Chapter 411: The Appearance of Iron Bundle Holding a Basketball

After editing a text message and sending it to Dai Ke, Luo Mu paid no further attention to whether Dai Ke would reply, and instead directly opened his laptop to log into the forum.

But when he opened the backend interface and clicked on the private message module, he still did not see a reply from the Guild Master.

Looking at the two small characters "Unread" beside the message he had sent, Luo Mu's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"What kind of ruin requires so many days of exploration and excavation?"

Unable to figure it out, Luo Mu turned his gaze to his side.

At this moment, Greedent was looking at Luo Mu with an expectant expression.

Luo Mu could only honestly shake his head at it.

"Ding."

Greedent immediately became dejected.

Seeing Greedent display such disappointed emotions, Luo Mu could only comfort it, saying, "It's fine; if it really doesn't work out, we'll just directly acquire some Paldea Ancient Gold Coins."

After soothingly rubbing Greedent's small face with his fingertip and making it giggle, Luo Mu finally placed Greedent back into the wooden treasure chest crafted by Oranguru on the cabinet.

Returning to his bedroom to grab a set of cold-weather gear, Luo Mu then headed toward the ice cellar under the scorching sun.

There was nothing extremely urgent happening today.

Even if there were, it would merely be practicing ice sculpting techniques together with the Pokémon.

By the time Luo Mu first went to the warehouse to change into his cold-weather gear and then reached the ice cellar via the passage directly connecting the warehouse to the cellar, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Mimikyu had just made their final cut.

Thus, a bird head with a rough outline appeared.

Looking further toward their sides.

The basketball carved earlier, along with the lower body holding the basketball, had already been joined together.

Next, they needed to carefully carve the details of the bird head before completing the final assembly.

Just like assembling plastic models or building with Lego, dividing an entire ice sculpture into several parts to carve the components sequentially and then joining them together is also considered a method of ice sculpting.

Although some masters possess the superb technique to carve on a single block of ice, "freely expressing" their artistic cells.

But given the skill level of Luo Mu and his Pokémon, carving in separate modules was the only way to ensure that one small mistake wouldn't force them to tear down the whole thing and start over.

The method for joining ice sculptures was very simple.

Luo Mu simply borrowed a Squirtle watering can from the glass greenhouse, poured water along the contact area between the two modules, and then smoothed it out a bit.

Actually, using a spray bottle would allow for better application of this "natural glue," but since it didn't take much effort anyway, he just used what he had on hand.

Seeing Luo Mu approach, Mimikyu let out a welcoming cry and came forward to greet him.

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui merely nodded lightly at Luo Mu.

Rubbing his hands together inside his thick gloves and exhaling a cloud of white mist, Luo Mu asked with a smile, "Is the bird head mostly done?"

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Mimikyu both nodded.

"Where are Sandslash and the others? Judging by the situation, they must have returned to their nests to care for the Pokémon Eggs?"

Although phrased as a question, Luo Mu was already certain that they must have returned to their nests to care for the Pokémon Eggs.

After all, the work assigned to the Sandslash couple was handling the rough outlines.

Under the earnest gazes of Mimikyu and Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Luo Mu picked up professional carving tools and began working on the details of the bird head.

As the tools in his hands began to move, ice shavings fell continuously, and the details of the bird head became clearer and more exquisite.

The reason Luo Mu could transform from a complete layman who knew nothing and only entered competitions on a whim into someone so "professional" within just a few days was largely thanks to Oranguru.

Ice sculpting and wood carving, aside from differences in certain details, were fundamentally similar in terms of technique.

Not to mention that Luo Mu himself possessed unexpected talent in this area; under Oranguru's guidance, his progress was naturally rapid. Time spent carving always passed quickly.

It was nearly five in the afternoon when Luo Mu finally stopped his movements; looking at the lifelike bird head held in his gloved hands, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, finally finished."

Saying this, Luo Mu smoothed the joining surface between the bird head and the body to make it smoother and more fitting, and only then, with the help of Mimikyu and Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, did he completely assemble them together.

After sprinkling water, it took only a moment for the ice sculpture's bird head and body to connect tightly.

Just as Luo Mu was admiring his masterpiece and narcissistically thinking that he could reward himself with a handmade figure in the future, a small figure rushed into his field of vision.

Vulpix ran over like a gust of wind, its large eyes shining brightly as it looked at the completed ice sculpture, opening its small mouth to let out a soft exclamation.

"Miu-wu!" (So amazing!)

Seeing Vulpix this excited, an idea struck Luo Mu; he directly scooped up Vulpix and asked with a mischievous grin, "Can you recognize which Pokémon this ice sculpture is?"

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and Mimikyu exchanged a glance, their faces showing helplessness.

Who could blame their own Trainer for loving to tease children so much?

This was simply taking advantage of the fact that Vulpix had joined the farm late.

When asked, Vulpix's eyeballs rolled slightly, and it answered Luo Mu's question without hesitation.

"Miu-wu!" (It's Delibird!) Vulpix recognized Delibird; apart from that ball, the ice sculpture's features were almost identical to a Delibird! After answering the question, Vulpix looked at Luo Mu with full confidence, nearly ready to put its hands on its hips.

But Luo Mu shook his head.

"Wrong!"

"Miu-wu!?"

Vulpix wore a shocked expression.

Stared at by Vulpix's "You can't be tricking me" look, Luo Mu put Vulpix down and wagged his finger with an air of "You're still too young."

"This is Iron Bundle—in the pose of holding a basketball!"

Luo Mu was extremely happy at this moment.

Didn't he learn handicrafts precisely so he could create whatever whimsical things he wanted according to his own ideas?

Vulpix, however, was completely dumbfounded, staring blankly at the "Delibird" over there, several question marks appearing above its small head.

Who is Iron Bundle? A moment later.

After teasing the Vulpix, Luo Mu did not forget his main business.

He opened his phone and played a video for the Vulpix, Cang Yan Ren Gui, and Mimikyu.

It was a video of a woman and her partners—a Lapras, a Weavile, and a Frosmoth—carving an ice sculpture together, then using move effects to make the ice sculpture utterly magnificent.

The Lapras's Aurora Veil, combined with the Frosmoth scattering ice scales while using Play Rough, elevated the already lifelike and outstanding effect of the ice sculpture to another level.

Seeing the Vulpix completely mesmerized, Luo Mu put away his phone and smiled lightly, saying, "In the final judging phase of this ice sculpture competition, using such methods to enhance the work is also permitted. Vulpix, you understand what I mean, right?"

The Vulpix stared blankly at Luo Mu without making a sound.

Rubbing its small head, which felt extremely good to the touch, Luo Mu smiled and said, "Our planned work this time is the Sky Dragon. To put it plainly, regarding special effects, we can only rely on you."

"So... let's train together!"

Coming to its senses, the Vulpix's almond-shaped eyes filled with longing, and it nodded eagerly.

"Mewu!"

This time, it, the Vulpix, must stun everyone! (End of Chapter)