bacchusnovels Chapter 217 The Special Labyrinth
Chapter 217 The Special Labyrinth
"If we win, will the Electabuzz Guild be merged into the Jigglypuff Guild?"
The Pokémon watching nearby immediately gasped in surprise.
"Alright, alright, this really is a life-or-death battle between the two guilds!"
"Say yes! Say yes!"
The thought that no matter the outcome, the two guilds would definitely become one guild made the onlookers look expectant.
"I agree!" At this moment, Fat Creeper, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his hand.
"What!" The chattering bird looked shocked, its feathers standing on end.
President! What have you been doing?!
The three members of the nameless expedition team, who were ready for battle, all looked in the direction of the chairman, only to be met with Fat Koding's confident gaze.
Fatdog stood with its hands on its hips, a smug look on its face: "The Nameless Expedition Team's specialty is exploring mazes, huh! Poison Rose Expedition Team, you've really messed up this time!"
"President, you absolutely mustn't! They dare to bring this up at this time, they must be confident of victory. This maze is definitely a trap!" the chattering bird urged anxiously.
"Don't worry, I know." Jigglypuff's eyes sharpened, and he looked confident. He pointed his chubby right hand forward and looked at Tank Skunk and the others.
"Even if your dungeon core has been inspected and confirmed to be problem-free, I hope Inspector Zangief and the other Pokémon viewers can enter the dungeon together to supervise in real time and make sure you haven't tampered with anything!"
Hehe, this should solve the problem, right?
The Electabuzz Guild has repeatedly provoked the Jigglypuff Guild. Do they really think Jigglypuff has no temper?
Today we'll make them shoot themselves in the foot and break up on the spot!
But the tank skunk, equally confident, replied, "Of course!"
Having acquired the maze too soon, it hadn't had time to tamper with it yet; this was purely a contest of strength.
Its reliance lies in the uniqueness of this labyrinth.
"It's over~" Seeing the tank, the skunk remained calm, while the noisy bird drooped its head and landed on the ground.
The smug expression on President Fat Ding's face suddenly froze, and he had a bad feeling.
The noisy bird sighed. It was most afraid that the rich second generation wanted to start a business, and most afraid that the foolish chairman would suddenly become confident.
I feel like the guild is doomed!
"Wait!" It was then that Detective Mongoose, the referee, spoke up.
"The Electabuzz Guild also wants to gamble with the guild's future. According to the rules, you are just one of the guild's expedition teams. Even if you are the highest-ranking member in the guild, you cannot make the decision. Your guild leader must come in person."
Indeed, the green caterpillars, trumpet buds, and other creatures watching nearby nodded in agreement.
The president is still the president, even if he's as silly as that Jigglypuff. Whether or not to participate in the life-or-death battle is up to him, and the opinions of other Pokémon don't count.
We absolutely have to find Electabuzz.
Just when everyone thought the match would have to be postponed for a while and that Electabuzz would have to get over there immediately, Tank Skunk stepped forward with a sad expression on its face.
"Alas, I regret to inform you all that just yesterday, Guild Master Electabuzz was murdered by a mysterious assassin who broke into the guild!"
What?!
The Electabuzz chairman is gone!
His words caused a huge stir, instantly igniting the entire venue.
Many Pokémon who recognized the Electabuzz showed expressions of shock, and even those who had never seen it before felt a pang of sadness under the influence of the atmosphere and sighed.
"Oh...I see..." Detective Mongoose was clearly shocked by the news.
It's quite rare for a chairman to be murdered.
"But a guild cannot be without a leader for a day. Therefore, with the trust of all the brothers and sisters in the guild, I have been elected as the new guild leader. This is also another reason why I came here today. That is to change the guild leader to myself, and from now on, the Electabuzz Guild will be renamed the Poison Rose Guild."
Tank Skunk wiped away its tears, pulled a guild seal from its pocket, and its eyes became incredibly firm and sacred, as if all the Pokémon of the guild were standing behind it.
