Chapter 271: The Clumsy Yet Playful Iron Bundle and a Letter

On the evening of May 29, at Luo Mu's farm.

Nightfall had already covered most of the twilight; after seeing off the foreman and the workers and Pokémon of the Haoli Construction Team, Luo Mu placed his hands on his hips and looked back.

The farm, which used to be pitch black once night fell, was now illuminated by bright streetlights, making even the newly laid stone paths clearly visible.

That was the morning star of human wisdom in the dark night—light!

"Great, now when you and Feng Su Gou patrol, you won't need to keep using the 'Flash' move."

Luo Mu looked at the Luxray beside him, who was staring spellbound at the lights, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Gazing at the lights illuminating the farm, the Luxray recalled its thoughts from when it used to live in the corners of the city, before meeting Luo Mu.

Back then, looking at the neon lights illuminating the city and the humans and Pokémon laughing joyfully behind glass walls, the Luxray had wondered: would I ever find a brightly lit place to belong in the future?

It seemed that wish had already come true.

Letting the Luxray indulge in its emotions for a while, Luo Mu simply smiled gently beside it; only after the Luxray had looked its fill did he speak softly: "Let's go, let's take a look at the newly built warehouse and ice cellar."

The Luxray withdrew its distracted gaze, nodded lightly, and followed Luo Mu's steps with a light tread; anyone could see that the Luxray was in a good mood.

Generally speaking, robots operate on electrical energy, right?

Come to think of it, charging really does work; from Luo Mu's perspective, those dimmed light spots on Tie Tie Baofu's body were lighting up one by one as the electric current released by the Luxray continuously flowed into them.

After all, besides serving as an ice cellar, the upper room was planned by Luo Mu to become the future residence for Ice-type Pokémon he would bring back to the farm.

Opening the entrance, no cold air or white mist drifted out; after all, the ice cellar had just been completed, and there were no Ice-type Pokémon stationed inside yet to transform the environment into a cold state.

Tie Tie Baofu remained motionless, showing absolutely no sign of absorbing the energy from the Ice Stone.

After a long pause—

Arriving before the new warehouse, which had been expanded and reinforced, Luo Mu raised his eyebrows slightly; although he had mentally prepared himself, the size was still shocking, nearly three or four times that of the original warehouse.

Whether for storing new crops or adding new items, Luo Mu was already thinking that one day in the future, he must fill the entire warehouse.

It seems the Ice Stone cannot trigger its charging and startup; after a moment's thought, Luo Mu signaled the Luxray to discharge electricity at the interface-like area on Tie Tie Baofu's back.

However, before that, let's test this fellow first.

Luo Mu took out an Ultra Ball, exchanged a glance with the slightly nodding Luxray, and released the Pokémon inside.

A crisp metallic sound of landing rang out; the Tie Tie Baofu, which had been defeated by Moltres, remained in the same state as when it was caught, powered down.

Looking at the vast space of the underground ice cellar, Luo Mu knew he would have to bring back quite a few Ice-type Pokémon to the farm; otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to manage this place.

Under the gaze of Luo Mu and the Luxray, the electronic eyes on Tie Tie Baofu's face gradually lit up, its body rose accordingly, and it turned its head left and right, as if observing the environment here.

Following the not-too-steep stairs downward, a huge underground space came into view, much larger than the newly built warehouse.

The Luxray watched Tie Tie Baofu vigilantly; if it showed any intent to attack, the Luxray would immediately subdue it.

Besides this location, the newly built house next to the new warehouse also provided a direct entrance to the ice cellar; establishing an entrance here at the new warehouse was merely to facilitate moving items between the ice cellar and the warehouse.

Bringing the Luxray to a corner of the warehouse, they found a huge metal cover on the ground, just like the passages to secret basements seen in movies and TV dramas.

The entire ice cellar was constructed using temperature-retaining materials with good breathability; the upper room connected to the ice cellar was also very spacious, where Ice-type Pokémon would usually rest, simultaneously influencing the ice cellar's temperature to make the interior cold.

To avoid Tie Tie Baofu consuming too much electricity and causing a rampage, Luo Mu only let the Luxray charge it for a short while before stopping.

"It's almost no different from a machine; Genesect can only count as a biomechanical creature borrowing a metal shell compared to it."

Luo Mu muttered a complaint, selected several crystal-clear, ice-blue stones with snowflake patterns from the basket he had been carrying since descending into the ice cellar, and tried throwing one at the motionless Tie Tie Baofu lying on the ground.

Opening the newly replaced large door of the warehouse and entering, bright incandescent lights illuminated the interior thoroughly; the stored crops, food, and Consumables that had filled the old warehouse now occupied only a quarter of the new warehouse's area, making the whole new warehouse appear exceptionally empty.

