Chapter 173: Quicksand Team—Annihilation

N, who came from the Unova region, wanted to stay in Orre.

This was something Baimu hadn't anticipated, but regarding his decision, Yamatsukumi raised both hands and both feet in approval.

"Regional development can't get around the topic of Pokémon; the difference between having wild Pokémon and not having them is just too great."

Yamatsukumi stated, "N's understanding of Pokémon surpasses ninety-nine percent of the people in this world. With his help, the Orre region is bound to flourish."

Baimu tugged at the corner of his mouth and said, "... You're not thinking of completely reshaping the environment in the southern part of the Orre region, are you?"

"Of course! Saving Orre and improving the environment is an important part of the plan! What's the use of only improving the areas around the cities?"

The young rich master on the other end of the phone didn't hide his ambition at all. "Back in the day, the first mayor of Castelia City was hailed as a hero by countless people just for digging canals to channel water into Castelia City.

"Now that we're reshaping the environment in the southern part of the Orre region, shouldn't our names go down in history? Besides, this land is ours to do with as we please—no need to worry about encroaching on Pokémon territory or affecting other humans' livelihoods. It's a blank slate!"

Indeed.

The southern part of the Orre region only had two cities—Iron Town and Castelia City—and beyond them lay endless wilderness and an even vaster sea.

It was a place perfectly suited for environmental transformation.

Easy to say, but incredibly difficult to do.

"Five years. Give me five years, and I'll create a green Orre."

Yamatsukumi seemed to know what he was thinking and said without hesitation: "In ancient times, reshaping the environment was very difficult, but in the modern era, you can boldly trust in the power of technology. Besides, we still have Devon Corporation's aid."

"Does Devon Corporation know you're using their stuff to transform the region?"

"We'll deal with that when the time comes... I believe that when they finally see the green land of Orre, they'll surely express their approval. They're currently devoted to researching a clean energy source to replace the old polluting ones. I'm doing this to protect the environment too—our goals are the same."

Hearing Yamatsukumi's words, Baimu suddenly realized he was most likely using Rose as his model.

He recalled that Rose had once traveled all over the Galar region pulling in investments and sponsorships for its development, probably having swindled quite a few companies.

Baimu sighed, feeling as though he'd boarded a pirate ship.

They hadn't even started yet, and Yamatsukumi was already thinking about reshaping the southern Orre environment to leave his name in history—absolutely absurd to the extreme.

—

Iron Street.

A bustling reconstruction effort was underway.

Ever since the main Quicksand Team force had left, Master Liu Ge had brought in large-scale engineering machinery to assist with the reconstruction here. Even the smelting plant's work had been temporarily halted, converted into a brick kiln.

Baimu threw most of his Houndoom squad members into the work, having them eat, sleep, and live together to erase the class distinctions in their minds—a kind of punishment for their past deeds.

Whether the punishment was harsh enough could be set aside for now; it could be gradually intensified later. What mattered was that something was being done.

"Did anyone come to cause trouble today?"

Baimu arrived at the street bordering the neighboring faction and asked the few Quicksand Team members on standby duty.

"No!"

Two people from Qingyi Street shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Mm, carry on."

He nodded.

When the Quicksand Team main force departed in grand fashion, the surrounding factions couldn't possibly have been unaware. So why did they choose not to take the opportunity to invade?

What were these people waiting for?

While Baimu was pondering, Master Liu Ge suddenly called.

"The main force has made contact with Elder Ejin's troops!"

It's finally here!

His heart tightened, and he then realized the reason the neighboring factions hadn't invaded was that they hadn't figured out why the Quicksand Team main force had left, so they didn't dare act rashly.

Once news of the Quicksand Team main force's crushing defeat reached Iron Town—

These people would naturally make their move.

He hung up the phone, staring at the utterly calm street, his heart churning ceaselessly.

All sorts of emotions surfaced in his mind.

Would Cang Zhi Lang die in this battle? How many people managed to escape back to Iron Town? Would Elder Ejin's troops capture those people as cannon fodder to suppress Iron Town?

Was there any chance of winning?

All these speculations made Baimu's breathing gradually quicken.

Half an hour later.

Master Liu Ge called: "It's over. The Quicksand Team main force has been utterly routed. A large number of members have been captured, and the remnants have scattered in all directions."

"What about the top executives?"

