chsdbacks Chapter 188 "Showcasing Her Singing Talent"
Chapter 188 "Showcasing Her Singing Talent"
Chapter 188 "Showcasing Her Singing Talent"
"Mmm! So delicious!"
Higana's eyes lit up as she ate the crab claw meat, praising repeatedly, "I never expected Xiao Lan could make something so delicious! Did Xiao Lan really make this? I can't believe it!"
Xiao Lan: ".."
Several dark lines appeared on her forehead.
Has this idiot been spending too much time with Ze Shu? He's actually started talking like him!
"I've practiced in private too! I've fed Psyduck countless times." Blue flicked Higanbana's forehead and sighed, "But ultimately it's because the Rock Lord's crab claws are of good quality. As long as I don't do anything weird, the taste won't be too bad."
Higana exclaimed, "Will we still be able to eat this kind of food?"
Ze Shu said, "According to the Rock Wall Treasure Lord, its claws will be mostly healed in about a month. Hmm, that guy definitely gave an exaggerated estimate. Maybe in half a month, we'll be able to eat the Rock Wall Treasure Lord's crab claws again!"
If Miss Officer Jenny doesn't understand how something like a Treasure Master came to be, how could Ze Shu not understand?
Isn't it the secret seasoning I gave him back then?
Therefore, the secret seasoning with this unique healing ability could only be described as taking "one month" at most by the Rock Wall Treasure Master, who was completely unaware of the information Ze Shu had gathered: ordinary hairy cliff crabs need at least three months to grow their claws properly.
"That's right!" Ze Shu suddenly thought of something.
He went downstairs, brought up a large, bright red banner award certificate, and showed it to Higana, smiling as if coaxing a child:
"This is the huge, huge award certificate that the Tabletop City Police Department and the Padia Alliance gave you after you did a great job stopping Roar Tail's singing!"
The certificate was so big that Ze Shu could barely unfold it even with his arms outstretched. It was bright red and very festive, and it had the words "League Hero: Higana" written on it in huge characters, which made Higana's eyes widen in disbelief.
"This, this, this one—"
She became incoherent, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Me?! I have an award certificate too?!"
Ze Shu: "Yeah, it's for you. See, I didn't trick you, did I? I got it especially for you."
Overjoyed, Higanbana exclaimed, "No, no! I've never had a certificate like this before! It's so big! So red! League Hero Higanbana, hehehehehe—"
Her eyes were glued to the certificate, and she grinned like a silly schoolchild.
With a silly grin, Higana patted her chest and said to Ze Shu with high spirits, "If there are any more 'good things' like this in the future, just let me have them!"
Ze Shu was stunned for a moment, looking at Xi Jiana as if she were an idiot:
"You said it yourself."
Higanbana hummed twice, completely oblivious to anything amiss: "From childhood to adulthood, no matter what good deeds I've done or who I've helped, I've never received a single word of praise from Grandma. This certificate is simply amazing!"
Ze Shu smiled helplessly: "Alright then."
He handed the certificate to Higana, letting her look at it and giggle, before going downstairs on his own.
The coffee shop downstairs still didn't have many customers. During the four days that Higana was in a coma, only Luca, her daughter Rico, and Nemo came regularly.
Most of the other customers were just trying it out, marveling at the change of manager and the adorable Eevee animals in the store.
To minimize the number of human customers.
But the slightly larger café was lively and not deserted at all.
Besides the living room on the second floor where Hiljuna just ate crab claw meat, their Pokémon also play and rest in this cafe downstairs—such as the eight Eevee Pokémon of Mudanzai and Xiaolan scattered throughout the cafe.
The Growlithe and the Lucky Cat nestled on a soft mat that Zeshu had specially laid out at the entrance, like two guardian deities.
There's a dreamy spot at the coffee shop counter where you can sleep with your belly open. Peony practices making a cup of coffee, and if no one drinks it, she can just keep drinking it straight down.
Beside the stairwell, the foam squirrel stood with its hands on its hips, teaching its superb cleaning skills to a family of squirrels who were holding hands and listening in a daze, so that they could keep the café spotless even when the foam squirrel was not around.
Since it wasn't traveling, the fluffy sheep couldn't lie on the edge of the spaceship to look at the scenery anymore. It now focused its attention on the TV in the cafe, which was showing a travel program—a channel that Ze Shu had specially changed for it.
And the clanging sound of hammering metal came from the courtyard—the sound of the young blacksmith forging iron. A metal rack in the café had recently broken and was about to be thrown away, but the young blacksmith happily picked it up. Whenever the café was closed for business, he could be seen tirelessly forging iron in the courtyard.
Looking out from the café towards the courtyard, besides the figure of the young blacksmith hammering away, there's also a leek duck practicing its blacksmithing techniques with scallions, keeping pace with the rhythm of its work. It's always like this: practicing in the coldest winter and hottest summer, with its own kind of dedication.
