Chapter 26: The Disaster Brought by Poison-type Pokémon
The seventh day after Pokémon descended.
Another building was engulfed in raging flames. Scarlet tongues of fire licked at the structure as thick smoke billowed straight into the sky.
Lu Li looked at the high-rise in the distance spewing black smoke. After letting out a soft sigh, he drew the curtains shut.
Beside him, Fatty Lei’s face was filled with resentment. Clenching his fists, he growled, “I specifically had people keep track of it. Those damned black dog demon beasts eat right on schedule every day—once at noon and once at night!”
Seeing that Lu Li remained lost in thought for a long while, Fatty Lei couldn’t help asking, “Brother Lu, do you think humanity still has any hope?”
Hearing this, Lu Li turned to look at Fatty Lei. Seeing tears brimming in the corners of his eyes, Lu Li nodded solemnly. “Of course we do!”
He thought of the Feebas back home.
He still couldn’t say for certain where humanity’s hope lay, but his own hope was definitely with Feebas.
Not wanting to dwell on the topic, Lu Li changed the subject. “Did any newcomers join the camp today?”
“No.” Fatty Lei shook his head.
“Not everyone has the same good luck as An Kang’s family. Trying to cross the road with your whole family makes it very easy to get spotted by flying demon beasts,” Fatty Lei explained.
“Here, take a look. This is the log I had someone keep.” Fatty Lei handed Lu Li a notebook.
“I specifically assigned someone to watch the road across from us. Actually, people try to come over from Xinghai Residential Complex every day, but most of them die while crossing the road.”
Curious, Lu Li took the notebook and began flipping through it.
The observation log had started yesterday and recorded three incidents in total.
The first happened at eight in the morning. A young man had tried to cross the road to the mall with two elderly people.
Unfortunately, the family had bad luck. While crossing, they failed to notice the Oddish in the median strip.
Perhaps the Oddish felt that the soil in the median strip no longer had enough nutrients, because the group invited the entire family into the median strip to cosplay as fertilizer.
“Those plants that look like demon beasts have actually learned to fertilize themselves,” Fatty Lei complained bitterly.
Lu Li: “…”
At this moment, Lu Li could only feel fortunate that he had avoided that group of Oddish back then. Otherwise, he might have ended up serving as fertilizer too.
The victim in the second incident was a young man. After seeing the corpses on the median strip, he chose to take a detour.
Then, for no apparent reason, the young man died on the road.
“The observer didn’t see how he died?” Lu Li asked with a frown.
“No. He just suddenly died for no apparent reason. He seemed to be in a lot of pain before he died too. The observer at the time even recorded a video.” As Fatty Lei spoke, he took out his phone and played the video.
Because of the distance, the figure in the video was extremely blurry. They could only vaguely see him suddenly clamp both hands tightly around his own throat and struggle desperately where he stood.
When the young man finally died, his body even went into a strange rigid state.
“He was probably poisoned,” Lu Li analyzed thoughtfully.
“Poisoned?” Fatty Lei looked at Lu Li in confusion.
Lu Li nodded, then explained, “In nature, insects like butterflies have scales on their bodies.”
“Look at those butterfly demon beasts resting in the trees in the video. I suspect the scales on their bodies are highly toxic, and that toxin is fatal to humans.”
“From poisoning to death, that strong young man didn’t even last two minutes.”
“You’d better tell the supply-gathering teams about this. Have them avoid places with butterfly demon beasts as much as possible,” Lu Li warned.
Butterfree were insects, and their main food was tree sap. Under normal circumstances, they couldn’t possibly eat meat, much less deliberately hunt humans.
But not actively hunting people didn’t mean Butterfree weren’t dangerous. After all, killings that weren’t even carried out for the purpose of hunting were the most terrifying kind.
Fatty Lei hurriedly nodded.
Lu Li turned to the third incident.
The victim in the third incident was a woman. According to the observer’s description, she was probably quite attractive, because he had specifically emphasized that she was dressed very exquisitely.
As for the cause of death—
She had been bitten to death by a gray canine demon beast.
After closing the notebook, Lu Li handed it back to Fatty Lei and sighed inwardly.
“No wonder Fatty Lei is so pessimistic about humanity’s future.”
If he weren’t a transmigrator, he would probably be even more pessimistic than Fatty Lei right now.
