Chapter 270: The Divine Bird Bringing Spring, Using Iron Bundle to Build an Ice Cellar

Sitting on Dragonite's back, Luo Mu frowned slightly as he looked at Iron Bundle, which showed no reaction despite the huge hole scorched into the ground beside it by Moltres's warning.

Iron Bundle looked like a robot modeled after Delibird, yet Delibird's large hollow tail had become a spherical device connected to transmission tubes on Iron Bundle.

The spherical device continuously spat out streams of frost, easily freezing swathes of trees and land.

Looking at Iron Bundle's appearance, rather than attacking wild Pokémon, it seemed to be simply modifying the environment; to Iron Bundle, the Fletchinders and Rookidees were merely creatures that crashed into it on their own and got themselves frozen without permission.

Luo Mu guessed it probably wanted to create an environment suitable for its own activities; most Paradox Pokémon were like this, affecting the modern ecosystem just by existing and posing an unparalleled threat to Pokémon survival.

Skarmory Sanmao and the others were all frozen; if this continued, there would likely be danger to their lives, so he could not let Iron Bundle run wild like this any longer—he should subdue it first and then decide what to do.

After making his decision, Luo Mu quickly issued a command to Moltres below: "Be careful not to accidentally hurt the wild Pokémon; Moltres, Heat Wave!"

Moltres helplessly glanced at Luo Mu; what a bird-handler he was, but since he had been captured by him, what could be done? Fortunately, this Iron Bundle's strength was not as great as Meng Lei Gu's, so Moltres still had the spare energy to avoid causing damage to the surroundings.

"Cry!!"

Moltres raised its head and let out a high-pitched cry; wherever it passed, frost and snow melted, and water droplets evaporated into white steam.

As Moltres's wings, burning with bright flames, flapped, the steam swirling around it was scattered by the scorching gale, and the Heat Wave, under Moltres's precise control, roared toward Iron Bundle.

At the same time, Luo Mu lightly patted Dragonite's back, looked at the snow clouds overhead, and said in a deep voice: "Sunny Day; rewrite the weather completely."

Along with the sunlight pouring down anew, dense sparks exploded on Iron Bundle's surface; the Heat Wave clashed violently with the frost streams blasted out by Iron Bundle's spherical device, and massive steam shot straight up into the sky!

Although Iron Bundle had no intention of actively attacking living beings, it would not stand still and take a beating; the moment it was attacked by Moltres, the ring of blue electronic eyes on Iron Bundle locked onto Moltres's direction.

Precise data streams rapidly flashed across Iron Bundle's eyes.

After judgment: hostile creature possesses a composite Fire and Flying type, with great strength; fighting with ice would result in a disadvantageous state.

【Judgment—Switch combat mode; adopt Water-type attacks as the primary tactical mode.】

Gaps opened beneath Iron Bundle's feet, blasting out high-pressure water columns that propelled its body into the air, darting erratically through the sky with incredible speed to induce Moltres into misjudgment, making it unable to aim at its position.

At the instant it seized the opportunity calculated, Iron Bundle aimed its spherical device at Moltres—

【Hydro Pump, release!】

A torrent burst forth, transforming into a ferocious and huge water dragon that tore toward Moltres's vital points.

Iron Bundle's electronic eyes calmly watched the water dragon fly toward Moltres, its body holding the spherical device moving slowly, silently adjusting its position according to Moltres's evasive flight.

【Judgment: The weather above is currently "Sunny Day"; Hydro Pump power is diminished, but it can still inflict massive damage on the hostile creature.】

Luo Mu slowly raised his hand; a qualified Trainer would not let Moltres sit and wait for death: "Hurricane!"

Even under Sunny Day, controlling Hurricane would be relatively difficult, but what he sought was not to hit Iron Bundle, but to block the Hydro Pump.

Moltres flapped its wings; turbulent air currents transformed into a hurricane roaring before it, becoming a wall of wind that prevented the Hydro Pump from advancing even an inch.

Seeing this, Iron Bundle's electronic eyes flashed several times again.

【Warning, warning: the unit has just revived; too much energy was consumed to create a suitable environment; energy reserves are insufficient to break through the hostile creature's defense.】

【Switch combat method; go all out; freeze the hostile creature together with the hurricane!】

【Blizzard!】

The spherical device began operating at maximum speed; the transmission tubes connecting Iron Bundle to the spherical device glowed with an icy blue luster, and a Blizzard roaring out from within the spherical device pressed straight toward Moltres!

Howling gales, biting frost—this was a full-power output capable of freezing lakes and forests, an extreme low temperature.

"Once more, full-power Heat Wave."

