"Berry seeds..."
Kairos rubbed his chin. He recalled seeing a building in Cerulean City that sold various berry seeds at reasonable prices. Now that he wasn't short on money, he could easily buy a batch to test things out.
If he could really mass-produce high-quality berries at ten times the speed, whether making energy blocks for his own use or distributing them as premium rewards in the game, it would be a guaranteed profitable venture.
This thought lifted his spirits considerably.
Though higher-grade berries probably couldn't be bought at those places—he wondered if he could obtain them through the point lottery.
Temporarily setting aside his exploration of the garden, Kairos exited the virtual projection. The garden automatically shrank and returned to his palm, entering the system inventory.
He sat back down by the cold gears, focusing his attention on the most heavyweight reward—the Legendary-grade game production module.
[Creation Engine (Fragment 1)].
He touched the peculiar fragment floating in the depths of his system space, emanating chaotic dim light, and a prompt immediately appeared:
[Legendary-grade game production module "Creation Engine" (Fragment 1) loaded.]
[Current Status: Fragment (limited functionality).]
[Current Effects: Extremely high-level data override, local rule fine-tuning.]
[Consumption: Massive amounts of Emotion Points and mental energy depending on operation intensity.]
[Warning: Fragment state unstable. Excessive use carries unknown risks.]
[Currently Unlocked Basic Functions:]
[Deep Data Mapping: Can perform far-beyond-normal deep data scanning and mapping on designated targets (individuals, areas, concepts), analyzing their constituent rules and potential connections, revealing extensive deep information (Consumption: Low)]
[The following functions only work in worlds where you've released games with over 10 million players:]
[Rule Fine-tuning: Can make limited temporary modifications to analyzed targets within small areas]
[(Consumption: Extremely high, effect duration and range limited, determined by specific modifications)]
Kairos carefully read through these descriptions, his expression somewhat peculiar.
Though just a fragment with limited functionality, carrying warnings of "instability" and "massive consumption," the described capabilities sounded quite intimidating.
The first function's description said it could reveal extensive information—meaning if he used it on a Pokémon, he might directly see its genetic inheritance, energy source, or even deeper aspects?
If used on an area, could it directly analyze that region's historical comings and goings, or more information?
That rule adjustment function was even more absurd.
Though the range was small, duration short, and consumption high—
This was already no different from Arceus's handiwork!
With this effect, for example... making flames temporarily unable to burn in a small area?
Or temporarily reducing the energy consumption of certain moves? Even reversing type advantages?
Though the restrictions were significant, it would definitely be useful at critical moments.
However, the prerequisite seemed quite demanding—he could only use it in worlds with at least 10 million players.
"Creation Engine... the name's certainly not wrong."
Kairos took a deep breath, feeling somewhat emotional.
He suddenly wanted to test this module's effects—in this world, the 10 million player requirement was definitely met.
So he opened the module's second function. A strange sensation immediately surged through him, as if everything around him had become virtual space.
He could even use his thoughts to directly select the room he was currently in.
Following his earlier idea, Kairos first selected this room, then attempted to set it so that all Fire-type moves would be ineffective within this room.
However, the next moment, a notification jumped out directly.
[—Your mental energy is insufficient to support using this module!]
[Achieving this effect requires consuming 1000 Emotion Points/second!]
With these two notifications appearing, Kairos suddenly felt relieved. No wonder this module couldn't be that powerful—the restrictions were indeed massive.
His mental energy wasn't enough, and the price was even more frightening.
His hefty fortune of 30,000 Emotion Points probably couldn't withstand this thing being used more than a few times.
Forget it, he wouldn't use it for now.
Anyway, this thing was just a fragment. Regardless, being able to make moves of a certain type ineffective within a certain area—this level was already abnormal enough.
Perhaps after improvement, it could have better effects and lower consumption.
He took a deep breath.
Overall, this adventure in the Second World yielded explosive rewards.
Thirty thousand Emotion Points, a portable cultivation garden, and a rule-level fragment module with terrifying potential.
