80: Chapter 80 Withstanding the Divine Fist head-on, Red Lotus Bleeds

Mewtwo sensed that someone had touched the lock on its body.

It raised its head, and the flicker of hesitation in its eyes was suppressed by a cold light. The white lines on the back of its armor tightened, as if someone were yanking on a chain from afar.

The next moment, psychic power exploded in all directions.

Skeletal Aerodactyl was sent flying, half of its bone wing falling apart in mid-air, the bone fragments crashing into the sea. Gengar was bitten back by its own shadow, a purple-black fissure tearing across its chest. Sabrina collapsed to her knees, drops of blood from her nose splattering onto the stone floor.

Tyranitar slid back over a dozen meters, its feet plowing two deep trenches into the rock layer.

It stopped.

Then, it looked up, baring its full set of fangs at Mewtwo.

Lynn stood inside the Main Tower, his voice kept very low.

"Go again."

Tyranitar charged out.

This time, its mission was clear.

Take the beating.

Mewtwo's palm lit up, a silver-blue ball of light aimed at Tyranitar's chest. When the beam of light descended, Tyranitar did not dodge, instead backhanding a coastal boulder and pulling it up to block its front.

The boulder evaporated.

The remaining beam slammed into its shoulder.

Its black outer armor exploded, and hot, magma-like blood flowed out along the cracks. Tyranitar dropped to one knee, then drove its tail into the rocky ground, forcibly dragging itself back into position.

Taking advantage of the half-second while Mewtwo raised its hand, Gengar lunged at the shadow and took a bite.

The shadow was pulled askew.

The second beam of light grazed the top of Tyranitar's head and shot into the distant sea. The sea surface first dipped downward, then roared back, waves surging over a dozen meters high, crashing onto the pier and overturning three battered artillery vehicles.

Sabrina seized this moment.

She compressed her psychic energy into a fine needle and pierced it beside the white line.

A series of images exploded before her eyes.

Incubation tanks.

Surgical lights.

A cold operating table.

People in white coats held clipboards, repeatedly making Mewtwo raise its hand, lower it, attack, and stop.

The small shadow was locked behind glass, and the first thing it learned was to obey orders.

Sabrina screamed, her right eye briefly losing focus.

Blaine roared at her: "Disconnect!"

Sabrina bit her lip, instead pushing that fine needle further in.

"I see the door."

Porygon-Z tunneled into the armor along the small gap she had opened. The screens inside the Main Tower went black one by one. It sacrificed its first spare body, pouring all its remaining power into the white line.

[First spare body scrapped.]

[Second spare body beginning to burn.]

[Continue dismantling.]

The voice grew fainter.

Mewtwo clutched its head and let out a low roar. The sound was not like a beast's, but more like a person locked in an iron room, hearing someone smashing the lock outside for the first time.

The commands left in the armor by the League tightened immediately. Mewtwo's gaze turned cold once again.

It raised its other hand.

The raindrops over Cinnabar Island all stopped. Every drop of rain was ground into a sharp needle by psychic power, the tips turning to point at every living thing on the island.

The alarm inside the Main Tower was raised to the maximum.

"Rain needles!"

"The shelter can't hold!"

"The port maintenance team is still outside!"

Blaine's face was ashen.

"Lynn!"

Lynn stared at the sky.

"Everyone get down. Put wooden boards under the iron sheds, and sandbags over the boards. Those who can still move, go drag the wounded."

The sound of crying, roaring, and crashing filled the channel. The next moment, the rain needles fell.

Cinnabar Island was like it had been scraped by thousands of fine blades. The iron sheds were riddled with dense holes, sandbags exploded, and wooden boards shattered. Several workers rushed to the outermost edge, using their bodies to pin down the tarps, their backs riddled with wounds from the rain needles. When someone fell on the spot, the person next to them stepped through the bloody water and lunged forward, continuing to hold down that piece of tarp.

A young boy ran toward the medical tent clutching a medicine box. Rain needles pierced his shoulder, and he fell into the mud, medicine bottles rolling everywhere. A nearby Rattata picked up the medicine bottles in its mouth and ran toward the tent, its body half-dyed red with blood by the time it reached the entrance.

The medic bit her lip.

She took the medicine bottles, turned, and stuffed gauze into the wounded person's abdomen.

Tyranitar walked forward against the rain needles. With every step it took, a layer of its outer armor was shaved off. Magma-like blood dripped onto the ground, burning small pits into the black stone. Like a wall about to be breached, it swayed, yet still blocked the island's shore.

Gengar held onto the shadow without letting go; the rain needles passed through its body, only to be swallowed back in by its shadow. Its face was twisted in pain, yet it was still smiling.

"Lower, a bit more." Hearing these words, Sabrina lunged forward, pressing her hands firmly against the ground.

Mewtwo's body actually sank half a meter.

Skeletal Aerodactyl took the opportunity to fly up, dragging its broken bone wings as it collided with Mewtwo's back. Before it could even make contact, it was shattered by a circle of psychic power, its bones crashing toward the sea surface.