"Chester was captured, Yugo confirmed dead, Cang Zhi Lang was carried away from the scene by someone, status unknown."

"Elder Ejin's troops can't have come out completely unscathed, right?"

"Naturally they have, but the specifics are unknown. They're expected to station themselves there for two days, so we must hold out against foreign invasion for two days, and also welcome the returning remnants."

"Understood."

Baimu hung up the phone.

Cang Zhi Lang's whereabouts were unknown...

Toward this boss of his, he harbored a complicated feeling of having been successfully PUA'd.

If you said he was bad to his subordinates, Baimu had risen from a grunt to an executive in just a few months entirely thanks to him. If you said he was good, he always liked to bully the weak.

To be honest—

The two punches Baimu took from Machoke at the start, not counting the sparring matches with Cang Zhi Lang, had been paid back on the day he obtained the Steelix.

So hearing the news that Cang Zhi Lang had been rescued, he actually felt a little happy?

He must be crazy.

He only hoped that after this battle, this person could completely cast aside some of their old notions — either spend the rest of their life in prison, or change their name and disappear, never to come out again.

"Don't overthink it."

All Baimu patted his cheeks, waiting for the foreign enemies to invade.

—

The news that the main force of the Quicksand Squad had run into a group of unidentified people and the two sides had engaged in fierce combat quickly spread throughout the entire Huang Tie Town.

In an instant.

All the major factions boiled over.

After all, after absorbing the Mad Dog Squad, the Quicksand Squad's scale had already reached a considerable level.

What faction could possibly stand against them?

Could it be from Beryllium City?

The leaders of all the major factions were well aware that Beryllium City would not allow Huang Tie Town to remain in chaos, so they only thought about swallowing up the surrounding small factions as quickly as possible, to ensure that when people from Beryllium City arrived, their own interests would be preserved in the name of stability.

With such a group suddenly popping up out of nowhere, they could no longer sit still — on one hand dispatching people to the wilderness, on the other heading toward Quicksand Squad's territory to figure out what was going on.

loubiqu.

But the Quicksand Squad's current state was to refuse any faction's visit, and they drove away the messengers from other factions one after another.

At the same time.

The gruesome state of the battlefield was also transmitted back to Huang Tie Town.

The major factions of Huang Tie Town realized that people from Beryllium City had really come, and could not help but feel every one of them in danger.

But among them there were also the bold, or rather the unafraid of death, who planned to seek fortune through risk, and began to set their sights on the remaining personnel of the Quicksand Squad.

The Poison Skull Squad, whose territory bordered the former Mad Dog Squad's, was the first to have such thoughts.

They had long been eyeing those cart after cart of supplies being hauled in, and upon hearing that the Quicksand Squad's main force had been wiped out beyond the town, they could not wait to rush over and seize the territory.

"Move out! Move out! Warn every resistor in the cruelest way possible! Move out!"

The cadres roared, and the grunts let out cathartic great shouts.

Having assembled their troops, they gazed at the extremely close Magnetic Barium Main Street, and at the "horrified" expressions on the faces of those defending the territory, and could not help but shout even more wildly.

The cadre charged in at the forefront on a hovering motorcycle, with the grunts following behind, bringing their skunk farts and purple scorpions, like army ants.

However.

Just at the instant they crossed that line representing the territorial boundary.

Boom—!

The flat ground exploded with a roar, dazzling silver light nearly blinding everyone's eyes, and a terrifying long dragon like a high-speed train surged wildly out from underground!

Amid the deafening rumble, the leading Poison Skull Squad cadre and grunts were all knocked into the sky, then flew up like raindrops, and fell back down.

They lay strewn across the ground, continuously wailing, with motorcycle parts scattered everywhere.

The remaining Poison Skull Squad grunts stared up with terrified eyes at the colossal creature that had emerged from underground, which cast down a massive shadow as if blotting out the sky, making them grip their brakes hard, not daring to advance a single step further.

"What is this?"

Someone said in a trembling voice.

"It's Steelix! It's Steelix!"

"How can there be a Steelix this huge! Big bro! Come back, big bro!"

They shouted, completely without their former passion.

Suddenly.

The super-giant Steelix lowered its head, revealing a person standing on top.

He said:

"Passage is forbidden here."

"Roar—!

!"

The super-giant Steelix's roar turned into substantive gale-force wind, blowing the Poison Skull Squad grunts into utter terror of their souls.