Chapter 52: The Bait
Looking at the Salamence's nest not far ahead, Chen Xi stopped advancing and instead had his people begin setting up traps nearby.
Running directly to challenge a Salamence one-on-one? Sorry, such a brainless act was completely alien to Chen Xi.
Once everything was mostly set up, Chen Xi called Sha Xie and Gang Ren over and said to them, "I have a small task for you."
"Please give your orders, Young Master!" The two replied to Chen Xi, quite resigned.
Facing the power Chen Xi displayed by easily clearing three checkpoints, they no longer struggled.
In short, whatever Chen Xi wanted to do, he would do it.
"Lure the Salamence out, draw it into our ambush!" Chen Xi said directly.
"Are you asking us to be bait, sir?" Sha Xie heard Chen Xi's words, his heart filled with surprise and anger, but even more so, he dared not get angry.
Chen Xi looked at Sha Xie and Gang Ren, and said calmly, "Do you have any problem completing this task?"
Just kidding, if these two teams couldn't even lure out a Salamence, then what were they doing here trying to steal a Salamence egg?
"No... no problem!" Sha Xie's face changed slightly upon hearing Chen Xi's words, and he decisively said, "We guarantee to complete the mission."
Soon, Sha Xie and Gang Ren began to prepare, setting off to lure the Salamence.
Chen Xi watched Sha Xie and Gang Ren leave, but he wasn't worried that they wouldn't complete the task.
Instead, at this moment, Chen Xi was somewhat concerned: if the Salamence truly lived here, then why would it live in an environment that even had some snow, an environment not truly suitable for a Salamence's survival?
Thinking of this, Chen Xi said to Zhu Lan beside him, "If there are any unforeseen circumstances, I will still need your help."
"No problem!" Zhu Lan nodded in response to Chen Xi's words.
Sha Xie and Gang Ren, these two unfortunate brothers, were now leading the trusted members of their respective Hunter teams to act as bait.
They looked at each other, finding each other repulsive.
Both knew that it was impossible for them to connect with the Yuan Family's channels without giving anything in return.
But they never expected that the task, originally planned to have ordinary Trainers act as bait as much as possible, would fall upon their own heads.
Now, those ordinary Spirit Hunters were mostly reorganized to become Chen Xi's main ambush force, making the two core members of the Hunter teams stand out instead.
"It's really troublesome! I didn't expect such a dangerous thing to fall on us!" Sha Xie sighed.
"When cooperating with that Young Master, one should have been prepared for this!" Gang Ren pouted, "He's here to slay a Dragon."
"It seems you were already prepared!" Sha Xie looked at Gang Ren, saying thoughtfully.
"Prepared is not exactly the word, but no one expected noble masters to be merciful, right!" Gang Ren said, "Tell me, are you going to be the bait, or am I?"
"What do you mean!" Hearing Gang Ren's words, Sha Xie's gaze, tinged with a hint of gloom, scrutinized Gang Ren up and down.
Gang Ren's expression was calm; they were both equally matched, so who was afraid of a mere Glare attack!
Gang Ren said, "That Young Master of the Yuan Family wants the reputation of slaying a Dragon; for us, there is no fundamental conflict of interest.
So, whether that Young Master of the Yuan Family is just messing around or can truly slay a Dragon, we are willing to play along with him.
But there is still a competitive relationship between us, so how can we truly trust each other?
Who doesn't want to connect with the Yuan Family, and who doesn't want to obtain a Salamence's Pokémon egg to become a Letter Hunter?
If we don't lay our cards on the table, when acting as bait, we might drag each other down, wanting to connect with the Yuan Family while also coveting the Salamence's Pokémon egg.
So, before the action, we must clearly define our interests and determine our respective goals.
Who will act as bait and connect with the Yuan Family, and who can enter the Salamence's cave first to obtain the Salamence's Pokémon egg!
Otherwise, in the end, we might end up with nothing!"
"You think deeper than I do." Sha Xie looked at Gang Ren and said, "Good thing Hei Yan is dead!"
"It's not easy to survive these days," Gang Ren sighed with a hint of melancholy.
"What if I let you go get the Salamence egg first? I'm more optimistic about this Young Master of the Yuan Family!" Sha Xie said to Gang Ren.
Gang Ren smiled and said, "Alright, it's a deal then, you go be the bait!"
