Palpitoad's hunt.
Everyone knew the camp was short on water. Seeing the pile of water before them, they were instantly fired up.
Without hesitation, everyone got moving.
At that moment, they simply threw themselves into the work and left the rest to adrenaline.
Lu Li was enjoying hauling water too. He carried two containers at a time, and though he sometimes had to stop for a breather halfway up the stairs, he did not feel tired. The excitement had yet to wear off.
Just as they were nearly finished moving the first batch of water, Jun Shutong and her group returned.
This time, they actually came back with six vehicles.
Two carried water, while the other four were packed with people.
Ten people squeezed out of a five-seat sedan alone-men and women, young and old.
Lu Li handed the water he was carrying to someone beside him, then walked over to Jun Shutong.
"Sister Jun, did you find something unexpected out there?" Lu Li asked in surprise.
"These are survivors we found in Area Two. Some of them had gone almost a whole day without food, so I decided to take them in," Jun Shutong explained.
Jun Shutong saw nothing wrong with that. After all, she had established the camp to help more people survive.
Lu Li nodded in understanding.
He knew Jun Shutong all too well. There was no way she could refuse someone begging for shelter.
"Oh, and we did find something genuinely unexpected. Come to my office tonight, and I'll tell you all about it." Jun Shutong smiled slyly, deliberately keeping him in suspense.
Her words successfully piqued Lu Li's curiosity, but she had already turned away to direct everyone hauling water. He scratched his head and could only follow her with a helpless look.
Lu Li made a point of counting the survivors Jun Shutong had just taken in.
There were twenty-seven in total. Only seven were elderly; the rest were young.
For Dawn Camp, with its overwhelmingly elderly population, this was undoubtedly encouraging news. Still, an influx of twenty-seven survivors put considerable strain on the camp's resources.
Fortunately, it had rained today, and they had collected so much water. Otherwise, the sudden arrival of so many people would surely have brought the camp to collapse.
While everyone was busily working away, something suddenly shoved aside a nearby manhole cover.
A strange, aqua-blue Pokémon with a fleshy lump on its head poked out to look at the crowd. Moments later, two identical Pokémon emerged behind it.
Gurgle~
Gurgle!
Gurgle.
The three blue Pokémon seemed to be discussing something. After a moment, the lead Palpitoad impatiently smacked the smallest one.
It hopped out of the sewer and let out a low Growl toward the crowd.
An invisible wave of energy spread outward. The people busily working suddenly heard a pleasant cry.
It sounded like a strange piece of instrumental music, soothing to the ear and almost entrancing.
Even Lu Li instinctively tilted his head to listen, unable to stop himself from becoming absorbed in it.
No, something's wrong!
Lu Li snapped out of his daze.
It's the fucking apocalypse! Who in their right mind would play music somewhere like this? Instrumental music, at that! What the hell?
Lu Li hurriedly looked around and spotted the three Palpitoad brothers slowly approaching them.
In the real world, Palpitoad was downright ugly.
It had a thick, round body with no arms. Its skin was aqua-blue, with numerous icy-blue lumps encased in black skin.
Most striking were the three lumps on its head. The one in the middle was absurdly large.
It literally had a tumor sitting on its head.
Palpitoad could only evolve at level twenty-five. Lu Li had no idea what sort of destructive power level twenty-five would translate into in the real world.
But one thing was certain.
A level-twenty-five Palpitoad was absolutely not something they could afford to provoke right now.
Lu Li grabbed Jun Shutong by both shoulders and shook her hard twice. "Sister Jun, fire a warning shot! Then get everyone out of here!"
Coming back to her senses, Jun Shutong immediately realized she must have fallen victim to something. At Lu Li's words, she acted almost reflexively, without even checking which Pokémon was responsible.
Jun Shutong raised her gun and fired into the air.
The dull gunshot jolted everyone awake.
"Drop the supplies and run! Run as fast as you can!" Lu Li shouted, pulling Jun Shutong toward Entrance Seven.
The moment the words left his mouth, he was already inside the mall.
In the apocalypse, the only way to survive an encounter with a Pokémon was to run faster than your teammates.
Seeing the prey almost in its mouth about to escape, the lead Palpitoad panicked.
How could its stubby legs outrun these fake humans on land? It sucked in a deep breath, and dark yellow energy rapidly gathered into a ball before its mouth.
Clumps of yellow mud shot toward the crowd. Those struck were not pierced by the mud; instead, it encased them, leaving them standing there like terracotta warriors.
The two Palpitoad behind it also fired foamy beams at the crowd. Anyone hit instantly froze in place, as though struck by an immobilization spell.
Anyone observing them closely would have realized they were not actually motionless. They were moving so slowly that they only appeared to be standing still.
Once they entered the emergency stairwell, Lu Li let go of Jun Shutong.
Being pulled along while climbing stairs could easily make someone lose their balance.
"Don't go to the camp! Head for the Arcade!" Lu Li called to the elderly Dawn Camp residents running ahead.
He did not know whether the three Palpitoad would chase them, but they definitely could not head back to the camp, just in case. The Arcade was their best option.
Being held captive by Mimikyu and going hungry for a day was better than being eaten by Palpitoad.
Besides, Mimikyu had already eaten its fill yesterday, and everyone was terrified right now. Their group would be a feast delivered straight to its doorstep.
After another hearty meal, Mimikyu probably would not keep them around to produce more fear.
When people's will to survive flared up in a desperate situation, they could unleash unparalleled potential.
The fastest among them climbed from the first floor to the sixth in less than a minute and a half.
Outside the Arcade.
Panting for breath, Jun Shutong began counting heads.
After finishing the count, Jun Shutong sat beside Lu Li, looking grief-stricken.
"Nine people didn't make it up here," she said, her face full of sorrow.
Lu Li did not know how to comfort her.
When he said nothing, Jun Shutong continued, "Seven of the newcomers, and two elderly people from the camp."
"You can't protect everyone. Besides, you saved another nineteen people." That was the only comfort Lu Li could offer.
Jun Shutong slowly nodded, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly. For now, at least, his words had comforted her.
Then Jun Shutong felt a surge of relief as well.
They had survived again, and every time they made it through alive, it was all thanks to Lu Li.
"Those Magical Beasts have such bizarre abilities. If you hadn't reacted so quickly, we might all have died there," Jun Shutong said, her face full of relief.