So, after all these things were arranged, Luke didn't waste any time and immediately led the others out of the area.
Uvogin, Phinks, Nobunaga, and Feitan didn't have much to pack; they were all essentially solitary.
One person's food feeds the whole family, so they took all their belongings with them.
This made their departure much easier.
"Go straight from here, and we'll almost reach the first city in the outside world."
Luke took out the map of Meteor City that Elder Veyron had given him and looked at it.
He already had a general idea of the surroundings, and now he was just reconfirming it.
According to official information, Meteor City is roughly the size of Tokyo and Saitama prefecture combined.
It covers an area of 6,000 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 10 million.
There are three generally accepted archetypes for this place.
One is the study room of Togashi himself. However, this likely corresponds to the similarly awful rooms of the final gatekeepers, Dwun and List, after completing the game Greed Island.
The second is the suburbs of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which is also filled with garbage, turning the city into a garbage town.
That massive mountain of garbage also supports tens of thousands of people. When people are desperate and out of work, they flock to this mountain.
The third, considered the most similar, is the Zabbaleen in Greater Cairo, Egypt.
This is the city truly called the garbage city, where people literally live among trash.
Even the Zabbaleen word itself literally means garbage people in Egyptian Arabic.
To leave Meteor City and reach the outside world, one must pass through a vast expanse of yellow sand.
In other words, the area surrounding Meteor City is a desert.
Add to that Phinks and Bonolenov Ndongo, who, when they first appeared, were dressed like Egyptian pharaohs and mummies.
And there's the most crucial reason: when Togashi was creating the Phantom Troupe and Meteor City, he happened to be traveling in Egypt with his newlywed wife, Sailor Moon author Naoko Takeuchi.
As Togashi himself later described it in an SBS interview.
[The greatest benefit of this trip to Egypt was that I found inspiration in the Pyramid and incorporated it into the Phantom Troupe arc.]
[Those novel auction methods (underground auctions), antique assessments (Gon and Killua auctioning the antiques), all had an inseparable connection to that journey.]
Later, some researchers even confirmed that the background of Meteor City closely resembled Zabbaleen's urban layout and streetscape.
Thus, the prototype of Meteor City was locked in.
But all of this was irrelevant to Luke.
Even knowing it wouldn't change anything.
No matter how many times they said the phrase, we're all trying our best to survive, it wouldn't make the world do anything for Meteor City.
All he could do was change the current state of Meteor City and the outside world's perception of it.
Whoosh!
The raging yellow sand before him seemed to block the people of Meteor City from reaching the outside world.
But it didn't do anything to stop the garbage trucks that rolled in one after another.
Or rather, they couldn't stop them.
The conventional way to leave was to find a garbage truck and sneak onto it.
For example, most homeless people leaving Meteor City did this.
Of course, one could also forcefully seize a truck.
But few would do that, and even if they did, they wouldn't endanger the lives of the people on the trucks.
After all, the residents of Meteor City still needed these people to transport their supplies.
But for Luke, this wouldn't be such a hassle. He then pulled out a capsule half the size of his palm.
Then he pressed his thumb firmly against it and threw it forward.
Puff!
With a boom and a swirl of dense purple-pink mist, an RV appeared before them.
Invention: Universal Capsule Set - RV
Origin: Dragon Ball - Capsule Corporation
Function: Compresses an RV into capsule form; upon activation, it instantly expands for use, making it a must-have for travel and adventure.
Such an invention, the universal capsule, comes from the Dragon Ball universe.
Developed by Bulma's father, Dr. Brief.
As the founder of the Capsule Corporation, Dr. Brief is a brilliant but eccentric scientist. Whether it was Son Goku's airships or the hypergravity training room used by Vegeta, they were all his creations.
Of course, his eccentric daughter, Bulma, also inherited his brilliant mind.
She developed inventions like the time machine and the dragon ball radar.
Besides that, Bulma's nymphomaniac personality might also be related to Dr. Brief and his wife.
After all, he was the one who often had the cold shoulder with his wife, and Bulma distrusted him because of his collection of illegal reading materials.
And then there's the fact that his wife was always dreaming of going on dates with Goku and the others.
"Alright, everyone, get in the vehicle."
After the purple mist dissipated, Luke beckoned Uvogin and the others, who were standing there in a daze, to get in.
"Is this another one of your inventions, captain…?"
Uvogin smacked his lips: "You can really pull out anything!"
"It seems to be much better than those trucks that frequently haul goods in and out of Meteor City!"
Nobunaga stroked his hair and said in amazement.
"No, this car is much better than those garbage trucks…"
Phinks also recovered from his shock, his eyes sparkling as he surveyed the RV.
It was like the look of a grown boy seeing a beloved toy.
"Those garbage trucks? They don't even compare to this invention by the captain."
Feitan glanced at him sideways, then opened the door and walked in first.
Once inside, the group was stunned again by the decor and facilities.
They had never seen anything like this modern-style equipment before.
Well, in 1984, the outside world probably didn't have the kind of RV layout Luke had.
"You guys go sit somewhere, and Phinks, get familiar with the car. You will be the one to drive it."
Luke instructed as he finally got in and closed the door.
As for why Phinks was chosen to drive.
Luke himself would never act as the driver. Uvogin could recklessly charge ahead but was unreliable behind the wheel.