They both knew that Chen Xi only needed them to lure the Salamence into the trap.
As for the process, that was their own business.
But Chen Xi entrusting this task to two people together itself carried a hint of deliberation.
Because someone would definitely be unable to resist the temptation to try and obtain the Salamence's Pokémon egg from its cave first.
Because this Pokémon egg was the purpose of both the Slash and Sha Xie Hunter teams coming here, the key item to becoming a Letter Hunter.
Becoming a Letter Hunter and completely connecting with the Yuan Family were not absolutely linked.
But in the context of the two Hunter teams competing against each other, it was possible to see which Hunter team was more willing to align with the Yuan Family.
And what Gang Ren did was to clarify the goals of the two Hunter teams; not to say whether they would cooperate, but to ensure they would absolutely not hinder each other.
Chen Xi was unaware of the tacit agreement between Gang Ren and Sha Xie; even if he knew, he would probably just smile it off.
However, the two of them were indeed not wrong about one thing: for Chen Xi, he only wanted the result.
That is, whether they, as bait, could lure out the Salamence; as for their other little schemes, they were free to pursue them.
Soon, the two teams went their separate ways, Sha Xie summoned his carefully prepared Staraptor.
In the Salamence's diet, large birds are a very important component, for example, the flock of birds in the second outer checkpoint, which were food raised by the Salamence around its nest.
At this moment, the Staraptor flew above the Salamence's nest, not far away, and, as if unafraid of death, used Growl to shout loudly.
To be extra safe, Sha Xie even sprinkled spices on this Staraptor that could arouse a Dragonair's appetite.
This was indeed a very strong and hard-to-resist temptation for the Salamence.
This Staraptor had only circled near the Salamence's nest a few times before the Salamence was seen flutter flying out of its nest.
Its red wings, like blood-colored lightning, streaked across the sky.
In an instant, the Staraptor, which had been flying in the sky, felt as if the airflow around it had solidified.
An incomparable terror bloomed in its heart.
Without even having time to let out a cry, the Staraptor was bitten on the neck by the Salamence, which used Crunch to snap it.
The Salamence was the overlord of the sky, its pair of blood-red wings appearing extremely magnificent in the sky.
Its entire body was deep blue, with the inner sides of its head, neck, limbs, and tail all blood-red, and at this moment, it was filled with the scent of blood.
The Salamence's ferocious eyes noticed Sha Xie, and after swallowing the Staraptor, it roared at Sha Xie.
The ant in front of him had escaped last time, and as a Dragonair pseudo-legendary Pokémon, the Salamence was still very vengeful.
"Has it come out!" Sha Xie looked at the Salamence in front of him, signaling his Hunter team's Superior core members to prepare to attack!
At this moment, the Salamence's wings continuously flapped, and an incomparable Twister instantly rose from the ground.
In response was a Sandstorm, as Gliscors and Gligars were summoned by Sha Xie and his Trainers.
As these Gliscors and Gligars stirred up a magnificent Sandstorm, they collided directly with the Salamence's Twister.
Spirit Hunters, especially those from commoner backgrounds, often specialize in only one Pokémon throughout their lives due to their limited resources; some even focus on just one skill.
As the leader of a Spirit Hunter team, one would cultivate a group of similar Small Elves based on their own resources and knowledge, then entrust them to their subordinates.
This was done both to quickly generate combat power and to ensure that if their Small Elves suffered losses once they formed a scale, they could be quickly replenished due to the scale effect.
In this regard, Gang Ren's Scizor squad was an example, and similarly, Sha Xie's Gliscor swarm was also an example at this moment.
At this moment, led by Sha Xie's Gliscor, with other Gliscors and Gligars supporting it, they used their collective strength to unleash a super powerful Sandstorm, which collided with the Twister stirred by the Salamence's flapping wings, without shrinking back.
Two powerful forces collided almost equally, with raging air currents swirling and flying, as if even the clouds in the sky were torn apart by this powerful force.
At this moment, Gang Ren didn't hesitate at all, leading his Hunter team towards the Salamence's nest.
"It seems they have already allocated the spoils!"
Chen Xi watched Sha Xie, who showed no intention of stopping, and was even diligently holding the Salamence back towards their position, and couldn't help but exclaim.
Qing Ze looked at the scene before him, his eyes narrowing slightly, with a hint of anger, and said, "They don't put our Yuan Family in their eyes at all!"
