Chapter 159: The Dust Settles

Saying they'd act and then acting, the bikers were caught completely off guard.

The rooster-comb leader in particular saw Bibarel charging in like lightning, and his Mohawk nearly frizzed into an afro; he shouted for his Weezing to block it with Gyro Ball.

The nearby bikers also hurriedly sent out their own Pokémon in succession.

Who could have known that Chansey would suddenly appear, and with a raise of its two little claws, a terrifying weight instantly sent their hover bikes crashing to the ground—the lighter ones were damaged on the spot, the heavier ones immediately began belching black smoke, sparking widespread panic.

Their Weezing and Koffing were also forced to slam into the ground, producing a series of Peng Peng thuds like basketballs hitting the floor, spectacular as a shower of dumplings.

"Gaaass…"

The rooster-comb leader's Weezing couldn't help but let out a low, muffled groan; the Gyro Ball it had been about to use died on the vine.

Under such circumstances, only a few Muk reeking of pungent odor and Electrode that looked just like Poké Balls remained unscathed, but the bikers' cries of alarm left them wavering, unsure whether to turn back to rescue or continue attacking Bibarel or Chansey.

The next instant.

A pink storm whipped up, pushing outward in every direction like a wall made solid—exactly like autumn leaves swept before a gale—flipping every Pokémon and motorcycle along the way backward.

The bikers at the center point were sent flying by the shockwave, then slammed back down with Peng Peng thuds under the gravity field's pull, groaning in pain.

The bikers a little further out stared dumbfounded, momentarily at a loss for words to describe their feelings.

At this moment, Baimu sent over a command.

"Take them out!"

Immediately after.

The Quicksand team members, who had long been waiting, sent out their Pokémon one after another, bellowing for them to attack the bikers.

Most of the people Baimu had brought came from the Crystal Faction; having been chased and blocked by this bunch of trash who had popped out of nowhere, forced to retreat and defend their lines again and again, they were bursting with pent-up fury.

Now that they finally had a chance to get their hands on them, they went wild.

"Tell your men not to go too far."

Seeing the Quicksand team members from the Crystal Faction seeing red, Baimu quickly pulled back the Crystal Faction squad leader who was getting worked up too.

Dealing with a few examples was fine, but wiping them all out was unnecessary. They were short on hands right now—wiping them all out would also make handling the final cleanup a problem.

Maximize the benefit.

As for how much grievance the formal members of the Crystal Faction had suffered, that wasn't within his consideration; if the outer members or the public wanted blood for blood, he was more than happy to oblige.

The latter heard this and instinctively nodded: "Understood!"

But after responding, the squad leader himself was stunned, suddenly realizing that at some point he had already become wholeheartedly convinced by Baimu.

On another front.

Bibarel dragged back the dizzy rooster-comb leader; affected by gravity, its electromagnetic levitation had also lost its function, but fortunately it coordinated well with Chansey—the instant gravity was released, it was already in position and on the ground.

So it wasn't affected by this wide-area field-type move.

Chansey followed behind it, looking at the rooster-comb leader's trouser legs that were nearly worn through, wondering whether it should go help carry him. But on second thought, it decided against it—it didn't walk as fast as Bibarel, and might end up tearing the rooster-comb leader's underwear clean off.

A short while later.

The Quicksand team members successively took down those bikers, successfully recovering the wealth they had plundered, and smashed their speakers that could only blast noise.

"Is there anything you want to confess?"

Baimu looked at the rooster-comb leader, saw the resentment all over his face, and said: "You won't get many chances. I treat captives who confess leniently well; I don't have much fondness for the stubborn-lipped."

The offhand tone sent a chill through the rooster-comb leader's heart. "What do you want to know?"

"Was it Kojero who sent you here? Besides you lot, who else did he send?"

Baimu didn't waste words with him, asking point-blank.

The rooster-comb leader's eyes darted; just as he was about to shoot his mouth off, the former stepped on his hand. "Think before you speak. Don't forget your own situation!"

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

The rooster-comb leader let out a wail, hurriedly spilling every piece of intel Baimu wanted to know.

And at this moment.

A group of people suddenly emerged from Kojero's territory across the way.

"Yo-yo-yo-yo, what's going on here? And who are you lot? Making a mess on the Hound Squad's turf?" The leader let out a mocking, sing-song voice.

The Quicksand team members all turned to look at Baimu in unison.

The latter's expression didn't change. "Bring the prisoners, we're leaving."

Saying that, he turned and got straight onto his hover bike.

"Hold on!"

Seeing that Baimu was completely ignoring him, the leader's expression shifted. "Stop right there! You beat up people on our turf and think you can just walk away? Yao Mu, did your boss ever teach you what manners are!?"

《High Above the Sky》

Still no response.

Baimu had already ridden off.

The remaining Quicksand team members glanced at that group, faces either mocking or strange, and left with the biker captives in tow.

"This is too much!"

The leader clenched his fists, grinding his teeth at Baimu's insufferably arrogant attitude.

Someone said: "Boss, should we call over those other forces from earlier…"

"No."

The leader's face darkened. "Word of what happened here will spread fast. Those trash are the sharpest—they'll know Yao Mu came and definitely won't want to come back. Besides, a dog that bites doesn't bark—what is this guy actually trying to do…"

Without a doubt they were Kojero's subordinates; seeing the bikers easily crushed by Baimu's group, they had wanted to take the chance to come out and exchange a few words.

Little did they expect Baimu to ignore him entirely.

Treating him like air the whole time.

That confidence made the leader uneasy inside, and as the Crystal Faction's old enemy, the fact that Baimu would come to reinforce the Crystal Faction was itself worth giving him pause.

What exactly happened in the underground city?

The leader began contacting Kojero, who was stationed at the center of the territory, and relayed this intelligence to him.

"... Let's keep watching."

Kojero was silent for a long time, then decided to continue observing. In any case, he had already found new partners, large enough in scale that he didn't need to worry about the Quicksand Squad's invasion.

But engaging the Quicksand Squad in a firefight at this juncture would also be extremely unwise.

—

Back at the temporary base.

The Crystal Squad members who had returned in high spirits discovered that quite a few more people were on-site. Spotting their Sand Squad insignia, they immediately realized they had been "home-raided."

They stared at Baimu in disbelief — just moments ago he had been swaggering alongside them, and now he had turned around and stabbed them in the back!

The Crystal Squad members had wanted to slack off, but they soon discovered that the Sand Squad's numbers kept growing, as if they weren't needed at all. This block had clearly slipped beyond their control.

But the squad leader had no recourse except to phone his superiors.

Baimu's combat prowess had already been demonstrated earlier — to say nothing of others, crushing him would be effortless. There was no need to invite trouble.

On top of that.

"Big Brother Baimu! We did it!"

Many dust-covered members of the Underdog Squad emerged from deep within the block, leading a large group of people. Their faces were full of excitement, looking as though they had completed a monumental mission.

Without a doubt, the Underdog Squad members Baimu had dispatched had successfully persuaded the last holdout group still resisting in this block.

This block of the Crystal Squad's could truly be considered settled at last.