The hardships endured and risks faced along the way were worth it.
He casually glanced at his system panel again.
[Emotion Points: 57,000]
[Latest Point Revenue: Source World (Second World) Emotion Points: +1521 +1834 +2107]
Emotion Points from the Second World were continuously jumping at quite a considerable rate.
Clearly, with the module's forced promotion and Chairman Alicia's endorsement, his game had spread to every corner of that underground Alliance.
"Hm?"
As Kairos's gaze swept through the Emotion Points source details, it suddenly stopped on a special ID—[Gouging Fire]. The value following it jumped slowly, but definitely existed.
"This guy... is actually playing the game?"
Kairos was somewhat surprised.
Curious, he checked what game Gouging Fire was currently playing.
[Current Game—Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]
"Rescue Team?" Kairos raised an eyebrow. Gouging Fire's choice was somewhat unexpected.
He'd originally thought that a powerful Legendary Pokémon like Gouging Fire would be more inclined to experience the *Emerald* or *Pitch Black* routes where Trainers commanded Legendary Pokémons and challenged the League.
After all, becoming a Trainer would be quite a novel experience for a Pokémon—the appeal should be quite strong.
"Choosing Rescue Team... could Gouging Fire want to experience ordinary Pokémon life?"
Kairos shrugged.
It was also possible that this one simply couldn't distinguish between the three games and randomly clicked one with a name that looked appealing.
Whatever, who cares.
Anyway, given the quality of these three games, once it figured things out, it would eventually try them all.
Kairos stopped dwelling on this issue.
Next, he opened another function—[Legendary Pokémon Codex].
The ancient tome unfolded in his consciousness.
Currently, the codex was still quite thin, with only a few pages illuminated.
The first page showed Mewtwo's silhouette.
Beside it were notations: [Status: Hostile], [Favorability: -30%], [Location: Team Rocket Secret Base], [Note: Highly vigilant, mental link unstable].
The second page displayed Gouging Fire's majestic form burning with dark red flames.
This page had much more detailed information:
[Name: Gouging Fire]
[Title: Ancient Guardian (Fire/Dragon)]
[Status: In-game]
[Favorability: 20%]
[Note: Friendly. Showing initial curiosity toward otherworldly creation (game). Mythical Resonance link stable.]
"20%... Friendly."
Kairos was fairly satisfied with this progress.
Though the process had some twists and turns, at least the starting point wasn't negative, and he'd established a relatively stable connection.
This was much better than Mewtwo's situation.
Thinking of Mewtwo gave Kairos a bit of a headache.
The Legendary Pokémon Codex showed [Mental Link Unstable] and [Highly Vigilant] statuses. Combined with the atmosphere of strict surveillance and oppression he'd felt during their brief connection through the invitation card, Team Rocket had clearly strengthened their control over Mewtwo.
In the worst-case scenario, Giovanni might have already begun intensifying Mewtwo's restraints.
Honestly, if Gouging Fire could cross back to the First World with Kairos... he'd probably be calling on Gouging Fire to stage a prison break.
A Legendary Pokémon's power would absolutely be a dimensional crushing force against the First World's Trainer system—demolishing Team Rocket would be effortless.
But this thought only flashed by.
For one thing, with his current 20% friendly relationship with Gouging Fire, asking it to cross worlds for a fight would be extremely unlikely.
Gouging Fire guarded its current world and knew nothing about the First World—it might not agree.
For another, and more critically—was rushing to rescue Mewtwo right now really a good idea?
Kairos was very clear about Mewtwo's growth trajectory.
It was precisely that period of imprisonment, research, and combat ideology indoctrination by Team Rocket, followed by struggle, resistance, confusion, and ultimate self-awakening, that shaped that unique Mewtwo with independent will and powerful strength.
If he forcibly intervened now, who knew what kind of being would emerge?
Creating a monster with incomplete mental development would make him the sinner.
"Let's wait a bit longer..."
He shook his head, his gaze returning to the Legendary Pokémon Codex.