Butterfree’s highly toxic scales were already this ridiculous, so wouldn’t Weezing basically be a walking poison-gas bomb?
At that thought, Lu Li felt another wave of relief.
Thankfully, no Weezing had spawned inside the mall.
After being frightened by Pokémon yet again, Lu Li decided to go back and feed Feebas to restore some of his SAN value. [TN: A numerical stat representing a character’s mental stability, soundness of mind, and resilience against psychological trauma.]
But when Lu Li passed by Jun Shutong’s office, Jun Shutong happened to spot him and promptly roped him into helping.
“Lu Li, we’re planning to give our survivor camp a name. What do you think we should call it?” Jun Shutong asked enthusiastically as she pulled him over.
Lu Li wasn’t annoyed at being suddenly recruited. After all, there was no rush to feed Feebas.
“Any names to choose from?” Lu Li asked.
“Right now, we have a few options. First is naming it after me: ‘Jun Shutong Survivor Camp.’ Then there’s naming it after the mall.”
“Finally, there are some more positive names, like Peace, Dawn, Hope, Future, and things like that.”
Without hesitation, Lu Li said, “Dawn or Hope. Those are the two things humanity wants to see most right now.”
Full of spirit, Jun Shutong waved her little hand and confidently declared:
“If it’s between Dawn and Hope, then let’s just call it Dawn. Dawn represents hope and is also the herald of daybreak. I’ve always believed that humanity will definitely welcome a better tomorrow.”
As for why Jun Shutong was in such a good mood today, it was naturally because of the weather.
Today wasn’t bright and sunny. On the contrary, the sky was covered in dark clouds. Lead-gray clouds hung extremely low, almost touching the distant rooftops.
It was a sign that a torrential downpour was coming.
For the camp in its current situation, this rain couldn’t have come at a better time and was far too precious.
“Then Dawn it is.” Lu Li nodded, then murmured the name to himself. “Dawn Camp. Sounds pretty good.”
“If you want to take a bath, you can take an empty bucket upstairs to collect rainwater. As long as you only put the bucket outside the emergency exit, there shouldn’t be much danger,” Lu Li thoughtfully reminded her.
Hearing this, Jun Shutong’s eyes lit up, and she excitedly invited him, “Then shall we go together? That way we can watch each other’s backs.”
Lu Li really wanted to ask whether she was inviting him to bathe together or to collect rainwater together.
“Sure.” Lu Li nodded and agreed.
Jun Shutong had a gun. If they really ran into danger while collecting rainwater, she could provide backup.
If possible, Lu Li actually wanted to call Fatty Lei along too. Putting morality aside, Fatty Lei was extremely useful—definitely a top-tier teammate to be used as a meat shield.
…
Chapter 27: Joy and Hope on a Rainy Day
As a man of action, Lu Li had always been the type to act as soon as an idea came to him.
“We could call Fatty Lei too. He probably wants to take a bath as well,” Lu Li suggested.
Jun Shutong rolled her eyes at Lu Li. She knew exactly what he was thinking. As for why she knew so clearly? Because she had thought the exact same thing before.
Speechless, Jun Shutong said, “I invited him before, but he said he could go without bathing. Going to the rooftop to collect rainwater is too dangerous, and there’s no need to risk his life just to get clean.”
Lu Li: “…”
Lu Li looked at Jun Shutong in slight surprise. He hadn’t expected her to have also discovered how useful Fatty Lei could be.
“Then I guess it’ll just be the two of us.” Lu Li nodded helplessly.
Since Fatty Lei wasn’t taking the bait, there was nothing they could do.
After all, this kind of thing still had to be voluntary. Otherwise, it would be easy to lose people’s trust.
After the two agreed to go collect rainwater once it started raining, Lu Li returned to his room and began his daily routine of feeding and caring for Feebas.
Lu Li had actually always been quite curious about Feebas’s limit, because he’d discovered that no matter how much food he gave it, Feebas would eat every last bit, like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.
The feeding and care routine lasted for a full hour.
After putting Feebas back into the fish tank, Lu Li, whose hand felt like it was starting to cramp, kept rotating his wrist.
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning struck down, followed immediately by a deafening crack of thunder exploding beside his ears.
Then came an unending series of lightning flashes and thunderclaps.
Lu Li could only hear the thunder. He couldn’t hear any rain.