Nobunaga, in the Yorknew City arc, sat in the very center of a vehicle only to be wrapped up by Owl's Nen ability; if he drove, he might have driven straight off a cliff.
And Feitan… his height wasn't enough to reach the pedals or touch the steering wheel.
"Okay, just wait and see, captain!"
Phinks grinned, clearly pleased with the arrangement, practically bouncing with excitement to get behind the wheel.
"Oh, by the way, let me tell you one more thing…"
Luke added: "When you're out in public, just call me by my name."
"Calling me captain will easily draw attention…"
"Got it, captain!"
"Hmm?!"
"Hehehe, we're not in front of anyone yet… Uh, okay, I got it, Luke."
Facing Luke's calm gaze, Uvogin was the first to raise his hand in surrender.
Nobunaga stood behind Luke without hesitation.
Phinks and Feitan naturally had no objections; it was just a matter of address.
Well, as long as Feitan wasn't called shorty or something like that, he was fine with it.
Soon, everyone found a place to settle inside the RV, and after familiarizing himself, Phinks pressed the accelerator.
Squeak!
The RV roared to life and sped across the endless desert!
Don't doubt Dr. Brief's ingenious creation, even in such a harsh environment.
His Universal Capsule Set - RV moves with ease even at high speeds!
Products from the Capsule Corporation are guaranteed to be top-notch!
The yellow sand was endless, and the dust was thick.
The RV drove recklessly across the barren land, drifting and weaving, terrifying the garbage transport trucks nearby.
Where did this traveler come from, showing off like this?!
Given the RV's design, they mistakenly thought it was a tourist passing through the area.
After all, what kind of good person would drive an RV around Meteor City for no reason?!
"Woohoo! That's more like it!!"
Phinks felt incredibly comfortable driving the RV.
He used to drive a tattered motorcycle, but now he could finally drive a proper vehicle.
And this place wasn't as confined as Meteor City; he could drive as fast as he wanted!
Driving his beloved RV, traffic will never be a problem!!
What? Does he have a driver's license?!
Why would anyone bother checking his ID?!
Of course, if it weren't for the bumpy ride, which caused Uvogin's curses and Feitan's shouts to echo from inside the RV, Phinks would have wanted to drive even more wildly.
"We're heading towards Bigchira city now…"
Luke reviewed the map and made arrangements with Uvogin and Feitan: "Once we get to the city, don't run around. Wait for me… Are you all okay?!"
"Go ahead, Luke…"
Uvogin was unusually listless: "I'm listening."
Feitan, standing next to him, also looked a little glum. As for Nobunaga, he leaned on his long sword, managing to maintain a semblance of composure.
"Woohoo!!"
And with Phinks's delighted shout, the three men's expressions grew increasingly grim with each violent jolt of the vehicle.
"…"
It seems motion sickness was inevitable for first-time passengers, but Uvogin and Feitan adapted quickly.
"We all have our own identification now, and our records are relatively clean, so let's not cause any trouble for now."
Luke warned: "Once we get to the city, don't run around. We will all move together. Do you understand?"
"Got it."
Uvogin responded: "Then what are we going to do? Are we still filming?"
His expression finally brightened: "Can we start our tour now?!"
He was obsessed with the world's number one villain.
"We don't have enough manpower right now for filming…"
Nobunaga felt that their current lineup didn't look like a suitable one for filming.
Feitan whispered: "So what we should do now is gather information and familiarize ourselves with the outside world, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
Luke snapped his fingers at Feitan, then looked at Uvogin.
"No rush for filming. I've already brought out ten copies of the Battle of the Beasts videotape."
"Once we've familiarized ourselves with the outside world, we'll find a good partner and have them distribute it for us."
"By then, when our film becomes a hit, we won't have trouble creating more projects."
"Is that so…"
Uvogin regained his confidence: "Our film will definitely be a hit!"
Well, Uvogin hadn't seen any other films out there, but he still had some discernment.
Compared to the Clean-Up Rangers he saw before, their Battle of the Beasts greatly exceeded the other films in terms of plot quality and special effects!
If even Clean-Up Rangers with such quality could become a global sensation, making it the favorite film of children everywhere.
Then their Battle of the Beasts had every chance of becoming a global hit!
"But it probably won't be that easy…"
Compared to Uvogin's aspirations and confidence, Feitan frowned slightly.
Distributing a film isn't that easy…
But when he looked up and saw Luke's still calm expression, he also relaxed.
Looking at their captain… Luke clearly had a plan in mind.
Then he didn't need to worry about it anymore; he could just follow Luke's orders.
As for Nobunaga, there was no need to worry.
That wasn't something an Enhancer type like him should be thinking about.
Just obeying Luke's orders and guidance was enough.
Well, even in this world, getting a film released wasn't easy.
Don't think that just because you have great work, you can just find a TV station to collaborate with, and then, after watching it, they'll be so astonished that they'll fall to their knees and beg for more cooperation…
That's unrealistic.
This world is far more cruel and ruthless.
If seemingly delicious newbies like Luke come seeking cooperation, it was far more likely they'd get eaten alive.
The cruder methods are coercion and trickery to seize everything.
The more sophisticated methods are to feign friendliness, then subtly use legal contracts to lightly take ownership of the Battle of the Beasts.
Luke never hesitated to anticipate the worst from people in the world.