Chapter 35: Paint a Big Cake

The shaded spot shielded by a massive boulder.

"Can you let me go?"

"No. Stop wasting words and turn on the radar. There's something important I want to see."

All Baimu refused Gaowu's request and ordered her to activate the radar.

Gaowu was silent for a few seconds, glanced again at her teammate on the ground, and decided to obediently cooperate with the man in front of her.

Although so far she had not suffered any beating or bullying, she was well aware it was not because the other party was kind-hearted or merciful, but because an injured her was not conducive to his carrying out his plan.

Gaowu did not really want to see this person's brutal side, because for her it brought no benefit at all.

Beep.

Radar activated.

All Baimu leaned over to look east, and sure enough saw a solid red dot — that was a teammate currently in combat.

He didn't know which one, but figured the enemy should be a Jian heading east.

Before the fight started All Baimu had been watching the east side, and remembered that the red dot on his side had already become solid back then, proving both sides had already engaged.

Still fighting and it hasn't ended yet?

Hopefully it can wear down that Jian's stamina enough.

"Sorry for the trouble, help heal them up." He patted Chansey on the head, pointing at Aron and Larvitar.

Because it had always been sneak attacks, both Pokémon were very lucky to have taken no real injuries, only physical exhaustion.

But they were still plenty tired, especially Aron, climbing up and down between the ground and the burrow, the most worn out.

Seeing both Pokémon show comfortable expressions under Heal Pulse, All Baimu waved and said: "Take a rest, rest up first, eat something."

He took some compressed rations and Pokémon food out of his bag, distributed them to Aron and the others, then raised a hand toward Gaowu. "Want some?"

"……"

Gaowu shook her head — where would she have the appetite to eat now. That person just now was right, factually speaking she who had betrayed her teammates already counted as having betrayed the Hound Pack.

Once they got out, she might very well be purged.

— Whether she could even get out was itself a question.

Her own life was clutched in someone else's hand, a tool to mislead others. If this kept up, she might die at her teammates' hands first.

On top of that, her Pokémon were still in someone else's hands and could only be retrieved by paying money — what on earth was she to do…

She covertly glanced at All Baimu, weighing how likely it was that she could take him out by surprise.

"?"

All Baimu blinked, chewing the dry food in his mouth, held out the waterskin and asked: "Want some water?"

"N-no… I do."

Gaowu had originally planned to refuse, but swallowed instinctively, only to discover her throat was so dry it was almost smoking, so she had no choice but to take it and carefully sip a mouthful.

But only after finishing did she realize this was her own waterskin.

Her face changed but she didn't dare show anger, silently handing it back.

"Don't be so uptight. Caution is the parent of safety. I don't want anything to happen in a place like this either, don't you agree?"

All Baimu smiled, still not drinking from that waterskin, but taking his own and gulping down a mouthful.

At this moment, the Hound Pack's radar time had not yet ended, and he glanced again, finding the red dot to the east had already vanished.

"Lost, huh."

He was a little regretful — to hold out this long there must have been a fierce fight; how nice it would have been to take them down directly.

"Goo?"

Aron scooted over, curiously looking up.

All Baimu said: "Take the initiative? We don't have that kind of strength for now, and picking up the scraps isn't that easy either. Just obediently set traps."

The new version of the trap consisted of two people: a male Hound Pack member playing the loser, and Gaowu as the winner — the odds of the enemy falling for it should rise greatly.

Of course Gaowu's situation would undoubtedly be more dangerous, but what right did a captive have to choose?

Thinking of this, she hugged her knees and curled up.

"Lucky?"

The gentle call made her raise her head, and she immediately saw Chansey standing in front of her, looking at her timidly.

"It is?" Gaowu looked at All Baimu.

The latter observed for a moment, then said, not very certainly: "Probably wants to heal you. Seeing the bloodstains on your face and hands, as a medic it can't hold itself back."

She belatedly looked at her palm, then touched her cheek, only then realizing that at some unknown time it had become covered in all sorts of small wounds.

In the past, she would definitely have cared a lot about these.

"…No need."

Gaowu shook her head and refused.

At this point, what was there to fuss over a few small wounds.

Chansey's face was full of anguish — as a Pokémon whose mission was healing, seeing someone not treat their wounds felt like bugs crawling all over its body; it wanted to urge her to take it seriously, but had absolutely no idea how to bring it up, and didn't have the courage to speak.

This made it instinctively turn its head to look at All Baimu, its eyes full of helplessness.

"Lucky…"

All Baimu rubbed his stubble-sprouting chin, saw Gaowu looking utterly dejected, thought it over, then painted her a picture: "How about this — help me trick one more, and I'll let you go."

"……"

The other party did not speak.

He continued: "Normally, how much to recover a Pokémon?"

"…Around three hundred thousand."

"Fine, if I can scam one more for you, once the three add up to three hundred thousand, I'll return it to you."

"... Really?"

"I don't have a habit of lying anyway. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do about it." Baimu spread his hands, and in the blink of an eye saw hope gradually light up Gao Wu's face.

This told him that appropriately "giving way on profit" was the right call.

This woman just now had nearly written "I don't want to live anymore" all over her face; if he kept pressuring her with dangerous missions, she might develop self-destructive tendencies.

