Elf: Start your slow-paced life after becoming a farmer.

An hour later, the Padilla League Champion and the Padilla League's "Top Bull" landed in front of Carl, each riding their own Pokémon.

"President Yeji, Mr. Aoki, it's been a long time." Karl greeted the two with a smile.

"Long time no see, Karl." Ye Ci greeted Karl with a smile, while Aoki, who was half a step behind Ye Ci, simply nodded silently in acknowledgment.

After exchanging greetings, both Yeci and Aoki's eyes fell on Karl's hand.

After noticing their gazes, Carl casually tossed Hunter J, whose limbs he had once again broken, in front of them like trash.

"Could she be that infamous Hunter J?" Ye Ci looked at Hunter J lying on the ground like a dead dog and glanced at Karl with some surprise.

“That’s right, it’s her.” Karl said without changing his expression, “Because I hit her a little too hard, she ended up like this. But don’t worry, I was very careful. As long as she receives timely treatment, she will be out of danger.”

Seeing Karl's serious "nonsense," Aoki, who was already full of resentment from working overtime, almost laughed out of anger.

Listen to this, is this even human language?

Is breaking a person's limbs considered a bit too heavy-handed?

"Yes, thank you for your hard work." Ye Ci didn't want to argue with Karl about such trivial matters.

Given Hunter J's past misdeeds, it wouldn't be too much for Carl to "accidentally" kill her, not to mention that Carl actually kindly spared her breath.

'Sigh, Karl is still too kind,' Ye Ci thought to herself.

Shortly after Yaji and Aoki landed, three large transport planes also slowly descended from the sky.

After the three transport planes came to a complete stop, the staff that Yeci had temporarily gathered disembarked from the planes in an orderly manner.

Carl glanced around casually and spotted the familiar green and pink colors among the group of staff.

At this moment, after reporting to Yaji, Aoki turned around and walked towards the staff who came down from the transport plane, and began to organize the operation.

Taking advantage of this time, Carl first briefly recounted his ill-fated relationship with Hunter J to Ye Ci, and then made a request to Ye Ci that was not exactly a request.

"You hope the Alliance won't hand Hunter J over to Interpol?" Ye Ci glanced at Karl with a playful look. "Hmm, I understand what you mean. Don't worry, there are differences between Alliances."

Hearing Ye Ci's last sentence, which was full of certain implications, Karl smiled awkwardly: "That's good. With President Ye Ci here, I'll be going now."

After saying that, Karl didn't wait for Yeci to say anything to stop him. He quickly mounted the fire-breathing dragon and disappeared into the dusty night.

The place where Karl had just greeted Yeji and Aoki was the entrance Hunter J used to enter the ruins. Therefore, before the Alliance staff could find the entrance that Straight Bear had discovered, he returned to the inside of the ruins through this entrance.

“I’m back.” Karl found Pipa and Nemo waiting for him in the original stone chamber.

"Karl!" X2

Pipa and Nemo quickly walked up to Karl, and Nemo asked, "Have President Yeci and the others arrived yet?"

“That’s right, let them handle the rest of the cleanup.” Carl shrugged. “By the way, where’s Gengar?”

Upon hearing Karl's call, the chubby purple-skinned boy emerged from the shadows: "Hehehe?"

“Bue~ (It’s asking you why there are more people in its family.)” Espeon translated.

“After we take those intruders away, the others will leave soon, so don’t worry,” Karl explained impatiently. “You’ve tolerated those intruders for so long, surely you have a little patience left?”

Upon hearing Carl's words, Gengar floated in the air and cheered, seemingly having long suffered at the hands of the intruders.

"Now that I've driven those invaders out, we should leave too." Carl looked at Gengar floating in the air and said in a relaxed tone, "If I have the chance next time, I'll come back to see you."

Gengar was taken aback when it heard this, and it suddenly realized that the three humans in front of it did not belong here.

Is it going to be left alone in this empty ruin with just one Pokémon again?

The thought of returning to his old life caused Gengar to feel conflicted.

After a while, Carl looked at the Gengar floating motionless in the air and was about to leave with the two little ones.

Just then, Gengar, as if it had made up its mind, floated in front of Karl and looked at him seriously, saying, "Hehehe."

"What did Gengar say?" Karl turned to look at the bewildered Espeon, who then called out with a complicated expression.

"Boo~ (Gengar says it wants you to take it away from this ruin.)"

Chapter 55 Carl: Welcome Back to the Outside World

After hearing the translation of Espeon, Carl looked at Gengar, who was looking awkward, with some surprise.

