At that mont, Mio typed a short ssage to Carl, voicing her concern.
"Speaking of which, the Oath developers are planning to release a pet system too. Are we really not going to do anything about it?"
"Well, first of all, the point of making a ga is to let players have fun. It isn't to obsess over crushing the competition before the ga is even finished. If Oath hadn't gone out of its way to block Netherworld Village at every turn, I wouldn't even bother with them."
In his sparrow form, Carl used his tiny claws and beak to type, replying at lightning speed.
"So as long as Oath stops trying to trip us up, we don't need any special counterasures. Besides, their pet system has an eighty-capture weekly limit. All I can say is that only Oath's most loyal players could stomach sothing like that."
Carl genuinely had no interest in paying attention to the pet system Oath was launching.
But Oath not trying to sabotage a competitor? How could that possibly happen?
Just as Carl's ssage appeared in front of Mio, the pre-battle eting moved on to the real issue.
"Regarding Netherworld Village and the ecological invasion caused by the Pokémon, the Empire has provided us with a solution. We invite Lady Calamity of the Empire to explain the details."
At that point, Toyama introduced a figure who was terrifying in the truest sense.
Anan was the first to react. Her expression instantly beca more serious than ever before.
A second later, a crimson spatial rift tore open in the center of the eting room. From it stepped a mature, strikingly beautiful woman with a figure so flawless that Carl did not even know how to describe it.
"It has been a long ti, Lady Anan of the Abyssal Knights. Our last eting was during the Third Gray Tide Campaign, when we fought together on the border, wasn't it?"
"I would rather not see you at all."
Anan's gaze flicked toward Carl, who was hidden inside Mio's sleeve. She was likely staying alert in case the woman before her tried to make a move against him.
"Don't be so cold. On the contrary, I'm rather curious about that adorable appearance of yours. If the Saviors prefer that kind of look, I might consider eting them in a younger form as well."
This being known as Calamity seed to know what Anan's original human form looked like.
Anan's cheek twitched nonstop. She had clearly realized the other woman was mocking her. Countless curses were probably running through her mind, but this was not the place to shout them.
However, from the cryptic banter between Anan and Calamity, the kind of exchange only old acquaintances would share, Carl could tell that this Lady Calamity was likely a powerhouse on Anan's level.
"One of the Empire's Ten Archons and commander of the Calamity Legion. What brings you all the way to this remote academy town?" Anan took the opportunity to indirectly inform Carl of the woman's identity.
"Remote? Everyone knows this is where the Saviors who decide the fate of the world gather. And what about you? A veteran like you stole the version 2.0 spotlight from our Second Imperial Princess, and now you're accusing of neglecting my duties?" Calamity said.
Carl roughly understood.
The original featured character planned for Oath's version 2.0 was supposed to be the Empire's Second Imperial Princess.
This Second Imperial Princess, much like the Saintess of the Holy Nation, was likely a character the Oath developers had designed long ago.
Just as Carl had explained when he first entered Paradise Academy, although these pre-designed characters had their own lives in the world of Elysium, just like the natives, and had truly grown up there, their life experiences, appearances, and powers had all been given to them by Oath's developers.
In any case, the more Carl interacted with Elysium, the more he felt that this world was essentially similar to the Digital World.
It was called a digital world, but by now, it was no different from a real alternate world.
This Madam Calamity, however, was a true native powerhouse.
She existed outside Oath's official plans. Like Anan, she was the kind of powerhouse the developers would have to spend a fortune to recruit onto a banner.
"So, why are you here?" Anan clearly had no patience for small talk with this woman.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to steal your banner slot. I'm only here to provide the Headmaster's side with a little… pet support."
As Calamity spoke, she snapped her fingers. Countless spatial rifts instantly appeared behind her, and from them erged beings that made both Carl and Anan feel genuinely troubled.
A large number of Oath-native monsters that had been tad by the Empire.
"Our Empire has had a tradition of training battle companions since ancient tis. If this number still fails to satisfy the Saviors' needs, we can even have our soldiers consu shapeshifting potions and play the role of even more powerful battle pets."
Calamity's gaze swept across the room before landing on Mio. More accurately, she locked eyes with Carl and continued speaking.
"Every battle pet we provide to the Headmaster's side is top-tier in both strength and Data Volu, to say nothing of the ones played by our soldiers. Since the Saviors love pets so much, I'm sure they'll be very fond of them."