But Jun Shutong told him that it had already started raining.
“Lu Li, it’s raining! Do you have any buckets or basins over there?” Jun Shutong stood at the doorway carrying two red plastic buckets.
“I do.” Lu Li took out the two plastic buckets he had prepared in advance. These two buckets had originally been used to transport water and fish food from the aquarium.
“Then let’s hurry.” Lu Li nodded, then quietly glanced at the pistol hanging from Jun Shutong’s waist.
Good. She brought the gun. Sense of security +1.
Because he was worried about attracting the attention of Flying-type Pokémon, Lu Li only pushed the four buckets outside the door, then quietly waited inside the emergency exit for them to fill up.
“By the way, if we use gas to heat water, does that count as wasting resources?” Lu Li suddenly asked.
Jun Shutong rolled her eyes at him in exasperation, then explained, “The camp isn’t short on firewood.”
The reason the camp wasn’t short on firewood was because there were plenty of things inside the mall that could be used in place of firewood, and there were also quite a few gas canisters.
“By the way, if we heat water to take baths, will the others in the camp say anything?” Jun Shutong asked somewhat worriedly.
Lu Li looked at Jun Shutong in slight surprise and silently praised how upright this young woman was.
Considering Jun Shutong’s status before the apocalypse, the fact that she was still worried that exercising privileges might affect morale in the camp was astonishing. If the people in the neighboring camp found out, they would probably cry out that it sounded like a science fiction movie.
The neighboring camp had already started going down the dictatorship route, with privileges regressing straight back two thousand years. Lu Li had no doubt that the camp had probably already divided into slaves and slave owners by now.
The rain was coming down heavily, and the four buckets quickly filled up.
After carrying several buckets of water back inside the emergency exit, Lu Li suggested, “Maybe we can notify the other survivors in the camp and let them come collect some rainwater to bathe too.”
“If the camp really has enough firewood, we should let everyone take a bath. Going too long without bathing makes it easy to get sick.”
The reason Lu Li made this suggestion was because Jun Shutong had said the camp wasn’t short on firewood.
“The camp really isn’t short on firewood, but won’t this be too dangerous?” Jun Shutong was still more concerned about safety.
Hearing this, Lu Li’s heart skipped a beat.
Wait.
This woman couldn’t be thinking of…
The thing Lu Li was most worried about still happened.
“You take the water back first. When you get there, notify everyone. I’ll stay here and keep watch. If we really run into a flying demon beast, I can at least buy everyone some time to escape.” After saying that, Jun Shutong even patted the pistol at her waist.
“You… sigh, fine.” Lu Li nodded helplessly, then carried the buckets downstairs.
Helplessness aside, Lu Li actually admired Jun Shutong quite a bit.
Jun Shutong really was too kind, to the point where one could even call her a saint.
But at least she wasn’t a hypocritical saint. She knew it was dangerous to collect rainwater here, so she had him leave first while she stayed behind as “insurance” for everyone.
After carrying the water back to the camp, Lu Li told Fatty Lei the news.
After hearing it, Fatty Lei frowned as well and complained with clear displeasure, “Jun really is something. For something like this, all she had to do was say the word and I could arrange for someone to collect the water. Why insist on doing it herself? What if she runs into a flying demon beast?”
“Alright, just tell everyone about it. Sister Jun has already made up her mind, so we just need to cooperate. Besides, with rain this heavy, those flying demon beasts probably won’t risk the downpour to go hunting.” Lu Li patted Fatty Lei on the shoulder to reassure him.
Hearing that, Fatty Lei’s eyes flickered.
He didn’t dare go up to the rooftop himself, but he could have someone else go.
Since Jun Shutong was organizing everyone in the camp to take part, he could completely make use of a tiny bit of privilege and have someone else go upstairs to carry water down for him.
After saying that, Lu Li carried the water into the kitchen.
“Heat these two buckets of water for me. I’m going to take a bath in the restroom,” Lu Li told the kitchen staff.
Faced with an order from Lu Li, the camp’s second-in-command, the person in charge of the kitchen didn’t say anything and directly ordered two helpers to start the fire.
Seeing how cooperative he was, Lu Li deliberately reminded him, “Go call over some more people now. Sister Jun plans to heat more water so everyone can take a bath.”
Hearing that, the person in charge of the kitchen said gratefully, “Thank you, Second Boss. I’ll go get people right away.”
