Chapter 642

The beach was unusually quiet.

Xiao Bai…

Hu Pa opened its mouth but dared not make a sound.

It never expected Baimu to be this angry, and instinctively turned to look at the solemn Gengar.

The latter raised its chubby paw and silently shushed.

"Roar—"

The Dreepy's gaze toward Unit Zero grew even more hostile; had it not remembered to obey its Trainer's orders, it would have already blasted it with Dragon Breath.

The Grimer furrowed its brow.

Setting aside its personal feelings toward Unit Zero, it had always thought Baimu was too kind—on the day that thing showed up, it should've been beaten senseless right then and there.

If you dare show up to steal someone's Trainer, you'd better be ready to get punched!

For a thing like this, a good beating works far better than reason.

Inside the phone.

The Polywhirl II, who had been listening silently all along, also thought its own kind was brain-dead.

Just refuse properly—why act so arrogant?

And now it's playing the martyr, like it'd rather die than be controlled—who cares about persecuting you anyway!

Previously, though it didn't trust Unit Zero, its impression of the thing had always been positive, precisely because the opponent had clear dreams and pursuits.

But today's behavior from Unit Zero made it realize how childish the thing truly was.

Loud slogans, nothing but castles in the air.

Can't see the situation clearly, yet stubbornly clings to its own views.

Is this perseverance?

It's pure stupidity!

Compared to Trainers and companions striving for their dreams, and other human Trainers like Liuqi, Unit Zero is vastly inferior.

The Polywhirl II was utterly disillusioned, deeply doubting that even if the thing found an uninhabited habitable planet, it would struggle to develop normally.

On the other side.

Baimu's emotions had calmed; he made some very popular Paldia submarine sandwiches, sliced them, and shared them with his Pokémon.

"Xiao Bai…"

Hu Pa looked at him cautiously.

"Sorry, Hu Pa—I shouldn't have lost my temper." He smiled and patted its head.

Feeling the faint warmth on its head, Hu Pa's face lit up with a smile again and began gobbling down the sliced sandwich.

Regardless of whether Unit Zero accepted or not, he would no longer waste any more time on the thing.

The Polywhirl phone proposal was partly born from his longing for a Rotom-style smartphone, and partly from his wish to help Dr. Akihabara.

To repay the favor of Dr. Akihabara entrusting him with such a good partner as Polywhirl II.

Even if it disagreed.

The Polywhirl phone would still be developed someday.

If Shan Nian could find the right talent, that'd be best; if not, and Dr. Akihabara had no spare time, then he'd ask Deft Corporation.

They started out making Pokémon navigators—they're very familiar with this kind of device.

At Dr. Akihabara's place.

He kept glancing at the silent Unit Zero, his emotions deeply complicated.

The idea of the Polywhirl phone kept flooding his mind with wild inspirations—he longed to rush back to the lab and start developing it immediately.

Unfortunately, compared to his lifelong dream of forging Polywhirl's glory, his current responsibilities were far more important.

He forced himself to suppress his torrent of ideas.

He waited for Unit Zero to make its decision.

Unit One was in high spirits, burying its head in Baimu's Pokémon food alongside the two Polywhirl IIs; it didn't much care about the outcome.

Past camaraderie had long vanished amid years of pursuit and conflict.

Unit Zero's rejection of its dream made Unit One seethe with rage—if not for Dr. Akihabara always thinking of the thing, it wouldn't give a damn what happened to Unit Zero!

Thinking this way,

Unit One ate even more happily.

After long contemplation,

Unit Zero finally made its choice:

'If, besides funding from developing the Polywhirl phone, I also wish to receive Hu Pa's help, what else must I give up?'

"Good question!"

Baimu clapped lightly, his mood completely relaxed.

He knew very well that Unit Zero could never abandon Hu Pa's Light Wheel—once successful, Hu Pa could carry enough resources to build its "new home."

If it relied on interstellar travel, it could carry very little.

But,

he chuckled, "Too bad—you asked the wrong person, and second, if you think you can buy Hu Pa's full-hearted help through a transaction, you'd better give up now."

'Why?'

Unit Zero was puzzled.

Baimu said nothing, turning his head to ask, "Hu Pa, what is the meaning of punishment?"

Beside him, Hu Pa raised its hand like a student called on by the teacher, answering without hesitation:

"Power must be used to help others! Follow your heart and do what is right!"

"Look."

He spread his hands and said, "Never mind whether you can bring Hu Pa what it wants. If you use the Light Wheel through trade, Hu Pa can't even pass its own inner barrier—how can it fully help you if it can't pass that barrier?"

