"My face..."
Looking at his pig-like reflection in the lake water, Chen Tian's face flushed crimson.
Whether out of anger or from being beaten—or perhaps a combination of both—was hard to say.
Meanwhile, the main culprit was currently hiding behind a boulder.
*You can't see me, you can't see me.*
*This* is what a timid personality is truly like. What was that Pidgeot's so-called timidity even called?
"I mean, even if I wasn't going to wake up, was there any need to keep slapping me?"
Chen Tian looked speechlessly at the rock where Snivy was hiding.
"Snivy?"
Snivy hid behind the stone, blinking its large, innocent eyes.
It was impossible to muster any anger against it.
"Forget it, forget it."
Seeing this, Chen Tian could only let out a helpless sigh.
Then, he began to survey his surroundings.
This was a small grove, though it was hard to say precisely where he was.
Still, this definitely wasn't the same forest as before.
Because he could see plains in the not-too-distant distance.
And further away, it seemed... there was a mountain?
Chen Tian narrowed his eyes.
That mountain had a very strange shape.
Not only was there not a speck of green on it, but the surrounding area was filled with blowing yellow sand.
Behind him was a majestic, imposing wall of water.
Or rather, a waterfall.
Could this be downstream?
Chen Tian wasn't sure.
Because the estimated height of this waterfall was even taller than that mountain, and Chen Tian didn't think the previous forest sat at such a high altitude.
"This sky... is a bit weird too..."
Chen Tian frowned.
Why did he say it was weird?
Today's weather was clearly supposed to be cloudy, yet there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.
And the sun hanging up there was even more wrong.
He couldn't quite put his finger on what was amiss, but it just felt strange.
Finally, he discovered the source of the problem.
That sun was positioned directly above the peak of that mountain.
Chen Tian didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he was certain it hadn't been more than a day.
Judging by the time elapsed, it should be dusk by now, yet the sky remained as blue as ever.
Bizarre. Extremely bizarre.
He looked again at the plain in the distance.
A herd of Rapidash and Tauros were leisurely grazing.
And at the edge of that plain, right at the foot of the rocky mountain, seemed to be... a small wooden cabin?
Chen Tian couldn't see it very clearly.
Questions came one after another, and sitting around waiting to die was no way to solve them.
Even though all of this had happened purely because of Chen Tian's own fatal curiosity...
To be honest, if he had just listened to Chu Qianqiu and stayed put like a good boy, none of this would have happened.
"Well then, let's go."
Chen Tian took a deep breath, fighting through the discomfort all over his body, and walked step by step toward the cabin.
Two hours later...
Along the way, he had encountered quite a few Pokémon.
Yet none of these Pokémon, regardless of their strength, showed any hostility or fear toward him.
This suggested that humans weren't common around these parts...
Perhaps they had never even seen a human before.
"Hiss, the burns hurt so much..."
Chen Tian frowned deeply.
He couldn't see how severe the injuries were, but with pain this intense, the sight of his back would probably frighten someone into fainting.
Back in his reckless youth, he used to boast to the screen while watching Pokémon: *How on earth can a mere burn halve the power of your physical moves?*
Now, because of these very burns, even walking was a struggle.
I should take a break...
Chen Tian randomly found a rock, sat down slowly, and took great care not to let it brush against his back.
"I really should have taken a sip of water by that waterfall earlier..."
Chen Tian licked his dry, cracked lips.
Walking all the way back with his burned body was out of the question.
He could only grit his teeth and hope there was another water source ahead.
"I give up..."
What kind of bad luck had he accumulated over several lifetimes to end up like this...
In a daze, he seemed to catch the scent of a sweet fragrance.
This aroma completely relaxed his exhausted, thirsty body, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
"No!"
Years of watching movies told Chen Tian that when this sort of thing happened, nothing good ever followed.
Usually, it meant man-eating plants or something similar.
Unfortunately, while his mind reacted correctly, his body eagerly welcomed it.
Gradually, Chen Tian lost consciousness once more...
***
"Chen Tian?"
Returning to the vicinity of Wooper's den, Chu Qianqiu was boiling with anger, only to find Chen Tian gone when she got back.
In an instant, that anger vanished without a trace, replaced by panic and worry.
She drew a heavy breath, forcing herself to calm down, but her rising and falling chest betrayed the turmoil within her owner's heart.
After finally steadying herself, she spotted Chen Tian's footprints.
"After him!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Chu Qianqiu rushed off along the tracks...
***
"Phew, refreshing~"
Qian Hu finally finished smoking the cigarette in his hand.
He casually flicked the butt away. Ah, wonderful.
Smokes were truly great things; take a puff and all your worries vanished.
Weren't there supposed to be other things to do?
Can't remember. Whatever.
"Qian Hu, what are you still doing here?!"
A stern male voice rang out.
Along with the voice, several people approached.
"Brother... Brother Hao..."
Hearing that voice, Qian Hu jumped in fright.
Though Brother Hao didn't command as much authority within the gang as Daoba, as a founding veteran of the gang, he was notoriously ruthless.
If you crossed Daoba, he would at least give you a quick end.
But if you crossed Brother Hao, he would make you wish you were dead.
Therefore, compared to Daoba, Qian Hu feared the man before him far more.
This scare jogged his memory, reminding him of what Daoba had said earlier.
He quickly spilled everything—the entire sequence of events—to Brother Hao.
"Oh?"
The expression on Brother Hao's face gradually grew fascinating.
Then, he glanced at the river before them.
Clear, but... unfathomably deep!
"Brother Hao, should we then..."
"My orders: lead the entire gang to pull out of here immediately."
"Got it, Brother Hao... Huh?"
A look of astonishment crossed Qian Hu's face.
"I said, get out of here."
Brother Hao cast a cold glance at Qian Hu.
