Next, the three quickly reorganized their spatial backpacks. The eighteen backpacks of various sizes were consolidated into six large backpacks and three medium-sized backpacks. The emptied medium and small backpacks were rolled up and tied around their waists, making them look like overnight millionaires.
"Let's go. Into the cave!" After putting an outer robe over his protective suit to conceal it, Icarus said to the other two.
"Okay!"
The two nodded and followed.
As for their faces, the protective suits covered their entire bodies, including helmets and masks. In such a chaotic situation, no one was foolish enough to expose their identity.
Thump, thump, thump Rustle
As they entered the cave, they quickly realized that this heavily guarded area of the Wu Neng Family was completely different from the outer caves.
Although the stone walls were still rough and uneven, the fluorescent stones embedded in them had clearly been arranged deliberately. Looking at the dark purple poison stains on the ground and the incomplete corpses lying every few steps apart, Icarus immediately understood that the Wu Neng Family had set up countless traps here.
When inactive, it looked like an ordinary cave. But it was obvious that the defenders knew they were outnumbered and had activated the entire cave's defensive system.
"Good thing we arrived a little late. Otherwise, getting through this section would've been extremely difficult," Airi said with lingering fear.
"Yeah. This poison can even kill a Graveler, which is basically pure stone!" Stone added as he noticed a dead Graveler nearby. Its originally gray body had turned a sickly purple, clearly showing it had died from poisoning.
"Let's move carefully. Don't touch any of the corpses."
Although there were many dead Trainers scattered across the ground, their backpacks had already been taken. The only valuable things left were the Pokémon corpses, but to be safe, Icarus still warned them.
The poison was simply too potent. He wasn't sure whether their protective suits could completely block it.
"Okay!"
"Got it."
The two nodded and avoided looking at the corpses as they advanced deeper into the cave with their Pokémon.
Although others had already cleared the path with their lives, there was no guarantee that all the traps had been triggered. They still had to proceed cautiously.
Fortunately, enough people and Pokémon had already died on this section of the route. After carefully advancing for quite some time, the three encountered no danger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ahhh! No!"
"Kuga!"
"Coolie!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
However, after going a little farther, they began hearing battle sounds and screams from deeper within the cave.
Clearly, fighting was still ongoing.
Since they had encountered no obstacles, they had managed to catch up.
"What should we do, Brother Icarus? Should we follow them?" Stone asked.
Airi also looked at him expectantly.
"Uh… let me think."
Icarus pondered for a moment.
To be honest, he wanted to wait for the people ahead to clear the way before following. The place was simply too dangerous. Ordinary-level Trainers were dying in large numbers.
But if he waited too long, he might not get any share of the spoils.
Looking at their journey so far, they hadn't gained anything.
Before he could make a decision, however, a series of footsteps echoed from behind.
Thump, thump, thump~
"Sprout!"
"Heh-cha!"
"Yo-bo!"
Weepinbell, Graveler, and Poliwag immediately entered combat stances.
Soon, a group of male Trainers clad in full protective gear appeared behind them.
Icarus was about to step aside and let them pass when a female voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
Catch up quickly.
"Well, no need to think anymore."
The moment he heard the voice, he immediately recognized it as Natsume.
As for why she appeared as a man, it was probably some Psychic illusion. For someone of her level, altering appearances was trivial.
"We're following them!"
After Natsume's group moved ahead, Icarus finally made his decision and spoke to Airi and Stone.
"Okay!"
Neither of them objected.
They simply assumed Icarus intended to use the group ahead as a shield.
Rustle, rustle, rustle Thump, thump
Having made up their minds, the three followed behind Natsume's group.
With Natsume leading the way, their progress was extremely fast.
Before long, they caught up with the main force at the front.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Roar!"
"Pee!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The main force was currently battling a Clefable clan.
Among them were seven or eight Elite-level Clefable, more than ten high-tier Ordinary-level members, and numerous low- and mid-tier Ordinary-level Clefairy.
On the other side, there appeared to be only three Elite-level Trainers and six Elite-level Pokémon.
Everyone else was Ordinary-level.
They were only managing to hold their ground through sheer numbers and the advantage of the narrow terrain.
"You people in the back, attack already! There's a small Moon Stone vein behind this Clefable clan!"
One of the Elite-level Trainers immediately shouted when he noticed Natsume's group approaching.
However, Natsume paid little attention to the mention of the Moon Stone vein.
She merely frowned.
These people who were trying to profit from the chaos were truly useless.
After coming this far, they still hadn't even reached one-third of Moon Stone Cave.
"Stop wasting time. Attack together!"
Remembering the Wu Neng Family's distress signal on the Alliance network, she gave a low command.
"Yes, my lady!"
Her direct subordinates immediately acknowledged the order.
"We should attack too. It'll give us a reason to claim some spoils afterward," Icarus said after receiving Natsume's telepathic message.
He quickly relayed the instruction to Airi and Stone.
To avoid suspicion—or perhaps simply for convenience—almost none of Natsume's subordinates released pure Psychic-type Pokémon.
Most of them used Pokémon such as Golduck, Starmie, and Slowbro.
Although there were only a dozen of them, the moment they appeared, the atmosphere of the entire battlefield changed.
The weakest among them was Elite-level.
A dozen Elite-level Pokémon acting together was enough to make anyone suspect they belonged to Team Rocket.
Buzz Buzz Buzz~
That wasn't all.
Their Trainers secretly synchronized with their Pokémon, amplifying their Psychic power.
Of course, outsiders couldn't see any of it.
Psychic power was invisible and formless.
"Combined Psychic!"
Under their Trainers' command, the dozen Elite-level Pokémon launched a coordinated Psychic attack.
"Weepinbell, Seed Machine Gun!"