As a result, Tie Tie Baofu merely glanced at the Luxray and Luo Mu, then turned around, lifted the spherical device under its wings, and spat an extremely cold frost stream toward the empty space.

【Energy reserves restored, beginning environmental modification】

Tie Tie Baofu thus began modifying the ice cellar's environment as if no one else were around, completely ignoring Luo Mu and the Luxray.

Luo Mu & Luxray: "."

According to the explanation given afterward by Skarmory Sanmao, who had already evolved into Skarmory, it seemed that as long as one did not disturb Tie Tie Baofu while it modified the surrounding environment, it would not generate hostility.

The complete annihilation of the Honchkrow and Starly flocks was entirely because they chose to resist in order to protect the forest's environment.

As for what attitude Tie Tie Baofu would have after finishing the environmental modification, Luo Mu did not know; perhaps they would see it today.

Thinking thus, Luo Mu retreated backward with the Luxray, silently watching Tie Tie Baofu modify the ice cellar's environment, pondering that this fellow seemed to have maxed out its attributes as a tool bird.

No matter how one looked at it, the space of the ice cellar was not as large as the forest and lake where Skarmory Sanmao and the others lived; even though Tie Tie Baofu's energy reserves were far from optimal, it took less than ten minutes to completely transform the ice cellar into an environment of "ice and snow."

Fortunately, Luo Mu had prepared thick winter clothing in advance and put it on while Tie Tie Baofu was modifying the environment.

Even so, he couldn't help but shiver involuntarily, while the Luxray remained calm, relying on its own fur.

At this moment, the entire ice cellar had been comprehensively frozen over with a thick layer of ice; one could feel the bone-chilling cold just by breathing, yet Tie Tie Baofu, who had accomplished all this, stood on the snow piled upon the ice surface, still maintaining an active posture.

Luo Mu exchanged a glance with the Luxray; the electricity the Luxray had just released was at most enough to power a refrigerator for about a month.

Yet Tie Tie Baofu had managed to successfully boot up and perform such a large-scale environmental modification relying solely on that amount of electricity; wasn't this fellow too energy-efficient?

Simply born to be exploited—pah, pah, pah.

Before Luo Mu could indulge in imagining a hundred ways to use Tie Tie Baofu, the Luxray beside him suddenly emitted a threatening low growl.

Focusing his gaze, Luo Mu discovered that Tie Tie Baofu, which had been facing away from him, had turned around at some unknown point; its emotionless electronic eyes stared straight at him and the Luxray.

【Environmental modification complete; in pursuit of survival and continuous activity, beginning hunt】

【Target: Organism containing abundant electrical energy】

Tie Tie Baofu raised its spherical device, Ice-type energy gathered, and just as it was about to transform into a howling frost stream, the Luxray's body emitted a buzzing sound of electric current; the next instant, terrifying electricity tore through the air, directly enveloping Tie Tie Baofu.

Unlike the gentle current used to help Tie Tie Baofu charge, the electricity the Luxray released this time was full of aggression, and under the Luxray's control, it specifically avoided Tie Tie Baofu's charging interface.

The violent current continuously exerted pressure on Tie Tie Baofu's body; the frost stream spewing from the spherical device simply could not break through the Luxray's terrifying discharge.

In just a short while, Tie Tie Baofu fell smoking into the melting snow pile.

【Excessive damage to the unit; all energy reserves diverted to healing】

【Warning, warning, insufficient energy; to ensure the unit's survival, forced shutdown initiated】

Seeing that Tie Tie Baofu had stopped moving, the Luxray displayed an expression of disgust.

What is this, bad at it yet love to play?

After a long while.

Luo Mu spoke into the phone: "Yes, yes, Iron Bundle's habit is probably to transform its surroundings into a habitat suitable for itself; before the transformation is complete, it has no aggression, but once finished, to replenish energy or due to its inherent territorial instinct, it will attack surrounding creatures."

"It is not suited for the outside world; I have decided to release it back into the Paldea Great Crater."

Geeta on the other end of the line nodded slightly: "I understand; since communication is impossible, releasing it back into the Paldea Great Crater is indeed the only option. You don't need to go down into the Paldea Great Crater this time; let Brother Brother Qingmu make the trip instead."

Luo Mu: "Huh? Let Brother Brother Qingmu make the trip?"

Geeta asked strangely: "With his strength, isn't having him make the trip the most Tuo De Zuo Fa?"

Hanging up the call with Geeta, Luo Mu looked at the Ultra Ball in his hand.

Not knowing whether he was sighing at how pitiful Brother Brother Qingmu was as a corporate slave or sighing at having to release Iron Bundle, Luo Mu let out a soft sigh.

Sigh, such a good Ice-type Pokémon that can create ice and saves energy; letting it go really feels a bit reluctant.

