I haven't decided on a name for my Pokémon trainer yet.

Even if another one comes, Gyarados can Mega Evolve. Even if it can't beat it, it can still run away.

Ye Feng quickly arrived at the platform and released Gyarados.

Gyarados used its tail to sweep the broken planks aside, revealing a dark hole, just the right size for Gyarados to pass through.

Ye Feng glanced at Tokiss, who sensed the danger below and indicated that no danger was detected.

Ye Feng nodded, stood on the Gyarados, and descended through the cave entrance.

It was pitch black inside the cave, and you couldn't see anything.

"Tokiss, Flash!" Ye Feng ordered.

Togekiss flapped its wings, and a soft light emanated from its body, illuminating the surroundings.

With the help of the flashlight, Ye Feng was able to see the situation inside the cave.

The cave is quite large, and there is a wooden staircase leading down the wall, but it is dilapidated due to its age.

Gyarados descended rapidly and soon landed on the ground.

Ye Feng jumped to the ground and stomped on it hard; it was very dry and hard.

Looking up, it seemed to be a hidden underground space, quite large, with various tools scattered on the ground that Ye Feng couldn't name.

These tools didn't look like anything good. Ye Feng glanced at them a few times and felt they were a bit strange, somewhat like tools used for ancient punishments.

Ye Feng also noticed some stick-like objects scattered on the ground in the corner. He tried to reconstruct their appearance in his mind and concluded that they were probably some kind of cage.

"Could it be that the people here have built an underground prison without permission?" Ye Feng whispered.

As they continued forward, the scenery they saw increasingly confirmed Ye Feng's guess.

The walls on both sides of the road had holes of all sizes, with obvious signs of artificial excavation. Large black stains were on the ground, which Ye Feng strongly suspected were blood. Wooden doors remained at the entrances of the holes, which fell to the ground with a rustling sound when touched.

"It really is a prison." Ye Feng nodded in confirmation.

What exactly is this place?

Ye Feng stopped in his tracks as he continued forward.

Before him was a huge black stone disc with four short pillars on it. Ye Feng gestured and realized that if a person lay on the stone disc, their hands and feet could be tied up with the pillars.

At the same time, there were grooves on the stone disc, forming strange patterns, which gave Ye Feng a strange feeling that was somewhat sinister.

"What a strange place... It's a bit like a place used for cult rituals." Ye Feng touched his arm, where goosebumps had appeared without him noticing.

Ye Feng walked to the stone slab and examined it carefully. Suddenly, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying, he gasped and stumbled back a few steps before falling to the ground.

Arcanine, Gyarados, and Togekiss, thinking something had happened, quickly surrounded Ye Feng and protected him.

"It's nothing," Ye Feng waved his hand and then covered his mouth and gagged.

He could see that the black stone disc was covered with a thick layer of blood, which had turned black due to its age and emitted an indescribable odor.

Such a large stone slab, such a thick layer of blood... how many people's blood would have to be drained to cover it?

Ye Feng was starting to think about leaving. He had never experienced anything like this before. Although he had seen many similar scenes in horror movies, it was completely different from seeing it with his own eyes.

"Keeth!" Pokkith suddenly called out.

"What's wrong?" Ye Feng looked up at it.

Pokekis ran to the stone disc and pointed to the bottom of it.

"You mean, the waveguide coming from the stone slab below? But it's very weak, and it's tangled with something..." Ye Feng frowned, instinctively rejecting the idea as he looked at the stone slab.

“Gyarados.” Ye Feng looked at Gyarados.

Gyarados shook its head, floated to the stone plate, its tail flashing with metallic light, and then swung it fiercely.

"boom!"

With a loud crash, the stone slab shattered into pieces. Gyarados swung its tail, sweeping the rubble aside and revealing what lay beneath.

Ye Feng stepped forward, his eyes wide: "This is... a stone slab? How did it become like this?"

Beneath the stone slab lay a stone slab, which, judging from its shape, was indeed a stone slab.

However, the stone slab was pitch black, with wisps of black mist swirling around it. Ye Feng even felt that the black mist had transformed into a black human face, roaring at him.

It doesn't have the same pure and sacred feeling as the Fireball Slab or the Emerald Slab.

"Is it ghost-attribute or evil-attribute?" Ye Feng guessed.

Ye Feng could only think of two types of stone slabs with these strange properties.

However... Ghostly and evil attributes are essentially just different manifestations of energy, and they are not inherently good or evil. But why does this stone slab seem to be filled with an evil aura, like something left behind by an evil god?

"Could it be..." Ye Feng thought of the stone slab covered in blood and felt a wave of nausea.

Judging from all the signs, Ye Feng had reason to guess that the people here had accidentally obtained the stone slab, discovered that it contained powerful energy, but did not know the correct way to use it, so they worshipped it.