Moltres flapped its golden-red wings; the clear sunlight seemed to plate it with a layer of Jin Guang, while fierce fire and swift wind danced wildly; under its control, a terrifying Heat Wave descended from the sky.

Storms of extreme cold and high temperature collided; both sides released energy as if it cost nothing, and the countless steam generated by the collision turned into a vast white mist, obscuring vision.

Gradually, the Blizzard blasted out by Iron Bundle's spherical device grew weaker and weaker, until it was completely overwhelmed by Moltres, relying on the legendary Pokémon's massive stamina reserves; a blazing storm raged over Iron Bundle's surface, burning its mechanical body red-hot.

As if unable to withstand the high-temperature attack, Iron Bundle's movements became weaker and weaker, until finally its head slumped over, completely motionless.

【Warning, warning: the hostile creature's strength is too great, exceeding expectations; unit damaged, reserve energy exhausted, unable to drive unit activity; forced shutdown.】

"Poke poke."

Luo Mu carefully poked the now unlit Iron Bundle, which seemed to have lost its ability to battle.

No, for a future Paradox Pokémon, this should be considered a shutdown; moreover, during the final beam struggle with Moltres, Iron Bundle's energy was clearly not very sufficient.

"Ga ga gua!"

Nearby, Skarmory Sanmao, now fully recovered, glared at Iron Bundle, cursing under its breath; one could tell just by listening that it was nothing good.

This time, strangely, Luo Mu could guess what Skarmory Sanmao was saying; most likely—it serves you right, who asked you to use so much energy just to freeze the lake and forest.

Luo Mu gently stroked Skarmory Sanmao's feathers in a soothing manner; he fully understood the feelings of Skarmory Sanmao, who had just walked through the gates of death, but now the most important thing was to quickly lock Iron Bundle into a Poké Ball to prevent it from suddenly reviving and causing trouble.

Luo Mu took out an Ultra Ball and pressed it against Iron Bundle's head.

To ensure Iron Bundle could be contained, it was better to use a good Poké Ball.

Perhaps because Iron Bundle was currently shut down, the capture with the Ultra Ball encountered no resistance at all; without even shaking once, a perfect capture was achieved.

Luo Mu: (-ι_-｀)

How to put it? His mood was very complex now; perfectly capturing a Paradox Pokémon made Luo Mu feel somewhat strange.

Picking up the Ultra Ball, Luo Mu shrunk and locked it, then sighed, stood up, and looked around.

Led by the Fairy-type Comfey, the Grass-type Pokémon from the farm, summoned by Dragonite, were using Grassy Terrain and First Aid to treat the Pokémon that had been freed from being frozen.

In the sky, Moltres unleashed its divine power without restraint, like a small sun, melting all the frost and snow that had frozen the forest and lake.

The wild Pokémon that received treatment and awakened gazed at Moltres with eyes full of pilgrim-like reverence; even the Rookidees, who had once teased Moltres, felt a sense of guilt, wondering what beastly things they had done in the past.

As for the Fletchinder flocks occupying the territory on the other side of the forest, being Fire and Flying-type Pokémon themselves, upon seeing the legendary divine bird Moltres, they were only a hair's breadth away from kowtowing in worship.

Luo Mu felt that after the treatment was completed, a shocking scene of "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix" would truly unfold before his eyes.

Luo Mu returned to the farm at 1:00 PM, arrived at the forest where the Rookidees lived at 1:05 PM, and took down Iron Bundle at 1:15 PM.

Yet, to deal with the mess left behind by Iron Bundle and the forest full of injured Pokémon, he stayed up all night.

The sky gradually shed the depth of night, and a faint pink hue quietly climbed onto the eastern sky.

Subsequently, that color grew increasingly rich, like a painter freely splashing paint onto a canvas, dyeing the sky a brilliant orange-red.

The sun rose slowly, its light shining upon the Flame Bird that had spent the entire night melting the ice and snow with its smile, bringing spring back to the forest, as if draping it in a golden battle robe.

Led by Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao, the Corviknight flock, and led by the Fletchinder leader, the Fletchinder flock, spontaneously flew into the sky, hovering below the Flame Bird, issuing melodious cries one after another, as if to express their reverence to the Flame Bird.

The Flame Bird flapped its crimson-gold wings; with every flap, brilliant and beautiful sparks rained down.

The Flame Bird understood: this was their signal of submission.

Very well, from now on, this forest would be under its, the Flame Bird's, protection.

As if struck by sudden inspiration, the Flame Bird raised its head and let out a clear, resonant cry, a sound that seemed to pierce through distance, reaching every corner of the entire forest.

