At Uvogin's roar, the three figures searching below were startled.
They immediately hid their discoveries and scattered in all directions.
As they fled, a faint look of confusion crossed the face of the slender figure at the front.
Based on his knowledge of Uvogin and his usual activity times, he should have returned home by now.
If Machi hadn't happened to stumble upon them a few times before and inform Uvogin, they wouldn't have been discovered.
In fact, every time they'd been caught before, it was always by Machi.
It was as if Machi had specifically sensed their arrival.
Whatever the case, it didn't stop them from escaping immediately after being spotted by Uvogin.
And they were incredibly skilled at escaping.
Well, it's obvious they've been exploring Uvogin's territory quite a bit, even planning their retreat route.
"Stop right there, you bastards!"
Uvogin, with his explosive temper, wasn't about to let these thieves get away right under his nose.
He immediately threw himself into pursuit.
"Waaah! Uvogin's catching up!"
Among the three, the boy missing a front tooth, yet still unable to hide his handsome, model-like face, was the first to call out.
"Huh? How did he have so much energy this time?!"
The thin, delicate-looking boy in the front looked puzzled.
"Now's not the time to investigate this! How about I stay and stop him!"
The taller, slightly larger boy at the back, with a stern expression and a big-brother demeanor, stopped dead in his tracks.
He turned to face Uvogin, who was about to pounce.
"Are you trying to stop me again, Franklin?"
Uvogin's face twisted into a feral grin, his steps never slowing down.
"Don't even think about escaping today! Whether it's you, Shalnark, or Chrollo, you're all staying here!"
"In your dreams!"
Franklin shot back without backing down.
In the past, when the trio had been discovered by Uvogin and temporarily unable to escape, he'd always stayed behind to harass Uvogin.
While Uvogin might have the advantage in size and strength, Franklin was older than Uvogin, giving him an advantage.
As a result, when the two met, the fight often became intense, taking a while to determine the winner.
While Franklin was harassing Uvogin, Chrollo and Shalnark would take the opportunity to slip away.
The trio had used this method to escape Uvogin's chase several times before.
Franklin expected this time to be no exception. "Chrollo, you go ahead. I'll hold Uvogin off."
Franklin glared at Uvogin, assuming an intercepting stance.
"Um..."
A faint whisper echoed from Shalnark behind Franklin: "Looks like there's no escape right now."
"Huh?!"
Franklin instinctively turned his head and saw the scene in front of Chrollo and Shalnark.
A nearly wrecked motorcycle lay across their path.
On the seat of the motorcycle sat two bikers, one large and one small, staring intently at Chrollo and Shalnark.
"Hey, little Chrollo..."
The thug, his clothes patched and his hair sticking up like a hedgehog, was driving the motorcycle with one hand in his pocket, gazing at Chrollo, who was in the front.
"Looks like you've got something good this time!"
The thug raised his upper eyelids as he spoke.
Why upper eyelids instead of eyebrows...
Because he has no eyebrows.
"We're all very friendly, unlike Uvogin..."
He said this with a very kind smile on his face: "Just give me your things!"
"I'll return them to you later!"
Behind the eyebrowless thug, on the back of the motorcycle, sat a short guy.
He had a messy, shaggy head of hair, and on his shoulder was a battered baseball bat that seemed taller than he was.
According to the eyebrowless thug's words, he looked like he was going to give them a good beating if they didn't obey him.
He was completely arrogant.
"Phinks, and Feitan..."
The handsome young man, Chrollo, stared at Phinks, the browless thug whose kind smile twisted into something terrifying, and at the cocky Feitan behind him.
"This is Uvogin's territory. Your territory shouldn't be here."
"Heh..."
Phinks scoffed at this: "Talking about territory in Meteor City, do you think we're as foolish as that idiot Uvogin?!"
He said with disdain: "As long as we want, we can go anywhere!"
As he spoke, he patted the nearly broken motorcycle at his hip.
Well, with such a convenient means of transportation, they can really go anywhere.
"Besides..."
As if recalling something unfortunate, a gloom fell over Phinks's face.
"That bastard Uvogin stole our things before, so of course we can steal his too!"
Phinks's face was savage, and he wanted to bite Uvogin to death.
"We're going to take it back!"
"Uvogin stole from you, huh..."
Chrollo recalled something at that point.