I, Zhulan's childhood sweetheart, was trapped in Xicui.

"Xu Li, you're so smart! You actually came up with this idea!"

He was interrupted before he could finish.

Xijiana took out the Poké Ball and excitedly captured the Roaring Moon with its eyes closed on the ground. She laughed, as if she imagined the scene of her and Xu Li wearing key stones on all ten fingers.

Xu Li was speechless.

He really wanted Xijiana to ease the charges against the Meteor People...

What a 'good' inheritor of the Meteor People.

Daigo, who was standing beside him, was a little stunned.

It turns out that the inheritors of the Meteor People have such great power.

That Mikoli, the heir of the Glass People...

Daigo shook his head.

……

Entering the cave entrance deep into Area Zero, there's just a dark, almost 'entrance'-like area ahead. But once you turn into the inner 'cave', the scene changes instantly, as if you've entered another world.

Xiaoye's eyes lit up: "What a beautiful crystal, completely different from the ones outside!"

Colorful crystals are embedded in the rock wall, all of which emit light. Although it is not as bright as the sunlight outside, it is bright enough for people to see the various things inside.

Before everyone had time to carefully observe the terrain here, they saw Daigo quickly take out a draft, dig out a large piece of one of the crystals, and hold it in his hand to examine it carefully.

Xu Li: “…”

Piper: "This..."

Sayo: "Mr. Daigo...I want one too!"

"Here!" Daigo generously dug out another big piece and handed it to Xiaoye.

Xu Li sighed, and saw Nimo pointing to a blue-green blooming 'flower' on another wall that was emitting a faint fluorescent light.

Nemo wasn't fooled by its protective appearance and exclaimed in surprise, "This is... Chief Yeci's ace Pokémon! Crystal Flower!"

"It has the 'poison-filled' ability, but every time there's a Pokémon battle, Chief Yeci always puts Crystal Flower last... It seems to have some tactical significance?" Nemo pondered.

Xu Li: “…”

There is no tactical significance, it is purely a let-off.

As they stopped and walked along, they could vaguely see traces of Pokémon life in the lower levels of Area Zero. Xu Li and the others also encountered a number of Paradox Pokémon, most of which took a quick look at the Groundwing and left.

Soon, they arrived at the fourth observation station - an observation station that was partially embedded with a huge colorful crystal, and even the outer wall showed signs of cracks.

Piper was surprised and said, "It's so shabby here...why?"

Xu Li shrugged: "Let's go in and take a look."

Entering, Papa's heart skipped a beat. The place was a mess, with much of the research equipment destroyed and scattered haphazardly on the floor. The crystals from outside had also seeped in, allowing everyone to clearly see the interior of the unlit Fourth Observatory without the need for lighting.

"What, what happened here!?" Piper exclaimed unconsciously, "Who destroyed the observatory!?"

Xu Li looked at the diary on the table with bite marks and guessed, "Maybe a Pokémon from outside broke in and messed up this place. Papa, you're probably overthinking this."

After weighing it, I found that this diary is a bit thick.

I opened the diary, it was still Futu's, and it turned out that Dr. Olin didn't like writing a diary.

The Taijing Paradise project is progressing more and more slowly... As expected, we're short on manpower. New researchers simply can't get their research done quickly enough. From a recent gathering, it seems Olin is facing the same problem. Sigh, research staff are in dire straits... If only there were someone like me...

Flip back.

[Adding a researcher doubles our efficiency! This researcher has the same knowledge and skills as me. Although a bit rigid, his work is impeccable!]

[With its help, the Taijing Paradise project is almost complete...]

Keep turning.

[Our research has run into difficulties. We've suddenly sensed a black energy within Tai Jing, with a strong destructive aura! ...While its negative impact hasn't been seen yet, the Tai Jing Paradise project must be halted!]

Number Two is becoming increasingly irritable, and the conflict with Number One is growing more intense... Is this energy influencing this? But I feel like this is probably its nature...

[Researching that energy has hit a bottleneck... I can't figure it out... Damn it...]

[My health hasn't been great lately... I'm often experiencing hallucinations, as if the world is upside down and breaking into pieces... Why?]

[My body is getting weaker... but I've made some progress in my research. I'll have to be patient and finish this phase first...]

The diary ends here.

Chapter 162: Winged Hair

"This……"

Seeing the last paragraph in the diary, Piper was stunned. He had never expected that the beautiful scene described in the previous diary would take a sharp turn for the worse in this diary.

But then, he suppressed his uneasiness and consoled himself, "He called me before at the Zero Zone Gate. I guess there shouldn't be any problems."

With that, Piper walked to the center of the fourth observation station and unlocked the 'lock'.

Xu Li was silent for a moment: "...Yeah."

At this moment, the hoarse sound of electricity rang out inside the observatory, followed by a steady male voice.

[Papa, it looks like you're not far from the Area Zero Research Institute. Come quickly, I'll be waiting for you inside.]

Piper asked in surprise, "Dad!?"

【…】

[Come on, come down quickly. ...I have something important that I need your help with.]

Piper frowned. "What's so important? And...why are these observatories so dilapidated..."

But Fotu did not answer this question.

[Come on! You'll understand once you get here. Once you get here...don't come over here, Papa! Go back the way you came! Don't enter the Area Zero Research Institute!]