His eyes were filled with warning.
Qian Hu's heart hammered in his chest.
Brother Hao was planning to mutiny!
What should he do then?
Though Qian Hu was unserious, he wasn't a complete fool.
There were only two people who knew about this—himself and Brother Hao. He didn't believe Brother Hao would leave behind any loose ends after seizing the top spot.
Yet if he didn't run now, he would probably be eliminated on the spot.
Good grief, either way you slice it, it's a dead end.
Just a matter of dying sooner or later.
Qian Hu's heart turned cold.
He had simply wanted to smoke a cigarette, never imagining it would cost him his life.
Well, fine. He'd choose to die a little later; that way, he could at least say goodbye to his aging mother back home...
In that moment, Qian Hu fancied himself a revolutionary martyr sacrificing himself for a noble cause.
In reality, he was just an idiot who had died over a cigarette.
...
"Move."
Brother Hao paid no mind to Qian Hu's tearful melon-like expression, turning to bark orders at his subordinates.
As for Daoba's orders?
Are you kidding? Nobody knew whether Daoba was dead or alive after taking that dive; who cared about his orders anymore?
He was well aware that slipping past Chu Qianqiu's checkpoint earlier had merely been a temporary expedient.
The Inspector had already taken notice of them; once she really wanted to investigate, you couldn't run.
No amount of cover-up work would help.
The most urgent task now was to quickly withdraw and preserve the gang's vital strength—that was top priority.
Daoba had jumped into the water now, his life or death uncertain.
Brother Hao could more or less guess why Daoba had jumped.
Since he still hadn't surfaced, only two possibilities remained: first, Daoba failed to find the divine beast and drowned; second, he found it.
Drowning was unlikely, but even if he did find the divine beast, could he successfully capture it?
He'd be lucky to escape with his life!
Either way, none of that mattered to him anymore!
From this day forward, he, Haozi, was the boss!
At this thought, he could no longer suppress the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Yet at that very moment, years of street-fighting experience made him suddenly sense an aura of murderous intent approaching from behind...
*BOOM!*
Fortunately, his reflexes were sharp; he sidestepped just in time.
A powerful Dragon-type energy blasted into the water, sending up a massive spray while the surrounding air instantly grew scorching hot.
The surrounding subordinates stood frozen in place, utterly dumbstruck, as if frightened out of their wits.
"Who's there?"
Having one's sweet dream interrupted—no one would be happy about that.
Yet upon seeing the newcomer, Haozi's heart sank, and he slowly spoke up:
"Inspector, isn't this sort of behavior a bit against the rules?"
A Salamence, its body entirely light blue with wings resembling crimson moons, had residual Dragon-type energy overflowing uncontrollably from its jaws.
And standing right beside the giant dragon was none of us other than Chu Qianqiu, hailed as the youngest and most promising Inspector.
What puzzled him was why Chu Qianqiu had tracked them down at a time like this.
*Could she have found some evidence?*
The moment this thought popped into his head, he shook it off.
They had only been away from that spot for about twenty minutes.
He didn't believe Chu Qianqiu could dig up anything in twenty minutes.
Besides, though no particular expression showed on Chu Qianqiu's face right now, he felt as if something about her had changed.
So he probed cautiously:
"Inspector, why draw swords against my people?"
"Hand him over." Chu Qianqiu's flat tone trembled slightly as she forcefully suppressed her rage.
"Him?"
Haozi frowned slightly.
He quickly recalled the brat Qian Hu had mentioned earlier.
It seemed Chu Qianqiu and that male must have been together.
However, he didn't know Chen Tian's exact whereabouts, nor did he want to stir up trouble; right now, he just wanted to get back to the hideout and reorganize his gang.
So he cupped his fists and continued:
"If the Inspector believes we've taken your people, please present evidence..."
Haozi tried to use the same trick he had pulled earlier on Chu Qianqiu.
Unfortunately, he had misjudged the situation.
*BOOM!*
"Agh!!!"
A Dragon Pulse erupted from Salamence's mouth, blasting one of his underlings straight into the air!
"I said—hand him over!!" Chu Qianqiu said through gritted teeth, bloodshot veins even visible in her originally beautiful almond eyes.
"This woman is out of her mind!" Seeing that Chu Qianqiu was past caring about rules, Haozi simply dropped the act altogether.
Sure, Chu Qianqiu had a League-level Salamence, but they had numbers on their side!
If it really came down to a fight, who would win was anyone's guess!
So he raised his voice and shouted to Qian Hu and the others:
"Brothers! Fight her to the death!"
Brother Hao and his subordinates tossed their Poké Balls in unison.
Daring to oppose an Inspector was undoubtedly a foolish move.
Any civilian organization was entirely insignificant when pitted against the state!
Especially in Long Country!
He knew full well the consequences of provoking Chu Qianqiu; once she reported this to her superiors, their gang would vanish from the face of the earth!
That being the case, their only choice was to strike Chu Qianqiu down right here! Then evacuate Jiangzhou before those people could react!
Chu Qianqiu cast an icy sweep over the group.
The levels of these Pokémon were generally not exceptionally high, mostly resting at the Pseudo-Gym Tier.
Haozi, leading the pack, had released a Gym-tier Cloyster.
This was one of the reasons he dared to fall out with Chu Qianqiu.
The Dragon-slaying Cloyster!
Sure, your Salamence's level is high, Chu Qianqiu, but my Cloyster's Ice-type is four times super-effective against it!
A single Ice-type move would send that Salamence straight to the netherworld!
In response, Chu Qianqiu's facial expression remained completely unchanged as she slowly retrieved a Poké Ball...
A fierce battle was on the verge of erupting!
Who could have imagined that the spark for this war would be nothing more than a cigarette butt...