Meteor City, the world's largest landfill, the long-lost stench of aged garbage, and crows circling the garbage mountains cawed.
Caw—caw—
As the crows cawed, they were shot down by Morels' slingshot, becoming part of the garbage mountain.
Nen users are also valuable talents in Meteor City, and the Phantom Troupe, composed of Nen users, is naturally not to be underestimated. This return to Meteor City was a proper homecoming, with the airship landing openly in the third district.
Although Morels had run the Meteor City dungeon more than ten years ago, due to her limited strength, she stopped at the fourth district and had never seen the first three districts of Meteor City.
She remembered that the sixth district was the red-light district, the fifth district was the commercial district, and the fourth district had a beast-fighting arena. Now, she knew that the third district was equipped with an airport and served as a transportation hub for material exchange between Meteor City and the outside world.
The remaining second and first districts were where the upper-class people of Meteor City resided.
Where there are people, there are classes, and Meteor City is no exception.
Whenever the Troupe was active, Chrollo would be impeccably dressed with a slicked-back hairstyle and a fur coat, exuding the air of a nouveau riche returning to give back to his folks.
Naturally, there would be receptionists when taking the proper route. While Chrollo dealt with the receptionists, the troublesome members of the Troupe idled around, watching the supplies being unloaded from the airship.
Meteor City adopted a parliamentary system, with all matters decided by the elders in meetings. There must have been some diplomatic issues recently, as Morels vaguely heard words like "elders" and "gang" in their conversation.
The receptionists' expressions gradually turned unpleasant, yet they maintained a semblance of tolerance. It seemed Chrollo had skillfully refused, a classic case of having "grown too big for their britches" and being beyond anyone's control.
More than a charitable act, this Troupe activity felt more like a long-awaited return to their hometown. Chrollo was not the type to seek the reputation of a "philanthropist." Sending supplies didn't require his personal presence.
Thus, Morels had the fortune to visit the orphanage where Chrollo had stayed as a child.
The orphanages in Meteor City, as generally defined, were institutions established to protect and educate children who had lost their parents or whose parents were unable to care for them. Although churches also took in children, they only accepted those old enough to care for themselves and had very limited capacity. Children who could not be accommodated or who exceeded the capacity were sent to orphanages by the churches for placement.
Due to Chrollo's refusal of the receptionists, the Troupe had to drive the trucks and move the supplies themselves after disembarking.
"I heard the boss mention that when he recruited you, you and your younger brother had just successfully robbed a supply truck," Shalnark, who was driving, said to Morels. "Impressive. If only I had been there then."
"And gotten caught together?" Morels activated her voice-altering device.
The mechanical voice of the latest voice-altering device was greatly reduced, very close to a human voice, yet Morels had adjusted the sound to a man's voice.
After a slight pause in his breathing, Shalnark chuckled, "Even if you're a man, I'd still like you."
"Really?" the deliberately deep male voice approached.
This was the first time Shalnark had been physically touched by someone else since he grew up.
"Wait, wait, this isn't the right time for this," Shalnark said, gripping the steering wheel with one hand and using the other to stop Morels. "I'm getting a reaction... ah..."
Shalnark swerved sharply, avoiding a child who suddenly appeared on the road chasing a ball.
Compared to the distracted Shalnark, the truck behind them handled the situation more calmly. Phinks, inside the vehicle, commented, "Shalnark's skills aren't much better than mine. Boss, why don't I drive for him?"
"It's best not to disturb him," Chrollo said from the passenger seat.
"Yeah, do you want to be a third wheel?" Machi, who was driving, added.
"This is a group activity!" Phinks leered towards the back of the truck ahead, "Not a place for 'office romance.' Shalnark wasn't this absent-minded before. Tsk, I didn't realize he was so... uh... what's the word... Ah, a love-struck fool! His spider brain has turned into a love-struck brain, is that okay? Boss, don't you need to manage this?!"
"No need," Chrollo said nonchalantly while reading a book. "This activity is very relaxed, feel free to act as you please."
"Phinks, if you're bored, you can read a book," Machi suggested.
"No, I don't want to read," Phinks's gaze shifted from the pages of the book in Chrollo's hand. The pages were filled with texts he had never seen before, densely packed. He felt a headache just looking at it and couldn't understand how Chrollo could read it for so long. "I said I wanted to drive, and you wouldn't let me!"
