Knock, knock, knock—
The urgent knocking woke Gelman from his sleep.
Shizuku, nestled in his arms, shifted restlessly and pressed herself closer, but she didn't open her eyes.
Gelman turned to look at the bedside table. The digital clock showed 8:34 a.m.
Was it that late already?
Gelman had to admit he'd been slacking off lately.
In the past, he would have been up by this time, already beginning his daily training.
But now, the moment he moved or tried to get out of bed, Shizuku would pull him back into the warm covers like an octopus, gradually devouring his will to wake up.
There was really no helping it.
Knock, knock, knock—
The urgent knocking came again.
Gelman could tell the visitor was knocking on his room across the hall, not Shizuku's.
In other words, they were looking for him.
Sure enough, he heard a familiar voice mutter outside.
"Is Gelman not in his room? That's strange. I can never find him in the mornings these days."
It was Knuckle. His puzzled confusion came through clearly.
"Maybe he got up early and started training somewhere on Greed Island."
The one trying to answer him was undoubtedly his partner Shoto, whose injuries had healed.
"If he's training, why didn't he ask me to come along? We could all learn from each other... I also wanted to ask him a few things about the Dark Continent."
"Nen Ability Training is a personal matter. We shouldn't barge in and disturb Gelman. He's the one most likely to surpass Chairman Netero, after all. It'd be a sin to waste even a little of his time."
They still didn't know that Gelman had already surpassed Chairman Netero in combat strength.
But even if they had known, Shoto's words wouldn't have been wrong.
When it