The deeper he went, the heavier the breathing became.
Until at the very end, it sounded like rolling thunder.
Shiko felt somewhat tense inside.
His eyes were filled with caution.
He lightened his steps and slowed them down,
afraid that his arrival
might disturb the Pokémon sleeping in the deepest part of the cave.
After advancing another kilometer or so into the cave's depths,
the narrow passage suddenly opened up.
Within the vast space before him,
Shiko spotted at a glance the Pokémon lying asleep in the center of the chamber.
Registeel!
The Steel Titan!
Shiko stopped walking.
He stood in the distance, silently observing this Third-tier Legendary that had fallen into slumber.
Even from over a hundred meters away,
he could still clearly feel the fierce and terrifying aura radiating from Registeel.
A vast amount of Steel-type energy and presence filled this entire space.
Even Shiko,
within that aura,
could feel a powerful threat and a sharp, cutting pain.
Registeel's dark silver body
looked somewhat dull and dusty.
But Shiko had absolutely no doubt about the hardness of the metallic substance covering its body.
It was probably even sturdier than Steelix's.
The breathing sound was coming from Registeel.
With each rise and fall of its breath,
Shiko could clearly see
two streams of silver aura
being expelled from Registeel's nostrils.
These light, drifting strands of aura continued to float upward,
until they finally attached themselves to the silver ore on the ceiling.
The two pieces of ore touched by that aura
became noticeably brighter in an instant.
Seeing that scene,
Shiko vaguely guessed how this mine had formed.
He also understood why the surface-layer ore here shone so much more brightly than the ore outside.
These rocks and soil,
nurtured by Registeel's Steel-type aura over countless years of accumulation,
had gradually become what they were now.
As expected.
It really was worthy of a Third-tier Legendary.
It truly was extraordinary.
Shiko sighed inwardly in admiration.
He had to admit,
the Registeel before him was far, far stronger than the Regidrago he had encountered before.
A Third-tier Legendary in peak condition
was indeed not something he could contend with right now.
With a sigh, after understanding the gap and recognizing his current level of strength,
a deep caution flowed through Shiko's eyes.
In that case,
he would have to be even more careful when carrying out his plan next.
As long as he could gather the remaining Steel-type energy he needed during this operation,
and evolve from GeoGreymon into WarGreymon,
he would be able to stand against these Third-tier Legendaries!
After pondering it for a moment,
Shiko stared at Registeel and observed it for quite a while.
After confirming that it was still in a deep sleep and showed no signs of waking,
he slowly shifted his feet
and gradually moved to Registeel's side.
Then he stopped,
bent down,
and flipped his hand over. A large mass of memory alloy appeared in his palm.
The silver liquid metal swayed in his hand.
Powerful Steel-type properties pulsed from it.
The liquid memory alloy, which should have been quietly resting in Shiko's hand, suddenly began to grow agitated.
It frantically wriggled in Registeel's direction.
Just as I thought!
Seeing that scene,
Shiko nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
A trace of the original owner's awareness was clearly still preserved inside this liquid memory alloy.
However,
most of its actions were driven by instinct.
And its instinct was devouring.
To devour and consume all Steel-type materials and resources throughout Mt. Silver.
So with a pure Steel-type Third-tier Legendary right beside it,
it naturally could not suppress its primal impulse.
It wanted to strip some Steel-type energy from Registeel
and use it to strengthen itself.
After all,
the puddle of liquid memory alloy Shiko had found earlier in Steelix's mouth
had corroded Steelix's hard outer body until it was riddled with holes and left in a miserable state.
So when faced with an even more powerful Registeel,
it was naturally even more restless.
Moreover,
Shiko had already calculated it.
Earlier, he had absorbed the energy from the alloy containing two percent of the Steel-type law.
After that,
the alloy's original owner
had absorbed another one percent of the Steel-type law from Mt. Silver's resources.
Then, adding the puddle of liquid alloy he had taken out now, which contained a full eight percent of the Steel-type law,
the other party would only be missing the most crucial final one percent
to evolve into its complete form.
So,
under these circumstances,
even though the opponent was the Third-tier Legendary Registeel,
even though enraging it
could lead to a terrifying outcome,
under the temptation of reaching its complete form,
Shiko believed
that it would definitely take the risk.
And when that time came,
once the snipe and the clam fought and both sides clashed fiercely in battle,
it would be the perfect chance for him to reap the benefits.
Shiko took a deep breath.
After carefully reviewing his entire plan once more and finding no flaws in it,
he steadied himself
and slowly poured that mass of liquid memory alloy in his hand onto Registeel's body.
Sizzle!!
The moment the liquid alloy was poured on,
a sharp, piercing sound rang out.
Dense bubbles continuously surfaced across the liquid alloy's surface.
Shiko understood.
This should mean that the liquid alloy had begun to erode Registeel's internal energy and the alloy on its outer layer.
At this rate,
it would not take long
before Registeel awoke from its slumber.
And on the other side,
the Pokémon that had been desperately searching for this memory alloy would also sense this mass of alloy and rush over at top speed.
When that happened,
a violent collision would be unavoidable.
(End of Chapter)
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