"Furthermore, this is survival of the fittest. The natural ecological cycle. As for the Pokémon released into the city, if they are too weak and end up hunted and devoured by the Empire's battle pets, then that is simply nature taking its course. The Saviors wouldn't mind too much, would they?"
So this was your true goal all along?
At that mont, Carl truly realized the scale of the threat.
The reason the Oath officials and the Empire had been willing to back down so quickly and allow the Pokémon into the city was because they had already seen through the Pokémon's weakness. Their average Data Volu hovered around only a few hundred.
But this large batch of battle pets brought by the Empire had an average Data Volu of two to three thousand.
The battle pets played by soldiers could even reach seven to eight thousand!
If the Pokémon and this massive group of Imperial battle pets lived in the sa city and were allowed to fight freely, the Pokémon would beco nothing more than food for those pets. They would be chewed up by the bigger beasts.
As for the players? They still would not be able to tell which creatures were Netherworld Village Pokémon and which were Imperial battle pets.
Although the Pokémon's appearances were protected by copyright, the Empire could still use shapeshifting potions to redesign Oath-native monsters into cute forms.
Even if they were Oath-native monsters, players would still be delighted to catch them.
It was total ecological suppression.
This was truly a brilliant move.
"That concludes all the arrangents for version 1.5. Everyone will be busy from here on out. Let us welco the official arrival of version 1.5."
After the Headmaster spoke those words with an air of absolute confidence, the pre-battle eting adjourned.
Mio imdiately took Carl back to Netherworld Village, and Anan followed them to discuss a counterasure.
"The simplest thod is to establish safe zones. In more academic terms, ecological reserves."
Carl spoke to Anan with an extrely grave expression.
"I'll ask major guild players who have Oath accounts, such as Miss Vengeful Blood, to clear out the Imperial war beasts in specific Open Worlds."
"We may also need mbers of the Abyssal Knights to disguise themselves as powerful wild Pokémon, such as Legendary, Pseudo-Legendary, or Mythical Pokémon, and secretly drive the Imperial war beasts out of those Open Worlds."
Anan shrugged at Carl's request. After all, the Abyssal Knights had already beco addicted to playing Pokémon.
Last ti, by acting as rental Pokémon, they had earned quite a bit of Emotional Antidote from the players' cheers.
They had been worrying that they might not get another chance to keep playing Pokémon and having fun with the players.
"Of course, I don't expect us to establish reserves in every player's Open World. For now, we'll start with the Open Worlds of popular players like Crimson Night and Vengeful Blood."
After making a few brief arrangents, Carl moved straight to the most critical part of the problem.
"But establishing reserves only treats the symptoms, not the cause. To put it bluntly, the Pokémon's Data Volu is too low. They simply can't compete with the Empire's battle pets!"
"I can't guarantee anything for wild Pokémon, but for Pokémon trained by players, it's ti to design an additional growth or evolution path."
In Carl's design, these Pokémon would first battle each other in the City of Glory to increase their Data Volu. Then they would head into the wild, fight Oath-native monsters, and devour their Data Volu.
But simply leveling up would not be enough. Carl planned to design even more explosive evolution thods for the Pokémon, so that in the future, when they faced those clawing, snarling Oath-native monsters, they could crush them outright.
"Do you an ga Evolution and Dynamax?" Mio asked curiously.
In their daily lives, Mio often discussed ga design ideas with Carl, and these two evolution thods were things Carl had ntioned to her before.
"Those are evolution thods within the Pokémon system. In the future, once Oath players have access to their pet system, they will definitely use Oath-native monsters in battle. We also need to give Pokémon a form that fits Oath's core gaplay."
As Carl spoke, he sent an invitation to Hasumi, Griff, and the Saintess, the three banner characters who could already be considered Netherworld Village employees.
"It might be hard to explain clearly with words alone. Everyone, co with to a player's Open World. I'll show you another form of Pokémon evolution there."
The Open World Carl invited everyone to was none other than Kyo's.
Kyo had not shown himself recently. He had not been climbing the Trial of Glory rankings, nor had he been participating in the Pokémon League. The reason was that he had been attempting a truly insane challenge.
He was trying to defeat all the powerful monsters in the Trial of Glory, such as the Abyssal Knights and the Fla Sword Dragon, using nothing but a shovel.
When Carl and the others arrived in Kyo's Open World, he was holding a shovel and locked in a true one-on-one duel with an Abyssal Knight he had captured.
(To be continued.)
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