Age of Elves: I started flashing with my handheld.

96. Taking the blame

"Chief, the Cocoon of Slumber has not been found!"

The report came from the underlings who came from the other rooms.

Looking at the empty altar, Xiao frowned, turned around, and glanced at the platform they called "Among the Stars".

According to ancient records, a thousand years ago, the comet civilization preserved their sacred object, the "Sleeping Cocoon," on the altar "Among the Stars," waiting for the comet to return a thousand years later, when the legendary god "Kirach," who could grant all people's wishes, would awaken once more.

The murals, the entrance mechanism, the inscriptions on the ruins—everything matches up.

But why isn't the slumbering cocoon here?

Could there be an error in the ancient text?

Or did Jirachi wake up and leave beforehand?

But the arrival of the Millennium Comet is still some time away.

"Boss, the authorities have discovered our movements. Our brothers at the entrance to the Forest of Abundance sent a message saying they saw 'Yin Xiu,' the Gym Leader of Ohara City, heading this way!" a henchman reminded him.

“Hmm,” 17 Owl nodded. “Since the Cocoon of Slumber isn’t here, let’s retreat.”

With that, he turned to leave.

But after taking only two steps, Xiao suddenly stopped.

Suddenly turning his head, Xiao's gaze fell on a series of damp footprints!

Those were a series of footprints on the side of the mural!

Not only human footprints, but also elf footprints.

He and his men had come up the steps, walking directly towards the mural. However, this set of footprints was parallel to the mural.

This indicates that the owner of the footprints came to the altar from the side.

The key point is that neither I nor my underlings had ever been there!

Xiao hurriedly took a few steps to the set of footprints and bent down to examine them carefully.

Not only were there footprints leading to the altar, but there were also footprints leading to the side of the altar.

The footprints lead straight to the wall on the side of the mural.

The wall there was so crumbling that at first glance I thought it was just old, dilapidated ruins with cracks appearing in the walls—something quite common along the way. But now it seemed…

"Excadrill, dig!" Owl threw a Poké Ball toward the cracked wall.

The dragon-headed groundhog immediately transformed into a drill and drilled straight in, merely breaking through the surface rock blockage, revealing a pitch-black passage in front of the owl.

"Sure enough, someone had already come ahead of time!" Xiao gritted his teeth in frustration.

They didn't hesitate to kill the officials and replace them with their own men, and their leader personally led the team, all so that they could arrive here as quickly as possible and obtain the Cocoon of Slumber.

I never expected someone else to beat me to it!

Not only that, the official gym leaders who arrive later will inevitably assume that it was their "Aviation Team" that took away the Sleeping Cocoon.

It's easy to imagine the kind of crackdown the Asuka Group will face from the authorities in the coming period!

So, I neither obtained the Cocoon of Sleep nor did I get to take the blame for someone else!

hateful!

"Chase!" Xiao ordered.

The footprints on the ground were still fresh, and the water hadn't dried yet, indicating that the other person had probably just left!

Even if he's already gone, check the road for any traces he left behind!

We must find him!

......

In the Abundant Forest.

Nanfeng has already begun its return journey.

Back at the picnic spot, Nanfeng greeted Li Tiantian and then hurriedly returned to Dayuan City to catch the next available flight back to Qiantang University.

For no other reason than that Nanfeng dug up the Mizhi fruit tree.

Since the archaeological society has discovered the ruins where Jirachi is located, it's only a matter of time before the passage through which I entered those ruins is discovered as well.

After all, even if Garchomp filled the broken wall, there would still be traces of human intervention.

After leaving the ruins, Nanfeng suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to clean up his footprints.

After all, it was the first time they had done something like this, so they didn't have much experience.

The members of the archaeological association could easily reach the Mystery Fruit Tree by following the passage.

Although the Mysterious Fruit Tree looks like an ordinary fruit tree, there's no guarantee that someone will recognize its value. Therefore, Nanfeng had no choice but to take action.

To ensure the survival of the Mizhi fruit tree, Nanfeng dug up as much as possible the roots of the tree along with the surrounding two meters of soil.

This is only because the secret base is large enough; otherwise, Nanfeng really wouldn't know how to get it out of there.

But keeping it in the secret base isn't a solution, and it can't be sustained by itself. So, Nanfeng needs to find a suitable buyer for the Mizhi Fruit Tree before it dies.

The first person Nanfeng thought of was Li Tiantian's father, the famous tree fruit expert.

Good things can only fetch a fair price when they are sold to people who truly understand their value.

But I've never done business with him before, so it's not very safe.

Therefore, Nanfeng could only turn her attention to Lin Jian, a partner she had previously collaborated with.

He's a master breeder; what breeder doesn't use tree fruits? Nanfeng doesn't believe he won't be tempted.

"Professor Lin! Happy holidays!"

"I'm conducting an experiment, get straight to the point." Lin Jian knew Nan Feng well; he was the kind of person who wouldn't come to the lab unless he had a reason. Since joining his research team, he had never been to the lab once.

"I'm selling a fruit tree that produces a rare fruit. Are you interested?"

"What tree fruit 927?"

"Mizhi Fruit!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Nanfeng could hear the sound of glass shattering; he guessed a beaker had fallen to the floor. After a long pause, Lin Jian finally spoke.

What price do you want?

"That depends on what you have to offer," Nanfeng retorted. In reality, he was unsure about the market value of the Mysterious Fruit Tree. So, he wanted to try and bluff Professor Lin to get a better understanding of the situation first.

Lin Jian remained silent for a while, then suddenly let out a soft sigh. "I can't afford to bet. How about this, I'll introduce you to someone who can."

"Who?"

Bai Wenru

"Who?!" This time it was Nanfeng's turn to be surprised. If he remembered correctly, the president of Qiantang University was named Bai Wenru!

