33: Chapter 33 Behind the Projection, Monsters Bit Each Other

On the third underground floor of the Viridian Gym, in the office of the Special Operations Department director.

Outside the bulletproof glass, researchers in white coats scurried back and forth pushing equipment, while robotic arms were busy assembling a batch of dark balls.

Further away in the punishment room, thick doors muffled the screams, leaving only intermittent dull thuds.

Lynn sat in a high-backed black chair, twirling a blue vial in his hand.

The desktop suddenly lit up; blue light coalesced into a chair, and then into a man.

Giovanni.

He wore an orange suit with a striking red "R" on the chest, and a Persian squinted in his arms.

Even through the projection, that sense of oppression still weighed down the room like a stone.

"You have adapted quickly, Ghost." Giovanni spoke.

Lynn placed the vial back on the shelf, not even bothering to change his posture.

"The equipment is barely usable. The door locks at your base are too old; I watched for five minutes just now, and there are at least three places where someone could exploit them."

Giovanni chuckled.

"Being able to spot the flaws proves you have the qualifications to sit there."

His gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Archer reported that a newcomer named Akagi has appeared in the underground fighting arena. A strange Pupitar that defeated the reigning champion Machamp in one hit. The fighting style is very similar to yours."

The room fell silent.

This was a probe, and also a reminder: every dark alley in Viridian City was under Giovanni's watchful eye.

Lynn yawned.

"There are many who pursue power. It is Archer's freedom to pick up styles others have finished playing with. Perhaps he wants to find a substitute to disgust me."

Giovanni laughed loudly.

The Persian bared its teeth, its tail gently tapping against the cuff of his suit.

"Your eyes are like a wolf's. Greedy, cold; even if fed until tame, it will still bite its master."

"Wolves eat meat." Lynn met his gaze. "If the meat is sufficient, the wolf is a blade. If the meat runs out, the wolf bites the person holding the meat first."

"I have meat here."

Giovanni raised his hand, and a list dropped into Lynn's desktop terminal.

Rare metals, stabilizing medicinal materials, training equipment, and a mission marked with a black frame.

Project M.

Giovanni's voice deepened.

"Within three days, produce a sample of the agent that can suppress its mental rampage. Blaine has disappointed me once; I hope you are smarter."

Lynn tapped his fingers on the desktop, his peripheral vision fixed under the table.

Porygon-Z had already slipped into the projection base.

Behind the screen, circuits crisscrossed, and Team Rocket's secret doors were layered one after another.

Giovanni dared to use the projection because he was suspicious; but as long as both sides were still in communication, there was always a way.

A low voice came through the earpiece.

"I'm making my way back. There are many doors, and many dogs. Buy me some time."

Lynn looked up.

"This batch of ore is too little. You want me to suppress a weapon, yet you only give me the portion for raising a cat?"

Giovanni narrowed his eyes.

"Are you bargaining?"

"I'm calculating the costs. If the agent isn't potent enough, the first thing it will tear apart when it wakes up is the keeper."

In the earpiece, Porygon-Z reported the numbers urgently.

"Seventy percent... eighty percent... The other side has discovered me and is biting back."

Lynn picked up his water cup to hide the corners of his mouth.

"The nutrient solution formula needs to be changed too. It's too mild right now. Do you want to create a pet, or a weapon?"

Giovanni's fingers paused on the armrest, and the Persian raised its head, emitting a low growl from its throat.

"Enough. Hand over the sample in three days. If the results meet the standard, I will give you more materials. If you fail, someone else will take the chair."

"Ninety-five percent... ninety-eight percent..."

Lynn stood up and made a gesture for him to leave.

"In three days, you will see a surprise."

"I'll be waiting."

Giovanni stared at him, and the blue light dissipated.

The office dimmed.

Lynn sat back in his chair, his palms covered in sweat.

Blue smoke rose from the desktop interface, and Porygon-Z popped out from inside, its shell heated to a glowing red, its eyes spinning in circles, yet it still made a victory gesture.

"I got it. The full map of Viridian Base, three secret passages, the location of New Island, and early monitoring records of Mewtwo."

A glint appeared in Lynn's eyes.

Giovanni thought he had recruited a blade. In reality, he had recruited a worm that would burrow into his blood vessels.

Every bit of resources Team Rocket fed him would eventually grow into Lynn's own teeth.

"Leave New Island for now." Lynn turned off the desktop screen. "That thing is still growing, and Team Rocket will keep pouring money into it. We wait for the fruit to ripen."

He walked to the corner of the office and pulled off a black cloth.

An Abra was floating in a cultivation tank. The small yellow Pokémon had its eyes closed, with a dark red shard embedded in its forehead. Tiny ripples occasionally appeared in the nutrient solution, and the screws on the glass wall trembled along with them.

