Elf: Start with small diamonds, then mutate into Diancie!

A sudden burst of white light illuminated the dense forest as if it were daytime.

Su Hao sighed with relief that the Scyther swarm had managed to seduce two police officers.

Otherwise, such a big commotion would definitely be exposed.

Thank you, my good friend Scyther.

Filled with gratitude for the Flying Mantis, Su Hao looked at the one-time secret realm entrance that had opened before him, leaped into the air, and disappeared near the entrance to the dense forest.

Several hours later, the two police officers who had gone to help their teammates contain the rampaging Scyther returned to their post. Looking at the dense forest, which was exactly the same as when they left, they happily continued their chatter.

"That elite-level late-stage Scyther chieftain was actually able to suppress the captain's professional-level Pokémon for a while. Is this what they call 'three times stronger when corrupted'?"

....................

"What the hell is going on?!"

The scene within the Spiral Secret Realm stunned Su Hao, who had just entered.

The sky was a blood-red color, and a thin blood-red mist shrouded the entire secret realm. The once thriving flowers, plants, and trees were now in a state of decay and withering, which made Su Hao feel a chill down his spine.

This scene is so eerie... Did I accidentally wander into some cultivation world or a hellish movie set?

He still remembered the footage Li Xiang showed him, of someone who happened to be recording, before being expelled from the Spiral Secret Realm.

At that time, everything was normal...

Diancie emerged from the luxurious sphere with a bang, looking seriously into the distance.

Articuno's equally serious voice rang out: "Su Hao, this is bad! I sense a chilling aura emanating from that massive ancient tower!"

"...Actually, I knew things were going badly even without you saying it..."

Su Hao's voice trembled; he couldn't believe his eyes.

After he turned his gaze to the Dragon Spiral Tower, the system started spamming information in front of him like crazy. At the same time, a huge, blood-red figure emanating black energy swooped straight down from the top of the tower towards Su Hao!

"Holy crap, the boss is blocking the door!"

[Located within the Dragon Spiral Tower]

Pokémon? : [Reshiram (Negative Energy Illusion)]

Attribute: [Dark + Dragon]

Rank: Mid-stage Dojo Level

[Urgent Mission Issued: Defeat the Reshiram Negative Energy Illusion that is entrenched in the Dragon Spiral Tower.]

[Quest Reward: Pokémon-themed Power Cube Crafting Techniques]

[System Notification: Articuno cannot completely eliminate negative energy phantoms.]

Su Hao: "??????"

------------

Rahiram.

Chapter 238 Articuno: I was careless, I almost missed my chance to teleport.

The intense wind pressure was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing many withered trees to collapse with a creaking sound.

The airflow created by Phantom Reshiram swooping down from above did not disperse the blood-red mist; instead, it added a few more deep, dark red hues to it.

From its mouth, ominous, blood-red energy gathered, almost bursting forth.

"Phantom Reshiram...negative energy!?"

Su Hao stared in disbelief, his mouth agape as he exclaimed, "Why is there negative energy in the Spiral Secret Realm?"

Why did it turn into Reshiram's appearance? What is Reshiram's current situation?

"Snap out of it! Prepare for battle!"

With a flash of red light, Articuno, of normal size, jumped out of the Master Ball. It lowered its head, picked up Su Hao's collar, and tossed him onto its back. Then, it gestured with its eyes for Diancie to come up as well.

Diancie nodded seriously with a tense little face, and jumped onto Articuno's back before it took off.

Articuno flapped its wings, unleashing an unreasonable surge of powerful Flying-type energy. A strong collision airflow was formed, and Articuno, relying on its powerful Ice God physique, soared straight into the sky.

This move directly eliminates the time required for takeoff, allowing it to ascend quickly, much like an alternative rocket.

The next moment, the blood-red energy beam blasted into the spot where Su Hao and the others had been standing, blasting countless materials into fragments that flew everywhere, leaving a deep trench.

Because of the urgency of the situation, Articuno didn't have time to build an energy shield on its back to prevent Su Hao from being thrown off or injured by the powerful force.

“Kouqu…”

Even though Su Hao's physique was already superhuman, this sudden blow almost made him throw up his dinner from the night before.

Fortunately, Tianxi was there to support him, otherwise Su Hao would definitely have been thrown out.

Without time to recover, Su Hao plucked at the Articuno's feathers and looked down.

It seemed that because Su Hao and his group had instantly ascended to an extremely high altitude, the negative energy phantom Reshiram lost track of them and, like a machine, swayed back to the top of the Dragon Spiral Tower.

Why did you run away?

Su Hao patted Articuno and asked in confusion.

Given Articuno's strength, even if it was an illusion created from negative energy, it shouldn't have run away without even fighting back, right?

"...That Pokémon must be the Reshiram you mentioned, right?"

"...Yes and no."

"They look similar, but are fundamentally different," Su Hao replied hesitantly.

