Master Craftsman of the Elven World

Chapter 499 Tata Open, Yizimo Tata Open!

Lightmoss: "Although the Sand Iron Skin is electric and ground-based, the electric attribute does not make it resistant to water-based attacks, so this strange scene has appeared."

"A single surf can defeat the Sand Ironhide, which is twice as weak as water. These guys, as ordinary members of the tribe, are fierce, but they still seem a bit too weak when facing a successful man."

Ocean Ranger Dolphin, although not a high-level character, as the saying goes, restraint is paramount.

Even if there is a difference of 10 or 20 levels, the element that counters the opponent's element can still deal effective damage.

With its incredibly high stats, including a base base stat of 650, Dolphin is comparable to the robust physiques that many legendary Pokémon have developed through years of free swimming in the ocean – no joke!
Aoki looked at the scene before him listlessly, even somewhat speechless:

"You actually said that the creatures in Zone Zero are weak, but you have a very amazing side. Is that just my imagination? Speaking of which, I think I know why Ye Ci sent you to Zone Zero to investigate."

"How could I possibly see an Electric-type Pokémon being defeated by a Water-type Pokémon?"

"And also, that Pokémon... the successful man, who are you...?"

Aoki looked at the Pokémon posing with some uncertainty.

Although few people have ever seen it, compared to the various ferocious creatures of Zone Zero that are published in supernatural magazines, at least this guy in front of us is a genuine "legend" of the Padia region.

If the Padia region is often criticized for not having any special legendary Pokémon...
To be precise, it's not entirely true that there isn't any.

Aoki: "If I'm not mistaken, is that Dolphin Man?"

"The hero of the sea, said to appear when people and Pokémon are in danger, saving everyone with an all-powerful superhuman appearance."

"Man~!" Dolphin Man gave Aoki a thumbs up!
Humans, you have excellent taste!

Heroes of the sea, enter!

Aoki looked at Lightmoss: "You even have Dolphin Warrior. The legendary warrior Crimson Knight, the hero of the sea Dolphin Warrior, and these Array Soldiers, but none of them are Steel-type Pokémon."

Hikari stroked her chin: "Mr. Aoki, is this your吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for a sarcastic remark)?"

"However, you're right, none of these three are Steel-type, and my Steel-type Pokémon companions are all in the Poké Balls I carry."

Hikari showed the backpack to Aoki, who had already noticed it:
"From what I heard from you, you don't use the storage system, which means you're one of those rare people who carry many Pokémon with them."

"You seem to be quite good at other attributes as well. So, steel is just the one you're best at."

"My specialty is being ordinary, but your specialty is being all-around. The all-around new Four Heavenly Kings, with talents that seem to fly through the clouds."

Aoki's heartfelt sentiment.

General attributes. Ordinary. Common, mundane, and unremarkable.

It suits my unoriginal self perfectly, and I like it that way too.

Aoki has always believed this.

He sighed:

"The world always looks at the strange, the eccentric, and those who don't follow the usual path differently."

"The chief is also a very individualistic person."

"Both people and Pokémon should be simpler and easier to understand. However, there are also amazing people like you. Normally, people like me and people like you would never have any interaction in their lives."

Guangtai chuckled: "Mr. Aoki, have you heard of the six degrees of separation hypothesis? It's also known as the six degrees of separation theory."

"It is said that when strangers establish a relationship, there are no more than six people involved in the connection."

"In other words, through six people, you can get to know anyone in the world. And travel is a necessary means of building relationships."

"Therefore, some encounters are not accidental, but inevitable."

Aoki shook his head: "That's quite a unique theory. Traveling to other places may be enjoyable, but isn't it most comfortable to come home? That's how I think, and maybe that's why I lack talent."

"Alright, let's deal with the aftermath now. I'll handle the cleanup."

Aoki took out a string of Ultra Balls from his briefcase and, looking at the Paradoxical Pokémon lying haphazardly on the ground, caught them one by one.

“I remember now, this is from a supernatural magazine. It was published in the July issue of a certain year, and the content about the crawling wing was only a month apart.”

"It's said to be a Magneto that has lived for about 10,000 years, according to some scientists. There have also been several sightings of it. It seems to appear in the arid regions of Padia."

Aoki stroked his chin, closed his eyes, and thought for a moment.

"However, so far there have only been rumors, and they don't match the appearance of the legendary monster in the scorching desert."

"You're right, you really can't trust paranormal magazines. They're probably just writing things to grab attention."

"Sometimes, this kind of content can be very troubling for me."

The magazine might say some irresponsible things, but it's really hard for Aoki, who's in charge of guarding the research facility and making sure there are no accidents.