For Luo Mu, prioritizing the safety of the Pokémon within the farm was most important, but Iron Bundle's instability was too strong; no matter how careful one is, there will always be an oversight, so it is better to uproot the seed of danger from the start.

Anyway, there are plenty of Ice-type Pokémon in this world; rather than keeping this unstable factor Iron Bundle in the farm, it would be better to simply catch some normal Ice-type Pokémon instead.

Luo Mu shook his head, planning to hand over the Ultra Ball containing Iron Bundle to Brother Brother Qingmu when he set off later.

The time remaining before departing for the Unova region was running out, and he thought he should go to Glaseado Town to inspect whether his four students had cleared the Glaseado Gym.

Luo Mu rode Dragonite, crossing countless mountains and rivers of Paldea along the way, pausing for a while at Casseroya Lake to accompany Dragonite in reviewing the environment there, then soaring up along the great waterfall into the range of Glaseado Mountain.

Having visited Glaseado Town several times before and even catching a notorious Pokémon Hunter along the way, Dragonite knew the route extremely well.

Watching the gradually approaching silhouette of Glaseado Town, Luo Mu fell into deep thought.

He wondered which prison Hunter J and her accomplices were currently treading sewing machines in; since he had sent her to prison, she probably couldn't get involved in the matters concerning Team Galactic and the three Lake Guardians in Sinnoh anymore.

Even though summer was approaching, Glaseado Town remained covered in frost and snow as always, at most the weather being slightly clearer and the greenery somewhat more lush.

Wearing the same windbreaker he had worn when arresting Hunter J last time, Luo Mu had just landed in Glaseado Town when someone greeted him.

"Isn't this Luo Mu? Long time no see!"

Luo Mu turned to look and discovered the person greeting him was actually Old Man Taron, who had previously accompanied him and Looker up Glaseado Mountain.

The old man looked as energetic as ever, his complexion ruddy; his mood recently must have been quite good.

At Taron's feet, a Greavard was sizing up Luo Mu with curious eyes.

"Mr. Taron, long time no see." After responding first, Luo Mu's eyes lit up as he looked at the candle flame swaying atop the Greavard's head: "It seems you and Bean are getting along very well."

Taron smiled, squatted down to pat the Greavard's head, and looked at Luo Mu: "Thanks to you, my Lady has now fully recovered; she has been wanting to meet you for a long time. If you don't mind, would you honor us by stepping into our humble home for a cup of hot tea?"

"It was just a simple favor." Luo Mu scratched his head and apologized: "I plan to go to the Glaseado Gym to check on my students; they are currently challenging the Glaseado Gym, so I probably can't go right now, at least not until a bit later."

"No problem, no problem; as long as you come, my wife, I, and Bean will be very happy."

Taron waved his hand, telling Luo Mu not to worry about it.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Taron smiled and said: "Your students wouldn't happen to be those four children, Penny, Hearing Hearing Nimo, Marnie, and Arven, would they?"

"If it is them, the Gym Challenge has already ended; they stayed in Glaseado Town a week ago, and although there were some twists and turns, they all completed the challenge this morning."

"Right now, they should be being entertained by Gym Leader Grusha, right?"

"That is truly wonderful!" Luo Mu's eyes lit up; the four of them really lived up to expectations. Bowing slightly to Taron, Luo Mu said: "Then I will take my leave first and visit again later."

Taron smiled and waved: "Bring those four children along as well."

Luo Mu nodded slightly: "Okay!"

Watching Luo Mu's departing back, Taron smiled, turned around, walked into a shop, and began selecting a suitable envelope.

Subsequently, Taron picked up a pen and slowly filled in the recipient's address—Eindoak.

Walking on the streets of Glaseado Town, Luo Mu praised the four without stint and made a promise.

"You few really did well; as a reward, before we depart, I'll treat you to a big meal at the Treasure Eatery."

According to Grusha, Hearing Hearing Nimo completed the challenge on the second day, Arven on the fourth, Marnie on the fifth, and Penny just this morning.

Even Grusha praised the progress the four made over this week endlessly, and they even managed to conquer the sixth Gym; they truly deserved a reward.

"Yay!"

The four immediately let out cheers of surprise; there was not a single person in Paldea who did not know the reputation of the Treasure Eatery.

Penny was already imagining what dishes to order; speaking of the Treasure Eatery's signature dish, it was surely...

Having been to the Treasure Eatery many times, Hearing Hearing Nimo cared less about "going to the Treasure Eatery" and more about the point of "a reward given by Luo Mu," asking excitedly: "Teacher Luo Mu, are we preparing to go down the mountain now?"

Marnie and Arven also turned their curious gazes toward Luo Mu; having stayed in Glaseado Town for a week, they had learned quite a few routes, and the place this road led to should be the residential area...

Luo Mu smiled mysteriously and wagged his finger: "You'll know when we get there."

(End of Chapter)