"Spinarak, bite their necks. Poliwhirl, toss them into the sea."
Reiji flicked his hand. These two had no value left. He hadn't planned on killing anyone at first, but if a man can't even be honest when he's paying to save his life, then a corpse is the safest option.
"Don't—don't kill me, plea—"
Before the sailor could finish begging, Spinarak spat another web to seal their shouting mouths, then sank its fangs into each of their necks and pumped in venom.
They spasmed, foamed at the mouth, their faces turning black-purple. Only when both bodies went completely still did Poliwhirl pick them up and fling them into the ocean to feed the sharks.
Once the two of them sank out of sight, Reiji had Spinarak pull out the plastic box hidden in the seat. Inside was nothing but cash—rough estimate, at least a few million.
He picked up their Poké Balls and captured the Sharpedo Kingler had knocked out. Checking the rest, he found these two really didn't have many Pokémon.
Four in total. Sharpedo and Pelipper belonged to the helmsman; Carvanha and Wingull belonged to the other sailor.
Their whole black-eat-black setup depended on Sharpedo's ambush. No backup plan at all. Reiji honestly didn't know what to say.
Had they never considered the risk of the ambush failing, or did they just think failure was impossible?
He checked the four Pokémon's stats. The potential on all four was trash-tier. Nothing rare, nothing valuable.
If any of them could fetch a decent price, it'd be Sharpedo and Pelipper. He could probably sell them to some restaurant via the black market. The two unevolved ones were worthless; he'd just release them later.
Once he was done with the Pokémon spoils, he started gathering up the money scattered around. Cash from their pockets, from the drawer, from the box—and he also took back the ten thousand Pokédollars he'd paid as a "ticket."
Seventy thousand from their bodies. One hundred eighty thousand in the drawer. Two million three hundred thousand in the box.
No idea how many times they'd robbed people to stockpile this much cash. Now it all fell into his hands.
Even so, he still didn't trust the morals of scumbags.
"Spinarak, knock on the deck. See where it's hollow."
"Yito."
Spinarak tapped across the deck with its furry forelegs, feeling the vibrations. It quickly found a hollow spot in front of the driver's seat and scuttled over.
"Yito, yito." Spinarak called from the hollow patch near the helm.
"Kingler, pry it open."
Seeing it was that area again, Reiji snorted. Old schemers really loved hiding things under their asses or at their feet.
Kingler used his smaller claw to pry up the metal plate. Underneath was another plastic box, bigger than the first.
Reiji popped it open and counted. Six million inside. This old scheming bastard really did know how to hide a private stash.
"Spinarak, see if there's anything else."
While Spinarak continued its search, Reiji started dealing with all the random junk scattered around.
Cigarettes, booze, food, keys, knives, sunglasses, headlamps, watches, slippers, clothes, lighters, ID cards, sunscreen—just odds and ends.
He tossed all that junk into the sea. None of it was worth anything. Even the watches were cheap junk and went overboard.
He kept only their ID cards. After all, he still had their bank cards. If the PINs he'd forced out of them turned out to be fake, he could always try their birthdays. Back in his previous life, plenty of so-called "geniuses" loved using their birthdays as passwords.
By the time he finished cleaning up, Spinarak hopped back onto his shoulder and shook its head, signaling there were no more hollow spots.
"All right. Poliwhirl, Kingler, return."
Reiji recalled both Pokémon.
They were out on the open sea with no lights in sight, rain still coming down from above. He had no idea where the black ship was. But the shore wasn't far away—the city lights were still visible. He could just steer the speedboat back.
…Wait. Why would he take the speedboat back just to leave it?
It might be a beat-up vessel, but it was still worth a few million. He was strapped for cash right now. No way was he going to pass up the chance to turn a ten-meter speedboat into money.
Back at the port, he tied the boat up at the pier and went to find the young bartender who'd given him the earlier intel.
