In the shade beneath the giant rock. 💢
"Can you let me go?"
"No. Stop wasting time and turn on the radar. There's something important I want to see."
Baimu rejected Huo Wu's request and ordered her to activate the radar.
Huo Wu remained silent for several seconds. Then she glanced at her teammate on the ground and decided to obediently cooperate with the man before her.
Although she had yet to suffer any beating or mistreatment, she knew very well that it was not because he was kindhearted or merciful. Rather, her injuries would make it inconvenient for him to carry out his plans.
Huo Wu did not want to see this man's brutal side. It would bring her no benefit.
Beep.
The radar activated.
Baimu leaned over and looked east. Sure enough, he saw a solid red dot—that was a teammate currently engaged in battle.
He did not know which one it was, but the enemy had probably been Jian, who had headed east.
Before the battle began, Baimu had paid attention to the east. He remembered that the red dot on his side had already become solid then, proving that the two sides had started fighting.
And it still was not over?
Hopefully, it had drained enough of Jian's stamina.
"Thanks for helping them recover." He patted Chansey's head and pointed toward Aron and Vibrava.
Since they had relied on sneak attacks the entire time, both Pokémon were lucky enough to have avoided serious injuries. They had only expended a great deal of energy.
But that was tiring enough, especially for Aron, which had been climbing up and down between the ground and the tunnels. It had worked the hardest.
Seeing the comfortable expressions on the two Pokémon's faces as Heal Pulse washed over them, Baimu waved his hand. "Take a break. Rest for now and eat something."
He took some compressed food and Pokémon food from his bag. After handing it to Aron and the others, he raised his hand toward Huo Wu. "Want some?"
"..."
Huo Wu shook her head. How could she have any appetite right now? That man had been right. In fact, by sabotaging her teammates, she had already counted as having betrayed the Hound Team.
She might even be punished once she got out.
Whether I can get out at all is another question.
Her life was in someone else's hands, and she had become a tool for deceiving others. If this continued, she might die at the hands of her teammates first.
On top of that, her Pokémon were in someone else's hands, and she would have to pay to get them back. What on earth was she supposed to do...?
She secretly glanced at Baimu, considering whether her chances of killing him in a sneak attack were high.
"?"
Baimu blinked. He chewed his dry food and held out a waterskin. "Want some water?"
"No... I do."
Huo Wu had initially intended to refuse, but she swallowed instinctively and realized that her throat was so dry it felt ready to smoke. She had no choice but to take it and carefully sip from it.
Only after she finished drinking did she realize it was her own waterskin.
Her expression changed, but she dared not complain. She silently handed it back.
"Don't be so tense. Better safe than sorry. I don't want anything to happen in a place like this either. You agree, right?"
Baimu smiled. He still did not drink from that waterskin, instead taking his own and gulping down some water.
At that moment, the Hound Team's radar timer had not yet run out. He glanced at it again and found that the red dot in the east had disappeared.
"He lost."
Baimu felt somewhat disappointed. To have held out for so long, he had probably fought a fierce battle. It would have been better if he had simply taken him down.
"Gruh?"
Aron came over and looked up curiously.
Baimu said, "Launch an attack? We don't have the strength for that right now. Picking up scraps isn't that easy either. Let's obediently set a trap."
The new version of the trap consisted of two people: a male Hound Team member playing the defeated party and Huo Wu playing the victor. The enemy would surely be much more likely to fall for it.
Of course, Huo Wu's situation would undoubtedly become even more dangerous, but prisoners had no right to choose.
At that thought, she hugged her knees and curled up.
"Lucky?"
The gentle cry made her lift her head. She then saw Chansey standing in front of her, looking at her timidly.
"What is it?" Huo Wu looked at Baimu.
The latter observed it for a moment before saying uncertainly, "It probably wants to treat you. Seeing the bloodstains on your face and hands, it can't help itself as a healer."
She belatedly looked at her palm, then touched her face. Only then did she realize that they were covered in countless tiny wounds.
If this had been before, she definitely would have cared about them.
"...No need."
Huo Wu shook her head.
At this point, what did a few minor wounds matter?
Chansey's face was full of conflict. As a Pokémon dedicated to medicine, seeing someone leave their wounds untreated made it feel as though bugs were crawling all over its body. It wanted to remind her to take them seriously, but it had no idea how to begin, nor did it have the courage to speak up.
It instinctively turned to Baimu, its eyes filled with helplessness.
"Lucky..."
Baimu rubbed his chin, where stubble had begun to grow. Seeing Huo Wu looking utterly dejected, he thought it over before making her a promise. "How about this? Help me deceive one more person, and I'll let you go."
"..."
She did not respond.
He continued, "How much does it normally cost to recover a Pokémon?"
"...Around three hundred thousand."
"Fine. If you can help me deceive one more person, I'll give you three hundred thousand and return all three Pokémon to you."
"...Really?"
"I don't make a habit of lying. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do." Baimu spread his hands, and in the next moment he saw a glimmer of hope gradually appear on Huo Wu's face.
