Some time later, before Porygon-Z could locate the information room, it discovered where the Bureau stored victims of the Dark Continent.
The basement of the Bureau was specifically designated for storing Dark Continent victims and related specimens.
The so-called victims are those affected by the Five Great threats.
Among them are people who originally returned from the Dark Continent, as well as those who had contact with them.
While Porygon-Z was still searching, Akira decided to go there first to see for himself.
Upon arriving in the basement, the first thing that caught Akira's eye were rows of jars and containers.
In the corner of the basement stood several soldiers dressed like astronauts.
Their duties were different from those of the soldiers at the entrance.
The soldiers at the entrance were mainly there to prevent unauthorized entry.
The soldiers here, however, were guarding against any abnormal movements from the things in the basement!
If the Navigation Bureau was the most important place for the V5, then this basement was the most crucial part of the Navigation Bureau!
Countless items related to the Dark Continent were stored here.
Thus, gaining access to this basement was even more harder.
People could only descend via the elevator and only the palm prints of a select few could unlock it.
For Akira, however, such hassle was unnecessary.
With just a thought, he could appear in the basement in an instant.
Even the soldiers "turned a blind eye" to his actions.
The place closely resembled some kind of biological laboratory, with transparent containers filled with an unknown green liquid.
Because of this green liquid, the originally white room took on an eerie, ghostly hue.
Akira guessed that these were likely liquids used to preserve the specimens.
The things submerged in the liquid were even more bizarre.
There was a human corpse twisted into the shape of a pretzel, looking utterly horrifying—the expression on their face inside resembled the famous painting 'Scream'.
Akira glanced at the card beneath the container.
Though small, it recorded various important details.
This person was named "Pluto," one of the few who had returned from the Dark Continent.
His strength had ranked first in the team at the time.
Since he was the strongest, he was likely a powerhouse within the S-class range.
Yet now, he had ended up like this.
Aside from information about the corpse, the card also contained speculation about the cause of death.
It was suspected to be due to the "Human-Keeping Beast" Papu.
To twist a person into such a shape, brute force alone would hardly be enough.
Human bodies aren't dough—they lack that level of flexibility.
It was hard to imagine a person being twisted into such a perfect pretzel shape.
Thus, the Navigation Bureau believed the source of this death was the "Human-Keeping Beast" Papu.
They just hadn't found definitive evidence to confirm it yet.
Perhaps because Pluto's strength was considerable, or for some other reason, he had only turned into this state after returning to the Six Continents.
Beside Pluto were several similar corpses—all human, all twisted into pretzel shapes without exception.
Compared to Pluto, their deformities were even more severe, completely turning them into twisted pretzels, with no trace of a face left.
Another difference from Pluto was their identities.
They had never been to the Dark Continent!
Akira recalled that the original work had also mentioned many people inexplicably twisting into pretzel shapes in public.
Most of these victims were related by blood.
Witnesses included police officers, doctors, and others…
So this incident was entirely credible.
They had simply transformed into this state without warning.
This suggested that on the Six Continents, a "calamity" undetected by the Bureau was still lurking.
For example, Akira had previously encountered "Ai" and "Brion."
They were both encountered by Akira before V5 had discovered them.
This also indirectly confirmed V5's fears had come true.
If humans continued to charge recklessly towards the Dark Continent like this, it would only increase the danger level of the Six Continents.
On the other side of several "twisted humans" was an even larger device than before.
Because inside it was a completely intact person!
Unlike the other devices, this one was not only larger but also didn't contain any brightly colored liquid.
There was simply a single person.
A living person!
This person's appearance resembled a primitive from ancient times, with hair as unkempt as overgrown weeds.
Compared to this "wild man," Ging looked considerably more presentable—one might even say "well-groomed."
Aside from his disheveled appearance, the man was enveloped in an overwhelmingly dense aura, akin to Postmortem Nen.
From head to toe, his form was a blur of inky blackness, with only his wide, unblinking eyes standing out starkly—making him all more terrifying.
