At that moment, with the secret base in mind, even Uvogin, for once, did not argue with Phinks. Instead, he seriously considered it.
He had no particular demands when it came to where he lived, so his house was neither small nor large—fairly average overall.
But...
"If we're talking about a relatively large house..."
Uvogin seemed to recall something, and his grin widened. "I actually know of one."
In a fairly clean area of Meteor City, far from the garbage heaps.
The houses here were clearly much cleaner and larger than those amid the garbage heap ruins.
As the saying went, where there were people, there were grudges; where there were grudges, there was the jianghu...
In any case, Meteor City had its own social hierarchy as well.
Obviously, the residents living here either possessed a certain status, or...
Were simply not people to be trifled with.
Inside a house at the very edge of this area.
A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth with loose hair, a gaunt face, and drooping eyes was washing his face with clean water.
"Guess I'll have to move out of here after a while."
He looked utterly lazy, as though he did not particularly care about his situation.
After all, he had originally lived among the garbage heap ruins.
If he had not happened to encounter a sick man carrying a sword while scavenging through the trash.
The medicine he had found had been snatched away by that man, and he himself had been dragged into this room to clean up after him and brew his medicine.
If that man had not already looked like he was on his last legs and no longer cared much about anything else.
Then, given the caution of Meteor City people, he would never have had the chance to be brought here and live here.
Later, the man who had brought him here had, without question, died from his illness.
Other than leaving him a sword and this house, he had left nothing else behind.
"Not even a single hot meal..."
Muttering to himself, he tidied his loose hair.
"I should leave this place sooner rather than later. Otherwise, if those other bastards notice and come knocking, I might not be able to leave even if I want to..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The moment he finished speaking, he heard the front door being pounded violently.
"Huh?!"
The gaunt youth immediately froze.
A vicious glint flashed through his eyes as he grabbed the katana left behind by the house's former owner.
But before he could fasten the sword at his waist and assume a stance...
"Nobunaga! You bastard, are you still alive?! We came to see you!!"
Are You Mog? Welcome!
The familiar shout from outside eased some of the wariness in the gaunt youth's body.
"You bastard haven't died yet, so how could I possibly be dead?!"
Nobunaga Hazama snapped irritably, resuming his somewhat lazy demeanor as he stepped forward and opened the door.
"Uvogin, you... huh?!"
Before he could even mock that idiot brute Uvogin a few times, the sight before him stunned him.
"Yo, you're alive and well."
Uvogin greeted him casually, then squeezed into the house first.
"Well? Didn't I tell you this house was big enough?"
"It is pretty big."
Phinks, who barged in right behind him, looked the place over and nodded in satisfaction.
"As our secret base, it really is quite suitable."
Feitan, behind them, said in a low, muffled voice, "Enough space."
Machi did not express any opinion. After entering, she looked around, and her calm little face merely gave a slight nod.
That was her way of showing approval.
"No, you lot..."
Nobunaga Hazama was somewhat dumbfounded by the scene. He had thought Uvogin had merely come to chat with him.
He had not expected so many people to show up this time.
"It's my first time visiting. A small gift, please accept it."
Before Nobunaga could say anything else, a black coconut was held out before him.
"Huh?!"
Nobunaga looked over instinctively and saw Mog smiling at him.
Nobunaga: "?"
Who the hell are you?
He knew Uvogin and Machi, while Feitan and Phinks, that infamous duo, were both fairly well known among the children of Meteor City.
Though Nobunaga was surprised by the arrival of those four, he at least knew all of them.
But this one...
Wait?
Suddenly, his nose twitched while his eyes still held confusion.
Then he stared fixedly at the black coconut before him, his gaze gradually brightening.
"You're Mog, right? Welcome, welcome!!"
"Ah, so you want to use this house as a secret base?!"
"Of course I don't have any problem with that. This house wasn't mine to begin with."
"Using it as a secret base is fine. The main issue is that there may be some trouble later..."
While wolfing down the fried rice inside the black coconut, Nobunaga explained the history of the house to everyone.
At the same time, he got acquainted with Mog.
Well, he now had a very favorable impression of Mog, who had casually brought such a delicious gift when visiting for the first time.
And just like that, Mog got acquainted with the future Number One member of the Phantom Troupe.
Nobunaga Hazama, a Phantom Troupe member, member number No. 1.
An Enhancement Type user, though his physical strength ranked only ninth within the Troupe.
He had grown up in Meteor City and was one of the original Troupe members, as well as one of the seven veteran members from its founding days.
A master of iai sword-drawing techniques, he was, like Uvogin, one of the Troupe's combat-focused members.
The two had similar temperaments and had already been close friends before the Troupe was formed.
After joining the Troupe, he and Uvogin had voluntarily served as suicide squad members—the so-called [discarded pieces].
They were [meat shields] who had to gamble their lives when necessary to protect members with important abilities.
When he appeared in the original timeline, he usually dressed like a down-and-out Japanese samurai, with a high ponytail tied up toward the sky.
When relaxing, he would also wear casual clothes and let his hair down. He was the type who seemed cold on the outside but warm within.
Gaunt-faced, sharp-chinned, monkey-cheeked, droopy-eyed, and unshaven...
Well, no wonder he was friends with Uvogin. They really were birds of a feather.
The current Nobunaga, however, merely looked like a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy, at most appearing lazy with his hair hanging loose.
"If someone comes looking for trouble, we'll throw them all out!!"
Uvogin was not timid at all at this moment. He waved his fists confidently.
"With Lord Uvogin here, let's see who dares act up in this place!!"
"Besides, there are so many of us here. Anyone who wants to cause us trouble will have to think twice."
For their shared interests, Phinks once again unusually refrained from trading barbs with Uvogin.
Both of them were very satisfied with such a spacious house.
"With more people, naturally no one will come looking for trouble..."
Nobunaga kept stuffing himself with fried rice, then raised what he considered a very real problem.
"But now that there are so many people, food is one issue. And even though this house is fairly spacious, it still isn't enough for all of us to live in..."
This was a very realistic problem. Naturally, the people of Meteor City understood that banding together for warmth was a good way to fend off outsiders.
But the main issue underlying that method was that, after banding together, the resources they possessed could not be distributed fairly.
In Meteor City, so-called resources mainly came down to food and shelter.
Take the people here as an example: Uvogin was strongly built and ate a lot, while Machi ate little.
But distribution could not be calculated that way. Food could not be allocated based on appetite, because even those who did not eat much wanted to stockpile food.
There was also the matter of housing. So many people occupying such a fairly spacious house was naturally not a problem.
But for a house like this, perhaps one or two people, or two or three people living together, would be fine.
Before you continue