Back outside the arena.
Everyone emerged from the cargo container, only to see Ayana personally waiting to welcome them, a rare smile on her face.
They looked at one another, realizing that they had truly survived the brutal battle. Their bodies relaxed unconsciously, and genuine smiles appeared on their faces.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, this trip had been a rare, resounding victory. The Quicksand Team surely would not mistreat its meritorious members. A bright future awaited them.
"You did well."
Ayana gave Baimu special praise, heavily pounding him on the shoulder with her right hand and giving him a look that said, You're pretty good, kid.
Baimu's performance had undoubtedly made the Quicksand Team Leader proud. Not only had he suppressed the Hound Team's arrogance, but he had also influenced the course of the final victory to some extent.
"Thank you for your praise."
Baimu bowed his head in acknowledgment, and the people around him cast envious looks his way.
Apart from Ayana and the Quicksand Team's support staff who had come to receive them, the arena exit was also crowded with members of several other organizations.
They pointed and whispered at the survivors. Most of their gazes were fixed on Baimu, displaying all kinds of indescribable expressions.
After today,
Baimu's name would spread through Pyrite Town on a small scale.
Although it was impossible for this to bring him much fame, at least he had gone from an unknown underling to someone who could barely be considered a notable figure in Pyrite Town.
Of course, he himself was not interested.
Becoming famous was certainly the dream of many low-level thugs, but it had nothing to do with his own pursuits.
Besides, the bird that sticks out gets shot. Attracting too much attention was not a good thing.
He would have to keep a low profile for the next few months.
As he pondered this, he followed the main group back to their base and had the medical staff examine him and his Pokémon.
During the process, he learned that Sarawatar was incredibly lucky to have survived. He and the other heavily injured members had been sent back to headquarters ahead of them.
However, including Otsuka, there were only six injured members. Counting the five of them who had come out...
Of the fifteen who had set out, only eleven remained alive six hours later.
Four boys and girls in the prime of their youth had forever lost their lives in this barren desert.
Yet when the medical staff spoke of this, there was not much sorrow in his voice. He even excitedly described the Hound Team's casualties next door—according to rumors, only eight of them had survived.
Had he become completely numb after witnessing so many lives lost in gang fights?
Baimu remained silent.
Half an hour later.
The Hound Team sent someone to retrieve their Pokémon and, by the way, discuss how to hand over the Quicksand Team's Pokémon they had captured.
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Baimu looked somewhat blankly at the support staff member who had notified him. "They have our Pokémon?"
Hadn't all the Hound Team members been taken out? The Pokémon should have been in the hands of those other four people!
"That's right."
The support staff member nodded, as if knowing why he was confused, and explained in a low voice, "Before the group ban was lifted, someone from the Hound Team used a Pokémon to send out the Pokémon they had captured from their comrades.
"There were even people who sensed they were about to lose, handed their Poké Balls to their Pokémon, and had them escape. Of course, we had people on our side do the same."
Whoa!
Baimu was stunned. He truly had not expected such a move—sending out the spoils of war ahead of time and all that. After all, Jian had kept every Poké Ball he had captured on his person, without losing a single one.
Had that guy not trusted the people outside, which was why he had not sent them out?
Or was he confident in himself?
Following the support staff member out of the base, the two of them entered a large tent.
Inside,
A long table stood in the middle. The Hound Team members and the other four teammates sat on opposite sides, seemingly having waited for quite some time. There were also several unfamiliar faces at the far end, one of whom could be identified by his insignia as a Squad Leader of the Quicksand Team.
Strangely, there was also a Rotom Drone in the tent, its camera pointed at everyone.
Surveillance?
Or was this being broadcast too?
Baimu looked curiously at the Rotom Drone. His arrival immediately drew undisguised hostility from the Hound Team. Their faces were full of hatred and resentment, as if they wanted nothing more than to kill him.
He sat down without the slightest concern. If looks could kill, he would have been hacked to pieces long ago. Unfortunately, as things stood, these were nothing more than the wails of defeated dogs.
The process of retrieving the Pokémon was simple.
Exchange or bid, then haggle.
First, both sides displayed the Poké Balls they held that belonged to the other organization.
The Hound Team produced twelve Poké Balls in total, while the other four members of the Quicksand Team produced eighteen. Baimu silently took out nine.
