Pokémon Detective Case Files.

He looked up at the dense array of unknown totems, his gaze filled with a reverence that seemed to seethe through gritted teeth.

"No wonder the 'City Defense Division' let us easily pass through the maze and get here. The maze can disperse the forces of a large army, while this energy center can attract the Alliance's highest combat power and drag us into a bottomless war of attrition. It's an unsolvable dead end. As long as the Alliance wants to retake the headquarters, even if they know it's a trap, they have to jump in."

"What's the use of saying all this now?" Lian Wu's tone remained calm, but anxiety was also evident between his brows.

"After fighting for so long, the number of enemy unknown totems hasn't decreased significantly, indicating the existence of some kind of rotation mechanism. Combat alone can't solve the problem. Now we only have two paths—to retreat, or to stay?"

Just as he was speaking, the old craftsman who was the King of Fighters charged at Regidorago again.

It imitated the tactics of the previous Servant General, and before the Dragon Giant's "Dragon Power" descended, it used the "See Through" move to capture the unknown totem that was momentarily exposed due to the dissipation of energy, and then hit it accurately with a "Sonic Punch", which also turned the opponent's entire move into harmless wind pressure.

However, before the old craftsman could continue his pursuit, even more unknown totems surged into Reginald's body, filling the void left by the damage.

The blueberries didn't move.

He stared at the new batch of unknown totems continuously emerging from the crystal cracks, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

But even worse news was yet to come.

"Everyone..." The handsome man raised his chin, gesturing for everyone to look in the direction they had come from—the entrance to the passage they had traversed.

The breach they had created there is now completely sealed off.

Whether the other party used some kind of mechanism or not, in any case, the escape route had been silently and completely covered by a newly formed crystal.

On the surface of those crystals, dozens of unknown totems that hadn't yet transformed into phantoms were still quietly embedded there, staring at everyone in the cave with their disproportionately large eyes.

"There's no way out either." The handsome guy's voice was relatively calm, but the delinquent frog behind him shrugged and spread his hands.

All strategies have been exhausted.

The healing potions are gone, the recovery items are gone, and there's no way out.

Even time—seems to be running out.

but--

Just then.

Blueberries noticed.

A tiny, almost imperceptible commotion came from the direction of the edge of the battlefield.

It was a breeze, a breeze that would not normally appear in a closed room.

And in the direction from which the wind came, amidst those densely packed, unknown totems.

A small, white, mottled fish, mingling in the shadows of the ever-changing, unknown totems, silently swam into the cave.

Chapter 477 You can't always use a key to unlock a door.

The wind indicates that there is an air vent in this cave—the little fish must have swum in through some hidden ventilation channel.

Upon closer reflection, this is perfectly reasonable.

Regardless of the fact that the unknown totems themselves require air and supplies, the unknown totems within the caves are constantly being rotated and replaced, which necessitates a stable entrance and exit route. Otherwise, the battlefield would quickly become filled with individuals unconscious from combat, severely interfering with the efficiency of the 'City Defense Master's' remote control of phantoms.

A 'city defense master' aiming for a perfect castle would never leave such a flaw.

In other words, the plasma cluster must have left another passage in this seemingly enclosed cave—a path that wasn't forcibly opened when they entered. It's just that before that, it was obscured by layers of phantom images of the unknown totem, hidden from view.

Now, this only weakness has been exposed by an inconspicuous little pufferfish.

“Lian Wu.” Yueju turned around, her gaze falling on her old colleague beside her.

The fighters understood immediately and turned their gazes toward Wanlong in a relay.

"Can we do that again?" Lian Wu asked.

The novelist glanced at the Chandelier spirit, who was locked in combat with Regice's phantom, and quickly estimated: "We need to rest, at least five minutes."

“No problem.” Lila, who understood the Heavenly Kings’ hint, immediately said, “Leave this to me and Raigong.”

Before the words were even finished, Lei Gong, who had just finished his rotation and rest, transformed into a bolt of lightning and instantly took over the position of the Crystal Lamp Spirit. The latter did not linger in the fight, leaving behind a lingering purple flame afterimage before its true form gracefully retreated to Wanlong's side.

The novelist rummaged through his nearly empty stash of props and pulled out a packet of powder. The moment the packet was taken out, the spirit of the crystal chandelier visibly trembled.

As a top-tier Pokémon capable of unleashing magnificent flames and shadows and being invincible on the battlefield, it seemed to have seen something terrifying.

"Bear with it," Wanlong comforted her, her tone carrying a hint of coaxing a child. "The next breakthrough depends on you."

She opened the powder packet and carefully poured the dark brown powder inside into the flickering purple flames above the chandelier spirit's head.

The moment the powder touched the flame, the candlelight above its head abruptly turned emerald green. Chandelure's black, lampstand-like arms instantly curled up in pain, and the entire Pokémon shrank into a ball.