In the Pokémon world, many wild Pokémon will choose to follow their trainers on a journey after receiving their help.

But if Gengar wanted to leave this ruin, why did it need Karl's help to drive away the intruders in the first place?

unless……

"Gengar, are you trapped by something in these ruins?"

After hearing Carl's words, Gengar nodded with teary eyes, "Hehehe!"

Through Espeon's translation, Karl learned Gengar's story from it.

When Gengar was still a Gastly, it accidentally discovered this buried ruin.

Deep within this ruin, Gastly discovered a stone pillar inscribed with text.

Out of curiosity, Gengar wanted to take a closer look at the stone pillar.

The moment Gengar touched the stone pillar, it lost consciousness and fainted.

When Gengar regained consciousness, it found itself evolved into its final form and bound to the stone pillar. Unless someone could break the pillar, it would remain trapped in the ruins.

After learning everything, Karl had a vague feeling that he had seen something similar to that stone pillar somewhere before.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Karl's mind: "Could it be that the stone pillar is related to the 'stakes' that seal the four Calamity Treasures?"

During the ancient Padian Empire, a merchant sold four treasures he had brought from the East—a tripod, a sword, a bamboo slip, and a jade pendant—to the king of the Padian Empire.

Legend has it that the four treasures are actually Pokémon, which absorbed a large amount of desire during their travels to various places.

Therefore, on the very night they were sold to the king, the four treasures suddenly transformed into four Pokémon, wreaking havoc in the royal city of the ancient Padmati Empire and directly destroying the city.

Later, the king invited a Pokémon trainer of mysterious origin, who used eight "stakes" to seal the four Pokémon in four "shrines".

(Ancient Simplified Snail)

(Ancient Sword Leopard)

(Ancient Ding Deer)

(Ancient Jade Fish)

In the game, players can collect the corresponding "Treasure of Calamity" by removing the corresponding "stakes".

Among them, the Clefairy, which represents "sword", was known as "the Tiger, Leopard, Bear, and Gorilla" because of its outstanding performance in the competition.

(Blazing Roaring Tiger, Ancient Sword Leopard, Martial Arts Bear Master, Thunderous Vajra Gorilla, Winged Hair)

Thinking about this, Carl suddenly realized something—he might be able to collect all the "tiger, leopard, bear, and gorilla hair" in this world as well.

After all, he already has two-thirds of the three most difficult Pokémon to catch—Ushio, Vibranium, and Leopard—in his team.

"Jehovah?" Gengar tilted its head in confusion, looking at Karl who hadn't responded for a long time.

Upon hearing Gengar's cry, Carl immediately gathered his thoughts and looked at Gengar: "In that case, Gengar, take me to see that stone pillar."

Three minutes later, led by Gengar, Carl and his two companions arrived at the deepest part of the ruins—a hall as large as three basketball courts.

In the center of this hall stands a huge stone pillar about five meters high, its surface inscribed with dense ancient incantations.

"You stay here and don't move." Karl turned to Pipa and Nemo beside him and instructed them, then led Espeon and Winged Elf toward the stone pillar.

When Espeon was about ten meters away from the pillar, it called out to Karl, "Eevee~ (This pillar is emitting a strange energy fluctuation.)"

“Whoosh~ (This energy fluctuation is very similar to the fluctuation emanating from that chubby guy.)” Zhenyi added.

“In that case…” Karl paused, “Use Wings of Fire, and cast Shadow Sphere on this stone pillar.”

Upon hearing Karl's command, Vibrating Winged Star unhesitatingly gathered Ghost-type energy and launched a Shadow Ball at the stone pillar.

Although it didn't use its full power, its Shadow Ball was powerful enough to instantly kill the main force of an average gym leader.

The moment the Shadow Orb landed on the stone pillar, it vanished without a trace, like a raindrop falling into a lake.

Karl had anticipated this situation, and without hesitation, he issued the second command: "Wings flap, wave of evil."

This wave of evil energy added a bit more force to the Winged Hair, and as Karl expected, the stone pillar, after being affected by the evil energy emitted by the Winged Hair, emitted a crisp cracking sound.

"As expected, this stone pillar seems to only absorb Gengar's STAB energy." Karl raised an eyebrow, then waved his hand: "Wingfire, use Hyper Beam!"

The moment Karl finished speaking, Zhenyi let out an excited growl, then its mouth opened slightly, and grayish-white energy representing general attributes gathered in its mouth.

