Chapter 41: Evil Begets Evil

Jian felt there was still a possibility of turning the tables.

Because the Crow boss hadn't sent word yet, even though his hands and feet could barely move, he still clung to hope, constantly imagining how he would slice Baimu's flesh off piece by piece later.

That expectation kept spreading—until the ultrasonic larva returned and dumped the unconscious Crow boss onto the ground.

Despair left him utterly dispirited.

The reason the Crow boss hadn't won was that, upon hearing his Trainer's cry for help, he panicked and was accidentally struck by the ultrasonic larva's Dragon Breath.

The Pokémon he'd pinned his hopes on had been dragged down by him and lost.

How laughable.

Baimu softly thanked the ultrasonic larva and recalled it into its Poké Ball to rest.

Chansey had fainted after delivering the final Heal Pulse to Roggenrola, but from what he could tell it was just some mental exhaustion—sleeping it off would be enough to recover.

Roggenrola had recovered a little stamina after evolving, and with the Heal Pulse plus some food to replenish energy, hiding in a shady spot for a short nap would leave it just fine.

Baimu recalled Houndoom and the other Pokémon, roughly bandaged the wound on his arm, and replenished some water.

He sat on a rock shaded by a tall cliff, looking down at Jian, who was twisted in pain. That once-arrogant face was now filled with fear and agony.

Those eyes that had always looked down on everyone else were now pleading.

But it couldn't stir the slightest sympathy in Baimu.

"Beep!"

The Rotom Drone above let out a soft chime and slowly descended beside him. "You have received a total of 5,380,000 in tips."

"Hm?"

Baimu and Jian respectively showed expressions of surprise and disbelief.

Five million in tips—who was that generous?

After all, even if he only got thirty percent, five million worked out to one and a half million for him—enough not only to pay back what he owed Otsuka but to have some left over.

However.

This money had been earned with his life on the line; thinking of it that way, five million wasn't all that much.

Baimu composed himself, looked calmly at the dumbfounded Jian, and said:

"I ask, you answer. One word of nonsense and I'll cut you once. Understand?"

"..."

"Do you understand?"

He stepped forward in a flash, drove a knife into Jian's shoulder at top speed, and pulled it out just as fast.

Jian let out a pig-slaughtering shriek. "I understand! I understand!"

"Good."

Baimu began his questioning.

First, regarding the mole—although he already had a suspect, without solid evidence he couldn't just strike at random.

Of course, getting the mole's identity out of Jian's mouth wasn't realistic either; the key was for Jian to give up some useful intel.

So the Quicksand Team watching outside could go search for the mole.

A traitor colluding with hostile forces—no organization could tolerate that.

Then.

It was about the drugs he'd fed Houndoom and Mienshao earlier.

Without a doubt, that stuff was some kind of mental stimulant, similar to a special performance enhancer. It worked by massively draining the Pokémon's internal energy to gain physical boosts, while dulling their minds to make them tougher and more resistant.

It even occasionally had a side effect of "forced evolution."

That is, making Pokémon evolve under abnormal circumstances—similar to the Evolution Radio and Evolution Injector that Team Rocket produced.

All these excellent effects made it quite expensive, but in truth this power wasn't without a price—

Eating too much turns you into an idiot.

No.

The moment you take it, your IQ drops—until you become an idiot.

This drug would cause mental deterioration in Pokémon and was also addictive, so even in Iron Town of the Orei region, it was on the banned list.

Baimu listened in silence.

Just how many lifetimes of bad karma had Houndoom and Mienshao accumulated to end up with a Trainer like this?

He searched Jian's pockets and found the remaining pills, decisively crushed them into powder with a rock, and let the wind carry them away.

Next, the whereabouts and condition of Otsuka and the others.

They had to be rescued, no question.

Baimu was still counting on Otsuka to turn over a new leaf in the future and become a person with principles and a positive, uplifting outlook.

That kid didn't deserve to die in a place like this.

Fortunately, Jian hadn't beaten Otsuka to death—but not out of any sudden conscience. It was because the guy found the latter's mouth was tough as nails, with the air of a man ready to die for his principles, so he deliberately put on a "heroes-respect-heroes" act and "magnanimously" let him off, only breaking his hands and feet.

Although Iron Town was full of betrayals of every kind, everyone loved this sort of brotherly loyalty.

The less you have, the more you crave it.

Jian had earned quite a few tips because of it.

