CIATB Chapter 119 The "Simple" People of the Northern Countryside; Shiruff's "Self-Sal
Chapter 119 The "Simple" People of the Northern Countryside; Shiruff's "Self-Sal
Chapter 119 The "Simple" People of the Northern Countryside; Shiruff's "Self-Salvation"
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Sawaki?"
When they had almost finished eating, a man in a suit, looking somewhat haggard and resembling a manager, approached Ze Shu and cautiously asked him a question.
Ze Shu temporarily put the letter away, turned to look at it, and asked with some confusion, "Yes. Who are you?"
"I am the General Manager of the Siluf Group... My name is Gang Xuan." Gang Xuan carefully chose his words. "It's like this..."
Our president would like to discuss this with you...
Ze Shu was surprised: "President Siluf? He's awake already? His vitality is so strong?"
Gang Xuan gave an awkward smile: "The president... isn't feeling well. But the first thing he did after waking up was to have me find you."
They say you are key to "protecting our company," so...
) 1
"We would like to invite Mr. Ze Shu to come and meet our president in person."
Ze Shu: "Okay."
He was curious to know what President Shiruff was up to: self-rescue? A security company?
It was still for the Masterball prototypes and data he possessed.
After thinking for a moment, Ze Shu nodded to Xiao Lan on the opposite side. Just as he stood up, Gang Xuan quickly bowed and said, "Please, we've already prepared the car. And I've already paid for your meal..."
That attitude was indeed quite kind.
Ze Shu paused as he stood up, glanced at the so-called Chief Siluf beside him, and asked, "Mr. Gang Xuan, your father is... the Steel Master of Hinoki Town?"
Gangxuan was surprised for a moment, but then replied, "Does Mr. Zeshu know my father? But my father is quite... towards me, his son..."
There was some disappointment, but it was never mentioned.
He sighed and shook his head.
Ze Shu understood: "I see."
No wonder he looked familiar.
This Steel Entity looks exactly like the Steel Master.
He did know Steel, but Steel should have known Sawaki when he was wearing the Masked Legion mask.
Golden City, hospital, intensive care unit.
Two Chansey wearing nurse caps stood guard here. When Sawaki walked in, President Silph, whose body was covered with tubes, struggled to open his eyes and looked at Sawaki with a complicated expression.
Gang Xuan just opened his mouth: "Mr. Ze Shu, this is..."
President Siluf then interrupted in a weak voice, "You all go out first... I want to speak with Mr. Sawaki alone."
Seeing that Gangxuan had responded, he walked straight out the door.
President Shiruff slowly said, "I am very grateful to Special Investigator Ze Shu for rescuing me..."
"Oh?" Ze Shu was surprised. "You found out my identity?"
President Shiluff forced a smile but did not answer: "Mr. Sawaki, you must have obtained that thing, right? If you can read research materials, you should be able to understand its value."
"That's the pinnacle of our Siluf Group's technology!"
Ze Shu said casually, "Master Ball?"
President Siluf: "As expected..."
Ze Shu chuckled. "Just tell me what you want to do. I'll save you some rest time, considering your condition..."
Looking at President Shilf, who was covered in medical tubes and seemed about to die after saying just a few more words, Ze Shu felt uncomfortable just watching him trying so hard to keep the conversation a secret.
President Shiluff forced a smile: "Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Sawaki. I'll get straight to the point then."
"Our Siluff Group wants the Masterball research data you have, and...:::"
They pleaded, "Please, spare the life of our Siluf Group!"
Ze Shu: "Oh?"
He smiled thoughtfully: "So what can your Siluf Group offer in return?"
President Shiruff said softly, "Everything you want."
"As long as our Shiruff Group can survive."
Time passed, I don't know how much.
The little six-tailed cat in Xiao Lan's arms has been sleeping and waking up, waking up and playing, playing and sleeping again. This cycle has already happened three times!
