The final floor of the underground space was larger than the previous four floors combined.
The main body of this floor was occupied by water. A huge pool sat in the center, with rows of pipes, each with a diameter of over two or three meters, pouring water into it from the high walls. The streams of water fell into the pool like waterfalls.
Ange and Diancie walked along the road at the edge of the pool. They saw a gigantic black oval object suspended in the air.
"What is that?" Ange asked.
Diancie explained, "That is the power core of the entire Sky Fortress. If the Soul-Heart from a Magearna is used as a key, this power core can transform the entire Sky Fortress into a terrifying weapon."
"I see." Ange suddenly understood. "That is truly dangerous."
"Huh, where does this lead?" Ange suddenly saw a huge semicircular pipe appear ahead on the road, larger than the pipes on the wall.
The pipes on the wall injected water into the pool, and the pool then discharged the water through this pipe. This maintained the activity of the pool's water.
Diancie explained, "The water here all comes from the Nebel Lake, so naturally, it must return to the Nebel Lake!"
"Let us go take a look."
Ange walked into the pipe.
Inside the pipe was a waterway. The two sides, like the edge of the pool outside, were two paths for people to walk on.
The water flow in the waterway was not fast; it flowed forward at a moderate pace. The faint sound of water could be heard coming from inside the pipe.
Ange walked along and said to Diancie, "Let us give the Sky Fortress a new name. It is not suitable to call it 'Sky Fortress' anymore."
"Okay, okay!" Diancie nodded in agreement. "But what should we call it?"
The human and the Pokémon both lowered their heads in thought.
"How about calling it Secret Fortress!" Diancie suggested after pondering for a while.
"Good, that is the one!" Ange agreed happily.
"You are adopting it so casually?" Diancie asked, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"I think the name is pretty good. What is wrong?" Ange asked.
"Nothing. I only said it casually, but since you think it is good, let us call it that," Diancie replied, spreading her hands.
The waterway was very, very long. It took Ange and Diancie nearly half an hour to reach the end. As they approached the waterway exit, Ange heard the huge sound of rushing water from afar.
The end of the waterway was the giant waterfall at the junction of Nebel Lake and Nebel River.
The exit of the waterway was hidden beneath the waterfall, making it very difficult for anyone to discover.
Standing at the exit, looking at the rapidly flowing water curtain ahead and listening to the roaring sound of the water, Ange felt like he was in a Water Curtain Cave.
"It is truly spectacular!" Ange exclaimed.
"It is!" Diancie also sighed.
The closer he looked, the more Ange realized the magnificence and grandeur of this waterfall. It was truly difficult for the Magikarp of the past to swim upstream. An ordinary person would probably be smashed to pieces.
Brave Magikarp! Ange could not help but admire them in his heart. Even though they only lived at the bottom of the Pokémon world, they still burst with vigorous life force.
After admiring the beauty of the waterfall for a while, Ange and Diancie returned to the surface.
Checking the time, Ange said, "It is getting late. I have to set off, or I will not make it in time to open the store today."
Diancie wondered, "Strange. Why has Meowstic not arrived yet?"
Speak of the devil, Meowstic waved at them from outside the wall just as Diancie finished speaking.
It turned out that Meowstic was not late. The changes to Ange's home were too great, and it was too scared to enter, so it had been circling outside the wall. Fortunately, it saw Ange and Diancie just now, or it would not know how long it would have circled.
"Meowstic, come in quickly!" Ange happily waved at Meowstic.
Meowstic walked around the wall, entered through the main entrance, and looked curiously at the vastly changed Diancie's Grand Cafeteria.
"Meow~"
Meowstic questioned Diancie curiously about what had happened.
Diancie explained, "Nothing, we just remodeled the house."
Meowstic did not know what to say.
Its reaction was exactly the same as the Dugtrio brothers, Barboach, and Whiscash.
"Alright, we should get going, or we will not make it in time," Ange said.
Hearing this, Meowstic stopped asking. It quickly went to the Azoth Royal Capital with Ange and Komala.
Before leaving, Ange instructed Diancie, "Diancie, could you wait outside the wall today to greet everyone? Otherwise, I am afraid they will be like Meowstic, hesitant to enter because the change is too big."
