So rather than anything else, he might as well join that side for now, wait for an opportunity, and adapt according to the situation at all times.
"This may be the best choice for me right now."
With that thought in mind, Mog returned to his original seat.
By then, the entire venue had completely erupted with excitement.
Onstage, Chrollo and his group of friends had all let loose.
They picked up the microphones and performed live dubbing.
"Wahahaha, what a pity, Cleaners..."
It had to be said that Chrollo truly had a natural talent for being a villain.
As he dubbed the [Graffiti Monster] in the cartoon, he himself put on the demeanor of a grand villain.
It was neither a savage, terrifying expression nor some sinister cackle.
He simply, naturally, wore the face of a bad guy.
Anyone could tell at a glance that this guy was playing the villain!!
That exaggerated facial performance stunned all the children below, including Uvogin and Phinks.
Such a vivid performance was genuinely convincing.
"If only it could be recorded, that would be perfect."
Even Mog could not help but smile at the sight before regretfully shaking his head.
If Chrollo's string of expressions could be preserved, they would make for rare and precious footage~~~
Strictly speaking, it might even become part of his embarrassing history.
"Huh, Mog, you're back?!"
Uvogin, Nobunaga, and the others had not noticed how Mog left, so naturally they had not noticed when he returned either.
Hearing Mog's remark beside them, they all turned around.
"Did you go to the bathroom just now?... By the way, what do you think of Chrollo's performance?"
Mog looked up at Chrollo, who was freely indulging himself onstage, and nodded softly.
"He's really immersed in it."
Go on, tell me—who can do that?!
"Wahahahaha, humans of the entire world!! Everything in this world shall be smeared by the King of Smearing..."
"Completely drowned in the filth of evil!!!!"
Holy crap, filth!!!
Chrollo's impassioned performance made the child audience below involuntarily suck in a breath.
Hiss~!!
It was terrifying enough to make their scalps tingle, and quite a few people felt afraid.
"I want to go onstage and dub voices too..."
Shalnark, seated some distance away from Uvogin and the others, grinned, revealing his white teeth with one chipped tooth missing.
His bright eyes were filled with longing and yearning for performing.
Well, Shalnark was only eight years old now, the same age as Machi.
It was perfectly normal for a child to have such thoughts.
But if it were someone older, like Uvogin and the others~~~
"Chrollo really knows what he's doing..."
Phinks smacked his lips as he watched Chrollo's performance with some envy.
What child did not want to stand under the spotlight, shine brightly, and win recognition and applause from others?!
At least in Phinks's eyes, Chrollo's dubbing performance, which had thoroughly bluffed the children, was very impressive.
"It's only dubbing. What's so great about that?!"
Uvogin remained as stubborn as ever.
Even if he thought Chrollo was amazing right then, he absolutely would not admit it aloud.
"He's only moving his mouth..."
Nobunaga shot him a sidelong look, while Machi gave him an even colder glance.
The meaning in their eyes was practically written across their faces: [Idiot].
"What do you mean by that?!!"
Uvogin was not stupid. Of course he could understand the meaning in their gazes.
"Was I wrong?!!"
Uvogin continued shouting indignantly. "I said it already, Chrollo is only moving his mouth."
"If he actually had to perform it, he'd definitely suck!!"
"...Are you an idiot?!!"
If Nobunaga and Machi had at least been polite enough to convey that message with their eyes alone,
Franklin beside them was far less courteous as he bluntly disparaged Uvogin.
"This is a cartoon. It can only be performed through dubbing. How could they act it out for real?!!"
He was one of the old hands who had acted alongside Chrollo, and he found Uvogin's contempt for Chrollo extremely irritating.
"How is it impossible?!!"
Having been called an idiot, Uvogin glared furiously at Franklin.
"Just because Chrollo can't do it doesn't mean nobody else can!!"
Although Uvogin himself knew his words were nothing but hot air, and knew this was only a cartoon—and that Chrollo had already been kind enough to screen it and perform it for them in person—
He could not lose either the argument or face, so he could only stubbornly keep shouting.
But even Phinks beside him could no longer bear listening to such twisted logic.
He immediately shifted closer to Feitan, looking at Uvogin with utter disdain.
As if he were saying, "Don't come near me."
He did not want to get dragged into becoming an idiot too.
"Oh?!"
Even Franklin, who was still something of a nice guy at this point, was angered into laughter by Uvogin's unreasonable pestering.
"Then tell me, who could do that?!!"
"Perform the screening of a cartoon like this with real people?!!"
He sneered at Uvogin while quietly preparing himself.
Well, based on Franklin's understanding of Uvogin, whenever the guy could not win with words,
He would fly into a rage from humiliation, stop talking, and resort to violence instead.
Franklin had dealt with him in fights countless times. He knew Uvogin's habits very well.
However~~~
"Don't think that just because Chrollo can't do something, everyone else is as useless as him~!!"
Refusing to concede, Uvogin jerked his head to the side.
"Mog, you can do it, right?!"
Nobunaga and Machi both revealed expressions of unsurprised exasperation.
In the end, he was still going to drag Mog into it.
When Uvogin had started talking big earlier, they had already guessed it would turn out more or less like this.
Phinks's eyelid twitched. He muttered curses under his breath, though it was unclear what exactly he was grumbling about Uvogin.
That idiot talked tough himself, only to put pressure on someone else~~~
Feitan watched coldly from the side, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"Mog? So that person is called Mog?"
Shalnark carefully looked in Mog's direction a few more times.
After everyone had settled into their seats earlier, he had noticed the unfamiliar face who had arrived with Uvogin and the others.
He knew Uvogin, Nobunaga, and Machi, as well as Feitan and Phinks.
They were all well-known children in Meteor City.
But this young man named Mog was someone he had never seen before.
What was more, judging from their formation, this person named Mog seemed faintly to occupy the central position.
Phinks and Feitan were one group, while Uvogin, Machi, and the others were another.
Normally, these two groups could not exactly be called bitter enemies, but they were at least like fire and water.
Yet under Mog's influence, the two groups were somehow able to sit together peacefully without incident~~~
That was far too noteworthy~!!
What kind of person could bring both sides together and keep anything from happening...
Shalnark was tremendously curious.
And he was not the only one. Franklin was also observing Mog.
Mature and steady, and also the oldest person here, Franklin did not say anything further after Uvogin spoke.
Instead, he quietly waited to see how this person named Mog would respond.
Before you continue