With a click, the door to President Siluf's "intensive care unit" opened, and Ze Shu walked out while Gang Gen went in.
Xiao Lan sighed and said resentfully, "Ze Shu, you finally..."
Before she could finish speaking, Liuwei cried out "Ah-ming!" and pounced into his arms, her fox tail swishing, her bright eyes filled with determination: "Ouming..."
Zeki sighed, "Alright, since Rokuo is so enthusiastic, I won't cut back on your snacks."
Six-Tails' face was filled with happiness: "Oh my god!!"
Xiao Lan: "...—"
A short while later.
Gangxuan walked out of the ward.
He still looked shocked, glanced at Ze Shu in disbelief, and then bowed decisively: "Ze Shu, sir..."
No, I... how should I address you?
"Call me whatever you want." Ze Shu shook his head. "Although I've already pretty much solved your problem."
"But I still have no connection with your Shiruff Group."
Gang Xuan: "..."
What do you mean by "it doesn't matter"?
What did he just hear the president say?!
"Besides my orders, the highest priority orders from the Siluf Group belong to Mr. Ze Shu!"
"No matter how reasonable or unreasonable the request is, no matter how precious or extremely rare the equipment is, or in what urgent matter it is, whatever Mr. Ze Shu says, you must treat it as your first choice and do it unconditionally. We will not care about any losses."
"Furthermore, in my name, I will sponsor the Yulong Family of Yanmo City in Chengdu with a sum of money... 100 million."
"Then secretly tell the Dragon Royal Family that this is Mr. Ze Shu's 'gift'."
What is this?
This is practically the second-highest leader after the company president!
And you still say it's okay!
Gang Xuan was inwardly shocked, but outwardly he obediently agreed, bowing and saying, "Yes, yes... Lord Ze Shu!"
Ze Shu: "..."
"Never mind." He shook his head and said first, "Get me a locator, the kind that can locate the entire area."
Perfect, ordinary locators can't pinpoint this far. The Silph Corporation is considered the pinnacle of mechanical technology in the Pokémon world, and their internal locators should be top-notch.
A short while later.
Gangxuan hurriedly handed a tiny, box-like device to Zeshu:
"Lord Zeshu, here's what you requested. Is there anything else you need help with?"
Ze Shu thanked him politely, then thought for a moment and asked:
"Let me see the products from your Shiruff Group."
Of course, what they gained from leaving the Shiruff Group was not just this small locator.
On the spaceship.
Almost as soon as the doll let out a "Wow!" it was overjoyed to see two machines suddenly appear in its "medical room"—one a Pokémon medical examination instrument and the other an auxiliary treatment instrument.
These are the latest machines developed by the Silph Group; some Pokémon Centers probably don't even have such new versions.
It was something Ze Shu casually took from the Siluf Group.
Of course, Xiao Lan also happily took a whole bunch of useful and useless little gadgets with her. She left with her hands full, unable to carry them all.
Almost the doll looked delighted: "Tabu!"
With these instruments, it can provide better "care" for everyone!
Ze Shu rubbed the cute, almost doll-like, fluffy head of the machine: "Try it out and see if it works. There are six more in the storage room."
Don't cherish it, just waste it.
In a corner of the spaceship's deck, there was also a device—a teleportation device. This was a device that could exchange Pokémon with Pokémon Centers and Professor's Labs in various locations, and Zeki casually took one as well.
Next to the conveyor belt was a water tank, a state-of-the-art "fish tank" equipped with features like automatic water composition adjustment, automatic feeding, and real-time status monitoring...
With these two devices, Sawaki casually contacted Yamanashi Hiroto in Masago Town.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, he teleported over the wakizashi he had been caring for there and casually tossed it into the "fish tank" next to him.
Thus, all of Ze Shu's Pokémon, whether they were with him or on his crew, are now gathered on the spaceship.
Otherwise, this owl would have remained with Dr. Yamanashi, which is rather obsessive-compulsive.