This coffee shop may not have many human customers, but its presence brings a sense of liveliness and happiness.
Ze Shu thought that living like this for the rest of his life wouldn't be so bad.
He smiled and took a cappuccino from Peony at the front desk, then casually found an empty chair to sit down—as Peony's learning became more and more proficient...
She can make more and more types of coffee, and this milky coffee is one that Zeshu has been drinking frequently lately.
Just as Ze Shu sat down, he heard a gentle "sound," and the Snow Fairy appeared and squeezed next to him, her icy blue eyes narrowed as she smiled, her face full of affection.
"Chirp chirp~"
"Perfect, let's freeze it."
The snow fairy obediently exhaled a breath, and fine ice crystals formed inside the coffee cup.
The sight of the Mini Dragon in the distance made it very hungry—but unfortunately, Ze Shu had said that he wanted to make the Mini Dragon eat less ice—after all, if Ze Shu had lifted this restriction, given the Mini Dragon's penchant for soaking in a frozen cave, it would probably have become a freeze-dried Mini Dragon long ago.
"Whoosh!"
In the distance, Roaring Tail and Little Blue's Jigglypuff started arguing about something.
The Roaring Tail stared resentfully at Jigglypuff with its bright golden eyes, while Jigglypuff blinked and innocently made "poof poof" sounds.
Despite their similar appearances, Roartail, a past paradoxical Pokémon of Jigglypuff, always has a completely different personality from Jigglypuff.
They were making noise when Fatty pulled out a microphone from somewhere, opened his mouth, and let his soft voice echo throughout the cafe.
"Puff puff~ puff~~ puff puff puff~~"
Although Xiaolan's Jigglypuff doesn't sing much, when it does sing occasionally, it's truly worthy of being a Pokémon known for its beautiful singing, always bringing joy to the listener.
A gentle singing voice can indeed make people want to fall asleep comfortably while listening to music.
But the beautiful song sung by the little blue Jigglypuff didn't have the ability to make the Jigglypuff in the anime "fall asleep as soon as it starts singing," as Zeshu remembered. Soon, the song ended, and many Pokémon cheered in praise throughout the café.
Fatty shyly shrank back into Little Blue's arms.
But Roaring Tail was not convinced and roared.
It was as if he was saying to Fatty, "Little brother, you're singing wrong, wrong, absolutely wrong. The correct way to sing isn't like this. Your singing is neither beautiful nor skillful. Let me, the 'Strongest Singer in Zone Zero,' demonstrate for you—"
After saying that, Roaring Tail snatched the microphone from Fatty Ding, opened his mouth wide in surprise, and tried to demonstrate.
Ze Shu: ? ? ?
He couldn't understand whether this howling tail had some strange concept of what constituted "beauty" and "correctness" in singing.
If that Roaring Tail were to start singing, the entire café, and perhaps even the whole of Little Key Town, would be in a coma for four or five days. It would probably be no less terrifying than when Darkrai plunged Sandsand Town into a nightmare.
Ze Shu felt that he had never acted so quickly—within three seconds: he steadily put down the coffee, instructed the Snow Fairy to freeze the microphone of Roaring Tail, and after Roaring Tail was stunned for a moment, he went straight to Roaring Tail's side and skillfully pinched Roaring Tail's mouth that was about to open its mouth!
The chubby face of the roaring tail turned red again and puffed up.
"I told you, you can't just sing!" Ze Shu warned, almost enunciating each word clearly. "Wasn't it an agreement? You need my permission first before you can sing! Otherwise, you can go back to Zone Zero!"
Roaring Tail's face was almost full of displeasure as it squeezed out a wronged sound from its mouth, which was being pinched by Ze Shu.
This can't be sung, that can't be sung—when will we be able to sing it?!
The roaring tail expressed its grievance in this way.
However, if you were to suggest sending it back to Zone Zero, Roaring Tail would also be unwilling. After all, the audience in Zone Zero could no longer provide it with any enjoyment—it had been sung into a stupor dozens or even hundreds of times. That's why Roaring Tail secretly escaped from Zone Zero.
Now that they've escaped, going back would be like a long-eared rabbit eating grass growing near its burrow.
Therefore, Roaring Tail never considered returning to Zone Zero out of spite.
Moreover, after being subdued by Ze Shu in Zone Zero, the material conditions here are much better than its previous life in Zone Zero—in various ways, such as a nest, food...
There are so many potential 'partners' who can listen to it sing!
So the Roaring Tail was just expressing its grievances to the swamp tree.
"throat"
Ze Shu covered his head, lamenting why he had taken in this scourge.
However, the roaring tail's desire to sing may also be its hobby and nature.
He could only say, "I'll figure something out. As for you, Howling Tail, you need my permission to sing, understand?"
The roaring tail nodded weakly with a "whoosh".
Regardless, the power of Ze Shu to knock it unconscious was enough to make the Roaring Tail Pokémon, a creature with a past paradoxical concept of "might makes right" and "law of the jungle," submit to its power.