Akira had only ever seen something resembling this appearance in one thing before: the Dark Sonata.
However, this man hadn't been transformed by the Dark Sonata but was instead afflicted by a disease from the Dark Continent—one of the Five Great Calamities, the "Immortal Sickness" Zobae Disease.
According to the records on the card, this man had maintained this state for fifty years, with no change in his appearance.
Unlike a normal person, he didn't need to eat or engage in any activities; he could survive indefinitely just by staying inside this containment unit.
His way of life was "self-sustaining"—he only needed to consume his own blood or flesh to stay alive, defying all human logic in a grotesque manner.
While this might seem advantageous—being able to survive without relying on external food—the reality was far from ideal.
Though the disease granted him an "immortality", his mind had been irreversibly affected.
The person before them could no longer be called human.
This was why he had been sealed away here.
The Association classified this condition as a disease, naming it "Zobae Disease," and provided an annotation: "A sickness that steals hope and plunges its victims into endless despair."
Beyond these two calamities, the room also displayed other human corpses, all linked to various calamities.
Some were bodies parasitized by the Brions, which Akira could recognize without relying on the information cards, having witnessed them firsthand.
Others were corpses so saturated with Death aura that their true forms were nearly indistinguishable—victims of the "Hell's Bell" the twin-sounding serpent, another of the calamities.
In essence, this entire basement was a collection of corpses—all humans affected by these "calamities."
The only "living" being here was the man with Zobae Disease, though his existence was no different from death.
And what was displayed here was merely the tip of the iceberg when it came to the dangers of the Dark Continent.
The Navigation Bureau lacked the strength to explore further.
Despite sending their most elite members, they had barely made any progress on the Dark Continent, repeatedly repelled by these "calamities."
This alone spoke volumes about the danger lurking there.
For Akira, this visit was already worthwhile, if only for the chance to witness these horrors firsthand.
After observing them, he noticed a common thread among these calamities: their "parasitic" nature.
Their harm was invariably inflicted upon humans—whether through the Brions parasitizing corpses, Ai feeding on human emotions, or Zobae Disease spreading among people.
Whether physically or mentally, their effects were always directed at humans.
This "parasitic" type of calamity seemed to be one of the more common dangers on the Dark Continent.
Like a museum visitor, Akira wandered around, examining everything in the basement with keen interest
.After wandering around for a while and glancing at the soldiers still dutifully standing guard, Akira's figure flickered before vanishing once more.
Porygon-Z had already located the exact position of the information room.
****
In a certain large room.
Akira's figure suddenly materialized.
This was the information room that Porygon-Z had located, its style not much different from other areas—uniform in appearance.
Everywhere was made of an unknown silvery-white material, even the cabinets emitted an eerie glow.
The entire information room had three walls completely lined with standardized cabinets, except for the wall by the entrance.
Each cabinet bore a serial number and a line of text indicating the contents stored within.
Storing this information online wasn't secure enough.
The world had all kinds of Nen abilities and there was no guarantee that someone's Nen ability wouldn't involve hacking network information.
Moreover, there were entities like Ickshonpe who resided in the digital world.
Thus, rather than storing this information online, it was safer to keep it in physical form within this "absolutely secure" Navigation Bureau.
The countless cabinets alone revealed just how much information V5 had collected.
Not all of it was even stored here—only the most critical data earned a place in the Bureau.
Anything kept here had to be of utmost importance, the kind of intelligence that absolutely must not leak to the outside world.
Such as materials related to the Dark Continent.
Naturally, Akira wasn't about to refuse such information—anything collected by V5 in this manner was bound to be valuable.
So he instructed Porygon-Z to record all this data for later use.
Upon receiving the command, Porygon-Z's small body immediately emitted streams of aura, splitting into three clusters that flew off in different directions.
As the aura enveloped the cabinets, the information inside seemed to materialize.
Lines of green data surged like countless rivers converging into the sea, streaming towards Porygon-Z from all directions in ribbon-like flows.
