When Beedrill saw that the Raticate had actually fled, it wanted to chase after them, but Lu Li stopped it before it could give pursuit.
In an open area like this, Beedrill could still take advantage of the sky, but once it entered the building, the advantage would shift to the Raticate.
In such a cramped space, even with Ordinary level strength, Beedrill would probably have a hard time withstanding the combined attacks of multiple Raticate.
Seeing this, Beedrill gave up on chasing them and instead pointed at the Raticate corpses on the ground.
Lu Li instantly understood.
As everyone knew, hornets were omnivores and ate meat.
Although Beedrill did not particularly like eating meat, in an environment like this, meat rich in nutrients and energy definitely counted as a exotic delicacy.
Lu Li nodded.
He did not mind Beedrill eating Pokémon. After all, in the Pokémon world, Pokémon also ate other Pokémon.
After receiving Lu Li’s permission, Beedrill descended into the pit where the Raticate leader lay and lowered its head to gnaw on the dead leader’s corpse.
Seeing this, Lu Li opened his mouth, hesitating to speak. He had actually wanted to ask whether Beedrill wanted him to roast it first.
Just then, a sharp bird cry rang out.
The sound was extremely piercing and particularly unpleasant to hear.
Beedrill, which had been enjoying its “feast,” immediately flew out of the pit after hearing the cry and warily stared at the uninvited guest before it—Fearow.
Fearow was also known as the scruffy bird. It was said to be the devolved form of Ho-Oh and was known in the streets as Little Ho-Oh.
Of course, all of that was complete nonsense.
Fearow, as a Pokémon, was much like Beedrill. In the Pokémon world, both were infamous for being universally disliked, and both were especially good at ganging up on opponents.
That was because wild Fearow, like Beedrill, would band together and even form what could be called groups.
Fortunately, though, this Fearow only had two Spearow following it today.
Both sides locked their wary gazes tightly onto each other. The atmosphere was tense, as though either side might lunge forward and start fighting at the slightest disagreement.
Lu Li narrowed his eyes as he watched the standoff, silently thinking to himself. With the fiery temper of a bird of prey like Fearow, why was it holding back?
“Is it worried about the Spearow behind it, or—”
Lu Li quickly came up with an idea.
“Beedrill, try communicating with them. Tell them it’s our treat and invite them to share the Raticate on the ground,” Lu Li ordered loudly.
The moment Lu Li spoke, he immediately drew the other side’s attention.
Locked onto by Fearow’s sharp gaze, Lu Li instantly felt a chill run down his back and could not help inwardly cursing himself for being careless.
Seeing Fearow’s gaze turn toward its Trainer, Beedrill quietly shifted in front of Lu Li to shield him, then relayed Lu Li’s message.
Fearow, which had originally been preparing to attack, froze for a moment. It looked at Lu Li in surprise, then nodded.
Once both sides reached an agreement, the fight that had been about to break out came to an end before it even began.
Fearow landed beside a Raticate corpse, then called out to the two Spearow. After receiving Fearow’s permission, the two Spearow also began eating the Raticate corpses on the ground.
Lu Li let out a sigh of relief.
There were quite a few Raticate and Rattata that Beedrill had killed. Beedrill alone definitely could not finish them all, while Little Beauty did not eat meat, which was why Lu Li had been so generous in inviting Fearow.
Of course, the main reason was that he was worried Beedrill might not be able to beat Fearow. After all, Fearow had higher base stats than Beedrill and also held the type advantage.
If the two sides really fought, the outcome would be uncertain, and who lived or died would be anyone’s guess.
Under these circumstances, Lu Li was naturally more willing to pay a price to avoid disaster. Besides, these things were not worth much anyway.
Beedrill silently flew back into the pit as well, picked up a corpse from the ground, and carried it over to Lu Li.
With Fearow and the others present, Beedrill did not dare stray too far from Lu Li.
Lu Li then picked up the walkie-talkie and contacted Jun Shutong.
“You can keep moving the supplies now. I’ve dealt with those rat demon beasts, but try to avoid the battlefield from earlier. The entire area is covered in poison, and there are also flying demon beasts feeding here,” Lu Li warned.
After receiving Lu Li’s message, Jun Shutong, who was hiding inside a building in Anke Residential Complex, gathered the others and resumed transporting the supplies from Anke Camp.
At that moment, a strange sort of harmony formed between humans and Pokémon.
On one side was a long line of people, continuously transporting supplies. Not far from the line, several Pokémon were quietly eating.
Before long, Jun Shutong’s voice came through the walkie-talkie again.