Caught off guard and thrown into the water tank, the wakizashi fish's starry eyes shimmered with water: "Meow, meow..."
But Ze Shu gave it a wary look, and it immediately shut its mouth, looking aggrieved.
Dr. Yamanashi, whose face appeared serious, burst into laughter: "The wispfish has eaten quite a bit of my food. Don't let its small size fool you, it has a huge appetite. It spends all day either eating or sleeping."
"But Zeki, you don't need to carry all your Pokémon with you. Trust me a little, Professor..."
Dr. Yamanashi paused here, his eyes widening slightly.
Because he saw, behind the deck, a flaming Growlithe dog struggling to ram into the latest product dummy that Zeki had brought out from the Siluf Corporation.
Dr. Yamanashi blinked subconsciously and asked incredulously, "Sawaki... what's this?"
Ze Shu laughed and said, "Growlithe."
Dr. Yamanashi: "Growlithe? But this looks like this..."
Ze Shu nodded: "It's a special form."
Dr. Yamanashi's eyes visibly brightened, and he continued speaking rapidly:
"Is it Growlithe from the ancient Sinnoh era? I've seen it in old books, but the illustrations from that period weren't very good in terms of either the quality of the drawings or the preservation. The style in the pictures is quite different from what I actually see, so I can't recognize it."
After speaking, Dr. Yamanashi hesitated for a moment, then asked expectantly, "Sawaki, could you teleport over for a while...?"
Ze Shu shook his head: "Sorry."
Seeing Dr. Yamanashi's disappointed yet understanding expression, Sawaki smiled:
"However, I don't quite understand Growlithe's medical records, so I'd like to ask you, Professor, to take a look. Growlithe has suffered quite a few injuries before..."
Dr. Yamanashi laughed too: "Haha, okay!"
"I'll carefully observe Growlithe's condition for you. My research specialty is evolution, and I have a good understanding of various Pokémon metrics!"
On the deck.
Growlithe is still practicing Flame Wheel.
The Supervillain stake in front of them had already been smashed and cracked, while the exposed mushroom stake next to it was already broken and tattered.
These wooden stakes can mimic various "submissive" Pokémon, and at least the "impact" of bumping into them is almost identical, effectively helping Growlithe gain experience in dealing with these "submissive" Pokémon.
This is said to be the latest achievement of the Silph Group in developing Pokémon training devices.
Ze Shu thought it was indeed good.
Holding the medical report that Dr. Yamanashi had specially marked, he nodded knowingly: "He's almost fully recovered, but there's still a lingering injury in his hind leg."
Dr. Yamanashi's advice is: do not recommend training beyond your capacity.
"Growlithe, stop now, that's enough training for today."
"Don't feel wronged, really... The reduced training now is to lay the foundation for you to defeat the Dragon King Scorpion in the future, otherwise..."
Growlithe was initially reluctant, but as soon as Zeki mentioned "Dragon Scorpion," before he even finished speaking, Growlithe immediately obeyed his instructions.
Ze Shu shook his head with amusement.
At this moment, Growlithe is no longer as "dirty, messy, and chaotic" as when he first met him.
It is now:
Although its fur wasn't glossy, it was clean and tidy; its thin body had gradually become stronger, and its hind legs looked solid and powerful; the dog's overall spirit was much better than before.
Zeshu looked at its hind legs.
On the surface, it seemed no different from a normal Growlithe. If it weren't for Dr. Yamanashi's reminder, he wouldn't have known about the hidden injury in its leg...
Regarding the injury, the doctor advised: relaxation is necessary, and soaking in a hot spring would be ideal. For example, the Kamae Onsen in Kamae Town, Hoenn.
It has a special effect of healing.
With its hind legs being grabbed by Ze Shu in an awkward position, Growlithe trembled uncomfortably: "Meow..."
Ze Shu smiled, put down its hind legs, and pointed to the little cat monster sunbathing with its belly exposed:
"Alright, go and rest."
