Xia Hunaao was well aware that as events unfolded, the first college entrance examination after the reforms would conclude. However, the sudden chaos at the end was certainly not something that could be easily suppressed by them alone. Without reinforcements, they had to rely on the strength of the ordinary students present. But looking at the students in attendance, Xia Hunaao found that there weren't many he could confidently rely on, at least judging by their performance in the martial arts examination so far, he had only seen about two outstanding trainers.
Xia Hunaao signaled Meng Liuying that he needed to step away for a moment. He then approached Yin Cai and said, "You recognize this classmate, right? He seems to be in some danger. Let's escort him out first."
Yin Cai stood up and, with Xia Hunaao's help, they carried the fallen classmate out of the secret realm. Outside the secret realm, Xia Hunaao watched the spatial fluctuations behind them. He first had the nurse take the student away, then turned to Yin Cai and asked, "Do you have something you want to ask?"
Yin Cai nodded. "Yes, can you tell me?"
"If you have the resolve, I will tell you."
Looking at Xia Hunaao's expression, Yin Cai felt as if this peer had suddenly become as imposing as a tsunami. After careful consideration, Yin Cai agreed, "I'm ready."
Xia Hunaao briefly explained the situation to Yin Cai. After confirming that Yin Cai understood the gravity of the matter, Xia Hunaao assigned him a task: "Teacher Bai Lan from our school will be here shortly. When she arrives, you will directly cooperate with Teacher Bai and escort the classmates in the secret realm out in batches. After this is done, you can go back and rest."
With that, Xia Hunaao turned and returned to the secret realm. Having Yin Cai outside coordinating efforts made him feel more at ease.
Upon re-entering the secret realm, Xia Hunaao casually swept his gaze across the gathering point and noticed that twenty to thirty people had already returned. Others were still making their way back. The seven or eight people who had been misled by Xia Hunaao's fabricated story were now helping to expand the influence of his deception. As the saying goes, a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth. With the classmates in the secret realm constantly repeating the story, even Xia Hunaao himself almost believed that there were indeed ignorant Pokémon hunters lurking within.
Xia Hunaao went to Meng Liuying's side and asked, "How is it going, Meng—uh, Sister Ying?"
Xia Hunaao had intended to call Meng Liuying "Sister Meng," but as soon as the words left his lips, he shivered. After all, he also called Mewtwo "Sister Meng." If he had summoned Mewtwo by accident, it would have been a disaster.
Meng Liuying looked at the large screen in front of her. "It's going well. All points are heading towards the gathering area. Although the speed varies, there shouldn't be any major delays. As for our dispatched staff, not everyone has Pokémon capable of quickly bringing people back, so they will be a bit slower."
As they were speaking, they saw Zhang Hong and Yu Tingyun returning to the gathering point, riding on their Bulbasaur. Moreover, behind their mounts was a large sled carrying seven or eight people. Seeing Zhang Hong and Yu Tingyun, Xia Hunaao breathed a sigh of relief. "They're back. That's good. I'll go greet them."
Xia Hunaao and Squirtle ran towards Zhang Hong. "How is it? Is everyone alright?"
Zhang Hong nodded. "The two of us are fine. They've all sustained minor injuries, but no one is seriously hurt."
As they directed the group to the gathering point for a quick treatment of their injuries, Yin Cai ran in from outside the secret realm. He looked around and directly approached Xia Hunaao. "Boss Xia, Teacher Bai is here, and other teachers are on their way. Teacher Bai brought a seven-seater car. Shall we send a group out first?"
Xia Hunaao thought for a moment. "That's fine. The areas should already be numbered. You can escort six people out first according to their numbers."
As Xia Hunaao watched Yin Cai go to call people, Zhang Hong came over and asked him, "Something happened, and it's not a small matter, is it? This is definitely not about some Pokémon hunters you made up."
Xia Hunaao looked around nervously when he heard Zhang Hong's words, afraid that someone present might be listening. Zhang Hong chuckled at his reaction. "Don't bother looking. Who do you think this lie can fool? Despite how they seem to have fallen for it, everyone here knows exactly what's going on."
Xia Hunaao thought about it carefully. Although it was said that Pokémon hunters could capture Pokémon using special equipment, all such devices had been inspected before the exam. It was impossible to bring large-scale destructive equipment into the secret realm. Without such equipment, there weren't even a handful of candidates from Jinghai City who would be targeted by a gang of Pokémon hunters. And that's including Xia Hunaao, a walking cheat code, and Yu Longdu, who was clearly there to stir up trouble. Therefore, Xia Hunaao's lie could easily be seen through with a little critical thinking.
