"You're here?"
Viper lifted his snake-like vertical pupils and looked at the two who had just come in.
The moment Reiji and Taihei met that gaze, it felt like a sharp, wary blade stabbing straight into their chests. Both of them instinctively straightened their backs, snapped to attention, and answered in unison:
"Yes, Boss!" Reiji shouted.
"Yes, Leader!" Tai shouted.
After yelling, the two of them turned to stare at each other in surprise. Neither had expected they'd speak at the exact same time.
"Hahaha, don't be so nervous. Tell me why you picked Numbers 77 and 66."
Hearing that, both of them thought the same thing: here it comes.
Thankfully, they'd already synced their story beforehand. Otherwise, they really might have slipped up and exposed Reiji's special ability.
"Reporting, Boss. Seventy-seven is my lucky number," Reiji answered immediately, not giving himself even a heartbeat to hesitate. Hesitation would only make him look suspicious.
As soon as he finished, Tai followed up. "Reporting, Leader, I chose mine for the same reason—lucky number."
"Then why didn't you pick 11, 22, 33, 44… and so on, instead of 66?"
That question didn't stump Tai at all. He replied at once, "Sixty-six is closest to seventy-seven, so I went with sixty-six."
"Eighty-eight is also very close to seventy-seven. Why not that one?"
"Reporting, Leader, sixty-six was at just the right height. Easier to grab."
"Hahahaha, you two really are lucky."
Viper chuckled twice, then lifted a hand as if to wave them away. "Luck is a kind of strength too. I've got my eye on you both. If you can survive, you can join my personal unit."
"I'll make sure I live through it, Boss!" Reiji snapped to attention, promising he absolutely wouldn't die.
Seeing him say that, Tai hurried to add, "Me too, Leader!"
"All right, off you go." Viper flicked his hand, dismissing them.
After the two of them left, Viper reached under the table and took out a small recorder.
From the speaker came their voices:
"What did you pick?" Tai's voice.
"Zubat," Reiji's voice.
"Zubat, huh. Sounds pretty decent…"
"Numbers that go together are all lucky numbers. You can pick a pair too."
"Then I'll take this matching one. This is my lucky number…"
Once the clip ended, Viper turned off the recorder.
He hadn't heard anything off about the exchange. The chatter between the two while they chose their Pokémon sounded perfectly normal—just two clueless rookies. That reassured him, and he silently marveled at the pair's luck.
Those two balls—Numbers 66 and 77—were ones he'd placed there casually. He'd never expected these two kids to be the ones to pick them.
Outside the tent, Reiji and Tai naturally had no idea what was happening inside.
When they came out, the tall, skinny squad leader waiting at the entrance grinned at them. "You two really are lucky. I heard the Boss laughing in there. I was originally going to assign you to the mines…"
"Tonight, you're on black market patrol. Get familiar with the area. If anyone causes trouble, stop them. If you catch the ones causing it, it's fine if they end up dead."
"Thanks for looking out for us, Captain."
Reiji smiled as he walked alongside the lanky squad leader, chatting as they went. When he heard they were being sent to patrol the black market instead of the mine, he quietly patted his pockets, fished out a cigarette, and offered it to the captain. Once the man put it between his lips, Reiji instantly leaned in and lit it for him.
"You really know how to butter people up," the squad leader laughed, clearly in a great mood. "If that guy gives you trouble again, come find me."
Reiji instantly understood where the man's eyes lingered when he glanced at the cigarette pack, and without missing a beat, he just stuffed the whole pack into the captain's hand.
"If there's nothing else, Captain, we'll head out on patrol," Reiji said carefully, gauging the man's mood as he spoke.
As for all that "if he bullies you come to me" talk—best to treat it like background noise. Take those words seriously and you've already lost.
"Go, go."
The lanky squad leader flicked his hand, signaling they were free to leave.
Reiji and Taihei thanked him again, then exited the Poison Gang's base, passed through the short rock tunnel, and emerged into the black market that the Poison Gang controlled.
All along the way, Taheii's mind had been spinning.
