NABC Chapter 485 Energetic students are truly terrifying…
Chapter 485 Energetic students are truly terrifying…
Chapter 485 Energetic students are truly terrifying…
The official definition of paradox in Padia is:
A series of mysterious creatures or objects (?) that resemble a certain Pokémon and pose a considerable threat to humans, making them extremely dangerous special individuals.
Generally speaking, that's not wrong.
However, if we break it down to each race, we find that although the average racial stats of the Paradoxes are not much different, the strength of different creatures is obviously different.
For example, the "Ancient Species Salamence" Roaring Moon that Qingyu once encountered was clearly stronger than other Paradoxical Species.
After all, a Pokémon's battle strength is not only determined by its own power, but also by the trouble caused by its attributes, skills, abilities, and even items.
Roaring Moon may seem to be four times weaker than Fairy, but its terrifying speed and ability to stay airborne are not to be underestimated. Even if you can't beat it, there are not many Pokémon that can catch up with it if you want to escape. If you encounter it, it will be very troublesome.
However, as for the first batch of paradoxical species they encountered upon entering Zone Zero—namely, the Sand Ironhide and the Iron Thorn—
These two are practically the worst of the worst; they're too easy to target.
Ironthorn appears to be made of copper and iron, giving the illusion of maximum defensive capabilities, but it is actually a rock and electric type creature.
What does this mean?
It represents a four-fold weaker position, and there are hardly any ways to avoid it.
So the aftershocks from Snorlax's Body Slam alone are enough to give it a hard time.
When Crimson and Nemo initiated a chaotic battle, the Ironthorns' situation became even more precarious. Their "good teammate," Sandhide, a ground-electric combination, instinctively used its Earthquake move—a move that countered the opponent's fiery, ghost-like Fire Crocodile—when it saw the crocodile's flames.
Regardless of the damage inflicted on the Bone-Patterned Giant Crocodile, the Iron Thorns nearby were the first to be affected, quickly becoming disoriented by the trembling earth.
When it comes to attacking teammates, Paradoxes are truly professionals.
"Forget about the iron thorns for now, focus on dealing with the iron sand, and use wide-range attacks as much as possible!"
While Qingyu protected Mudan and Papa behind her from the rear edge, she also gave some pointers to Chihong and Nemo.
Of course, the main purpose is to remind Nemo.
After all, the seedlings of Padia probably hadn't experienced such exciting, unregulated battles, while Red was actually better at this kind of chaotic fighting than regular battles, and was already leading his Pokémon into a dragon-like frenzy.
"Pikachu!"
"Click!!"
"Kakabi~"
"Damn it, so it can be multi-threaded? I can't fall behind!"
"Go on, my lovely Pokémon~"
Seeing that Red was so cooperative, Nemo quickly followed suit and immediately sent out all her Pokémon to unleash their full power.
Thanks to the efforts of Crimson and Nemo, the two demonic beings, a battle that was almost entirely one-sided quickly came to an end.
束。
Their Pokémon fought bravely at the front, cooperating perfectly and taking down a Paradox Pokémon in no time.
The two also had a clear division of labor: Nemo was responsible for throwing Poké Balls to temporarily collect the Paranormals that had lost their fighting ability, and then finding an opportunity to send them back to the Padia headquarters for processing.
As for Crimson, he ran even faster than a Pokémon, and with a casual, full-force punch, he made a Thornthorn roll its eyes and almost lose consciousness on the spot.
In some ways, his fighting power might be no less than that of any Pokémon.
Under the two's fierce offensive, the remaining Iron Thorns and Sand Irons were quickly driven away in a panic, fleeing with ruthless steps.
Regarding Crimson's unreasonable playstyle, viewers in Qingyu's live stream made the following comments:
[Is this even human? 666, did it secretly evolve into a superhuman without telling me?]
[Don't underestimate these basics; for trainers in Kanto, wild battles are just a regular occurrence!]
However, to be fair, judging by Crimson's physical abilities, he'd be considered incredibly strong even in Kanto!
[I feel like one punch could kill ten of me — Seriously, the students are doing all the work, why isn't Teacher Yu making a move? I want to see Teacher Yu box too!]
[Teacher Yu: I think you all want me dead!]
"this one?"