This is a universal powder—an ancient Chinese medicine formula that can relieve all abnormal conditions and even has a certain effect of boosting spirits. It has only one drawback—

It was extremely bitter.

It's so bitter that even Pokémon that like bitter tastes can hardly stand it. It's so bitter that if a trainer and their partner aren't close enough, forcing them to use it might even lead to a rift in their relationship.

But of course, there couldn't be such a problem between Wanlong and Crystal Lamp Fire Spirit.

That shouldn't be possible, right?

The flames quickly returned to their original purple color, but the Crystal Lamp Spirit, hovering in the air, seemed to maintain a subtle distance from Wanlong.

In those black, windowpane-like eyes, there was clearly a subtle resistance.

"No way?" Wanlong protested incredulously, her hand still spraying the wound medicine. "I've tasted this powder before when I stayed up all night to finish a manuscript! Is it really that bitter?"

The chandelier spirit swayed its body, its eyes filled with disdain that said "I can't explain it to you"—its expression was just like that of a human cub who had been forced to take Chinese medicine and then had to listen to someone nagging that "it's not bitter, it's quite sweet."

"Are you all ready yet?" Yueju called out to Wanlong, almost timing it precisely five minutes. "Although it wouldn't be a problem for you to rest a little longer, that little fish that crawled out of the vent seems to be surrounded by an unknown totem. I want to protect it and see where it came from."

Wanlong looked in the direction the gambler was pointing.

At the edge of the battlefield, the small white figure was caught in the siege of unknown totems. It was struggling to defend itself and it seemed that it would soon be swallowed up by the "awakened power" of various attributes.

"If we can escape this time, it'll be a huge hero." The novelist turned his gaze to the crystal chandelier spirit beside him. "Ready?"

The chandelier spirit did not answer. It simply leaped into the air, its purple flames burning brightly and emitting a reassuring crackling sound.

Wanlong pushed up his glasses, a smile appearing on his lips.

She raised the pen with the key embedded in its tip once more—and the next moment, the light of super evolution, symbolizing bond and trust, suddenly shone brightly.

"Break through!"

At the same time, Lian Wu clasped his hands together and made a crisp sound.

The old craftsman responded immediately. Using the concrete pillars as a fulcrum, it suddenly leaped up in the narrow cave, the powerful building beams sweeping in all directions. Countless crystals shattered in response, and the unknown totems attached to them were thrown into the air along with the shattered crystals before they could escape. They scattered in all directions and were completely routed.

Lila, the handsome guy, and the three superstars all started moving at the same time.

Seeing this, the legendary giants seemed to sense the danger and took action. Regigi, the fastest of them all, instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, attempting to appear in their path to intercept them.

At that moment, Cranberry chuckled to herself.

Suddenly, a figure clad in iron armor appeared like a ghost before the leaping lightning.

The sharp, bladed arm, imbued with intense Dark-type energy, swung out with a swift motion, striking Reggieleigh squarely as he prepared to unleash a move.

It was a simple and unpretentious "surprise attack".

Because the unknown totem was not completely deactivated from its legendary phantom state before the attack, and because General Servant Blade only made a hasty move, this attack could only delay the opponent's actions for a moment.

But this moment was enough.

"Crystal Chandelier Spirit, 'Big Character Explosive Flame'!"

Because the attack of the Super Crystal Chandelier Spirit has already begun!

In an instant, the shooting out of crimson flames, like the fire of the apocalypse, slammed solidly into Reggie Elegy's body.

The phantom, composed of lightning and unknown totems, let out a sharp screech. Its golden, lightning-clad body suddenly disintegrated, and most of its form transformed into countless swirling black symbols. Whether due to increased energy expenditure or a change in some condition, as the battle continued, the unknown totems that made up the phantom seemed to be increasingly vulnerable to the impact of powerful attacks, revealing their true forms.

Wanlong gave them no chance to catch their breath.

"Continue the pursuit, use 'Purgatory'!"

The eight newly formed branches of the Super Crystal Chandelier swayed simultaneously, and a deep purple flame swept out from all angles.

This wasn't so obvious when dealing with legendary Pokémon—after all, by the time Unown revealed its true form, Chandelure had already reverted to its Mega Evolution state. But times have changed, and in this intense, chaotic battle, nothing is more suitable for clearing the way than Mega Chandelure!

As if echoing the praise from Wanlong Tianwang behind them, countless unknown totems collapsed to the ground in droves, like a large-scale concert venue where Jigglypuff's "singing" moves had been maliciously broadcast. However, the burnt smell emanating from them made the scene far more tragic than any botched concert.

"Speaking of which... doesn't this flame consume oxygen?" The handsome guy following behind sniffed and asked Wanlong in a low voice.

The Ghost King patted his chest, a hint of smugness in his voice: "Don't worry. As long as the flames released by the Crystal Lamp Spirit remain in their blue ghostly fire state, what's burning is only the energy dissipating from the surrounding crystals. We've been keeping an eye on this since we entered the cave, otherwise we would have been starving long ago."