Machi pulled open the storage compartment next to the driver's seat. As expected, there were old magazines left by the original truck driver for his leisure. Phinks reached out and pulled a magazine out. Reading popular works was better than looking at the obscure books in Chrollo's hand; it was better than nothing.
Upon arriving at the orphanage, Phinks regained his spirits. He actually liked children. Although his fierce appearance made him look like a bad person whenever he smiled, the harsh living environment of Meteor City had resulted in a tough local populace. People who looked fierce like Phinks were everywhere. The children of Meteor City were not afraid of Phinks, but rather cautious of strangers.
The orphanage director, like most administrators of welfare institutions, appeared quite kind.
This time, it was Chrollo's turn to slack off, as he engaged in conversation with the director while the Troupe members moved the supply boxes.
"Where's Shalnark?" Phinks only saw Morels getting out of the truck.
Morels made a gesture of bending over and covering her stomach, then pointed in a certain direction.
"No wonder..." Phinks understood. "I thought his driving seemed a bit strange today."
"Hey, kid, you guys can't move this. Don't drop it!" Phinks turned to stop a child who wanted to help move things. "This box... you guys move this box."
It was only after the supplies from both trucks were mostly unloaded that Shalnark reappeared. It wasn't that he intended to be lazy; it was that Morels had only teased him inside the truck without taking responsibility, leaving him in an unbearable state, forcing him to find a place to attend to his personal needs.
Morels' wickedness, Shalnark thought, recalling that he had done similar things before. It was less an prank between genders and more a way for the strong to display their control.
Morels' ex-girlfriends never had the chance to play such pranks; if teased, responsibility was expected.
As he expected, Morels began to test and experiment, her true nature gradually revealing itself.
Damn, why am I getting excited?
It wasn't that he wanted to be abused, but he wanted to see her completely true to herself. That curiosity made Shalnark willing to endure.
Let me see how wicked you can be. Starting with me, from now on, all your men will suffer because of you, and I won't. Only I will simultaneously experience your gentleness and cruelty—unique.
A perfect smile adorned Shalnark's face as he took the box Morels had brought down from the truck. "Let me help you."
Unloading the supplies into the orphanage wasn't the end; some boxes contained items that needed to be distributed on the spot, such as the sweets and cookies that were most popular with the children, serving as the climax of this charitable event.
For attractive children, Morels wanted to give them special treatment. When taking things out of her "game backpack," with a flick of her wrist, like magic, a donut appeared in her hand.
The children of Meteor City were more vigilant than those elsewhere. Even with material scarcity, they wouldn't immediately surrender when tempted by snacks.
A cute little boy shook his head. "I have a dad."
Although Morels knew the children of Meteor City were wary, the reason for their refusal was unexpected and made her curious.
Was it a cliché from literary works, fearing that the extra food might be problematic?
Morels took a bite of the donut in her hand. The cream filling overflowed with sweet fragrance. Due to the "game backpack's" preservation ability, the donut remained as if it had just been baked, at the perfect temperature.
"Never mind," Morels thought, "it's their loss if they don't eat it." She then stared at the little boy and took another bite of the donut.
The little boy clenched his fists in restraint, and the sound of him secretly swallowing could be heard—Oh my, he's still just a child.
"Are you interested in children too?" Shalnark's hand stroked from Morels' head to her shoulder, as if petting a pet. "I'll be jealous."
Interested? Jealous? The intention behind giving extra desserts to the orphanage children seemed more profound than Morels had imagined, perhaps she wanted to adopt them?
If interpreted this way, the child's response about having a dad made sense.
"No," Morels switched her voice-altering device back to a woman's voice during Shalnark's brief absence. "I just think he's cute. Nothing more."
Shifting her gaze back to the little boy's face, the boy, unable to retract his observing gaze in time, instinctively took half a step back to hide his thoughts.
"Do you want more?" Morels offered the half-eaten donut.
"..." The boy hesitated for a moment, then took it. He took a cautious bite, paused for a moment, and then began eating the donut with large bites, as if afraid someone would snatch it from him.
Perhaps. Some children's eyes were already attracted by the aroma of the donuts.
Morels beckoned to those children. Her gesture was imprecise, causing a slight misunderstanding. A child outside the intended group stepped forward. So, Morels added, "Not you... the one with purple hair behind you, come here."
Whether it was fear, caution, or something else, the little girl with purple hair did not heed Morels' call. Instead, she shrank back behind someone else.
"Are all good-looking people hard to approach?" Morels asked Shalnark.