"Although the little cat monster is lazy and has many flaws, there is at least one thing you can learn from it, and that is rest, complete relaxation."
Suddenly called out, the little cat monster looked completely innocent: "Bingu..."
It just wants to lie down, what's wrong with that!
How comfortable....
It's exhausting to be thinking about training all the time, like a Growlithe!
The kitten couldn't understand Growlithe's "grudge".
Growlithe didn't understand the cat monster's mentality either.
However, at this moment, they were lying on the deck together, basking in the sun.
Growlithe hesitated for a moment, then, just like the cat monster, it opened its belly without any hesitation to welcome the warm sun.
Take care of everything.
On the table in the center of the deck, Xiao Lan was fiddling with something on a tablet, sometimes frowning and sometimes looking enlightened, just like a secretary helping her boss.
"Little Blue, is it all set up?"
"Alright! Although this positioning device was accidentally dropped and got a chipped, it doesn't affect its function at all. This latest gadget from the Siluf Corporation is really not durable. It's only for such a short distance... It must have sacrificed durability for the sake of positioning across the entire area. Really!"
Ze Shu sighed, "Then I'll send it."
In his hand was the third line of the letter written on grass, the letter that was also the last chance to make contact.
He had already written down greetings and an explanation of the location device's function, as well as his idea of where he might be able to reach.
After receiving the device, he would know its location and be able to get there. Even if the grass letter disappeared with this last chance to use it, he could still help the other party without the letter.
Based on these few exchanges of letters, Ze Shu felt that the other party was living a rather...: awkward life.
Thus, Ze Shu sent the letter.
Just as it had come, the green grass letter grew wings, flapping slowly from in front of the Ze tree into the void and disappearing.
"? The signal has completely disappeared!"
Xiao Lan looked at the tablet connected to the positioning device in her hand.
Zeshu: "Let's wait a bit. It might take some time for the letter to arrive. That should be normal."
Xiao Lan exclaimed, "What an amazing letter!"
After a while, perhaps a quarter of an hour.
Xiao Lan then said, "The signal has reappeared. It's so far away from here."
"Let me check, the location is..."
Xiao Lan was about to search for a location on the entire map when she suddenly called out in confusion:
"?!"
Ze Shu asked, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Lan exclaimed in surprise, "The signal stayed there briefly, then disappeared again!"
The status bar shows that the positioning device is broken.
She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Is this normal?"
Beishang Township, Beishang Center.
At this time, it happened to be the "Covering Face Festival", and the town's residents were celebrating with great joy. The lively atmosphere seemed to spread throughout the entire Beishang Township.
There is a rather old, yet large, ancestral hall here.
The "well mask," "stove mask," and "rustic stone mask" hanging on the walls of the ancestral hall are extremely eye-catching even in this ancient ancestral hall and amidst the lively face-covering ceremony.
These are spoils of war obtained by people in ancient times after defeating "evil spirits".
At this moment, the "evil spirit" cautiously and stealthily arrived here.
Its eyes scanned the entire ancestral hall intently.
It did not come to steal its own mask.
Rather, it came to observe what it considered to be the most prominent landmark building.
Because Zhixin was uneasy about whether her pen pal could recognize the "landmark" she had drawn, Egui wanted to try harder and harder to remember the details of the entire ancestral hall.
Even though it is surrounded by people it fears, even though it is driven away by villagers with sticks and curses.
But it will come here too!
"Bonnie...!"
His gaze was resolute.
Even though it used to really want to join in the fun at the Faceless Festival, it no longer wanted to sneak in!
After being lonely for five hundred years, it finally made a friend, and the friend even wanted to come to its home to play with it!
Who can understand how surprised and delighted Ergui was when he heard the news?
It was extremely excited.
The kind of feeling where your heart is about to jump out of your chest.
But when it comes to how to depict a "landmark building" so that friends know its location, Ergui is really worried. He hesitates, scratches his head, and makes revisions until the resulting paintings are so bad that even he, a guy who has lived in Beishang Township for five hundred years, can hardly recognize them!
