"Exactly how much do you two know about this kind of ghost?" Edward sat in the bar with visible curiosity, lazily watching Lee Kwok-keung and Cheng Ansheng seated before him as he posed the question. However, despite asking both of them, Edward's main target was clearly Cheng Ansheng. After all, this guy was the one who truly understood the supernatural. Lee Kwok-keung may have been possessed, but how much he actually knew about these things was still questionable.
"I've seen them before. Actually, I'd say almost every high-ranking figure in that place has already become a ghost. There's not a single living person left."
Lee Kwok-keung spoke first, and Edward suddenly remembered — this poor guy had previously been possessed by Chan Fuk-loi and had even retained the torment of his trapped soul. Thinking back to all the things Chan Fuk-loi had done, Edward felt a strange pang of regret. Killing Chan Fuk-loi in one clean strike… in hindsight, he had been too swift. At the very least, he should've done it slowly — only then could Chan Fuk-loi have repaid his sins properly.
Ever since the moment Chan Fuk-loi possessed him, Lee Kwok-keung had been forced into the backseat of his own body, curled up helplessly inside while watching Chan Fuk-loi use his hands and feet to kill his family members one by one, torturing each of them to death. Experiencing all of that firsthand had almost driven Lee Kwok-keung's soul insane.
And because these high-ranking individuals had long been possessed by malicious spirits, Chan Fuk-loi's actions never stirred any waves. In this world, countless people died every day, didn't they?
A few dead civilians meant nothing to those in power. They simply ordered Chan Fuk-loi to remain inside Lee Kwok-keung's body temporarily, forbidding him from causing random chaos that might attract public attention.
After all, technology in this world was rapidly advancing — the internet already existed. If anything was exposed online, it would spell disaster for all these evil spirits.
"That's true, but some places are still maintaining normal operations — like… over there." Cheng Ansheng didn't specify the region, but Edward understood instantly. He sighed in relief. He absolutely did not want to get involved with that side of the world. Anything involving that place was too risky; even the slightest misstep could draw the attention of the Big Man and once that happened, he was finished.
"But Southeast Asia… pretty much the entire region has fallen. Even all the temples and statues are useless now. I've even seen evil spirits…"
Cheng Ansheng's expression darkened. At the beginning, human society had been thrown into despair. These possessing ghosts were troublesome, nearly impossible to distinguish, and worse, they had infiltrated the upper echelons. Even so, there was always hope.
Possessing ghosts couldn't kill humans freely. Doing so would trigger internal disciplinary purges among their own kind. Ironically, while they treated humans like playthings, at moments like these they would still put on a hypocritical façade of moral order. Truly ridiculous.
"So many of them?"
Edward scratched his head helplessly. There were too many malicious spirits — far beyond what he could handle. He only had three Pokémon, all of them Ghost-type. Cleansing such a massive region would be extremely difficult. But Cheng Ansheng and the others had no idea Edward planned to withdraw from this matter—they continued enthusiastically discussing how to convince him to help.
"…I can only stay here for six more days," Edward finally interrupted, despite his reluctance. He had no choice. Hearing this, both Cheng Ansheng and Lee Kwok-keung stared at him in shock, but didn't push further. After all, when they saw Edward kill spirits so effortlessly, they had been completely dumbfounded. To them, the only way to eliminate these creatures was to strike before the ghost fully transformed during possession—killing the host human to trap its spirit inside the decaying corpse.
A thick silence settled over them. Edward little Q in his arms and gently stroked its head. Suddenly, he remembered the move Dazzling Gleam. Although it was a Fairy-type move, considering the levels of those… useless—no, weaker spirits, Edward felt the move would still work. But if he wanted to use it effectively, he needed to ask something first:
If little Q used Dazzling Gleam with full power, not aiming to kill but only to expand its range, just how far could the light reach?
"Kyu?"
Q blinked up at Edward and gave a soft cry. Edward chuckled, rubbing its head before quietly asking what he wanted to know. Q eventually shook its head — it didn't know either. It had never tried something like that before. Still, Edward believed this test was necessary. He had watched RULE #1, and he understood the meaning behind its story.
If it were only a metaphorical movie world, that would've been fine. At least it wouldn't involve such terrifying possessing spirits. But the problem was that real ghosts did exist here. And that film's core premise insisted there were no ghosts — completely useless information in this world.
With thoughtful eyes, Edward took a deep breath. If he wanted to solve this problem, he would need to put in far more effort. After a moment of contemplation, he finally made up his mind.
"I plan to run an experiment."
He stood up with Q in his arms. Cheng Ansheng stood immediately, positioning himself right beside Edward.
He had already decided, no matter what happened, he would protect Edward. He could die, but Edward absolutely could not. Lee Kwok-keung hesitated for only a second before stepping to Edward's other side.
"Don't be so tense," Edward said with a helpless laugh. Soon, Cheng Ansheng guided him toward the center of Hong Kong. The atmosphere along the way was eerie, people looked normal, but some stared at them with malicious, predatory eyes.
Edward knew those were possessed ones. Quite a few even attempted to approach, but Lee Kwok-keung warned them off with his gun.
Then, while Edward was walking, he was suddenly pulled into a battle space. The enemy even had a sniper rifle pointed at him. Everyone around looked horrified, while Edward gave the warmest, most peaceful smile imaginable.
"Forget it. We'll do it here."
He was done dealing with these idiots. They had been coming after him nonstop, using every tactic imaginable, he had even spotted black-ops units possessed by ghosts. But what about those not possessed? Once those forces caught on, things would get messy.