After saying that, the person in charge of the kitchen went directly to find Fatty Lei.
Fatty Lei was responsible for personnel deployment in the camp, so all manpower assignments went through him.
Looking at the two elderly men lighting the fire in the distance, Lu Li thought of something else.
Should he heat up some water and give Feebas a warm bath too?
But when he thought about how his Friendship with Feebas was practically negligible, Lu Li ultimately abandoned the idea. Raising Friendship wasn’t that easy.
Now that Feebas had finally started showing him a bit of response, there was no need to risk lowering its Friendship over such an uncertain guess.
The water was soon heated. Lu Li went home to prepare a change of clothes and a bath towel, then carried the water into the restroom.
Half an hour later.
Feeling refreshed, Lu Li left the restroom. By then, people were already continuously carrying water into the kitchen.
Still worried that something might happen on Jun Shutong’s side, Lu Li made another trip to the rooftop.
Jun Shutong was directing everyone as they carried water. Probably because they had gone so long without encountering any danger, she was no longer as tense as before.
Seeing Lu Li return, Jun Shutong said happily, “Your earlier guess was right. After it started raining, those flying demon beasts really don’t seem to be very active anymore.”
…………………………
Chapter 28: An Opportunity in the Rain
Lu Li carefully thought back over what he knew about Flying-type Pokémon. Aside from a few individual Flying-type Pokémon with the Drizzle Ability, most Flying-type Pokémon should dislike rainy weather.
Thinking of this, Lu Li felt much more at ease.
A bold idea suddenly occurred to him. “Sister Jun, I have a bold idea.”
Since the sky was no longer particularly dangerous because of the rain, couldn’t they take this opportunity to do something else?
“What idea do you have?” Jun Shutong asked curiously.
Lu Li asked, “Do you remember that water station you mentioned?”
“You mean taking advantage of the rain to go haul water?” Jun Shutong looked at Lu Li in sudden realization.
Lu Li nodded.
Jun Shutong asked worriedly, “But have you thought about what happens if someone gets soaked in the rain and catches a cold? With the camp’s current conditions, if someone really gets sick, they’ll have no choice but to tough it out.”
“There’s a pharmacy nearby,” Lu Li said seriously.
“And we can drive there,” Lu Li added.
Pokémon habits were similar to those of many animals. On rainy days, aside from Pokémon that liked being active in the rain, most Pokémon would choose to take shelter.
For the camp, this was definitely a rare opportunity, and it was time-limited. Once they missed it, they would have to wait until the next rainy day.
More importantly, even after rainwater was boiled, it could only be used as an emergency measure. Boiling water could kill bacterias, but it could not solve the problem of chemical contamination.
And most importantly, the later they had to rely on rainwater from the sky, the better it would be for the survivors.
From what he knew about Pokémon, now that Pokémon had descended upon this world, they were certain to affect the global ecosystem. Those changes might be disastrous for humanity, but they would be beneficial to nature.
By then, Pokémon that existed specifically to deal with pollution would resolve the environmental contamination caused by industry.
“There are definitely waterproof jackets or raincoats in the clothing store on the third floor. There’s no telling when this rain will stop, so we don’t have much time left.” Lu Li continued, urging the hesitant Jun Shutong on.
“Eight people, two vans. If we succeed even once, we can guarantee that the camp won’t run short of water for at least a month,” Lu Li continued to press his case.
Jun Shutong, who had originally been wavering, took a deep breath and gritted her teeth hard after hearing this. At last, she nodded solemnly.
“We’ll do as you say. I’ll go arrange the people right now. But… you’re not coming along this time. If I don’t make it back, you have to lead everyone and keep them alive.”
Hearing this, Lu Li looked at Jun Shutong with a complicated expression. He had originally planned to go with her, and had even considered taking people to the water station himself.
But he had never expected Jun Shutong to take on this dangerous task herself and even leave him behind at the camp.
Perhaps influenced by Jun Shutong’s noble character, Lu Li’s brain short-circuited for a moment, and he blurted out, “I’m the one who suggested this. If anyone should go, it should be me.”
“No.” Jun Shutong shook her head, rejecting Lu Li’s proposal in a tone that left no room for argument.
Afraid that Lu Li might overthink it, Jun Shutong explained, “You’ve never been to the water station, so you’re not familiar with the roads. And I also know which route passes by the pharmacy.”