So, after some hesitation, the evil spirit came here again.
I hope that when the next letter arrives, it will be drawn correctly!
But it was at this moment that...
A burly villager from the north discovered the elusive creature hiding there and shouted:
"Hey kid, what are you doing sneaking around in the bushes! Come out, it's rare for our Face-Hiding Festival to begin..."
Don't crouch in the grass.....
Ergui was startled: "..."
It instinctively cried out, but quickly covered its mouth.
It seemed somewhat at a loss.
But this was precisely when it was at a loss.
A green light flashed across the sky.
The letter that Egui had been longing for came to it with wings at this moment, and slowly fell from the sky.
Ergui paused for a moment, then quickly reached out to catch it: "Boo-boo..."
A small, square-shaped black box fell out of it.
And inside, a letter, opened by the wind, read: "This little black box is the key to finding you; please keep it safe!"
"Bonnie...!!"
The unexpected surprise was extraordinary.
But it was engrossed in the moment when its friend found a way to know its location and was able to find it.
Suddenly, a panicked shout came from beside me:
"The magical green light that appeared, and this...this sound!"
"It's an evil spirit!!!"
"An evil spirit has come to steal our masks!!"
In a short while, a group of residents quickly arrived in front of the ancestral hall, beside the evil spirit. They held brooms and sticks, looking at the bewildered "evil spirit" with panic and fear.
In a daze, I had no idea what I had just experienced.
They were driven away and scolded.
The stick hit me again; it hurt so much.
The device that a friend had given it, which could pinpoint its location, was also trampled and broken in the chaos by some unknown villager.
Even when it brandished its "thorny vine club" to intimidate, even when it shielded the "locating device" beneath it with its body, praying it wouldn't break, no matter how many kicks or sticks the villagers hurled at its body...
Obviously, without a doubt, the device was completely broken.
After all, they were trampled into dust.
This thing that my friend calls a positioning device;
This is something my friend entrusted to keep safe;
This friend was able to find its things through this.
But once it got its hands on it, it broke down completely within a minute.
Ghost Mountain, in the cave.
Ergui hugged his knees, looking helplessly at the shards in front of him. Even though he had been lonely for five hundred years, his starry eyes, which had always shone brightly, now dimmed.
Between its knees, it carefully placed several green letters, many of which had also been torn to pieces by the villagers...
At this moment, without realizing it, it was slowly moistened drop by drop.
"Bonnie...."
'
A sinister, low murmur echoed in the empty, dark cave.
What should I do...?
The letter also stated that this magical three-line green letter was being used for the last time.
In other words, the other party can no longer contact it via mail.
What to do?
"Found it!"
"Using the coordinates displayed in that short time, I searched the map and found a location with exactly the same environment!"
Xiao Lan's surprised voice rang out:
"This place is called... Kitakami Township!"
"The sea area between the Sinnoh and Unova regions seems to fall under the jurisdiction of the Sinnoh League. I remember you, Sawaki, are also a Special Investigator under the Sinnoh League, right?"
"This is our territory!"
"Let me check the information..."
"The village is vigorously developing its tourism industry. It boasts beautiful scenery, and the villagers are simple, friendly, and full of charm, making it an ideal tourist destination. The village also enshrines the 'Hoban,' a spirit that helps people, and hosts the traditional 'Hidden Face Festival.'"
"The timing? What a coincidence! This 'Covering Faces Festival' started yesterday and will last for seven days. It seems like a very interesting event!"
"Sawaki, Sawaki? What are you spacing out for?"
"Let's go here, it looks like a great tourist destination."
Ze Shu snapped out of his reverie and smiled, "Let's go, let's head to Beishang Township."
Little Blue chuckled:
"How about that, Investigator? Your little assistant is pretty amazing! With just this one clue, you managed to find the complete location!"