Chapter 73: A New Opportunity

The next day.

Baimu learned that Yoshioka had been stripped of his rank and sent deep into the underground city to mine.

Under normal circumstances, this man would never again see sunlight; the mine would be his lifelong tomb.

In just one day, a once-prominent squad leader had fallen to such a state…

Of course, Yoshioka had brought this upon himself, but Chester's swift abandonment of his subordinate was shocking enough to draw attention—likely because yesterday's reckless words had been exploited.

"Poor fellow."

He sighed, then returned to his relentless work of nurturing Pokémon.

The Yellow Iron Arena Tournament was drawing near; there might even be high-ranking officials—Pokémon with average levels exceeding fifty—participating. Without thorough preparation, he wouldn't stand a chance.

After receiving the money, Cheng Hong and the others didn't disappoint Baimu—they used it all for the most urgent needs, which brought him quiet satisfaction.

But the real challenge had only just begun; examples of those who could share hardship but not prosperity were everywhere.

Among the bosses of District One and Two, there must be some who didn't want to pay double and were trying to bribe them to speak on their behalf.

Sure enough.

That afternoon, Cheng Hong arrived with a large envelope, saying it had been left at his doorstep with no sender's name—its contents matched exactly what Baimu had expected.

The sender remained anonymous.

"They're trying to drag you down with them…"

He smiled. "Most people, faced with this much money and no one watching, would just keep it for themselves. When those people later get caught, your position becomes extremely awkward."

"If I turn on you, the collection still happens. If I protect you, their goal is achieved—they must've heard I'm especially close to you."

Cheng Hong's face changed. "But…"

"A stupid move, right? But that's all they could think of—betting you'd be greedy and I'd cover for you." Baimu opened the envelope and counted. "Whoa! This is a lot! I'll take this bundle. They'll send you more later—split that among yourselves."

"Huh? That's not right…"

"If I'm taking my share, what's wrong with it? Sugar-coated bullet—eat the sugar, fire back the bullet. Simple." He patted Cheng Hong's shoulder. "Go on. Earning extra cash isn't bad."

Cheng Hong left.

Baimu watched his departing back, then casually shoved the thick envelope into his bag.

If he didn't take a share, Cheng Hong and the others would never dare to split it. The Sandflow Team's rule was: if the boss eats, the subordinates eat; if the boss eats nothing while the subordinates gorge themselves, it makes them uneasy.

The following days.

As predicted, the bosses sent money twice more.

Cheng Hong and the others kept part for themselves, but refused to take the rest, secretly tossing it into Baimu's courtyard as if unaware.

Ridiculous and heartbreaking.

Meanwhile, Ōtsuka was discharged from the hospital.

His condition had improved from critical to mild; with proper rest, he'd fully recover to his previous level—the Pokémon world's medical standards were truly extraordinary.

Hearing what had happened outside, Ōtsuka regretted bitterly that he hadn't been there to cheer Baimu on during his clash with Yoshioka.

Baimu laughed and told him to save his breath.

—

Time slipped by like a white colt passing a crevice.

In the blink of an eye, two weeks vanished.

During this time, Baimu collected from the bosses of District One and Two an amount double what they'd paid before, and told them plainly: this money was a ransom paid to Master Liu Ge for their lives.

Those who waver like fence-sitters die early—Master Liu Ge would never easily forgive those who turned toward the Crystal Group.

Money to buy your life was the only real truth.

Of course, whether these bastards believed him was none of Baimu's concern—he'd said his piece; if someone still chose to court death, he wouldn't bother stopping them.

But when he handed over the fines, Master Liu Ge's expression was intriguing.

This good elder brother, faced with a mountain of cash, didn't even glance at it—he only asked why Baimu had turned in everything without keeping his own share first.

His eyes seemed to be probing something.

Baimu's reply: "Brother decides the split."

So.

He received another large sum—Master Liu Ge never stinted in this regard.

But in truth, Baimu had little interest in this kind of protection money—he took it, yes, but only to remain low-key and avoid standing out.

These funds, combined with his earlier ill-gotten gains, were all exchanged for daily necessities and distributed to the elderly and destitute neighbors of Iridium Street.

Before, lacking status, he couldn't afford to do such things freely; now, it didn't matter.

Many Sandflow Team members who rose from humble origins did similar things—but none gave as much, or as often, as Baimu.

Flobo learned of this and came to ask if Baimu knew losing protection money meant losing a huge income—how could he still be so picky at this point? He should just use it boldly.

He also asked Baimu the classic question: when two piles of money sit before you, can you say which bill is righteous and which is evil?

Baimu only smiled and told him: people are all fools—they won't cry until they see the coffin. He was still young, with a few coins in his pocket, so he'd keep being foolish a while longer.

When he was truly destitute and had to rely on protection money to survive, he'd stop being foolish.

Until then, he'd be foolish as long as he could.

All his Pokémon supported him—even Gulpin, after one trip to Iridium Street, decided its lunch standard could drop a level.

Togepi was practically eager to give away all its food, while Kadabra often played with the children there, galloping back and forth like a pony carrying them.

After saying this,

Flobo's expression remained vivid in Baimu's memory.

A complex gaze—mingling joy and disbelief, pity and regret—as if he'd dug up a handful of gold dust from muddy silt, dazzled by its splendor, yet powerless to hold it, forced to watch it slip through his fingers and vanish down the swift river.

Human faces are astonishing—so many emotions can shift within moments.

Why was he looking at himself like that?

Baimu didn't know, but Master Liu Ge and Flobo must be hiding some great secret, just like the Pokémon previously taken away—the large hound, and others.

He had watched the feedback video.

Those three Pokémon, who had been reduced to mere killing machines under Jian's command, now lived happily in that ecological park—blue skies, white clouds, grasslands, rivers, joy radiating from their faces.

Baimu finally put his mind at ease.

The matter of territory was temporarily put to rest.

Over these two weeks, the simulator had completed two more cooling cycles.

Unfortunately, neither brought Baimu any impressive victories like the miniskirt one: one was a Hiker who roamed the foothills, always using Pokémon with the Solid Rock ability, constantly causing trouble.

The other was a Bird Keeper skilled with Pidgeot.

These two together granted Baimu three rewards of 【Level Up Below Level 50】, along with the rewards of 【Stealth Rock】 and 【Random Flying-Type Move】.

He gave 【Stealth Rock】 to Clefairy; the randomly selected Flying-type move turned out to be the big prize: 【Perish Song】.

It was just that no one could learn it, which was annoying.

It could only be set aside for now.

All level-up rewards went to Koffing; combined with the accumulation of the past half-month, it had reached level forty-three.

Baimu couldn't quite remember how many levels this thing needed to evolve, but surely it had met the basic conditions—or if not, it was close.

Next.

Still needed a breakthrough.