Back at the Astronomical Observatory, Iron Leaves refilled Chen Kai's tea.
Then, unexpectedly, it bowed its head in apology: "I'm sorry, Chen Kai, when I returned just now, I explored your body without your permission."
Chen Kai had just picked up his teacup to drink some tea, but then put it down again.
"What do you mean?"
Iron Leaves didn't answer Chen Kai, and ignored the shock of Chen Kai and Miraidon, but continued: "By sensing inside your body, I can roughly deduce some of the direction of events.
The original you should have died, leaving only an empty shell.
This body of yours is from Bluestar, but your soul has some subtle differences; your soul is not from Bluestar, nor from my world, but from another world.
At the same time, the Taijing Energy in your body, I saw it more than a hundred years ago, and it is the same as the energy of an old Terapagos.
I don't know how that old Terapagos thought of it, but it used Taijing Energy as an adhesive to fuse your soul with this body, thus creating the current you."
After listening to Iron Leaves' conjecture, Chen Kai didn't care that Iron Leaves had secretly investigated his body! "So that's how it is..."
"The current you, for this Terapagos's territory space, you are Terapagos; you can enter and exit freely, and you can also bring people and Pokémon in and out at will.
Even more wonderfully, because there are subtle differences between your soul and body, these differences are constantly rubbing and colliding, continuously replenishing the Taijing Energy in your body.
You are now roughly equivalent to a humanoid Terapagos!"
After speaking, Iron Leaves turned its head to look at Miraidon: "Unlike it, its surface Taijing Energy has almost completely dissipated.
I have also seen Miraidon's situation before; a newborn Terapagos, not having mastered its power, caused your body to be broken.
I didn't expect it; I thought Terapagos was extinct, but that old Terapagos still left a descendant."
Miraidon asked excitedly: "Can I recover like this?"
Iron Leaves shook its head: "Unfortunately, when the humans left, they took away many important materials; the materials to restore your body are no longer here."
Miraidon sighed, but it didn't have much expectation in its heart, so it wasn't depressed.
Unlike Miraidon, Chen Kai, full of expectation, asked: "Then do you have a device for time travel here?"
"There is one, but originally, because Terapagos was extinct, there was no Taijing Energy to activate it.
Now that you are here, it can be activated, but the following words are the key points I want to tell you; you cannot bring humans from my original world here.
Did you remember?"
Miraidon showed a look of sudden realization and nodded.
Chen Kai didn't think much and said happily: "No problem, then can I trouble you to help me find a time-space called 'Earth'?"
Iron Leaves saw that both of them had agreed, nodded slightly, and pondered for a moment: "Earth... I haven't heard of it; it might take some time to find it. But what do you want to do in that time-space?"
Chen Kai did not hide anything and answered truthfully: "I am from Earth; I want to go back."
"Perhaps I didn't explain clearly." Iron Leaves explained to Chen Kai: "It seems your soul is from the time-space 'Earth', but your body is from Bluestar; from what I can see, you are accepted by Bluestar.
Another way of saying it is that you are very likely to be rejected by 'Earth', even if you have the power of Terapagos; it's the same. Very few creatures are accepted by another time-space; Miraidon in front of you is an example."
Iron Leaves didn't notice Chen Kai's stunned expression and continued to ask: "Miraidon, what was your strength in your original world?"
"Barely... almost a Level 2 God." Miraidon hesitated for a moment and said.
"Even with your strength, plus the power of Taijing, you still ended up in this miserable state.
Chen Kai, you will be in mortal danger if you go to 'Earth'."
Chen Kai's expression was no longer shocked at this time; instead, he calmed down.
Iron Leaves continued: "Out of apology for privately exploring your body..."
But Chen Kai didn't listen at all. During that time, Iron Leaves and Miraidon seemed to have discussed for a long time. During that time, Iron Leaves handed Chen Kai two items, and then sent Chen Kai and his party back to Zining Mountain.
And Chen Kai did not say a word. He just silently took the items and silently followed Miraidon home.
He was stunned, as if his soul had stopped.
By the time they got home, it was already evening. A dark cloud floated in from the sky in the distance, and Chen Dafu had already driven the sheep home early.
"It's been clear for so many days; it's finally going to rain; it'll be cooler."
Bai Lijuan, cutting vegetables, replied to him: "I don't think so; it's not even August yet. A little rain won't cool things down much; it'll still be hot for the next few days."
After dinner, Miraidon also noticed Chen Kai's abnormality; he seemed a bit absent-minded.
Miraidon returned to the room and saw Chen Kai sitting at his usual table, expressionless, as the rain pattered outside the window.
"Xiao Kai, Xiao Kai!" Miraidon shook Chen Kai, but he remained expressionless. It spoke to itself:
"I've seen you work very hard these past ten-odd days. Perhaps not being able to go back hit you hard.
But I think this world is pretty good. In my old world, humans were quite brutal, which is why Iron Leaves doesn't like those people.
My people... they're more practical, I guess. I was never full there, but here I can eat my fill every day. Sandwiches, the dishes Bai Lijuan cooks, they're all delicious.
Especially that spicy seasoning, the taste is amazing!
Running around every day, and looking for delicious food at the same time, I used to not quite understand what happiness and joy were, but now I understand.
I really like my current life."
"It's not because I can't go back to Earth." Chen Kai slowly began to speak.
"This Bluestar is very similar to Earth; even my parents' names and appearances are the same. To me, the difference isn't big.
But... occasionally, I realize that this isn't Earth.
I don't understand what other people say sometimes, the food is different, and some common sense is also different.
Before, I always thought that just returning to Earth would be fine. This afternoon, Iron Leaves told me I couldn't go back. I was just a bit confused and at a loss for a moment. You go rest; I'll sit for a bit longer and then sleep."
"Alright, then get some rest early! Don't forget what you promised Applin, okay?" Miraidon reminded him, then returned to its Poké Ball to rest. Today had been very busy, and it was already exhausted.
Chen Kai nodded gently in agreement, then continued to sit by the window, his melancholic gaze looking through the rain-blurred glass towards the distance.
Outside the window, fine rain like a bead curtain poured down, tapping against the window, making a monotonous and cold sound.
---
Inside the Area Zero Astronomical Observatory, a dimly lit room.
A deep voice spoke: "Iron Leaves, why did you wake us up?"
The source of the voice was an electronic projection, but it was very blurry, only showing some gray outlines, its appearance unclear.
"A human has come to this space." Iron Leaves stood in front of the projection and said calmly.
The gray voice said: "What! Those bastards came again?"
"No, it's a human from Bluestar. He contains Terapagos's Taijing Energy and can freely enter and exit this space." Iron Leaves said unhurriedly.
"It's a human from Bluestar? Will it cause trouble? How about we..."
"No." Another voice came, this was a blue projection.
"Doing things like this, isn't it just like those people?"
The gray figure said somewhat angrily: "Then what should we do! We've only just managed to settle down for a few decades."
Iron Leaves said opportunely: "Don't worry, I've had some contact with that person. He's still a teenager, and his character should be good. He has temporarily verbally agreed with me not to bring other humans in.
Moreover, just in case, I also left a contingency plan on him. Today, I just wanted to inform you all first."