Chapter 144 – The Whole City Boils! The Planting Army Sets Out! Haicheng’s Uninvited Guest!

The moment the victorious news was relayed by the City Lord's guards back to Haicheng, the entire city erupted in joy!

People flooded the streets from every home, waving sacks of Berry Seeds like banners, celebrating wildly.

"We won! We really won!"

"We can finally go outside the city and plant berries!"

"This is insane!"

"So Death beasts can actually be defeated!"

"Long live Haicheng! Long live the Pokémon!"

"No one stop me—I'm planting at least ten acres!"

"My berries will be the biggest, juiciest, and the best raw ingredients!"

In the joyous chaos of Haicheng's streets, a battered and bruised guard who had delivered the message was hoisted onto shoulders by the crowd, pride radiating from his face.

He had every reason to be proud.

Haicheng had just accomplished something no human had done since Death beasts had begun dominating the world.

And he was part of it!

Near the roadside, a dazed-looking Slowpoke sat beside a little girl, who was staring wide-eyed at the celebration.

"Mama, mama!"

The girl tugged on her mother's sleeve and asked, "Did we win? Did we really win?"

"Does that mean… I can go outside the city now? I've never been out before!"

"What's the world outside like?"

"Our teacher said it's scary, full of Death beasts. Is it really that frightening?"

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and hope.

The young mother crouched down, stroking both her daughter's head and the Slowpoke's round body. Her eyes crinkled with joy, though tears silently slid down her cheeks.

"Yes, we won!"

"What the world outside is like… Mama doesn't know either."

"But the Death beasts around Haicheng should all be gone now."

"So, outside isn't scary anymore."

"They say more Pokémon like Slowpoke will start appearing, too."

"Do you want to go plant berry trees with Mama?"

"We'll grow lots and lots of berries to share with Slowpoke, okay?"

The young woman smiled through her tears—tears of happiness.

Humanity had waited far, far too long for this day.

Even she herself had never left the city before.

For most non-Awakened individuals, going outside was always just a dream. The Death beasts outside made it too dangerous to even consider.

Hiring Awakened professionals for protection was a luxury few could afford, and even then, the risk of leaving the city remained high.

So for almost everyone, the world beyond the walls was a mystery.

The little girl, puzzled, reached up and wiped the tears off her mother's face.

"Don't cry, Mama! I'll take you out to explore!"

"Slowpoke is super strong! He'll protect us!"

She proudly patted her Slowpoke's head, which earned her a blank, puzzled head tilt from the pink Pokémon.

The mother couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Scenes like this were playing out in every corner of Haicheng.

Today was a day no citizen of Haicheng would ever forget.

Meanwhile, at the Pokémon Center,

Things were unusually quiet.

Outside the Center, a young boy sat crouched on the steps, chin resting on his hands.

Zhou Xiaofei, who had been staying at the Pokémon Center, had visibly plumped up from all the good food. His round cheeks made him look as innocent and adorable as the little girl with the Slowpoke.

But Zhou Xiaofei was unusually mature for his age—so much so that people often forgot he was not even ten years old.

"Sigh… I want to see outside the city too…"

He tilted his head and watched the excited townsfolk pass by, swinging Berry Seeds above their heads.

But no matter how much fun it looked, he had a job to do.

He was in charge of watching the shop—that was the task his big brother (Boss) had entrusted him with, and he couldn't let him down!

"Maybe when Boss comes back, I can ask for two days off?"

He poked the body of his Magikarp, then suddenly lit up.

"You've gotten strong enough to flop halfway up the artificial waterfall now!"

"I think you're ready to protect me, right?"

Zhou had never slacked on Magikarp's training.

He even gave the fish daily massages to loosen its "muscles"—even though Magikarp's whole body felt like solid steel and nearly gave him calluses.

And whether it was real or not, it seemed to be working.

Magikarp could now flop halfway up the practice waterfall.

The Pokémon blinked at its trainer, then gave a resigned bounce.

It wasn't sure what its little trainer wanted now, but it definitely sounded like another ridiculous request…

At the frontlines, inside a temporary command center—

Su Bai, Zhu Jianyuan, a squad of A-ranked Awakened fighters, and trainers like Wang Tao gathered together.

"We can't return to Haicheng just yet," Zhu Jianyuan said, pointing at a map.

"On one hand, there are the Death beast corpses to deal with. On the other hand… look here."

He drew a bold line across the map, beaming with pride.

"Beyond this line is territory we haven't cleared yet. Everything inside this boundary has been completely wiped clean of Death beasts."

Su Bai nodded. It had been a literal and total sweep—they had advanced with precision, making sure every inch of ground was covered.

Within this line, not a single Death beast remained.

Zhu pointed to the cleared region.

"The people of Haicheng will begin exiting the city today, pass through the Cliff Ravine, and start planting berry trees."

"To ensure their safety, we need to spread out along this line and hold it. We can't allow even one Death beast to sneak in."

"So, rest will have to wait. Are you all up for it?"

He looked at Su Bai and especially at the trainers behind him—students from Haicheng First High.

This battle had carved out a massive area.

The S-class Death beast zone had been strategically chosen—such creatures dominated their territory so thoroughly that no lesser Death beasts dared approach.

Even after death, the lingering scent of an S-class predator would keep other threats at bay for a few days.

But the zone wasn't large enough to fully cover the perimeter. In theory, rogue Death beasts could still sneak in.

That's why they needed airtight defense.

The Pokémon Corps, made up of guards, were professionals—this was no issue for them.

But the students had never faced a long, grinding mission like this before. Zhu was genuinely concerned.

Su Bai turned to glance at Wang Tao and the others.

Liu Yunlan grinned, waving her hand dismissively.

"City Lord Zhu, don't underestimate us students. This little bit of exhaustion? Please!"

"We could go another three days and nights!"

She proudly patted her Infernape, who surprisingly raised a thumbs-up toward Zhu Jianyuan—clearly something she had trained it to do.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The rest of the trainers echoed her confidence—none of them hesitated.

In fact, most were eager for more battles.

Their Pokémon had just evolved. They needed more training to adjust to their new forms.

"I'm relieved to see your spirits are still so high."

Zhu Jianyuan chuckled.

"Su Bai said you'd all grown a lot… Looks like he was right."

"Infernape, Torterra, Empoleon… Tch, I'm honestly a little jealous."

He clapped his hands.

"Alright—enough jokes. It's time to deploy!"

After thorough discussion and planning, each trainer received their assigned position and began patrolling the border.

Occasional Death beasts that tried to cross the line were quickly eliminated.

With their new strength, trainers could now take down anything below A-rank with ease.

Even A-rank beasts didn't last long against coordinated attacks.

After this intense period of battle and experience, the students of Haicheng First High had finally grown into true trainers, capable of carrying missions on their own.

Back in the city, thousands of civilians clutched their Berry Seeds.

Led by city officials, they were divided into waves and marched out into the newly reclaimed zones—the former territory of the Deathbeasts—and began planting.

For the first time ever, Haicheng became eerily quiet.

Even the children had followed their parents out of the city.

With the exception of a few essential workers, Haicheng was almost completely empty.

And at that very moment… a lone figure appeared at the city gates.

They watched the departing crowds with a look of pure disgust.

"Pokémon… what disgusting creatures."