Outside Haicheng, beside a certain river.
Su Bai held his fishing rod and let out a huge yawn, staring helplessly at the Magikarp glaring back at him with its eyes wide open.
"I'm seriously done with this… Why the hell is it you again?!"
He had already lost count of how many times he had fished up this thing…
"Another Magikarp! Boss Su Bai caught another Magikarp!"
Behind him, a group of children pointed at Su Bai and pulled faces at him, giggling.
"Don't make fun of someone just because they can't catch any fish!"
A Trainer who was obviously the parent of one of the children tried hard not to laugh as he pulled the children away from the riverbank where Su Bai was sitting.
Before leaving, he even gave Su Bai an encouraging thumbs-up.
"…"
Su Bai glanced at the Magikarp flopping energetically on the shore before casually tossing it back into the river.
This was already half a month after the arrival of the Pokémon.
Clearly, their arrival had brought considerable benefits to ordinary living creatures as well.
The land that had once been covered everywhere by death qi had begun to flourish with life once again.
The ecosystem in the rivers had undergone a tremendous transformation in just two weeks.
And the Trainers were incredibly enthusiastic about exploration. They had quickly designated areas where ordinary people could safely enjoy themselves, giving children who had never witnessed such beautiful scenery a place to go on outings and enjoy nature.
A life like this…
It was something the people of Haicheng had never even dared dream about before.
"Though there really are way too many Magikarp…"
Su Bai looked at the Magikarp swimming past the surface from time to time and couldn't help sighing repeatedly.
He finally understood why the Pokédex described Magikarp as being so numerous that they could become a nuisance.
These things had an adaptability comparable to cockroaches!
Normal fish didn't stand a chance against Magikarp…
They couldn't even compete for the bait!
"Melomelooo!"
Meloetta carefully threaded the bait onto the hook before handing the fishing rod back to Su Bai.
"Meloetta is such a good helper!"
Su Bai smiled and rubbed Meloetta's head.
He picked up the tea Diancie had prepared and took a sip. Just as he was about to cast the line, a small device at his waist suddenly started ringing.
With the death energy gone, the equipment from the Heavenly Era could finally be used again.
There weren't many well-preserved reserves left, but given Su Bai's status, he obviously had to keep one on hand.
And when it came to that, Su Bai really had no choice but to comply…
"Old Zhu… Didn't I tell you not to bother me unless it's something important?"
Su Bai helplessly picked up the communicator and pressed the button.
"Hello?"
From the other end came Zhu Jianyuan's strange voice.
"Uh… The Pokémon Center seems to have another big customer coming."
"And that branch you mentioned last time… there's finally some progress on that, too."
…................
When Su Bai leisurely returned to the Pokémon Center, the first thing he saw was a burly Shield Warrior wearing the expression of someone who had just stepped into the Grand View Garden for the first time.
Judging by his anxious appearance, he had probably been waiting for quite some time.
"You're… the lord of Boulder City! What was your name again…?"
Su Bai put down his fishing rod and awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Lately, had he been getting a little too relaxed as the shop owner?
He had left the shop unattended just to go fishing, and now he had even made such an important customer wait…
"Dong Feng! My name is Dong Feng!"
The towering lord of Boulder City gave him an ingratiating smile.
"Just call me Old Dong!"
He certainly didn't dare to offend the young man in front of him.
Not to mention that Su Bai was precisely the person he had come here to seek out, Su Bai had also helped expose Malene and save Boulder City.
Even if Su Bai slapped him across the face, he would still have to greet him with a smile!
"Oh, oh, oh! Lord Dong!"
Su Bai finally remembered.
"It's been a while! I heard from City Lord Zhu that… you're here to purchase Pokémon?"
At the mention of this, Dong Feng straightened slightly and nodded repeatedly.
"That's right, that's right!"
"Actually, I should have come much earlier. Even if I wasn't coming to purchase Pokémon in bulk, I should at least have come personally to thank you."
"But right after you left, the people Kyoto sent arrived."
"Boulder City worked with them to conduct a thorough investigation of the entire city, and it took quite some time."
"So… I'm truly sorry!"
Looking at Dong Feng's sincere and apologetic expression, Su Bai couldn't help shaking his head.
Compared to the somewhat crafty Old Zhu, this City Lord Dong was practically as straightforward as the profession he represented.
It seemed that his claim about wanting to come and offer his thanks really hadn't been an excuse…
Su Bai waved his hand.
"Forget it. There's no need to bring that up…"
As far as the Contract Masters were concerned, Rock had already visited him, and his prejudice against the profession had been greatly diminished because of Rock.
Besides, destroying the Contract Master Guild in the first place hadn't been about exposing Malene.
He had gone there intending to cause trouble from the beginning.
And now the victim had actually come all the way here to sincerely thank him…
Sure enough, sincerity really was the ultimate trump card!
"It's not convenient to talk here. Since this is a large transaction, let's discuss it inside."
"Diancie, go make some tea. Uh… not that one. Use the good stuff."
…..............
"Um… I don't really want to put it this way, but Pokémon are actually quite expensive."
"If you want to build a Pokémon army like Haicheng's and have three hundred Pokémon, the amount of money you'll need will probably be astronomical."
Inside the Pokémon shop, Su Bai sipped his tea before speaking somewhat hesitantly.
"Honestly, if Haicheng hadn't gone through that Death Beast siege, we probably wouldn't have been able to afford that kind of expense either."
"And although the Contract Master Guild was located in a relatively remote area, my battle with Malene probably destroyed quite a few buildings."
"The reconstruction costs must have been considerable, too, right?"
Su Bai was well aware of just how much damage he had caused.
Although he had ultimately stopped Malene from self-destructing, the shockwaves from their earlier battle alone had been enough to give Boulder City a massive headache.
He was just about to say that he was willing to compensate Boulder City for the damage he had caused when—
The honest-looking Dong Feng suddenly chuckled and gave him a grateful look.
"About the money… you don't need to worry."
"After thoroughly investigating the Contract Master Guild in Boulder City, we discovered that quite a few Contract Masters had been completely led astray by Malene."
"And those Contract Masters…"
"Their assets were extremely substantial!"
"Besides, you know how Contract Masters are. If you don't investigate them, everything seems fine. But once you actually start digging, you find that practically everywhere you look, there's something that doesn't meet regulations."
"I originally only wanted to use this opportunity to give those people a little warning."
"But the amount we collected in fines…"
"Even I was a little shocked when I saw it."
"Even if we tore down and rebuilt every damaged building in Boulder City, the reconstruction costs would still be nothing compared to those fines."
"In short, Boulder City has money now!"
Dong Feng looked at Su Bai seriously.
"A whole lot of money!"
"…"
Su Bai silently took another sip of tea.
Sometimes, you could sow a willow tree without meaning to and end up with a whole grove.
But for a city lord to personally say that his city had a whole lot of money…
Just how much had they fined those people?!
Then again, it made sense.
The Contract Master Guild in Boulder City was probably the largest gathering place for Contract Masters in the surrounding region.
Most of their wealth was naturally concentrated in Boulder City…
With money backing him up, Dong Feng's confidence was obviously soaring.
"So, Boss Su Bai, please arrange enough Pokémon for Boulder City."
"And…"
"I have one more request."
"Would it be possible for you to open a branch in Boulder City?"