"Another Legendary?"
This time, Cyrus lit up with interest. "Who? Let me guess — Darkrai?"
"No, a different one. But you probably haven't seen it before."
Cyrus waved a hand grandly. "Go ahead, tell me. Let's see what Legendary I haven't seen."
Auron Vale chuckled quietly to himself. "Alright — help me set up a meeting with Rayquaza, and you'll see it then."
"Alright, I'm holding you to that. I want to see this Legendary I've never seen before."
"Don't worry. It's a promise."
Auron Vale brushed off Cyrus's deeply meaningful look and spoke with conviction.
Whether it was a lie or not — they'd find out soon enough.
Auron Vale and Cyrus continued chatting, but nearby, Lu Xingguo's mind was already racing.
"If Xiaozé's saying this, he really must have a Legendary. Think about it — could I maybe observe both it and Rayquaza at the same time?"
Lu Xingguo got more and more excited at the thought.
Getting to watch a Legendary battle in person — what a golden opportunity to learn about these creatures.
"Chirp~"
"Hm? Mini, what's wrong? Finished eating?"
"Chirp~"
Mini nodded, then yawned and coiled around Auron Vale's shoulder.
"Tired?"
Auron Vale rubbed Mini's head, then glanced up at the sky.
"Getting dark already. Want to head back into your Poké Ball and sleep for a bit?"
"Chirp~"
Mini shook its head and lazily draped itself over Auron Vale's shoulder.
"Alright, alright. Just a little longer, okay?"
Auron Vale murmured, then turned his gaze back toward the road. "Why is Li Shuqing taking so long?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he spotted Li Shuqing's figure sprinting down the street.
"Here he comes. This'll be over soon."
Auron Vale said it to Mini — or maybe to himself.
He was exhausted too. These past days in the Mystery Zone, nothing truly dangerous had happened.
But that ambush this afternoon — even knowing Deoxys had his back, he'd been covered in cold sweat.
Now that they'd exited the Black Mystery Zone and his guard was down, the fatigue hit him all at once.
Just like Mini, all he wanted was to get back to his own room and collapse onto his bed for a long, long sleep.
"Is that him?"
Lu Xingguo and Cyrus both looked toward the figure running down the street, watching with curiosity.
Soon, Li Shuqing jogged to a stop, breathing hard.
"Hey, Xiaozé — you're really okay, right?"
Auron Vale looked at Li Shuqing's usual bright expression and shook his head slightly. "I'm fine."
Auron Vale shifted aside and gestured. "These are officials. They want to ask you some questions about what happened."
Li Shuqing's expression snapped to seriousness the moment he saw Cyrus.
"Hello, I'm the official representative, Zhuge Ziyu."
"Hello, I'm Li Shuqing."
The two shook hands. Then Li Shuqing spoke up hesitantly.
"The Silver Feather — I kind of stole it. Is that going to be a problem?"
Cyrus shook his head. "No. Anything that happens inside a Mystery Zone is outside the government's jurisdiction."
"Haah… that's a relief."
Li Shuqing breathed a long sigh of relief, then picked up where Auron Vale had left off.
"So, with National Day break starting, I figured I'd head into a Black Mystery Zone and see what it was like."
"First couple days were fine. But yesterday evening — around this time today, actually — I spotted a group of island nation nationals."
"It hit me immediately: what are Japanese doing inside Dragon Kingdom's Black Mystery Zone? So I got curious and tailed them quietly."
"That's when I saw them in the middle of what looked like a transaction."
"I noticed everyone was watching each other warily — nobody had released their Pokémon yet. So I made my move."
Li Shuqing's eyes gleamed as he spoke.
"I had Gardevoir Teleport me right in, grabbed whatever they were trading, and ran. Only after I got away did I open the package — that's when I realized it was the Silver Feather."
Li Shuqing spread his hands. "The rest, Xiaozé probably told you — I woke up and suddenly had a bounty on my head. Would've been caught if Xiaozé hadn't helped me escape."
Li Shuqing finished. Cyrus nodded seriously, though exactly how much he believed was another question.
"Li Shuqing — could you show us the Silver Feather?"
"Sure."
Li Shuqing didn't hesitate. He pulled the box from his backpack and set it on the table.
"!"
The moment the box came into view, Cyrus and Lu Xingguo exchanged a sharp look.
"Hold on."
"Yeah."
A silent exchange of glances — both deciding to keep their reactions in check and wait.
"Here — the Silver Feather is inside."
Li Shuqing opened the box, and both men's eyes fixed on the feather resting quietly within.
At the same time, Lu Xingguo activated his Aura Sight and focused on the Silver Feather.
"Hm?!"
In the next instant, his Aura also caught a floating humanoid silhouette behind Auron Vale.
"What's wrong?"
Cyrus's face went tense at Lu Xingguo's sharp intake of breath.
He was terrified. Terrified it might be fake — and even more terrified it might actually be what they suspected.
Lu Xingguo suppressed his own curiosity and deliberately did not turn to look at whatever was floating behind Auron Vale.
"Nothing, nothing."
With that, Lu Xingguo redirected his attention back to the Silver Feather.
"Sigh…"
After a long moment, Lu Xingguo let out a heavy breath.
"How is it?"
Cyrus's tension returned tenfold.
Lu Xingguo couldn't bear to look at Cyrus's expression — he simply gave a small nod.
"It's real."
*BOOM!*
The moment those words landed, Cyrus felt as though Rayquaza had just carpet-bombed his entire chest with Hyper Beam.
"He! How dare he!"
Cyrus gritted his teeth, the words dripping from between them like ice, and his gaze turned cold as it swept toward the Black Mystery Zone's exit.
"Aiyo… it's done. Stop torturing yourself over the why."
Lu Xingguo watched Cyrus's state and reached out to pat his shoulder in comfort.
"Phew…"
Cyrus took several deep breaths before finally managing to cool down.
"I'm fine. He's a grown man. He needs to take responsibility for his own actions."
Cyrus finished, then turned and walked heavily toward the Black Mystery Zone exit.
Auron Vale watched as Cyrus murmured something to the officer on duty there, then walked back with an even darker expression than before.
—
Late Update Note
Brothers, I've been swamped during the day these past few days. Updates will probably come in the evenings for a while.
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