Having pinpointed the location, Zigzagoon began digging nonstop. In barely seven or eight seconds, it had dug a hole more than two meters deep.
Just then, its movements suddenly paused. Its claws seemed to have struck something hard, yet unlike rock.
Carefully scraping at it a few times with its claws, it lowered its head and gently clamped onto an object about the size of an adult's fist, tightly coated in wet mud. Then it backed out of the hole.
"Zigzagoon!" Seeing this, Xinhai helplessly covered his face, then quickly pulled out a bottle of drinking water from the side pocket of his backpack and hurried over. As he unscrewed the cap and poured water into Zigzagoon's mud-covered mouth, he said with equal parts helplessness and concern,
"Haven't I told you several times already? If you find something, just dig it out with your claws. Try not to pick it up with your mouth—it's too dirty. Hurry and rinse your mouth."
"Haso... blub blub..." Zigzagoon obediently set the muddy lump by Xinhai's feet first, then held the water in its mouth and shook its head, making gurgling rinsing sounds. Only then did it ingratiatingly rub against Xinhai's leg, its tail swaying lightly.
"You..." Xinhai shook his head and helplessly rubbed its little head, though his eyes were smiling.
Beside him, Gardevoir gracefully extended a hand as an invisible blue-white glow spread forth, gently enveloping the lump of mud.
Under the precise control of Confusion, the still-damp outer layer of soil peeled away like eggshell fragments, piece by piece, crushed and brushed aside to reveal the object within.
It was a stone, but entirely different from ordinary ores.
It was a deep, pure black all over, like a corner cut from a moonless, starless night sky. Its texture was warm and