The textbooks made it perfectly clear.
The first Death Beasts originated from ordinary wild animals.
After being contaminated by Death Energy, they underwent all kinds of bizarre transformations.
Sub-beasts, too, were humans who had deliberately infected themselves with Death Energy and transformed as a result.
Death Energy possessed an extremely powerful ability to cling to living things. Once it attached itself to someone, escaping it wasn't easy without the appropriate strength.
If Amino's plan was to corrupt Articuno…
Then it wasn't entirely impossible.
Su Bai looked at him with disgust.
"You want to corrupt Articuno… but do you even have the strength to do that?"
Amino's eyes darted around.
Every now and then, he glanced toward the depths of the power station.
At Su Bai's question, his movements suddenly froze.
He looked at his left arm, and a trace of hatred surfaced deep within his eyes.
He had absolutely no desire to answer any of Su Bai's questions.
Unfortunately, the situation was no longer in his favor.
As a sub-beast who could casually quote the ancient saying, "Those who understand the situation are wise," Amino understood the meaning behind those words all too well.
"It would be difficult…"
"That bird really is incredibly powerful."
Amino answered honestly.
"But while it would be difficult for me…"
"It wouldn't be nearly as difficult for the Great Ancestor."
The Great Ancestor…
Su Bai's heart sank.
"Don't tell me half the story and leave the rest hanging."
"If you do that again, I'll turn you into charcoal with a single bolt of lightning!"
Amino swallowed as he looked at the electricity crackling around Zeraora.
He hurriedly put on a flattering expression.
"Every Apostle possesses a Death Energy Seed bestowed upon them by the Great Ancestor."
"Part of our strength actually comes from those seeds."
"My strength alone might not be enough to defeat that bird, but…"
Before Amino could finish, Su Bai interrupted him in an angry voice.
"But if you secretly plant the Death Energy Seed inside a Pokémon…"
"There would be a chance of succeeding, right?"
Su Bai had already formed a rough estimate of the Great Ancestor's strength.
At the very least, with his current lineup alone, he couldn't say with certainty that he would win if he went up against that so-called Great Ancestor.
He didn't know where the Great Ancestor's true body was, but it certainly wasn't somewhere around Haicheng.
To be able to make Su Bai feel that damp, eerie chill from such a tremendous distance…
That kind of power was absolutely beyond ordinary comprehension.
"Yes! Exactly!"
Amino forced a smile and nodded repeatedly.
"Although the Death Energy Seeds are extremely precious, if I can use one to control such a powerful and completely new species…"
"The Great Ancestor certainly won't blame me."
"In fact, the Great Ancestor might even bestow another Death Energy Seed upon me!"
A calm voice suddenly came from above.
"That's not all, is it?"
After resting for a while, Rock had finally recovered enough strength to speak.
He gave a cold snort.
"Your Death Energy Seed carries your personal imprint."
"If you really succeeded in implanting one inside Articuno…"
"Articuno would probably become completely obedient to you."
"Am I right?"
Amino's expression stiffened.
He cursed inwardly as cold sweat began to bead across his forehead.
The Twelve Zodiac were the human counterparts to the Apostles.
Despite humanity's disadvantage over all these years, they hadn't gained nothing.
When it came to the Apostles, humans knew more than Amino had imagined.
"So…"
Su Bai looked at the power station behind him, finally piecing everything together.
"That's why you came here."
Amino had suffered at Articuno's hands.
After realizing that a frontal assault against a Legendary Pokémon of that level would be extremely difficult—and with Articuno now thoroughly enraged—he had no chance of trying again.
So…
He had set his sights on Zapdos instead.
The enormous vitality possessed by a Legendary Pokémon was practically a beacon in the darkness to creatures like the sub-beasts.
As long as they weren't blind, they could find it.
If Rock hadn't arrived…
If Amino had successfully ambushed the sleeping Zapdos…
Su Bai couldn't help but frown.
Looking at it this way, the heir of the Rock family had inadvertently saved Zapdos.
"As for the Great Ancestor…"
"Tell me everything you know."
Su Bai was practically itching to have Zeraora blast Amino into a pile of charcoal.
But when it came to the sub-beasts, there was still far too much he didn't know.
The Apostles had always been elusive.
If he let this opportunity slip away, he might never get another one.
It was better to take advantage of the opportunity and ask as many questions as possible.
Even Rock, who was extremely weak and sitting on Charizard's back, couldn't help but perk up his ears when he heard this.
For the Twelve Zodiac, the mysterious Great Ancestor was their ultimate target.
"The Great Ancestor…"
Fear flickered through Amino's eyes.
Inside, he was cursing his terrible luck.
He could reveal other things if necessary.
But how could he possibly dare talk about the Great Ancestor?
The Death Energy Seed inside him meant that the moment he revealed any critical secret, the Great Ancestor would receive feedback.
And when that happened…
Death would be the least of his worries.
"The Great Ancestor…"
"Is a very ancient existence."
As he spoke, deliberately buying time, Amino suddenly twisted his entire body in an extremely bizarre motion.
A moment ago, his four legs had been pointing upward while his six spider-like arms supported him from below.
Now, his four legs were planted firmly on the ground, while his six spider arms rose into the air.
Su Bai watched Amino's movements warily.
He was just about to warn him not to try anything funny when Amino's next words made him freeze.
"The Great Ancestor has survived from the Age of Paradise until the present day…"
"He is the greatest existence in all of history!"
Amino's words stunned not only Su Bai but Rock as well.
"The Age of Paradise…"
"To the present…"
"That's been two thousand years!"
Su Bai blurted out in disbelief.
"What kind of thing can live for two thousand years?!"
Even Death Beasts had limits to their lifespans!
Humanity had conducted experiments on this subject before.
They had spent enormous amounts of manpower and resources capturing an S-rank Death Beast and imprisoning it, then continuously feeding it fresh flesh.
In the end, that S-rank Death Beast lived for nearly a century.
In other words, Death Beasts really did have much longer lifespans than humans.
After all, no one even knew how long that S-rank Death Beast had already been alive before it was captured.
But two thousand years…
That was still an utterly unimaginable number!
Even Rock was hearing this information for the first time.
Humanity possessed very little information about the Great Ancestor.
The highest leadership of humanity was actually controlled by a family whose position had been passed down from generation to generation.
Over two thousand years, no one even knew how many generations had come and gone.
And yet…
The enemy had supposedly remained the same person from beginning to end?
Just as the two of them were still stunned and lost in thought over Amino's words—
Death Energy suddenly began surging from the four limbs planted on the ground.
Amino moved like a genuine beast.
His four limbs propelled him forward as he sprinted away!
His destination was directly opposite the power station.
He had spent all this time humoring them for one purpose…
To escape!
The speed of an Apostle-level Sub-beast fleeing with all its strength was terrifying.
It was so fast that the eye could barely follow its movements.
His figure was already becoming blurry, almost disappearing from sight.
The only evidence of his direction was the countless pits appearing across the ground, accompanied by a rapid series of footsteps that sounded like a string of firecrackers exploding.
"Careful! He's running!"
Rock hurriedly shouted a warning.
The next moment, the electricity crackling around Zeraora suddenly intensified.
The cool-looking Pokémon raised both hands high before forcefully slamming them against the ground.
Only then did Su Bai's voice slowly ring out, each word carrying an unmistakable chill.
"Trying to run…"
"Think you're getting away?"
"Ever heard of Plasma Fists?!"