"Why are there only nine!? Wait... Where are Jian's Pokémon?"
Someone from the Hound Team shot to his feet and shouted angrily, "What kind of trick are you pulling?"
Baimu spread his hands. "Their whereabouts are unknown."
His flippant gesture instantly set the Hound Team members' nerves alight.
"Bullshit!"
"You're asking to die! Don't think you can act high and mighty just because you won with a few cheap tricks! I'll kill you!"
They cursed loudly and soon adopted fighting stances, but a person seated at the very end stopped them.
"Silence!"
That person slammed the table, the booming impacts drowning out the Hound Team members' curses. "Don't waste time. If they're gone, they're gone!"
Hearing this, Baimu could not help looking at him. He noticed that the man wore a suit rather than any team uniform.
The organizers of this competition?
Still, there was no denying that this person's words carried weight. The Hound Team members quickly quieted down, glaring fiercely at Baimu through gritted teeth.
"I want to exchange!"
"Agreed."
A Quicksand Team teammate who had remained silent spoke up.
Exchanging Pokémon was exactly what the term implied: a direct one-for-one trade. Usually, someone who had been close to a particular loser would choose this method to reclaim their friend's Pokémon.
In general, exchanges were also more common than buying and selling.
Baimu watched as his teammate exchanged twelve Hound Team Pokémon for twelve of their own, surprise showing on his face.
Some of them might have belonged to teammates who had died. They were willing to exchange for those Pokémon too, rather than give up on them...
Why?
Did they want to return the Pokémon to the deceased's families? Or were they planning to reclaim the Pokémon and sell them afterward to maximize their profits? After all, the recovery price was generally much lower.
He desperately hoped it was the former, because the former still showed a little human feeling.
After the exchange was completed, the Hound Team members began bidding for the remaining Pokémon.
Among them,
Three of the Pokémon on Baimu's side had an agreed-upon total price of three hundred thousand. The person who had come to recover Huo Wu's Pokémon was a chubby girl wearing glasses.
"Here."
He did not hesitate much. He casually pushed the three Poké Balls over, then took the three hundred thousand PokéDollars placed on the table.
This transaction drew the attention of everyone around them.
Several Hound Team members eyed the chubby girl suspiciously. Frightened, she hurriedly revealed that the Pokémon belonged to Huo Wu and explained that Baimu's promise had been displayed on the public screen.
He really kept his promise!
This time, everyone in the tent looked at Baimu strangely.
In Pyrite Town, where most people's bottom lines were highly flexible, there really was someone who treated every spoken word as binding.
Baimu's expression remained calm.
The more one lived in this kind of mud, the more one had to hold fast to the bottom line one had set for oneself. Otherwise, one day, one might be quietly and completely assimilated by these filthy things.
Huo Wu had indeed helped him. There was no need to break a promise he had made for six hundred thousand.
If he did that, how would he be any different from Jian, who had been completely corrupted by money?
Of course,
He certainly could not sell the remaining six cheaply.
After bidding, counterbidding, and haggling, Baimu successfully sold them for a total of two million seven hundred thousand, meaning each was worth four hundred and fifty thousand.
He really was willing to pay!
Baimu could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.
As for how much his teammates had sold theirs for, he was not very interested. He silently began calculating how much he was guaranteed to earn from this competition.
The four livestream gifts totaled five hundred and fifty thousand, two million four hundred thousand, one million five hundred and sixty thousand, and five million three hundred and eighty thousand.
Baimu could take thirty percent, which came to two million nine hundred and sixty-seven thousand. Adding the money from selling the Pokémon, he had more than five million nine hundred and sixty thousand. Then, counting the four enemies he had defeated, with a minimum bonus of one hundred thousand each, the total came to more than six million three hundred and sixty thousand.
He still had twelve of his comrades' Pokémon. After excluding Otsuka's three and the three belonging to those who had died, he could sell the remaining six cheaply for two hundred thousand each.
That brought the grand total to seven million five hundred and sixty-seven thousand!
And that still did not include the victory bonus.
Holy crap!
This haul had made him explosively rich!
Baimu looked somewhat astonished at the invisible numbers in his palm. He had gone from a pauper to a rich man in one stroke!
Today's promotional seedlings for paid promotion.
Also, please recommend this novel and add it to your reading lists~