An impatient shout from outside the door, like a stone thrown into stagnant water, instantly shattered the deathly silence of the utility room.
Leon and Laic exchanged a glance, both seeing a flash of killing intent in each other's eyes.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Leon caught a glimpse of the little fellow beside him.
His Sandile had become excited at some point; its gaze was now as sharp as a blade, and its entire body radiated a fierce, violent aura.
An invisible sense of pressure emanated from its small body.
Leon's heart stirred as a thought flashed through his mind.
Moxie!
The ability had activated! Attack power increased by one stage!
Good grief!
A sense of absurd pleasant surprise welled up in Leon's heart. He previously only knew that Sandile could trigger its ability by defeating pokémon in battle, but he really didn't know... it could also be triggered by killing people?
What does this mean?
If I can't beat the opponent's pokémon, I'll kill the Trainer first to boost my attack power!?
However, this was indeed an unexpected boon.
After all, in most cases, killing a person was much easier than defeating a pokémon.
"Split up."
Laic's cold voice pulled Leon's thoughts back; he was brief, his voice serious and calm.
"Okay."
Leon nodded.
Laic said no more. With a flick of his wrist, a distinct black Poké Ball appeared in his palm. He pressed it lightly with his thumb, and red light burst forth!
A purple shadow instantly appeared in the cramped space. Four wings, thin as cicada wings, vibrated at an incredible frequency, creating a slight airflow that made the bloody scent on the floor even more pungent.
Crobat!
Leon's pupils constricted slightly.
This Crobat was a size larger than usual. Its eyes were cold, and its entire body exuded an aura of having survived countless slaughters; its level was definitely not low.
LV44!
Crobat, a top-tier high-speed killer with a base Speed stat as high as 130.
Members of Team Rockets who raised Zubat and Golbat were as numerous as cow hairs, but those who could evolve a Golbat into a Crobat were as rare as phoenix feathers.
The reason was simple: this was a pokémon that required extremely high friendship to evolve.
Most people in Team Rockets only treated pokémon as tools to squeeze value from, discarding them after use. How could there be any friendship to speak of?
Owning a Crobat was enough to prove that Laic was by no means as simple as he appeared on the surface. Beneath that refined exterior, he hid an unknown side.
Sandile looked up at the Crobat hovering in mid-air, feeling the immense pressure brought by level and evolution so directly for the first time.
It was a gap originating from the very level of their existence, but there was no fear in its eyes. Instead, a fierce flame burned—the ambition to catch up and surpass.
"Step, step, step..."
The footsteps outside the door grew closer. Clearly, that impatient fellow couldn't wait and had come over personally.
Laic didn't even turn his head, merely giving Crobat a look.
The next second, Crobat moved!
Its figure turned into a purple gale, making no sound, leaving only a faint afterimage in the air. The thin sheet-metal door was as fragile as paper before it.
"Puchi!"
With a dull thud, the door panel suddenly bulged outward in an irregular shape and was then completely torn apart!
The pirate's cursing outside stopped abruptly; he didn't even have time to let out a scream.
Leon's gaze passed through the shattered doorway, seeing only a cloud of warm blood mist explode, instantly staining the deck and walls outside red. Flecks of blood even splattered into the utility room.
When he saw clearly again, Crobat had already silently returned to Laic's side, its wings unstained by a single drop of blood.
Laic, too, stepped through the ruined door and over the pile of shredded meat that no longer looked human with composed strides. His figure soon vanished into the darkness of the utility room's corridor.
The entire process was extremely fast and extremely bloody.
Leon took a deep breath. The cold air, mixed with the thick scent of blood, surged into his lungs, making his spirit rally.
As expected, before a powerful pokémon, the flesh and blood of a human was simply too fragile.
He no longer hesitated, turning quickly to begin looting the spoils.
Such an opportunity to make a fortune could not be wasted!
He first went to the side of the short, fat man, Roche, whom he had slit the throat of, and searched him with nimble movements.
Soon, a standard Poké Ball was in hand.
Next was the tall, thin man, Buck, whose neck Laic had snapped. Similarly, he only found one Poké Ball.
Aside from the Poké Balls, the two were dirt poor, without even a single cent on them.
Leon curled his lip in slight disdain, but he still put the two Poké Balls directly into his space ring.
No matter what pokémon were inside, even a small mosquito is still meat. Collect them first and talk later!
After finishing this, he stood up, his gaze sweeping over the messy utility room as he began to think about his next move.
Laic had gone to clear the "big fish" on the deck, so he would be responsible for mopping up the "small fry" in the cabins.
As for why he didn't follow behind Laic to pick up resources?
No matter how amiable Laic acted or how much he seemed to value him, he was still his Superior at the moment.
Stealing a Superior's spoils? Leon was not so stupid.
He listened intently; noisy sounds and even some cursing could be faintly heard from deep within the cabins.
It seemed there were still quite a few pirates on this ship.
He said to Sandile,
"Follow me closely in a bit, and act according to the situation."
Sandile nodded heavily, its fighting spirit high.
Only then did Leon grip his dagger tightly and, like a civet cat, silently walk out of the utility room and blend into the dim corridor of the cabins.
The light in the corridor was very dim, with only a few emergency lights emitting a faint yellow glow. The steel plates beneath his feet swayed slightly with the rise and fall of the waves.
He pressed against the wall, carefully feeling his way forward.
He hadn't gone far when a burst of crude laughter and cursing came from a corner ahead.
"Damn it, the boss is getting stingier and stingier. This time we only got this much of the goods!"
"Tell me about it! It's not even enough for me to enjoy a night on shore!"
"Once this job is done, I'm definitely going to..."
The voices were coming from a half-open door.
Leon approached quietly and looked inside through the crack in the door.
It seemed to be a crew lounge, with quite a few tourist corpses lying scattered inside.
Three men were sitting on these corpses, dividing the loot.
At their feet lay a Rattata, fast asleep.
And a Corphish was feeding on a tourist's corpse!
Leon took out his pokédex and quickly scanned the information of the two pokémon!
The Rattata's level was 10!
The Corphish's level was 14!
Three men, two pokémon.
A cold light flashed in Leon's eyes. The opportunity had come!
.....
If you want read 30 chapters before release go to my patron: [email protected]/fulcrum_f
if I get 50 stones till tomorrow, I am going to upload 2 bonus chapter's