Chapter 66: Operation Begins

Celadon City.

At nine o'clock in the morning, two black sedans pulled up one after the other outside the Celadon Game Corner.

On the street, vehicles of all sizes streamed past endlessly, and pedestrians hurried along on their respective ways, none of them sparing more than a glance at the two cars that had suddenly stopped.

"Is it time?" asked a young man wearing a Gengar mask from the passenger seat, his voice deep.

The driver, a slightly frail-looking man, glanced at the clock on the dashboard and nodded.

"The timing is just right."

"Should we make a move?"

"No, we still need to wait for the signal. Their informants are everywhere around here, so everyone must be extremely careful."

"Understood!"

"Hey, hey!" Erika said, a line of dark sweat appearing on her forehead as she listened to the two of them. She said helplessly, "I'm begging you two, can you speak in normal tones? Stop acting like we're undercover operatives meeting for a drop!"

"Ah, sorry!" Looker said with an embarrassed smile. "It's mostly because the mask Xia You is wearing really doesn't make him look like a good guy. In this kind of atmosphere, I just unconsciously got into character."

Glancing at Looker, Xia You said solemnly, "Mr. Looker, please don't talk nonsense."

"Huh? What is it?" Looker was startled.

Why had he suddenly turned so serious?

Was it because I said he didn't look like a good guy, and that offended him?

Xia You pronounced each word distinctly: "During the operation, do not call me by my name anymore. Please address me by my codename—The Player!"

"I..." Looker felt a surge of blood rushing to his head, a grievance clogging his chest. "I thought something serious was up, and it turns out you were just hung up on a codename?!"

"That's right," Xia You said as a matter of course. "Only by doing this does it sound more professional!"

In the back seat, Erika covered her mouth and chuckled softly, while even Sabrina's eyes held the faint trace of a smile.

Just then, from outside the city, an explosion suddenly echoed, followed by a rapid, continuous rattling sound like firecrackers. It sounded like gunfire and cannons, and though it was far away, it still traveled clearly to where they were.

Pedestrians on the street turned to look toward the outskirts of the city, but with towering skyscrapers standing in rows, nothing could be seen.

"That must be the signal, right?" Xia You asked.

Looker nodded, raised his arm, and checked his watch to calculate the time.

"All right, time's up. Operation start!"

At Looker's command, the people in the car stepped out simultaneously. Behind them, Lance, Agatha, and Mable climbed out of the other sedan.

With solemn expressions, the group walked straight into the Game Corner.

Originally, there were many tourists inside, intently playing various arcade games. Suddenly spotting a group of menacing and uninvited guests, they cast surprised and wary glances in their direction.

Ignoring them, Xia You and the others walked into a corridor leading to a stairwell on the second floor. Instead of heading upstairs, Looker felt along the wall for a moment and quickly found a hidden switch behind a poster.

With a gentle press, the floor suddenly slid open, and a staircase leading underground revealed itself directly before them!

At last, the Team Rocket secret base that had remained hidden for years had its veil torn away!

Two Team Rocket grunts disguised as store clerks heard the commotion and hurried over. Seeing that the entrance to the secret base had been forced open, their expressions changed drastically!

"Oh no! There are intruders here too!"

Before they could sound the alarm, Lance and Mable rushed forward, grabbed them by the throat, and easily knocked them unconscious with a punch.

Throwing the grunts casually into a corner, the group ventured inside and discovered that the interior was astonishingly vast—far beyond the scale of a petty operation.

The entire base was brightly lit and brimming with a strong sense of high technology. However, red alarm lights were flashing continuously on the surrounding walls. This wasn't triggered by our heroes, but rather because International Police special forces were launching a full-scale assault on the base's other exit outside Celadon City, setting off the alarms and drawing the vast majority of Team Rocket grunts to that side!

"Very good, everything is going smoothly," Looker said. "Now, let's split up and carry out the original plan!"

Everyone nodded, released their Pokémon, and split into two teams, speeding down the corridors on either side.

Although they did not yet know the specific details of the base, logically speaking, the most important departments would likely be the control room, R&D room, data room, armory, and power room. Therefore, to prevent documents and data from being destroyed, they had to seize these areas before Team Rocket could beat them to it.

The team assignments were exactly as planned during the car ride. Xia You teamed up with Looker, while Erika went with Sabrina. They advanced like a hot knife through butter, defeating every Team Rocket grunt they encountered along the way!

However, as they penetrated deeper, the resistance grew increasingly fierce.

Aside from Team Rocket grunts wielding firearms, packs of Pokémon suddenly emerged from the rear and launched ambush attacks!

"Damn it! There are way too many people here!"

Looker narrowly dodged an Acid Bomb, wiping cold sweat from his forehead with lingering fear as he looked at the wall corroded by the toxic liquid.

"Not only are there a lot of people, but their strength is much more troublesome compared to those ordinary Team Rocket grunts outside!"

While speaking, Xia You commanded Haunter to use Shadow Ball to knock down several Pokémon, finally clearing out this wave of enemies.

"Look over here!" Erika suddenly pointed toward a shutter door, telling them, "There are computers and all kinds of machines all over the place behind here. It looks like the base's R&D room!"

Hearing Erika, Looker walked up to the shutter door. Failing to open it manually, he could only peer inside through the thick, specially-made glass window.

"That's right, this is definitely where they research technology and equipment! But this door is so thick, we can't open it at all!"

"Leave it to me." Sabrina, who had been silent until now, walked up to the shutter door. Her eyes began to glow, and then that seemingly indestructible, fire-resistant and explosion-proof shutter door was forcefully pried open by her psychic power!

Upon entering the R&D room, they found it in complete disarray, with scattered papers and broken coffee mugs everywhere.

It was clear that the moment the main entrance was attacked by the special forces, the researchers here had evacuated in a panic, leaving no easy opportunities behind.

"Damn it! Are we still too late?!" Looker gritted his teeth, walked over to a computer terminal, and tried to operate the system in search of any potentially abandoned important files.

Xia You took a few steps around the R&D room and noticed that nearly all the equipment was still running, showing how hasty and urgent the Team Rocket researchers' departure had been.

Just as he turned around, a strangely shaped telescope caught his eye.

What is this thing?

He picked up the telescope, noticing that not only was its entire body white, but the lenses also emitted a faint blue light!

Out of curiosity, Xia You held the telescope to his eyes and looked around. To his surprise, it possessed neither magnification functions nor any microscopic or X-ray capabilities; everything he observed simply appeared in its exact, natural state.

Just as he was feeling puzzled, the moment he turned his head toward Haunter, a startling sight suddenly materialized before him!