The nights after Pokémon descended were anything but quiet.
There were fewer animal calls than before, but the cries of Pokémon were far louder.
Leon, carefully following behind June, even caught a faint glimpse of a huge Pokémon flying across the moonlit sky.
Everyone moved forward with their nerves on edge.
June vigilantly scanned their surroundings, while no one in the group dared speak, all of them listening intently for the slightest sound around them.
Three minutes later.
The group finally managed to reach the base of the water tower safely.
Ray looked up at the water tower and drawled, “Now here’s the question. Who’s climbing up there to open the lid?”
There was no way he was going up himself.
He was too big, and climbing up there would make him an easy target.
“Old Harris, Jason, you two climb up and open the lid. If a bat monster really does show up, we’ll have Ray lure it away.”
After saying that, Leon turned to June.
“June, keep watch. If something unexpected happens, cover Ray while he escapes back to the emergency stairwell.”
June nodded, indicating that she had no objections.
The other three, however, certainly did.
Ray opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to remain silent.
There really wasn’t anything wrong with Leon’s arrangement.
Ray didn’t have to risk climbing to the top of the water tower, but if danger actually appeared, he would be responsible for luring the bat monster away.
That was perfectly fair—if Leon weren’t part of the equation.
Jason and Old Harris looked helpless, but they’d already come this far.
All they could do was nod with bitter expressions.
“You’d better hope your analysis and guesses are right. Otherwise, even if I die, I’ll come back to haunt you,” Old Harris said, staring ominously at Leon.
Jason was cursing under his breath, but he didn’t waste any time.
He was already climbing the water tower’s ladder.
Leon calmly urged them on.
“Get it done quickly. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it gets.”
Gritting their teeth, the two scrambled up the water tower as fast as they could, using both hands and feet as they climbed toward the top.
Ray nervously watched the sky, terrified that a bat monster might suddenly appear.
“God, please don’t let a bat monster show up. Please,” Ray prayed anxiously, clasping his hands together.
Leon ignored him.
Compared to encountering a Pokémon like Zubat, Leon was much more worried about running into a Noctowl.
Against a Zubat, he was at least seventy percent confident he could survive.
But if they ran into a Noctowl, their chances of making it out alive would be slim.
“Stop saying it. Don’t you know talking about something is the easiest way to make it show up?” Leon complained, looking thoroughly exasperated.
Ray rolled his eyes at Leon and ignored him, continuing to clasp his hands together and pray for God’s protection.
Before Pokémon descended, Ray probably hadn’t believed in God at all.
But afterward, he had gradually begun placing his hopes in that vague, intangible God.
Jason and Old Harris finally reached the top.
They heaved the water tower’s lid open and tossed it straight down.
Bang!
The tremendous crash rang out, and the two immediately slid down the ladder.
“Run!” Leon shouted, leading everyone toward the emergency stairwell.
Leon didn’t blame the two of them for making so much noise.
He had expected this from the beginning.
The water tower’s lid was extremely heavy.
There was no way one or two people could carry it down, so the simplest solution was to throw it off.
The advantage was that it was quick and convenient.
The disadvantage was that it made a tremendous amount of noise and might attract predators prowling in the middle of the night.
Just as everyone was sprinting for their lives, a series of high-pitched squeaks suddenly sounded above their heads.
At the unexpected sound, everyone’s faces instantly went pale.
Ray in particular abruptly picked up speed, at one point even overtaking Leon.
‘It’s a Zubat!’
Leon breathed an inward sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness it’s not a Noctowl.’
With that thought, Leon grabbed June beside him.
“Everyone, stop moving! That bat monster only attacks creatures that move!” Leon said sharply in a low voice.
June’s face went white when Leon grabbed her, but after hearing what he said, she forcibly brought herself to a halt.
Jason and Old Harris immediately dropped flat onto the ground and lay perfectly still, hardly even daring to breathe.
Ray had run too far ahead and hadn’t clearly heard Leon’s warning at all.
He simply kept his head down and continued sprinting.
But how could human legs possibly outrun a Zubat with wings?
Zubat was based on bats from the real world.
Pokémon like it had degenerated eyes and relied on ultrasonic waves to locate their targets.
Because of that, Zubat generally attacked living creatures that were moving.
Ray was both large and moving extremely fast, so naturally, he became the Zubat’s target.
After observing and studying these Pokémon over the past several days, Leon had finally figured out why they attacked humans.
It wasn’t that the Pokémon that had descended particularly liked eating people.
Rather, compared to other Pokémon, humans were easier prey.
Humans might not offer much nutritional value, but for wild Pokémon that only cared about filling their stomachs, hunting humans gave them the best return for the effort.
A powerful gust of wind suddenly swept in from behind him without warning, and Ray burst into tears on the spot.
“Waaah! I don’t wanna die, damn it!” Ray screamed, tears streaming down his face as he cursed and waited for death to come.
Bang!
A gunshot suddenly rang out.
The bullet struck the Zubat squarely in the wing.
But instead of punching through its wing, the bullet hit with an unusually dull thud.
Although the shot had struck the Zubat, it hadn’t drawn blood.
Its wing membrane was simply too tough, and June’s handgun couldn’t penetrate it.
Still, the sudden attack threw the airborne Zubat off balance.
Like an aircraft spinning out of control, it plummeted to the ground, narrowly missing Ray as it crashed.
After rolling several times across the ground, the Zubat simply took off again as though nothing had happened.
But those few moments had been enough for Ray to finally make it into the emergency stairwell.
The Zubat hesitated repeatedly after taking flight again, but ultimately gave up on Ray, who had already made it inside.
It could sense its prey continuing to run downward.
If it kept chasing him, there was still a good chance it could catch up.
But the attack just now had also alerted it to the presence of other predators nearby.
The Zubat was wary of another predator taking advantage of the situation, and it was equally worried about becoming prey itself.
So after circling through the sky once, the Zubat leisurely flew away.
Having narrowly escaped disaster yet again, June pressed a hand against her pounding chest and let out a heavy breath.
“Phew! That was way too close.”
“That bat monster’s already flown off. Let’s get moving while we can,” Leon urged.
Two loud crashes in quick succession were bound to attract more Pokémon.
Leon was uneasy, and he certainly couldn’t guarantee that the next one to arrive would also be a Zubat.
As they passed Jason and Old Harris, Leon saw that the two were still lying rigidly on the ground, hardly daring to breathe.
Leon lightly nudged Blondie’s butt with his foot.
“Quit playing dead. That monster’s already flown off. Let’s hurry back,” Leon urged.