“Lu Li, I can see a few flying demon beasts gnawing on the corpses of those rat demon beasts. Is everything okay on your end?”
Lu Li looked gently at Beedrill eating in the distance and said softly, “Don’t worry. Little Yellow is doing just fine. It’s enjoying its prey right now.”
This harmony did not last long, because the Rattata corpses soon attracted other predators.
An Ekans pushed open a manhole cover and slithered out of the sewer. Its cold, greedy eyes fixed on the corpses not far away before it silently crawled over to one of the Raticate bodies.
Ekans moved very quietly. If Lu Li had not been watching those corpses the entire time, it really might have succeeded in stealing a meal without anyone noticing.
However, even though Lu Li saw it, he did nothing to stop it. He did not even warn the Fearow that was eating nearby.
Ekans suddenly opened its mouth to an absurdly unnatural degree and swallowed the Raticate corpse whole. Even after devouring the Raticate, its long, slender body did not swell in the slightest. The greedy Ekans then slithered toward another Raticate corpse.
Using the same method, Ekans swallowed another Raticate corpse. After successfully stealing food several times in a row, Ekans set its sights on one of the Spearow that was eating.
Seeing this, Lu Li inwardly cursed the stupid snake for being so greedy.
Even so, Lu Li had no intention of warning them. After all, Fearow was already a fairly arrogant Pokémon in the anime, and its temper was notoriously violent.
At his current stage, Fearow was almost completely worthless to him. No, that was not quite right. Fearow’s corpse might have some value.
If Fearow really started fighting Ekans, he would not mind sitting back and reaping the benefits.
“Sister Jun, tell everyone to stop moving right away. Something has changed over here. If you don’t keep your distance, it might cause some unnecessary casualties,” Lu Li raised the walkie-talkie and warned in a low voice.
He kept his voice extremely low, afraid of startling the Ekans that was preparing to hunt.
At this moment, he simply wanted to watch the blood flow.
Jun Shutong had not expected the situation to change so quickly either, but she immediately ordered everyone to stop transporting supplies and led them back into hiding.
At the same time, Ekans finally slithered silently behind the Spearow.
At the critical moment, Ekans suddenly lunged forward, opening its bloody maw and nearly swallowing the Spearow whole in a single bite.
However, the instant it was swallowed, Spearow still let out a shrill scream.
Hearing the scream, Fearow instantly dropped the Raticate prey in its mouth and whipped its head around toward the source of the sound.
And there it saw Ekans swallowing its youngest child.
“Gaaah!!”
Fearow let out a piercing, furious cry. Without the slightest hesitation, it shot toward Ekans.
Fearow used Agility and immediately followed it with Drill Peck. In almost an instant, it appeared right in front of Ekans.
Ekans instinctively tried to flee, but Fearow was too fast. Before it could react, Fearow’s attack slammed into it.
Ekans was blasted away and crashed heavily into a utility pole not far away.
It snapped the pole on impact, but its momentum did not stop there. In the end, it landed in the middle of the road.
After landing the hit, Fearow did not stop. Instead, it continued its relentless assault.
Ekans also realized the difference in strength between them. It took a deep breath, then directly spat out the Spearow it had just swallowed.
That was the move Spit Up, which could convert what it had swallowed into an attack and fire it back out. The longer it had been stored, the more powerful the move became.
Fearow looked at the lump that Ekans had spat out. It had originally intended to smash it apart directly, but after seeing its outline, Fearow forcibly stopped its move midway.
Fearow hurriedly spread its wings and caught the “unidentified object” in its embrace. Immediately afterward, it was struck by Spit Up and sent flying backward.
It crashed violently into the mall on the first floor.
Lu Li felt the floor beneath his feet tremble slightly and wondered whether he should move somewhere else to continue watching the show.
Taking advantage of Fearow being knocked away, Ekans slyly knocked aside a manhole cover by the roadside and smoothly slipped inside.
By the time Fearow flew back out of the rubble, Ekans had long since escaped without a trace.
The enraged Fearow began wildly destroying the surrounding buildings to vent its fury.
Lu Li frowned deeply at the sight. If Fearow kept wrecking things like this, the mall was going to become structurally unsafe.
Fortunately, after venting for a while, Fearow grabbed the Spearow whose feathers had been badly corroded by digestive fluids and flew away.
Perhaps Fearow had also realized that Beedrill, a formidable enemy, was still nearby.
As wild Pokémon, they did not always have to kill in order to hunt. Fighting over territory and eliminating potential competitors were also forms of proactive killing.
Watching Fearow and its family disappear into the distance, Lu Li curiously asked, “Little Yellow, do you think that Spearow that got swallowed and then spat back out can still be saved?”