Chen Xi smiled slightly at Qing Ze's words and said, "Qing Shu, as long as he can lure the Salamence into the trap we've set, then don't mind the other trivial details.
He should know the consequences of not succeeding.
If he succeeds, given his willingness to sacrifice for us, then connecting him with our Yuan Family would also be a mutually beneficial thing."
Qing Ze nodded at Chen Xi's words and didn't say much more, only his gaze at the Salamence became sharper.
The Salamence and the large group of Gliscors' Sandstorm were in a stalemate, seemingly evenly matched.
But very quickly, this stalemate became increasingly passive for the Gliscors, and they were increasingly suppressed by the Salamence.
The Salamence was, after all, a Tianwang-level Pokémon, even if its strength had declined due to egg-hatching.
But even so, the Salamence still possessed an ability that only Tianwang-level Pokémon could master: Natural Force.
Even if the Salamence's Natural Force was used very crudely, in battle, the enhancement of Flying-type Natural Force on the Salamence could be clearly seen.
For example, with Twister, the Salamence's own energy was almost just a catalyst; more of it was supplemented by the power of nature itself.
And the longer such a sustained competition lasted, the more advantageous the Salamence became.
Because for the Salamence, at this moment, it hadn't even exerted its full strength, but its opponents were already unable to withstand this stalemate.
And on this point, Sha Xie was indeed aware.
He knew the terror of a Tianwang-level Salamence, but if he were truly pushed to the limit, he was confident that his Gligar swarm might not be without the power to fight it.
That was his trained Gliscor team, each Gliscor having mastered Guillotine.
"Gliscors, use Guillotine!" Sha Xie gave the order to the Gliscors without any hesitation, decisively!
Gliscor is not a very friendly Pokémon for commoner Trainers.
Just the Sharp Fang needed for evolution is extremely difficult for commoner Trainers to obtain successfully.
Sha Xie had gone through immense hardship, and so far, he had only acquired seven or eight Sharp Fangs.
And to maximize the effect of the Sharp Fangs, each Gliscor Sha Xie had was carefully selected.
Each selected Gligar must have mastered the Guillotine skill; only then was it eligible for evolution.
And each of the Gliscors before them had mastered the Guillotine skill.
Theoretically speaking, if the Guillotine skill can successfully trigger a critical hit, even a god has a chance of being slaughtered!
At this moment, Sha Xie had the Gligars maintain the Sandstorm, at least to prevent the Sandstorm from being directly defeated by the Twister in a short time.
And the Gliscors, like geese, formed a V-formation and rapidly broke through towards the Salamence.
Whether it was a Twister or a Sandstorm, as long as it was wind power, for the Gliscors, they could ultimately borrow strength from it.
The Gliscor swarm rushed towards the Salamence like moths to a flame, their gleaming pincers clearly showing their determination.
Each Gliscor wanted to use its giant pincers to sever the Salamence's throat!
The Salamence roared to the sky, its Intimidate ability, combined with the powerful Dragonair bloodline unique to its species and its own Tianwang-level strength, caused even this seemingly suicidal team of Gliscors to feel an instinctive fear.
This fear was like the natural oppression of a hunter at the top of the food chain over its prey.
The momentum of this entire team of Gliscors immediately slowed.
And it was in this extremely brief moment of transition that the Salamence, facing the highly threatening move of Guillotine, did not retreat but instead advanced, charging towards the Gliscor swarm in an instant!
The Salamence plunged into the Gliscor swarm like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, crashing through and displaying the physique of a Dragonair Pokémon to its fullest.
Three Gliscors were directly knocked out of the formation by its massive body, falling heavily to the ground and creating three large craters, their fate unknown.
The Salamence's Dragon Claw swept across, and wherever its purple claws passed, two more Gliscors had their outer shells scratched and bone wings damaged, causing them to fall.
With a flick of its Dragon Tail, one Gliscor was struck down, falling to the ground and kicking up dust.
Just as the Salamence was sweeping through this team of Gliscors, Sha Xie's Gliscor seized the opportunity and decisively struck at the Salamence's neck!
The Guillotine, radiating a metallic luster, cut towards the Salamence's throat.
It's either you die or I die, one strike to decide the victor!
Sorry, I'm not in good shape today, so only one update.