Chapter 11

"What?"

"What!"

Kurapika and Leorio were both taken aback by my words. The former asked while suddenly frowning, and the latter yelled while staring at me in great shock with wide eyes.

At that instant, the captain, who had been compelled to stop speaking, grinned. And the seaman Katsuo, his assistant, gave me a downcast look while displaying anxiety, curiosity, and doubt.

The captain decided to let out a big puff of smoke while holding his smoking pipe. The captain waved his other hand in front of the seaman's chest when the seaman moved forward, signaling him not to speak or move.

"Is it true, how do you know this information, Gon?" Kurapika asked once more.

I was the center of attention at the time.

… I was shrugging internally as I considered something else, something involving the important blonde next to me. So, I just sighed and explained, mostly to Leorio, who was wide-eyed and simple-minded.

"It should be true. My hypothesis is more than 90% certain. Think about it carefully... We were all given those signature forms for consent by this guy's seamen in various places and boarded this boat with him acting as captain. We won't be able to continue our journey unless he steers this boat in the right direction to land. He's even asking us about our motivations right now. He's been doing it to everyone on the boat. Have you noticed how some people have not returned? What do you think happened to them?"

"Eliminated…" Kurapika paused after hearing my words. "Do you mean they were dumped in the sea? That shouldn't be the case, right?"

"Who knows... If you're curious, you can ask this cunning old man." I replied, looking at the captain, who was the right person to ask this question.

Leorio was staring at the captain as well, his mouth as wide open as his eyes. This time, however, he appeared solemn and gulped rather than haughty.

When the captain took another puff of smoke and spoke clumsily, Leorio was on guard and reaching for his knife from inside his pants and belt. "With that kind of discernment… Kid, I assume you're Ging's son? Tell me how you made your guess."

The words of the captain shocked Kurapika and Leorio and confirmed mine. Leorio stared intently at the captain while biting his lips and clenching his teeth. Leorio was not the kind of person who enjoyed appearing foolish.

"Hehehe. In reality, making the guess was simple." I began interacting with the elderly man before the wrathful Leorio could do anything else he'd regret later. "I'll let you know as soon as you give the three of us a good score on your test... I'll even reveal a little secret ahead of time. It could help you get through the approaching sea storm more quickly. My snake and I can both swim to land in gale-force winds, but I'm not so sure about you and everyone else..."

"Sea storm?" Previously appearing at ease, the captain now had a slight frown.

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After an hour and a half. Immediately following the sea storm. Some aspects of this rebirth were noticeably different.

Not every event went as planned.

At one point during the storm, the boat was on the verge of sinking. The transportation and upkeep of the boat could have gone wrong without Severus and my ability to swim in choppy seas and our strong strengths.

Severus was a big snake in his own right, but he wasn't much bigger than me. He wasn't a colossus. He did, however, share my unusual strength. When we worked together, there wasn't much we couldn't lift and pull. Especially when they were ropes that we could grasp with our mouths or hands.

Kurapika and Leorio's regular fighting abilities came in handy tonight... Kurapika and Leorio had tier 3 and tier 2 regular fighting skills, respectively, but their exact stats were unknown to me. The blonde had no way of having too little raw power. When the tier needed to quickly level up and advance to the next tier, brute strength was most likely the most important starting point.

Leorio, despite being a tier 2, was not human. Tier 2 athletes developed abilities that were superior to those of tier 1 gold medalists, bordering on superhuman. Strongmen with Guinness World Records could already pull rolling steam trains back to Earth. Even with the rolling and other factors, it was still an impressive feat.

Despite being helpful tonight, Leorio and Kurapika were both exhausted and winded.

I was currently with them in our room.

We were all given special rooms to stay in together as soon as we passed the old man's test. It turns out that the candidates who vanished were given access to specific cabins on the ship. The unsuccessful candidates had their own spacious, hidden room at the bottom of the boat.

Severus was relaxing in a corner of the room with his happy meal. My snake was eating some extra meat that the ship's crew had given to us as a token of their appreciation for our efforts when Leorio looked at each of us with concern for the first time.

Leorio said to me, sounding worn out as he sighed. "Kid, you really were this powerful… This snake you have there appears to be no less of a monster…"

"I'm Gon," As I unwinded in the hammock I selected because it was closest to the door, I chuckled. It was preferable for me to guard everyone because Kurapika and Leorio weren't particularly good scouts to begin with. I didn't anticipate the funny and finicky Severus, who hardly knew them, to defend anyone besides me in the event of an emergency at night. Not until a few days had passed.

"Gon, no problem," Leorio raised his hands to his achy back as he stood. He then came over and gave me a manly handshake. "I'm sorry, Gon, I underestimated you earlier. Leorio, here; let's start over."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leorio." I stood up and smiled as I shook his hand again.

"That also applies to me. I feel foolish for having said such earlier, but presently I concur with this moron regarding you, Gon." Kurapika also decided to come over after noticing the atmosphere was shifting. He shook my hand with less vigor but the same sincerity as he said this. "My name is Kurapika; hello."

"Who is the moron!" Leorio shouted, but he was too weakened to do something about Kurapika's words. After passing the test, he was happier as well.

We ignored him as I said. "Kurapika, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." I smiled as I asked because I had just had an idea. "By the way, Kurapika, I had a question that I wasn't sure how to ask before."

Leorio looked at us curiously as Kurapika grinned feebly. "What has caught your attention? After what we went through, I can tell you more about my background, but you'll also need to provide answers to a few of my questions."

I shook my head and hesitantly questioned. "My inquiry is straightforward, albeit a little direct and intimate… Are you a man or a woman, Kurapika?"

The awkward silence that followed my question, mostly from the silent Kurapika, caused Severus to stop eating and turn to look at us.

He was the one who brought up this issue, so he was naturally interested in the response.