As expected, as soon as Yin Cai mentioned escorting people out, some came to Xia Hunaao to request permission to stay. Although Meng Liuying was the highest commander in the secret realm, Xia Hunaao was clearly more approachable.
"Boss Xia, I want to stay and help you..."
After the first person stepped forward, everyone else swarmed towards Xia Hunaao, hoping to stay. Xia Hunaao scratched his head, then jumped onto the platform and blew into the microphone a couple of times.
The sudden sound of the microphone drew the attention of everyone in the gathering point. There were now fifty to sixty people present. Xia Hunaao looked at them all and said, "Since everyone knows, and some of you have come to ask, I won't continue to deceive you with that lie anymore. As you all already know, all Pokémon on Lingyao Star have the potential to riot. Right now, the Pokémon in the secret realm where we are are beginning to riot. For everyone's safety, we must escort you out of the secret realm. I understand your desire to contribute your strength here, but for safety reasons, those without a Junior Trainer Badge, please obey orders and leave in an orderly fashion."
Xia Hunaao repeated his statement once, then jumped off the stage. "Those who have a Trainer Badge and wish to stay, come to me."
After Xia Hunaao played the stern role, it was Meng Liuying's turn to play the softer one. "I am Alliance Investigator Meng Liuying. We hope for everyone's cooperation with our actions. Otherwise, the Alliance will pursue the matter to the fullest extent, with no leniency."
As time passed, people were gradually escorted out of the secret realm. Only a handful of candidates remained who had not yet returned to the gathering point. And among this handful was Xia Hunaao's girlfriend, Shen Yu.
Xia Hunaao was frantic, but as the "deputy commander" of the gathering point, he had to remain there to deal with any potential unfavorable situations. As the time since the anomaly occurred was nearing an hour, Xia Hunaao finally spotted Shen Yu riding on her Aerodactyl in the distance. And around her were the remaining few people, which made Xia Hunaao breathe a sigh of relief. "They've all returned, finally."
Not far behind Shen Yu, Yu Longdu appeared in the sky, riding on his Charizard. He had been sent by Xia Hunaao to search the examination area for Pokémon. Xia Hunaao had specifically instructed him not to return unless he found anything unusual.
Charizard flew past Shen Yu and her group, hovering directly above the gathering point's platform. Yu Longdu jumped off Charizard and approached Meng Liuying and Xia Hunaao. Without bothering to catch his breath, Yu Longdu immediately relayed the information he had gathered: "Just at the outermost edge of our examination area, I saw a large number of Pokémon gathered there. Their purpose is unknown, but they appeared to be under some specific command. Otherwise, this situation wouldn't have occurred."
Hearing this, both Xia Hunaao and Meng Liuying were stunned. The phenomenon of Pokémon riots had been studied extensively from the beginning. In a way, it was similar to sleepwalking, something the subject couldn't control. Therefore, this situation was exceptionally bizarre.
What made matters even more troublesome was receiving specific commands. Although some Pokémon were gregarious and there were relationships of command and obedience among them, such commands were generally within the same species and were largely instinctual behaviors.
To command multiple different Pokémon during a riot would require the lead Pokémon to have exceptionally strong computational abilities, or to be a Pokémon that was originally human and had acquired significant command abilities under human influence. The former would be Pokémon like Metagross or legendary Pokémon, while the latter could be compared to Ash's Pikachu.
Hearing about the Pokémon army gathering outside the examination area, Xia Hunaao glanced at the candidates still within the secret realm. "Given this number, it will still take some time to completely evacuate everyone. Let's hope there's enough time."
Yu Longdu finally caught his breath, took a few sips of water from the one Xia Hunaao handed him, and then jumped back onto Charizard. "Leave these matters to me. I'll continue to monitor those Pokémon. If they make a move, I'll return immediately."
Xia Hunaao watched Charizard flap its wings and fly away, and then reminded him, "Be very careful."
Yu Longdu smiled and decisively set a flag. "Don't worry, in a secret realm of this level, there are no Pokémon that can stop me and Charizard. I'm off."
Charizard flew away. Xia Hunaao turned and continued to study the map with Meng Liuying. Although the biggest problem at the moment was whether they could safely escort all the candidates out of the secret realm, there was another issue that loomed before these two young commanders: how to defend the line they were currently holding.