“Beedrill”
(I don’t think so. That Spearow has already been poisoned, and Fearow doesn’t have any healing moves.)
Hearing this answer, Lu Li gave Beedrill a thoughtful look. In the wild, the Poison type was definitely one of the most dangerous types.
That was because very few wild Pokémon had the ability to heal or remove negative status conditions. A poisoned Pokémon generally had no choice but to endure it.
And that still depended on how potent the Poison-type Pokémon’s venom was. If it encountered a Pokémon with highly toxic venom, then being poisoned basically meant a slow death.
Thinking of this, Lu Li also understood why most Bug-type Pokémon were poisonous.
If weak Bug-type Pokémon did not have poison, it would be difficult for them to survive in the wild.
Lu Li took out the walkie-talkie again and said, “Sister Jun, the fighting over here is finished. Let everyone keep moving.”
“Copy that.”
Perhaps she had gotten used to it by now, because after Jun Shutong said “copy that,” there was nothing else.
“Little Yellow, go pick up a Raticate or Rattata corpse that hasn’t been poisoned and bring it over. I want to do an experiment,” Lu Li said to Beedrill.
Beedrill nodded and flew down.
Before long, Beedrill came flying back with a Rattata corpse in its grasp.
“Beedrill”
(Trainer, don’t eat it. You can’t eat this.)
Thinking Lu Li intended to eat the Rattata, Beedrill warned him.
Lu Li looked at Beedrill in surprise.
“Rattata meat can’t be eaten?” Lu Li quickly asked.
“Beedrill”
(My instincts tell me that Trainer had better not eat this.)
Lu Li nodded. In any case, he had never intended to eat Rattata in the first place.
“Don’t worry, I won’t eat it,” Lu Li promised.
He already had a certain sentimental bias toward Pokémon. At most, he could accept trying a Slowpoke tail that had been cut off, but he would absolutely never hunt Pokémon just to satisfy his appetite.
The reason he had ordered Beedrill to wipe out the Raticate earlier was because that group of Raticate posed a threat to both him and the camp.
In the open interior of the mall, Beedrill definitely could not defeat an entire group of Raticate. Now that Lu Li had managed to use the terrain to create an opportunity to eliminate them, there was no way he would let it pass.
After all, that was what a struggle for survival was like.
Although he had ambitions and wanted to establish his own Pokémon League in this world, before any of that, he first had to make sure he survived, and also lead the entire camp to survive with him.
Anyone who accomplished great things could not remain entirely righteous and spotless. They would inevitably pass through certain dark or gray areas, and Lu Li had long since prepared himself to bear the burden of sin.
It was not until night was about to fall that Jun Shutong barely managed to finish transferring the supplies, but the problem of settling several hundred people brought new difficulties.
First were the hundred or so members of the Atonement Camp. To keep watch over that many people, they would have to assign even more people to supervise them.
Right now, because of Beedrill’s presence, these people had no choice but to obediently cooperate with Dawn Camp’s reckoning, but that was only temporary.
The group of them did not even have time to eat dinner before hurriedly gathering in the office for an emergency meeting.
Holding a report, An Kang began, “First is the supply problem. With such a sudden increase in population, the camp’s supplies are already insufficient, unless—”
Seeing An Kang stop halfway through his sentence, hesitating and not daring to continue, Jun Shutong directly urged, “Unless what?”
“Unless we do what Demon Camp did and feed the survivors pig…pig feed,” An Kang said, steeling himself.
“If we don’t count the pig feed, how long can our normal food last?” Lu Li asked.
At Lu Li’s question, An Kang immediately straightened his back and reported, “Including the supplies Dawn Camp already had and the supplies seized from Demon Camp, if everyone eats normal food, then we can last at most one more week.”
By now, everyone in the camp understood that Lu Li was the one who truly made the decisions. Jun Shutong, despite being the leader, had long since become little more than a nominal mascot.
Lu Li directly ordered, “Then arrange for people to start cooking right now. As for the pig feed, don’t give it to people. Humans weren’t even worthy of eating pig feed.” As for the latter part, Lu Li only added it in his mind.
The pig feed was something he was preparing to use to feed Pokémon. Humans could eat it if absolutely necessary, but Dawn Camp had not yet reached that point.
An Kang nodded and decisively left the meeting room with the documents. At this moment, it was Lu Li’s instructions that he truly recognized. There was no longer any question of putting Jun Shutong’s orders first.
If Jun Shutong had said this, he might still have needed to ask for Lu Li’s opinion. But if Lu Li was the one who spoke, then there was nothing more to discuss. He only had to carry it out.
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