Hearing the "heh heh heh" from the phone, Giovanni froze for a moment, then almost laughed from anger.
He, the boss of Team Rocket, was actually being extorted?
That wasn't even the main point. The main point was that the other side only asked for five hundred thousand.
That was honestly a bit insulting.
Giovanni felt that at this price, the other party didn't seem like someone capable of kidnapping his son.
After all, in the underground world, he had offered a bounty of two hundred million just for Pryce's location, and the task of finding his son had a full five billion bounty.
Five hundred thousand… was this a joke?
Giovanni felt a bit bored, "Who are you people? If this is a prank, I suggest you hang up right now."
"Otherwise… I have plenty of ways to find you."
On the other end of the call, the Team Rocket squad leader was stunned.
'Why is this going differently from what I expected?'
'I am extorting you. Why are you about to hang up?'
'Could it be… wrong number?'
The squad leader lowered his voice and leaned toward Axel, "Is your number wrong? He's treating me like a scam call."
Axel's mouth twitched. Asking Giovanni for five hundred thousand?
That was way too little.
Not just Giovanni, even any random millionaire would think a kidnapper asking for five hundred thousand was a scam.
Axel said helplessly, "Ask for more. His dad's loaded. He definitely thinks you're a scammer right now…"
"I figured I wasn't experienced enough, so at best I could only get thirty to fifty million, that's why I gave you the chance to make the call."
"Didn't expect you to ask for even less than me. If I'd known, I wouldn't have given you ninety percent."
"What?", The squad leader's eyes lit up, and his lowered voice couldn't help rising.
If even thirty to fifty million was considered little, didn't that mean they could ask for over a hundred million?
If they really got that kind of money, his whole squad would take off.
Driven by money, the squad leader's brain spun at high speed, bursting with far more intelligence than usual.
He jumped down from a five-meter-high branch, rolled, and landed beside Silver, quickly examining Silver's neck and ankles.
Finally, he saw what he was looking for.
———
["Hey old man, don't hang up. Your son has an oval birthmark on his ankle, right?"]
"Oval?", Giovanni suddenly sat upright, his half-closed eyes snapping open with a terrifying gleam.
He clearly remembered that Silver really did have a birthmark on his ankle.
Although plenty of people had birthmarks on their ankles, Giovanni didn't want to take the risk, and he didn't dare to.
If he really lost Silver's life over five hundred thousand, he would regret it forever.
Giovanni glanced at the caller ID, then quickly transferred five hundred thousand through a payment app.
"I've already sent the five hundred thousand. Bring my son to the S.S. Anne, and I'll have someone give you another fifty… no, five hundred million."
To avoid making the other side suspicious, Giovanni didn't even ask their names.
With his account level, even transferring five hundred million didn't require name verification.
[Ding, payment received: 500,000]
"Got five hundred thousand just like that?", Hearing the notification, the squad leader clenched his fist, eyes shining.
Five hundred thousand was enough for them to catch Slowpoke for a whole month.
Kidnapping really was faster money.
But Giovanni's mention of five hundred million made the squad leader wary.
Because he knew the S.S. Anne was Team Rocket property.
Asking them to bring the person to Team Rocket, wasn't that just messing with them?
There was no way this kid's dad was their coworker, right?
The squad leader decided to ask the other party's identity, just in case they were stepping on their own people.
If the other party really was Team Rocket, they'd just knock Silver out and dump him at a police station.
["Old man, we can send your son to the S.S. Anne, but you need to tell us your identity first."]
"My name is Giovanni."
["Giovanni, huh? I was wondering who it was… wait, who did you say you were?"], The squad leader suddenly reacted, cold sweat bursting out all over his body, instantly soaking his clothes.
"My name is Giovanni. May I ask who you are?", Sensing the fear on the other end, Giovanni's tone didn't change in the slightest.
"I've already put out a bounty for information about my son in the underground world. Now that you can return him to me, paying you is only natural. I will absolutely not harm you."
"May I ask who you are? I can prepare some gifts for you."
Giovanni said quite a bit, but the squad leader couldn't hear any of it anymore.
His mind was completely blank, filled only with the name Giovanni.
As a veteran member of Team Rocket, he knew exactly what that name represented.
Power comparable to legends, top-tier mastery over the earth element, an existence that countless unruly high-ranking members worshipped.
No matter which identity, crushing them would be easier than crushing ants.
He trembled as he covered the receiver and looked at Axel with pleading eyes, "Bro… I don't want the money anymore. Just pretend you never hit us. You go claim the reward yourself."
Axel leaned against the tree leisurely, "That's not necessary. But I do have a way to keep Giovanni from hunting you down."
"What way?", The squad leader's eyes lit up. He was desperate now. If Axel had a way to keep him from being exposed, he'd pay any price.
"It's simple," Axel stood up, stretching his body, his gaze falling on the Team Rocket members.
"That is… take a Flying Knee!"
The moment he finished speaking, Axel connected with the power of Groudon in his mind. Terrifying ground energy condensed into solid armor around his knee, and his body shot down from the tree like a cannonball.
BOOM!
With a loud explosion, Axel's knee struck the ground, releasing a terrifying shockwave. The Team Rocket members were instantly blasted into the air, hanging from trees again, unconscious.
Axel raised his right hand, catching the squad leader's phone perfectly.
On the other end, Giovanni's urgent voice kept coming through.
"Where are you? Did a fight break out over there?"
"Are you in danger? Tell me where you are right now, I'll send people to rescue you immediately."
Axel grinned, deliberately putting on a surprised tone, "Huh? Uncle Giovanni?"
"You know those Explorers guys just now? Sorry about that, I saw them kidnapping a little boy, so I casually took them out. Should I send them to the hospital now and try to save them?"
"Axel?", Giovanni's voice clearly paused. He knew Axel was currently in Kanto, but he hadn't expected the ones kidnapping his son to be the Explorers, nor that Axel would run into them.
He instinctively began to think, was this a setup by Axel?
Because… there were too many coincidences in this matter.
As someone skilled at creating coincidences, Giovanni knew very well that the world didn't have that many coincidences.
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