"Not necessarily," Shalnark replied. "But preferential treatment can indeed lead to her being bullied."
It's not poverty but uneven distribution that is the problem.
Morels returned to the truck and pretended to retrieve a box of donuts from the driver's seat, but in reality, she took them from her "game backpack."
A paper box contained a total of 6 donuts. Morels distributed them to the 6 children whose appearances she found most appealing within her line of sight.
The little girl with purple hair, hiding behind someone else, arrived a moment too late and asked in a small, seemingly shy voice if there were any more.
Morels showed her the empty box. She lowered her eyes and said nothing.
Immediately after, Morels followed suit, flicking her wrist and magically producing a donut in her hand, which she handed to the little girl.
The little girl's eyes lit up instantly.
"...Thank you," the little girl said, holding the donut as if it were a treasure.
Phinks, watching from a distance, was perplexed. "What is she doing?"
"Sharing food is her way of expressing affection," Machi replied.
"What's the standard?"
After a long pause without an answer, Phinks looked at Machi. Machi, defeated by his slowness, explained with a hint of helplessness, "She thinks those who are good-looking."
"Oh—" Phinks realized. "Like Shalnark? And you?"
Otherwise, how would they know that sharing food is a way of expressing affection?
"That's not right," Phinks said, raising his thumb and pointing to himself. "Feitan is one thing, but why don't I get any? Is my handsomeness inferior to Shalnark's? No, I need to get an explanation."
Phinks directly asked Morels for a donut and then proudly showed it to Machi, "I told you I could get one too!"
Machi: ...
"By the way, how much did she bring?" Phinks said while chewing. "It feels like she still has much more than what she's taken out. It's like she'll never have to worry about starving."
"Probably," Machi recalled. "When I knew her before, she was very interested in that aspect."
"Then she's quite thin."
"?"
"You can't tell she's interested in that aspect at all. Logically, shouldn't she eat from the food she carries around so often?" Phinks finished the donut in a flash. "With that frail appearance and pale complexion, it might be more believable if you said she had an eating disorder."
Actually, she wasn't as thin as she looked; she had some meat on her when she took off her clothes. Machi certainly couldn't say this out loud.
"Because she pays attention to her figure," Machi rephrased. "It's not good to get fat."
"I don't understand. It's better to be a bit plump."
"Phinks, she's not your girlfriend."
"Oh, right."
Instead of returning to the third district to take the airship, the Troupe chose to walk out of Meteor City.
Thus, returning to the opening scene, Morels, bored, used her slingshot to shoot the crows along the road.
Phinks found it amusing and expressed his desire to try as well.
Morels gave him another slingshot and some marbles.
"There's more?!" Phinks was completely surprised that Morels had such a substantial reserve of toys, thinking she only had one slingshot.
Specifically, the "game backpack" initially contained 9 slingshots and 999 marbles.
And so...
The enraged flock of crows retaliated, chasing the Troupe members and pooping on them madly.
"Boss! Quickly use your invincible 'Bandit's Secret' to think of a solution!" Phinks abandoned the slingshot, which he wasn't skilled with, and resorted to throwing marbles at the birds with his bare hands.
Chrollo had already materialized "Bandit's Secret" in his hand, his book's pages flipping rapidly, but he soon closed it. "Crows are territorial animals."
"Hmm?" Phinks looked at Chrollo with an expression of eager curiosity.
"In short, run!" Shalnark clapped Phinks on the back and quickened his pace.
Chrollo was not wrong. When the Troupe members ran out of Meteor City, they left the crows' territory, and the crows did not pursue them.
"So those little guys were so fierce," Phinks said, still wanting more. He threw the remaining marbles at the figures of the crows from a distance. "Hey! Bye-bye!"
"Phinks, crows are very intelligent birds," Shalnark, known for his erudition among the Troupe, reminded him. "They have long memories and easily remember human appearances."
"Let them come, am I afraid of that?" Phinks was dismissive.
"Then, when we return to Meteor City next time, I hope you walk separately from us," seeing that Phinks didn't take it seriously, Shalnark decided to prepare for the future.
"Hmph, I don't believe it!" Phinks crossed his arms.
Many years later, when Phinks returned to Meteor City to eliminate the Chimera Ants in Meteor City, he truly experienced how strong the crows' memory and recognition abilities were, paying a small price for his earlier underestimation.
As for Morels, she never returned to Meteor City again.