Elf: Who told him to be an investigator!

Chapter 356 Dark Lugia

"Ze Shu, Ze Shu, what are you standing here for! Aren't you going to chase after them?!"

As Higana watched Alina's retreating figure grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely into a hole in the ground, she grew anxious.

"We went after them," Ze Shu replied.

"Where did you chase after him?!" Higana pouted, looking at Ze Shu's unmoving steps.

Ze Shu pointed at the shadow, looking at her speechlessly: "What's your rush? Gengar went after it. And do you really think that if we just stick close to that person named Alina, she'll take us to where we want to go?"

"Hmm..." Higana's eyes revealed a clear "innocence," and she scratched her head in sudden realization, "Oh right!"

Ze Shu:

"————"

"Waaah..." At this moment, Lugia circled in the sky for a while, then flew back whimpering and snuggled into Ze Shu's arms.

It still looked flustered, which made it even more dependent on Ze Shu.

Its abnormal state seems to have started when it approached this Nickel Dark Island.

"Little Lugia." Ze Shu gently patted its trembling dorsal fin and asked, "Can you tell me why you're feeling anxious? Is it because... your mother?"

Little Lucia was somewhat at a loss when faced with this question.

"Waaah..."

'

It doesn't know.

As soon as it got close, it seemed to smell a familiar scent, but this scent was also full of danger, making its dorsal fin tremble. Only when it shrank into Ze Shu's arms could it feel safe.

Is it afraid of its mother whom it has never met?

Little Lugia was thinking in a daze.

It's uncertain.

But perhaps that's really the case...

Little Lugia buried her head tightly in Ze Shu's arms, but the force of her burying her face into Ze Shu's chest caused him pain.

Although it still looks like the small Lugia that Zeshu first saw, its body has grown a lot, and the mask structure on its forehead has become much harder now than when it was born.

"Alright, alright." Ze Shu endured the pain and helplessly rubbed its head. "I'll protect you, don't be afraid."

Little Lugia trembled, nestled in Ze Shu's arms, and weakly protested, "Waaah!"

It is it that will protect the swamp tree!

Ze Shu nodded with amusement: "Okay, okay."

This guy, huddled in my arms looking scared and needing protection, still insists on saying he'll protect me?

"Hehehehehe! Hehehe!"

"You mean, Alina went into another facility, turned left and right, then right again, went through several mazes, passed several security thresholds, and finally entered a sealed space?"

"Hehehe!" Gengar was pleased that Commander Zeju was able to perfectly translate its words.

"Well done!" Ze Shu was also satisfied that the Gengar Corporal had executed his mission perfectly. "Then lead the way."

""

Gengar, the first ghost, hopped and skipped ahead as the guide, looking just like a cheerful, chubby purple creature.

But actually, the volcanic environment of Nickel Island is just too hot, especially the surface, which is scorching. Gengar's bare feet are so hot that they bounce up when they step on the ground; that's the proper way to walk here.

Ze Shu had just applied the cooling ointment that Helena had given him on the spaceship to the little Lugia in his arms. The little Lugia seemed to like it quite a bit and squinted its eyes slightly.

When he turned his head, he saw that Higana had already smeared the ointment vigorously on her tight calves.

Lethal dose.

"Whew, it's gotten so cold again!!" she exclaimed.

It doesn't look evenly spread yet.

"One side is cold, and the other side is so hot, it's so uncomfortable!!" she cried out again.

Ze Shu:

'

Following Gengar, they soon arrived at a dark brown iron gate hidden in the black soil of Nickel Island. There was a password on the door, and just as Zeju was about to crack it, Gengar quickly pressed all the keys, and the door opened, making Gengar smugly put its hands on its hips.

"Hehehe!"

I'm so incredibly proud of myself! (Hands on hips for a moment.)

Entering through the coded door, the moment I stepped inside, it seemed as if the volcanic heat of Nickel Dark Island outside had been driven away by some unknown technology used by the Shadow Organization. The heat was gone, and it was even a bit cool here.

Everyone showed expressions of comfort.

Only Higana whimpered and groaned, clutching her calves which were covered in cooling ointment.

Well, she didn't yell. She knew her limits and knew that this was being followed. Yelling would attract attention, so she had no choice but to swallow her bad luck and shed tears of regret.

