Dusk.
The whole world transformed into a new visage.
The entire desert became desolate and cold, no longer possessing the daytime heat. When the wind blew, it not only tossed sand into people's mouths but also chilled them to the bone.
Lighting a fire was impossible, considering the harsh desert conditions.
Everyone could only wrap their clothes or cloaks tightly around themselves to endure the cold.
With the bright sun setting, reconnaissance work became more difficult. Looking into the desert with a thermal imager revealed nothing but ghostly shadows, in a place eerily still.
Very tedious.
Yet Baimu thoroughly enjoyed this tedium and monotony. Compared to fighting bloody battles with others, the yellow withered grass seemed so delicate and lovely, while the distant mountains appeared majestic.
Moreover, he could listen to the clear sound of the Calming Bell.
"Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~"
With the playfulness of Mawile and other Pokémon nearby, the relaxing sound of the bell reached everyone's ears.
"Baimu, is anyone really coming? It doesn't feel like it,"
Otsuka, holding a pair of binoculars, sounded weary. His initial enthusiasm having faded, the reconnaissance work truly tested one's patience.
Baimu replied, "Nobody can say for sure. Maybe the second mining site couldn't be breached, and they decided to try a different tactic here. Or maybe other forces are disguising themselves as the Evil Dog Team."
"Other forces?"
"Yes, you don't think our Quicksand Team only has the Evil Dog Team as an enemy, do you? It's possible that other forces could come in to kick us while we're down. All they need to do is kill everyone here and disguise it as an act by the Evil Dog Team."
"No way..."
"Why not? Aside from personal grudges, I think other forces wouldn't want the Quicksand Team to continue growing. Everyone fears that the Quicksand Team will target them once they become stronger. It's normal."
"Hearing you say that, it feels like we shouldn't even be fighting for this mining site."
"Winning the land is easy, but holding it is hard. Especially with enemies all around us, the top officials are likely stuck in a difficult situation. The leader of the Evil Dog Team was captured, and whether they elect a new one internally or bring in an outsider, it will affect us, their neighbors. So rather than sit idly by, it's better to take the initiative and seize the opportunity."
After Baimu finished, the other four people looked at him with eyes full of admiration.
"Is this the power of knowledge? You know so much!"
Otsuka was deeply moved. He had been attending literacy classes for a while, feeling like he was in prison every day, often pondering the point of learning to read.
But seeing Baimu's wise demeanor reignited his desire for learning.
And for the other four as well.
"I was just thinking out loud, don't take it seriously," Baimu said with a wry smile. He had merely voiced an opinion from his personal perspective, which was not necessarily accurate.
Perhaps other forces weren't that forward-thinking? Perhaps the top officials simply wanted to strike a downed enemy?
The possibilities were endless.
"Alright, time to change positions, everyone stop for now."
Baimu clapped his hands, stopping Mawile who was playing with a group of Pokémon.
This guy seemed to be playing some kind of leader game, directing Otsuka's Pokémon to do this and that, having a great time, not wanting to stop.
"Tsk!"
"Now's not the time to play. You can play however you like once this is all over."
With a word of persuasion, Mawile reluctantly stopped and jumped into the car compartment.
Baimu turned on the walkie-talkie to make contact with the peripheral members located elsewhere. Typically, they contacted every ten minutes if there were no incidents to ensure everything was fine.
However, his cautious nature prompted him to make the peripheral members check-in every five minutes.
After all, a ten-minute silence was enough to do a lot, while five minutes was comparatively short.
"Area 2, received, beginning to move."
"Area 3, received, beginning to move."
"Area 4, received, beginning to move."
"Area 5..."
"Wait a second," Baimu suddenly interrupted, "Area 4, what's wrong with your voice?"
"...Accidentally ate some sand, cough cough, sorry Captain."
"Alright, continue the report."
"Area 5, received, beginning to move."
With Baimu included, there were ten areas in total, each responsible for different directions, and they began to move slowly under his command.
He exhaled deeply, looking at his waiting teammates, and said complicatedly, "Something has gone wrong."
Otsuka and the others suddenly stiffened.
"W-what?"
"The members of Area 4 have been replaced. I observed that there shouldn't be any wind there, so I should have heard the drone's buzzing, but I didn't."
Sighing, Baimu hastily used his earpiece to contact the mining site, but only the sound of static hissed back at him from the other end.
Just minutes ago, they'd had contact with the mining site, but now they couldn't reach it.
This proved that someone had used some method to cut off the mining site's external communications, just like when they had previously raided the Evil Dog Team's site and severed their communications.
Now it was almost certain that Area 4 had been infiltrated by the enemy.
Without even the chance to send a warning, and with action taken against the mining site in such a short time, the strength of the attackers was evident. Their silent approach was even more terrifying.
He suddenly felt fortunate not to have scattered his people; that bit of reconnaissance power wouldn't be enough for the enemy.
Hopefully, the mining site had already noticed by now.
He glanced at his phone—
Sure enough, there was no signal.
"Go back! Return to the mining site!"
Baimu told the other four, "There is a chance the opposition plans to hunt down us reconnaissance personnel. We must quickly regroup with the main force."
Staying with the main force would increase their chances of survival.
Of course, that was just one reason.
Another reason was that he still had four team members at the mining site, and he was unwilling to simply escape back to Pyrite Town without checking on them.
Besides, with Ayana stationed at the mining site, the attackers might not completely succeed, so there was no need to prematurely give up.
"Yes!"
Otsuka and the others responded in unison.
——
Mine 1.
Just as Baimu thought, communication with the outside world had already been intercepted.
The attacking team sent by the Evil Dog Team seemed guided by someone, smoothly breaching defenses both known and unknown to Baimu, reaching the exterior of the mining site.
Although they wished to press their attack further, the Quicksand Team members on alert detected them.
The moment the alarm sounded inside the mining site, three officers and two hundred Evil Dog Team members launched an assault on the site. Although not perfectly orchestrated like those planned by Liu Ge, it still caught those left behind off guard.
The main gate's defense was breached, and numerous Evil Dog Team members surged into the mining site, indiscriminately destroying everything, attacking all connected to the Quicksand Team.
"Break everything! Destroy it all!"
An officer shouted, commanding his Mightyena and Houndoom to destroy the expensive large machines.
"You're courting death!"
An angry shout came from a small building, followed by a thick water jet that shot through the air, blasting the officer's Houndoom away!
"Rush!"
The officer waved and shouted, his Mightyena immediately charged in the direction of the water jet but abruptly twisted in mid-course, where a giant blue Seismitoad erupted from the ground!
Mightyena lunged, but its claws collided with Seismitoad's trembling arms.
Bang!
A muffled sound.
Both Pokémon retreated backward.
Ayana emerged from the small building, her face showing concealed rage, with a particularly large Quagsire following her.
But before she could say anything, another figure emerged from the smoke on the left side.
"Ah, isn't this Ayana? What a coincidence. My useless brother gave you trouble before, let me collect some interest this time,"
Said the dark-faced man, bearing a slight resemblance to a black-faced man from a previous charity event.
"You're full of nonsense,"
Even on the verge of being flanked, Ayana remained unperturbed, her expression calm and composed.
Unfortunately, the initial attacking officer seemed disinterested in participating in the fight, saying to the dark-faced man, "I'll leave it to you, no problem, right?"
"No problem, watch this!"
The dark-faced man threw a Pokeball and charged at Ayana.
The other person prepared to leave, directing his subordinates to continue the sweep.
"Dream on!"
Ayana quickly had Quagsire use Water Cannon to block the officer's path.
In an instant.
The scene turned even more chaotic.