It was everyone's first time seeing a Legendary Pokémon, and they all seemed incredibly excited.
Manaphy and the Phione also seemed to welcome everyone, even introducing them to the entire cave.
However, Mu Li looked at the empty cave and wondered what there was for the Phione to introduce.
To facilitate better communication, Mu Li also had Gengar take out many snacks to share with them, and at the same time, he told them about the pirate ship above coming to search for the ruins.
"This is bad," Mu Qingqing's expression changed, and she said worriedly, "Could it be that other people know the location of this place? Will they come here to capture Manaphy and them?"
"We can't rule out that possibility," Mu Li said. "When we go up, we'll ask those pirates and find out where they got their information."
"If the pirates know, won't this place also be exposed?" Mu Qingqing asked with some concern.
"It's fine, even if they know, it's fine," Mu Li comforted her. "It's not as easy to enter here as you think. Just the depth of the seabed is enough for them, and even if they find the cave entrance, do you think that ancient Wailord at the entrance is blind?"
"If it weren't for Wailord leading the way, even if a dozen Champions came, they would struggle to get in."
Mu Qingqing asked in surprise, "Ah? Is that ancient Wailord that strong?"
"With such a massive body, it has lived for an unknown number of years. The power within its body is simply beyond what ordinary Pokémon can imagine," Mu Li explained. "When such an ancient Pokémon uses a random move, its power is dozens of times that of an ordinary Pokémon."
Hearing Mu Li's explanation, Fu Peiyao seemed to be deep in thought, and she couldn't help but exchange a glance with Mu Li.
Mu Li, of course, knew that she was thinking of Gyarados's evolution before. In terms of size, Super Gyarados's body was not smaller than that ancient Wailord.
After listening to Mu Li's words, everyone felt a little more at ease.
However, from Mu Li's perspective, this group of people was just worrying for nothing.
Did they really think the title 'Prince of the Sea' was just for show?
To put it bluntly, once this place is attacked, Manaphy can summon all the Pokémon in the entire ocean to protect it with a casual call. Moreover, Mu Li didn't mention one thing because he was afraid of scaring everyone.
The moment he entered the cave, he felt a pair of eyes looking at him from the bottom of the abyss. That aura and pressure, if Mu Li wasn't mistaken, the Pokémon hidden at the bottom of that abyss should be that one.
The Legendary ancient Pokémon—Kyogre.
If it were before, Mu Li would probably have just brought his gear and gone to fight Kyogre. But now, considering this guy's bad temper and likely being narrow-minded, if he angered it, he couldn't actually kill it. Otherwise, who would protect the balance of the entire ocean?
Since he couldn't kill it, what if this narrow-minded guy occasionally caused a tsunami to flood a city? Wouldn't he still have to clean up the mess in the end?
This deal was too unprofitable.
As for why Mu Li suspected Kyogre was narrow-minded?
Fighting a guy that can't even fly for so long, clinging on relentlessly, what else could it be but narrow-minded?
However, with Kyogre guarding this relic, even if Groudon came, it would struggle to get in. Yes, after all, the cave is on a cliff, so even if the seawater was completely evaporated, it would still be very difficult to enter without being able to fly.
Everyone had eaten and drunk enough. From Mu Li's understanding of these Legendary Pokémon, it was time for the return gift.
Based on the principle of "since you're here, we don't have much to entertain you with at home," they could only give everyone some blessings that only Legendary Pokémon could bestow.
As a symbol of peace, Manaphy was even more so.
As a light blue curtain of light flashed, a teardrop-shaped mark appeared on everyone's forehead. This mark didn't have much effect; it merely represented Manaphy's friendship, allowing everyone to more easily gain the favor of Water-type Pokémon.
In addition, this blessing also allowed people to swim faster and hold their breath longer underwater.
However, no one noticed that Manaphy's blessing to Mu Li seemed somewhat different.
In fact, when Manaphy was blessing Mu Li, it almost completely lost its composure.
"How do you have so many Legendary Pokémon marks on you?" Manaphy couldn't help but exclaim.