That made him understand that giving her a little leeway had been the right choice.
Just now, that woman had practically written I don't want to live anymore across her face. If he pressured her with an even more dangerous task, she might develop suicidal tendencies.
Suicide itself did not matter to him.
He was only worried that she would cause trouble.
If she doesn't want to live, what is there to fear?
Of course, knocking her unconscious like the other person was also a good option. But after thinking it over carefully, Baimu still felt that a living person was more useful than a dead one.
"Go. Spray medicine on her and bandage her up."
He handed the spray and bandages to Chansey and gave it an encouraging push.
"Lucky!"
Chansey nodded firmly and mustered its courage to step forward.
Huo Wu still did not speak, but her cooperative movements proved that she silently accepted the treatment.
The hidden danger had been dealt with.
Baimu took one last look at the radar and confirmed that twelve dots remained.
Three people had already been defeated?
It had only been half an hour since the start. The entire competition lasted a full six hours.
"Hopefully everything goes smoothly."
Baimu exhaled. If he had guessed correctly, Jian would definitely return along the same route after failing to find him in the east. Hopefully, the trap he had arranged would fool that guy.
Even if it failed, he had to find a way to gain some advantage.
According to the information he had pried out of Huo Wu earlier, that man's Pokémon were extraordinarily powerful. In a one-on-one fight, none of the other fourteen Hound Team members was his match.
His physical condition was also excellent, and his unique personality made him thrive within the Hound Team. He was practically favored by heaven and was destined to become one of the Hound Team's officers in the future.
Outside.
With Baimu's plan finalized, the second round of betting began.
It was still about whether the trap would succeed.
But compared with the last round, far more people were betting on Baimu to win this time.
"The Hound Team sent out a bunch of idiots. I'm never trusting them again!"
"Exactly! You could see through that trap with your foot! And they still fell for it?"
"I finally understand what the boss meant before by saying there were too many fools and not enough con artists... There really are people that stupid!"
The audience discussed the matter, changing their previous opinion and blaming the trap's success on the Hound Team member's stupidity.
Of course, not everyone thought that way.
There were plenty of people who believed Baimu was a hidden gem. They simply did not speak much, rewarding him with tips while paying closer attention to what mattered.
In the competition control room and banquet hall.
Ayana and the man were in different environments, yet both happened to be staring at the screen on the far right.
It showed a Hound Team member with a vicious, unruly expression.
They had a feeling.
Before long.
Baimu would certainly have a fierce battle with this man.
The ground was full of potholes, with scattered stones everywhere.
Beneath the enormous rock wall casting its shadow, a Quicksand Team member with his face covered by a hood and bandages sat atop a sprawled-out Hound Team member, eating coarse dry food.
Not far away, Aron, its body covered in dust, looked around.
But another Hound Team member saw everything.
He had been lying in wait for roughly three minutes.
At first, he had also thought there was a trap. But after carefully observing the scene, he decided there probably was not one. Moreover, the opponent seemed to be in poor condition, apparently because of the shattered waterskin beside him.
Dehydrated?
Heh heh heh.
"Then I won't hold back!"
He charged over grandly with two canine Pokémon. "Battle! Bite him to death! Tear him apart!"
"Arf!"
The two big dogs sprinted forward.
Clearly, the sneak attack caught the Quicksand Team member off guard.
He saw the Quicksand Team member's expression change dramatically and Aron look terrified, barely able to conceal the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Beep.
A beep came from the Bracelets. Although no response sounded from the other side, he did not care.
They must be hiding it.
Do I even need to think about it?
When one of the dogs Bind-ed Aron and the other knocked the enemy down, viciously tearing at his arm, his vigilance fell to its lowest point.
Then.
A violent wind suddenly came from the cliff behind him, like some heavy object plunging rapidly downward.
Whoosh—
Bang!
"Fuck!"
A tremendous force crushed him in an instant. His face slammed into the ground, and both arms nearly broke.
"Sometimes it's important to look up, you know!"
Baimu twisted both his arms behind his back and pointed toward the two canine Pokémon rushing back. "Dragon Breath!"
Buzz!
The explosive sound of beating wings rang out. Indigo Flame surged from above him, instantly blasting away the two canine Pokémon that had turned and charged back.
"Vibra!"
Vibrava's cry rang out.
"Don't rush."
Baimu quickly restrained the man and searched through all his pockets. He soon found the empty Poké Balls and swept them back and forth, sucking the two panicked canine Pokémon inside.
"You're cheating! The restriction on the distance between teammates hasn't been lifted yet! How could you have gathered together?"
The Hound Team member shouted furiously. He had been unable to twist his head around and see the Hound Team uniform, so he assumed this was the result of teamwork. He became exceptionally agitated.
But after only a couple of shouts, he received a chop to the back of the neck and naturally passed out from the pain.
"It worked?"
Baimu was somewhat surprised. He had only wanted to try it, but he had not expected it to actually succeed.
Unable to resist, he checked the man's breathing.
Mm.
He was still alive.