As the saying goes, it takes only a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them; this is probably what it means.

Guangtai also knew that this eyewitness account was most likely problematic, but it was still unclear who wrote it and why.

Although the supernatural magazine says that the Sand Ironhide appears in the dry areas of Padia, in reality, it can only be captured in Sector Zero in the game.

However, another matter cannot be ruled out.
"Before the research facilities in Padia were built, long ago, when the author of the Book of Crimson/Purple, Heizhe, entered Sector Zero, could there have already been some Sand Irons that escaped and went into hiding in some dry area?"

"Because the prototype of this guy is more like a primitive human than a Magneton, he also has the same ideas of seeking good fortune and avoiding evil as humans, as well as similar living habits."

"Perhaps, in some dry place in Parthia, there really are hidden sand-tin tribes."

If it poses a danger, that's another matter. But if it doesn't, it's just a baseless rumor that might even pique the students' curiosity during their treasure hunt.

While it may be dangerous for children, think about it another way: aren't wild Pokémon dangerous too?
A 10-year-old child runs around everywhere, beats up Pokémon, catches them, and battles them—that's the underlying logic of this world!

Aoki carefully stored the Ultra Balls. The Pokémon were all weakened, so there was no need to worry about them escaping from the balls.

Furthermore, the Padilla League has a proud technology called "Lock Ball Program," which can lock the Poké Ball.

While this technology is mostly used by villains in other regions, it seems to be of little concern to the Padia Alliance.

The Paradise Defense Program deep within Zone Zero also uses this mechanism to lock players' Poké Balls in the game; Poké Balls with non-Orin/Foto IDs will be unusable.

Because this program was developed by Orin and Fortu. Its purpose was for the "defense fortifications of the Zero Zone Research Institute".

After finishing their business here, Hikari and Aoki immediately prepared to enter the tunnel. Aoki paused for a moment, asked Hikari to wait, and then went to the crowd of onlookers in the distance and dispersed them.

"People are always interested in strange and unusual things. If we don't let them leave, some people will probably follow them to the research facility."

Aoki shook his head, seemingly at a loss for what to do with the energetic locals.

After all, for someone who has been working hard all year round, the greatest wish is to lie in bed and not move.

The residents of Jinhui Town have a good relationship with Aoki, because Aoki loves to eat and the town has the most restaurants in Padiya.

"Dealing with Pokémon issues and cleaning up their messes, I also have to deal with people's issues and interpersonal relationships, which are areas I'm not very good at."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, let's move on."

Aoki, still sounding weary, entered the tunnel with Moss and the Pokémon.

When you pass through the tunnel, you see the light and the zero-zone gate standing on the cliffs surrounded by mountains on three sides.
Aoki conducted an examination:
"There are indeed signs that the gate to Zone Zero has been opened; someone has gone in."

"However, those Pokémon don't seem to have caused any trouble here, which means they climbed up from below when the barrier disappeared."

Lightmoss looked around at the environment, just like in the game.

To get to Zone Zero, you can simply jump off the cliff next to it, where all you see below are rolling white clouds.

These ever-present clouds isolate the ecosystem of Zone Zero from the outside world. At the same time, the existence of the Zone Zero gate is also a key node in maintaining the "barrier".

Lightmoss: "Is there an abandoned research station below the Zero Zone gate?"

Below the game are many ruined and collapsed research sites that are unnamed and cannot be interacted with.

“Those were the locations of the facilities that were part of the Zone Zero gate, but since this area has been closed, the buildings below have also become obsolete.”

Aoki opened the gate to Zone Zero and explained to Hikari, "I've only been down there once. Those buildings were constructed a long time ago, probably over 80 years ago. When I went down, they had already been destroyed."

"Don't worry, those research stations are different from the Zero Zone gates. They have nothing to do with the barrier. They were also relay stations used to investigate the Zero Zone setup."

"In the past, it seems there was some kind of plan being carried out in Zone Zero, and many researchers worked there."

Aoki only gave a brief introduction. He was not a researcher, so he did not know the true nature of the plan. Of course, it was not anything particularly dangerous or sinister, at least that's how Aoki saw it.

"The initial result of that project is the finished product, the Taijing Bead, that we use now. This project was launched to continue research on Taijing."

Guangtai: "The name is Project Tai Le, right?"

Aoki nodded slightly: "You already know. That saves me the time of explaining, although I don't know much about this plan either. It's not something I can't talk about, or anything problematic."

Lightmoy: "However, the plan itself does have problems."

Aoki was slightly taken aback by Hikari's words. "Is there a problem?"

