Chapter 31: Temporary New Member

"In any case, rest well here for the time being; after all, there are no volcanoes nearby to help you quickly recover to your prime. If you fly out in this weakened state, you might really get captured by others, you know?"

The Flame Bird was unusually quiet; it merely nodded and said no more, as if burdened by some thought.

Luo Mu squatted beside the right wing of the Flame Bird, carefully lifted a corner of the bandage to observe the healing progress of the Flame Bird's wound, and nodded in satisfaction.

Although the orange flame burning on the Flame Bird's wing was still in a feeble state, the external injuries had recovered quickly, with most of the scars nearly healed.

Only because it had not ingested nutrients, and because its body was presumably repairing the injuries with full force on its own, the recovery of energy was somewhat slow.

This situation was very easy to solve.

Finding items or props containing high-quality Fire-type or Flying-type energy for the Flame Bird to absorb, or using expensive ingredients to make medicinal soups, could also effectively replenish the Flame Bird's energy.

Unfortunately, Luo Mu currently could not provide these conditions.

Not only did the farm's construction require money, but there were also nine mouths and an egg at home that needed spending, and the savings had been squandered by Miss Qi Shu's operations down to only sixty thousand League Coins.

One could say he had one foot already stepping onto the edge of bankruptcy.

The next day, the experimental field in the farm zone.

Luo Mu squatted in the strawberry field, stroking the vigorous green stems and leaves of the plants, a smile on his face.

Today was the fourth day since the strawberries were planted; although he did not know how long strawberries before the transmigration took to grow to this stage, under Bai Bai Pengpeng's timely and quantified cultivation, it should only take half a month to a month to sprout flower buds, bloom, and bear fruit.

In this world, Grass-type Pokémon really helped agriculture too much.

However, Bai Bai Pengpeng's energy was after all limited; apart from the failed potato field, there were still four fields waiting for Bai Bai Pengpeng's favor: the tomato, eggplant, cabbage, and cucumber fields.

Letting just one Pokémon cultivate them was simply too much exploitation of it; unfortunately, Cotton Cotton was still some time away from evolution, so Luo Mu could only try to supplement Bai Bai Pengpeng's nutrition and tell it not to rush the fields so urgently, as letting them grow naturally was also fine.

After leaving the Serperior and Bai Bai Pengpeng, along with the two Cotton Cottons currently in a carefree stage, to look after this field and avoid being nibbled by passing wild Pokémon, Luo Mu moved again to the area below yesterday's battlefield between the Dragonite and the Flame Bird, which was the lake zone.

The Dragonite's Thunder not only hit the Flame Bird; more of the lightning was vented onto the ground below.

Normally, the Dragonite and the others consciously restrained the power of their moves, not causing too much change to the surrounding environment.

This large pit could be said to have formed under Luo Mu's instruction.

"Meow-ao."

The Luxray paced over; upon closer inspection, the fur on its body was still standing on end, and occasionally one could spot electric currents wandering and shuttling across the fur.

Luo Mu did not stroke its fur as usual, because touching the Luxray in this state with bare hands would very easily scorch one's palm.

Looking at the Luxray, Luo Mu asked, "How is the absorption of the residual electricity?"

The Luxray twisted to look at the large pit behind it, confirmed a fourth time that no residual electricity remained, and only then turned its head to nod at Luo Mu.

"You've worked hard," Luo Mu nodded slightly, and only after receiving the Luxray's confirmation did he dare to take steps to the very center of the large pit.

Luo Mu's nostrils twitched slightly, smelling the lingering scorched scent in the air, glanced around, and fell into thought.

Although this large pit was nominally called a large pit, it was actually not much bigger than a normal fish pond; filled with water, it would probably have a depth of about 3 meters, and in terms of area, it was roughly the size of four or five mu of land.

However, for initially raising fish and housing Water-type Pokémon of smaller size, it was sufficient.

As for a truly deserving lake, we should wait until the farm has certain development and foundation, then slowly expand it until it lives up to the name "Lake Zone."

As for how to fill the Lake Zone with water, Luo Mu had already given it some thought.

His farm connected to the wilderness of South Area 4; going forward a long distance lay the South Paldea Sea.

And in the wilderness of South Area 4, there were still a few lakes relatively close to the farm from which water could be diverted; today Luo Mu planned to go scout that area, and if suitable, have the Swampert divert part of the water from that lake, then refill the diversion channel afterward.

With only a little over a week until Orange Academy opened, he had to get the farm's basic construction done during this time.

Luo Mu brought the Luxray back home and began organizing the items needed for exploring the wilderness.

This trip was not only to scout whether the lake environment was suitable for diversion; Luo Mu also planned to resume his old trade and go "treasure hunting" in the wilderness.

Back when he first transmigrated, he obtained his first capital in the wilderness; being able to raise the Luxray and the others to their current level was thanks to the many opportunities to find valuable items in the Paldea region's wilderness.

Luo Mu swapped the canvas bag he usually carried for a more worn-out, heavily used large backpack.

Unable to afford a Spatial Backpack, this was already the largest-capacity backpack he had on hand.

For this trip, Luo Mu was full of confidence, and his confidence's source was the Golden Finger with little presence in his mind.

Luo Mu reminded in his mind, "When you detect something good, remember to prompt me."

【No problem; as an exchange, you must remember the agreement!】

The corner of Luo Mu's mouth lifted slightly upward, and he said, "Don't forget to maintain your state during normal times, continue your training, and don't let your skills go to waste, right?"

"Since I promised you, I will naturally fulfill it."

Although communicating with the System, Luo Mu did not stop his actions; after finishing the inventory of the Required Items, he immediately called the Luxray lying on the spot and walked out of the house.

Not rushing to depart directly, Luo Mu went around from the front door to the back of the small villa; there, a simple small shed was erected, and the recovering Flame Bird slept underneath it.

The Flame Bird maintained a hen-squatting posture, its flame-burning wings drawn in; beneath it, the Pokémon Egg Incubator stood quietly.

Because this scene was too much like a hen brooding an egg, Luo Mu couldn't help but chuckle.

Flame Bird: "?"

The Flame Bird, which had closed its eyes to cultivate its spirit, looked at Luo Mu strangely; intuition told it this person was thinking of something rude.

The Flame Bird, usually of a violent temper, ultimately held back and didn't explode in anger; it wasn't because it couldn't beat the Luxray beside Luo Mu, which was even more formidable than the Dragonite and had dragged it by the neck for a day and a night; it was simply that the Flame Bird was too lazy to argue with Luo Mu.

The Flame Bird silently hypnotized itself with this thought.