The victory docked smoothly at a port in the Kanto region.
Celadon City, the second largest city in Kanto after Saffron City, was bright with sunshine and bustling with people.
But beneath this glamorous surface, unknown undercurrents were surging.
Ariel and Dar stepped down the gangway, where an inconspicuous black sedan was already waiting at the pier.
The car windows were dark, making it impossible to see inside. A member of Team Rockets, dressed in a suit and sunglasses, opened the door for them with standard movements and without a word of nonsense.
The car drove through the busy streets and finally stopped in the back alley of the Celadon Game Corner.
The noisy electronic music, the shouts of players, and the crisp sound of clinking coins drifted from inside the game corner, forming a sharp contrast with the silence of the back alley.
Their guide stopped in front of a slot machine and manipulated the joystick with a specific rhythm. The machine made a soft 'click' sound, and the adjacent wall slid open silently, revealing a downward-leading metal staircase.
"Two Lords, please."
The passage inside was lit with cool white lights, cold and dry.
Every ten meters, a camera rotated slowly, its red indicator light flashing in the gloom like the eyes of some monster.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty passage—tap, tap, tap—rhythmic, yet amplifying the oppression of the place.
After walking for about five minutes, a heavy alloy door blocked their path.
The guide pressed his palm against the scanner next to the door. As the electronic voice announced 'Identity Confirmed,' the door slid open to both sides.
The scene behind the door suddenly opened up.
It was an extremely spacious hall with a high ceiling, large enough for a dozen Charizards to fly inside.
The floor was paved with smooth black marble, polished to a mirror shine, reflecting the complex pipelines on the ceiling and rows of matrix-style lighting.
Several passages leading to different areas were distributed around the hall, all heavily guarded.
This place didn't look like a gang's hideout; it looked more like the interior of a high-tech military research institute.
In the center of the hall, two people were already waiting there.
Ariel's attention was immediately drawn to that man.
He was burly but not bloated; every muscle seemed tempered by a thousand strikes, full of explosive power.
A set of black martial arts clothes on him further emphasized that internal strength.
His face was square with rugged lines, but his eyes were exceptionally steady, revealing a shrewdness and meticulousness that didn't match his appearance.
He stood there with his feet slightly apart and his center of gravity lowered. His whole being was like an ancient pine Ingrain in the earth, as immovable as a mountain.
Beside him, however, was a completely different existence.
That woman had long purple hair that flowed like a waterfall down to her waist.
A perfectly tailored black bodysuit outlined her exquisite body curves to the fullest. The fabric at her chest was cut just right, inviting imagination without appearing overly vulgar.
A faint smile hung on her face, and her eyes were flirtatious like a lazy Persian cat. But Ariel could smell a hint of deadly danger beneath that laziness.
The guide finished his task, bowed slightly, and retreated silently into the shadows as if he had never appeared.
The hall fell into a brief silence, with only the low hum of operating instruments.
Finally, the burly man broke the impasse.
He stepped forward toward Ariel and Dar, each step steady and powerful, even causing a slight echo on the marble floor.
"You must be the other two successors." He used a statement, not a question.
His voice was loud and full of vigor.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My code name is Corona, the successor of Lord Archer."
His gaze swept over Ariel, then looked at Dar beside him, and finally pointed to the purple-haired woman nearby.
"That one is code-named Viper, the successor of Lord Lance."
Dar still had that squinting look, as if everything had nothing to do with him, and said softly:
"Dar, successor to Lord Lambda."
When it was Ariel's turn, he simply spat out one word: "Ariel."
Corona nodded, seemingly unsurprised by Ariel's brevity.
Just then, a gust of fragrant wind approached.
The woman code-named Viper walked over gracefully, the sound of her high heels clicking on the floor crisp and pleasant.
She completely ignored Corona and Dar, heading straight for Ariel and leaning forward slightly.
Her surging waves almost touched Ariel's chest, and a rich but not pungent fragrance instantly enveloped him.
The scent was very peculiar. At first, it was the sweet fragrance of some rare flower, but upon careful distinction, one could feel a faint abnormality within it, like some kind of pheromone that could directly act on the human central nervous system to evoke the most primitive desires.
Ariel's body didn't move; even his breathing frequency didn't change.
He was just quickly analyzing in his mind that this was no ordinary perfume, but more like a mixture specially made using Grass-type pokémon pollen or Poison-type pokémon secretions.
If smelled for too long, a person with slightly weaker willpower would likely lose their senses and be at her mercy.
"So, does Big Sister smell good?"
Viper's voice was charming to the bone, her breath like orchids.
"If you like it, Little Brother, you can come to my room anytime, and we can savor it properly."
Her finger was almost about to stroke Ariel's cheek.
Ariel tilted his head slightly, avoiding her touch, his tone as flat as if he were stating an irrelevant fact:
"Our ages should be about the same. My code name is Ruth; do not call me Little Brother."
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
Viper's movements froze.
The flirtatiousness in her eyes faded for a moment, replaced by a hint of astonishment.
She had always been confident in her charm. Whether it was a mission target or a colleague in the organization, few men could remain as absolutely calm as Ariel at such a close distance, without even a hint of a physiological reaction.
This made her feel a sense of frustration and a bit of unwillingness.
"What a block of wood who doesn't understand romance."
She wanted to say more, using even more explicit words to test Ariel's bottom line.
"Viper, that's enough."
Corona's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.
"We are about to execute a mission together. Put away your boring tricks and don't affect the team's harmony."
Viper glanced at Corona, a flash of dissatisfaction in her eyes, but in the end, she didn't persist.
She gave a 'tch' and walked away with a swaying waist, leaning back against the original wall, but the way she looked at Ariel now had a bit more playfulness and inquiry.
This man named Ariel was quite interesting.
Only then did Corona look back at Ariel, a hint of an apologetic smile on his face as he proactively extended his hand:
"Don't mind her; that's just her personality. I hope we have a pleasant cooperation."
His palm was broad, dry, and full of power.
At the moment of the handshake, Ariel could feel a force coming from the other's hand, like a pair of iron pliers, carrying a hint of a test.