After the battle ended, Nemo pursed her lips and quietly watched as the giant, magnetic feet of the Sand Iron Man operated at full power, leaving several afterimages in her vision and traversing hundreds of meters in just a few seconds.
He's not much of a fighter, but he's quite good at escaping.
"Speaking of which, aren't Magneton supposed to be able to float? Why did they walk in their ancient form? It looks so strange —"
"Pokémon, isn't that amazing?"
Qingyu gave a thumbs-up, brushing off Nemo's question.
Theoretically, this kind of creature is indeed unscientific, but it would be a miracle if ancient creatures could be considered scientific; all sorts of strange and unusual things have been discovered, and the sand-iron-skinned creature is just considered rather peculiar.
"Alright, let's move on. What we've encountered so far is just an appetizer. There are other, even more powerful paradoxical species waiting for you."
"This is only the upper level of Zone Zero. The deeper we go into the underground pit, the stronger the Pokémon become."
"If all goes well, we might even encounter an individual Pokémon whose strength rivals that of a legendary Pokémon this time!"
"good!"
With just three sentences, Qingyu immediately piqued Nemo's curiosity.
"Let's get going!"
'
This time, it wasn't Crimson that remained silent.
The moment Nemo ran forward, Crimson silently followed.
The one who was truly speechless was Paipa, who followed behind Qingyu and was honest and dutiful. He looked at Nemo's departing figure and couldn't help but facepalm in exasperation.
"Coming to Sector Zero with Nemo, I wonder if it's a good thing or not —"
"We've caught almost ten of them, just the Ironhide and Ironthorn. Hopefully, the Alliance can handle it."
"At least they're very motivated, which is a good thing."
Qingyu responded with a smile.
Fortunately, one of his "top henchmen" is Nemo, who runs out of power after running a few hundred meters and is restricted by the hardware so he can't run wild.
Otherwise, I estimate that half of this trip to Zone Zero will be spent looking for them —
Oh, wait a minute!
I forgot that Nemo has a motorcycle lizard!
"Don't think about it too much right now, hurry up and catch up with Nemo and the others, or you won't be able to find them later!"
After Qingyu finished speaking, she hurriedly led the way and walked quickly in the direction Nemo had left.
Seeing this, Papa and Peony had no choice but to follow.
Another hour passed quickly.
With Nemo riding a motorcycle lizard and Crimson on foot leading the way, Qingyu arrived at the boundary between the upper and middle levels without having any opportunity to make a move.
"We've arrived. This is the first observation station that was originally built."
Qingyu stepped forward and looked at the still well-preserved building with its doors tightly closed, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the Pokémon in Sector Zero should not have been able to break through the outer defenses, so the data and surveillance footage inside should have been preserved intact.
If we can find a way to access all the observation stations inside Zone Zero, we might be able to figure out exactly what happened back then.
However—there is still a small problem right now.
"Brother Qingyu, the passwords here are changed periodically by AI. Only my parents have permission to access the passwords, so—"
—
After fiddling with the tightly closed iron gate for a while, Pipa sighed.
The truth was within reach, yet it was shut out for such a ridiculous reason.
As for forcibly breaking in, that's even more impossible.
What if the internal system's risk avoidance function is triggered and all the stored information is immediately deleted?
Pipa's feelings were complicated, but she had to accept the fact that she could not force her way in.
Are you kidding me?!
"It's okay, we still have teammates who provide technical support."
Qingyu patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to calm down.
At the same time, he also looked at Mudan, who was quietly taking out her laptop.
"I knew it—"
Peony sighed helplessly.
No wonder Teacher Yu invited me to Zone Zero; he really wanted me to be a hacker again.
However, this is actually the job that best matches her major.
The genius hacker girl, Mudan, rapidly typed on the keyboard and soon revealed a knowing smile.
"As expected, it has the same protection as the school's intranet. I need ten minutes."
For a "habitual offender" like her, hacking into the Padiyah's internal network was not difficult at all; it was as easy as coming home. The only thing that required a little effort was cracking the password.
However, in Sector Zero, a place where dangerous Pokémon could appear at any time, she clearly needs the protection of others.
Before Qingyu could even speak, Nemo patted her chest confidently and volunteered, "Me! Me! Teacher Yu, and Mudan, you can leave them to me!"
"No Pokémon can possibly get close to this place!"
