69novels Chapter 488 The Truth Deep Within Zone 0...
Chapter 488 The Truth Deep Within Zone 0...
Chapter 488 The Truth Deep Within Zone Zero...
About 20 minutes later.
As Pipa waited anxiously outside, pacing back and forth helplessly, Aoba finally emerged from the 4th Observatory.
However, when he appeared, the four students quickly noticed a new change in him—
"Teacher Qingyu, why are you wearing a hat on your head? — Wait, why is it moving?!"
Nemo is someone who can't hide her thoughts, so she decisively asked, but then suddenly noticed something was wrong halfway through her sentence.
Qingyu's head appears to be covered by a dark blue felt hat, but the downward-extending "ears" on both sides seem to have their own ideas.
"Meow————"
When Qingyu walked up to the students and stopped, it quietly loosened the feathers that had been wrapped around Qingyu's chin, turning them into a lazy look that drooped on its shoulders.
It seems like he's still talking in his sleep.
"Well—actually, I don't quite understand what happened either."
Because I myself don't understand the situation either —
Qingyu instinctively wanted to scratch her head, but when she touched Zhenyi's icy body, she realized that there was an "uninvited guest" on her head.
So, he casually started stroking his winged hair again.
"We didn't find anything useful at the observation station, but we did find it inside a Poké Ball."
"It's quite rare that a paradoxical creature from ancient times doesn't show the slightest hostility, so I just let it run wild."
To be honest, even though Winged is a Ghost-type Pokémon, it feels pretty good to pet, just like an un-evolved Eevee.
"—It feels a bit like a dream monster."
After staring at it for a long time without ever speaking, Crimson, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke.
Along the way, he and Nemo had seen quite a few Paradoxical creatures, such as those that looked like Jigglypuff, those that looked like Agaric, and even those that looked like Gallade.
It seems that, just as the scientists of Padia speculated, Paradoxes are the past or future versions of modern Pokémon.
But the appearance of this Pokémon raised new questions for Red. Other Paradoxical Pokémon were understandable, but wasn't Misdreavus a Ghost Pokémon?
Since they are born from the souls of dead Pokémon, theoretically they shouldn't have any lifespan issues, right?
What's the situation with the ancient species of the Dream Demon?
Shouldn't they all look the same? Could it be that the souls of ancient Pokémon are different from those of modern ones?
Crimson red, lost in thought.
"I feel like I recognize this Pokémon, is it... Winglash?"
Piper seemed to recognize the special little creature, and after thinking for a while, he finally realized what it was.
"Yes, I remember now!"
"I heard my father say before that they discovered a very special paradoxical species in their research institute. Not only does it not attack, it also seems to be very friendly to humans —"
"As long as you don't disturb its sleep, it's as quiet as a skittail and very cooperative with them."
Quiet like a cat?
Qingyu looked up at the dark blue fur that was vaguely visible in her eyes.
That actually seems quite fitting.
I never imagined that such a being existed among the paradoxical species!
As the child of that doctoral couple, it's normal for Pipa to know these things.
Qingyu nodded, deciding to stop caring about Zhenyifa.
After all, they had other important matters to attend to and couldn't afford to waste any more time.
So Qingyu poked the winged hair on her head, and seeing that it didn't react, she simply reached out and picked it up.
Then he crouched down and looked at the shadow that stretched out beneath his feet.
"Since it's a Ghost Pokémon—it should be fine to sleep in another dimension, right?"
"So, it's temporarily in your hands, Marshadow~"
As she spoke, Qingyu had already handed over the Zhenyi hairpin with a smile.
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Just as the students looked confused and didn't understand what Qingyu was planning to do, two pitch-black arms suddenly emerged from the shadow beneath Qingyu and took the Zhenyi Hair at an extremely fast speed before disappearing again.
All that remained was a slightly frustrated voice: "I understand."
Marcia always felt that, given her position, she shouldn't be doing things like a nanny.
I am, after all, Lord Ho-Oh's Shadow Messenger! Although I am hardly known in human society, I am still the Hero's examiner!
What candidate would order the examiners to do all sorts of dirty and tiring work?
But there's nothing we can do; Qingyu, the Rainbow Hero, is just too overpowered.
