Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 275 One step away

The excavation of the Akashar underground palace was not a major task in itself; in terms of secrecy, it could not even be considered a secret.

However, this excavation was led by Jin.

Therefore, strict confidentiality measures were implemented.

Therefore, Hisoka was unable to track Moro's whereabouts through conventional intelligence channels.

In this situation, to find any clues about Moreo, Moreo would have to actively contact him via communication devices, but that's obviously impossible.

In a sense, it's as if Moro vanished into thin air.

In order to find Moro, Hisoka can only place his hopes on the upcoming Hunter Exam.

Because the Hunter Exam changes its location every year, and the organizers set up various traps along the way, getting to the exam venue is already a laborious and time-consuming task.

However, Hisoka's desire to find Moro was so strong that he was willing to endure the incredibly boring journey to the examination venue.

With these feelings in mind, Hisoka finally arrived at the venue for the first stage of the 286th Hunter Exam on January 7, 1998.

The first assessment venue this year is an ancient castle built on a mountaintop.

After being thrown down by the guide, Hisoka went straight into the main hall of the castle.

The hall is usually used for banquets, so it is very spacious.

When Hisoka arrived at the hall, hundreds of examinees had already gathered there.

Among the crowd, some veterans immediately looked at Hisoka.

Among these veterans were Tonpas who had participated in over thirty tests, as well as familiar faces such as Greta, a blowgun expert, the Amori brothers who always achieved excellent results through tacit cooperation, and Bapen, a snake charmer.

They didn't know Hisoka, but the moment Hisoka stepped into the hall, they sensed an indescribable sense of danger emanating from him.

"This guy is taking the Hunter Exam for the first time, but... he exudes an aura that's not to be trifled with."

"Dangerous element!"

"A new face, is he suppressing murderous intent...?"

"Who is this person? He seems dangerous."

The exceptionally skilled and experienced veterans all made similar judgments in their minds.

Seeking advantage and avoiding risk is a fairly routine operation for them, so they only glanced at Hisoka before averting their gaze.

Even though they reacted quickly enough, they couldn't hide it from Hisoka, who was desperately thirsty at the moment.

Will it be here?

Hisoka narrowed his eyes, trying his best to suppress his murderous intent that was about to get out of control, and followed the trajectory of his gaze to look at the veterans in the venue one by one.

But after looking around, they found nothing.

His action, however, set off alarm bells in the minds of those veterans.

Regardless of what the veterans thought, Hisoka didn't care at all, and simply scanned each of the examinees present.

After searching several times without finding Moro, Hisoka slowly lowered his head.

"Disappointed...disappointed..."

Some unfocused golden pupils stared intently at the ground, their lips moving incessantly.

However, Hisoka's voice was very soft, so to others it appeared that he was just keeping his head down and remaining silent.

Furthermore, Hisoka's aggressive demeanor upon entering the venue caused the surrounding examinees to feel a sense of unease.

What...what is this guy trying to do?!

Almost all the test takers around had the same question.

The veterans were the first to realize Hisoka's danger and decided to stay as far away from him as possible in the upcoming tests.

Their risk-averse approach will indeed allow them to escape disaster.

Under the watchful eyes of many, Hisoka suddenly looked up, revealing a slightly deranged face.

His eyes were wide open, but his golden pupils were contracted to their smallest size.

Immediately, he swayed his body, but his steps were extremely fast, and he suddenly appeared behind the nearest examinee like a ghost.

"No."

Hisoka lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the examinee's buttocks, thus ruling out the possibility that the other party might be "disguised".

That's right.

Hisoka was unwilling to accept this.

Even though he sensed nothing unusual about the aura, he still held onto a sliver of hope that Moro might have used disguise.

Based on this, Hisoka could only use this method to make the final determination.

The examinee who was suddenly targeted by Hisoka felt a chill run through his body, and his body quickly became stiff.

He didn't even dare to turn around.