The accumulated data V5 had gathered over the years was being input into Porygon-Z's mind at an astonishing speed.
While Porygon-Z absorbed the information, Akira examined the cabinets, noting the wide range of subjects they covered.
Some were labeled "Ancient Labyrinth Metropolis."
This indicated records brought back by soldiers from the Dark Continent about the ancient city.
Others bore the label "Hunter Association."
This was unsurprising—V5 had been monitoring the Hunter Association for a long time, so their records here made sense.
But what truly caught Akira off guard was an unexpected cabinet.
'Akira'
The name written on this cabinet was unmistakably his own.
Meaning, this cabinet contained information about him.
This genuinely surprised Akira—the Bureau had actually allocated an entire cabinet specifically for him.
After reviewing so many cabinets, without exception, they all contained broad-scope information.
For example, the Hunter Association cabinet would hold various details about the organization.
This was the only instance he'd seen where a single individual warranted an entire cabinet.
Even Chairman Netero didn't have this privilege—he should have been categorized in the "Hunter Association High-Ranking Officials" cabinet.
He was the only one who received this "honor."
As for why he had such a special privilege, it was likely because his strength forced the V5 to take him seriously.
This piqued his interest, making him curious about what kind of information was recorded in this cabinet.
Ding!
"Pokemon incubation complete!"
After spending quite some time "touring" the place, a new Pokemon had finally been born.
Akira quickly focused his mind, wondering which Pokemon would emerge this time.
After all, the incubation environment this time was quite unique—existing in a space that was neither natural nor artificial, while also gathering various "calamities."
Could it be a Ghost-type or Dark-type Pokemon?
Soon, Akira saw the new Pokemon.
The new creature had a body strikingly similar to a bell-shaped jellyfish.
Its translucent upper bell was surrounded by white hexagonal markings, with wavy, bright-blue edges.
Its tentacles were gelatinous, forming a vaguely humanoid shape.
Several tendrils intertwined to resemble a cape or long hair, while four shorter ones resembled arms and shorter locks.
Two longer tentacles formed the legs of this humanoid figure.
Every detail exuded an ethereal beauty, blurring the line between illusion and reality.
Akira's eyes widened, his lips parting slightly as he murmured in awe.
"I never expected…"
"This time, the Pokemon would be you!"
"Lillie!"
"No—Nihilego!"
The newly born Pokemon was none other than Nihilego, an Ultra Beast also known as "Lillie"!
In the original series, the Shiny Nihilego resembled Lillie, but this one was just a regular Nihilego.
Because Nihilego's appearance somewhat resembled Lillie's hairstyle, players often joked that it was her true form.
Moreover, in both the anime and games, Nihilego was the Ultra Beast most closely tied to Lillie's family.
Akira had anticipated that this Pokemon might be extraordinary, but he never expected it to be an Ultra Beast.
This was also his first Ultra Beast.
Upon reflection, however, it made sense.
Ultra Beasts debuted in Pokémon Sun & Moon.
According to official lore:
In their original world, Ultra Beasts are just ordinary Pokemon, but to the Pokémon world, they are highly dangerous creatures.
This aligned perfectly with the Dark Continent elements within the Bureau.
The Dark Continent was teeming with "calamities"—things that were commonplace there but posed extreme threats to the Six Continents.
Additionally, the Bureau's unique spatial environment matched the background of Ultra Beasts.
As for why it was specifically Nihilego—
Akira had two main theories.
First, Nihilego was designated as UB-01 among the Ultra Beasts, which might have influenced its manifestation.
This explanation felt a bit forced, so Akira leaned more toward the second possibility.
Another aspect is the connection between Nihilego and the five calamities.
As a parasitic Pokemon, Nihilego possesses an extremely strong parasitic nature, which aligns perfectly with the disaster characteristics analyzed earlier.
Nihilego can invade the human body, releasing toxins into the host and stimulating the nervous system to take control.
From this perspective, the emergence of Nihilego is quite reasonable.
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