"Poliwag, Water Pulse Barrage!"
"Graveler, Rock Throw Barrage!"
Following suit, Icarus and the others immediately joined the assault.
Whoosh!
A tremendous wave swept across the battlefield.
Although they intentionally avoided other Trainers' Pokémon, several were still caught in the aftermath.
"Clefairy!"
"Pee!"
"Ku!"
…
The combined Psychic attack instantly swept the battlefield clean.
The entire Clefable clan collapsed.
Naturally, many other Pokémon were mixed among them.
Yet nobody dared complain.
They obediently recalled their unconscious Pokémon and waited for the stronger individuals to decide what happened next.
Even the three Elite-level Trainers acted the same way.
Anyone could see that this was an elite force that had undergone rigorous training—most likely Team Rocket.
If their subordinates were already Elite-level, then their leader was almost certainly Gym Leader-level or higher.
Who would dare compete with such people for loot?
"Go collect the spoils together. Wild Pokémon may be captured directly with empty Poké Balls. Hand over half of everything you find. We Team Rocket are very generous~"
Seeing the others standing motionless, Natsume nodded in satisfaction and spoke in her disguised male voice.
There was no helping it.
She still needed these people to clear the way for her.
There were countless traps and mechanisms ahead. If her Elite-level Pokémon were injured by them, the losses would outweigh the gains.
The entire Moon Stone Cave contained equipment specifically designed to interfere with Psychic detection.
While it couldn't greatly weaken Psychic attacks due to their large area of effect, it was perfectly capable of blocking detection.
As a result, even someone as powerful as Natsume couldn't determine the exact location of the giant Moon Stone.
Nor could she simply teleport there.
Without a Psychic coordinate, teleportation was impossible.
Fortunately, an undercover agent had previously provided a map of the cave.
According to that map, a route could be opened using human lives.
That was also why she was willing to give fifty percent of the spoils to these people.
Swish~
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"This one's mine!"
"Shhh! Keep it down!"
…
The moment the order was given, everyone rushed into action.
Some threw Poké Balls.
Others dug for ore.
Icarus and his companions did the same.
Because Icarus had deliberately stayed close to Natsume's group and attacked alongside them, most of the scattered Trainers assumed he was connected to the mysterious force.
As a result, no one dared compete with them for resources.
In the end, the three captured four Clefairy and dug up two mid-grade Moon Stones.
After sorting everything, they immediately approached the Elite-level Trainer overseeing the area and handed over two Poké Balls and one Moon Stone.
For added insurance, Icarus even handed over a large spatial backpack.
The Elite-level Trainer smiled slightly.
This young man clearly understood how the world worked.
A quick scan revealed three to four million worth of goods inside—no small amount even for an Elite-level Trainer.
At the same time, Icarus's actions further convinced the surrounding Trainers that his group had ties to Natsume's faction.
Otherwise, why would he voluntarily hand over an entire backpack?
Surely it was payment for helping clear the way earlier.
Seeing this, several other Trainers who were willing to curry favor followed suit, offering backpacks of varying sizes along with their tribute.
Natsume ignored her subordinates accepting gifts.
Under normal circumstances, people of their strength could make fortunes in this chaos.
But because of the mission, they couldn't freely reveal their Psychic abilities or openly plunder.
These gifts merely served as compensation.
At most, those who had offered gifts would receive slightly better treatment later.
Those who hadn't would be placed at the very front.
Those who had would be positioned behind them.
After that came the disguised Team Rocket spies.
Finally came Natsume's own direct subordinates.
Because so many people were collecting spoils, cleanup only took a few minutes.
Soon everyone was assembled again, waiting for orders.
Swish~
Natsume secretly scanned the crowd.
There were simply too few people.
And they were too weak.
Although those who had made it this far could be considered capable among Ordinary-level Trainers, Ordinary-level was still Ordinary-level.
In her eyes, they were weak.
There were only around sixty of them.
The three Elite-level Trainers, however, were worth paying attention to.
She also noticed that among the five Team Rocket squad leaders she had marked earlier, only two remained.
One of them was Icarus.
Of the five Psychic imprints she had left behind, only two still existed.
The other three had vanished.
Either someone powerful enough had erased them, or their owners were dead.
Considering that ordinary squad leaders would never encounter Gym Leader-level opponents, the answer was obvious.
They had died.
How fragile…
I wonder if they'll be enough.
If not, I may have to use those two remaining spies to clear the path as well.
After silently making her calculations, Natsume stood up and signaled everyone to move.
"You, you, and all of you. Send out your Pokémon and walk at the very front!"
After receiving her signal, several direct subordinates immediately began assigning pathfinders.
Before long, a group of relatively weak mid-tier Ordinary-level Trainers had been selected.
With Psychic detection, assessing their strength was effortless.
"W-Why!? My lady, I'll give you everything I have! Can I withdraw?!"
"Yes, my lady! My Pokémon are seriously injured! Can I withdraw?!"
The selected Trainers immediately turned pale and pleaded in trembling voices.
Toward these people who wanted to back out at the last moment, one of the direct subordinates simply had his Golduck use Confusion.
The fleeing Trainers were lifted into the air and then slammed heavily into the ground.
Bang!
"Withdraw? In your dreams! Nobody is leaving! You can withdraw after we reach the giant Moon Stone pit, but until then, you'll do exactly as you're told!"
The subordinate glared at the crowd while the injured Trainers groaned on the floor.
"Don't worry. We won't let you die for nothing. You, you, and those few over there are the second group. The people over there will be the third group. We'll rotate. Once one group passes a trap, the next group takes over."
Since one person was playing the villain, a more gentle-looking Elite-level subordinate stepped forward to play the good cop and calmly explained the rotation system they had prepared in advance.