Chapter 29: Hisoka, I'm Here to Negotiate
"Oh right, I almost forgot about this."
Under Menchi's astonished gaze, Mord directly served a plate of large intestine sashimi.
If the raw pork skin was still within her range of acceptance, this plate of large intestine sashimi completely exceeded her understanding of gourmet food.
"Are you sure this thing is edible?" Menchi pointed at the large intestine sashimi, her face full of disbelief.
Mord struck a pose like a master chef, giving a thumbs-up.
"A delicacy of the mortal world!"
"Isn't the spirit of a Hunter about challenging the unknown? Surely Miss Menchi isn't too timid to even try this."
A straightforward provocation.
"Hmph."
Menchi snorted, picked up her chopsticks, and decided to first try the plate of raw pork skin in front of her.
Starting with the most acceptable part—the pork skin.
Menchi picked up a piece with her chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in her mouth.
"The pork skin is very chewy, completely without the expected gaminess. The more you chew, a faint aroma of straw begins to fill your entire mouth."
"Delicious."
Menchi's eyes lit up.
Next was the pork belly.
"A unique texture, tender and smooth. Paired with this dipping sauce, it perfectly brings out the primal deliciousness of the pork itself."
"Delicious."
Finally, the raw pork liver.
You could see it still had blood on it.
"Pork liver reduces internal heat—perfect for Miss Menchi," Mord said with a laugh.
"Oh, and remember to marinate it in the dipping sauce a bit longer."
Menchi followed his advice.
After putting it in her mouth, it actually had a slight sweetness, but the strong liver flavor was a bit too much for her to handle.
As for the large intestine sashimi, she took one bite and nearly spat it out immediately.
She lifted her head and glared at Mord with a murderous look in her eyes, feeling as if she had just eaten shit.
On the other side, Buhara had already devoured almost the entire pig.
"Delicious!"
Buhara let out a satisfied burp, patted his stomach, and declared, "I genuinely can't eat another bite. Pass!"
Mord turned to Menchi, awaiting her evaluation.
"You pass," Menchi said, raising the approval sign, though her expression was clearly displeased. "Your dish is truly innovative—it showed me something novel. With refinement, it could potentially become a genuine delicacy."
Damn, Mord had only attempted this out of sheer desperation, never actually expecting to pass.
His intention had merely been to mess with Menchi.
After all, according to the plot, the Hunter Association would eventually intervene in this exam anyway.
Who would have thought it would actually pass.
In his previous life, eating raw pork was extremely problematic, carrying various risks like parasitic infections, with severe cases even threatening life. Naturally, he wouldn't recommend it.
In this Hunter world, with so many monsters, people's physiques were clearly different and might be able to handle it.
However, Mord still decided to explain the risks to Menchi after the exam ended.
Menchi announced the results on the spot: apart from Mord, all 103 other candidates failed the second phase of the exam.
After this result was reported to the Hunter Association,
Chairman Netero personally arrived on an airship.
If it were the final phase with only one person passing, that would be perfectly normal.
But this was only the second phase.
The Hunter Association was well aware of Menchi's eccentric personality, so the chairman had to step in personally.
After Netero's persuasion, the exam task was eventually changed to boiled eggs.
Of course, not just any boiled eggs—they were the eggs of the Spider Eagle inhabiting the great rift valley.
To protect their eggs from being devoured by natural predators, Spider Eagles suspend them between cliffs with tough silk threads.
To obtain the eggs, the first requirement was the courage to leap into the canyon chasm.
This time, Menchi personally demonstrated for the candidates.
Watching Menchi calmly jump into the canyon, skillfully retrieve an egg, and climb back up with ease,
the candidates who had previously looked down on the profession of Gourmet Hunter began to show her respect.
Aside from Mord, who had already passed and didn't need to participate, 59 candidates ultimately retrieved eggs and passed the exam.
The rest were those who lacked the courage to leap into the canyon or didn't believe they could climb back up.
And so, the second phase concluded.
The candidates who passed boarded the Hunter Association's airship to the location of the third exam.
On the airship,
"We will arrive at our next destination at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Until I contact you, you are free to rest or move around," Bourbon addressed the group.
After the long day of exams, most were exhausted. People like Leorio and Kurapika only wanted to find a place to rest properly.
Of course, there were also energetic ones like Gon and Killua, who started playing adventure games on the airship.
Mord had no interest in joining their ball-snatching game with Chairman Netero.
In a corner of the airship's lounge,
Hisoka was alone, engrossed in stacking cards like building blocks, placing them one by one with intense focus.
"Hisoka, I'm here to negotiate."
Hisoka looked up at the newcomer, his entire body trembling—a sign of his excitement.
He hadn't expected the other to seek him out proactively.
"You're making this difficult for me. I'm afraid I might not be able to resist devouring you right now."
Mord's expression remained unchanged as he leaned forward, whispering a few words into Hisoka's ear. The murderous intent that seemed on the verge of bursting from Hisoka vanished abruptly.
"Deal," Hisoka said, looking at Mord.
Having dealt with the biggest trouble, Mord stood up and headed toward the rest area.
Facing Hisoka's ever-present murderous intent, Mord had been in a state of high tension throughout the first two exams.
He was constantly on guard against this lunatic making a move on him.
With his current strength, there was no chance of victory. Even if he managed to escape by sheer luck, he would lose his qualification for this Hunter Exam.
This would severely impact his subsequent plans.
This Hunter License was a crucial part of Mord's plan to grow stronger.
Therefore, to prevent such an accident from happening, he could only go and talk to the trouble in advance.
What he offered was naturally a bargaining chip the other party couldn't refuse.
Watching Mord's departing figure,
Hisoka lightly tapped the card tower he'd built with his finger, causing it to collapse with a rumble. The playing cards scattered and drifted through the air.
"Hehehe, how interesting. Let me see just how far you can grow. Don't you dare disappoint me."
...
The next day, 8:00 AM.
The airship landed precisely at its destination—a massive circular stone tower standing in a vast forest. Mord and the others were currently on the circular platform at the tower's summit.
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