Immediately, a staff member from the main guild stepped forward, examined the seal in its hand, and nodded to Detective Meerkat, indicating that the seal in Tank Skunk's hand was indeed genuine.
If it's true, then according to the regulations, it can indeed make the decision.
The Pokémon around them were still discussing it.
"The Electabuzz Guild was killed. Why would they kill it? Usually, whoever benefits is the murderer. Could it be...?"
"Yeah, I feel the same way. The one who benefited the most was Tank Skunk, who even changed the name of the guild."
"I heard they didn't get along before. Everyone knows Tank Skunk's character; it must have been it that killed Electabuzz."
"Go back and call the police, and have Officer Magneton go check it out."
The audience whispered among themselves, occasionally glancing at the tank skunk.
But the tank skunk remained calm and unperturbed.
It has taken care of all the traces at the scene, and no one in the guild dares to disobey it. That's all that matters.
"Silence!" Detective Meerkat shouted, and the noisy, market-like meeting place fell silent once more.
"Now that both guilds have agreed, let's formally amend the contract and prepare to inspect the core of the dungeon."
A slapping sound came from the side, and then a white figure came crawling over on the ground.
It has sharp horns on its head and two downward-pointing teeth near its mouth.
White sea lion!
Labyrinth Core Appraiser of the Expedition Guild.
"Director White Sea Lion, I'll leave the core of the maze to you this time."
The white sea lion nodded and, under everyone's gaze, accepted the maze core from the tank skunk.
Please, please, you absolutely must find the problem!
Although it knew the chances were slim, the chattering bird still prayed frantically in its heart.
The white sea lion placed the core on the ground and clapped its paws twice with its flippers.
"Come on, let's spin around 360 degrees~"
As soon as it finished speaking, the core of the maze really did float up and start spinning in place.
The white sea lion opened its mouth wide and exhaled a thin stream of water, continuously washing the surface of the maze's core as if it were washing a car.
At the same time, a cold wind blew around the body, quickly enveloping the core of the maze.
It consists of water gun skills and freezing wind skills.
Under the influence of these two skills, the exterior of the maze core was quickly covered with frost, forming a layer of ice.
The white sea lion closed its eyes, sensing carefully, and then a "zzz" symbol appeared on its head.
Is she asleep?
Detective Meerkat made a shushing gesture. "This is Chief White Sea Lion using his sleeping technique to sense the internal situation of the energy core enveloped in ice-type energy."
The process didn't last long. Soon the white sea lion opened its eyes, nodded to Detective Meerkat, and said, "It's been checked, there's no problem."
With a casual wave of its hand, the ice that had covered the core of the maze instantly melted and fell to the ground, turning into a puddle of water.
The tank skunk wore a smug expression, while the chattering bird not far away let out a long sigh.
"Beep beep!" The Wind Fairy had already noticed the Chatterbird's direction. It ran over to the Chatterbird, patted its shoulder, and gave it a reassuring gesture.
Don't worry, trust us, there won't be any problems!
The noisy bird looked up at the wind sprites, a relieved expression on its face. "Yes! I believe you can do it! Keep it up!"
The maze core needs to be transformed back into a maze in a special machine. As Detective Mongoose injects the maze core into the machine, a brand new space emerges all around, enveloping all the audience.
The hard, flat arena floor is gone, replaced by damp, soft dirt.
The ceiling above was no longer a bright dome, but a dark, towering cave.
The air became cool, carrying the earthy smell unique to underground caves.
Countless intricate passages extended in all directions, disappearing into the shadows.
The ground is covered with various traps, all of which are common in mazes, such as sleep traps and poison traps.
In the distance, the faint sound of underground water flowing could be heard.
This is a complex maze with offensive and defensive elements.
The maze was roughly divided into two areas by an invisible force field, each connecting to the core of the two teams' territories.
In the central area of the maze and along its many side paths, there are various traps and mechanisms commonly seen in the Pokémon Expeditions legends. At the same time, usable resources can also be found in some hidden corners.
