The Soup Upstairs Was Still Warm After Ten Steps

"First step!"

Rotom had barely finished shouting when Xia Che stopped.

"I haven't walked yet."

"Your left foot moved half an inch."

"That was me steadying myself."

Rotom looked at Metagross.

Metagross's eyes flashed twice, and the metal ring atop its head rotated back into place.

"It agrees to restart the count, Rotom."

"Having four brains does have its benefits."

Xia Che stepped forward again.

One.

His sole came down, leaving a shallow mark on the floor.

Two.

Gravity pressed down along his shoulders and back, making even breathing feel heavy. Xia Che's sleeves clung tightly to his arms, and his hair ribbon was pulled straight.

Three.

The ring above the hall turned half a circle, and pressure suddenly surged in from the left. Xia Che swayed slightly, but his feet did not stray from their original direction.

Indeedee protected the two little ones, her gaze following him the entire time.

Zorua was much busier. Each time it counted, it extended one claw. By the fourth step, its front paws could not spread any wider, so it had no choice but to raise its tail too.

Upstairs, Pancham heard Rotom counting and tapped its bowl with a spoon.

Clang.

Xia Che looked up. "Who is it cheering for?"

"Maybe it's urging the soup along, Rotom."

When the fifth step fell, the red light in Metagross's eyes fused into a solid glow.

The air around Xia Che seemed to freeze. The four berry biscuits that had fallen to the ground earlier shattered again. The smallest piece was pressed into a crack in the floor, leaving behind only a faint sweetness in the air.

Zorua gave a low, heartbroken cry.

At that moment, Xia Che actually bent down.

He extended two fingers through the crushing pressure, picked up the relatively clean piece of biscuit, and casually flicked it back into Indeedee's barrier.

Zorua caught it in one bite.

"Five," Xia Che said.

Metagross's eyes flickered.

It probably had not expected someone to pick up food halfway through a challenge.

The sixth step, and the pressure rose again.

The seventh step, and every silver line in the hall lit up.

Before the eighth step landed, Metagross suddenly raised its right rear arm. The metal plate beneath Xia Che's feet was pulled by magnetism and slid backward along the ground.

Before the man could move, the path ran away first.

A shocked expression appeared on Rotom's screen. "You can do that too, Rotom?! (⊙_⊙)"

Xia Che did not withdraw his raised foot.

He stepped onto the seam between two floor panels. The metal plate continued sliding backward, but he remained steadily moving forward. Amid the piercing scrape of metal, that step finally landed in its intended position.

"Eight."

Metagross gave a low cry.

Its four brains were clearly getting busy.

For the ninth step, gravity shifted direction again.

A force dragged Xia Che toward the right side of the hall. Every speck of dust that had left the ground flew sideways and struck the wall. Even Indeedee's barrier was pulled out of shape.

He raised a hand, caught his floating outer robe, and slowly rolled it up around his arm.

"Should've changed into something shorter first."

Then, against that sideways pull, he took the ninth step.

Another spoon struck a bowl upstairs.

Clang.

The final step.

All four of Metagross's arms spread wide, its massive body blocking the way ahead. The golden cross-shaped pattern was nearly pressed against Xia Che's eyes, while two red lights locked firmly onto him.

The force in the hall had reached its limit.

Yet Xia Che suddenly yawned.

"I'm sleepy."

He walked the final half-step forward, raised a hand, and lightly patted the golden pattern.

"Ten."

The roar came to an abrupt halt.

The instant gravity returned to normal, Zorua failed to stop the force it had been using to brace itself against the ground and shot headfirst out of Indeedee's arms. Indeedee reacted quickly and pulled it back with psychic power.

Rotom, meanwhile, floated all the way up to the dome, only drifting down dazedly after crashing into it.

Xia Che's outer robe fell back behind him.

He stood face-to-face with Metagross.

"Open the door first," Xia Che said. "There's still soup upstairs."

Metagross did not move.

"Even if you're not drinking it, you have to let them drink."

A pair of red eyes turned toward Zorua in Indeedee's arms.

The little fox still had the rescued biscuit in its mouth and hurriedly nodded.

A moment later, Metagross folded away its two front arms, its massive body slowly lowering. It brought the golden cross pattern level with Xia Che's gaze and gave a low cry.

"Meta."

The hatch behind them opened.

Rotom descended beside Xia Che's shoulder. "It's willing to listen to you finish explaining the shop rules, Rotom."

"First rule: don't close during mealtimes."

The red light in Metagross's eyes paused again.

"We'll discuss the rest tomorrow."

Xia Che turned and headed upstairs, only realizing after a few steps that there was no movement behind him.