"Q, I'll leave it to you."
He released little Q. It nodded, and the next second, Q began glowing brightly. All the blank-eyed passersby suddenly snapped awake, eyes widening in shock as the brilliant light washed over them.
In that instant, the entire Hong Kong witnessed the light.
That day, everyone believed in its radiance.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Edward!"
Cheng Ansheng shook Edward's hand with excitement. Edward's expression was strange as he cradled the exhausted Q. It was sipping fear juice to recover its strength. But the good news was monumental, all malicious ghosts on Hong Kong had been wiped out completely.
And Edward had obtained a peculiar candy.
[Rare Candy]
[A candy infused with mysterious energy, essentially formed from the accumulated experience of countless souls. A super-powerful item with unique properties, feeding it to any Pokémon allows direct evolution to its final form, while pushing its strength to the highest possible level within its species.]
[Warning: Do not attempt to replicate. This was created by exterminating the ghosts of an entire region. Terrifying.]
Edward's lips twitched. He hadn't expected to get something like this. It was interesting, to say the least. He didn't personally need more power, but he could give it to Void. So, he summoned Void right away. Cheng Ansheng and Lee Kwok-keung watched with reverence, unsure what Edward was doing. In their hearts, he was already a god.
After all, with just one move, Edward had restored peace to the entire region. While Cheng Ansheng contacted the authorities for further cleanup plans, Edward was already thinking ahead, he would simply sweep through each region one by one. It would be troublesome, but if it meant bringing light back to this darkened world, Edward found it worth the effort.
After eating the Rare Candy, Void evolved directly into a Dusknoir. Its eyes shone brightly as it turned toward the ground, as though sensing something deep beneath them. Edward paused. Dusknoir was known in legends to communicate with the spirit realm and guide souls of humans and Pokémon alike into the afterlife.
Which raised the question—
Where exactly was the spirit realm?
In simple terms, it was the Pokémon world's version of the underworld.
But this wasn't the Pokémon world. So, what was Dusknoir looking at?
"Void, what did you find?"
Edward asked in surprise. Dusknoir shook its head, then slowly extended its hand. Its arm slipped into thin air, vanishing as though it had grabbed hold of something invisible. It pulled.
"…Since two hundred years ago, a phenomenon known as the Ghost Possessions has plagued our world…"
The television suddenly switched to a broadcast. A solemn figure was reading a public announcement. Edward's face twitched.
Bro, don't involve me in this!
He quickly shut off the TV but still understood their stance on the possessing spirits.
Cheng Ansheng also apologized, the situation had spiraled. The entire world was in chaos. Many possessing ghosts sensed something was wrong and were preparing something terrifying.
Meanwhile, Dusknoir finally pulled something out.
A blade of grass.
"Grass?"
Edward stared blankly. It was a strange, ash-gray color. Before he could process it, a pair of hands suddenly extended out from the air. Cheng Ansheng and Lee Kwok-keung froze in shock. The whole world seemed to pause — even the panicked people nearby turned in confusion.
Then—
A massive world was dragged through the air.
A minotaur-headed being and a horse-faced guardian stood before them. Behind them was the eighteen layers of hell and a towering palace engraved with the characters:
[Hall of Yama]
Edward's expression twisted into something indescribable.
So… it ended just like that.
He had originally thought he would have to travel all around the world solving these problems. Never did he expect that Dusknoir would directly drag the actual underworld to this world. Immediately, the underworld guards rushed out, seizing hordes of possessing ghosts. Their fate: torture through all eighteen layers of hell.
Edward didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Still, it was a good thing — even his travel plans now had a pleasant adjustment.
"…How will these ghosts be punished?"
Edward asked curiously as he looked at the terrified possessing ghosts, addressing Grim reaper, the White Wuchang beside him. Edward couldn't believe he was actually touring the underworld.
"Of course they'll enter the eighteen levels of hell. We've been monitoring these creatures for a long time, but this world was sealed and we couldn't get in. Fortunately, the loyal spirit beside you sensed us."
Grim reaper smiled warmly, wearing his iconic white hat. He didn't look like an evil ghost at all — quite the opposite.
"Oh right, hero, I must apologize. Originally, King Yama was supposed to personally give you a tour, but there are far too many possessing ghosts, so everyone is busy."
Grim reaper bowed apologetically. Edward frantically waved his hands — he didn't mind at all.
Seeing White Hat Reaper in person was astonishing enough.
And this solved everything neatly, now Edward didn't need to travel from country to country doing cleanup. Q was exhausted anyway. With the underworld handling the purging process, things became far simpler.
Soon after, Edward witnessed a trial. A particularly atrocious ghost was sentenced to all eighteen layers of hell, one hundred years per layer.
"These ghosts… can they endure that?"
Edward asked. Q was looking around excitedly, every creature here was ghostly, radiating energies that made it feel extremely comfortable.
Dusknoir hovered silently at his side.
"They can't endure it. Ghosts can die as well. After finishing their punishments in all layers, they'll simply turn to ash."
The Grim Reaper shook his head, glaring hatefully at the evildoers. These creatures had run rampant in the mortal world precisely because humans believed there were no gods or spirits. Now they were finally caught.
Although this would inevitably plunge the world into temporary chaos, it was necessary. Otherwise, countless more people would die. Humanity could only heal with time — but at least from now on, no more ghost possessions would run amok.
(End of Chapter)