Guangtai: "I don't know if Chief Yeci knows the true contents of this plan. Let's just assume she doesn't. When I met with Chief Yeci before, she didn't seem to know what Dr. Orin was doing in the giant pit, or at least she didn't know the details."

"However, the Taijingzhu was a product designed to solicit financing from giant corporations, namely the Academy and the Alliance, but in reality, it was a byproduct of another machine, so it's not wrong to say that."

"While the initial intention of development had nothing to do with that machine, there was a slight connection in the subsequent progress of the plan."

Aoki's expression remained unchanged as he pondered the matter, eventually arriving at a conclusion:
"Conspiracy or new plans are too complicated for me. So, you're going to conduct a surprise inspection of the Doctor this time, right?"

"You mean, my superiors believe that Dr. Orin is conducting strange activities inside the giant pit, which means it's related to the problematic Tale Project you mentioned?"

“That’s right.” Hikari smiled. “Mr. Aoki is a very perceptive person! Even before I finished speaking, you immediately knew what was going on.”

"Mr. Aoki's work ability is really strong."

"Spare me," Aoki said dejectedly. "I don't want to be reported like this. When you come back, please make sure you don't praise me in front of your superiors."

"Moreover, I bear responsibility for this incident at the Zero Zone gate."

Lightmoss: "I know, so I will go down and deal with these issues. Mr. Aoki, please stay outside and take precautions. The barrier has not been activated yet. To prevent more Paradox Pokémon from escaping, please stay near the tunnel."

Aoki stared at Hikari for a long while, a look that he rarely showed on his face:

"For some reason, thinking about the scene just now, an idea suddenly popped into my head."

"You are such a reliable person. With a junior like you around, I don't seem to have anything to worry about. I haven't felt this reassuring feeling in a long time."

"No matter what, I owe you a favor for this matter."

Aoki and Hikari entered the interior of the Zero Zone gate, where the lights were turned on and became incredibly bright. Then, the mechanical door leading to the open platform opened.

"The lights are on; this place should be set to [power saving mode]." Aoki felt confused.

"Who on earth was able to get in here? Could it be a former researcher? But... what about access?"

After a moment's thought, Guangtai said to Aoki, "If I'm not mistaken, it was Dr. Orin's child who opened it."

However, the problem is that Piper isn't particularly skilled with mechanics; his technique for opening gates and barriers is probably something Dr. Orin had mentioned before. On his journey home, Piper visits the gate for the second time, puzzled that the lights are off.

In the end, Peony used a simple and direct approach, employing hacking skills to hack into the system, forcibly disable the "energy-saving mode," and turn on the lights.

Although this was just a minor incident, and not even related to the main storyline, it did reveal a point.

That's right here at the gate; even turning on the lights requires authorization.

Of course, there is another point, which is that Peony's journey home was due to Pipa asking Principal Claver for help, and the principal then introduced her to him.

Although the principal was certainly unaware of the "unauthorized entry into Zone Zero" during this process.

Later, Mudan believed that the operating system of the zero zone gate was remotely controlled by the doctor himself, and that a "biometric recognition" voice prompt would appear when entering.

But that was done by the AI ​​PhD himself, and it had nothing to do with the gate system.

"I see, so it's a back door. She was entrusted with managing the pit, but to manage it like this, letting children in, is a violation of regulations and extremely dangerous."

"Did you go down using the [Space Teleportation Panel]? [Descent Door], open."

Aoki was somewhat speechless. While operating the device, he also activated something like a dialogue device.

"Dr. Orin, the situation is urgent. Please respond if you receive this message."

The device sent out a message, but received no response, only a deathly silence, as if it had not connected with the Zero Zone Research Institute.

The air was filled with a cacophony of static and random signals.

The area around the gate platform was also covered with mottled rust.

"No response. Or is there a signal malfunction? Communication isn't always smooth in Zone Zero."

Aoki was still operating the system, but as a mere office worker, he couldn't understand high-tech stuff and could only sigh helplessly.

That's my limit, I've done my best.

Aoki shook his head, took out the exploration materials for Zone Zero and some route survey maps from his briefcase, including documents such as the location of the observatory, handed them to Lightmoss, and said:
"This is information related to Zone Zero. You can also use the space teleportation panel to travel down to the First Observatory."

Lightmoss glanced behind her and saw that the cowardly lizard, which had been missing since the start of the battle, had somehow respawned beside her.

"It's okay, I'll just fly down!"

Aoki: "Isn't this the Pokémon I saw next to the Mewtwo? Oh right, it disappeared during the battle just now."

Even Aoki made a comment, and Millerton looked at it, then timidly remained silent.

