The moment Mew got excited, it completely forgot about Chen Shi.
As a result, Chen Shi suddenly lost his support and began plummeting from the sky.
"Holy crap!"
"Jirachi, save me!"
Chen Shi's eyes widened in terror as he shouted.
Before Jirachi could react, however, Clan Leader Lugia acted first.
A wave of psychic power caught Chen Shi in midair.
Only then did Chen Shi finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After stabilizing himself, he turned toward Ho-Oh with a serious expression.
"I think this Rainbow Hero thing might actually be negotiable."
Was he joking?
What was a Rainbow Hero?
Even if he accidentally died one day, he could probably slap the King of Hell twice and Ho-Oh would drag him back to life.
That was basically an extra life.
As for Mew...
Chen Shi thought about it for a moment.
Anyway, he was born with the fate of a corporate slave.
Working two jobs at once wasn't unusual.
As the saying went—
Children make choices.
Adults take everything.
Although...
Technically he wasn't an adult yet.
But that didn't matter.
With a little flexibility—
Teenagers could take everything too.
Unfortunately for him, Mew panicked the moment it heard that.
It immediately reverted to its Eevee form and flew over.
[Xiao Shi!]
[You promised to become the World Tree Guardian!]
[You can't go back on your word!]
Chen Shi raised an eyebrow.
"When did I promise that?"
"Back then, you said the World Tree would face a crisis in the future and asked me to help."
"Wasn't that just an employment contract?"
"Aren't we employer and employee?"
Mew froze.
Thinking about it carefully...
Chen Shi wasn't wrong.
Back then, Chen Shi had only promised to help save the World Tree.
He had never explicitly agreed to become its Guardian.
Those were two completely different concepts.
The title of World Tree Guardian had always been Mew's own assumption.
While Mew was still stunned—
A crimson feather slowly drifted down before Chen Shi.
"Then it's settled."
"We don't need any complicated ceremonies."
"This is my Rainbow Feather."
"Keep it."
"I've already left my aura upon you."
"In the future, you may use this Rainbow Feather to summon me."
With that, Ho-Oh cast a teasing glance toward Mew.
Then turned and left without the slightest hesitation.
[AHHHHHHHHH!]
[Damn you, Chen Shi!]
[You heartless human!]
[Have you forgotten how much I've helped you?!]
The moment Ho-Oh departed, Mew completely exploded.
Waving its tiny paws, it launched itself at Chen Shi and began scratching him furiously.
At this moment, Mew was absolutely furious.
Someone had poached its Guardian right in front of its face!
Chen Shi hurriedly stuffed the Rainbow Feather into his backpack before coughing awkwardly.
"Um... Mew."
"I really never agreed to become the World Tree Guardian."
"Calm down."
"Let's talk this out."
Unfortunately, Mew wasn't listening.
Talk?
Talk my tail!
I've lived for countless years and never suffered such humiliation!
Meanwhile, the two Lugias, Cynthia, and the others simply watched from the side.
Not a single one stepped forward to help.
After quite some time, Mew finally exhausted itself.
Only then did it stop scratching.
Chen Shi looked down.
His jacket had already been reduced to a miserable state.
Fortunately, Mew had restrained its strength.
Otherwise, Chen Shi suspected he might have actually been scratched to death.
"Feel better now?"
Chen Shi shrugged helplessly.
Though this black-hearted cat could be infuriating sometimes—
It had genuinely helped him a lot.
To be honest...
He did feel a tiny bit guilty.
Then—
The next second—
Mew began rolling around in midair.
[I don't care!]
[I don't care!]
[You must become my World Tree Guardian!]
Chen Shi couldn't help laughing.
"Alright, alright."
"I agree, okay?"
Mew froze.
Then its eyes lit up.
[Really?!]
[You're not lying this time?!]
Chen Shi rolled his eyes.
"When have I ever lied to you?"
"I never agreed before."
"That's why it didn't count."
[But now you did!]
"Yeah."
"Now I agree."
"So now it counts."
Anyway, he had already planned to take both jobs.
Now that Mew had brought it up itself, he didn't even need to say anything.
After all—
The World Tree was too important.
Long ago, Chen Shi had already decided he would never ignore it.
Hearing his confirmation, Mew finally relaxed.
For Mew, as long as Chen Shi agreed to become the World Tree Guardian—
Everything else was negotiable.
As for why it had been so angry earlier—
Most of it came from fear.
Fear that after becoming Ho-Oh's Rainbow Hero, Chen Shi would abandon the World Tree.
After settling down, Mew suddenly turned toward Clan Leader Lugia.
[What are you staring at?]
[My Xiao Shi just saved your clanmate.]
[Don't tell me you're not going to show any gratitude?]
Lugia immediately felt a bad premonition.
"What kind of gratitude?"
[That silver... tail feather thing.]
[Give us ten or eight of them.]
The moment those words came out—
Even Chen Shi was stunned.
Good lord.
Straight for ten or eight?
That's ruthless.
Lugia's eyelids twitched.
"Impossible."
"Where exactly am I supposed to get that many Silver Feathers?"
Silver Feathers weren't ordinary feathers.
Each one contained a trace of its origin power.
Giving away ten or eight would practically kill it.
"At most, I'll give one."
"Take it or leave it."
Lugia looked completely unyielding.
[Fine.]
[One is one.]
[Hand it over.]
Lugia snorted.
A silver feather slowly detached from its body and floated before Chen Shi.
Before Mew could celebrate—
Chen Shi instantly grabbed it.
Then opened his backpack and stuffed it inside.
His movements were so fast that Mew didn't even have time to react.
Seeing this, Lugia said nothing further.
It simply glanced at Chen Shi one last time.
Then descended into the sea with its recovered clanmate.
Mew pouted.
[Why are you in such a hurry?]
[It's not like I was going to steal it.]
Even as it spoke, its eyes kept drifting toward Chen Shi's backpack.
A Silver Feather.
Over all these years, it had never managed to collect one.
Now it had finally seen one—
Only for Chen Shi to snatch it away.
The worst part was—
It couldn't even complain.
After all, Chen Shi had saved Lugia's clanmate.
Lugia had clearly intended the feather as a gift for Chen Shi.
Mew had no grounds to object.
Chen Shi glanced at it.
He knew exactly what the cat was thinking.
"These things are useless to you anyway."
"It's better if I keep them."
"At least I can use them to become stronger."
Mew snorted and stopped talking.
At that moment, Cynthia flew over with Jirachi and the others.
"What are your plans now?"
"Plans, huh..."
Chen Shi looked toward the direction of the Sinnoh region.
His gaze became distant.
As though he were thinking about something important.
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