed his teacup, not even looking at Netero, and said to himself: "The old man called this morning. He's very angry."
"You're the one who had me bring the film. If... Roy doesn't pass the test,"
Zeno paused and glanced at Netero. "You can forget about seeing Father ever again in this life."
Netero's mouth twitched. He chuckled. "The passing time I set was only ten seconds. Your boy could have passed long ago. He's the one who's lazing about, not coming out. What's that got to do with me?"
Zeno nodded in deep agreement. "True. It's my grandson's fault for being too strong."
Netero: "..."
He pointed at him, unable to say a single word in rebuttal... This... seemed to be the truth!
"Tick... tock..." The time in the bottom right corner of the monitor screen ticked by...
Roy exited the game, not discouraged. He returned to the world of cognition, rested briefly, reconnected, and entered the illusion for the sixth time through the "Gate to theDark Continent." This time, he exchanged two more blows with the [Pig-headed General], lasting until the third move before his head was smashed, and he was forced out.
Next, the seventh time, four moves... The eighth time, five moves... The ninth time... Roy sacrificed an arm, [Total Concentration · Breathing], used "Phantom Sword," paralyzed the opponent for an instant, and finally, his sword cut through its protective aura, leaving a shallow white mark on its chest....
Thus, nine times.
Roy's chest was smashed by an angry mace blow from the [Pig-headed General]. When he woke up again....
He was directly thrown out of the "world of cognition" and fell back into reality. This time, because his mental energy was depleted, he couldn't re-enter his world of cognition.
His head was heavy, his feet light, as if his body had been hollowed out. The young man staggered, grabbing Gotoh's extended arm to steady himself.
"Thirty minutes and six seconds. Pass!"
"Pop!" The illusion shattered. "Captain Yuke" returned the "God" character.
Geru looked deeply at Roy and announced the result directly.
Illumi, hiding in the corner, and Kite, leaning against the passage wall, looked over silently. One climbed out of his hole, hands in his pockets, and walked towards the elevator... The other, without a word, pushed down the brim of his hat and followed.—
The huge venue, in an instant, was left with only the two examiners, Botobai and Geru, plus the two examinees who passed, Kanzai and Roy, and Gotoh and Kurajing.
"Caw—"
'Finally, you're back!'
Xiao Jin broke free from Kurajing's embrace and flew to the top of Roy's head, continuing its nest.
Kanzai was sleeping peacefully to the side...
"Cuckoo." The cuckoo clock chimed three o'clock.
The pendulum struck the bell, making a light "Dang" sound...—
As if by telepathy, Roy, catching his breath, looked up, just as Botobai's gaze swept over... Their eyes met, and sparks seemed to fly...
The future "Dragon" of the Zodiac stared intently at the young man for a good while, then said in his booming voice: "Tomorrow, at this time,
I will be waiting for you here."
The young man didn't speak. With the Golden Crow on his head, he decisively left with Gotoh and Kurajing.
Kurajing fell behind, nodding at Botobai and Geru on Roy's behalf, then hurried to catch up.
"Tap... tap...."
The footsteps faded into the distance...
"Klang" The elevator closed.
Geru watched them disappear, then turned her head to ask: "What do you plan to do?"
Botobai uncrossed his arms and summoned "Captain Yuke." He straightened the soldier's uniform and said without looking back: "Didn't the Chairman already say?"
"Do not hold back."
"Tsk." Geru stuck out her tongue. It was forked, like a snake's. She could faintly sense...
...behind the exaggerated Peking opera mask, Botobai's... "fighting spirit" was already blazing!
'And to make this "brute" get serious...' Geru recalled the young man's strong jawline... 'The Zoldyck family's young master is indeed worthy.'—
"Klang..."
The ascending elevator opened again.
It faced the barbecue restaurant's corridor.
On the bar next to the corridor, two cups of tea were still steaming. But the tea drinkers... were long gone.
"Sir, your barbecue rice."
At this moment, the kitchen curtain lifted, and the owner came out with several plates of barbecue rice. Seeing Roy, he quickly招呼 them to sit.
Gotoh saw this and frowned. "We didn't order."
The owner chuckled. "Someone ordered for you."
"Who?"
"A guest you've met." The owner winked mysteriously at Roy.
Roy was silent for a moment, remembering Netero from the morning. He unscrupulously pulled out a chair and sat down..
He rolled up his sleeves and started eating.
Gotoh and Kurajing exchanged a look and tactfully shut up.
They sat down, one on each side of Roy. Plus one fat crow, they began to feast wildly.
A moment later, a stack of empty plates was piled beside each of them. Even Kurajing had rarely eaten three plates... The fat crow was even more exaggerated, "devouring" ten plates all by itself, nearly making the owner faint from distress....
Fortunately, after eating their fill, the group stood up and left without mentioning "takeout," which was a small mercy...
"Young Master, I'll go extend our stay." 'I didn't expect to be able to come back out after entering the exam site.' Gotoh had checked out of the room at noon. Now he had to go back to the front desk and extend for another day.
"You go with him." Roy pointed at Kurajing.
Before the girl could react, he walked alone towards the riverbank.
The afternoon sun was just right, sprinkling on the river, sparkling... From time to time, birds would dip into the water, snatching fish....
The young man walked silently. Soon, he came to an old man's side. Like him, he leaned against the railing, enjoying the scenery, recovering the mental energy he had consumed in the illusion...
"Someone treated you to a meal, just accept it. No need to be embarrassed. Your grandfather put in the work."
His white hair flashy, Zeno stood with his hands behind his back... Roy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, gave a soft "Mm," and suddenly asked: "Grandfather, is great-grandfather... still alive?"
Zeno's body stiffened.