Through their interactions over the past few days, Yao Yifei had also noticed many unusual things about Lu Li.
For example, his boundless energy. Even after staying up all night, he would still be full of vigor the next day.
Also, his eating habits. He could go an entire day without eating and not seem hungry, or even affected in the slightest.
From a normal person's perspective, Lu Li was completely abnormal.
Yao Yifei figured that Ekaterina must have noticed these things too, and probably knew even more than she did.
But since Ekaterina hadn't brought it up, Yao Yifei naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to ask.
After the group finished eating, they chatted around the campfire.
Though it was more like a Q\u0026A session, with Lu Li constantly asking Ekaterina and the others about the advanced trainers.
Occasionally, they would also talk about the Pokémon legions.
Yao Yifei seemed to want to build a Combee legion, and Ekaterina expressed her support for this.
Lu Li was curious because Yao Yifei had previously shown no interest in legions.
Could it be…
Lu Li looked at Yao Yifei with a complicated expression.
He had a guess, but it might be too narcissistic.
Yao Yifei might want to build a legion because of him.
The core skill of a legion is synchronized coordination. Don't think it's easy to achieve. In the exchange system provided by the League, the price of synchronized coordination increases exponentially.
The synchronized coordination skill for less than ten Pokémon is something almost every gym leader can afford, but the exchange price for a legion of hundreds or thousands of Pokémon will be outrageously high, especially for a legion of thousands. The contribution points required for its exchange are not even less than two pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
But the good news is that Yao Yifei doesn't need any of that because she has a Vespiquen.
"Combee are relatively rare in the wild. Are you sure you want to build a Combee legion?" Ekaterina asked, finding it hard to understand Yao Yifei's idea.
First of all, there's the issue of legion quality. Combee's base stats aren't even as good as Beedrill's, and their rarity far exceeds Beedrill's.
Even if a Combee legion would receive an epic boost because of the Vespiquen, its cost-effectiveness is still not as good as other Pokémon.
Combee's type is Bug and Flying. Let's take the most common legions of these two types as examples.
For example, the Bug-type Beedrill and Butterfree. Under the same number and quality, legions composed of these two Pokémon can crush Combee, and both are more common and easier to train than Combee.
Not to mention the most common Flying-types, Pidgeot and Fearow. Under the same number and quality, they can completely crush Combee, and they are also more common.
"What I want to form is a legion of thousands, or even…"
A flash of ambition flickered in Yao Yifei's eyes.
Ekaterina might not have noticed, but Lu Li, who was next to her, saw it clearly.
"Have you ever seen a kingdom composed of Pokémon?" Yao Yifei asked.
Hearing this, Ekaterina asked cautiously, "Is your Yao family still searching for the legendary Diamond Kingdom?"
Yao Yifei: "…"
"It's not the Diamond Kingdom. I have nothing to do with the Yao family anymore," Yao Yifei denied with a dark face.
Lu Li also asked curiously, "Could it be the Underwater Kingdom?"
"Underwater Kingdom?"
Hearing this name, both Yao Yifei and Ekaterina were surprised because they had never heard of it.
"Legend has it that Manaphy, the prince of the sea, formed the Underwater Kingdom. Haven't you heard of similar legends?" Lu Li asked, puzzled.
Normally, every mythical or legendary Pokémon that appeared in the games should have a legend in the Pokémon world.
Yao Yifei shook her head and said, "I haven't heard of the Underwater Kingdom. What I want to talk about is the legendary Amber Kingdom."
"Amber Kingdom?"
Ekaterina looked at Yao Yifei thoughtfully and said, "Are you talking about the only large-scale secret realm in the Khmer region?"
Yao Yifei nodded.
Lu Li also asked curiously, "Is there a story behind this?"
"In that large-scale secret realm, there is a Combee that has stepped into the realm of gods. It can control millions of Combee. It's no exaggeration to say that the number of Combee in that large-scale secret realm is three times that of all other regions in the world, including other secret realms," Ekaterina said with a complicated expression.
In fact, very few Pokémon can step into the realm of gods, especially wild Pokémon, and even fewer are Bug-type.
"Have you been to that secret realm?" Ekaterina asked, squinting at Yao Yifei.
