Mort's worry was actually a very realistic one.
It was always easier for people to accept a long-famous trainer striking it rich again than to accept a young man with nothing suddenly becoming wealthy. Even though Nova now belonged to the Layered Peaks Gym, and on the surface no one would dare provoke a Ground-Type Elite Four member and a Ground-Type Master, it was still possible that someone might try something underhanded behind the scenes.
In other words, Nova's current strength wasn't yet enough to handle that kind of attention. If he could truly make a name for himself at the Masters Tournament two years from now, there would be no need to hide his achievements at all.
Gilbert said, "Since Senior Brother is worried about this, why don't you just take the trouble and claim the credit of being the discoverer yourself?"
Mort nodded. "That works. I've spent the last few years running off to the desert every chance I got, and everyone in Norlandia knows I don't take my duties seriously. It makes perfect sense that I'd be the one to stumble onto something like this."
The two senior trainers settled the matter in just a few words.
For Nova, this was good news. The original discoverer of the secret realm entrance was already dead, buried somewhere beneath the shifting sands, never to be found. As the second person to find it, Nova had little reason to fight for recognition anyway.
What mattered most was that the discoverer of a spatial rift was entitled to a ten percent share of all profits from its development. In other words, this meant a one-tenth stake in whatever the secret realm produced. With Mort, his nominal master, collecting the profits on the surface, it made almost no difference to Nova himself, and it spared him the trouble of dealing with complicated matters.
Never underestimate what a spatial rift could bring. It wasn't just about money. Small secret realms weren't worth much because their space was limited and resources were scarce, so the profit from controlling their entrances was easy to calculate. But a space like the Hisui Secret Realm, nearly the size of a continent, held uncountable resources. Over a dozen alliances controlled dozens of entrances into it, and yet even now, less than one percent of that space had been developed.
The reason was simple: the size of the rifts themselves severely limited how much humans could extract. Some entrances were barely wide enough for a few people to pass through at once, and narrower ones could barely fit a single person, which directly limited how many resources could be carried out. No matter how many valuable things were mined inside, only so much could be hauled out in a day. Even hiring professional transport teams working around the clock wouldn't make the volume increase by much.
Based on the size of the rift Nova had found, early estimates suggested that if it truly connected to the Hisui Secret Realm, it could bring the Layered Peaks Gym several hundred million league coins in yearly revenue, even after subtracting development costs and time, counting only the profit once operations stabilized.
For the Layered Peaks Gym, which already held assets worth billions and had influence across many industries in Sand River City, this sum wasn't a drop in the bucket, but it wasn't going to make them rich overnight either.
Still, the real reason the two Elite Four trainers had lost their composure wasn't the money. It was the hidden value of having an entrance to an ancient secret realm at all.
If this place truly connected to the Hisui Secret Realm, it meant access to tens of millions worth of resources for the Layered Peaks Gym. Even with limited transport capacity, it would give the Gym a steady supply of rare materials. Whatever they needed in the future, they could simply search for it inside the realm, dig it up, and use it freely. It was almost like giving every trainer in the Layered Peaks Gym a permanent boost through unlimited resource access.
Not to mention how valuable ancient Pokémon were in battle. Take Aston of the Layered Peaks Gym, for example. He had only just reached the rank of Elite Trainer, mostly because he owned an Archeops that few opponents recognized. Since most trainers didn't know its habits, he had turned several near-losses into victories by relying on Archeops's raw power while at full health.
Controlling a secret realm entrance also meant Layered Peaks Gym trainers might eventually capture ancient Pokémon themselves, and possibly even encounter Hisuian-form Pokémon, like Nova's own Growlithe. It wasn't hard to imagine the trainers of the Gym growing dramatically stronger within just a few years.
This was the true value of controlling a large secret realm entrance for an organization like the Layered Peaks Gym. It could raise the entire ceiling of what the Gym was capable of. And Mort, Gilbert, and Nova, their chosen successor, as the true leaders of the Gym, stood to benefit even more than anyone, since every valuable resource would pass through their hands first.
Mort was already planning to arrange a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon for Nova.
"Before, when I told you to use your quota, you said you didn't have the money for it. Well, now's the time. If we're raising one, we might as well raise two or three at once, otherwise people might think the Gym can't afford it."
The words Nova had once used to jokingly curse others on the forums had finally come back to haunt him.
"I hope you enjoy a lifetime of raising 'late bloomers,'" he muttered.
Unlike Mort's casual teasing, Gilbert had already switched into work mode, currently in the middle of a quantum communication call with the Alliance.
Upon hearing that the two masters of the Layered Peaks Gym had discovered an entrance to an ancient secret realm, the Alliance took the news very seriously and immediately promised to send staff to assist. In truth, with two of the Gym's strongest combatants already on site, there wasn't much real support needed. The Alliance simply wanted its share.
That was only natural, since this land belonged to the Norlandia Alliance, and the Alliance itself was the largest shareholder of the Layered Peaks Gym. Naturally, anything the Gym discovered would partly belong to Norlandia as well.
For the Layered Peaks Gym, this was actually good news. As long as the Alliance officially recognized the discovery and sent representatives to negotiate, it meant the authorities acknowledged that the rights to this spatial rift belonged to the Layered Peaks Gym. It was essentially official confirmation, formally securing the site as Gym property.
Once Gilbert finished his conversation with the Alliance leadership, Mort asked curiously, "So who are they sending?"
Gilbert's expression turned a little strange, but he answered honestly. "That guy. Emperor Dragon Fiend."