Chapter 136: Terror

Chapter 136: Horror

This was a lush woodland, where peaceful, warm, and delicate sunlight filtered down, casting dazzling spots of light upon the forest floor. Tender green grass stood tall and proud in the moist, fertile soil, and as a gentle breeze drifted by, the dense, canopy-like branches swayed softly. Having been free from human interference and pollution for centuries, nature had restored itself to its most primal state.

Yet, today, the woodland felt exceptionally quiet. The Pidgey and Spearow that usually chirped incessantly from the treetops had vanished without a trace, and the small Pokémon that typically scampered joyfully through the grass were nowhere to be found. An eerie atmosphere permeated the woods.

The air, once filled with the scent of freshness and nature, began to carry a thick, pungent smell of blood. As one moved forward, crimson stains gradually appeared, dotting the vibrant grass or splattered upon the rough, brown tree trunks. The stains grew denser and more frequent, and inevitably, the corpses of Pokémon began to litter the forest. Rattata, Sentret, Zigzagoon... even the ruler of these woods, a master-level Pidgeot, had been reduced to a lifeless carcass.

Strangely, these bodies shared a common trait: their wounds were smooth and clean, as if sliced by a sharp blade, severing their bodies into two with clinical precision. There was not a single sign of a struggle on the ground; every strike had been fatal. Viscera and entrails oozed slowly from the wounds, coating the lush grass and becoming fresh nutrients to nourish the earth.

*Plop, plop.*

Leisurely, unhurried footsteps echoed through the woods. A man in ornate clothing with golden hair walked slowly past, his polished black leather shoes sinking into pools of blood, splashing out crystalline droplets. Bizarrely, an invisible energy seemed to erupt from the shadows behind him, swirling around his body in such a way that not a single drop of the filthy blood landed on his clean, pristine clothes.

"Where exactly is it?"
"I couldn't have taken the wrong path, could I?"

The blond man muttered to himself in annoyance while consulting a map, acting as if he were entirely accustomed to this hellish scene, showing not the slightest concern.

"Sigh." He let out a weary breath. "Next time I take an assignment that requires traveling this far, I must find a—no! It’s impossible to take a mission like this ever again!"

The man grumbled with intense regret. Suddenly, his head, which had been bowed over the map, snapped to the side. His smooth, lustrous medium-length golden hair fluttered in the air as his sapphire-like eyes cast a fleeting glance.

"Don't you agree, Bisharp?"

*Hum—*

A sharp, high-pitched metallic ring resonated through the forest. A Bisharp, which had been hiding around the man like a guardian, revealed itself. It remained silent, the silver metallic sheen on its blade-like arms glowing as if in response to its master's query.

"Exactly, exactly. Isn't it much more comfortable to just sit in the headquarters office and enjoy the air conditioning?"
"Assignments like this are truly a torture!"

Seeming to have received an answer, the blond man nodded in complaint.

*Plop, plop.*

The leisurely footsteps, accompanied by the thick, viscous sound of treading through blood, resumed through the woods. A deep, dark shadow of death began to loom toward the unsuspecting Lu Yun in the distance. The gaunt, elegantly dressed man continued his slow walk along the path of blood and flesh, focused on his map, exuding a strangely distorted and eerie sense of beauty.

...

Deep within the Kolon Wasteland, a steel door, caked in dust and grime, lay hidden beneath dense, overgrown grass.

*Hum, hum.*

Suddenly, a slight tremor, like a minor earthquake, rose from its surface. The dust covering the metal began to trickle down to the ground.

*Bang!*

A dull thud erupted from within. A hand, cast as if from black iron, its five fingers pressed together, punched straight through the steel. With a forceful downward motion—

*Screech!*

A sound that made one's skin crawl echoed through the air. Like a hot knife through butter, the flesh-and-blood blade sliced through the metal with ease. Soon, a square opening appeared in the door.

A figure as dark as the night emerged from behind. This was Lu Yun, finally making his escape. In truth, Lu Yun himself felt a sense of bewilderment. After his intense battle with the Arbok, he had fallen into a deep coma. Given the severity of his injuries, he had assumed he would never wake up. Yet, unexpectedly, he didn't know what had transpired, but when he regained consciousness, he found that his gravely wounded body had mysteriously recovered by more than half. Furthermore, the surrounding Arbok corpses and the humans lying on the ground had all withered into pale, gray husks.

Lu Yun sensed a vague, inexplicable connection between the two phenomena. He couldn't pinpoint the specifics, but he suspected it had to do with the Ghost-type energy within him. Once his physical state had recovered, the subsequent escape plan had gone eerily smoothly. The human security guards were not worth mentioning—each was easily dealt with by a single move—but the true key was the Pokémon they carried. This was another point that puzzled Lu Yun greatly; he discovered that after the Arbok, every other Pokémon he encountered in the base was incredibly weak—some were even less powerful than he had been six days ago. This allowed him to clear all the enemies in his path with only minor injuries.

Standing at the base exit, Lu Yun felt as if he were dreaming. However, he did not know that after the world had been invaded by the Seeds of Nightmares, the number of sane Pokémon had become extremely scarce. Even a massive dark organization like the Nightmare Society could not afford to assign large numbers of powerful, elite Pokémon to every base under its command; managing to deploy one or two was already quite an accomplishment. Moreover, before Dr. Dahl had made progress in his research, he was not considered a significant figure within the Nightmare Society, and combined with the specific, isolated geographical location of the Kolon Plains, it was natural that few powerful Pokémon had been allocated there. These combined factors were why Lu Yun had managed to escape so easily.

Fresh air, carrying the fragrance of nature, surged into Lu Yun's nostrils. A wave of relief erupted from his chest, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. Having been trapped in the underground base since his transmigration, Lu Yun couldn't help but take a deep, long breath.

"Huff—"

He stepped slowly out of the door. Underneath his feet, the soft soil—a stark contrast to the cold, hard flooring of the base—felt faintly warm and gentle. Lu Yun squinted in comfort, and inadvertently, he lifted his head to cast a glance at the night sky.

Suddenly, as if he had seen something truly horrific, Lu Yun's pupils contracted violently!