Fortunately, that evil gaze lasted for less than a second before vanishing into thin air.

As if he had survived a catastrophe, the examinee slowly turned around, belatedly realizing what was happening, and then saw a scene he would never forget.

Hisoka moved like a ghost among the examinees, and every time he stopped, he stared intently at their backsides.

"Is this normal...?"

The candidate was stunned.

This was his first time participating in the Hunter Exam, and like many newcomers, he was full of confidence after easily finding the exam venue using his own abilities.

But now, seeing Hisoka's strange behavior, an indescribable fear has a powerful impact on his senses and perception.

"This person should be able to pass the test... Otherwise, let's come back next year, so we don't have to compete against him."

A nameless panic filled his chest, and the new candidate followed his heart, making the decision to withdraw while still ahead and try again next year.

Even if others despise this move, it doesn't matter.

Compared to that, the new test takers were even less willing to compete against Hisoka.

It's just another year.

Then let's use another year to improve our skills!

With this thought in mind, the new candidate swung his slightly stiff lower limbs and quietly walked towards the castle's exit.

No one noticed his sneaky departure, because Hisoka's perverted behavior had attracted the attention of the other examinees.

"Hey, who's this pervert?!"

"Why...why is he staring at my butt?"

"Who knows? Damn, I always had a feeling this guy was dangerous."

"No, don't come any closer!"

Some test takers quickly calmed down after realizing that Hisoka would only stare at his butt for about a second.

However, candidates with poor mental states all suffered a strong emotional impact.

Not to mention them, even the Dongba, who had participated in more than thirty tests, was sweating profusely and instinctively covered his bag with both hands.

As a seasoned veteran with extensive testing experience, what kind of test takers hasn't Dongba seen?
But Hisoka's appearance still made him realize the vastness of the world.

"This newcomer is terrifying!"

Dongba's lips trembled slightly.

And so, Hisoka, oblivious to everyone else, finished looking at all the examinees' buttocks.

Ultimately, he came to a conclusion that greatly disappointed him.

"He didn't come..."

Hisoka's voice was as soft as a sigh. His once straight and tall body suddenly lost its strength, hunching slightly, his arms hanging limply at his sides, swaying gently with his steps. He seemed to have suddenly lost interest, becoming utterly bored.

but,

The previously suppressed killing intent, like a beast about to break free of its cage, wanted to replace that dull and tasteless feeling.

In the eyes of all the test takers, Hisoka in his current state, though lacking his previous aggression, has become even more dangerous.

Inside the castle's monitoring room.

The examiner in charge of the first Hunter Exam saw the situation of all the candidates through the monitoring, and naturally noticed Hisoka, whose presence was extremely noticeable.

"Where did this madman come from?"

The examiner kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

This job seems to be a thankless task!
But it doesn't matter, the pass rate is not even within the examiners' considerations.
-
Inside the ruins of the Akashar underground palace.

Moro was preparing to deal with the last undead on the ceiling of the dungeon.

At that moment, he had no idea—

In order to find him, Hisoka actually went to take the Hunter Exam.

This action directly gave the candidates in the examination room a shocking education on so-called biodiversity.

In fact, Moro, who is now focused on collecting tree ring energy and improving his Nen abilities, has long forgotten the possibility that Hisoka might come looking for him.

"The last one."

Standing on the wide stone platform, Moreau looked up at the many roots hanging down above.

Among those root-like things, only a solitary, withered, miniature human body remained.

Moro spent a considerable amount of time eliminating these potential threats.

As for the collection of energy from tree rings, just as he initially predicted, it would accumulate to a return of about 10%.

Now, his third annual ring energy has reached 71%.

"Flying Star"

Moro conjured a psychic bullet between his fingers, and with a mere flick of his finger, the bullet flew out, precisely destroying the withered, miniature human body.

As the miniature human body crumbled and shattered, a wisp of black smoke-like deathly aura shot out from the wreckage, aiming directly at Moro.

