"In that case, are there any other questions?" Chrollo asked everyone.
"What if we have any disagreements in the future between people? Will we have the minority obey the majority?" Franklin asked thoughtfully.
He didn't want the future Troupe to be plagued with division. With the addition of more people in the future, the likelihood of conflict was likely to increase.
Although he looked tough on the outside, Franklin was often very thoughtful about things like this.
"No, this will easily lead to instability and cause a division within the team…. How about we just flip a coin for all problems between members?" Chrollo said after thinking for a second.
"How interesting… this will leave all decisions up to fate. A perfect fifty percent chance for all disputes to go our way." Loki commented with a smile.
Chrollo, hearing this, also smiled a bit. Franklin also thought for a while and finally decided not to say anything. He personally couldn't find any better solution.
He would just have to keep an eye on everyone.
"Are there any other questions then?" Chrollo asked once again for confirmation.
After a second of no one answering, a smile bloomed on Chrollo's face again.
"In that case, the Troupe is now set up… To give us a symbol and an existence to the outside world, I plan for all of us to get spider tattoos on our bodies. With there being thirteen of us, we can use numbers from zero to twelve on the spider tattoos, which will represent our number." He said somewhat happily.
The official formation of the Troupe had raised his spirits quite a bit. Seeing this, Loki was also a bit happy. Loki finally found a group with whom he could resonate in his second life. Although he had been alone for much of his first life, this did not mean he enjoyed it.
Loki was determined to make up for all of his failures, and this included his social life. What was the point of continuing to live in isolation?
"Could I ask you to give us the tattoo, Machi?" Asked Chrollo.
Hearing this, Machi nodded a bit and quickly pulled out some needles. Seeing this, Chrollo promptly removed his shirt and adjusted his position for the tattoo.
"You said you wanted the number zero, right, Chrollo? No… You should be called Captain now, right?" Said Machi, preparing to start.
Chrollo chuckled faintly. "Zero will do."
Machi nodded and began her work. A spider tattoo slowly emerged on Chrollo's chest, its dark legs curling perfectly with the number zero in the center. After lightly bandaging it, he stood up, satisfied.
"Next," Machi said, wiping her gloves.
Feitan stepped forward, quickly removing his shirt. "Right ribs," he muttered. A few minutes later, the number one was etched into the spider on his ribs. He glanced at it briefly before stepping away.
Phinks rolled his shoulders. "Guess I'm up." He pointed to his left shoulder. "Make it big, Machi."
"Idiot…" Machi replied. Soon, the number two was carved into place. Phinks flexed his arm and nodded with approval.
Shalnark took off his jacket. "Right shoulder, please." The spider with the number three curled across his upper shoulder.
Loki stepped forward, exposing his back. "Left side, if you would, Miss Machi." The number four was soon drying on his skin.
Uvogin grinned as he slapped his chest. "Put mine over the heart!" After his number five was completed, Franklin rolled up his sleeve, pointing to his right arm, asking for a clean tattoo.
Pakunoda turned to show the area beneath her right shoulder blade. "Do mine here. It'll be easier to hide." Machi quickly finished her work in silence.
After finishing Pakunoda's, she began tattooing the number eight on her own hip.
Finally, Nobunaga stepped up, resting his hand on his blade's hilt.
"Over the heart as well."
"Is someone in a relationship with Uvogin?" Machi asked curiously.
"Dammit, Machi! It's for pride and honor! I bet you that idiot didn't even have a reason!" Nobunaga replied, flustered and red.
"I did! You're the idiot!" Uvogin yelled before they both started arguing.
Machi quickly finished the tattoo, and the group now bore matching tattoos.
"Let's get going, then, everyone," Chrollo said as they headed towards the outside of Meteor City.
Loki chuckled, and for the first time in a long while, as he followed behind.
******************
After leaving Meteor City, they had to find a large vehicle, which turned out to be a large van from a gang's camp.
Under the moonlight and the dark night, you could see a large van driving through the vast and endless desert. At the wheel was a man with his arm out the window, enjoying the drive.
This was Franklin, who was currently the oldest in the group. The co-pilot was Uvogin, and he was currently laughing as they drove at high speed in the boundless wilderness outside.
It wasn't just Uvogin who was excited, however. This excitement seemed to float throughout the entire group. This was everyone's first time truly adventuring outside of Meteor City, and everything was new to them.
It wasn't long until they reached the first checkpoint of their destination.
"Hahaha… It seems we finally arrived!" Uvogin laughed, while his voice was filled with excitement and joy.
While the others may not have been as vocal about it, they were also incredibly excited. They were finally about to see their first glimpse of the outside world.
As the vehicle slowly entered the city, an old, dilapidated city sign was visible outside, covered in dust and grime.
[Welcome to Paradise]
On the outside, the city looked completely ordinary, if not for being a little dirty. The surrounding buildings were relatively small, standing only about three stories tall. This was normal, though, as cities close to Meteor City would not be that developed.
This was still a significant upgrade from Meteor City, leaving all of them except Loki a bit stunned while looking around. Loki, however, was still extremely excited seeing this seemingly run-down city.
Of course, Loki didn't care too much about the city itself. He was excited to finally start his own adventure.
A place like Meteor City, despite its poor living conditions, served as a great motivator and training area.
It was finally time to step onto a bigger stage, and he was giddy with joy thinking about the future.
Soon, the truck slowly pulled into a dark alley and came to a stop, allowing a group of people to exit the vehicle.
"Let's find a place to stay for now," Chrollo suggested.
Although the group was accustomed to living in Meteor City under rough conditions, it was still essential to find a place to stay for the night.
"After we find a place to stay, we will find someone with information on the area and continue \ to learn more about the world," Chrollo spoke while looking around.
"Speaking of a place to stay, I believe that over there may suit our needs…." Loki said while pointing at a run-down building. Chrollo, seeing this, looked over before his eyes lit up.
"I believe that will fit our specifications for now. We don't want to stand out too much, and we also have no money." Chrollo spoke, nodding slightly.
With that, the group left for the abandoned building and began setting up areas to live.
While this was happening, Uvogin was complaining to Nobunaga and Machi.
"Come on! I want to go outside and take a good look at the city!" Uvogin said excitedly while shaking his arms.
"Not yet. You need to wait at least for Loki or Chrollo to accompany you. We have no idea of the dangers outside." Machi said calmly.
Nobunaga heard this and just shrugged.
"Come on, Nobunaga! Don't you want to go get your sword fixed?!" Said Uvogin, excited.
Hearing this, Nobunaga shrugged a bit and nodded.
"I guess you're right. I did want to get my sword fixed and sharpened." Said Nobunaga with a lazy look.
"You two can go, but you need to be careful. Everything must be done slowly and don't rush, we just arrived here after all." Chrollo suddenly spoke, walking towards them with Loki walking somewhat behind.
Loki and Chrollo had already finished opening the other's Aura Nodes and happened to see Uvogin shaking and excited. Hearing the conversation, Chrollo decided to step in.
"Hmm… I'll join the two of them as I want to freshen up my outfit. I've been wanting to replace this coat for some time." Loki said with a chuckle.
"That's fine, but make sure they don't get into trouble," Chrollo said as he settled everyone in.
Although he let them out, he was still worried about it, but he knew he couldn't keep them here as they would get too excited. He just hoped they wouldn't cause too much trouble.