Yao Yifei nodded, "My Vespiquen was brought out from that secret realm."
Lu Li was already shocked by the number million.
This wasn't millions of dollars, but millions of Pokémon! And they were relatively rare Combee.
"There's a rumor that the real controller of the Khmer region is actually that Vespiquen. I wonder if that rumor is true," Ekaterina asked curiously.
The Great Russian region is relatively far from the Khmer region, so their understanding of that place is even less.
Yao Yifei nodded: "It's true."
Then she explained, "That Combee is very special. Even without the aura of a Totem Pokémon, it's a Master Class Pokémon. The reason why the Khmer region hasn't been annexed by the Golden Triangle region is because of that Combee."
A Master Class Vespiquen isn't scary, after all, the Golden Triangle region also has three Master Class Pokémon. What's truly terrifying is the million Combee behind that Vespiquen.
The combat power of a Master Class Vespiquen plus a million Combee might even threaten those secondary gods. This is also why the Khmer region has not been in chaos despite being next to the Progressive Society.
"So you also have a dream? To replicate an Amber Kingdom?" Ekaterina mocked.
Yao Yifei's idea could be described as naive. A million Combee! Without a large-scale secret realm to rely on, it would be impossible to support so many Pokémon.
Moreover, the League wouldn't allow Yao Yifei to control such terrifying power.
If Yao Yifei really had an Amber Kingdom, even if she wanted to secede and become queen, the League would have to respectfully offer her a founding gift.
"I have the confidence," Yao Yifei said with extraordinary confidence, but her eyes were always on Lu Li.
Who gave her the confidence?
It was already self-evident.
"Something's not right! Something's very wrong!"
Ekaterina scanned the two of them back and forth with suspicious eyes.
"Are you two hiding something from me?" Ekaterina asked herself.
Yao Yifei retorted, "It's a secret!"
"Just like I know you and Lu Li must be hiding something from me, but I won't ask. You should abide by this rule like me," Yao Yifei retorted, feeling very unhappy.
Ekaterina: "…"
Yao Yifei felt that this woman had no tacit understanding. You don't care about me, I don't care about you, you're good, I'm good, everyone's good, isn't that great?
"Okay, it was my mistake," Ekaterina quickly raised her hands in surrender.
She didn't know what secrets Yao Yifei and Lu Li had, but could that secret be bigger than the identity of the Ideal Envoy?
Seeing that Ekaterina didn't pursue the matter, Yao Yifei nodded in satisfaction and continued, "I don't have such great ambition. A million Combee is too far away. I plan to take the elite route."
"For example?" Ekaterina asked tentatively.
"How about 10,000 Gym Leader-level Combee?" Yao Yifei asked.
Hearing this, Ekaterina rolled her eyes at Yao Yifei and complained, "That's even more outrageous than a million Combee."
Yao Yifei also felt that this was indeed a bit outrageous, so she backed down and said, "1,000 will do."
"Go to sleep and dream on, you can have anything in your dreams."
Ekaterina didn't want to chat with this woman anymore.
What was the concept of a thousand Gym Leader-level Pokémon?
It was estimated that there weren't even that many Gym Leader-level Combee in the Khmer region.
Lu Li was listening attentively.
Others didn't know, but how could he, the instigator, not know?
If the Gracidea flowers could form a sea of flowers, what Yao Yifei said could indeed be realized.
However, Lu Li didn't jump out and speak, but instead acted as a listener on the side.
After showing off a little, Yao Yifei didn't continue to pester Ekaterina, but instead asked curiously, "Speaking of which, what is your family's legion?"
For a secret that everyone at the high level knew, Ekaterina didn't hide it and said directly, "In the water, it's Cloyster, and on the ground, it's Mamoswine."
"What's the specific configuration?" Yao Yifei asked curiously.
Ekaterina warned, "That's going too far!"
Continuing to chat would involve family secrets, and Yao Yifei stopped when she saw that it was enough.
Changing the topic, Yao Yifei asked, puzzled, "Speaking of which, why would someone with your status take a fancy to Lu Li?"
What was Ekaterina's position?
Let's put it this way, when the five major alliances dissolved and each region independently formed an alliance, Ekaterina would be the princess of the third most powerful empire in the world.
