From Hunter x Hunter to Master Inventor - Section 8

Mog had many ideas churning in his mind, wondering if he could bring them all to fruition one by one.

Just as Mog began his research, on the other side—

"What a damn annoying, cocky bastard, actually making us go beg him..."

Out on the trash mountain, Uvogin walked ahead, cursing under his breath:

"Isn't it just a bite or two of food? Like we've never eaten before."

"I used to think he was a decent guy, but now... hmph~~~"

"He's no different from those bastards who keep sneaking onto my turf to steal!!"

Behind him, Machi was still pondering that peculiar [Mochi Maker] and the planted and harvested items.

All of it was nothing short of miraculous to her.

She was curious how those things came to be.

Or rather, how that man had managed to [invent] them...

Lost in thought, Machi stumbled and bumped straight into Uvogin's back.

"What's wrong?"

She staggered back two steps, looked up, and saw Uvogin standing still ahead.

But now Uvogin was gritting his teeth, his gaze locked straight ahead on three figures active within their turf.

Machi poked her little head out and spotted them too.

And what do you know—they were all familiar faces~~~

Uvogin took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and let out a thunderous roar toward that direction:

"Chrollo~!!!"

"You bastards, daring to come steal from my turf again, you've got some nerve!!"

"Today, no matter what, you're all staying put!!"

With that, Uvogin charged down without a second thought.

"Whoa! It's Uvogin!!"

"We were just saying how it'd be nice if this wasn't his turf, and now he shows up?"

"That's not right—this isn't usually his active time, and didn't he just finish chasing off that last group? How's he back so fast?!"

Chapter 011: You Bastards, All of You, Stop Right There!!

At Uvogin's roar, the three figures scavenging below all jolted in surprise.

Then they quickly stuffed whatever they'd found into their pockets and scattered in all directions.

As they fled, the scrawny figure at the front wore a hint of confusion on his face.

Based on his knowledge of Uvogin's habits and usual activity times, Uvogin should have gone home by now.

If not for a few times when Machi happened to spot them and fetched Uvogin, they wouldn't have been caught.

Truth be told, those previous times were all busted by Machi.

It was as if Machi had a sixth sense for when they showed up here.

But either way, it didn't stop them from bolting the moment Uvogin spotted them.

And when it came to running, they were pros.

Yeah, it was clear they'd scoped out Uvogin's turf plenty—they even had their escape routes all mapped out.

"You bastards, all of you, stop right there!!"

Uvogin, with his hot temper, wasn't about to let these thieves slip away right under his nose.

He immediately threw himself into the chase.

"Whoa, Uvogin's catching up!!"

Among the trio, the kid with a missing tooth—yet still unable to hide his handsome, pretty-boy looks—yelled first.

"Huh? Why's he got so much energy this time?!"

The scrawny, clean-faced boy at the front looked puzzled.

"This isn't the time to figure that out! Maybe I should stay behind and hold him off!!"

The slightly larger, sturdy-faced boy at the back—with the air of a big brother—planted his feet.

He turned around, facing Uvogin who was about to pounce.

"You again, trying to stop me? Franklin~~~"

Uvogin grinned savagely, not slowing his pace at all:

"Don't even think about running today! Whether it's you, Shalnark, or Chrollo—you're all getting finished here!!"

"In your dreams!!"

Franklin shot back at Uvogin without backing down.

Whenever their trio was caught by Uvogin and couldn't escape immediately, he was the one who stayed behind to hold Uvogin off.

Although Uvogin might have the advantage in build and strength, Franklin was a bit older than Uvogin, giving him an edge in development.

So when they clashed, they often fought fiercely, taking a while to settle the outcome.

While Franklin was tying up Uvogin, Chrollo and Shalnark would take the chance to slip away.

Their trio had used this method to escape from Uvogin several times already.

This time, Franklin thought it would be no different.

"Chrollo, you two go first. I'll hold Uvogin off."

With that, Franklin glared at Uvogin and assumed a blocking stance.

"Um..."

From behind Franklin, Shalnark's weak voice came through: "Looks like we can't run now."

"Huh?!"

Franklin instinctively turned his head and saw, right in front of Chrollo and Shalnark, a nearly wrecked motorcycle blocking their only escape route.

And on the motorcycle's seat, two bikers, one big and one small, sat staring straight at Chrollo and Shalnark.

"Yo, little Chrollo..."

The thug, whose clothes were full of patches and hair stood up like a hedgehog's spines, drove the motorcycle with one hand in his pocket, sizing up Chrollo at the front.

"Looks like you've gotten your hands on something good again this time~!!"

The thug said, raising his upper eyelid.

Why the upper eyelid and not an eyebrow...

Because he had no eyebrows.

"We're all friendly, unlike Uvogin..."

He said this, flashing a seemingly "kind" smile: "Hand the stuff over nicely!!"

"After that, I'll give it back to you!!"

Behind the eyebrow-less thug, on the motorcycle's rear seat, sat a short, small figure.

He had a messy mop of fluffy hair and carried a worn-out baseball bat over his shoulder that looked taller than himself.

Echoing the eyebrow-less thug's words, his posture screamed, "If you don't comply, I'll whack you one."

He looked completely cocky.

"Phinks, and Feitan..."

The handsome young Chrollo looked at Phinks, whose seemingly kind smile was actually terrifying, and the cocky Feitan:

"This is Uvogin's turf. Your activity zone shouldn't be here."

"Heh..."

Phinks let out a sneer at that:

"Talking about turf in Meteor City? Do you think we're as dumb as that idiot Uvogin?!"

He scoffed disdainfully: "If we want to go somewhere, we can go anywhere!!"

With that, he patted the nearly wrecked motorcycle between his legs.

Well, with such a convenient mode of transport, they really could go anywhere.

"Besides..."

As if recalling something unpleasant, Phinks's face darkened with shadows:

"That bastard Uvogin stole our stuff before, so of course we can come steal his!!"

Phinks's face twisted with rage, as if he wanted to bite Uvogin to death: "We're taking it back!!"

"Uvogin stole your stuff, huh..."

Chrollo remembered that.

Chapter 012: You're Savoring It, Right? This Is Savoring It, Right!!

Chrollo was a regular at the church, running over there whenever he had the chance.

He was also close with Father Zhol there, and the kind Father Zhol appreciated him.

He'd gotten quite a few benefits from the church.

A while back, Chrollo had vaguely heard that the church had received a small batch of something called sticky rice cakes, distributed to some devout children.