"As for the Ancestor… we actually don't know much about him either."
"All we know is that the Ancestor is the leader of the entire Sub-Beast race."
"He lives in a place the Sub-Beasts call the Land of Yingzhu."
"We already have our hands full dealing with the Apostles. The name 'Land of Yingzhu' was something we only managed to learn from the mouth of a high-level Sub-Beast."
"And as for the news that the Ancestor is still alive…"
"To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard it."
Rock sighed and spoke honestly.
"If Amino wasn't lying…"
"Then how in the world has this Ancestor managed to survive for so long?"
Sub-Beasts could grow old.
They could die.
Under the laws of this world, it seemed that no one could escape the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.
Even Sub-Beasts, who deliberately guided Death Qi into their bodies, would eventually succumb to the natural decay of life.
It was simply a law of nature.
And no one could defy it.
To be honest, Rock was reluctant to believe that what Amino had said was true.
"Amino was probably telling the truth…"
Su Bai's brows were tightly furrowed.
"Although that bastard was far from honest, you could tell that his desire to survive was extremely strong."
"Under those circumstances, there was a very low chance that Amino would deliberately lie."
"But knowing this doesn't actually help us much."
"At most, it just means we'll have to be even more cautious of the Ancestor."
Amino might have been a Sub-Beast with a terrible personality, but he was undoubtedly intelligent.
Someone who lived by the principle of only the wise know when to yield wouldn't casually gamble with his own life.
The Ancestor…
Was most likely a monster that had truly survived for two thousand years.
"If that's really the case…"
"Then this is terrifying."
Rock drew in several deep breaths.
"The longer a Sub-Beast lives, the stronger it becomes."
"Sub-Beasts are monsters that continuously absorb Death Energy and strengthen themselves for as long as they remain alive."
"An Ancestor who has lived for two thousand years…"
"I can't even imagine how powerful he must have become."
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
There was simply too little information about the Ancestor.
Based on what they knew, there was only one conclusion they could draw.
The Ancestor was powerful.
Terrifyingly powerful.
Ordinary Death Beasts could absorb Death Energy for a hundred years or more and eventually become S-rank Death Beasts.
And there was no way those ordinary Death Beasts could absorb Death Energy as efficiently as an existence like the Ancestor.
It was simply impossible to imagine what kind of level the Ancestor had reached after absorbing Death Qi for two thousand years.
Zhu Jianyuan and Lü Liangpeng fell silent as well, sinking into their own thoughts.
From humanity's perspective, this was one of those pieces of information that might have been better left unknown.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Su Bai suddenly applauded several times, breaking the suffocating silence.
"There was an old saying from the Heavenly Era."
"When the enemy comes, the general will block them. When the flood comes, the earth will hold it back."
"We already knew humanity was in a difficult position. When it comes to dealing with Sub-Beasts…"
"We don't have a choice."
"Besides, things are different now."
"We have…"
"Pokémon!"
"Amino's death is the best proof of that."
As he spoke, Su Bai reached over and gently stroked Meloetta, who had been completely uninterested in their conversation and had instead been busy serving tea and water.
"Melo, Melo!"
Meloetta's eyes curved into happy crescents as it enthusiastically rubbed its head against Su Bai's palm.
Hearing Su Bai's words, Rock glanced at Zeraora sitting beside him, casually licking its paw.
The grim expression on his face finally relaxed somewhat.
He nodded.
"That's true."
"The strength of Pokémon is far beyond anything I could have imagined."
"Haicheng should have become Pokémon's main base by now, right?"
"When I return to Kyoto, I'll report everything truthfully."
"There are still some concerns among the higher-ups that even I don't know about."
"But with my status…"
"The Rock family should still be able to make itself useful."
Su Bai nodded indifferently.
"That works."
He glanced at Zhu Jianyuan without drawing attention to it.
It was easy to see the concealed delight in the city lord's expression.
Going against orders from Kyoto wasn't nearly as easy as it sounded for the lord of a city.
Perhaps because of deliberate bureaucratic obstruction—or perhaps because someone was abusing their authority—Haicheng had recently failed to receive sufficient material support.
For a frontier city whose primary purpose was war, many resources simply couldn't be produced locally.
As the city lord, Zhu Jianyuan had quietly been tearing his hair out over this problem for quite some time.
Rock's words should carry considerable weight.
Even if there were some idiots in Kyoto who liked to wave their authority around, they would have a hard time making trouble in front of Rock.
"There are also the Apostles…"
"As for them, we do know somewhat more than we do about the Ancestor."
"After all…"
"They've been our old enemies for a long time."
Rock practically laid out everything he knew.
The existence of Pokémon had shaken him far too deeply.
Even setting aside his identity as one of the Twelve Zodiacs, simply as a member of the Rock family, it was necessary for him to tell Su Bai everything he knew.
After all, the entire profession of Contract Masters might eventually have to be reformed according to Su Bai's findings.
"Besides Amino, who was reduced to ashes by Zapdos today, we've encountered three named Apostles."
"The first is Scorpion, the one who killed my grandfather."
"Among the Apostles, Scorpion is considered one of the more ruthless ones."
"Whenever he appears, almost no one survives."
"My grandfather wasn't the only member of the Twelve Zodiacs to die at Scorpion's hands."
"Over the course of three hundred years…"
"He has killed five generations of Twelve Zodiacs."
Whenever Scorpion was mentioned, even someone as composed as Rock couldn't help clenching his teeth.
Diancie floated over to his side and gently patted him, silently offering comfort.
Rock took a deep breath before continuing.
"Scorpion's abilities are somewhat similar to those of an Earth-type Awakened."
"After every battle, the terrain itself is drastically altered."
"Then there's Hattes, who specializes in fire…"
"And Kong Xing, who specializes in the sword."
"Kong Xing?"
Su Bai raised an eyebrow.
"There was actually an Apostle with a name like that?"
Even the information they had on the Apostles wasn't particularly detailed.
But hearing such a distinctly Eastern Federation-style name still caught Su Bai's attention.
"I know that name."
Lü Liangpeng, who had been quietly listening all this time, suddenly stroked his chin.
It seemed as though an ancient memory had resurfaced in his mind.
"When I was very young, I heard about a true genius from Mist City…"
"The city that has now been reduced to ruins."
"He was just like Pei Jingguo."
"No…"
"He was even more talented than Pei Jingguo."
"His name…"
"Was Kong Xing."
"But after Mist City was destroyed, there was never another word about him."
"Could it be…"
Lü Liangpeng slowly raised his head and stared at Rock in disbelief.
Rock sighed.
Then he nodded.
"Yes."
"It's exactly what you're thinking."
"And the destruction of Mist City had an enormous connection to Kong Xing."
"In any case, after that incident, the genius of Mist City, Kong Xing, disappeared."
"What replaced him…"
"Was the Apostle…"
"Kong Xing."
"Technically speaking, all Sub-Beasts can be considered traitors to humanity."
"But someone like Kong Xing is exceedingly rare."
"After betraying humanity…"
"He actually destroyed the very city that had given birth to him and raised him."
"As far as we know…"
"He is the only one who has ever done something like that."