The three of them resolved some unnecessary misunderstandings.
Baimu was forced to acknowledge an ancestor.
Everyone was happy.
Wu even expressed his willingness to take him back to recognize his ancestral roots after everything was settled, to figure out where exactly he came from.
Just thinking about it gives one a headache.
"I'll take you back first, and then come back here to execute the plan," Shanren said as he inserted the car key.
"Wait."
Baimu grabbed his wrist and stopped Wu, who was about to get out of the car, "Are you two acting alone?"
"For now, yes. The situation in Pyrite Town is complicated, the more people who know, the more dangerous it is for us," Shanren seemed to understand something, "Do you want to help us?"
"Yes."
He nodded, "Although I'm not sure how you're going to create an alibi, having only two of you seems pretty dangerous on all fronts, doesn't it? It's not very convenient either."
"Indeed..."
Shanren had no intention of hiding anything.
Wu's expression changed, "You shouldn't get involved, you're still young, this is too dangerous."
"What, am I supposed to wait for news at home? Even though you keep saying I won't be implicated, what if the mission fails? With just the two of you, I'm not sure how confident you really are. In short, I don't want to 'sit back and wait'.
Baimu gave a justified reason.
"And besides, I owe you a favor, and watching poachers sell others' Pokémon really makes me angry, I can't just stand by—maybe my strength isn't as good as yours, but I'm sure fighting isn't all there is to your plan, right?"
"Just as you said."
Shanren's smile grew brighter.
However.
Although Baimu really detested the poachers and genuinely wanted to return the favor to Shanren, the biggest reason he wanted to partake in this dangerous plan was that he didn't want to give up on the clues.
He understood that for anything to be achieved, one must take the initiative, just like when he managed to catch Aron in his hands, had he not returned to the underground pit that day, he would never have gained the Big Monster he has now.
Now that an opportunity was right in front of him, if he chose to back down out of fear, the clues for the runner-up reward—an excellent Dragon-type Pokémon, would just vanish into thin air.
Baimu never lacked adventurous spirit, just like how he dared to rush to the command center to find Ayana based solely on the female driver Terry's one-sided account.
The future is forged through efforts!
Wu was quite conflicted, involving Shanren in this matter was already a last resort, dragging a bloodline of dragons like Baimu into this made matters even worse, right?
But he felt that Baimu's reasons were quite justified.
"Alright, the danger he has faced is much more than you have, he understands better how to protect himself, stop being conflicted," Shanren came out to persuade, looking at Baimu, "we really do lack helpers, are you willing to help us?"
"Of course!"
"Then I'm really overjoyed, since that's the case, let me briefly outline our plan and ideas."
He described the mission process as succinctly as possible.
When mentioning what Baimu could accomplish—there were indeed many things he could do.
Setting aside the core of the plan for now, after the plan's success, with the extensive background of the auction house, they would certainly lock down the entirety of Pyrite Town, not even letting a fly escape.
So Wu and the Deino would need a safe place to hide.
Places like that aren't easy to find, but if Baimu was willing to help, arrangements could be made at his place.
Once the backstage of the auction house finds they can't catch the culprit, at most they will lower their alert level a few notches after a few days due to pressure. When the dust settles, Wu will have the chance to leave.
Undoubtedly, the only one capable of sealing off the entirety of Pyrite Town is—
The mayor's power.
This auction house is operated behind the scenes by him, touching the auction house is akin to gambling with his life, going mad is completely normal.
But here, Baimu found their expressions a bit odd.
"We're only targeting the Deino?"
"For now, yes."
"Then why not just buy them directly? Buying them seems a lot safer, right? If it's a matter of money, I can help too—"
"No, it has nothing to do with money."
Shanren shook his head, while Wu beside him had a certain will flowing in his shining eyes, Shanren said, "Some principles are non-negotiable, if someone steals our Pokémon, we can just spend the money to buy them back, and everyone gets along fine? There's no such logic in this world."
"Yeah, I know money can buy them back, but why should we?" Wu said firmly, "Not a single penny of this money will go to them, and we must smash this shop! And take all the..."
Shanren interrupted him, "We can't take all the stuff, that's just boasting."
"Uh, hahaha, indeed."
Wu scratched his head awkwardly.
Baimu, hearing all this, really wanted to argue with them, telling them that if they lacked the strength, compromise is necessary. If they had enough power to destroy the entire Underground City, why bother creating an alibi.
But when the words got to his mouth, he paused.
What was he planning to do? Persuade Shanren and the others to give up their principles? Endure for the sake of peace?
No way.
There's never a way for everything to be peaceful, enduring only breeds anger, taking a step back feels like a loss. For those who uphold their principles, losing them is akin to losing their belief.
He himself spent money, lots of it, to give back to his hometown for what reason? To stick to his principles, if he were willing to compromise, his wealth could easily grow several times over.
That was close.
Baimu took a deep breath, almost feeling like he stepped into the shoes of a bottomless scoundrel, "It was wrong of me to speak that way, so please tell me what to do next?"
Upon hearing this, Shanren and Wu exchanged smiles.
——
Soon after.
Baimu returned to the venue with "Shanren" and Alakazam together.
"Is Ditto really this common nowadays?" he looked at the "Shanren" sitting beside him, who wore sunglasses to hide his beady eyes, feeling intrigued.
"Not really, this Pokémon was lent to me. Although there are some flaws in human transformation, wearing sunglasses makes it a non-issue."
Shanren's voice came through a mini earpiece.
In the original plan, "Shanren" was supposed to sit quietly like a mascot from start to finish, but with Baimu's support, it could now take a more high-key approach to boost its presence.
In other words, to participate in the auction.
Baimu had suggested they might compete for the Deino, but Shanren rejected this, setting the target on a different Psychic Attribute Pokémon instead.
In the end, they wouldn't actually win it, even if they did, they wouldn't pay for it, preferring to let it become an unsold item at the cost of a breach fee.
"The auction house investigated my preferences, bidding for the Deino would only bring unnecessary troubles," Shanren explained.
Seeing that Shanren had thought things through carefully, Baimu naturally didn't say anything more.