Chapter 249: Are You Sure It Was Arceus Who Saved You?

Huo La had just entered Zhujing Village when a Galaxy Team member stationed at the village entrance recognized him.

The member, seeing that he was unharmed, looked shocked and without a word led him to the Galaxy Team's conference center.

At this moment, Huo La sat at one side of a long wooden table, a full plate of food—roasted chicken leg, bread, wild vegetable soup—stacked before him, all specially prepared by Aunt BeiLiLa.

He wolfed down the food, his cheeks puffed like small balls, completely ignoring the seven sets of eyes staring at him from across the table.

The day's and night's ordeal, from being abducted by Deoxys to the life‑and‑death standoff, had left him starving to the bone.

No amount of pressure or interrogation mattered more than filling his stomach.

"Burp—" Finally, Huo La set down the clean chicken‑bone in his hand, patted his round belly, let out a loud satisfied belch, and then leisurely wiped his mouth.

He looked up to see Ma Jia Mu, Xingyue, Dr. Laventon, Gangshi, Zhu Bei, Ami, and Ju Yi—seven people—all staring at him intently, their eyes full of curiosity and doubt.

"Hmm?" Huo La scratched his head, an innocent expression on his face, "Why are you all looking at me like that? Do I have rice grains on my face?"

The group exchanged glances, and finally Xingyue spoke first, his tone still calm but unable to hide a faint, barely perceptible concern: "Are you okay?"

"Nine deaths to one life, I barely escaped," Huo La sighed, his voice carrying just the right amount of lingering fear, "I almost never saw you again."

"What actually happened?" Zhu Bei leaned forward, eyes urgent, "That cosmic creature—what's its origin?"

Huo La looked up at her; although this Zhu Bei was much younger than he remembered, her signature hairstyle and Pearl Team uniform let him recognize her at a glance.

He paused, then said, "That Pokemon, called Deoxys, came from the Universe."

"Deoxys…" The group murmured the unfamiliar name, their eyes heavy with gravity.

Hisui had never seen such a Pokemon; the name itself sounded mysterious and dangerous.

"What did it grab you for? How did you escape?" Dr. Laventon couldn't contain his curiosity and asked eagerly.

"I have no idea what it wanted," Huo La spread his hands, beginning the pre‑planned excuse, "That day I had set up a tent at Jiaolu Gaogang, eating dinner and singing, when a meteor suddenly hurtled toward me. If I hadn't reacted quickly and bolted, I'd have become barbecue filling on the spot."

He paused, pointing at Ami and Ju Yi sitting opposite, and said, "After the tremor subsided, I thought about going back to check. As soon as I reached the meteor, I saw Deoxys emerging from it. My legs went weak with fear, and just then I saw Director Ami and Director Ju Yi rushing over, trying to rescue, but before I could speak, Deoxys grabbed them away."

This half‑truth, half‑lie both explained why he was by the meteor and seamlessly incorporated Ami and Ju Yi's appearance, instantly boosting its credibility.

Ami and Ju Yi exchanged a glance, nodded, thereby confirming his story.

"Then?" Gangshi, the most impatient, slammed his hand on the table, "Where did it take you? How did you escape?"

"Then, when I came to, I was already in the Sinnoh Temple," Huo La said calmly, mentioning the unexpected location.

"Sinnoh Temple?!" Dr. Laventon exclaimed, "Wasn't it abandoned long ago? How could it—"

"I don't know either," Huo La shook his head, then shifted tone, his voice tinged with awe, "I escaped because the Sinnoh Almighty intervened."

"Sinnoh Almighty!" Gangshi and Zhu Bei practically leapt from their chairs at the same time, faces full of shock and excitement, shouting in unison.

Huo La watched their reactions, feeling quietly satisfied.

He knows all too well the friction between the Diamond Team and the Pearl Team—each venerates Dialga and Palkia respectively, debating for countless years over who truly is the Sinnoh Almighty.

Rather than tell them Arceus saved him, he used the phrase "Sinnoh Almighty"—it both clarified his rescue and muddied the waters, leaving them no room to probe further.

As expected, the next second Gangshi couldn't wait to speak: "It must be Lord Dialga! Surely it's the time‑controlling Lord Dialga, right?"

"Nonsense!" Zhu Bei immediately retorted, her almond eyes wide, "The Sinnoh Almighty is clearly Lord Palkia, who controls space! Huo La was taken by Instant Teleportation; only Lord Palkia can rescue him on the spatial level!"

"What do you know! Lord Dialga controls time, can reverse life and death; saving his life is no trouble!"

"Palkia's Spatial Power is the strongest!" The two argued, faces flushed, each refusing to yield, instantly pushing everyone else aside.

Huo La watched the scene, quietly exhaled, lifted his cup of water, and took a leisurely sip.

At that moment, Gangshi and Zhu Bei abruptly stopped arguing, both turning to Huo La, their eyes full of expectation and certainty: "Huo La! Tell us! What does the Sinnoh Almighty that saved you look like?"

The water Huo La had just swallowed could neither be vomited nor swallowed again.

Under Gangshi's and Zhu Bei's intense gazes, Huo La struggled to swallow the water, raised his hand to dab his mouth corner, his mind racing with calculations.

He decided it was better to speak plainly: first, to stop them from endlessly bickering over Dialga and Palkia; second, perhaps he could enlist the Galaxy Team, Diamond Team, and Pearl Team to search for the Stone Tablet, or at least gauge their attitudes.

He cleared his throat and said, "It's Arceus, a Pokemon that looks like an alpaca."

"Arceus?"

"Alpaca?"

Gangshi and Zhu Bei were instantly stunned; the excitement and argument on their faces vanished, replaced by bewildered expressions.

They revere Dialga and Palkia, having never heard that name, let alone link it with the "Sinnoh Almighty."

Conversely, the Galaxy Team's four—Ma Jia Mu, Xingyue, BeiLiLa, and Dr. Laventon—showed obvious surprise, their gazes scanning each other, evidently exchanging something silently.

Huo La observed the scene, feeling a bit surprised—apparently the Galaxy Team's higher‑ups were aware of Arceus's existence.

At that moment, Ma Jia Mu spoke, his voice much deeper than before, carrying an indescribable seriousness: "Are you sure it was Arceus who saved you?"

"I'm sure," Huo La shrugged, his tone candid, "It told me its own name."

Gangshi and Zhu Bei exchanged a glance, each seeing doubt in the other's eyes, then both turned to Ma Jia Mu, clearly seeking an answer from him.

Ma Jia Mu sighed, rose slowly, walked to the window, gazed toward Zhujing Village, and said in a deep voice, "I don't know whether Arceus is the Sinnoh Almighty you speak of, but I do know that Arceus is a Creator God recorded in ancient texts."

"Creator God?!"

The words caused Ami and Ju Yi to also stand up in shock, their faces full of disbelief.

The legend of the Creator God existed only in the oldest myths; they had never imagined such a being, existing only in legend, could actually manifest, and even saved Huo La.

Ma Jia Mu didn't look back, merely waved his hand and said to Xingyue, "Xingyue, you speak. Your eloquence is far better than mine; they'll hear more clearly."