Metagross hovered at the stairway entrance, using its four metal arms to measure the width from different angles. It would hit the wall on the left, get stuck on the right, and would not fit sideways either. After calculating for a long time, it discovered that it was a full foot wider than the hatch.

Rotom comforted it. "You have four brains. There must be a way to handle this, Rotom."

Metagross glanced at it.

The next moment, gears turned on the other side of the hall. A wall that had never lit up split apart, revealing a spacious lift platform.

Xia Che looked at the platform large enough to carry three carriages, then at the narrow stairs beneath his feet.

"You knew there was another route?"

Metagross had already floated onto the platform.

"Meta."

"It just remembered, Rotom."

After all that thinking from four brains, it had only remembered a door it had forgotten to open.

Zorua lay on Indeedee's shoulder and secretly snickered.

When the group returned to the front hall, Pancham was still standing in the middle of that pile of cushions.

The lift doors opened from behind the shelves, and Metagross silently floated out. It locked eyes with Pancham across half the front hall—one had four thick metal arms, while the other had an ice pack tied to its left hand and still clutched a spoon in its right paw.

Pancham first looked Xia Che over and only set down its spoon after confirming he was unharmed.

It picked up the red cord from the floor and solemnly held it out to Metagross.

"Pancha."

"It says a guard can pull it once, but not twice," Rotom translated.

Metagross extended an arm, accepted the red cord, and precisely hung it back at its original height.

Thus, the two guards completed their first handover.

Indeedee brought out the soup that had been kept warm on the stove. Zorua was seated early, and Pancham had moved its ice pack to the other side. Metagross stopped beside the table, but it was too large to sit and could only hover behind everyone.

Xia Che had barely taken a sip when the system's voice sounded.

[The Underground Gravity Training Area has been unlocked.]

Pancham's ears immediately twitched.

It put down its spoon, pointed at its own name, then pointed toward the underground entrance.

Indeedee raised its injured wrist in front of its eyes.

Pancham went quiet for two breaths, then used its uninjured hand to point at tomorrow.

"Tomorrow won't work either," Xia Che said.

It pointed at the day after tomorrow.

"Wait until the redness is gone."

Pancham hugged its wrist and began seriously examining whether it was still red.

Metagross lowered its head and watched it for a moment, the red light in its eyes flashing quickly. Then, it used magnetism to turn the hourglass beside the table, stopping it at the three-day mark.

Pancham looked at the hourglass, then at Metagross, and finally nodded with reluctance.

Xia Che leaned back in his chair, finally able to drink his soup in peace.

Early the next morning, the carpenter arrived on time with the new cabinet.

He had just carried the cabinet through the door when Metagross floated out from behind the shelves. The carpenter's legs went weak, and he nearly crushed Xia Che's new soft pillow beneath the cabinet.

Metagross extended an arm to support the wooden cabinet, then used magnetism to roll up the training mat and soft pillow. All three items were delivered neatly to their proper places.

Xia Che carried off the soft pillow, yawning as he pressed his fingerprint onto the delivery receipt.

The bell outside the door rang again.

Hu Liena entered with Eevee, with Yan and Xie Yue following behind. Eevee had not returned to the shop all night. Upon entering, it first looked for Indeedee and Pancham, only noticing Metagross hovering beside the counter halfway there.

The large one and the small one looked at each other for several breaths.

Eevee cautiously approached and placed its front paws on Metagross's lowered arm. Metagross lifted it up and steadily placed it atop its head.

Eevee circled the widest spot once, then lay down.

Xia Che placed the newly delivered soft pillow up there too.

"As expected, it's a new shelf."

Rotom corrected him from the side. "It's an underground defense partner, Rotom."

Yan stared at the four metal arms for a long while before finally remembering the purpose of his visit. He took four rearranged cards from his robe and placed them on the counter.

"This time, every evening has time set aside."

Metagross lowered its head for a glance, then pulled one of the cards out from a distance.

It read: Train one round less, tidy living quarters, prepare supplies for traveling together.

"Do you understand?" Yan asked.

Metagross flipped the card over.

There was another line of small print on the back: If training goes smoothly that day, half a round may be made up.

The front hall suddenly fell silent.

Xie Yue raised a hand to cover his mouth, but still failed to hold back a laugh.

"That's a backup plan." Yan reached for it.

Metagross raised the card half a foot higher and used another arm to push blank paper and a pen in front of him.

"It has four brains," Rotom reminded him. "It can read one schedule very quickly, Rotom."

Yan looked at the card with the hidden fine print, then at Zorua beside him, which had already begun wagging its tail. He could only pick up the pen again.

Xia Che carried his soft pillow toward the window. "Take your time revising it. And don't call me once you're done."

Metagross, with Eevee and the soft pillow on its head, turned its eyes toward Xia Che.

Xia Che was already lying down by the window.