It's fun to participate in competitive matches, and you don't have to worry about the Pokémon suddenly going crazy.

However, fighting the creatures inside the giant pit is a different story.

"Ah-ga-s!" Milton wagged its tail at the moss.

That guy is amazing! He managed to lead legendary warriors and heroes to defeat so many crawling winged creatures and sand iron-skinned creatures! With him around, there's really nothing to be afraid of in Zone Zero!
Lightmoss: "Really? Then can I ride you and fly down?"

"Ah, ah ga s!" Milton exclaimed in surprise!
Hmm! The long-awaited opportunity to be a mount is finally here! But flying in Zone Zero... well, there's a risk of being attacked by Ancient Species and crashing!
However, if you miss this opportunity, it will be bad if the big boss is unhappy, and you won't be able to make a living in the future, which would be too painful.

After weighing the pros and cons, Millerton nodded.

With the light moss covering me, there shouldn't be any problems. I just need to fly, and I also have two other flying companions. Even if we encounter an air attack, we shouldn't be afraid!
Seeing Lightmoss ride Milerton, and Milerton's posture change, Aoki finally realized:
"I have a feeling that it looks somewhat similar to a motor lizard."

Lightmoss: "Ah, of course, Milton is a Pokémon that evolved from Motospi, or rather, was created based on it!"

"It looks cool, right? Its type is Electric/Dragon! So, you can also call it Electric Dragon."

Aoki nodded without hesitation.

Electric locomotive, that's really cool, impeccable.

Hikari, on the other hand, was thinking that when she was in Unova, she built a D-motorcycle. Although it was a cosplay to cross the cylindrical bridge, the color of the motorcycle was Milton.

"Accelerated Synchronization can even surpass light! This time it's for real! The gathered prayers will become the shining stars of new life, transforming into a path of radiant light!"

"After that, there was a second one!"

Lightmoss summoned Genesect, and the Steel Insect immediately gave off an impression of being sturdy and powerful! And Genesect was extremely knowledgeable about combat!
No Pokémon knows hunting better than the ancient hunters from 300 million years ago!

Aoki's gaze shifted.

I've finally seen a "Steel-type" Pokémon. Although I've never seen this type of Pokémon before, I can tell from its appearance.

That steel and mechanical body
Aoki suddenly realized something and glanced at the cowardly lizard.

No, even if it's a machine body, it's not necessarily made of steel.

Genesect transformed, and the Crimson Knights used their spears to command the arrayed soldiers!
One by one, they boarded the bus in an orderly fashion!
The soldiers in formation: "Ita ita.waaaaagh!!!"

We're finally about to enter this incredible war zone!

Driven by an unquenchable desire for conquest, the ultimate, strongest, and most powerful waaaaagh begins!

Tataka, Izmotatataka!

In a small garden!
waaagh ya waaagh ya waaagh!

In the big city, waaagh ya waaagh ya waaagh!

Have a huge fight with the burly BOSS!
Using the Super Gear techniques, and led by the Super Gear Crimson Knight, fight a Super Gear battle!
Aoki glanced at the bloodthirsty Pokémon and felt that Lightmoss's Pokémon were either ridiculously strong or strangely bizarre. The Poké Balls also seemed to have infected him, and he began to ponder, while simultaneously warning:

“I will immediately notify Xinli and the chief to come.”

"If you encounter a danger you can't handle, evacuate immediately. Although that's what I said, I feel that with your strength, you won't encounter such a thing. Hmm, you have too many Poké Balls. Perhaps I should say that it would be better if you and your Pokémon didn't dismantle Area Zero?"

"I don't know why, but I always feel that you are very reliable."

"Please also search for that child as soon as possible. I think that since he is Dr. Orlin's child, he should be staying at the observatory. I'm counting on you for everything."

Milton and Genosect flew from the rusted gate platform into the cloud-shrouded Padia pit in one go. From high above, they could clearly see the natural environment and conditions inside the pit!

The light of the crystal shone brightly on the ground and could be seen even in the sky. The strange terrain stretched downwards, like a scene from the abyss!
The black pit at the very center is like a bottomless abyss, with strange clouds swirling around it, making it impossible to see the situation directly below. Scattered crystalline lights flicker, shining through the lower sea of ​​clouds and the dark cave, shimmering hazily.

Just like the stars in the universe!

Following the information provided by Aoki, the moss flew directly to the location of the first observation station, just as expected.
The moss heard the sound.

Although it was a cry for help, it was very weak, more like a sob from someone who had nowhere else to turn.

"Someone, someone, please save me."

"Why is there no signal? Flying Taxi, come save me!"

(End of this chapter)