After witnessing firsthand how Qingyu punched the two gods of time and space, could command the terrifying Hades Dragon at will, and even had a close relationship with the black Rayquaza, Marshall knew that he had taken on a task far beyond his capabilities.
Therefore, in order to satisfy this hero candidate and bring him back to meet Lord Ho-Oh, I had no choice but to lower my stance as much as possible.
Compared to the three sacred beasts that would test him, at least he wouldn't get beaten up.
With this thought, Marcia's mood brightened considerably.
These are all necessary sacrifices!
Marshall quickly slipped into the shadows with the sleeping Zhenyifa. Qingyu, feeling her head finally free, also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stretched her neck a couple of times.
"What was that just now—?"
Peony, who witnessed the "ghost hand" appear and silently take away Zhenyi's hair, was clearly startled and quickly shrank behind Nemo, while asking in a low voice.
"It's nothing, just a Pokémon named Marshadow."
Nemo knew about Marshadow's existence, so she started explaining it to her.
"It also appeared in Qingyu's live stream before, it's that dark guy who kicked the Twin Dragons in Sinnoh."
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Peony recalled for a moment, and then suddenly realized.
"So this Pokémon was residing in Yu-sensei's shadow? No wonder I rarely see it."
"It's more of a cooperative relationship; I occasionally need its help."
"You can treat it as a substitute attack for me~"
Qingyu offered a brief explanation and immediately ended the conversation about Marcia.
"Alright, let's continue."
"This time, our target is the vicinity of the deepest part of Sector Zero, the Great Void of Zero."
Once inside Zone Zero, sunlight almost completely disappeared. Only the faint glow emitted by the wildly growing Taijing ore, reflecting light back and forth, allowed us to barely make out the internal structure.
However, the good news is that the innermost layer is indeed safer than the outer layer.
At least along the way, they encountered almost no Paradoxical species, thus avoiding battles.
Although Nemo and Crimson were a little annoyed, their travel efficiency had indeed improved considerably.
"Speaking of which, there's actually so much Primal Crystal ore beneath Zone Zero? Isn't the reserve a bit too exaggerated?"
"If we could dig it all out, we probably would never run out!"
Passing through many striking, enormous, multicolored gems, Nemo blinked curiously, looking eager to try them out.
It looked like they wanted to pack them all up and take them with them.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. We've only just arrived near the entrance to the Great Void of Zero. It's said that the scenery inside is even more incredible."
While looking around as if searching for something, Qingyu replied to Nemo.
Soon, he spotted his target at the edge of the cliff ahead.
An extravagantly large modern architectural complex, part of which is even built on a bottomless cliff and extends downwards through an elevator-like structure until it disappears into the abyss.
It looks out of place with the surrounding natural scenery, and it looks very magical.
"This is the new research institute that the Alliance temporarily built before the last plan began, right?"
Upon reaching this point, Piper realized that the functions of the 4th Observatory had been gradually perfected since his childhood, and a long time had passed since the discovery of the Paradoxes.
He knew absolutely nothing about the "Zero Zone Research Institute," which had just been built and hadn't been in use for long before the accident.
Why did his parents, and even the entire Padiya region, spend so much money to build this research institute?
What secrets lie deeper within Zone Zero?
Perhaps only by understanding these things can we comprehend their thoughts.
Therefore, Pipa decisively turned his attention to Qingyu.
However, Qingyu didn't notice Pipa's behavior. While walking, she continued to observe her surroundings and quickly spoke up: "Have you noticed—some of the crystals around here are a little different from the others?"
After Qingyu said that, the four students finally opened their eyes and began to seriously compare the surrounding scenery.
"I see, it is indeed very special."
Peony, with the keenest observation skills, was the first to react. She nodded in sudden realization and pointed to a protruding crystal growing on the cliff below the research institute.
"That piece of Taijing ore exhibited a very special color."
"The color is richer than other ores, and—there is absolutely no color difference, as if all eighteen attributes have been perfectly blended together."
Even the Galatians, including Peony who studied in Padia, had some contact with the Crystal Beads.
In particular, along the way, the raw crystal ore they saw had obvious color divisions, making it easy to distinguish the corresponding crystal properties of a certain part.
Grinding these raw crystal ores into fragments and then filling them into crystal beads is the crystallization mechanism most commonly used by their students.