This was scrap bought from the black market, related to Sabrina of Saffron City. What others saw as a defective product, Lynn saw as a key.

"Don't pretend to be asleep." He tapped on the glass.

Abra's eyelids twitched.

"Tomorrow, Akagi is going to meet Archer. I need to know what dogs he has raised in private and what accounts he has hidden."

Lynn turned around and looked at the base map he had just obtained. Area B-4 was flashing with a red dot on the map; that was Archer's territory.

"Since he invited Akagi to enter the game, let Akagi send him a big fire."

The Abra in the cultivation tank shrank its body.

Lynn smiled.

Lynn divided the data he obtained into three parts.

One part was hidden in an old exhaust vent behind the office wall, one part was stuffed into his personal PDA, and the last part was given to Porygon-Z to take away. If any one place went wrong, the other two could preserve his lifeline.

He then opened the supply list given by Giovanni.

Rare metals would be delivered to Area B-1, medicinal materials would be transferred from a secret pharmaceutical factory in Celadon City, and training equipment would be purchased in the name of the Viridian Gym. Each item was written cleanly; on the surface, it looked like regular scientific research expenditure, but in reality, it was all fodder for raising a weapon.

Lynn read through line by line, his fingertips stopping at the "Project M" column.

There was a line of blacked-out text in the remarks. Porygon-Z had casually restored half of it just now: After the mental suppression failed, the target had overturned a three-story experimental tower and torn apart twelve researchers.

"What a temper." Lynn laughed softly.

This was exactly to his taste.

The harder a beast was to tame, the more it was worth striking when it matured. Docile pets only knew how to please their masters; only crazed monsters had the opportunity to bite back at their chains.

The Abra in the cultivation tank opened a slit of its eyes.

The dark red shard on its forehead lit up gently, and a few papers on the table floated up and quickly fell back down. It feared Lynn, fearing him so much that its body curled into a ball, yet it was pulled awake by some power.

"You can hear the voices from Sabrina's side, right?" Lynn asked.

Abra closed its eyes tightly, playing dead.

Gengar poked its tongue out from the shadow and licked a circle on the glass. Frost immediately crawled all over the cultivation tank.

Abra trembled even more violently.

"Don't scare it." Lynn raised his hand to stop Gengar. "If the key breaks, the door won't open."

He poured a vial of nutrient solution into the tank.

"Live for me, and find the crack in the door for that little queen in Saffron City for me. As long as you are useful, I will keep you fed, and I will also make the people who cut open your head back then line up to pay the price."

Abra's fingers moved.

Lynn knew it understood.

The researchers outside the door were still busy.

They pushed metal crates past the office, and occasional thumping sounds came from inside the crates. With every impact, a little pale red liquid seeped from the corners of the crates. The cleaners followed behind, mopping the floor with numb movements, as if they had long been accustomed to such traces.

Lynn watched for a while through the glass.

Team Rocket's base was vast, cold, and greedy, but it was also full of cracks everywhere. The high-ranking officials guarded against each other, the Four Generals each harbored their own private agendas, and Giovanni treated everyone as a chess piece. Such a lair seemed terrifying, but once one truly burrowed in, it was actually more suitable for striking than the League Headquarters.

Because everyone wanted to take a little more.

As long as you gave them a piece of sweet meat, they would open the door themselves.

The face of Akagi was exactly the sweet meat handed to Archer.

Footsteps came from outside the office door. A subordinate delivered a new report: Archer's Area B-4 would undergo night maintenance tonight, with some guards changing shifts, and the warehouse ventilation ducts would be briefly opened.

After reading the report, Lynn's smile deepened.

Archer thought this was a secret arrangement. But "Akagi" had only just been recruited, and the news had already flowed to "Ghost's" desk.

One fish biting two hooks at the same time.

Tonight, it was time to reel in the line.

Lynn dimmed the light in the Abra's cultivation tank. The little guy finally stopped trembling, hugging its knees as it sank to the bottom of the nutrient solution.

He knew very well that the road ahead would only become more treacherous. Giovanni, Archer, Sabrina, Lance—everyone held a blade. But as long as they guarded against each other, Lynn would have cracks to exploit.

Giovanni's side would also continue to observe.

Lynn had to make Ghost appear arrogant and Akagi appear greedy; with two faces, one high and one low, the scent had to be completely opposite. That way, even if Giovanni sensed the similarity, he would first suspect that Archer was imitating his tactics.

Once the suspicion shifted towards Archer, Lynn's knife would be easier to insert.

He pressed Akagi's business card into the bottom of the drawer.

Tomorrow, this piece of paper would lead him into Archer's belly.

When monsters bite other monsters, the one who profits the most is always the person hiding on the side, sharpening their blade.