This is a legendary figure!

His titles were longer than Professor Lin Jian's, and each title was a level higher than Professor Lin Jian's.

Master Coordinator, Pioneer Breeder, King of Fruit Trees, Former One of the Four Heavenly Kings, President of the Dragon Kingdom Breeding Association, Honorary President of the Dragon Kingdom Fruit Tree Association, Honorary President of the Dragon Kingdom Coordinator Trainer Association...

Many breeder awards in China are named after him!

Simply put, this is someone who stands at the top of the world's breeding community!

(I was planning to add an extra chapter, but we have guests over today, so I'll add it tomorrow instead.)

97.Secret treasure

Nanfeng met this legendary figure half an hour after arriving in Qiantang.

However, it wasn't in the principal's office, but in Nanfeng's small dormitory, because... it wouldn't be appropriate for Nanfeng to carry such a large tree to the principal's office.

A kind old man accepted the chrysanthemum tea that Nanfeng had just brewed, and while sipping it, he carefully observed the Mizhi fruit tree.

"This Miji Fruit tree is quite impressive; it's the largest I've ever seen. The soil is full of nutrients left by the decaying Miji Fruit. It must have grown in the wild for many years without anyone noticing. The fruits fall to the ground, and when they sprout and try to steal nutrients from the tree itself, they can only decay and become nutrients to nourish the tree, allowing it to bear even more fruit next time." Bai Wenru truly lived up to his reputation as a top expert in animal husbandry; his research on fruit trees left Nanfeng completely bewildered.

"Not bad!" Bai Wenru praised again before looking at Nanfeng. "You want to sell it to me? If you train it yourself, it could be your lifelong cash cow, enough to support you becoming a gym leader, or even an Elite Four member. Don't you want to reconsider?"

“Uh, Principal, I don’t know how to grow it. Rather than letting it go to waste, I might as well give it to someone who knows how to cultivate it. That way, it can be put to good use, and I can also benefit from it,” Nanfeng said straightforwardly.

The main reason is that I don't really like it.

From Lin Jian, Nanfeng had already obtained general information about the Mysterious Fruit Tree. The Mysterious Fruit Tree has an extremely long fruit-bearing cycle, flowering one year, bearing fruit one year, and ripening the fruit one year.

In other words, a second harvest can only be carried out three years after the first one.

Compared to a handheld game console, this fruit tree is completely useless to me.

Rather than keeping it for yourself, it's better to make a deal with the stronger party.

Nanfeng felt relatively at ease dealing with powerful figures like Lin Jian and Bai Wenru.

"Then... what if the school helps you raise them?" Bai Wenru suddenly proposed a solution. "The school will help you raise the Mizhi fruit trees as payment, and when the trees bear fruit, half of the Mizhi fruits will be given to the school. How about that?"

"Thank you, Principal, but I feel that with my current abilities, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for the fruit to ripen before the ownership of the Mizhi Fruit Tree will no longer be in my hands," Nanfeng said with a light laugh, shaking his head. He could feel Principal Bai Wenru's good intentions.

This principal genuinely has the idea of ​​nurturing his students.

The school pays for the fruit trees, and you only need to pay half for the Mizhi Fruit. Once you have the ability to cultivate Mizhi Fruit trees on your own, you can ask for the trees back.

But there is a big problem.

The president of Qiantang University is Bai Wenru, but the university does not belong to Bai Wenru alone.

During the cultivation of fruit trees, countless people will likely try to take advantage of them.

The school's Mizhi Fruits are distributed internally, so no one dares to covet them. But what about me? I'm probably the target of everyone who wasn't assigned one.

With his own handheld device, becoming a top-tier powerhouse was only a matter of time. Rather than being targeted and having his early development disrupted, he might as well make a one-off private deal with Bai Wenru.

Bai Wenru thought about it carefully and realized that what Nanfeng said made sense. So he stopped worrying about how to help Nanfeng save the Mysterious Fruit Tree and asked, "Is there anything you want?"

It was finally time for me to set my own price.

Nanfeng had already thought about what he wanted in exchange on his way back.

"I want a chance to capture a Pokémon in the East Sea Dragon's Nest!" Nanfeng had been coveting that shiny Axew for a long time, and this was a perfect opportunity. If he got this chance, he wouldn't have to waste time playing in any school tournaments.

"Don't you already have a Garchomp?" Bai Wenru asked.

“Who would complain about having too many quasi-god spirits?” Nanfeng replied.

Bai Wenru nodded, but still added, "Don't blindly believe in the power of those so-called quasi-legendary Pokémon. Raising an ordinary Pokémon to its full potential might not make it inferior to them."

"Besides this, what else?"

That counts as an agreement.

"And...you can give me whatever you think is appropriate," Nanfeng said. He really didn't lack any treasure-level spirit items, and even if he didn't have them, he could buy them with money on the treasure app. Besides, he didn't know what price to ask for next.

Bai Wenru thought for a moment, then suddenly reached out to the side.

A Gengar suddenly appeared beside him, opening its large mouth and letting Bai Wenru's hand reach into its belly to retrieve items.

Is this... how the pros store their items?

Gengar has another space inside its belly, which is perfect for storing items.

If I didn't have a handheld console, I'd definitely have to get one!

Bai Wenru quickly retrieved three items from the space inside Gengar's belly.

A seed brimming with green vitality, a metal box, and a crimson stone radiating a bright, sun-like glow.

"These three treasures are from my personal collection. You can choose one of them."

Secret treasure!

A type of spirit item that is one level higher than a treasure-level spirit item.

In addition to a stronger amplification effect than treasure-level items, a spirit that fully absorbs a secret treasure-level spirit item will also gain a unique special ability!

As for what special abilities each treasure item possesses, they are all different.