The third page of the tome remained dim gray, waiting to be illuminated.
[Legendary Pokémon Codex Collection Progress: 2/3]
[Collect information on three Legendary Pokémon to receive special reward.]
"The three-Pokémon reward..." Kairos couldn't help but feel a trace of anticipation.
The Legendary Pokémon Codex was a high-level function—the reward for collecting three would definitely not be shabby.
So, who should be the next one?
Since the Second World had an Ancient species like Gouging Fire, theoretically, its companions—like Walking Wake and Raging Bolt—should also exist somewhere in that world, right?
And the corresponding Paradox Pokémon, Pokémon like Miraidon and Koraidon—had they also come to this world through that spatial distortion?
It seemed exploration of the Second World couldn't stop yet.
Once the Dimensional Communicator cooled down, he'd make another trip.
Speaking of the Dimensional Communicator, Kairos immediately checked this crucial item.
[Dimensional Communicator]
[Status: Cooling down]
[Currently Locked World: Second World (Exploration Progress 100%)]
[Can Open New World: Yes (must meet 100% exploration progress condition)]
[Cooldown Time: 6 days 23 hours 58 minutes...]
"Still a week..."
Kairos confirmed the time, though he wasn't anxious.
He could use this time to handle work in the First World.
With a thought, he recalled the Dimensional Communicator and stretched luxuriously.
Time to sort out the current situation.
First, regarding the games.
For *Pitch Black*, the first playthrough content was completely produced and released.
But the bulk of the game's story—the second playthrough's Distortion World, Distortion Organization, and remaining plot—still wasn't done. The workload was massive.
He'd need to focus his energy on this in the coming period.
For Rescue Team, thanks to that terrain module he'd drawn earlier, the game's actual content volume far exceeded Kairos's initial expectations.
Players' progress in exploring dungeons, recruiting teammates, completing missions, and unlocking story was greatly extended. The game content consumption rate was very slow, giving him considerable buffer time.
However, the main storyline still needed updating soon—leaving players stuck at critical junctures for too long wasn't good.
Finally, for *Emerald*, the second playthrough content was relatively simpler, mainly the Battle Frontier, Ultra Wormhole story completion, and some side quests.
Moreover, he'd basically organized the core concepts and framework for this content, ready to hand over to...
Gengar!
Kairos suddenly remembered something important.
Right! Where was Gengar?
Since he'd activated the Dimensional Communicator to return to the First World and come back to this Cerulean City villa, he hadn't seen that purple fatty.
When he'd entered earlier, focused on checking system rewards, he hadn't noticed this detail.
Kairos immediately stood up, searching through several rooms.
Not in the living room, not in the bedroom, not in the training room either.
Finally, he found Gengar in a storage room corner on the second floor filled with miscellaneous items.
Gengar was curled into a ball, pressed tightly against the cold wall. Its usually grinning mouth was pressed shut, its round body trembling slightly, those crimson eyes filled with unease.
The shadow energy around it was also somewhat chaotic, not surging as actively as usual.
"Gengar?" Kairos approached, crouching down and softening his voice. "What's wrong? Are you unwell?"
Hearing his voice, Gengar looked up and shook its head.
"Kekeke."
Kairos understood—Gengar had just said it wasn't physically unwell, just felt strange, like something was off.
After speaking, it extended a claw, pointing toward the window.
Kairos followed the direction it pointed, walked to the storage room's small window, and opened the curtains.
Outside, Cerulean City's sky was terrifyingly overcast, thick clouds covering the city above.
Kairos froze.
It had clearly been sunny when he left—how long had it been?
Moreover, these dark clouds carried an unnatural sense of oppression. The air was stifling and breathless, without any wind.
"How did the weather... become like this?"
Kairos frowned.
The change was too sudden.
Considering Gengar's abnormal state and its gesture toward the window... was something about to happen?
Just then, a system notification appeared without warning in the center of his vision, the text in glaring dark red:
[Ding!]
[Host please note, you have triggered SS-rank Special Mission—Turmoil in the Ghost World!]