Goodness, I spent so much effort just to occupy a small corner in this guy's body. How many Legendary Pokémon has this guy met?
The aura of these things could destroy the world at any moment, and it was clear that the owners of those auras were not to be trifled with. What was even more outrageous was that some of the auras were even about to clash within this guy's body. I can't imagine what would happen if this guy met another Pokémon carrying the aura of one of them.
As soon as Manaphy finished blessing, Mu Li's Jigglypuff suddenly ran out.
Jigglypuff pointed upwards, gesticulating wildly and making "bo-li-bo-li" sounds.
Mu Li's mouth twitched. Even without Gardevoir's translation, he knew exactly what Jigglypuff wanted to do.
It was nothing more than wanting Manaphy to strengthen her so she would be strong enough to fight Sylveon.
Manaphy didn't refuse, but only when it started blessing Jigglypuff did it realize that this was actually hard work.
No, you're just a Jigglypuff, and the Legendary Pokémon aura on you is no less than that human just now.
What Manaphy didn't know was that ever since Jigglypuff followed Mu Li, she had never trained for a single day; all her strength came from rub blessings.
However, Manaphy is, after all, a non-combat type Legendary Pokémon, so the power it could enhance for Jigglypuff was truly limited.
From Jigglypuff's dejected expression, it was clear that the improvement Manaphy brought her was not significant.
"That's enough," Mu Li tapped Jigglypuff's head. "Aren't you going to thank them?"
Jigglypuff wasn't the kind of Pokémon that wouldn't return favors; she was about to perform a song on the spot.
Unexpectedly, Manaphy seemed quite happy and, not knowing the danger, even wanted to hear another one.
Mu Li's forehead pulsed with veins, and without thinking, he immediately returned Jigglypuff to her Poké Ball.
Manaphy still looked quite regretful, completely unaware of the danger it had just narrowly avoided.
Everyone had been down for quite some time. Although they still wanted to spend more time with Manaphy and the other Pokémon in the cave, they eventually had to part ways, so they didn't linger.
The journey back was much faster, and soon everyone returned to the surface of the sea.
To ensure the cave's location wasn't exposed, Mu Li and the other staff only kept photos from inside the cave, deleting all footage of entering and exiting the cave.
The sea area where Wailord was located was already outside the national borders. Originally, outside the borders, these pirates were not subject to domestic law, but Mu Li directly seized three pirate ships, sailed them back into the country, and handed these pirates over to the border's maritime police.
During this time, Mu Li also learned from those pirates that the reason they knew there might be ruins in that area was entirely because they found a relatively ancient sea map on an island, which recorded the location of that sea area.
Mu Li estimated that it should be information left by the group of people who saw Manaphy before.
However, since this matter was recorded, it naturally needed to be communicated with the authorities.
Not long after, the country dispatched some official archaeological team members to understand the situation, led by an old professor named Li Muhua.
After Li Muhua and the others watched the entire recorded video, they were immediately shocked: "It's amazing, simply amazing! I never imagined Manaphy's palace would be in the middle of such a deep sea."
"It's a pity we can't observe it up close, otherwise humanity's understanding of the ocean would take a huge leap forward," Li Muhua couldn't help but sigh after watching.
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes: Don't look at me when you say that?
Li Muhua had already known about this young man from the country before he came, so even as a professor at Imperial Capital University, he dared not neglect him.
Mu Li was also stared at helplessly by Li Muhua's gaze and had to explain, "Professor, Manaphy is living perfectly well there, so let's not disturb them. If the location is leaked, many people will probably rush over, and if someone destroys the palace there, won't Manaphy have to find a new place to live?"
"You're right, it was my selfishness at play." After Mu Li's reminder, Li Muhua also recovered from his excited state. "However, that is a Legendary Pokémon after all; I've only seen one or two in my entire life."
"Oh? You've seen other Legendary Pokémon?" Mu Li asked with some curiosity.