In the next instant, a miracle occurred.

The Fletchinder leader, and Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao, leader of the Corviknight flock, along with the sunlight, began to radiate a brilliant Bai Guang; under the shroud of this sacred light of evolution, their bodies rapidly changed.

Luo Mu's eyes widened, his expression filled with utter astonishment: "This is... evolution?"

The Fletchinder leader transformed completely into a bird of prey; the red feathers on its head stood tall and erect. As a falcon, it possessed strong and powerful legs, and when its mighty wings flapped, sparks would sprinkle from the gaps between its feathers, making it look just like a miniature Flame Bird.

This was the famous home-region bird of the sixth generation, the Swift Wing—Talonflame.

As for Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao, its transformation was even greater than that of the Fletchinder leader; calling it a complete rebirth would be no exaggeration.

Its former deep-blue plumes vanished entirely, replaced by a suit of jet-black armor that seemed capable of swallowing light itself; Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao's former size, less than one meter, surged to over two meters, appearing twice as large as Talonflame.

At this moment, Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao looked like an English-style knight, exuding a heavy sense of reassurance, and even its type had changed to the super-powerful combination of Flying and Steel.

Its name was Corviknight; although it was invincible in the skies of the Galar region, this was Paldea, and Luo Mu was already worried that before Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao could display its heroic posture, it would be chased away by the Hammer Girl who had heard the news.

Having completed their evolution, Talonflame and Corviknight Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao flapped their wings under the excited gazes of their kin; facing the gaze cast by the Flame Bird, they unhesitatingly bowed their heads to show respect.

From now on, this forest would circulate legends of the Divine Bird bringing spring and melting the ice and snow.

On May 24, Luo Mu accepted from the contractor the roads within the farm that had been fully paved; now, stone slab roads crisscrossed the farm in all directions, making vehicle entry and exit far more convenient, and ensuring that Pokémon would no longer easily get covered in mud even on rainy days, which saved Luo Mu considerable trouble.

After more than twenty days of work, the laying of the farm's roads and electrical circuits was finally completed; aside from having some workers install streetlights throughout the farm, Luo Mu led people to survey locations for digging an ice cellar.

Generally speaking, an ice cellar is built either underground beneath a house, inside a mountain cave, or simply by digging a large hole.

Luo Mu's farm was located in a plain area, surrounded by no mountains, so digging an ice cellar could only be considered by excavating downwards into the ground.

After careful deliberation, Luo Mu selected the location for the ice cellar beneath the warehouse, planning to construct a structure resembling a basement with a single-story bungalow above it.

He would also expand the warehouse and connect it to the ice cellar, allowing crops to be moved freely between the warehouse and the ice cellar without fear of accelerated spoilage during the hot summer.

Originally, Luo Mu had planned to have Swampert help dig the hole, but the contractor stated that constructing an ice cellar required extremely careful measurement to ensure the building materials fit together seamlessly, thereby preventing accidents such as the loss of cold air and a rapid rise in temperature within the ice cellar.

Luo Mu could only follow the contractor's instructions, handing over all matters to them to resolve, while he himself needed only to pay the bill.

After concluding communication with the contractor, Luo Mu dialed Geeta's phone number and recounted the entire matter of Tie Tie Baofu to her; even Geeta found it perplexing why Tie Tie Baofu had appeared in the forest, and ultimately could only reach a conclusion based on the information Skarmory Skarmory Sanmao and the others provided when Luo Mu asked them about the sequence of events—

Tie Tie Baofu might have appeared on the land of Paldea long ago; after undergoing some event, it was buried deep beneath the forest soil, silently charging; later, once Tie Tie Baofu, dug out by the Fletchinders, had completed its energy accumulation, it began transforming the forest, intending to turn it into an environment suitable for its own life.

Geeta's slightly heavy voice came through the receiver: "In fact, in a very few places within the land of the Paldea region, traces of these Paradox Pokémon activities still exist today; for instance, there have been sighting reports of a massive Donphan in the Asado Desert."

"Regarding the handling of Tie Tie Baofu, I personally suggest you try communicating with it first to see if it is a special individual like Meng Lei Gu, and then decide whether or not to return it to the Paldea Crater."

Luo Mu nodded slightly; in fact, he had the same thought: if Tie Tie Baofu was controllable, then with its formidable strength capable of freezing lakes and forests, wasn't it precisely the Ice-type Pokémon he had been seeking for so long?

However, if Tie Tie Baofu proved uncontrollable, Luo Mu would not allow this danger to live on the farm; at most, he would have it use that spherical device capable of spewing cold currents to lower the temperature of the ice cellar.

(End of Chapter)