After this incident, there were no other "disasters" in the café.
Zeshu spent some time with Froslass, Glaceon, and Urgot, and played with Vulpix for a while. He watched the little blacksmith work hard at forging iron, and that was how he spent his day.
The next morning, an unexpected person came to the coffee shop.
"Wow, this is your café, Professor Zeki." Leihe said as she looked around the café.
Ze Shu rubbed the sleepy eyes of the six-tailed fox in his arms and asked, "What's wrong?"
He didn't ask how she found the coffee shop. Although he didn't say it out loud, he didn't hide it either. This Leihe seemed to be an intelligence expert who could find any information.
Leihe: "I've almost finished all the preliminary preparations for the Treasure of Calamity, so I'm here to invite Professor Zeshu to scout out the 'shrine' that seals the Treasure of Calamity."
The four calamity treasures of Padia are sealed by eight stakes. If the eight stakes are removed, the 'shrine' that seals them will be opened, releasing the calamity treasures inside.
The four shrines are: the Shrine of Rotten Wood, the Shrine of Frozen Cracks, the Shrine of Dust, and the Shrine of Fire.
But this is just a preliminary inspection; the stakes haven't been removed yet, and the seal remains firmly in place.
Padiyah, the first western district, is a cliff face on the outer edge.
"Is this the Shrine of Frozen Cracks?" Ze Shu asked.
The so-called Sealed Shrine's seal, from the outside, resembles a pot lid or a well cover, sealed by four large chains embedded in the cliff face. The frozen, cracked shrine before Zeshu also has a pot lid that gleams with an icy light, symbolizing coldness.
He vaguely heard a drawn-out, loud cry like that of a snow leopard inside.
Leihe: "Yes, this is the Shrine of Frozen Cracks, where the sword from the Treasure of Calamity, the Ancient Sword Leopard, is sealed. It once brought down fifty meters of snow, burying the entire capital of the Kingdom of Padia."
"You heard that call too, didn't you? It seems to be quite talkative, often barking loudly. Over time, even trainers who occasionally pass by have made up several rumors about its loud barking."
"I see..."
Zeshu looked thoughtfully at the pot lid of the Frozen Shrine.
"Let's scout it out, so you can prepare, Mr. Zeshu." Leihe couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes. Seeing Zeshu's thoughtful expression, she asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Ze Shu said, "I actually have an idea."
Leihe looked interested and said, "What? I'd like to hear the details."
Ze Shu laughed: "If the snow leopard's roar can be heard outside, does that mean that sounds from the outside can also be heard inside?"
Leihe's eyes lit up, and she said, "Teacher Zeshu, are you saying that you want to communicate with the Ancient Sword Leopard? Although this Ancient Sword Leopard is very stubborn, if it's Teacher Zeshu, I'm still willing to have some expectations for the results of your communication."
"No." Ze Shu slowly shook his head.
"I mean: we need to prepare a... megaphone? Yeah, a megaphone connected to the singing microphone. Ideally, it should only be able to transmit to the Frozen Words."
So, the day after scouting the Frozen Crack Shrine.
Ze Shu came here again, but this time it brought its Roaring Tail with it.
Didn't you complain that I wouldn't sing for you?
"Now, I've found you a pretty good spot where you can 'show off your singing talent.' And did you hear that long, powerful roar of the snow leopard? You also have a strong audience; maybe no matter how you sing, you won't knock it down."
Roaring Tail: "Whoosh?!"
Its excited eyes seemed to say: Really? Godfather!
Roaring Tail is now truly impressed by Ze Shu's "all-powerful connections." He had only promised it two days ago, and now he had actually found it a great place to sing and a powerful audience.
Although Roartail doesn't think its singing is bad, it has a clear understanding that ordinary people or Pokémon really can't bear its singing, so Roartail is well aware of the difficulties involved.
Sing! Sing your fill.
Ze Shu smiled and handed the purchased microphone to Roaring Tail. Lei He had already plugged the microphone into the Frozen Words, ensuring that the Ancient Sword Leopard inside could hear it clearly and with a deafening roar.
"It's eight o'clock in the morning now. I'll come back to pick you up in the evening. In the meantime, this entire cliff, and the frozen rocks within it, are your playground for singing freely. Here, this is your lunch. I'm too lazy to pick you up at noon, so you can eat here."
Ze Shu spoke to Roaring Tail as if entrusting the child to a kindergarten.
The roaring tail showed no reluctance, its eyes gleaming with excitement.
It was already foreseeable that the Ancient Sword Leopard inside the Frozen Shaft Shrine would struggle helplessly, yet it was unable to escape the Frozen Shaft Shrine and could only endure the demonic song of its roaring tail.
"I'm leaving now."
Ze Shu pinched the cheek of the roaring tail and gave a final word of advice:
"You need to see us walk away before you speak, understand? Don't hurt us."