As all the Pokémon entered the core-generated maze space, the specific rules of this challenge became clear in the minds of every participant:
[Attack and Defense Maze Challenge]
Each side possesses a "territory core," which is protected by a shield.
• The shield is extremely strong.
• Victory condition: One side successfully invades the other side's territory, closing or capturing its core.
The maze contains various mechanisms and resources that can be used to fight enemies or strengthen your own forces.
The challenge has no time limit and continues until one side achieves the victory condition.
The rules are simple and clear.
It doesn't look like a traditional maze exploration; it's more like a special maze that combines a maze environment with tactical combat.
How can we utilize every resource and mechanism on the maze map to find a way to break through the enemy's defenses while protecting our own core?
All of this requires both sides to make judgments and decisions in a short period of time.
"Boss, shouldn't we take the initiative and go find them?"
After entering the maze and being assigned to a territory with several glowing crystal pillars, Double Gas looked at the Tank Skunk leisurely lying on a rock and couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Of course we should strike, but not now."
The tank skunk squinted, looking confident and in complete control.
"The core given to us by Lord Night Demon generates an extremely strong 'territorial shield,' which cannot be broken head-on by anyone other than a champion-level expert. Therefore, no matter how much those three guys boast outside, they absolutely cannot directly attack our territory."
It chuckled coldly: "Perfect. Let them wander around outside like headless flies, messing around and triggering those troublesome mechanisms to exhaust their stamina. Let these guild members who followed in, and the other useless onlookers, see clearly how utterly incompetent this so-called four-star expedition team is in the actual maze challenge."
The Zubat, hanging upside down from the nearby crystal pillar, raised another crucial question: "Boss, how... how do we get past them? Their territory has the same shield, right?"
"Hehehe..." The Tank Skunk laughed even more triumphantly as it carefully took out a small key from its pocket.
The key's surface has patterns similar to those found in the core of the maze.
"See this? This key can temporarily disable the shield of the enemy territory's core and open their gates."
Both the Zubat and Weezing's eyes lit up.
"But," Tank Skunk changed the subject, hiding the key again, "we certainly can't just walk over and open the door like that. That would be too obvious; even a fool would know we're up to something. So, I've already come up with the perfect plan."
He lowered his voice and began to instruct his two subordinates:
"First, we'll hold our positions and rest and observe from our safe territory. Let the wind sprites run wild for a while, until they're exhausted and covered in dust in the maze, leaving all the spectators with the impression that they're nothing special..."
"The second step was for us to go out and explore again. With our courage and wisdom, we discovered a hidden path, then cleverly avoided various traps, and finally successfully obtained the key."
"The third step, in front of the entire audience, is to use the key to open the shield of the opposing territory. By then, the enemy will be exhausted from their previous exploration, allowing us to easily seize their core!"
"In this way, we not only won the bet and absorbed the Fat Koding Guild, but more importantly, we defeated our opponents honorably and skillfully in front of all our fellow explorers!"
"Didn't that noisy bird bring most of their guild members? Perfect, let them witness firsthand how their elite team crumbles. After the merger, they'll have far less reason to resist!"
After hearing this, both Weezing and Zubat showed expressions of admiration and excitement, and nodded in agreement.
"The boss is brilliant!"
Meanwhile, after discussing for a while, the nameless expedition team finally made a decision.
Pikachu patted its chest, indicating that it would take over the base.
Pikachu is in charge of guarding the base, while Whimsicott and Breloom are out searching for resources and have already devised a plan to conquer the enemy's base.
Just like the tank skunk thought, under the influence of the rules, everyone would subconsciously prioritize confrontation and try to defeat their opponents with brute force.
Meanwhile, other spectators also entered the venue.
Under the influence of the machine, the entire maze became transparent in their eyes, and they could clearly see what each Pokémon was doing.
Whimsicott and Breloom had quickly made their way to the Poison Rose Expedition's base, ready to launch an attack.
Just as Whimsicott was about to step forward, Breloom blocked its way with a confident smile.