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The task of moving the bodies proceeded in an orderly fashion.
It was only now that Li Xiang realized the number of dead humans and Pokémon far exceeded his expectations.
One by one, lifeless forms were carried out from the darkness. He lowered his head, biting his lip.
'I went too easy on them. I should have made them suffer more. They deserved to writhe in agony a little longer.'
Sitting on a stretcher, his hand roughly bandaged as he waited to be carried out, Li Xiang felt utterly drained, his mind adrift.
"Young man, was it you who killed those two?"
A woman's voice snapped him back to reality.
Li Xiang looked up to see Nan Gongmeng, Mo Ye, and several armored officers standing beside him. The medics who had been about to lift his stretcher paused, setting it back down.
The group was staring at him with a strange mixture of expressions, occasionally glancing at the two gruesome ice sculptures by the stone pillars.
A thirteen-year-old brutally killing two men was… unsettling, to say the least.
Li Xiang studied the two high-ranking figures, half-expecting accusations. But their probing gazes told him they were just gathering information.
After all, he was the only one still conscious. Who else would they ask?
"Yes, it was me."
There was no point denying it. The metal shards and bloodied pole bore his fingerprints, and his entire body was stained crimson. He answered calmly, "It was the only way to stop it."
He pointed upward at the Ultimate Weapon.
The two Champions followed his gesture, their eyes landing on the ominous "flower bud" above.
Nan Gongmeng pressed, "Are you saying you did this to stop that thing?"
"Exactly. If I didn't kill them, I would've died. I had no choice. Besides, after what those crazy bastards did, I don't feel sorry for it either," Li Xiang spoke slowly, deliberately. "I was conscious for most of it—from being lined up like livestock, to what happened afterward. I know the gist of everything."
His voice was eerily composed, devoid of any excess emotion. He didn't even feel like he was speaking to two of the most powerful trainers in the region.
"Let me rest first. Get me some food and water, and I'll explain everything. I'm exhausted."
Lined up like livestock.
The surrounding officers exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes drifting toward the eerily intact corpses. Their expressions shifted—some pitying, others horrified.
A warm bottle of Moomoo Milk was handed to him.
In the distance, someone attempted to move the giant silver egg.
Li Xiang jolted, suddenly remembering something. "Wait! Stop! Don't take that! My Pokémon—there's a Rotom inside!"
"Rotom?"
Everyone turned toward the egg.
At that moment, a tearful Rotom zipped out from within, trembling as it took in the sea of unfamiliar faces. It immediately dove into Li Xiang's collar, shivering uncontrollably.
The usually mischievous Pokémon had been thoroughly traumatized.
"Why was your Pokémon inside that egg?" Nan Gongmeng asked.
"It's… complicated." Li Xiang exhaled. "Actually, let's stay here for now. Some things won't make sense if we leave."
As much as he wanted to escape this nightmare, he knew certain details would be impossible to explain later.
Before that, he had a few more things to tell them.
"These people had a drilling machine for escape. It should be nearby. Also, check the prison cells—there's a disabled man in there, a former Sun Cultist."
Rubbing his temples, Li Xiang wondered if blood loss was making him sluggish.
With help, he stood and pointed out key locations, explaining everything he could—from the death of the Snow deity to Volcarona's near-evolution, the danger of the "flower" above, and how even Suicune couldn't fully block its energy blasts.
He also described the bizarre death of Lu Zhong, the technician—arguably the most unfortunate of them all, betrayed by his own incompetent allies.
'Though, come to think of it, none of them seemed to care much about their comrades. Once someone died, they were just… forgotten.'
He deliberately omitted terms like "Ultimate Weapon," sticking to simpler descriptions.
When recounting how he'd subdued the two cultists and shut down the weapon, he hesitated, glossing over the final moments of torture. Instead, he claimed they'd died during interrogation in a fit of righteous rage.
The more he spoke, the darker Nan Gongmeng and Mo Ye's expressions grew.
By the time he described hiding among corpses, heart pounding as he prayed not to be discovered by the returning cultists, their faces were etched with shame, regret, and self-reproach.
In just half an hour, this boy had fought tooth and nail for survival—gambling with his life, shattering his own moral boundaries.
On the surface, it might sound like a miraculous tale of luck and grit.
But every word was a searing indictment of their failures.
Negligence. Complacency. Arrogance.
They were supposed to be the region's guardians, the pillars of peace, the defenders of order.
And yet, when the people needed them most, they had been absent.
Li Xiang hadn't intended his words as an accusation, but his quiet recounting struck like a thunderclap, each syllable a hammer blow to their consciences.
The medics and officers nearby weren't spared either. As healers and law enforcers, they too had failed in their duties.
'If we'd arrived sooner, broken through the traps and sandstorm outside… would this child have been forced to do such things? Would so many have died?'
'If we'd uncovered the cult's plans earlier, none of this would've happened. The innocent wouldn't have suffered—wouldn't have nearly lost their lives.'