"Okay, I know. You go quickly," Diancie said, waving at Ange.
Ange, Meowstic, and Komala passed through the space portal and appeared on the third floor of the Munchlax Home. He looked out the window and was surprised to find that it was snowing outside.
"It is snowing?"
He opened the balcony door and walked out. The entire Azoth Royal Capital was covered in silver. He opened the window and extended his hand outside the balcony. The snow fell into his palm and quickly melted.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew through the window. Komala curled up in Ange's arms, completely shrinking into a small ball. Ange also could not help but shiver.
He thought for a moment, then bought two scarves from the System Store and wrapped one around Komala.
"Here, warm up."
After wrapping Komala, he squatted down and wrapped the other one around Meowstic. "Meowstic too."
Meowstic touched the soft scarf and smiled sweetly at Ange, then buried half its face in the scarf.
It is so warm! Meowstic thought. Not only was its body warm, but its heart was too.
"Come on, it is too cold outside. Let us go back," Ange said to Meowstic as he closed the window.
Meowstic nodded and immediately followed Ange downstairs to get busy.
Ange and the others had not been busy for long when Sobble rushed into the kitchen in a panic.
"Sobb, Sobb~" Did I oversleep?
Ange smiled and said, "A little bit." He squatted down and straightened Sobble's crooked chef's outfit and the chef's hat it wore backward.
"Sobb, Sobb~" Being late is not cool at all.
Sobble quickly began to cook the congee.
"How about I wake you up tomorrow morning?" Ange said while busy.
"Sobb~, Sobb~" I will wake myself up. I will not be late tomorrow. Having someone wake me up is not cool at all.
Sobble shook its head firmly.
Ange shook his head helplessly. "You little narcissist."
"Sobb~"
Sobble grinned and gave Ange a thumbs-up.
"Good morning, Meowstic."
Soon, customers arrived at the store. Even with the heavy snow, it did not stop the customers' enthusiasm for dining.
"Meow~" Good morning, sir.
Meowstic also enthusiastically waved and greeted the customer.
The customer brushed the snow off his body and spoke to Meowstic.
"Oh, Meowstic, is that a new scarf today? It looks great! It suits you very well!"
"Meow~" My boss gave it to me.
Meowstic was a little shy from the compliment.
Of course, the customer could not understand Meowstic's words.
Seeing the customer covered in snow, Meowstic quickly stepped forward and used its psychic power to flick the snow off the customer. The snow on the customer instantly disappeared.
"Thank you so much, Meowstic."
When the customer was seated, Meowstic quickly served him the steaming hot congee and bun.
Today, the congee at the Munchlax Home was Red Date Congee and Black Rice Congee.
The customer took a large bite of the bun and then drank a mouthful of the piping hot Black Rice Congee. His whole body immediately warmed up.
"Comfortable," he said with a sigh.
As time passed, more and more customers entered the store. However, compared to usual, the heavy snow still affected the store's business.
Watching Meowstic move back and forth between the kitchen and the main hall, Ange asked, "Meowstic, can you manage?"
With Romeo and Slurpuff gone, the workload for both Ange and Meowstic had significantly increased.
"Meow, Meow~" I can!
Meowstic shook its head and clenched its fist, indicating that it could manage.
"Thank you for your hard work," Ange said.
Meowstic shook its head and immediately resumed its diligent work.
As soon as Meowstic left the kitchen, Ange noticed a small mushroom head peeking in, clinging to the door frame.
"Ralts? Why are you here?" Ange asked in surprise.
"Ralts, Ralts~" Mom asked me to come help the boss.
Ralts said.
Ange did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Can you handle it?" It was only just born!
Ralts was displeased to hear this. "Ralts, Ralts~" I watched Mom and Dad work. I can do it!
Saying this, it angrily withdrew its head.
Ralts did not rush to help Meowstic. Instead, it climbed onto the cashier counter, "heave-ho, heave-ho," and lay next to Komala, quietly observing Meowstic at work.
Once it had a complete understanding of how Meowstic worked, it went down to help.
The customers were very surprised to see the tiny Ralts.
