For Uvogin, the fact that a group of outsiders had barged into his territory and scavenged things from it was already annoying enough.
What made it even worse was that he hadn't managed to catch a single one of them—they all got away.
And now, while he was already in a terrible mood, some foolish little kid had walked up to him.
And naïvely asked whether he was hungry…
Uvogin almost laughed from anger.
"Hungry? Of course I'm hungry. How could I not be…"
He raised his head and stared viciously at the foolish boy, the corner of his mouth slowly stretching into a grin.
"Right now, I'd really like to eat you~!!"
"I see~~~"
Arvin Locke wasn't frightened by his threatening words at all. He simply nodded.
"If you're hungry, then come with me."
He turned around first.
"I've got food over at my place. You can replenish your strength there."
Huh?!!
Hearing that, Uvogin raised his eyebrows and couldn't help taking a few more looks at the boy's retreating back.
He had lived in Meteor City for thirteen years, yet this was the first time he had ever heard of someone willing to share their food with others.
People like that were usually one of two things.
Either stupidly naïve…
Or malicious with ulterior motives.
And most of the time, naïve fools simply couldn't survive in Meteor City.
Especially a kid he had barely seen before—suddenly popping up to ask if he was hungry…
Which meant…
Uvogin's gaze gradually turned fierce.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say you were hungry?"
Noticing there was no movement behind him, Arvin Locke turned around.
Just in time to see Uvogin's hostile glare.
"I know what you're thinking. But I don't have any bad intentions."
Arvin Locke said calmly,
"If you think it's unsafe, or you're afraid, then you don't have to come."
"It's entirely up to you."
After saying that, he didn't wait for their reaction and simply continued walking toward his house.
"..."
Uvogin stared at Arvin Locke's departing figure, unconsciously clenching his fingers.
At that moment, a broken wooden stick suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Although his invitation feels strange… I didn't sense any danger."
Uvogin's face now showed a calmness and composure completely at odds with his rough and burly appearance.
"What do you think, Machi?"
He turned to the companion who had fought alongside him through life and death.
If Uvogin were really just some brainless brute who only knew how to fight, he would have died countless times already.
"..."
The young girl's dusty little face—dirtied from chasing earlier—remained calm as she shook her head slightly and lowered the stick in her hand.
Even though her face was smeared with grime, her delicate features still revealed the outline of a future beauty.
"I see. So you didn't sense any problems either?"
Seeing this, Uvogin's furrowed brows finally relaxed, and he grinned.
"Your sixth sense has always been more accurate than my instincts."
"Then let's go see what that dumb kid is really up to!!"
"He can't seriously be planning to treat us to a meal, right?!"
He slapped the dust off his backside, stood up, and swaggered off in the direction Arvin Locke had gone.
Machi remained silent as always, quietly following behind him step by step.
Running into the Uvogin–Machi duo so quickly was something Arvin Locke hadn't expected.
Still, it wasn't hard to understand.
With Uvogin's loud and boisterous personality, he was incredibly easy to find.
And compared to the older Meteor City residents—people Arvin Locke wasn't familiar with—Uvogin was actually relatively easy to deal with.
Back when they were still living in Meteor City, Uvogin's response to Chrollo, Shalnark, and Franklin coming to his territory to steal things had been to threaten them first before fighting.
And when he tried to stop them from escaping, he threw Machi's broken wooden stick rather than something more dangerous like sharp metal scraps.
Later, he even had a one-on-one "real man's battle" with Franklin.
It wasn't until Chrollo later performed an animated puppet show for the children of Meteor City with his group of friends that Uvogin began to admire him, and the two sides eventually became friends.
In other words—
The current Uvogin was just a thirteen-year-old boy who could still communicate normally.
Of course, if he really had other intentions…
Even though Arvin Locke looked weak, the Nen ability in his body was very real.
It wasn't just for show.
"So you both came?"
At the entrance of his house, Arvin Locke turned around and glanced at them.
Uvogin stood there with arms crossed and chin raised, with Machi beside him.
"Come in."
Before Uvogin could even ask anything, Arvin Locke casually opened the door and walked inside first.
Seeing this, Uvogin raised his eyebrows again and remained silent for two seconds.
"Hah. Like it's a big deal."
He scoffed and strode straight toward the doorway.
Since they had already come this far, leaving now would just make him look like a coward.
Uvogin didn't want to hear people laughing next time they met:
"Got all the way to the guy's door but didn't even dare go inside."
Besides—
Machi's sixth sense had never been wrong, and he trusted that completely.
"What the hell is this place?!"
The moment he entered, Uvogin quickly scanned the inside of the house.
The result?
The place was so empty it was practically impoverished beyond belief.
He couldn't help but complain:
"Even Machi's house has more stuff than yours!"
"..."
Little Machi shot the big idiot beside her a glance but didn't bother arguing.
Instead, she turned her attention to Arvin Locke, the boy who had brought them here for reasons unknown.
Even though she trusted her sixth sense—
That didn't mean she would completely lower her guard.