After that, Baimu asked some more this-and-that. Once he'd said about enough, he looked at Jian, whose expression faintly held a hint of anticipation—thinking he might be let off—and turned his head to glance at the pit Roggenrola had made with Sand Tomb.

The ground had already hardened...

No matter.

Baimu stood up and found the two captives from earlier. He'd planned to wake them, but discovered they were already awake—just pretending to be unconscious.

He glanced at the ropes on them; there were signs of wear.

"If you're awake, open your eyes. I'm giving you two a mission right now. Complete it, and I'll let you go."

Silence.

Baimu: "Fine. Now I only need one of you. The other one, I'll stab to death."

"Wait!"

"I'm awake! I'm awake!"

The two who had been feigning unconsciousness snapped their eyes open and let out anxious, sheepish laughs. "What are your orders?"

Don't be fooled by how full of backbone they'd seemed earlier — one spraying about betraying the Hound Squad, another furiously denouncing them for cheating. Now, under the grip of survival instinct, none of that noble integrity remained.

This was also within Baimu's expectations.

He hauled the two of them up, shoved them in front of Ken, and pointed at the latter, who was writhing on the ground like a caterpillar:

"Dig a hole, bury him in it with his head sticking out, and I'll let you go."

The two men's pupils shrank sharply, and when they looked at Baimu again, their eyes were full of fear.

Ken let out a feeble wail. Having lost too much blood, he didn't have much strength left to speak. "Don't… let me go. I can give you money. I have a lot of money… please, let me go… help…"

Baimu paid him no attention at all.

He looked at the two men. "Actually, this job only needs one person…"

"I'll do it!"

"I'll do it too!"

The two Hound Squad members immediately started scrambling for it.

And so.

Under Baimu's direction, the two of them used crude tools to dig a hole inside the pit Kodaira had previously created, occasionally glancing at Kodaira and the latter, drenched in fearful sweat.

Meanwhile.

Baimu flipped Ken face-up, felt around his chest area, then beckoned to Kodaira. "Come here. Step on this spot."

"Dora?"

"Yeah, right there."

Thud! Crack.

As Kodaira stomped down, Ken's faint voice vanished too, leaving only a thin, wispy breath sound in his throat.

Baimu observed for several seconds, unable to confirm whether that stomp had caused a pneumothorax, but at the very least, several ribs were definitely crushed.

The human bodies in the Pokémon world were far too tough; he worried his judgment might be off.

However.

Combined with the direct, scorching heat from the ground and the severe blood loss, Ken probably wouldn't survive.

Digging the hole took a long time, and for Ken, it was an excruciatingly painful process.

That feeling — as dust swirled, the pit took shape, and death crept closer step by step, while he could do nothing about it.

Was simply too torturous.

The more nervous he got, the faster he breathed, the less air he could draw in, the more pain he felt — he almost wished he could die on the spot.

This drawn-out, bit-by-bit process was more terrifying than being killed outright.

Finally.

The two men finished digging a large pit, tossed Ken in, and buried him as instructed, leaving only his face exposed above the surface.

The two Hound Squad members felt a chill in their hearts, thinking Baimu was nothing short of a demon — not only refusing to let a man die quickly, but torturing him like this on top of it!

But actually.

Baimu's thinking was very simple.

Slitting Ken's heart directly would indeed be clean and decisive, but dying too easily would actually be a kind of release for him.

After all, setting this match aside, the deaths directly caused by this guy from childhood to now numbered eight — and even that figure was likely an understatement.

Dying too quickly wouldn't be right.

Good begets good, evil begets evil. Since Ken had fallen into his hands, then some of the things he'd done before should be bravely experienced firsthand before he died.

Only then could the people who had died at Ken's hands rest in peace.

And only then could his own heart feel at ease.

"Alright, you're free. Remember to have the money ready to ransom your Pokémon."

Baimu looked at Ken, with only his face poking out of the ground, and nodded in satisfaction.

The latter stared blankly at the sky, seemingly holding no hope of survival anymore.

The other two Hound Squad members exchanged a glance, then thanked Baimu with overflowing gratitude, terrified that if they displeased him, they'd end up buried alive here too.

Ten minutes.

Two Delibirds came to pick them up.

Baimu glanced at the radar, then headed in the direction Ken had indicated earlier, searching for the injured Otsuka.

Fifteen minutes later.

Underground, Ken breathed his last amid inhuman agony.