"Oh, the little boss hired another employee!"
"It is Ralts, so cute!"
"Ralts, can Big Sister give you a kiss, a hug, and lift you up?"
...
Unlike Meowstic, who was very uncomfortable when it first interacted with humans, Ralts was calm and composed when facing a store full of customers because no one had ever instilled the idea that "humans are scary" in its head.
Blue light flashed in its eyes as it imitated Meowstic and helped the customers. Surprisingly, it was quite good at it.
Apart from a few small mistakes at the beginning, Ralts gradually became more comfortable with the work.
The customers in the store were very tolerant of the little Ralts and did not mind the small mistakes it made at first. Instead, they kept encouraging it.
"Nice job, Ralts, that is great."
"You helped a lot, thank you, Ralts."
"You are so capable, Ralts."
"Ralts, can Big Sister hug you?"
...
Before long, Ralts became familiar with the customers in the store. Laughter and cheerful voices occasionally filled the hall.
Ange heard the commotion, came out of the kitchen, and poked his head into the hall. He saw Ralts and the customers "chatting and laughing."
Ange was speechless.
Is this what they call social exuberance?
Shaking his head helplessly, Ange returned to the kitchen to continue his work.
With Ralts joining, Meowstic's workload was indeed much lighter.
As soon as 10:00 AM arrived, Ange closed the door as usual. After the customers left one after another, he put on thick clothes, carried Komala, and took Ralts and Meowstic to the storefront.
He wanted to see the snow scenery.
Since transmigrating to the Pokémon world, this was the first time he had encountered snow. Five hundred years ago, his body was weak, and even when it snowed in the Royal Capital, he had no chance to go out.
Ange also put a small padded jacket on Ralts and Meowstic, and he wrapped a small scarf around Ralts, too. They looked very warm.
Looking at the continuous, heavy snow outside and the people passing by, Ange had a feeling of tranquility.
There were not many motorbikes in the Azoth Royal Capital, so one barely heard any honking. This made the Azoth Royal Capital after the snow especially quiet.
He held an umbrella and strolled down the main street of the Azoth Royal Capital with the three Pokémon. He walked all the way to outside the city gate, where he could see the location of the former ancient city wall.
Ange took the ancient city wall, but no one in the Azoth Royal Capital noticed anything unusual, especially since everything was covered in silver snow.
Just then, Lila called. Her surprised voice came from the other end of the phone. "Your Highness, did you really take the Sky Fortress away?"
"Yes!" Ange replied. "We already discussed it, did we not?"
"That is true," Lila said. "But I am still surprised that you took such a massive structure away silently overnight."
Ange laughed, then said, "Do not worry. I am guarding the Sky Fortress. No one can scheme against it."
If anything happened, he could put the Sky Fortress back into the System Backpack at any time.
"Then I will leave it to Your Highness," Lila said.
"By the way, how is Romeo?" Ange suddenly asked.
Lila smiled. "Do not worry. Although Jarvis's incident made him very sad, I believe he will adjust quickly."
"That is good," Ange said. "You and Edward should also try to spend some time with him, even if it is just eating a meal together every day."
Lila was silent for a moment, then said, "Understood, Your Highness. Thank you for the reminder."
The two chatted for a while, and Ange hung up the phone and returned home.
After returning to the Nebel Plateau, Ange saw many Pokémon gathered on the wall in front of his house.
Fletchinder, Swablu, and Spritzee were jumping and dancing on it.
Pancham and Skitty were hugging and rolling around on it.
Stunky and Gulpin were chasing each other on it.
Staraptor and Swablu's Dad were perched on the wall, watching their children play with kind expressions.
...
Everyone was having a great time.
Unlike the cold Azoth Royal Capital, the Nebel Plateau was still warm like spring. It only had a slight coolness because winter had arrived outside.
Ralts and Sobble, who had just returned, immediately rushed over. They climbed onto the wall skillfully, using Bellsprout's Vine Whip, and immediately joined everyone in playing.
"Munch~" Master, you are back!
Munchlax saw Ange and quickly jumped down from the wall and ran into Ange's arms.
"Munch, Munch~" Our house changed so much!