"Why am I applying so much?!"

"Waaah..."

""

Little Lugia shrank back.

"Does this place exude an aura of danger that makes you feel uneasy?"

"Ugh!"

Ze Shu understood.

The "coolness" here is because Lugia's mother's power radiates here, or rather: her power is sealed here. Because it's still hot outside.

"Keep moving forward, Gengar Corporal!"

"Goblin!"

Gengar hopped forward.

As Gengar had predicted, Elina passed through many security checkpoints along the way, suggesting a very high level of secrecy. However, without exception, the clever Gengar easily cracked all of them.

Gengar was incredibly powerful until it reached the last round iron gate.

But Gengar became frustrated after reaching this last gate.

Because the condition for opening the door is fingerprint unlocking.

Where would a ghost get its fingerprints?

Gengar looked at its round hands and fell into despair.

"This is probably a fairly spacious area, unlike the narrow passageways we've come through," Little Blue said, tapping on the door with her ear. "This is probably the most important place in this base, accessible only to a select few key members of the Shadow Organization—hence the fingerprint unlock."

Ze Shu nodded: "Then we can't get in using the normal methods."

Higana clutched her calf and asked, "So what do we do?"

Ze Shu smiled and said, "Then it won't be normal."

Higana blinked: "How is it abnormal?"

She thought Ze Shu would come up with some ingenious way to crack the combination lock on the door.

But Ze Shu only slowly uttered a few words: "Why don't we just go straight through this door?"

Higanbana: "————"

She puffed out her cheeks and said, "Then how are we supposed to get in!"

Ze Shu casually remarked, "Are you just going to smash this door down?"

"Hmph! Even if I were an idiot, I could have come up with this idea." Higanbana muttered, tossing a Poké Ball. Salamence appeared beside her, confidently declaring, "Then let Lady Higanbana do it!"

"Salamander! Dragon God Dive! Smash this door!"

"roar!!"

The Flying Dragon glanced at the seemingly impenetrable iron gate, swallowed hard, but having been a stubborn creature since its infancy, it showed no fear. With all its might, its dragon energy enveloped its body, and it slammed into the iron gate.

A loud "boom" echoed through the space in front of the door.

That door...

Not moving.

The Salamence, on the other hand, was thrown back by the recoil and fell backward. The whole dragon was dizzy, and it looked like a big red bump was about to appear on its head.

Ze Shu: "Looks like this won't work, this door is too hard."

Hoopa, who appeared next to Ze Shu, also made a face at Xi Jiana: "So lame!"

Higana blushed and glared at Hoopa: "Come on, try it if you dare!"

Hoopa scoffed, "So what if Hoopa's here! Do you think Hoopa's as pathetic as you?"

It summoned the ring.

"Go for it!"

"Who?! Who's outside?!"

"Damn it! They really did catch up!"

The space behind the door was indeed as wide as Xiao Lan had described—a circular area about a hundred meters in diameter, filled with experimental equipment. The loud slamming of the door earlier had made Alina stare intently at it, her mind on edge.

-

The four dark Pokémon beside her were also on high alert, gathering terrifying attacks that their bodies could not withstand, ready to unleash their full power once the gate was breached.

"No, all four of you stay here like this, aiming at this door, you can't stop even if it kills you!"

"I have to, I have to release the ultimate weapon quickly..."

'

Alina was gritting her teeth as she gave her instructions, but when she turned her head, she saw a man's face. The man greeted her, "Hello."

Wasn't this person just banging on the door?

How did I suddenly appear behind her?!

Alina froze, every hair on her body trembling.

Hoopa retrieved the ring he had just "scooped up" and said to her with a grin, "Ze Shu is greeting you, why aren't you saying anything!"

Alina did speak.

She screamed in terror, "Attack!"

This was clearly said to the four dark Pokémon around him.

but..

Her four dark Pokémon were already accumulating terrifying energy that their bodies couldn't withstand, aiming at the gate. They couldn't suddenly turn around and attack Zeki from 180 degrees behind them.

But they are Dark Pokémon, and must unconditionally obey their master's commands.

They eventually launched their attack.

In an instant, terrifying attacks such as "Destruction Ray" and "Solar Beam" were unleashed.

These attacks were directed at...

The iron gate they were originally aiming at!