'
Although Crimson didn't speak, his signature gesture of habitually tugging at his baseball cap clearly betrayed him.
This is a preparatory action for entering combat mode.
"Alright—remember to take it easy, don't go all out on just any ordinary Pokémon that's passing by."
Recalling their crazy behavior along the way, Qingyu agreed, but also reminded them again not to overdo it.
It's certainly a good thing for students to be energetic, but being too active can be a bit scary.
However, despite their antics, Crimson and Nemo are still very reliable fighters.
So far, he hasn't needed to do anything; the two of them easily completed the first stage using only their Pokémon.
"good!"
Seeing Qingyu's serious expression, Nemo nodded vigorously.
But soon, when she turned around, she completely forgot what Qingyu had said.
"Look, isn't that little guy over there who looks like Jigglypuff adorable? One punch and he'd cry for ages, right?"
""
"And that one, the one with the metal body and iron palms—I mean, Crimson, why don't you go and arm wrestle with it and see who's stronger?"
'
'
I knew it!
Nemo, completely caught up in the fun, started to have wildly out-of-the-way thoughts. Looking at the two figures gradually disappearing into the distance, Qingyu could only helplessly facepalm.
"Don't go too far, stay near the research institute!"
"knew!"
After receiving a perfunctory reply from Nemo, Qingyu stopped worrying about it.
Oh well, let's just treat it as a trip. It's good to let kids run wild sometimes.
Moreover, their protection was indeed very good; at least the Paradoxes were attacked by the two before they even got close, immediately drawing their attention away.
For Nemo and Crimson, ten minutes might not be enough for them to have a good time.
But for the peony, those ten minutes felt incredibly long.
Fortunately, she still completed the task on time.
With a "beep," the previously tightly closed multi-layered metal door revealed a crack, which quickly extended to both sides until the interior of the research institute was exposed.
"Alright, let's go inside."
Qingyu glanced at the two who were still frolicking freely and decided to let them go outside for the time being, as it might be safer that way.
Since we don't need them to process information anyway, we should leave it to the professionals ourselves.
Stepping into the First Research Institute, the warmth of the sunlight vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling cold.
"Sector Zero has been out of contact with the outside world for over a year, but I didn't expect the research institute to be so well preserved and not taken over by Pokémon."
Qingyu walked slowly to the inside, carefully observing the surrounding scenery.
There were no signs of life, and all the work equipment was covered with a thin layer of dust, as if all the researchers had evaporated overnight.
"Brother Qingyu, let me lead the way."
Pipa, who had been silently following behind him, suddenly spoke up and walked up to him.
"I lived here for a while before, so I remember the location of important documents and the monitoring room. Finding the documents and recordings will be enough."
Qingyu nodded, and then it was his turn to follow Papa.
After passing through two corridors, Piper stopped in front of a room with a half-open mechanical door.
"This is where my parents used to work."
Seeing that he had his head down and seemed to have no intention of going in, Qingyu immediately understood. She sighed inwardly and walked past him straight in.
For Pipa, the memories stirred up here will probably take time to process.
Therefore, Qingyu did not insist.
Seeing this, Peony also stood beside Papa, silently keeping him company.
Of course, what she actually meant was—
If I, an outsider, were to learn too much about the secrets of Padia, would I be unable to return to Galar and end up working illegally here for the rest of my life?
How terrifying! I guess it's better to just stay blind!
Upon entering, Qingyu first came to a round table.
The document was covered with a pile of well-bound research documents, among which one immediately caught his attention: a cover with its title in bold red that was extremely eye-catching.
The World Where Paradoxes Occur? A Possibility Connecting Reality, Past, and Future?
"Recent research suggests that there may indeed be some kind of supernatural force in reality, capable of performing magical functions similar to a 'time machine.'"
"If time machines really exist, they must be somewhere inside Zone Zero."
"Did the paradoxical species appear because they discovered the world we live in and came here on their own initiative, or—"
"Regardless, that adventurer, misunderstood by the world for a century, must have discovered something in Sector Zero and used that power to pinpoint the existence of the 'Paradoxes.'"
"If we can figure out the truth, perhaps humanity can also try to obtain the authority that only the God of Time and Space, who is said to be able to control, can do."
"Control time and space, control cause and effect!"
After reading the contents, Qingyu subconsciously frowned.
Not a buddy?
How dare you!