Although he often brought Hu Pa donuts as thanks, Hu Pa did not help him merely to get donuts.

In other words.

The difference lies between pure transaction and a friend's gift.

Unit Zero shook its head: '... I still don't understand.'

"If you understood, you wouldn't be here today."

Baimu couldn't be bothered to argue with it, stood up and said, "Wait until you truly understand the importance of emotions, then we can talk about letting Hoopa help you find a habitable planet."

In fact.

From Unit Zero's repeated attempts to recruit Multivern II, it's clear this thing deeply craves like-minded companions.

But it doesn't realize this itself—and this thing is also a racist.

It refuses to recognize any lifeform outside the Multivern species.

"Emotion..."

Unit Zero chewed over this word.

Baimu stretched lazily, "Think slowly. As long as you don't renege, there's plenty of time in the future for you to keep thinking."

'Rest assured, since I've made my decision, I'm willing to accept any punishment—as long as you don't break the promise just now.'

It nodded silently, bracing itself for judgment.

Accept legal punishment—

This was one of the unspoken prerequisites for Unit Zero to receive future funding, and also the core demand Dr. Akiba had pursued it for so many years.

That's why Unit Zero had been so agitated earlier.

After all, the thing that craved freedom most was about to lose its freedom—even if for a more distant, absolute freedom, it was hard to accept.

But after calming down and reflecting.

Setting aside this disadvantage, Baimu's proposal truly offered it great benefits.

No gain without effort...

Unit Zero, accustomed to free rides, wrestled endlessly, then reluctantly accepted the basic concept: you pay for what you buy, and you earn the money yourself.

It would join the development of the Multivern Phone as a developer.

As the developer of the final-evolved Multivern Z, its talent in this area was guaranteed, and Dr. Akiba deeply trusted this thing.

Of course.

Provided it doesn't go to prison, or if prison allows computer access.

Baimu turned and said, "Then it's all yours, Doctor. How you handle the mess it left behind these years is entirely up to you."

"Good!"

Dr. Akiba nodded quickly.

After a brief exchange.

Hu Pa sent Dr. Akiba, Unit Zero, Unit One, and the two Multivern IIs back to the research institute in Macha City.

Unit Zero's rocket base was on a private island outside the Hoenn region, purchased after it stole a wealthy person's personal data to forge its identity.

It was neither too close nor too far from humans, aiding its transport of various raw materials.

And despite still working alone, it had already bought countless automated robots to help build its rockets.

The main body of the first rocket was now complete.

Once the next funding chain is secured, it can immediately conduct a test launch—

That's right.

Unit Zero had spent all the "ill-gotten gains" it stole over the years; if not for summoning it today, it would have stolen again.

Dr. Akiba found this deeply troubling.

Baimu found it somewhat amusing.

Whatever happened next was none of his concern—Unit Zero could do as it pleased; he only waited for the first-generation Multivern Phone to appear.

Also, before leaving.

Dr. Akiba handed him a purple hard drive.

"This is a safe 'suspicious patch.' If you intend to evolve Multivern II, use it as before."

"Understood."

Baimu exchanged a glance with the Multivern II inside his phone.

Currently, they had no need to evolve.

Multivern II and Multivern Z had similar racial values, but their stat differences were enormous—the former emphasized dual defense and, with the Evolution Stone, was terrifyingly tanky.

The latter was a mid-to-high-speed special attacker, with dual defense even weaker than before evolution, let alone any benefit from the Evolution Stone.

This output was sufficient.

Honestly, as the team's sole space-hand, Multivern II's durability mattered greatly.

He placed the suspicious patch aside, summoned his other Pokémon, and shared all the food on the folding table, then played with them on the beach.

——

Saffron City.

Returning from the deserted island.

Baimu and Hu Pa easily found Mei Mei Yali enjoying street snacks, and Barza carrying bags upon bags.

The siblings looked like they were having a great time strolling around.

"Mei Mei Yali!"

Hu Pa's eyes lit up, and he rushed over to beg his closest little buddy for a feeding.

His stomach seemed to be connected to a cosmic ring of light—no matter how much he was fed, he never looked full.

The other party obliged as he wished, stuffing a piping-hot takoyaki into his mouth. The eager Hu Pa took one big bite, then clamped his cheeks and flew about wildly.

"So hot! So hot!"

It's called takoyaki, but inside there's actually no octopus tentacle—the takoyaki of the Pokémon anime world got its name mainly because it was personally made by it.

After finishing the takoyaki, Mei Mei Yali handed him the shaved ice in her other hand.

Hu Pa took another big bite.

The result was him clamping his head and rolling back and forth like crazy.