Having been refused, Lu Li could only compromise, though he still wasn’t willing to give up. “Then how about we go together?”
“If something really does happen, it won’t make any difference whether you’re there or not. The camp needs you more. Compared to me, you’re actually the one who represents hope,” Jun Shutong said, looking at Lu Li with a solemn expression.
Jun Shutong also knew her own limitations. If she wanted to bring hope to the camp, kindness and holding the truth in her hands were not enough. Someone had to lead humanity in adapting to this “new world.”
In Jun Shutong’s eyes, Lu Li was exactly that kind of person.
Lu Li was calm enough, and he had studied the demon beasts deeply. He had even already figured out the habits of some demon beasts. Those were the things the camp truly needed.
The gun in her hand could only intimidate other humans. It could not have much effect on those demon beasts.
Jun Shutong was also a woman of action. She swiftly divided the people in the camp into two groups. One group would take advantage of the rain to collect as much rainwater as possible.
The other group would accompany her to the water station to fill water containers. After choosing seven strong-built men, she led them out of the mall.
After returning to the camp, Lu Li sat down on a bench and sighed.
At this point, it seemed all he could do was pray to Arceus for Jun Shutong’s safe return.
As for why he wasn’t praying to God? The moment Pokémon descended upon this world, this world was no longer under God’s jurisdiction.
Fatty Lei, who had also received the news, came over to Lu Li.
He lightly patted Lu Li on the shoulder. “Brother Lu, don’t worry. Sister Jun will definitely come back safely. It’s raining so heavily right now, and you yourself said the success rate was at least seventy percent.”
Lu Li glanced at Fatty Lei and immediately saw that the guy was also forcing himself to stay calm.
Lu Li did not expose him. Instead, he instructed, “Use every empty container we can. Collect as much water as possible. With rain this heavy, I doubt it’ll last very long.”
“Don’t worry about that. I specifically had people clear out three storefronts to store water,” Fatty Lei assured him, patting his chest.
“Remember to prepare bathwater for Sister Jun and the others in advance. Once they get back, they should be able to take a hot bath right away,” Lu Li reminded him again.
Fatty Lei made an OK gesture.
In fact, he had already taken care of all of these things. There was no need for Lu Li to remind him.
But he wasn’t about to point that out. After all, when a leader gave an order, you simply followed it. Even if you had already done it beforehand, you still had to pretend you were doing it because of the leader’s instructions.
Fatty Lei, who had entered society right after graduating from high school, understood these workplace social conventions all too well.
He might not have much experience being a leader, but he had plenty of experience being a subordinate.
After chatting with Lu Li for a bit, Fatty Lei went back to acting as the coordinator.
Lu Li, meanwhile, stared absentmindedly at the walkie-talkie in his hand, hoping to hear Jun Shutong’s voice come through it.
Twenty minutes later.
A burst of static came from the walkie-talkie first, followed by a pleasant voice.
“Lu Li, this is Jun Shutong. We left the water at Entrance No. 7. Hurry and get people down here to move it. Since it’s still raining, we’re going to make another trip.”
After saying this, Jun Shutong unilaterally ended the communication.
Hearing this, Lu Li sprang up from the bench.
“Lei, hurry and bring some people with me to Entrance No. 7 to move the water! Sister Jun brought the water back!” Lu Li shouted excitedly.
Hearing this, Fatty Lei became equally excited.
“I’ll get people right now.”
In less than a minute, Fatty Lei arrived at the emergency exit with a group of people.
He had brought fourteen people in total, six of whom were elderly.
But at a time like this, Lu Li obviously wasn’t going to complain.
“Keep quiet inside the emergency exit. It’s raining outside right now, so there might be demon beasts sheltering inside the mall. If we make too much noise, we could easily attract them,” Lu Li warned everyone.
Thanks to Lu Li’s reminder, everyone moved extremely quietly. Besides, all the other exits from the emergency passage had already been locked and could only be opened from the inside, so the chances of a demon beast slipping into the passage were not very high.
When the group reached Entrance No. 7, they saw the water containers stacked at the doorway.
“My God! That’s so much water! It’s enough for the camp to last a whole month!”
Everyone’s eyes widened as they stared excitedly at the water containers that almost completely blocked the entrance.