Because of this understanding, Peony was able to better realize the uniqueness of that crystal.
What kind of effect will the crystallization, which combines eighteen attributes into one, produce?
The same question immediately came to Pipa's mind.
Seeing that they seemed to have realized what was happening, Qingyu sighed and then patted Papa on the shoulder.
"That's right, that was the very new discovery that piqued Padia's curiosity back then."
A special terrectiformization phenomenon called "star crystal" appears to have been discovered by researchers only once or twice by chance in the deepest part of Zone Zero.
"However—this is not your parents' only goal."
As they were talking, Qingyu had already led the students to the front of the Zero Zone Research Institute and stopped.
Looking at the imposing, towering metal building in front of her, which stood like a gate blocking the Zero Hole, Qingyu's gaze slowly moved downwards until she saw the bottomless "elevator" beneath the building.
Knowing Zhu Zi's storyline, he was very clear about it—
The building in front of us is not actually a gateway to the Great Void of Zero, but rather a sophisticated machine with a very unique function.
The Time Machine, a great invention completed by Orin and Dr. Fortu throughout their lives, can freely transport Pokémon from the past or the future to the present.
The device connected to the Zero Void actually absorbs the overflowing crystalline energy within it and converts it into the power source to start the time machine.
The construction of the time machine was a crucial turning point, which led to the horrific incident in Sector Zero.
"Anyway, let's try going inside and taking a look first?"
Upon hearing the keywords "the new crystallization," Nemo's interest was immediately piqued, and she was already rubbing her hands together, clearly intending to force her way in.
"—No, it's better not to force our way in."
Just as Nemo was about to throw the Poké Ball, Qingyu decisively interrupted her.
"If I'm not mistaken, we should be able to go straight in now."
After speaking, Qingyu stepped forward and came to the tightly locked door, reaching out to press the unlocking device next to her.
At the same time, a voice devoid of any emotion suddenly rang out:
[Human reaction detected.]
[Analyzing in progress —]
The blockade of all four observation stations has been lifted, confirming that the current crisis has been resolved.
Sleep mode has been automatically deactivated.
The sound stopped abruptly, followed by the hissing sound of the gate opening.
As the four-story steel gate slowly opened, Piper, standing behind it, looked completely bewildered. "That sound just now was—"
My own parents?
The voice was so familiar it was etched into his soul; even if he hadn't heard it in a long time, Pipa couldn't possibly mistake it!
But why do their voices completely overlap and lack any emotion?
Just like the strange letters that had been regularly sent to his email address over the past year, signed by his parents, although they felt familiar in every way, they gave him a chilling sense of dread.
"Brother Qingyu, what was that sound just now—"
As he spoke, Pipa's voice began to tremble, an indescribable, nameless fear eroding his heart.
Perhaps only by getting an answer from Qingyu could he feel a little more at ease.
"—I'm not quite sure either."
Qingyu shook his head. He was still unsure of the answer and therefore did not offer any explanation.
"Anyway, let's go in and take a look."
After Qingyu stepped into the facility first, Papa gritted his teeth and immediately followed.
"Hey, wait for us!"
Nemo's voice came from behind, followed by a series of hurried footsteps.
The interior of the Zero Zone Research Institute was not as large as imagined. After passing through a long, narrow circular passage, Qingyu quickly arrived at what should be the main control room.
At the same time, they immediately noticed the person standing in the center, seemingly waiting for their arrival—
A child?
Qingyu frowned subconsciously and silently observed the other person.
He looks somewhat like Piper, just like when he was a child.
But its lifeless, empty blue pupils had already revealed its true identity.
"Hello, I'm so glad you could come here."
Perhaps the robot, which should be called "Paipa AI", took the initiative to greet Qingyu and the others, and at the same time seemed to have seen through Qingyu's thoughts, and nodded with a smile.
"As you might think, I am not human, but an artificial intelligence, or 'AI,' created by two doctors based on the children they remember."
"Papa hadn't responded to my messages, and I was worried about whether I could get in touch with the outside world."
"Now it seems like I was overthinking things."
Although it's an AI, the way it speaks is like that of a real human.
Of course, this is on the premise that we ignore his emotionless voice.