Let Them Fight Over It

The great me?

Xu Mu glanced over and saw a boy riding a Tauros not far away, shouting with excitement.

Xu Mu smiled at the boy's wide-eyed wonder.

Who gave you the nerve to act so cocky?

You're still a kid. Who are you calling "the great me"?

You've barely left the mountains and already think you're the only rich kid around?

It's a big world out there, kid. Take it from your uncle: you're in over your head. Don't get carried away!

"Xu Mu, this place is beautiful!"

Xu Mu was just about to show that rich kid what a real rich kid looked like when Cynthia exclaimed.

He couldn't be bothered with the idiot anymore and began looking around.

They were in a somewhat dim cave.

No light came in from outside, but countless specks of glowing dust provided enough illumination to see by.

The light was an unusual color, giving the cave a strange beauty.

No, strange wasn't quite right. It sparkled like fireflies in the night, dazzlingly clear.

"It is," Xu Mu agreed.

Before long, the portal area had filled with the young, and extremely rich, second-generation Trainers who had come for this adventure.

"Yoo!"

A huge Dragonite appeared overhead with a soft cry.

[Hello, human Trainers!]

Sensing Dragonite's goodwill, no one was afraid. They waited quietly for what he would say next.

Even the Trainers who had no interest in Dratini stayed to hear him out.

After all, this chance came only once every ten years. If they missed it, they might never see a rare Pokémon like Dragonite with their own eyes.

"Yoo, yoo-yoo!"

[This trial is simple. Each of you must find three Bells like this one inside Meteor Falls.]

[You may take Bells from others. There are no other specific rules for this trial.]

[Come to me with your Bells in one day, and you'll earn the right to visit my clan and catch one of our young.]

Dragonite's calls rang out through the cave. Once he had announced the rules, he flew away.

Some Trainers had come prepared with translation devices or Pokémon capable of Telepathy.

They didn't want to misunderstand the rules.

Xu Mu had come prepared too. With Arceus's help, he quickly understood everything.

He took Cynthia's hand and said casually, "Come on. Let's go!"

Cynthia was bewildered. She had seen Dragonite appear and heard him call a few times.

Then a whole bunch of people had sprinted off...

What was going on?

"Dragonite already explained the rules. Didn't you hear him?"

Seeing Cynthia's confusion, Xu Mu couldn't help laughing.

"What rules?" Cynthia asked.

Plenty of others around them looked just as lost.

"Dragonite announced them... What did you think he came out and called for?"

"To look cute?"

Cynthia blushed.

She touched her hair and stuck out her tongue. "I was going to say he had a lovely voice!"

Xu Mu slapped his forehead. All right!

When it comes to being clueless, I won't bow to a wall or an eighty-year-old grandma. I bow to you!

Holding Cynthia's hand, he led her deeper into the cave instead of following the sound of water like everyone else.

"I think we've lost the others," Cynthia said as the Trainers around them grew fewer.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be any fun if we all stuck together."

Xu Mu pointed ahead.

"See? The smart ones know to split up. This isn't football; more people won't necessarily help."

The Secret Realm wasn't enormous, but it certainly wasn't small!

The nearly thousand Trainers spread out through Meteor Falls, gradually losing sight of one another as though they were navigating a maze.

Anyone who hadn't marked their route beforehand was bound to get lost.

"Heading where we can barely hear the water doesn't mean we're moving farther from the falls. It means we're going deeper into the cave."

"Dragonite's clan doesn't live in water. Everyone heading toward the waterfall is actually going the wrong way."

Xu Mu's plan was simple: get away from those fools first.

If he found any Bells, he would give one to Cynthia.

If he didn't, so be it...

He had never expected this trip to be peaceful anyway.

As long as the Damn System was around, it was bound to arrange all sorts of surprises!

And that was without even mentioning a heavyweight like Lugia!

The system had already issued a check-in mission. There was no way Lugia would simply let him come and go as he pleased.

"Does that mean we'll find the Bells faster?"

Xu Mu's confident analysis had convinced Cynthia that they had a good chance of completing the trial.

But...

Xu Mu had made all of that up. He had been talking nonsense...

He just wanted to get away from the crowd and find somewhere quiet to wait for Lugia to come looking for trouble.

As for the Bells?

Why bother looking?

Only a fool would do that!

"We won't look for the Bells. We'll let the fools find them."

Xu Mu grinned.

Cynthia didn't understand. "We won't look?"

"Right. Only a fool would go looking for Bells," Xu Mu said as though it were obvious. "Think about it. Bells make noise, don't they?"

"Once someone finds one, they're bound to make it ring unless they stay perfectly still."

"Then we just take it from them."

That was right. The moment Xu Mu heard the rules, he had started plotting.

If Dragonite allowed them to take Bells from others, what was the point of searching for them the hard way?

They could just snatch them!

So what if it wasn't honorable? If Xu Mu didn't do it, someone else would. Opportunities went to those strong enough to seize them!

"But taking someone else's Bell... isn't that wrong?"

Cynthia hesitated, but soon settled the matter in her own mind.

People called her a Saintess, not a saintly fool...

She had grown up seeing this sort of thing all the time.

The fittest prevailed. That was Darwin's Theory of Evolution and an unchanging truth on the path to strength.

"Good. Let them search. I'll take you to meet someone interesting!"

Seeing that Cynthia finally understood, Xu Mu smiled and led her farther in by the hand. He wasn't the least bit worried that Lugia wouldn't find him.

He had the Damn System figured out now!

Once it issued a check-in mission, the Damn System would make sure he completed it, one way or another!

[No, I won't! You brought this trouble on yourself...]

The system had already cried itself into a stupor in the bathroom. With a host like this, it had been blamed for so much that it had shut down completely...