During the conversation, the path to the ventilation vents suddenly became clear.

The old craftsman and the servant general took turns to break through obstacles and force the unknown totems hidden in the illusions to reveal their true forms; the super crystal lamp spirit provided support from behind, using wide-range fire attacks to wipe them out in batches.

Ahead, a visible exit finally appeared.

"Thunder God—[Discharge]!"

As soon as the detective gave her instructions, Mama Little Fish, who had been struggling against the "awakening power" of the unknown totem, was suddenly enveloped in a layer of soft electric light.

The next moment, Lei Gong appeared with a roar, stepping on arcs of electricity. His handsome mane stood up in the static electricity, while the unknown totems that had been attacking him fell to the ground in paralysis.

"The hostage has been successfully rescued." Yueju looked at the bewildered little fish being protected by Leigong and whistled easily. "Now, it's time to retreat."

The experienced construction worker responded immediately, sweeping across the concrete column and instantly widening the passageway.

The group filed in without stopping, leaving the enormous legendary giants far behind.

Inside the passage they entered, an unbelievable scene unfolded—groups of unknown totems lined up in orderly rows, divided into left and right columns, moving towards each other like a high-speed rolling cassette tape.

They flow along some unseen path, one batch being transported out from the depths of the cave, while another batch is replenished from the outside in, in a way that is eerily orderly.

The intrusion of the Heavenly King and the police officers instantly disrupted this meticulously crafted rotation system.

The advancing ranks were cut off, the retreating ranks were blocked, and countless unknown totems were crammed together in the narrow passage. Layers of black symbols with white eyes were forced to writhe and struggle in the dim light, like a pot of boiling black soup. As the enemy drew closer, they simply abandoned their original order, collectively reversed direction, and scattered into the depths of the passage.

As a result, the entire rotation system completely collapsed.

The intruders' attack pattern remained the same as before—the old craftsman wielded concrete pillars to clear the way, the servant general's blades drove them away from the flanks, and the super crystal chandelier fire spirit unleashed a wide-ranging burst of flames to bring up the rear. The Heavenly Kings' trump cards, like shepherds, drove the scattered unknown totems forward with triumphant strides.

In this extremely chaotic situation, the "City Defense Master" Gerald was completely unable to effectively monitor, let alone control, the intruders.

—Because it's too chaotic.

The "eyes" of every unknown totem were squeezed out of place, and the information transmitted through superpowers was blocked by layers of dense vision. All the pre-set defense mechanisms were rendered useless in this chaotic rout.

As for the phantoms of legendary Pokémon behind them, their enormous size completely blocked the narrow passage. They angrily pounded on the entrance, but could only watch helplessly as their prey slipped through their fingers—this was the disadvantage of a giant's size.

All these earth-shattering changes started with just an inconspicuous little fish.

At this moment, it is being carefully held in the arms of the handsome man.

The small white figure clearly hadn't figured out what was happening, and just blinked its eyes in confusion.

After groping around in the dark for about twenty minutes in the narrow ventilation tunnel, a huge mechanical roar began to sound from the outside.

The shrill whistling of metal rubbing together, the muffled clatter of gears meshing, the hissing of hydraulic systems—these were signs that the castle's structure was about to deform once again.

This time, no one was surprised. It would be strange if Jero didn't use this time to rebuild the castle's defenses.

Amidst the continuous roar, a white light suddenly shone from the center of the unknown totem group being driven away ahead.

The scattered totems rushed there in a hurry, scattering and disappearing into the open space outside.

—Exit, we've arrived.

The moment the white light engulfed their vision, everyone instinctively squinted.

As their vision readjusted to the light, the sight before them stunned everyone for a moment—

The familiar Gothic corridors, the familiar metal walls, and the familiar branching paths stretched out in all directions like a spider web. The exquisite etched patterns, the regularly arranged lighting sources, and the surveillance cameras that appeared every few meters all reminded them that they had returned to this labyrinth once again.

It felt like a different world.

But unlike before, the interior of the castle had clearly been rearranged. The density of the maze's branching paths had increased, the width of each passage had been reduced by a third, and many new partitions had been added to the ceiling. It was obvious that Geralt had learned from his previous experience—to prevent anyone from using the gaps in the walls to hide their tracks again.

However, compared to the crystal cave filled with legends, phantoms, and endless unknown totems, the orderly man-made maze in front of them gave everyone a strange sense of security.

At least here, the enemy is visible. At least here, hundreds of darting eyes won't suddenly appear from behind every wall.

It seems the "city defense division" is planning to use a complex maze to buy time.

Lingju stopped, stroked her chin, and scanned the fork in the road ahead. Just as she was about to start analyzing the next step...

The little fish in the handsome man's arms suddenly moved.