Chapter 62: Deterrence

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The sun slowly set behind the distant mountains in the west, and as the last rays of sunlight disappeared, Viridian Forest began to embrace the coming night.

At this moment, Sato had built a fire under a large tree where he had already constructed a treehouse. Over the fire, a thick leg of venison was roasting.

Under Sato's careful cooking, the venison leg, sprinkled with salt, had turned a beautiful golden brown, and the smell of roasted meat filled the air.

In addition to being rich in wild Pokémon, Viridian Forest also had an abundance of wild animals. With Zubat's echolocation helping him, Sato easily located a herd of deer, and with Gloom's Stun Spore, he successfully captured a strong stag.

Sato made sure to use as much of the deer as possible. The nutrient-rich deer blood was carefully stored in a glass bottle, previously used to store blood, while the deer hide was meticulously skinned, washed, and hung on a tree branch to dry.

As for the venison, Sato only took the most valuable four thick legs, leaving the rest of the deer meat to the carnivorous wild Pokémon lurking nearby. Naturally, Sato didn't miss out on harvesting the precious deer antlers either.

Looking at the perfectly roasted venison leg, Sato's mouth watered, and he eagerly cut off a piece with his hunting knife to taste.

The rest of his team had already eaten dinner, but Sato had put a lot of effort into preparing this meal for himself.

While Sato was savoring the venison, the firelight and enticing smell of the meat attracted quite a few wild Pokémon.

Around the large tree where Sato sat, pairs of red and green eyes could be seen glowing in the darkness, all fixed on him.

Despite these wild Pokémon being drawn by the fire and the aroma of the meat, Sato, with Zubat's superior detection abilities, had already been aware of them. However, aside from staying alert, he didn't stop what he was doing.

Over time, Sato had come to realize an important truth during his journey through the depths of Viridian Forest: running away wasn't an option. If he truly wanted to establish himself in the forest, it was essential to occasionally display his strength. The incident by the riverside, where defeating numerous wild Pokémon had deterred others from attacking, was a perfect example.

In fact, if the remaining wild Pokémon had continued pursuing them after that battle, Zubat and Gloom, who were both almost exhausted, would certainly have been defeated, and Sato wouldn't have escaped unscathed either.

However, those wild Pokémon didn't continue their pursuit. Upon seeing the fallen Pokémon surrounding Sato and his team, they felt a strong sense of threat from him.

Wild Pokémon that have spent their lives in the wilderness rely heavily on their instincts, and from harsh experience, they understand that "a cornered beast is the most dangerous."

Using the system's scanning function, Sato discovered that none of the nearby wild Pokémon were above level 30, meaning the situation was still manageable. Plus, these wild Pokémon weren't united, so the level of threat was considerably reduced.

The most important thing was that after teaming up to defeat so many wild Pokémon, Zubat and Gloom had gained newfound confidence, emanating an aura of strength.

It was precisely this aura that Zubat and Gloom exuded, which kept the wild Pokémon hesitating and circling from a distance, wary of approaching Sato too closely.

At the same time, the wild Pokémon around had incredibly sharp instincts. They could all feel the murderous intent radiating from the human sitting by the fire. If any of them dared to make a move, they might be killed instantly to serve as a warning to the others.

Indeed, Sato was now fully prepared to kill if necessary. The law of the forest was survival of the fittest. Since these wild Pokémon harbored thoughts of killing and eating him, they had to be ready to face the consequences—being killed by him instead.

Sitting idly and allowing himself to be killed was not Sato's way. He had to steel himself for what was necessary. There was a clear distinction between Pokémon: some were peaceful, and living in harmony with them was ideal. But others were aggressive, and even if he didn't provoke them, they would come looking for trouble. In those cases, he couldn't afford to show mercy.

As Sato slowly enjoyed the roasted venison leg in his hand, he kept a sharp eye on his surroundings. Just as he was about halfway through his meal, a wild Persian could no longer resist the temptation of food and made the first move.

Persian was incredibly fast and silent, and at some point, it had climbed up to the branches above Sato without him noticing. Suddenly, it pounced down from the branch, descending like a white shadow in the night.

Its sharp claws were extended, aiming directly at Sato's head in a merciless, lethal strike.

Unfortunately for Persian, every move it made had already been noticed by Zubat, who was perched on Sato's shoulder. The moment Persian acted, Zubat immediately took action. He gathered Flying-type energy from the air, and a centripetal gust of white whirlwind appeared above Sato's head, trapping Persian as if it had fallen right into a net.

"Now!" At the same time, Gloom, who had been carefully watching the surroundings, launched its attack on the ambusher. Within the few seconds that Persian was trapped in the white whirlwind, five or six green Energy Balls shot out from Gloom's hands, hitting Persian precisely.

As the energy orbs made contact with Persian, they exploded, causing a chain of blasts. With a thud, a severely wounded Persian collapsed onto the grass in front of Sato.

Though Persian hadn't completely lost its ability to fight, it struggled to rise and escape. But before it could do so, it saw Sato approaching with his hunting knife. In its final moments, as Persian's consciousness faded into darkness, the last thing it saw was a pair of eyes filled with reluctant but unyielding determination.

With one swift and clean strike, Sato ended the Persian's suffering. He then returned to his spot by the fire and resumed eating the remaining venison, bit by bit. Zubat and Gloom also returned to their original positions.

By now, most of the eyes that had been watching from the nearby bushes had disappeared. The few that remained, upon seeing the now cold corpse lying in the grass, silently withdrew as well.

Soon, the eerie silence that had enveloped the area was replaced by the soft sounds of night insects and the wind rustling the leaves.

"I'm sorry, but I can't afford to die just yet, so you had to die in my place," Sato muttered to himself quietly, so softly that only he could hear, as he gazed at the now blood-dried corpse in front of him.

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