Li Muhua nodded, a hint of pride on his face: "I saw Suicune while excavating in Yunmengze before; it was truly magnificent. Secondly, I saw three Tapu Guardians when I went to the Kapu Islands years ago, but unfortunately, I didn't see Tapu Fini."
As soon as the Kapu Islands were mentioned, a hint of sadness flashed in Li Muhua's eyes: "But I never expected that the Kapu Islands would be submerged by seawater in just a few years, and the Tapu Guardians are also nowhere to be found."
Mu Li asked with some confusion, "Aren't the Kapu Islands foreign Pokémon ruins? Why are you interested?"
Li Muhua smiled and said, "You don't know this, but many of these Legendary Pokémon are interconnected. For example, the bond between the gods of space and time, and the Legendary God of the Reverse World, there is a close connection between the three. Another example is the bond between Groudon and Kyogre, the incarnations of land and sea, and so on."
Mu Li's mouth twitched: I probably know a little bit more than you.
"If you're interested in the Kapu Islands, you could go to the New Kapu Islands to take a look. I heard that the Tapu Guardians have already returned to their positions," Mu Li reminded him.
"Really?" Li Muhua asked with some delight. "How come I haven't received any news?"
"It just happened these past two days. The New Kapu Islands are already in an uproar, so the news probably hasn't spread yet," Mu Li explained.
As soon as Mu Li finished speaking, he noticed that Li Muhua's gaze towards him was off: "Professor, why are you looking at me like that?"
Li Muhua looked at Mu Li with a complicated expression and said, "This matter has something to do with you, doesn't it?"
"Huh? I don't understand?" Mu Li put on an innocent expression.
Li Muhua said impatiently, "Come on, the higher-ups already said that Tapu Fini was with you before. How could the return of the Tapu Guardians have nothing to do with you?"
Not many people watched the recorded video this time. Besides the four people from the archaeological team, there were also Fu Peiyao, Mu Qingqing, and Wang Yijia.
Their conversation wasn't deliberately hidden from everyone. Most of them were stunned by the news they had just heard and were still processing it.
"Wu Bing and Ren Wei, those big mouths..." Mu Li couldn't help but grumble, but since he was exposed, Mu Li didn't continue to pretend. "That's right, I sent them back the day before yesterday. However, if you want to go, go in a while; they're probably still recuperating recently."
Mu Qingqing and Wang Yijia knew Mu Li's recent whereabouts, and their mouths were already agape: "So, when you two said you were going to send some Pokémon home the day before yesterday, you were going to send the four Tapu Guardians."
Fu Peiyao nodded helplessly, giving an affirmative answer.
"And you didn't even take us?" Mu Qingqing looked as if she was about to cry.
Fu Peiyao could only look helplessly at Mu Li, and Mu Li also felt a headache: "Things were a bit urgent, so it wasn't convenient for too many people to go."
Actually, Mu Li mainly didn't want too many people to know about Lugia's existence, otherwise, once the news was exposed, the impact would be more than just a little.
Seeing Mu Qingqing's pitiful pouting face, Mu Li had to say, "Alright, alright, I'll take you to see them when I have time."
"That's more like it." The dramatic Mu Qingqing instantly showed a satisfied smile.
However, Wang Yijia still frowned: "No, A Li, what exactly is your identity? Why do Legendary Pokémon follow you?"
Li Muhua was stunned and looked at Mu Li: "Didn't you tell them?"
Mu Li forced a smile: "Haven't had time to say it yet, have I?"
"Then shall I tell them?" Li Muhua asked.
Mu Li sighed and said, "Never mind, I'll say it myself."
"What are you talking about?" Mu Qingqing hadn't quite understood the situation yet, but Wang Yijia was looking at Mu Li very seriously.
Mu Li looked at Mu Qingqing and Wang Yijia and said, "Actually, your previous guess was correct. I am indeed a trainer above the Heavenly King Level, but I'm just a tiny bit higher than the Heavenly King Level."
"Sure enough, I guessed right!" Wang Yijia took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "You are indeed a Champion Trainer!"
