"People like that don't deserve to be professional hunters."
"And the Hunter Association shouldn't even allow such people to register for the hunter exam!"
"Professional hunters should be endowed with a sense of justice and responsibility and dedicate themselves to serving this world."
"Not using the rights granted by the hunter license for selfish gain!"
"That isn't a privilege, it's the public's trust in us; it's the responsibility the world asks us to bear!"
"We should strive to achieve deeds for this world, not be blinded by greed, destroying and ruining the beautiful parts of it!"
"Those who get power and only bring harm to the world must be stopped from becoming professional hunters!"
Bushidora Ambitious's eyes were resolute.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed something.
There, standing still and not moving, was the applicant in first place, applicant No. 404.
In his opinion, applicant 404 posed a great threat and was dangerous.
If it were him... Hmm...?
Suddenly, Bushidora Ambitious's expression froze.
He saw applicant No. 404 flip his hands and suddenly take something out.
"Pulling something out of thin air? A Nen user?!"
Bushidora Ambitious snapped back to attention; his face turned stern, and his gaze became more serious: "No wonder he collected so many resources and stood out among the applicants."
"So he's also a Nen user."
"Is he a manipulation-type, or a conjuration-type?!"
It was no wonder Bushidora Ambitious thought this way.
The item Luke had in his hands was a circular coil of wire comparable in size to a tire.
Only a manipulation-type could control wire and rope-like objects, or a conjuration-type could directly conjure them.
Bushidora Ambitious leaned toward the latter.
Because when the applicant No. 404 took out this coil of wire, even he couldn't tell how it was done.
Of course, that wasn't the main point.
The key question was: What did applicant No. 404 intend to do with that coil of wire?
"He's already in first place and has such a huge advantage."
"Given such favorable conditions, passing this round should be a sure thing."
"Normally, shouldn't he go through peacefully first?"
"Why would he expose his Nen ability and take out such an item? What's his intention...?"
Bushidora Ambitious couldn't quite understand.
Then an even more baffling scene unfolded.
Instead of using the coil of wire immediately, the applicant No. 404 walked over to applicant No. 101.
No. 101 was Tonpa.
Tonpa had been planning to sneakily tail one of the top-ten clue-holders, hoping to play the opportunist and grab spoils while others fought.
But before he could take two steps forward, someone sought him out.
Luke's target was very clear.
Right away, he went straight to Tonpa.
After all, there was no one else he knew in this year's hunter exam.
And the dirty, tiring work coming up would have to be handled by Tonpa…
When Luke patted Tonpa on the shoulder, Tonpa instinctively turned around.
Seeing Luke holding a coil of wire and smiling at him, Tonpa jumped in fright and gave a startled hop backward.
"Don't be so nervous."
Luke laughed and tried to calm the shaken Tonpa. "I mean no harm."
Tonpa stared at the coil of wire in Luke's hand in alarm.
You come to me holding such an obviously dangerous item and say you mean no harm.
"Really."
Luke spoke with sincerity. "If I intended to do anything to you, to kill you, a single knife-hand strike or one punch would be enough, no need to bother with props."
"You're not worth me getting violent over."
Tonpa: "..."
Although what he said sounded reasonable, and it did seem like he no longer had to worry about his life, still… Why did those words feel so painful to hear?!
"No helping it..."
Seeing Tonpa's constipated expression, Luke shrugged.
"The truth hurts more than lies ever will. Lies don't wound people; it's the truth that cuts like a blade."
"With your level of strength, I think being able to help you to this extent is already quite respectful."
Tonpa's face twitched, too drained to even complain.
"Alright, next, you'll be in charge of carrying this Digging Wire and finding those sixty sheets of question paper."
With that, Luke casually tossed the metal coil in his hand toward Tonpa.
Tonpa fumbled to catch it, looking utterly confused as he held it up.
"Digging Wire? To find the sixty sheets of question paper?"
He could hear every word clearly, but together, they made no sense to him.
So, instinctively, Tonpa began looking at the wire in his hands, trying to figure out what it was.
But in the next second, his eyes went wide.
"What is this?!"
Before his astonished gaze, the metal wire suddenly began to move, as if it had come alive.
In midair, it twisted itself into the shape of a square sheet of paper. Then, the front end of the wire morphed into an arrowhead, as though pointing in a specific direction.
Tonpa froze.
He wasn't an idiot.
After staring blankly for a moment, realization began to dawn on him.
"With that shape... And the name Digging Wire... Plus, what that applicant No. 404 just said to me..."
Tonpa's eyes widened further.
"This wire... It's showing me where the sheets of question paper are hidden, isn't it?!"
He could hardly believe it. The idea that a simple coil of metal could do such a thing was beyond him.
But seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't help but instinctively believe it to be true.
Invention: Digging Wire
Origin: Doraemon World — Future Tech Company
Function: A coil of metal wire. When held and rotated while walking on the ground, it detects buried objects. The wire displays the object's position and shape, but not its depth.
It first appeared in Exploring the Earth, where Dorami lent it to Nobita to find his lost money.
Later, Nobita used it for treasure hunting, and the wire displayed what looked like an entire city, which led them to the ancient ruin on the opposite side of the earth.
It also appeared in Nobita's Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi, where they used it to find the owner of a golden bracelet and accidentally discovered a buried city beneath the Antarctic ice.
In short, this invention is an ideal tool for exploration and excavation.
And…
"It's perfect for ruin exploration!"
Behind them, Bushidora Ambitious's eyes flashed with sharp light.
If even Tonpa could understand how powerful this invention was, there was no way Bushidora Ambitious couldn't.