Lynn did not call for a rescue. He watched the landing point, his voice cold and hard.

"Record the coordinates. Retrieve the bones after the battle."

The channel was silent for half a breath. Everyone understood. Going to save them now would mean more people dying. This was the price to pay for seizing Mewtwo.

Every person who fell first became a name on a ledger. After the battle, they would be dragged back, have tombstones erected, and the accounts settled.

Lynn kept the channel open, letting everyone hear the crying in the shelters and the screams on the outer defense line. He wanted them to understand that the knife they were seizing today was one that could bury the entire island with it.

If the knife remained in the hands of the League, the next ones crying would be the people of Saffron City, Viridian City, and countless others who wouldn't have time to evacuate.

Inside the Main Tower, Porygon-Z's projection was reduced to a mere glimmer.

[White line casing cracked.]

Sabrina looked up, her face covered in blood.

"There is another ring of locks inside."

Blaine's hand rested on the second red switch.

"If we draw any more, the old furnace room will collapse."

Lynn looked outside. Tyranitar had already charged beneath Mewtwo, supporting itself with its fists on the ground, forcibly pulling itself up from the rain needles.

"Draw."

Blaine pressed it.

Boom! The second furnace core connected.

The ground beneath Cinnabar Island shook again. The walls of the old furnace room in the distance cracked, bricks and stones falling. Workers dragged the wounded out, and an old worker turned back, rushing into the fire to carry out the last bundle of spare cables, his hair already burning.

A blinding red light erupted from the top of the Main Tower. The white line was pulled thicker, revealing a ring of silver-blue locking rings inside.

Mewtwo's eyes finally wavered for a moment. But its reaction was faster. It spread its five fingers, and all the scrap iron, artillery barrels, and broken cranes in the port lifted off the ground simultaneously, converging into a rain of iron that slammed toward Tyranitar.

"Block!" Lynn roared the command.

Tyranitar crossed its arms, pushing its whole body forward. The rain of iron slammed into it, emitting a series of muffled thuds. Every piece of scrap iron blew away a layer of outer armor, but it stubbornly nailed its heels into the ground, buying the Main Tower three breaths of time.

Three breaths were enough for Sabrina to push another needle.

Three breaths were enough for Porygon-Z to burn away another part of its body.

Three breaths were also enough for Gengar to crawl from the ground onto Mewtwo's shadow and bite a gap beneath that ring of silver-blue locks.

On the other side of the coast, the second outer wall began to collapse. A squad of wounded soldiers dragged a recoil cannon forward. The wheels of the cannon got stuck in the rubble, and even with three people pulling together, they couldn't move it. The captain saw Mewtwo raise its hand, knowing the next strike would land on the Main Tower, and shoved his shoulder directly under the cannon carriage.

"Push!" The artillery vehicle finally moved. The recoil cannon raised, firing an anchor hook attached to a thick iron chain.

The anchor hook flew toward Mewtwo's feet, but was crushed by psychic power. However, as the iron chain fell, it happened to strike the edge of the shadow. Leveraging the weight of the iron chain, Gengar forcibly dragged the shadow down another inch.

"Well done." Lynn's voice came through the channel. The captain smiled, but in the next breath, he was blown away by the shockwave, falling into the collapsed stone wall.

A nearby soldier wanted to rush over to save him. Lynn suppressed the command first.

"Mark the location, keep pushing the artillery vehicle."

The soldier's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth as he returned behind the artillery vehicle. Such an order was so cruel it made people want to curse.

The medical tent also heard this order. A young nurse clutched the gauze, tears welling up in her eyes. She knew that captain. When evacuating the children this morning, he was the one who carried the last two children into the tent. Now, his name could only be written in the coordinate log first.

The old physician wiped the rain from his face with the back of his hand and pressed down on the wounded person's injury.

"Cry after you finish crying. Now, stitch."

The nurse gritted her teeth and lowered her head to thread the needle. When the needle tip pierced the skin, her hand finally steadied.

But if the artillery vehicle stopped, the Main Tower would be blasted through by the next strike. Once the Main Tower was breached, Sabrina, Porygon-Z, and Lynn would all fall inside. By then, the entire island would be buried with them.

Mewtwo's third attack descended. This time, it bypassed Tyranitar and pressed directly toward the Main Tower.

Tyranitar let out a low roar, its whole body shifting sideways, forcibly slamming itself beneath the beam of light.

Boom! It was pressed to its knees, the rock layer beneath them exploding into a deep pit. The outer armor on its shoulders shattered completely, revealing the churning red light inside.

Tyranitar raised its head, a hoarse roar squeezing from its throat.

The sound was short.

But the meaning was conveyed very clearly.

It was still holding on.

Lynn saw it.

"Sabrina, third needle."

Sabrina's fingernails dug into the ground, blood filling the gaps between her fingers.

"If I push again, I'll lose an eye."

"Push."

Sabrina let out a laugh.

