Immediately followed by, "Nice earrings." He left the corridor and went straight upstairs.
An assassin's observational skills are extremely sharp. Top assassins see through everything in their surroundings like fire. Silva was like this. Grandfather Zeno was like this. As long as he wanted, no movement within three hundred meters could escape his notice.
After all, his En radius exceeded three hundred meters. So regarding the earrings, Roy never thought he could hide them from Silva. He simply wore them openly without removing them.
"Young master, time to eat." At 4:30 AM, Gotoh arrived pushing the food cart. "The kitchen followed the young master's instructions and remade the minced meat with eggplant. Hopefully this time it meets your satisfaction."
Learning from last time's lesson, the kitchen made improvements.
"Just send it directly to Great-Great-Grandfather." Being elderly, he shouldn't have to frequently come to this younger generation. Moreover, having lived two lives, Roy had no habit of eating stir-fry in the morning. Returning to the dining table, he simply ate bacon sandwiches.
Gotoh returned moments later with an empty plate. "The great master said it's stronger than last time, but still doesn't compare to the young master."
Thanks for the old man's favor. Roy knew clearly this was just the "primacy effect" at work. Life has many firsts—first exam, first love, first marriage, first experience of a loved one's death—often the most unforgettable.
Roy ate his sandwich without comment, silently listening to Gotoh report today's training plan, his mind still thinking about how to become a tree. "Merging with nature"—this was his understanding of Urokodaki's purpose for having him hug trees. This actually had similar principles to practicing Zetsu.
"Last time the master proposed testing the young master. After returning, I compiled some insights and experiences from when I practiced Zetsu. Hoping to give the young master some reference." Gotoh was dutiful. He presented his pre-prepared notes to Roy.
Roy drank some milk while flipping through them, asking, "How long did it take you to practice Zetsu back then?"
"One year and two months." Gotoh pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. "Tsubone said I had no talent. Learning Ten took three months; learning Ren took nine months. For advanced application techniques like En, Ken, Ko, Ryu, I've only mastered Shu so far."
Shu—the technique of wrapping aura around objects. Applied to Gotoh, this meant his "weapon"—coins.
"Don't belittle yourself." Nen abilities weren't some common street setting. Looking across the entire Hunter world, Nen users endorsed by the Hunter Association numbered only six to seven hundred. Even someone as nobly born as Kakin Empire's Fourth Prince Tserriednich didn't know what Nen was before encountering Theta.
So Gotoh had talent, but his talent was diluted by the "Zoldyck monster house." Roy flipped through Gotoh's notes. Summarizing them came down to two words—brute force! No techniques whatsoever, entirely relying on piling up time. The only slightly bright spot was occasionally showing signs of "enlightenment" during "meditation," but Roy seriously doubted whether this was "enlightenment" or just him letting himself go while drowsily half-asleep.
'Right, I almost forgot the book my Great-Great-Grandfather gave me.' After finishing Gotoh's insights, Roy washed down the last bite of sandwich with milk, pulled open a drawer, and retrieved Jig's notes.
Searching carefully, even more abstract. Throughout the text, cultivation of Zetsu only mentioned one term—"self-hypnosis." Through "hypnosis" to deepen "imagination," allowing oneself to quickly enter a "natural" state, naturally gathering energy to merge with nature.
Indeed, was this the world of geniuses? Roy could even imagine Jig's mindset when writing these words—What, Zetsu? Isn't that something anyone with hands can learn?
Truly couldn't generate any jealousy. Roy was silent for a moment, quietly stuffing the notes back.
Time reached 5 AM. Time to depart for training room practice. However, this time Roy didn't bring Yukigakure. He was an obedient person. Since Sakonji Urokodaki specifically instructed not to let him hold a sword, he'd only hug trees!
"Young master, you forgot Yukigakure." Gotoh cleaned the dining table, kindly reminding him.
Roy waved his hand, left the room, and walked toward the training room. One million volts of electric shock remained today's training plan. After his constitution strengthened, he also wanted to see how long he could last.
"One minute thirty-five seconds." This was Illumi's answer sheet. Always competing ahead of his older brother seemed the only reason the other party could stubbornly hold out without collapsing.
When Roy pushed open the training room door and saw that explosion-head completely mismatched with his pale face appearing before him, Illumi had just been shocked into convulsions. Using his last breath, he stubbornly turned to look at him, then fell straight down.
Roy understood his meaning. 'This time I'll definitely wake before you.' He cleanly removed his tank top.
"Sorry, young master." Luke bowed to Roy. Having finished electrocuting Illumi, he didn't need to switch hands—directly jabbing the baton into Roy's chest.
Electric arcs flashed. Through his skin, one could even see current traveling inside his body. This time seemed somewhat better than last time. At least Roy didn't groan, stubbornly keeping his body from shaking in all directions.
"Huh?" Luke was somewhat surprised. He subconsciously thought he'd taken the wrong electric baton and looked down—the large "100" came into view, proving it wasn't his mistake, but rather Young Master Roy himself seemed to last longer than before!
However, this was too exaggerated. Could a person really grow this much in just one day?
Luke looked at Roy in disbelief, directly advising, "Young master, don't force yourself. The master said lasting past two minutes counts as passing."
Two minutes? Roy refused to be a quick man. Gritting his teeth, he said calmly, "Continue."
Soon, one minute passed, and one and a half minutes passed. Finally, when Luke's stopwatch stopped at two minutes thirty-five seconds, Roy exhaled a puff of black smoke and was caught by Luke.
Sunlight roasted the earth through clouds, making people sweat. Yesterday's pit in the garden was dug yesterday. Illumi was awakened by heat today.
When he drowsily opened those hollow dead-fish eyes and saw Roy shoveling dirt onto him, the young man unwillingly closed his eyes again, having Luke come feed him water.
'Waking late doesn't matter—I'll always drink one more sip of water than you.' Young Master Illumi's bottom line was always flexible. Roy noticed he'd awakened but didn't stop his movements, still relying on wielding the shovel to slowly regain body control.
Until the numbness in his body completely dissipated. Only then did he thrust the shovel into the ground, turn to find a nearby cypress tree, spread his arms, and embrace it.
Illumi: "?"