Chapter 20
Zubat
The nights had not been quiet since the Pokémon arrived. Though there were fewer animal cries, the Pokémon's calls were far louder.
Following cautiously behind Jun Shutong, Lu Li even caught a faint glimpse of a huge Pokémon flying past beneath the moonlight.
They all crept forward with their hearts in their throats. Jun Shutong scanned their surroundings warily, and no one in the group dared speak. They all listened intently to the sounds around them.
Three minutes later.
The group finally made it safely to the base of the water tower.
Fatty Lei looked up at the water tower and asked slowly, "Now comes the question: who's climbing up to take the lid off?"
He certainly couldn't do it. With his bulky frame, he would make an easy target up there.
"Old Xu, Huang Jiafei, you two climb up and open the lid. If a bat Magical Beast really does show up, we'll have Fatty Lei lure it away."
After saying that, Lu Li turned to Jun Shutong. "Sister Jun, keep watch. If anything unexpected happens, cover Fatty Lei while he escapes back to the Emergency Exit."
Jun Shutong nodded, raising no objections.
The other three, however, had objections.
Fatty Lei opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to remain silent.
There really was nothing wrong with Lu Li's arrangement. He didn't have to risk climbing the water tower, but if danger actually struck, he would be responsible for luring the bat Magical Beast away.
That was perfectly fair-as long as Lu Li wasn't included in the equation.
Huang Jiafei and Old Xu looked utterly resigned, but they had already come this far. They could only nod with bitter expressions.
"I hope your analysis and guesses are right, or I'll haunt you even after I'm dead." Old Xu gave Lu Li a baleful look.
Huang Jiafei grumbled and cursed, but his movements were anything but slow. He had already climbed onto the water tower's ladder.
Lu Li urged them calmly, "Make it quick. The longer we take, the more dangerous it gets."
The two gritted their teeth and scrambled up the water tower, climbing toward the top as fast as they could.
Fatty Lei watched the sky nervously, terrified that a bat Magical Beast might suddenly appear.
"God help us. Please don't let a bat Magical Beast show up." Fatty Lei pressed his palms together and prayed, his face tense.
Lu Li ignored him. Compared to running into a Pokémon like Zubat, he was much more worried about encountering Noctowl.
If they encountered Zubat, he had at least a seventy percent chance of surviving. But if they encountered Noctowl, their chances of survival would be one in ten at best.
"Stop saying that. Don't you know some things show up the moment you mention them?" Lu Li complained, looking exasperated.
Fatty Lei rolled his eyes at Lu Li and ignored him, keeping his palms together as he continued muttering prayers to God.
Before the Pokémon arrived, Fatty Lei probably hadn't believed in God. After their arrival, however, he had gradually begun pinning his hopes on that elusive deity.
Huang Jiafei and Old Xu finally reached the top. They heaved the water tower's lid open and tossed it straight down.
Clang!
A tremendous crash rang out, and the two hurriedly slid down the ladder.
"Run!" Lu Li led everyone toward the Emergency Exit as soon as he shouted.
Lu Li didn't blame the two for making so much noise. He had expected this situation from the start.
The water tower's lid was heavy, far beyond what one or two people could carry down. The simplest method was to toss it straight off.
The upside was that it was easy and quick. The downside was the tremendous noise, which might attract nocturnal predators.
Just as everyone was running for their lives, a series of squeaks suddenly sounded overhead.
Their faces instantly turned ashen at the unexpected sound. Fatty Lei in particular picked up his pace dramatically, even overtaking Lu Li for a moment.
"It's Zubat!" Lu Li breathed an inward sigh of relief. Thank goodness it isn't Noctowl.
At that thought, Lu Li grabbed Jun Shutong beside him.
"Everyone, stay still! That bat Magical Beast only attacks creatures that move," Lu Li barked in a low voice.
Jun Shutong paled when he grabbed her, but after hearing Lu Li's words, she forced herself to stop.
Huang Jiafei and Old Xu immediately dropped flat on the ground when they heard him, not daring to move or even breathe too loudly.
Fatty Lei had run too far ahead to hear Lu Li's shout clearly. He kept his head down and continued sprinting.
But how could a human's legs outrun a winged Zubat?
Zubat was based on real-world bats. Its eyes had degenerated, and it relied on ultrasonic waves to locate its targets.
That was why Zubat generally only attacked living creatures that moved. With Fatty Lei's large frame and rapid movements, he naturally became its target.
After days of observation and research, Lu Li had finally figured out why these Pokémon attacked humans.
It wasn't that the Pokémon that had arrived liked eating people. Rather, humans were easier to hunt and kill than Pokémon. Though their nutritional value was low, hunting humans offered the best return for wild Pokémon that only wanted to fill their bellies.
A powerful gust swept toward him from behind without warning, and Fatty Lei burst into tears on the spot.
"Aaargh! I don't want to fucking die!" Tears streamed down Fatty Lei's face as he cursed and waited for death to claim him.
Bang!
A gunshot suddenly rang out, and the bullet struck Zubat's wing squarely.
But the bullet didn't pierce Zubat's wing. Instead, it produced an extremely dull thud.
Although the bullet hit Zubat, it failed to draw blood. Its wing membrane was simply too tough for Jun Shutong's handgun to penetrate.
Still, the unexpected attack disrupted Zubat's balance in midflight. Like a plane spinning out of control, it brushed past Fatty Lei and crashed to the ground.
After rolling several times across the ground, Zubat took flight again as though nothing had happened.
But in that brief interval, Fatty Lei finally made it into the Emergency Exit.
Once airborne again, Zubat hesitated for a long while before finally giving up on Fatty Lei, who had already fled into the Emergency Exit.
Zubat could sense its prey continuing to run downward. If it kept pursuing him, it still had a good chance of catching him.
But the attack just now had alerted it to the presence of other predators nearby. Zubat feared both having its catch stolen while it hunted and becoming prey itself.
So Zubat circled once overhead, then slowly flew away.
Having narrowly escaped disaster yet again, Jun Shutong pressed a hand over
her pounding chest and let out a heavy breath. "Whew! That was way too close."
"Let's get going while that bat Magical Beast is gone," Lu Li urged.
Two loud noises in succession were bound to attract more Pokémon. Lu Li's heart was pounding, and he couldn't guarantee that the next arrival would also be a Zubat.
As he passed Huang Jiafei and Old Xu, he saw that they were still pressed flat against the ground, not daring to breathe loudly.
Lu Li lifted his foot and gently nudged Yellow Hair's backside.
"Stop playing dead. That Magical Beast has already flown away. Let's hurry back," Lu Li urged.