Trainers returning from the Kingdom of Roc

Chapter 47: The Reason for Becoming Stronger

Upon entering the box, Hou Hao was completely stunned.

Before him lay a spacious and clean room.

The box was dozens of times larger than the old leather suitcase. Soft and bright light shone down from somewhere, illuminating the clean floor. The walls were made of some kind of warm, light-colored stone, with intricate rune lines depicted on them.

It's hard to imagine that there was a hidden world inside those two palm-sized old leather suitcases.

It was as if he had stepped into another dimension. Looking at the empty room he was in, it completely exceeded Hou Hao's imagination of superpowered people.

Now he understood why Luo Yan called this thing a "divine artifact".

The ability to store a special space inside a box is nothing short of divine power. It's estimated that only the legendary space god Palkia could do that.

"I was just as surprised as you when I first entered this place," Luo Yan said with a light laugh, turning around before adding a reminder, "And don't ask me where this thing came from, I can only say..."

"I know without you saying it, it's something your parents left you, isn't it? This old box is not something from our time." Hou Hao interrupted Luo Yan, then tentatively touched the wall, as if trying to figure out what material it was made of.

Upon hearing Hou Hao's words, Luo Yan smiled but remained silent.

Since he had already come up with an excuse for me, I didn't need to make one up either. But then again, this old leather suitcase did look more like something my parents would use.

Standing in the center of the room, Luo Yan looked around at the space that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. Besides a smile, a hint of helplessness and "I knew it" flashed across his face.

In a sense, this "Photo Lab" was his second home. Since he got it, it had accompanied him on his adventures for more than two years.

However, just as he expected, and just as he had guessed, the box was summoned by him, but none of the things originally stored in the box were brought along.

All those materials he had carefully collected, the props he had made and bought, all sorts of goo balls, books that recorded various magic spells, and some gadgets for self-defense or assistance... all of these, which represented most of his wealth, had vanished without a trace.

Even setting aside these things, judging from this spotless environment, it's likely that not even a single microorganism was brought here.

Luo Yan smiled silently. Just as he had imagined, the number of Wishing Stars needed to summon the [Old Suitcase] was already quite large. If he wanted to summon the items inside across worlds as well, the number of Wishing Stars required would be terrifyingly high.

As I see it now, it's simply impossible for me to afford this level of expenditure, and the Star Compass wouldn't give me the opportunity to exploit such a loophole.

It seems that directly 'inheriting' the previous equipment arsenal is not an option; everything must start from scratch, accumulating Wishing Stars little by little.

However, with this safe and concealed old suitcase as a secret base for operations, I have an extra trump card in this world.

Thinking of this, Luo Yan turned to look at Hou Hao. "I'm warning you, monkey, you can't tell anyone about this, not even your dad, understand?"

"Yeah, I'm not that kind of blabbermouth either," Hou Hao replied, though he wasn't in a good mood at the moment.

Luo Yan knew Hou Hao's personality; he wasn't the kind of guy who couldn't keep secrets, otherwise he wouldn't have revealed so much to him. However, what puzzled Luo Yan even more was Hou Hao's current state.

He expected Hou Hao to be so excited that he would want to turn the place upside down, and he would pester him to ask about the origin of this thing. But strangely, Hou Hao fell silent after entering the room, except for being startled at first.

After a pause, Luo Yan walked up to Hou Hao. "Hey, what's wrong with you? What are you thinking about?"

"Brother Luo." Hou Hao slowly raised his head, a hint of worry in his eyes. "Tell me, what is the purpose of becoming stronger?"

"what?"

Luo Yan was slightly taken aback; he truly hadn't expected Hou Hao to suddenly say something like that.

But he quickly realized that Hou Hao's worldview had probably been shaken by the disaster he had just experienced.

I almost forgot, my good friend in front of me was just an ordinary high school student this morning. Anyone would have to accept it if he suddenly encountered such a dangerous situation.

You know, after I transmigrated, I also improved myself little by little. I've seen a lot of big scenes, but by then I already had a certain ability to protect myself, so it didn't have much of an impact on my mind.

But Hou Hao is different; he is not yet 'mature'.

Hou Hao is now as if he has just experienced the nightmare battle between the Holy Winged King and Iris. Not to mention his worldview, even his strong heart has been greatly shocked.

Having figured this out, Luo Yan gently patted Hou Hao's shoulder. "There are many reasons to become stronger; everyone has their own compelling reasons to become stronger, so I can't answer that question for you."

"And you, monkey, what do you think is the purpose of becoming stronger?"

"..." Hou Hao looked up at Luo Yan and said softly, "What is the purpose of becoming stronger? I don't know. It seems that I haven't seriously thought about this question all these years."

"From a very young age, my parents compared me to my sister. I knew my sister was smarter and far more outstanding than me, and I also knew I could never do better than her, but I just wanted to prove them wrong."

"Later, my sister went on to become a scholar. Everyone knew that I would most likely be the one to inherit the gym. So people around me started comparing me to my father. Why was I in such a hurry to get my starter Pokémon? I just wanted to prove that if I had some time, I could definitely achieve something."

"You know what, Brother Luo, I was really happy and excited the day I saw the mosquito coil tadpoles."

"Because I feel I'm very close to what I want to achieve. My father has never been able to catch a Shiny Pokémon in his entire life, but my starter Pokémon is an incredibly rare Shiny. I'm finally able to surpass him in one aspect."

"But what was the result?"

Hou Hao took a deep breath and then slowly sighed as he finished speaking.

"Surpass my sister, surpass my parents, become a gym leader, win every tournament, and then become the league champion... prove myself to everyone, is that my reason for becoming stronger?"

"When the volcano erupted, I couldn't even save a single Pokémon."

"I'm only now realizing how superficial my reasons for becoming stronger were..."

...