"You really know how to boss people around."

She raised her hand, and the third fine psychic needle pierced deep into the white line.

Inside the Main Tower, a maintenance worker was sent flying, his chest slamming against an iron cabinet. When he crawled up, his mouth was full of blood, but he jammed the broken plug back into the interface.

Sparks exploded, and half of his sleeve caught fire. A nearby soldier used his hands to pat out the flames.

"It's connected!"

The white line on the screen jumped violently. Lynn stood behind the cracked glass, his voice low.

"Mewtwo."

"Can you hear me?"

The sounds from outside could not reach its ears. But the cold light in its eyes did indeed crack a little. It looked down, seeing those bleeding creatures on the shore. They were afraid of it.

But they were also approaching it.

Some were blown away by it, and the next batch filled the gap.

Some were struck down by rain needles, and the Pokemon beside them picked up the medicine bottles and kept running.

Some knew full well the Main Tower was a target, yet still delivered cables into the tower.

These images drilled into its eyes, like small pebbles, smashing against the glass of that white room.

It saw a burned Ponyta poke its head out from the shelter cave, wanting to run toward the Main Tower, only to be dragged back by a little girl hugging its neck.

It saw a sailor with a broken leg tie himself to the artillery vehicle, using his body as a winch to slowly pull the cannon barrel into alignment.

It also saw Tyranitar kneeling before the shore, clearly barely able to stand, yet still baring its teeth at it, as if mocking it, this weapon that had flown out of a laboratory.

In the white room, someone had once told it: The lives outside are all weak, and the weak only deserve to obey the strong. But these weaklings before it were smashing their own flesh and blood into the lock on its body.

For the first time, it hesitated longer. This flicker of hesitation was the opening Lynn had been waiting for.

"Porygon-Z, bite the locking ring."

[Second spare body scrapped.]

"Sabrina, don't let go."

"I'm not dead yet."

"Tyranitar, stand up."

Tyranitar dug its broken claws into the rock layer, forcibly pulling its knees out of the deep pit.

Lynn pressed his hand on the console.

"Blaine."

Blaine stared at the third red switch.

"With this one, the ceiling of the shelter cave will crack. It will hold for five minutes at most."

Lynn looked at the channel.

"Shelter cave, listen up."

"Everyone move to the inner stone chamber. Elderly first, children second, Pokemon third. The able-bodied stand at the entrance, using iron plates to support the ceiling."

Chaotic footsteps came from the cave.

"Heard that!"

"Children inside!"

"Ponyta, don't crowd, follow me!"

"Lift the stone slab!"

Lynn closed his eyes, then opened them again.

"Open the third furnace."

Blaine pressed it.

Deep within Cinnabar Island, the volcano let out a heavy roar.

The red light at the top of the Main Tower turned into a blinding crimson-white. The ground cracked, rubble falling from the rock layer outside the shelter cave; the able-bodied held up the iron plates with their heads, their arms shaking from the vibration. In the medical tent, the wounded bit down on cloth strips, no one daring to make a sound.

The locking ring inside the white line was finally pulled to its maximum.

Gengar bit down on the gap.

Sabrina's third needle pierced through the inner layer.

Porygon-Z's last remnant of light lunged forward.

Tyranitar slammed its fists into the ground, pressing Mewtwo's form down another half-foot.

Lynn stared at the silver-white figure in mid-air, his voice cutting through the island-wide channel.

"Mewtwo, reach out."

"That is your lock."

"Pull it yourself."

Mewtwo's pupils contracted violently.

Its raised hand stopped in mid-air.

In the distance, a sharp signal came from the direction of New Island, the locking ring on the back of its armor tightening again, forcing it to raise its hand to blast the Main Tower. But this time, its hand stopped in mid-air, unable to press down.

It slowly turned toward the back of its own neck.

Silver-blue cold light churned in its eyes.

Pain, orders, crying, artillery fire, rain needles, the white room, the blood on Cinnabar Island—all of it crowded into its brain.

It finally reached out its hand.

It grabbed that ring of silver-blue locks.

At this moment, all sound on the island seemed to be choked off. Lynn's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"Pull."

Mewtwo tilted its head back and let out the first roar that truly belonged to itself.

The silver-blue locking ring was pulled out from its neck, bit by bit.

Blood-like light sprayed out from the gaps in the armor, illuminating half of Cinnabar Island.

Sabrina fainted on the spot.

Porygon-Z's projection extinguished completely.

Gengar was slammed into the ground by the backlash, only half its face still twitching in the shadow.

Tyranitar knelt before the shore, its arms hanging down, its outer armor shattered like burnt, cracked black stone.

The moment the locking ring broke, all the rain needles in the sky lost their force, clattering back to the ground.

Mewtwo hovered in mid-air, looking down at the lock in its hand.

It finally stopped its attack on Cinnabar.

Inside the Main Tower, Lynn leaned against the cracked console, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the silver-white figure, his voice very soft.

"Now, it's New Island's turn to pay its debts."