Actually, self-destruction wouldn't matter—what worried him was her causing trouble.

If she doesn't even want to live, what is there to fear?

Of course.

Knocking her out like he did that other person was also a fine option, but Baimu thought it over carefully and still felt a "living person" was more useful than a "dead one."

"Go on, spray her with medicine and bandage her up."

He handed the spray and bandages to Chansey, giving it an encouraging push.

"Lucky!"

Chansey nodded heavily, mustered its courage, and stepped forward.

Gao Wu still didn't speak, but her cooperative movements showed she tacitly consented to this medical treatment.

The hidden danger was resolved.

Baimu took one last look at the radar, confirming twelve dots remained on it.

Three people had already been defeated?

The match had only been going for half an hour, yet the whole battle lasted a full six hours.

"Hope everything goes smoothly."

Baimu let out a breath. If his guess was right, Ken, unable to find him while searching east, would have to retrace his path; he hoped the trap he'd set could fool that guy.

Even if it didn't fool him, he'd have to find a way to gain some advantage.

Based on the intel he'd pried out of Gao Wu earlier, that guy's Pokémon combat power was no small matter; in one-on-one combat, none of the other fourteen members of the Mad Dog Squad were a match for him.

Moreover, his own physical constitution was excellent, and his unique personality let him thrive within the Mad Dog Squad. He was the type the heavens themselves fed—bound to become a cadre of the Mad Dog Squad in the future.

Outside.

As Baimu's plan took shape, the second wave of betting opened.

Still on whether the trap would succeed.

But compared to last time, the number of people betting on Baimu to win was clearly far greater.

"The Mad Dog Squad sent out a bunch of idiots—I'm not trusting them again!"

"Right! That kind of trap you could see through with your eyes shut! And they fell for it?"

"I finally get what the boss said before—too many fools, not enough scammers... so there really are people that dumb!"

The spectators chattered away, changing their tune from before and attributing the trap's success to the Mad Dog Squad members being too stupid.

Of course, not everyone thought this way.

Those who saw Baimu as a piece of gold were everywhere; they simply didn't make much noise, and after giving rewards in the form of tips, turned their attention to more important matters.

The match control room, the banquet hall.

Lady Ayana and that man were in different environments, yet, unexpectedly, both were staring at the rightmost screen.

On it was a Mad Dog Squad member with a face full of arrogant viciousness.

They had a premonition.

Before long.

Baimu would surely have a vicious battle with this person.

——

A pitted, uneven ground, with loose stones scattered everywhere.

Beneath a massive rock wall casting sprawling shadows, a Quicksand Squad member whose face was hidden by a hood and bandages sat on the back of a collapsed Mad Dog Squad member, eating rough dry rations.

Not far off, a dust-covered Aron looked around in every direction.

But all of this was being watched by another Mad Dog Squad member.

He had been lying in wait for about three minutes.

At first he too thought there was a trap, but after observing carefully he figured there probably wasn't, and the opponent's condition wasn't great—the reason seemed to be the smashed water canteen beside them.

Out of water, huh?

Heheheh.

"Then I won't hold back!"

Full of bravado, he charged forward with two canine Pokémon. "Battle! Bite him to death! Tear him apart!"

"Awoo!"

Two big dogs sprinted forward.

Clearly, his ambush was outside the Quicksand Squad member's expectations.

He saw with his own eyes the Quicksand Squad member's expression change drastically, Aron look horrified, and he couldn't hide the grin at the corner of his mouth.

Beep.

A beep came from the wristband; although no feedback sound came from the other side, he didn't care.

They must have just hidden, that's all.

Even necessary to think about it?

And when one of them tangled with Aron and the other pinned the enemy down, viciously tearing at his arm, his vigilance dropped to its lowest.

And so.

From the cliff behind came a sudden violent gust of wind, like some heavy object plummeting down.

Whoosh—

Thud!

"Holy crap!"

A massive force slammed him flat in an instant, his face meeting the ground in an intimate embrace, both arms nearly snapping.

"Sometimes it's important to look up too, you know!"

All Baimu twisted the man's arms behind his back, pointing toward the two canine Pokémon rushing back to help. "Dragon Breath!"

Hum!

The buzz of wings exploded, and indigo-blue flames surged out from above him, instantly blasting the two canine Pokémon that had turned to charge back into the air.

"Lahoo!"

The sound of the ultrasonic larva came through.

"Don't rush."

All Baimu quickly pinned the man down, frisked every pocket, and soon found the empty Poké Balls, sweeping them back and forth to suck the two panicked canine Pokémon inside.

"You cheated! The teammate distance limit hasn't been lifted yet—how could you possibly have grouped up together!"

The Houndoom team member shouted furiously. He hadn't managed to turn his head to see the Houndoom team uniform, assuming it was the result of teamwork, and for a moment was extremely agitated.

But before he could shout twice more, a hand-chop landed on the back of his neck, and he very naturally passed out from the pain.

"Did it work?"

All Baimu was a little surprised—he had only meant to try it, and hadn't actually expected it to succeed.

He couldn't help but check the man's breathing.

Mm.

Still breathing.