A series of booming sounds rang out as the gate, which even Sissana's Salamence couldn't break, was finally breached by the relentless combined attack of Erina's four Dark Pokémon, leaving a small but noticeable gap.

The area around the gap was torn and tattered, suggesting that the damage caused was extremely severe.

However, the four Dark Pokémon that caused this destruction—Butterfly, Roselia, Emporio, and Victreebel—collapsed on the ground, exhausted, after using their moves.

It was as if this one attack had drained them of all their life force.

Alina had already discarded them, using them as cushions to prevent Zeki and his group from entering. Her sole purpose was to release Dark Lugia. And in the process, nothing else mattered.

Seeing this, Higana swallowed hard, then patted Salamence's head thankfully: "Luckily, Salamence, you didn't break down this door, allowing Hoopa to pull us out from behind this woman. If we had gone through this door, I'm afraid..."

"Roar...."

""

"Did I hit you too hard? Sorry, sorry!"

"roar!"

The Salamence let out a frustrated roar.

Its forehead had just been throbbing from the bump, and this trainer casually patted its head again... How can they do that?

On the other side...

"No! You can't... Ah!"

With a terrified scream from Alina, the crawling wing summoned by Little Blue flapped its thick, fuzzy body and slammed her down beneath it with a devastating "Mount Tai!" "Ugh!"

Groundwing is quite a heavy Pokémon. After all, it's a glutton; one of its bug-like creatures can eat more than all of Blue's other Pokémon.

Alina's groan accompanied it as it pressed down.

The pink-haired woman with smoky makeup and pigtails completely fainted.

"It seems like we're putting too much pressure on her. We need to ask her some more questions..." Xiao Lan was about to say something when she noticed that Ze Shu was staring motionless at the center of the field. She looked over and was also stunned.

Just now, because of Alina's threat, they only paid a little attention to their surroundings and had no time to worry about anything else.

But now that Alina has fainted, they have noticed that in the center of the venue is a “giant” that seems to be an integral part of the spacious space with a diameter of over a hundred meters.

Its body was at least thirty or forty meters long; its skin was as black as ink; its wings were as wide as giant arms; and its dorsal fins stood upright, enormous...

Little Blue is very familiar with its appearance.

It looks exactly like the little Lugia in Ze Shu's arms now, but seems to be dozens of times bigger.

"This is..."

'

"Is Zeshu talking about Lucia's mother?"

"These simple chains wrapped around its body, as well as the devices and strips of cloth connecting it to the base, must be measures taken by the Shadow to restrain it." After a long while, Ze Shu slowly exhaled and said.

"These devices also show that Lugia's mother is not like Suicune, who is easily controlled by others and is subjected to 24-hour high-intensity exploitation in the underground of Silicium City without any complaints."

Are you still scared?

Ze Shu's last sentence was spoken to the little Lugia in his arms.

Little Lucia was stunned.

It looked at the towering, dark Lugia before it, which stood like a giant statue, and seemed to be deeply moved.

It wanted to break free from Ze Shu's embrace and fly up to this mother who was both familiar and unfamiliar, but halfway through the flight, a sudden sense of crisis made its dorsal fins pop out: "Woo woo!"

The little Lugia, its dorsal fins flaring, looked at the towering, dark Lugia in front of it with a panicked and confused expression.

The Dark Lugia, however, made no unusual movement.

Or rather, from the moment they entered and killed Alina until now, this Dark Lugia has remained as still as a lifeless statue, without the slightest movement. Even when Little Lugia approached, it was the same.

The only indication that the Dark Lugia was still alive was the beeping sound from what was probably a machine monitoring vital signs.

"This is so strange, Ze Shu!" said Xiao Lan.

There are too many suspicious points here.

It's highly unlikely that Dark Lugia isn't Little Lugia's mother.

After all, Lugia can also transform into this "Dark Lugia" state, which is inherited—"the ultimate dark Pokémon of shadow," so there can't possibly be two of them, right?

Furthermore, it's unlikely that Dark Lugia wouldn't have maternal love for Baby Lugia—this can be seen from its resolute rebellion against the Shadow and its escape from Orei, all for the sake of giving birth to Baby Lugia.

But what exactly happened to Dark Lugia?

What was the sense of crisis that Little Lugia sensed from it?

It's likely that apart from the unconscious Alina, no one at the scene could explain it.