"What's going on..." Piper frowned, wanting it but not wanting it.

[Don't enter the Zero...ZeroZeroZero Institute, peee pa! Go back the way you came, to the Institute... Hello~ kids... Hello~ Hello~ ha]

Dr. Fotu's voice sounded strange, mechanical and repetitive.

Piper's eyes widened and she froze in place, "What's going on!?"

Nimo wondered, "Why do you have to hello so many times?"

Mudan said softly, "It feels like a program malfunction..."

【…Restarting.】

But finally, with the flash of a mechanical voice, Dr. Futu's voice stopped abruptly.

Papa's pupils shrank rapidly, and the uneasiness in his heart became more intense. He turned quickly and took steps, wishing he could immediately reach the Zero Zone Research Institute at the bottom to check on his parents.

"Papa! Don't be anxious!" Xu Li, who had been observing for a long time, grabbed Papa who was about to take a step forward. "The way down here is very winding and there is still a long distance. It's very dangerous for you to go down alone!"

"But……"

"Take it easy for now. What you need to do most now is to calm down." Xu Li pursed his lips and said, "Trust us. We will accompany you to explore the final situation."

Piper remained silent, but she still stopped.

He was still very grateful to Xu Li.

He had thought this trip was just a "Zero Zone Tour Group" organized by Teacher Xu Li, but he hadn't expected it to be so relevant to his own situation. If it weren't for Xu Li's request, he wouldn't have known what was going on here...

"Calm down first." Xu Li patted Papa's shoulder.

Considering the game's plot, he couldn't offer any consolation that Piper's parents might be alright. Although he'd previously made some infernal jokes about Batman (as Piper) or a family of mice (as Piper).

But seeing the look on Papa's face at this moment.

If this kind of hellish joke happened to the real person, it would be pure hell.

Although it was inevitable, Xu Li could only allow Papa to gradually accept it. At least when the time came to face that situation, he wouldn't suffer a cardiac arrest.

"Kou Jie!"

At this moment, Gengar came to the fourth detection area holding a small Pokémon, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

Xijiana looked surprised: "Is this... a dream demon?"

"This isn't a dream demon..." Xu Li shook his head, "It's fluttering hair."

Then he looked at Gengar: "You are..."

Gengar smiled widely and threw the Dream Demon in his hand into the crowd.

"Kou Jie!"

It discovered that this suspicious guy had been secretly observing them!

Maybe there's some intelligence!

Gengar showed an expression asking for praise, and received a pat on the head from Xu Li as he wished.

"Well done..."

"Kou Jie~!"

"Ha, ha!" Zhenyifa shouted at this time, shaking the long hair on his head, pointing angrily at the fat black man who attacked it and took it away!

It's not some suspicious guy! You're the ones who are suspicious!

As Zhen Yifa became angry, the arrogance that was unique to Zhen Yifa began to emanate.

"Kouhei!" Gengar was not willing to be outdone.

In an instant, a purer and more powerful ghost aura threatened Zhen Yifa, making Zhen Yifa stunned.

It originally thought that this fat black man was just taking advantage of its momentary unpreparedness to attack it, but it didn't expect that he was so strong.

But you're so strong and you still want to launch a sneak attack, do you have any shame?!

Zhen Yifa was instantly angry.

"Hah~!"

Even though he was at a disadvantage, Zhenyifa was determined to teach this fat black man a lesson! This was the dignity of the ancient pterosaur soul!

Just as it was about to condense a shadow ball, a palm slapped its forehead, interrupting its move.

"Alright, don't fight. We attacked you first, and we were wrong." Xu Li quietly pinched the part of Zhenyifa that looked like her pterosaur wings and hair, then took out a few energy cubes, "This is an apology, please accept it..."

"Hah...?"

Zhenyifa was momentarily bewildered. He stared blankly at the energy cube that was handed to him, unsure whether to accept it or refuse it.

The enemy gave it a hard blow, and it flapped its wings fearlessly, but this sugar-coated bullet...

The fluttering hair has not yet experienced it.

"Eat it, it's delicious." Seeing Zhen Yifa was a little hesitant, Xu Li stuffed the energy cube into its mouth, "This is the food for this black fat guy you hate."

Gengar, who originally didn't care, was stunned and instantly felt aggrieved.

Xu Li: “…”

After fluttering his wings and chewing the energy cube, he whispered to Gengar, "I'm just giving it a taste of your food. I'm not deducting your food."

Gengar instantly stopped feeling wronged and nodded in a mocking manner: "Kou Jie..."

Then let this little dream demon who has never tasted anything good have a taste of Xu Li’s special flavor.

And the other side.

"Hah, hahahaha!?"

How could it be so delicious! Zhen Yifa sighed in his heart.

Xu Li saw the light gradually brightening in Zhen Yi's eyes, and he ate up all the energy cubes one by one. He smiled and said, "Do you want more?"

Zhen Yifa's eyes were hesitant, but he nodded honestly: "Haha~"

"From what you said before, you have lived around this fourth observatory for a long time? I see the road leading down here is winding. Could you please lead the way for us? We just need to go down to the bottom." Xu Li took out some more energy blocks.

"Hah...?"