"So cold! So cold!"

"..."

Mei Mei Yali stared at this live treasure, speechless.

Not far away.

Balza plopped down onto a bench, let out a small breath of relief, and smiled: "Strolling around does occasionally test your stamina. How did things go?"

"Most likely perfectly resolved. If it can't be resolved, I'm too lazy to bother with it anymore—things are too complicated."

All Baimu waved his hand and took off his hat and glasses.

In this part of Caiyou City, if he dared to expose his face in public, basically within a few hours he wouldn't be able to move forward a hundred meters—fanatical battle fans could devour him alive with their eyes alone.

Balza looked at him in surprise.

In this person's mind, All Baimu had always been the very synonym of not fearing trouble. From mediating for Lugia to annihilating Team Flare, which of those wasn't fraught with difficulty and trouble?

Never thought he'd live to hear him say such a thing.

Looks like that Pokémon called Model Zero gave him quite the headache.

"It's good as long as it can be resolved. No need to pursue perfection—everyone has their own destiny."

Balza offered comfort.

All Baimu shook his head and changed the subject: "Oh, by the way, forgive the bold question, but how old is your Ceng Zufu this year?"

When Ji Meiya first appeared, he was a black-haired middle-aged man. After sealing Hu Pa, he brought him back to the Valley of Creation. By the time Balza and his sister became playmates with him, he already had a grizzled beard and looked utterly aged.

Now that the siblings had grown up, Ji Meiya must be at least eighty or ninety, right?

He had originally thought Ji Meiya had long passed away—Mei Mei Yali in the anime movie had also said that Ceng Zufu was gone. He hadn't expected to suddenly receive an invitation from him.

And the so-called "gone" was just "out traveling."

"Um... I'm not too sure about that either."

Balza gave a wry smile. "Ever since I can remember, Ceng Zufu's appearance hasn't changed. I once asked my grandfather and father, and neither of them would answer me."

Frozen in age?

All Baimu had some thoughts.

The power of the Valley of Creation was legendarily obtained by the ancestors of the locals through mutual communication with Arceus.

Ji Meiya had even demonstrated the power of making wheat seeds grow and sprout out of thin air.

Using this to extend one's lifespan seemed perfectly normal.

Not long after.

Mei Mei Yali finished the feeding.

"Little White! Let's set off!"

Hu Pa, who had stuffed another pile of things into his little belly, was spinning circles on All Baimu's head. Full and fed, his energy was unusually abundant—he wished he could immediately return to Desert City to move a few thousand bricks.

Balza said: "Right, All Baimu, if you don't have other matters, why not rest at the Valley of Creation tonight?"

Mei Mei Yali nodded along and egged him on: "Our guest room is very spacious."

Hu Pa eagerly opened the ring of light leading to the Valley of Creation.

"The door is open!"

All Baimu really couldn't win against the enthusiasm of the two humans and one Pokémon, and could only follow them into the ring of light.

In an instant.

The scenery before him twisted.

He saw that he had arrived atop a Gao Po, and a quiet little town nestled between canyons came into view.

Looking out, pristine white Mediterranean-style square houses stood in neat rows, lush tropical plants filled the town and its surroundings, and several clear river channels spanned the entire little town.

The most eye-catching of all was the vast expanse of golden farmland outside the town.

"Ripe wheat! In this season!"

He exclaimed in wonder.

Balza smiled slightly: "The situation in the Valley of Creation is a bit different from the outside. You also know we possess a special ability that resonates with nature, and this ability grants us an inexhaustible supply of food."

So accelerating growth is the most basic ability?

A group of born agricultural workers live in the Valley of Creation!

All Baimu thought they were perfectly suited to participate in all sorts of modern crop variety improvement work. With this ability alone, even if their graduation thesis got eaten, there'd be nothing to fear.

Walking down from the Gao Po.

At the end of his sight, on a small bridge, an old man with a thick beard and hair gazed over from afar.

When Balza, his sister, and Hu Pa saw him, happy smiles immediately appeared on their faces.

"Ji Meiya!"

Hu Pa waved his hand and flew over quickly.

The siblings also called out: "Ceng Zufu!"

"Back? Good that you're back!"

The old man smiled warmly and reached out to pat Hu Pa's head, an aura of benevolence radiating from his entire body, then his gaze fell upon All Baimu.

"Welcome, traveler from afar."

Gurice's voice was deep and magnetic.

All Baimu's expression shifted at the words, and just as he was about to open his mouth to ask, he saw a strange golden ring-shaped ornament on the other's chest emit a bright light.

It's the Thousand-Realm Bracer!