At the same time, Piper and Nemo caught their breath, feeling a sense of inexplicable crisis.

The next moment, a powerful destructive beam of light shot out from the mouth of the flapping wing, and the torrent of normal energy slammed into the stone pillar engraved with inscriptions.

As the light faded, the stone pillar that had stood in the center of the hall shattered with a crash, leaving only a few fragments on the ground to prove its existence.

Seeing this scene, Gengar was very glad that it hadn't done anything too outrageous after burrowing into Karl's shadow; otherwise, this stone pillar would have been its fate.

"Hehehe!" Gengar approached Carl with a grateful smile on its face, opening its short little arms as if to hug Carl.

"Pfft! (Behave yourself!)" Vibrating Wings lashed Gengar hard with its long fur, then gracefully nestled into Carl's arms, letting out a sweet, coquettish cry: "Pfft~ (Oh dear, I'm so tired, I need a hug to feel better~)"

Espeon, who remained silent to the side, turned its head away, as if the scene that had just occurred did not exist.

After destroying the stone pillar, Carl led the two little ones and a group of Pokémon back the way they came.

When the group arrived at the first stone door, Gengar hesitated noticeably. Its years of living alone with its Pokémon had not only made it yearn for the outside world but also instilled in it an unspeakable fear of it.

Seeing this, Carl stepped out of the stone gate first, then came to his senses, smiled and extended his right hand to Gengar, saying, "Come on, Gengar, let me take you back to the outside world."

Gengar stared blankly at Carl's outstretched right hand, then mustered its courage and placed its hand on Carl's.

Carl gripped Gengar's hand and pulled it out of the stone door with ease.

"Gah! (I'm out!)" Gengar laughed excitedly.

But as Gengar was laughing, it suddenly burst into tears without warning, large tears rolling down to the ground and spreading across the dust.

Upon seeing this, Carl opened his arms and embraced it, saying gently, "Gengar, welcome back to the outside world."

Chapter 56 The Treasure Owner's Trail

The next day, early in the morning.

Still half asleep, Karl emerged from the tent, cradling Zhenyi, whom he had been soothing all night, and gazed silently at the endless sea of ​​sand.

There was still more than an hour until the sun had fully risen, making it the perfect time to set off.

"Get up! Get up, all of you!" Carl walked slowly to the middle of Pipa and Nemo's tent and shouted loudly.

"Okay—I know, Karl," Piper replied weakly. "Let me sleep for another ten minutes."

At the same time, a soft rustling sound came from Nemo's tent, and less than a minute later, Nemo, dressed neatly, jumped out of the tent.

"Good morning, Karl!" Nemo said in a cheerful voice.

"Good morning, Nemo," Carl said loudly on purpose. "You get up so quickly, unlike some brat who still sleeps in."

"I'll get up, I'll get up, okay?!" Pipana's somewhat exasperated voice came from his tent.

Karl shrugged at Nimo, and the two exchanged a knowing smile, everything understood without a word.

After the three of them had put all the tents into the trunk of the off-road vehicle, Master Xiong prepared breakfast for the day.

"Mmm~~Delicious!" Pipa praised as he ate the smoked meat sandwich made by Master Bear.

"Hehehe! (Delicious, so delicious, it's really too delicious!)" The chubby purple boy sitting next to Karl devoured more than a dozen sandwiches in no time, patting his round belly as he praised them.

After finishing breakfast, Nemo habitually wiped her mouth with a napkin and turned to look at Karl: "Karl, what are our plans for today?"

Karl's purpose in coming to the Honghong Desert was to find a secret seasoning.

In the game, secret seasonings can be obtained not only at the locations in the main storyline, but also by farming five-star and six-star Crystal Pit.

In reality, while crystallized Pokémon do exist in the wild, defeating them only yields crystal fragments, and the drop rate is extremely low, let alone the legendary secret seasoning.

However, at this point in time, Yesi has already ordered the complete sealing of the Padiya pit.

The reason why Yeci ordered the sealing of the Padia Pit was not only because of the loss of contact with the Zero District Research Institute, but also because a very small number of Zero District "monsters" had escaped from the Padia Pit.

As luck would have it, in the game, the secret sour sauce located in the scorching desert is guarded by the "Earthquake Treasure Master" who escaped from Zone Zero - Majestic Tooth or Iron Tracks.

(Iron tracks)

(Magnificent Teeth)

In other words, at this point in time, the secret seasoning may have already been developed.