She could even be said to be the woman with the highest power in the world in the future, without exception.
The Americas didn't need to be mentioned. That would be an alliance composed of capital, and it was impossible for a situation where one capital was dominant to occur.
The Kyushu region didn't need to be mentioned either. That was an alliance composed of various families, and it was even more impossible for a situation where one family was dominant to occur.
However, the Great Russian region was different. The Ekaterina family was the only dominant family among the aristocratic families, and Ekaterina's capital was still the only dominant capital.
Once the alliance dissolved, the Ekaterina family might even directly restore the ancient system and implement the previous imperial system.
Ekaterina looked at Lu Li affectionately and said, "Because I like him, that's why I like him."
Lu Li chose to ignore Ekaterina's performance.
Ekaterina, who had received family education since she was a child, couldn't be a love brain. After all, this wasn't Douluo Continent. The heirs cultivated by large forces couldn't be money-losing goods.
All of Ekaterina's goodwill towards him was to strengthen the Ekaterina family, not because of personal preference.
"Ew~ That's so greasy," Yao Yifei pretended to shiver in disgust.
Although she didn't find out anything with this wave of probing, Yao Yifei also saw some clues. There was something on Lu Li that the Ekaterina family coveted, and this thing couldn't be taken away by the Ekaterina family.
So, it was his special ability?
What special ability in the world could make the Ekaterina family lick his boots to this extent?
Yes, it was bootlicking.
In Yao Yifei's opinion, Ekaterina's flattery towards Lu Li was really too obvious.
Speaking of special abilities, this college entrance examination competition almost encompassed all known special abilities in human history. If it was really because of a special ability, why didn't Ekaterina lick the boots of those people?
Yao Yifei, who couldn't figure it out at all, didn't try to probe the other party anymore, but instead released her Pokémon and started feeding them. Ekaterina also started feeding her Pokémon.
Lu Li also took this opportunity to release Tropius and Milotic.
This time, Lu Li only brought two Pokémon. He left Charmander and Onix at home.
After secretly feeding the two Pokémon pills, Lu Li put away Tropius and Milotic.
…………
The next morning.
After a long night of rest, the group continued to explore the ruins in the secret realm.
In the vast large-scale secret realm, there were countless ruins of all sizes.
Some were ancient city ruins, and there were even some tribal ruins, while tombs and temple ruins were actually the fewest.
In just one morning, the three of them visited three ruins, two of which were tombs and one was a temple.
However, Lu Li still couldn't find any traces of the Unown, and there were no more unexpected gains.
Lu Li asked somewhat unwillingly, "Are there any unexplored ruins?"
"Many archaeological experts have previously marked some places that are suspected to be tomb ruins," Yao Yifei replied.
The word "suspected" was very flexible.
Moreover, those tombs that were left behind were generally buried deep underground, and there were even many Ghost-type Pokémon inside. Unexplored tomb ruins were actually very dangerous.
However, danger and returns were often proportional. If they hadn't been explored, it also meant that the valuable things inside hadn't been touched.
Exploring them was like opening a blind box.
If you were lucky, it would naturally be a great harvest, and if you were unlucky, you could only leave your life behind.
Most of the tombs had special venues. You couldn't use spatial-type skills like Teleport inside to explore, and you couldn't even use skills like Dig. In addition, they were buried deep underground. If you really encountered powerful Ghost-type Pokémon, you basically couldn't run away.
Moreover, fighting Pokémon in the tomb might cause a cave-in, and you would be buried alive.
However, the treasures in the tombs were also tempting. As everyone knew, the Ancient Emperor's tombs generally had matching Mega Stones and Key Stones.
Finding a set would turn you into a billionaire, not to mention that there might be other treasures in the tombs, such as secret skill inheritances.
"Then let's go to those places that are suspected to be tombs," Lu Li decided.
First of all, he had Divine Sense, so it was quick to determine whether there were any ruins, and he could also quickly determine whether there were any valuable treasures or Unown inside those ruins.
Now Lu Li had changed his mind. If he couldn't find the Unown, it wouldn't hurt to make a fortune in those tombs anyway, since he had already come here.