Moro skillfully raised his right hand, grasped the black deathly thought that was flying towards him, and refined it in an instant.

The black death thought then disappeared.

The energy rings on the back of my hand have finally increased slightly, settling at 72%.

While being bombarded by the flood of memories, Moro remained calm, as if he had developed immunity.

Actually,
It's just that they've become more adaptable.

The negative feelings that are expected will still occur.

A few seconds later.

A vast amount of memory information vanished into thin air.

Moro slowly let out a long breath, glancing subtly at the back of his hand.

There are only 28% left to accumulate enough energy. With the remaining deathly intent in the palace that has not yet been absorbed, there is still room for further progress.

However, compared to the gains in annual ring energy, Moreau now places more emphasis on improving the strength of his ability to condense starlight.

If it were him now, he would probably have been able to overcome a certain degree of his weakness to information overload.

Putting aside other things, the accuracy of information reading has also been significantly improved.

This is one of his achievements over this period of time.

"Jin, it's all taken care of here."

Moro withdrew his gaze from the top of the underground palace and turned to look at the exit of the passage.

There, Kim was talking with several colleagues.

Upon hearing Moro's voice, Jin turned his head to signal his companion to wait a moment, then strode over.

He approached Moro, but his gaze passed over him and landed on the tightly sealed palace in front of them.

"Then all that's left is the thought of death in the palace."

Jin paused, then asked with concern, "Moro, do you need to rest?"

During this time, Moro dealt with the death thoughts at the top with increasing ease, which Jin noticed.

But out of caution and concern, he was willing to wait a day or two if Morrow needed rest.

"No need. Today we're just dealing with the final loose ends; it won't have any impact."

Moro shook his head.

Upon seeing this, Jin immediately began making arrangements: "Alright, Tessa and the others have arrived just in time, I'll have them come down right away."

Tessa is another exorcism expert in Kim's team, and also Sambika's mentor.

For some unknown reason, the palace inside the underground palace was a sealed building structure.

Considering the potential risks inside the palace, King summoned Tessa, but his real intention was to recruit Tessa's apprentice, Sambika.

With such a skilled professional virus hunter around, many potential risks can be dealt with.

So, as I said before, professional matters should be left to experts.

This practice is commonplace in the professional hunter community.

About half an hour later.

Tessa and Sambika emerged from the passage and immediately spotted Kim and Morrow, who had been waiting for them.

Moro already knew from King that Sambica would be coming, so he wasn't surprised.

Sambica didn't know Moro was there, so when he saw Moro, he was stunned for a moment and almost didn't recognize him.

After all, it had been a year since they last met. Although Moro's facial features hadn't changed much, his physique had undergone a dramatic transformation. His strong, muscular body was clearly visible even through his clothes.

"Moro?"

Sambica was surprised by Moro's presence. Her obsidian eyes widened slightly, a hint of surprise at their long-awaited reunion appearing in them.

She has always been a loner, and because of her personality, she has very few friends, and Moreau is one of them.

"Long time no see, Sambika."

Moro looked at the girl who was still wrapped up tightly, and a smile appeared on his lips.

In this dog-eat-dog world, he always had a strong liking for this kind-hearted virus hunter.

"Business matters."

Tessa suddenly stepped forward, blocking Sambika's path like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Beside her, Kim watched Tessa's strange behavior, a strange glint flashing in her eyes.

Tessa seemed to sense something and gave Kim a cold glare.

Kim was initially curious, but Tessa gave her a strange glare, leaving her completely bewildered.

Little did he know that after the incident at the virus research institute, Tessa had already categorized Morrow and him as the same kind of shrewd men who were good at seducing others.

Seeing Morrow and King together, Tessa's intuition was confirmed. And because King was at her request, she had to bring Sambika to Morrow's place. She was not going to give King a friendly look.

If Kim knew what Tessa was thinking, she would definitely cry foul.

Those who know him well don't think he was wronged.

(End of this chapter)