It's unclear whether there's something wrong with the person or some accident, but the way they were worshipped was incredibly evil.

Ye Feng also noticed that the black mist on the stone slab was somewhat similar to the black giant outside. Could it be that the resentment of the person who was used as a sacrifice lingered and polluted the stone slab, thus forming that giant?

Then the giants retaliated against the villagers and destroyed the place?

As Ye Feng pondered, his gaze swept over and he suddenly noticed a black notebook in the corner. He quickly walked over to it.

After carefully observing and confirming that the notebook itself was black and not stained with blood, Ye Feng picked it up and began to read.

The notebook appeared to be someone's diary, with dates and weather recorded on it, but the contents were in cherry blossom language, so Ye Feng had to call Rotom to help translate it.

Ye Feng looked at the diary, his expression growing paler with each reading, and his heart sank deeper into despair.

Chapter 316 The Consequences of Greed

Much of the handwriting in the diary is blurred and illegible, and some page numbers are stuck together, so there is not much content that can be seen.

"On the 1st of * month of *** year 8, the village chief discovered a mysterious stone slab in **, which was filled with the power of **, and brought it back to ***..." The rest of the text is illegible.

"On the 5th of * month of * year ***, the stone slab was enshrined in ***, and the village's elite warriors trained before it, their strength improving rapidly ***..."

"On [Date], [Name] participated in [Event] and won first place. [Name] is delighted at the [Event] ceremony..."

"On January 1st, ***Year 9, the new year began. The village chief became strange, dissatisfied, and started a ritual of unknown origin involving people killing and bloodshed..."

"On January 15th, ***Year 9, **'s strength increased even faster, but his temper became very volatile, and several people were injured..."

"The stone slabs grew increasingly black, **'s temper worsened, and someone was beaten to death."

"Did we make a mistake? Shouldn't we be like this?...***I want to leave here..."

There wasn't much information to read in the diary, but Ye Feng finished reading it quickly and roughly understood what had happened.

The village chief accidentally obtained a stone tablet left behind by Arceus. He was shocked by the powerful energy on it and brought it back to the village to worship.

The elf trained in front of the stone slab and his strength improved rapidly. He even won the championship in an important competition, and the villagers were overjoyed, thinking that they had obtained a treasure.

However, the village chief was not satisfied with the status quo and somehow obtained an evil sacrificial method, which may have involved offering human lives and blood to the stone slab, thus unleashing even greater power and giving the elves a greater boost.

However, due to the evil ritual practices, the energy of the stone slab mutated, causing the spirits here to become uncontrollable, attacking the villagers and eventually resulting in casualties.

Things started to get out of control. Some villagers were killed by the out-of-control elves, and the owner of the diary was scared and tried to run away... It is unknown whether he managed to escape.

What happened next was easy to guess. Things got worse and worse until one day they broke out in full force, and the entire village was destroyed. As for the people there, it's unknown whether anyone survived.

They're probably all dead, aren't they? Their resentment after death formed that black giant.

Even if some survived, they would probably live in anonymity and wouldn't dare to talk about such things casually.

“Greed is truly terrifying…” Ye Feng sighed.

It was greed that led the villagers to venture into the forbidden area, causing their power to spiral out of control and resulting in this tragedy.

Ye Feng felt no pity whatsoever; all he could say was, "Serves you right!"

But... although he roughly knows what happened, what should he do with the contaminated stone slab? Ye Feng doesn't know how to purify it, is it okay to bring it back to the World Tree like this?

Moreover, there are giants outside, but the diary makes no mention of them, and Ye Feng doesn't know how to deal with them.

If the giant runs to another place... what does that have to do with Ye Feng?

He was just a passing traveler collecting stone tablets; he had nothing to do with the giants, was unfamiliar with them, and didn't know them. You can play with the giants yourselves.

Thinking of this, Ye Feng felt much more relaxed. He casually tossed the diary aside and looked at the black stone slab.

"What should we do about this... I don't know if the shrinking ritual will still work..." Ye Feng muttered, raising his hand to start the ritual.

Suddenly a loud shout came from behind, startling Ye Feng who was completely unprepared.

It's not that he's timid. Anyone would be startled if someone suddenly shouted at them while they were focused on doing something.

Ye Feng turned around and immediately frowned.

Sakutaro Morishige, who had just escaped, had somehow arrived here and was staring at the stone slab behind him with a fanatical gaze.

"Stop! This is mine!" Morishige Sakutaro shouted.

Ye Feng understood what he was saying.

"What do you want to do?" Ye Feng asked coldly, and Rotom quickly began to translate.

Sakutaro Morishige glanced at the Rotom Pokédex and said with a cold smile, "Thanks for helping me find this place. Now that you're done, you can leave."