Chapter 67: Human Nature is Selfish, Yet Establishing Medical Practice

[You have hosted Darkrai, you obtained Darkrai's saliva.]
[You have hosted Cresselia, you obtained Cresselia's saliva.]

When Heater opened his eyes, he was completely dumbfounded. What on earth had he done? Why did he suddenly acquire two bottles of saliva? And to make matters worse, they were given to him by the Nightmare Pokémon Darkrai and the Lunar Pokémon Cresselia?

Heater had indeed experienced a nightmare yesterday. In his dream, he was back in high school during the final intense cram period before the college entrance exams, constantly reading and studying, which was immensely painful.

Later on, however, an unlucky classmate seemed to appear in the dream, along with a female classmate, but after that, Heater's memory became rather hazy.

[Darkrai's Saliva: Darkrai feels profoundly disgusted by your nightmare and has left behind a contemptuous drop of saliva, vowing never to come near you again. Holding this item grants immunity to nightmares, ensuring you will never experience another nightmare.]

Heater's mouth twitched. In his hand was a small vial containing a dark liquid. It looked quite small, roughly resembling a standard oral liquid vial from his previous life.

Heater then picked up the other vial, which contained a pinkish liquid—presumably Cresselia's saliva.

[Cresselia's Saliva: Cresselia finds your nightmare utterly incomprehensible, and its inner revulsion causes it to refuse to modify your dreams. Holding this item grants immunity to pleasant dreams, ensuring you will never experience another sweet dream.]

Heater covered his face with his hand. This stuff was essentially a pure negative effect. Although Heater didn't enjoy having nightmares, having sweet dreams was quite wonderful. But with this item around, he wouldn't be able to dream pleasantly anymore...

Wait a minute, Heater suddenly felt like he had discovered the crux of the matter.

If he neither had nightmares nor sweet dreams, did that mean he wouldn't dream at all when sleeping? After all, no matter what kind of dream it was, it could more or less be classified as either a sweet dream or a nightmare.

Curious as he was, Heater knew he could only ponder this matter when he went to sleep tonight. For now, what he needed to do was get up and buy some ingredients; he planned to purchase some crabs and teach Farfetch'd how to make crab roe soup dumplings.

Just as he sat up, Heater noticed the ingredient identifier placed off to the side, and a bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.

Heater picked up the ingredient identifier, then picked up Cresselia's saliva, and gave it a look.

[Cresselia's Saliva: Edible and non-toxic. This is the saliva of the Lunar Pokémon Cresselia. It possesses Cresselia's natural fragrance and has a rich texture. Adding it to food can enhance the aroma, but it will provoke extreme hostility from Cresselia. Consumption is not recommended. Although people's kinks are free, seeing a doctor is still advised.]

Heater rubbed his chin. So that's how it was. Of course, Heater would never dream of adding another Pokémon's saliva into his cooking; that would be far too perverted, and Heater felt he simply couldn't bring himself to do it.

After all, the vast majority of food still required cleanliness and hygiene. Aside from certain specialized foods in unusual regions—like local saliva-fermented beverages—Heater doubted many people enjoyed drinking someone else's spit.

"Zorua, time to get up!" Heater stood up and grabbed Zorua by the scruff of the neck. But before Zorua even opened her eyes, Heater noticed something she was hugging against her chest. Heater quietly took it away—it was a dark crystal. Heater recognized this thing; it was a Nightmare Crystal. Since it had no real use and possessed heavy negative effects, Heater had originally stored it away in a cabinet, but somehow Zorua had dug it out.

Heater instantly understood why he had suffered from nightmares yesterday. He took a deep breath, gently placed Zorua back onto the bed, thoughtfully tucked her in with the blanket, and then quietly opened the door. He walked out with a bewildered Farfetch'd, and silently patted Snorlax's belly.

Snorlax showed no reaction; it was still fast asleep. Heater patted it again, still no reaction. Heater leaned in close to Snorlax and quietly muttered, "Breakfast is ready." With that, Snorlax bolted upright.

"Snorlax, come, come, come. I have a task for you. Go into the room and properly warm up your vocal cords. Sing a line at the top of your lungs... sing a line of 'Old Driver, Take Me Along' to prepare for our folk song duet." Heater looked at Snorlax with a beaming smile. Snorlax opened its mouth, nodded, and then lumbered in with heavy, giant steps.

"Remember to close the door! And sing at the absolute loudest volume!" Heater flashed a cheerful thumbs-up at Snorlax. Snorlax happily raised a hand and shut the door behind it.

Immediately afterward, Heater heard an earth-shattering roar emanate from the room, which somewhat surprised him. The soundproofing of his bedroom was exceptionally good, yet even with such strong soundproofing, it still failed to completely block Snorlax's booming voice. One could only imagine just how deafening the noise was inside.

The sound continued for a while before Snorlax pushed the door open and walked out with a cheerful grin. It was clear Snorlax was in a great mood. Heater curiously peered into the room, but Zorua was nowhere to be seen.

Farfetch'd gave Heater a bizarre look, and Charmander shared the exact same expression. Having been roared at by that kind of volume in a sealed room for so long, Zorua was probably knocked out cold.

Charmander and Farfetch'd exchanged glances, their expressions turning even more peculiar.

Heater didn't pay attention to the looks from Farfetch'd and Charmander. Instead, he walked into the bedroom, fished Zorua out from under the blanket—the little fox having been rattled completely unconscious—and carried her out by the scruff of her neck. After shaking her for a good long while, Zorua finally let out a miserable yelp and snapped back to consciousness.

"Good morning, Zorua. How did you sleep yesterday?" Heater beamed down at Zorua, inquiring with utmost care.

"Phew... phew... I just saw my long-dead great-grandfather waving at me in a dark world." Zorua gasped for air, feeling as though she had just taken a round trip to the Ghost-type Pokémon world.

Farfetch'd and Charmander exchanged glances once more and nodded in unison, as if they had reached some sort of unspoken consensus.

"Must have been a nightmare. Come on, brush your teeth and wash your face. We're going to buy ingredients for breakfast soon." Heater wiped his hands. It seemed Snorlax's vocal exercise was truly lethal.

Thinking of this, Heater felt his winning odds had gone up a bit. After all, their opponent was Exploud, a Pokémon famous for its voice, but Snorlax's talent was also quite impressive. Heater believed he still had a chance to win.