Pointing at the speedboat, Reiji clapped the guy lightly on the shoulder. "Find me a buyer fast. Five percent cut. You in or not?"
"Gulp… S-sir, you're not joking?"
The bartender swallowed hard, still wearing his white bartender uniform as he stared at this walking gold mine.
He hadn't expected to see the man again so soon, much less for the guy to show up with a surprise that literally brought money to his door.
"Of course. You've got half an hour." Reiji waved him off. "Hurry. I still need to hit the black ship; I'm not wasting my night here."
"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll definitely find a buyer within thirty minutes."
The bartender hurried back toward the bar, a little excited. Five percent of that sale wouldn't be pocket change.
The man had come to exactly the right person. There was no way he'd pass on a deal this sweet. Working in a portside bar, he naturally knew who was always looking for boats.
As for who really owned this speedboat, that didn't matter at all. He didn't care where the seller got it. He just wanted his five percent.
It wasn't long before he came back leading a drunk man reeking of alcohol. Together they walked down to the pier where Reiji was waiting.
"Well now, not even ten minutes." Reiji glanced at his watch. The bartender's efficiency wasn't bad at all.
"Sir, this gentleman is willing to pay four million for that boat."
"So you're the one selling?" the drunk asked, squinting at Reiji like he was looking at a dark silhouette—Reiji was still wrapped head to toe in his black raincoat. "I want to see the boat."
"Over there." Reiji pointed to the speedboat. The man could take his time looking. Four million wasn't cheap. For a used boat, that was the equivalent of a couple hundred thousand in his previous life.
"This is the Black Shark… You killed Black Shark?"
The drunk sobered right up when he saw the name painted on the hull. Turned out this wasn't just any random boat.
"He tried to rob me and got himself killed. Was he some big name?" Reiji wondered if he'd accidentally taken out someone important. Judging by how pathetic the two had been, they felt more like small fry.
"Ha! Big name, sure—but only for being a piece of trash."
The drunk laughed. "Any trainer heading to the black ship wouldn't get on his boat. I told people he'd run into a brick wall sooner or later, and look, I was right."
"You had a grudge with him?"
"Grudge is too strong. Call it friction. My last boat got sunk by a Sharpedo. I always suspected it was him, but I never had proof."
He stood on the dock, not even bothering to check the boat's condition, then tossed a bag of money at Reiji's feet.
"I'm in a good mood today. That's four million. The boat's mine now."
Leaving the cash where it lay, he staggered onto the speedboat and went right back to drinking.
Reiji didn't mind. He picked up the money and counted it—four million, exactly. From that, he peeled off two hundred thousand and handed it to the bartender.
"This is yours. Now find me a boat to the black ship before you go."
If he went around looking by himself and stumbled into another shady outfit, he'd just waste time. Black-eat-black wasn't something you did casually. You had to know your opponent's strength first.
Otherwise you ended up like those two sailors—randomly deleted from the world. If Reiji ever thought he couldn't win head-on, he'd dive into the sea and escape. That was why he'd taken out the sailors first.
"Of course, sir. Please come with me—I know plenty of sailors."
The bartender tucked the two hundred thousand into his pocket and led Reiji to another speedboat, even walking him all the way on board.
Reiji paid another ten thousand for the fare. This time, nothing shady happened, and he safely arrived at the black ship.
The "black ship" wasn't black. It wasn't dark either. It was a luxury cruiser, and the upper decks blazed with light, turning the nearby sea into a wash of shifting colors that were almost painful to look at.
As soon as he stepped onto the ship, a male attendant in formal wear approached the strangely dressed Reiji to ask his purpose.
"Black ship."
Reiji only said two words, but the attendant understood and handed him a special identity tag.
"Sir, you've arrived at just the right time. The auction has already started, and there's a special lot tonight. You might enjoy seeing it. The auction's on B3."
"Thanks."
