Saiki Kusuo sat in a corner of the forest, thinking, while a wild boar roasted in a fire beside him. It had all appeared out of nowhere. Everyone else was busy roasting their own pigs and didn't notice that Saiki hadn't even used firewood.

Of course, the organs had already been cleaned out. Since Menchi hadn't started grading yet, Saiki Kusuo used teleportation to move his roast pig directly to Buhara.

Good grief. He'd been thinking too much. He didn't feel like coming up with an excuse for how his "weak" self could carry a whole roast pig, so he just teleported it. As for the examiners? A few of the examinees here already had Nen, so the examiners clearly understood what was going on.

They even mistook his psychic powers for Nen.

In the end, Buhara ate every roast pig without wasting a single one. Ninety people passed the exam.

Even Saiki Kusuo started to worry if Buhara's stomach would burst. But the second mini-test soon began, with Menchi leading everyone inside.

The new challenge was sushi. All they had were some tools and rice in front of them, and no clues about what sushi was supposed to look like—they had to figure it out themselves.

This time, more than one person was confused. Basically, the whole group was.

Even Hisoka and Illumi didn't know what to do. They just stood there, looking unsure. Saiki Kusuo looked toward Chrollo (currently posing as Shalnark), who was standing far from Hisoka. He calmly opened up a laptop.

Saiki Kusuo: So there's even a computer trick.

Technically, he could pull out a phone and search too. Killua could've done the same with his phone... oh wait, Killua didn't think of that.

Saiki Kusuo looked over at Killua, only to see him suddenly throw his arm around Alluka's shoulders. "Alluka, make some sushi!"

Don't say yes, Nanika! Killua, what are you doing? Make it yourself!

Leorio, who had no clue either, said, "You're asking your sister to do it for you? Killua, I'm disappointed in you."

Killua: "Hmph. Before you judge me, I'll remind you—Alluka is my little brother!"

Leorio: "Huh? What kind of boy wears a skirt?"

Gon: "Kurapika wears a skirt too, doesn't he?"

Leorio: "Oh! You're right."

Kurapika: "It's our Kurta clan outfit…"

"Hey, that guy has a computer! He definitely knows how to make sushi!"

The voice from the corner suddenly grabbed everyone's attention, and all eyes turned to Chrollo.

Poor Chrollo. Saiki Kusuo quietly put his phone away. Well, no point in looking up the answer. He remembered that this part of the test would be redone anyway. He just had to keep an eye on Alluka.

Saiki Kusuo had made up his mind to protect Alluka. Not just to show Illumi, but because in the future, he'd need Alluka to use a massive amount of power to send him back to his original world. It was his responsibility.

Just how much power that would take, he couldn't even guess. For now, he would take Alluka's highest potential in this world as the goal.

Saiki Kusuo calmly did the math, breaking things down, just like the many times he'd run calculations in a lab before.

He had five days. Hopefully, the wristband would hold out until then.

In the corner, Chrollo didn't use power to gain control like Saiki Kusuo expected. Instead, he smiled without a care and shared the information he'd found with everyone.

Chrollo: [Since I'm using Shalnark's face, I might as well act like him too. It's actually kind of fun—like doing character voice-overs as a kid.]

You guys really played voice-acting games in Meteor City?

Chrollo: [The name "Phantom Troupe" came from our old voice acting club… brings back memories.]

Huh? So the Troupe used to be a voice acting club or something?

That was a weird bit of backstory.

Because of what Chrollo said, everyone left to go look for fish.

Saiki Kusuo followed slowly, the only one still at the computer was Chrollo.

He closed the rice ball recipe page and started searching for nigiri sushi instead.

This guy… tricked everyone? He made it sound like we needed to wrap raw fish inside rice balls!

Chrollo was still Chrollo—of course he wouldn't be that nice.

"Want to learn what nigiri sushi actually is?" Chrollo noticed someone looking and kindly asked.

[No need, I've eaten it before. I know what it is.]

"Oh? Then once I make it, would you like to try some?" Chrollo said, then added, "Partner."

Right, almost forgot—this guy's also my mission target. And not just any mission… this one's mine alone.

The Zoldyck family sometimes gave Saiki Kusuo tasks he could solve using technology. As long as it didn't involve killing, he'd accept if he could do it—and turn it down if he couldn't, so someone else in the family could take over. Their missions paid well, and since Saiki Kusuo wanted to cut down his debt, he usually accepted when he could.

He remembered skipping a lot of them before because he didn't want to leave the house. Might as well start improving his completion rate now.

[Sure. Is your cooking even worth trying?] Saiki Kusuo thought back to their time in Meteor City—he'd never actually seen Chrollo cook, and people back then weren't exactly confident in his cooking skills.

"In theory, yes," Chrollo replied.

It reminded Saiki Kusuo of Kusuke, who used measuring cups and lab gear to cook.

Maybe because he planned to serve Saiki Kusuo a sample, Chrollo took picking fish a lot more seriously this time.

His fishing method was simple—he broke off a tree branch, and with one quick move, caught a bunch of fish at once. Saiki Kusuo finally understood what top-level survival looked like for people from food-scarce Meteor City.

After catching the fish, Chrollo didn't leave. He lined them up and just sat there. Saiki Kusuo was confused, so he checked the drone feed to confirm Alluka was safe, then turned back to Chrollo, who was still squatting there.

[What are you doing?]

Of course he already knew from Chrollo's thoughts—he was studying the fish.

Shouldn't he go back and start cooking? Most people had already caught a fish or two and left.

"This one looks familiar… I think I read about it. Gills near the forelimbs, dark body… if it's the one I'm thinking of, the meat near the belly should taste good."

Chrollo held it up for a closer look.

Saiki Kusuo: Is this a school field trip now? What's with the sudden interest in biology?

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