Chapter 167: Love and Salvation

The same.

Bonsly had also been envious of the neighbor's trees and land for a long time, often asking its trainer whether it was better at tending its trees or the neighbor's, whether the neighbor used some special fertilizer, whether the neighbor's sunlight exposure was better, and so on.

Clearly, it was a case of territorial expansion urge.

For various reasons, Baimu had to swallow his pride and go to his big brother's office, asking to borrow the training ground in the backyard.

After thinking it over, he shamelessly added the trees and flowers and plants as well.

The result was Master Liu Ge's stunned expression.

"You, you…"

Amid Baimu's nervous smile, his big brother sighed helplessly and tossed him the keys. "I thought something serious had happened. That house is yours now… I understand your thinking—you didn't want to take it without asking."

"But I must remind you: in what we're about to do, there will be many more cases of taking without asking. Sometimes, you don't need to be so rigid."

"Mm-hmm, I know."

Baimu nodded.

He left with the neighbor's keys.

He kept walking through the bustling underground city of Sha Zu, through the busy streets thronged with hurried pedestrians, then stood atop Gao Po, gazing across the entire Huang Tie Town.

Black smoke from explosions filled everywhere; sometimes, loud booms echoed outside even at midnight.

If Huang Tie Town weren't so rarely visited by clouds, it would surely already be suffering acid rain.

Tomorrow.

Cang Zhi Lang and the others would be fully prepared.

Master Liu Ge, like him, was not on the list for the "Welcoming the King Plan"—the reason Baimu didn't know, but he wasn't surprised.

After all, his big brother was the core of all plans; only by having most of the strong members of the Sands Team leave while he stayed behind could the subsequent plans proceed smoothly.

Flobo had once told him that this situation was merely one of the original plans—if Chester convinced Cang Zhi Lang and Yougo not to rescue the boss, there were other plans.

Originally, the plan assumed only half the forces would be taken by the three top leaders, ensuring the Sands Team's base could operate normally and defend against external threats. But Cang Zhi Lang and the others went too far—they pulled away two-thirds.

As a result, Master Liu Ge and the others could more easily seize everything left of the Sands Team, but they would also need far greater strength to resist external invasions.

It would be hard.

The organizations in Huang Tie Town had gone mad, constantly attacking, dismantling, and merging into new factions—how could they possibly overlook the hollowed-out Sands Team?

Though the newly formed factions had grown countless times larger in scale, their overall strength was still less than when they were scattered and disorganized.

Elderly, injured people met grim fates; newcomers fought with Pokémon they didn't understand at all—strictly speaking, they had almost no combat power.

Those who barely survived were called "elite," but in such a short time, their Pokémon couldn't possibly have grown dozens of levels or evolved multiple times.

Nor could they quickly adapt to new, powerful Pokémon.

All they could say was that they had raised their clumsy Pokémon-battling methods to the average level they were supposed to have reached.

Even so, that was enough to qualify as elite.

As Baimu watched the scenes unfolding in Huang Tie Town, he couldn't help but once again realize something he had considered many times before—that the suffering in Huang Tie Town wasn't limited to humans alone.

The Pokémon forcibly uprooted from their homes and brought to this strange town suffered just as much.

They were commanded by strangers, driven to do strange things, to harm others, to obtain things they never wanted.

Oppression wasn't limited to the lower-class civilians—it extended to the Pokémon too.

I thought about this before—why did I keep ignoring such an important thing?

Baimu knew.

His love for Pokémon was limited only to the few in his own home; his love for Pokémon didn't surpass his personal desires; his love for Pokémon was confined to what he could see with his own eyes.

Why did he ignore it?

Because he never placed other Pokémon on equal footing with himself. He pitied Huang Tie Town's civilians because of memories of his former self, but Pokémon were still very "strange" to him—a group he had only just begun to encounter.

This made him think of them as still "silent," subconsciously viewing all Pokémon except Bonsly and the others as tools, as programs under NPCs.

But in reality?

In reality, these Pokémon truly existed—they cried, they laughed, they grew angry, they rejoiced at soaring through the sky, and they had the right to survive on any land.

And between humans and Pokémon in this world, there always existed an unbreakable chain—they were an inseparable whole coexisting on this planet.

"Shannen, I've realized I'm even more selfish than I thought."

Baimu called Shannen, his voice tinged with disappointment.

But after hearing Baimu's reasons, Shannen laughed. "Your awakening speed surprises me—someone raised to see Pokémon as tools feeling guilt? You keep making me look at you differently."

"Do you know? When you have this thought, it means you've already changed—unless you recognize it and remain unmoved."

"… "

"Congratulations. You've discovered the key to toppling the old regime of the Orei Region and establishing and spreading a new order."

The wealthy young master said over the phone: "Remember, our core is always humans and Pokémon. As long as we hold tightly to these two points, we will be invincible."

beqege.

"So you've already made a plan to save the Pokémon too?"

"No need to make one."

"… What do you mean?"

"It means there are far more people in this world who love Pokémon than you imagine!"

Shannen's words were etched into Baimu's mind.

He roughly understood what the man meant, but still wondered where his confidence came from.

——

The next day.

Baimu saw off two-thirds of the Sands Team's core.

While taking away a large portion of their combat strength, they also took many peripheral members as logistical support, totaling nearly five thousand people—over two thousand one hundred combat personnel and over two thousand five hundred peripheral members.

When the convoy gathered, it looked quite impressive.

"The Sandflow Team now consists only of a bunch of elderly, weak, sick, and injured, plus a garrison force of just over a thousand," Flobo told Baimu; they would wait half a day after the convoy departed before launching their operation, aiming to seize control of the entire Sandflow Team in the shortest time possible.

"But this time, you don't need to help—we're achieving a peaceful transformation."

He smiled, a sense of long-planned culmination washing over him, "It won't be as violent as before."

"Mm."

Baimu nodded.

He knew very well how thoroughly Master Liu Ge had infiltrated their internal ranks.

When he went to Qingyi Street yesterday, nearly all the familiar neighbors had joined the Salvation Organization—

That's right.

Not a rebel army, but the Salvation Organization.

The slogan was clear: Master Liu Ge's group publicly framed their campaign not as rebellion against the old powers, but as the salvation of the Orei Region—symbolizing their unwavering determination to make the Orei Region better, even after defeating the faction led by Elder Ejin.

Even recently, people like Cheng Hong had been looking at him strangely, as if wanting to promote the Salvation Organization's ideals to him but too hesitant to try.

Baimu couldn't help smiling at the sight, yet also found it odd that they didn't realize he was one of them.

Did they not even know who led the Salvation Organization, or was Master Liu Ge simply hiding his identity?

It was probably the former—any fool could see that his close association with Master Liu Ge was suspicious.

Baimu didn't care much.

Because something more important had happened.

Awu had returned.

And brought with him a guest Baimu could never have imagined.