Reiji took the tag, knowing it was the key to B3. The ship was sitting just off the island's coast; even if they were running an underground market, they couldn't be too blatant.
The upper decks were the legitimate entertainment façade. B3 was the real black ship—the illegal market the League would never allow.
Since the attendant had already pointed the way, there was no reason to waste time. Reiji found an elevator and rode it down, only to see that the panel didn't even have a B3 button—just B2.
When he stepped out on B2, music and noise hit him in the face along with the smell of alcohol, perfume, sweat—everything mixed together. Under spinning colored lights, bodies twisted and writhed in the center of the floor.
He ignored the mess and grabbed a young waiter instead, holding up the identity tag. The waiter understood right away and led him to a private room door, knocking lightly.
When the door opened, Reiji flashed the tag again. The attendant inside stepped aside and let him in alone.
The room itself was nothing special—plain and simple. Two attendants sat watching TV. That was it.
"That door there. Entry fee is ten thousand," one of them said, helpfully opening the inner door, then holding out a hand to block his way.
"Here." Reiji handed over ten thousand and finally stepped through the real entrance to the black ship.
Just to get this far, and before he'd even seen anything, he'd already spent twenty thousand Pokédollars.
Was all this secrecy really necessary?
Down the stairs to B3, the noise from B2 vanished. It was almost quiet here. Shops lined the corridor on both sides, and there was even an underground battle arena, but no Pokémon battles were currently underway.
Maybe everyone was at the auction.
Seeing how few people were wandering around, Reiji remembered what the attendant had said and headed straight for the central plaza—the emptiest, widest area on B3. As he approached, he heard a voice booming through a microphone.
From the railing of the corridor, he looked down into the auction hall, lit up by spotlights. It seemed the auction was already at its finale. A green Pokémon Egg was displayed on the big screen; it had to be the last lot of the night.
The host's excited voice echoed up from below. "This gentleman has bid six hundred million! Is there any lady or gentleman who wishes to go higher? Opportunities like this don't come often—only one pseudo-legendary Pokémon Egg in the last six months! Miss this, and who knows when the next one will appear?"
"If you're interested in this lot, please bid quickly. Don't hesitate. Seize this once-in-a-lifetime chance and become its Trainer!"
"Six hundred ten million!"
"Bang! Six hundred ten million once! Any other bids, ladies and gentlemen?"
Seeing no immediate response, the host raised the hammer again. "Bang! Six hundred ten million twice! If there are no more bids, this pseudo-legendary Pokémon Egg will belong to this gentleman…"
"Man, that patter is something else," Reiji muttered from the railing, clicking his tongue. "Really knows how to hook people."
Under the spotlight, the host had the whole hall dancing on his strings, driving the price of a pseudo-legendary Egg up to six hundred million. Reiji couldn't help wondering which pseudo-legend it even was.
"Six hundred twenty million! Six hundred thirty million! Six hundred fifty million!"
Suddenly, the host's voice climbed again, rattling off four numbers in a row, all from the same bidder.
He tried one more time to lean on his sales pitch and push the buyer further, but this time it didn't work.
At six hundred fifty million, three clean strikes of the hammer brought everything to a close. Reiji had just watched a full show from start to finish.
"Congratulations to this gentleman for winning the pseudo-legendary Pokémon Egg for six hundred fifty million Pokédollars!"
"Thank you again to all our guests for your participation and support. We hope you've all claimed something you love from tonight's auction. The auction has now successfully concluded. Please exit in an orderly fashion, and enjoy the rest of your evening…"
People began streaming out of the hall. Some followed the host through a side door, presumably to collect their winnings.
A six-hundred-million Egg would never be brought onto the open stage. You couldn't underestimate how insane some people were. Show a prize like that and there'd always be lunatics willing to grab it. Without Elite Four–class strength, you couldn't protect a pseudo-legendary Egg like that.
As the crowd thinned, Reiji drifted along with them out of the auction area, listening to the whispers around him…
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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