After looking at Chrollo, Victor shifted his gaze toward the boy who was taking an extra snack. The boy stood nearly two heads taller than him.
As Victor watched him, he heard Chrollo say, "Here, Franklin, you can have this."
Hearing the name "Franklin," Victor realized the boy was likely another future member of the Troupe. Despite this discovery, Victor didn't step forward to interact with them; from the moment he had arrived, he felt a constant gaze following him.
He quickly identified the source: the priest standing beside Chrollo. Victor kept his expression neutral, blending in with the other children as he waited in line for his turn.
After fifteen minutes, he finally reached the front. Throughout the entire wait, the priest's eyes never left him. When he stepped before them, Chrollo handed him a snack. Victor tucked it into his pocket and, like the other kids, quietly left the church.
As Victor walked away, he felt a new gaze pressing against his back. He didn't turn around; he simply ignored the sensation and left the church.
Inside, once Victor had vanished from sight, Chrollo with a hint of respect in his voice, he asked, "Elder, why were you looking at that boy?"
The priest, surprised by the question, looked at Chrollo with a faint smile. "So you noticed? You really are a bright boy."
He paused, then added, "It was the first time I've seen him here. That's why I was observing him."
Chrollo nodded, but his mind raced. The Elder is lying, he thought. He stole one last look at Victor's retreating figure, saving the boy's face in his memory.
After leaving the church, the gaze on his back finally vanished. Victor fell into step with the other children, keeping his ears open to gather any information from their chatter.
As they walked, the group slowly dispersed until Victor was alone. He retraced his steps, following the same path out of the inner district.
It was only once he crossed back into the outskirts of Meteor City that he finally allowed himself to relax.
He now understood why the children in the inner area were so different from those on the outskirts.
Walking among them, he realized they were being raised and cared by nannies, a curated talent pool developed by the city.
Since Meteor City doesn't officially exist on paper, its people are an invaluable resource for the Mafia. In its current weakened state, the city has a pact: they provide manpower in exchange for protection from external threats.
Of course, Victor knew this dynamic would shift once the Phantom Troupe became Class-A bounties.
These children were the city's future assets. Once grown, some would be sent to the Mafia, others absorbed back into Meteor City like the Troupe, and a few might even be sent to interested parties like the Zoldyck family.
After all, he remembered from the original work that Killua's mother and most of the family butlers hailed from this very place.
After leaving the Inner Area, Victor vowed never to step foot inside it again. The district felt far too crowded with dangerous individuals.
His instincts had screamed at him to flee the moment he stood near that Elder, who almost certainly possessed Nen.
Victor realized it was safer to hunt on the outskirts, specifically near the borders of the Inner Area.
There, he could avoid being targeted by traffickers while staying well out of the Elder's reach.
After leaving the Inner Area, Victor began his search for a new hideout. He checked three different garbage mountains, but all of them were already claimed by local gangs.
While walking, Victor noticed a section of the junkyard that had been completely picked clean.
He headed toward it, seeing that everything valuable had already been taken, leaving only piles of rubble and some large, intact industrial pipes.
Victor crawled inside the pipes to check them out. They were surprisingly clean and sturdy, so he decided to make this his new base. Since the area had nothing left to scavenge, he knew no one would bother coming here. In a city where everyone hunts for profit, being in a worthless spot was his best protection.
After Victor sat down, he pulled out his last remaining bottle of water and took a long drink. He then grabbed two pieces of hard bread and ate them slowly, savoring the small meal.
Looking out at the endless garbage mountains, Victor thought to himself, "Now, all I have to do is survive, get stronger, and leave this hellhole as fast as possible."
He knew that once he gained enough power, he could finally leave Meteor City behind. He wanted to explore this world a place that was as beautiful as it was dangerous.
After finishing his two pieces of bread, Victor leaned back against the wall of the pipe and closed his eyes.
Even though his eyes were closed, Victor's senses remained razor-sharp. Thanks to his [Brawler's Instinct], he could feel the vibrations of the metal pipe and the shifting of the trash outside. Every slight movement in the air or the crunch of a footstep nearby was instantly picked up by his talent.
Next Day
After a long rest, Victor opened his eyes and stretched his muscles. He immediately started his morning routine, pushing through sets of push-ups and squats until his body hit its limit.
After a short break, he moved on to weight training. Since he didn't have any real equipment, he used heavy scraps of iron and chunks of concrete to build his strength.
He trained like this for an hour before finally stopping to catch his breath. Once he felt recovered, he grabbed his scavenging bag and his rusted knife. It was time to find supplies.
He picked a nearby garbage mountain and began picking through the piles, looking for anything he could use or trade.
Victor saw many other people doing the exact same thing, picking through the piles for survival. Suddenly, the roar of an engine cut through the air. He looked toward the source of the noise.
A small motorbike, cobbled together from recycled parts, rumbled into view. Two boys were riding it.
The driver had blond hair and wore a hoodie, while the boy on the back had messy black hair, a cold expression, and was gripping a wooden stick.
They pulled to a stop and hopped off the bike, standing together as they scanned the crowd.
Victor wasn't sure what they were up to at first. But when a nearby scavenger finally dug out a set of valuable brass faucets, the two boys didn't hesitate. They surrounded him.
The blond boy threatened, "Hand over those brass faucets. They'll fetch a good price."
The scavenger didn't back down. He laughed and said, "Heh, two kids trying to threaten me? One blond and another shrimp."
The boy with the messy black hair didn't wait. He moved in an instant, reaching the scavenger before the man could even blink. He swung his wooden stick with brutal speed.
The scavenger couldn't react and collapsed to the ground. The boy picked up the brass faucets with a malicious smile and said, "Weak."
The blond boy, still standing by the bike, complained, "Feitan, I was going to kill him!"
The boy with the black hair replied, "Next time will be your turn."
Satisfied with that answer, the blond boy hopped back on the bike, and they both drove away.
After the two boys disappeared, the nearby scavengers began to whisper.
"Those two are the famous duo that have been haunting scavengers around here lately," one said.
"Yeah, I've heard of them too," another replied. "They might be kids, but they're way stronger than us."
Victor, watching from a distance, realized from their conversation that the boys were indeed Phinks and Feitan.
He made sure not to stare, even though they were young, he knew their senses were incredibly sharp.
Though he was surprised to see them so soon, Victor stayed focused. His food for the day depended on what he could find.
After searching for a while longer, he finally hit a small jackpot: a bunch of copper wires.
He took them to a nearby trader and exchanged them for five days' worth of food.