As a professional hunter familiar with Nen abilities, he understood the potential of such a tool even more deeply.
Especially for hunters specializing in categories like ruins or treasure hunting, if they ever learned that such an item existed…
"They would be fighting tooth and nail to work with this man and join him in exploring ruins..."
That was the first thought flashing through Bushidora Ambitious's mind.
Even he was tempted.
If the ruin hunters found out about this, who knew how chaotic things would get?
"Looks like not all participants in this hunter exam are useless after all."
Bushidora Ambitious, silently separated Luke from those other applicants he had judged as incompetent.
In his eyes, based on Nen's ability alone, this applicant, No. 404, was more than qualified to become a true hunter.
Of course, while Bushidora Ambitious affirmed this in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a mix of curiosity and confusion.
"He's already in first place and has a massive advantage."
"I even told him the exact location where an easy question was buried."
"As long as he followed the steps, found that sheet of question paper or any other one, and brought it to me, he could've easily passed this round."
"So why did he suddenly take out such a valuable item and even expose his Nen ability?"
"Moreover, he handed that coil with exploration capabilities to applicant No. 101, letting him go look for other sheets of question paper instead?"
per
Bushidora Ambitious could tell that applicants No. 101 and No. 404 didn't seem to have much of a relationship.
Or rather, No. 404 seemed familiar with No. 101, but the latter was clearly wary, alert, and... Fearful of him.
That was obviously not the kind of dynamic people who know each other normally have.
Just as Bushidora Ambitious was puzzled and couldn't make sense of it, Luke's actions soon told him exactly what he intended to do.
"Dig up all these sheets of question paper properly."
Luke patted Tonpa's shoulder, giving him a final piece of advice.
Then...
"The show's about to begin."
A grin curved up on his lips, and then...
Whoosh!
His figure suddenly vanished before Tonpa's eyes.
"Huh...?"
Tonpa didn't even have time to react; his vision blurred for a moment, and the dangerous man who had been standing in front of him had already disappeared.
"Where did he go?!"
Tonpa's entire body tensed immediately.
Although Luke had said it wouldn't take much effort to deal with him, the lack of security in this situation kept his nerves on high alert.
Especially now that Luke was on the move, his sense of danger spiked to its limit.
However... Luke had said he wouldn't touch him, and he really didn't.
Because... Luke was targeting someone else.
Thud.
A sudden sound came from nearby, making Tonpa jolt in fright.
He quickly turned toward it, only to see that one of the applicants had already collapsed onto the desert ground.
His eyes rolled back, clearly unconscious.
And even more terrifyingly, that applicant wasn't the only one.
Thud! Thud!
In quick succession, more and more bodies hit the ground.
"What the hell..."
Tonpa's face grew pale with fear as his eyes widened in horror.
He could see a blur of movement flashing past the other applicants, and wherever that shadow passed, the next instant, the person dropped to the ground, limp and powerless.
They had no idea what had hit them; they were completely defenseless and caught entirely off guard.
Perhaps even though these applicants were mentally prepared and on guard, they would have never expected that a powerful figure would suddenly attack them.
Moreover, that person's strength had long surpassed their ability by a wide margin.
Many of the applicants didn't even know what had happened before they collapsed in confusion.
Of course, not everyone was caught completely off guard.
Some, like Tonpa, also heard the sounds of other applicants falling to the ground.
When they turned to look and noticed something was wrong, their expressions instantly changed.
But… even if they realized it, so what?!
The overwhelming difference in strength left them with no chance to react or defend themselves.
They could only watch helplessly as that blur of a figure rushed toward them.
Then… the world spun, darkness fell, and they collapsed to the ground in a flash.
"Don't come any closer!"
The remaining conscious applicants stared wide-eyed, veins popping in their bloodshot eyes.
Terror gradually crept across their faces.
After realizing that they couldn't even defend themselves, that there was no room to fight back, and there was only one option left: To run.
And so…
After a few more applicants swiftly fell one after another, the remaining ones all, without needing to discuss it, made the same decision: Run for their lives!
In an instant, the entire desert became a scene of chaos, with groups of applicants scattering in panic.
However…
"With just dozens or so people, cleaning them up won't take much effort."
The desert wind carried a faint, almost lazy voice through the sand.
It was as if these weren't over a dozen tough applicants who had passed the earlier round, but rather a swarm of tiny insects waiting to be crushed.
And indeed, that wasn't far from the truth.
When the remaining applicants began to flee, Luke had already taken down a large number of them.
The moment they took a step, his shadow followed like a ghost.
Thud… Thud…
Across the desert, the only sound that echoed was the repeated sound of bodies hitting the ground.
"T-this..."
Tonpa stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him. It was like watching someone slice vegetables.
His throat moved as he uttered the dry word with difficulty.
Having the same shock was Bushidora Ambitious.
If it were him, taking out a couple of hundred ordinary people wouldn't be impossible.
But doing it as effortlessly and cleanly as Luke had? That was beyond him.
Suddenly, a familiar name flashed through his mind: the Zoldyck Family, the world's number one assassin family.
"Only someone from the Zoldyck Family could pull off such a swift massacre..."
Bushidora Ambitious thought silently.
In the original storyline, during the 288th hunter exam, Killua could take down seven or eight people in a single second with ease.
Luke didn't have Killua's refined assassination technique.
Besides, Killua had done that in a small, cramped underground space, whereas Luke was fighting in a vast, open desert.
That gave the applicants more room to escape, but that was all it was, just more space.
For Luke, it only meant taking a little more time to finish the job.
And so, within just a few short minutes, every applicant in the desert, except for Luke and Tonpa, was lying unconscious on the ground.