Indeed.
Nan Gongmeng and Mo Ye had recognized the boy the moment they saw him. Xu Dongran's report had highlighted the family traveling in the area—including the Corviknight that had led them to the Sun Temple's location.
'That Corviknight was his.'
They, the adults, had been as useless as background extras in some cheap film.
Unable to contain her emotions, Nan Gongmeng stepped forward and pulled Li Xiang into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry. We were too late. I'm so, so sorry."
'Apologies now?'
Li Xiang held back a bitter thought. Instead, he murmured, "It's fine. I don't blame you for what happened. And… thank you. For coming to save me and my parents."
At least they had come—two of the strongest Masters, no less. A little late, but just in time to spare him from being discovered by that suspicious Weavile.
Really, he should be grateful.
Objectively, their response had been swift—arriving the same afternoon the crisis began.
But the enemy had been faster.
Having said all he needed to, Li Xiang was running on fumes. All he wanted now was sleep.
"Can I make a few small requests?" He forced his eyes open, looking at Mo Ye. The silent, sword-carrying man seemed more approachable.
Mo Ye blinked but nodded. "Go ahead."
"Please put my family and me in the same hospital room. Also, our Pokémon are probably at the Laya City police station—can you bring them back?"
Li Xiang listed his reasonable demands. "That's about it. I'm really tired now. Please."
With that, his body finally gave out.
He collapsed onto the stretcher, unconscious.
Rotom remained hidden in his clothes, eyeing the strangers warily.
"…Take him out. And make sure everything he said was recorded." Nan Gongmeng waved a hand, and the medics carried Li Xiang away.
A nearby officer nodded. "It's all documented."
"Send it to Tian Du headquarters."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The officer saluted and left.
The cleared-out corner of the temple now held only Nan Gongmeng and Mo Ye.
Neither spoke, the weight of their failure pressing down on them.
After a long silence, Mo Ye finally said, "I once swore to protect this land's prosperity and peace with my blade—to be worthy of the title 'Heavenly King.'"
His voice was quiet. "But these past years, I've been so focused on chasing Xia Chunyu's shadow that I forgot what that oath meant."
"…I'm no better. I even arrogantly assumed these cultists were no real threat." Nan Gongmeng sighed. "They say the higher you climb, the farther you see. So why has my vision grown so narrow?"
The two had risen smoothly through the ranks, their talents in battle unmatched. By their early thirties, they stood among the world's elite, the undisputed leaders of their region.
Yet it had taken this catastrophe for them to realize—"Elite Four / Heavenly King" wasn't just an honorary title.
It meant being the shield for two hundred million people. It meant they should have been the ones holding up the sky, not a child like Li Xiang.
To bask in the region's admiration while shirking their duties when crisis struck—that was unforgivable.
Of course, part of the blame lay with the Saizhou branch's negligence, allowing the two cults to grow unchecked. By the time conflict erupted, they'd dismissed it as a minor civil disturbance.
How could they have foreseen this instead of the local authorities?
"When this is over, I'm returning," Mo Ye said abruptly. "Starting from scratch—truly protecting this land. Now I understand why Xia Chunyu always evaded my questions about his work."
Since becoming Champion, Xia Chunyu had grown increasingly busy, rarely available for their old sparring sessions. Mo Ye had never understood—what could be more important to a trainer than battle?
Now he knew.
Duty. Responsibility.
Nan Gongmeng didn't respond, but her thoughts mirrored his.
It wasn't too late to make amends.
"What about the boy?" she asked quietly. "Suicune told you to look after him."
Mo Ye considered. "He's thirteen, right? Simple. In a year, he'll enroll at a academy. I'll handle it then."
"…I don't think that's what Suicune meant."
Mo Ye shrugged. "This is my personal atonement. If not for him, things would've been worse. I owe him." His thumb pressed against his sword's guard. "That silver egg is trouble. More than we realize."
Suicune had insisted it be delivered to the Tower of Dawn's summit—the dwelling of Ho-Oh itself.
Nan Gongmeng hesitated. "Should I also…?"
Mo Ye glanced at her. "Your choice. Or you could just ask him what he wants."
"That'd feel like hush money!" She laughed bitterly. "Never mind. Handle it for me? I… don't think I can face him right now."
Mo Ye raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit dramatic."
"I'm human! Masters aren't gods! And I am a woman—we're allowed to be emotional!" Nan Gongmeng snapped, venting her frustration. "Besides, Fairy-type trainers are supposed to be kind and gentle, like flowers. Sorry to disappoint!"
Mo Ye tuned her out, long accustomed to her outbursts. "Enough. I need to deliver this to the Tower of Dawn. Be careful with that machine—and the drill. Call Xia Chunyu if necessary."
"Like I need you to tell me! Just go!" She shoved him.
Without another word, Mo Ye strode off. The Tower of Dawn wasn't easily entered, and Suicune's urgency had been palpable.