“Indeed, it’s more appropriate to call it an aggregate of negative energy than a Pokémon. Your name, Phantom Reshiram, is quite fitting.”

Articuno stared straight down for a moment, then suddenly turned and asked, "Little Diancie, how are you feeling?"

Diancie, who had been silent and waiting for Su Hao and Articuno to discuss, stammered when Articuno called her, "I feel... fine, everything is normal."

Articuno nodded to indicate that it understood, then looked at Su Hao: "And you, just like in the Spirit Realm, you didn't react at all?"

"Um......"

Su Hao was certain that he was no different now than he was outside the secret realm.

The reason is quite simple...

The system panel in his eyes wasn't a jumble of gibberish like it was in the spirit world; instead, it clearly displayed a sentence highlighted in red—

[Alien energy detected; protection activated]

How come this system has this kind of function?

Pinching his thigh to clear his mind of his complicated emotions, Su Hao looked up at the ceiling and frowned, saying, "What are we going to do next? The presence of negative energy here is no small matter."

"This should be... the highest point of the Spiral Secret Realm. The waveguide can sense an invisible air wall above our heads that we can't pass through."

Ultimately, this is just a secret realm, not the real world, so it will definitely have boundaries.

"Well, the reason I chose to fly to the highest altitude is very simple."

“This form of negative energy…I’ve never seen it before, and I have no idea what power it possesses.” Articuno’s tone was bitter; it found the current situation unbelievable.

He initially thought that the source of the black mist was some kind of virus or something man-made, a situation He had encountered before over the long years.

Within that wisp of black mist, He sensed no trace of anything related to the dark matter of the past.

Even this phantom composed of negative energy, if it weren't for the foul odor that is characteristic of negative energy, would be mistaken for some other kind of energy.

Su Hao's eyes darted around as he probed, "You haven't seen it before? Does that mean you can't necessarily eradicate it using the methods you're familiar with?"

“That’s right. Without our knowledge, it seems to have evolved into a new form, a form composed of a large amount of negative energy that I have never seen before in a long time.”

Articuno used an analogy: "If the dark matter that we were fighting back then was using negative energy to control the bodies of Pokémon from another world, then after using the power of purification to expel and eliminate the negative energy, it would leave behind only empty shells of flesh."

"So, the feeling this negative energy phantom gives me now is that it is a pure aggregate of negative energy, without any physical body."

Su Hao gradually understood everything, and he roughly understood Articuno's thoughts: "I understand, it's because this situation makes it easy to be killed on the first encounter, so we must find a way to figure out the methods of the negative energy illusion, right?"

In gaming terms, if he and Articuno are careless and rush in without dodging, they will likely fail because they don't understand the boss's mechanics and kill conditions.

Articuno nodded, then shook his head: "At the time, the Allied Forces paid a huge price to deal with the endless methods of the Dark Matter, but since I was just a soldier at the time, I didn't know the intelligence from the higher-ups."

"From what I've observed, this phantom's strength was only that of a grunt on the battlefield back then. Even I could take on ten of them at once. The question now is whether we can purify the negative energy that permeates the entire secret realm."

Articuno looked down over the entire Spiral Realm. Although the crimson mist had dyed the clouds red, it could not reach them at the highest point in the sky.

According to the intelligence Su Hao gathered, humans would forcibly break in around noon or even morning today.

However, if negative energy leaks into the main world due to intrusion from the outside, that would be a huge problem. This thing feeds on negative emotions, and it would probably grow rapidly in this world full of desires.

If this little phantom manages to do what even the Dark Matter couldn't, how can Arceus and the allied forces of that time possibly accept that?

------------

Czech Republic, Rom.

Chapter 239 Special Forces Are Greater Than Heaven

Su Hao counted on his fingers, feeling increasingly pressured as he spoke: "In other words, we first have to get rid of this negative energy phantom, and we must completely wipe it out, leaving not a single particle behind."

"Afterwards, we need to find a way to purify the negative energy crimson mist that permeates the world and thoroughly eliminate this secret realm."

"Moreover, all of this must be done before the deadline for outside interference, otherwise, once the negative energy leaks out, it will be game over."

“Yes, if we can’t do that, we’ll retreat for now and prevent those people from getting in from the outside,” Articuno confirmed.

Tianxi suggested, "If we need to purify this place, perhaps we could ask Xiaomei's older brothers and sisters for help?"

"You mean Latios and Latias? Indeed... we can see from Milotic that they have mastered a certain amount of purifying power." Su Hao sat cross-legged on Articuno's cool and comfortable feathers, pondering for a moment.

Given Latios and Latias's speed, they should be able to get here in time.

Should we call for reinforcements?

Before Su Hao could even ask Articuno's opinion, Articuno directly shattered his and Diancie's plans: "I'm afraid the two of them won't do."

"Huh? Why?"