Reiji's behavior just now wasn't the Reiji he'd gotten used to. The Reiji he knew was calm and collected, someone who'd taught him how to handle interrogations a few hours ago—definitely not the type to fawn over a superior and put on a show.
"Stop overthinking it. That's just how people have to act," Reiji said, catching his look. "You really never picked that up working in a bar?"
In his previous life, Reiji had been exactly like Taihei—just another spectator.
He'd watched other people kiss up and grovel, watched them schmooze their way into promotions and raises, and written them off as talentless suck-ups.
Then management "optimized" him right out the door. After that, he'd learned exactly how workplace manipulation worked.
"I've seen it. I know how it works. I just never got used to doing it myself," Taihei said, scratching his head in embarrassment.
He'd seen plenty of that kind of thing in the bar, but he'd never tried it. He'd just focused on doing his job, collecting his pay, and not thinking any further than that.
"You'll get used to it," Reiji sighed, flicking his hand.
It wasn't like he wanted to be that kind of person. Life forced him to.
No one dreams of being a petty flatterer. As long as the end result is good, that's all that matters.
This time, he hadn't just talked his way out of suspicion and successfully infiltrated the enemy's core. He'd also landed himself a pretty solid Zubat.
On top of that, he'd confirmed for sure that this place really was a Team Rocket stronghold.
That just meant one thing: he could rob them later with a completely clear conscience. Not that he'd felt guilty about robbing criminals to begin with.
Once they reached the black market, they checked in with the squad leader in charge there and received their patrol orders.
"Patrol" was really just code for wandering around aimlessly. If you ran into someone starting trouble, you grabbed them and fined them. If a thug resisted, you could kill them on the spot and keep their stuff.
That was one of the perks of working for a gang: if you made a mess but handled it on your own, you kept whatever you took. If you didn't sleep back at base, they even gave you a midnight snack.
Just like that, the two of them drifted around until midnight, when they each got handed two dry buns. No water—drinks were on them.
Reiji didn't plan on touching anything the Poison Gang handed out anyway. Who knew what they might have put in it?
He only ate the food he'd brought himself.
After their late-night snack, it was back to wandering the tunnels.
By the time the sky began to lighten, they still hadn't run into a single brawl. The night passed in dull peace.
At dawn, the black market packed up and vanished. Even the entrance to the Poison Gang's base was sealed off with huge boulders. Without moving those rocks, there was no way in.
According to what the black market's squad leader said, the entrance only opened at night, and the black market only operated after dark.
If anything went wrong here during the day, the Poison Gang wouldn't lift a finger.
Before they left, the squad leader told them to report back at six in the evening, then sent them out of the sewers.
Some of the former Bug Squad members and brand-new recruits—anyone who didn't want to live at the Poison Gang's base—were allowed to go back to the surface and return home.
If they didn't come back to check in, that was their business. They'd taken money and accepted Pokémon; they just wouldn't see a single coin of their salary.
As for whether the gang would bother to reclaim the Pokémon—that was a minor issue.
But if you'd taken a Pokémon without paying and tried to run? That was a different story. Those people would be hunted down and dragged back.
When Reiji and Taihei emerged from the sewers, the lanky squad leader made very sure to warn them not to run. The consequences, he said, would be severe.
Up on the surface, the two parted ways by the sea.
One went back to his tiny place near the port.
The other climbed onto Pelipper's back and flew home to his villa.
Once Reiji got back, he didn't release his team immediately.
He wasn't sure if anyone was watching the house. Instead, he went straight to the windowless storage room on the second floor. Only when the door was shut and they were boxed in by four solid walls did he finally release his Pokémon.
He fed everyone breakfast, then recalled them all to their Poké Balls.
Only after that did he feed Round Thread Spinarak, who'd been standing guard outside the door.
Finally, he headed down to the living room and flopped onto the couch, leaving Spinarak to keep watch and guard against anyone snooping around.
Spinarak was the obvious lookout.
Darkrai was the invisible one no one knew existed.
Before going to sleep, Reiji had asked Darkrai to sweep the area for any humans or Pokémon spying on them. Then he'd told Darkrai to head back down into the underground cavern and see what the gang was up to, and especially to eavesdrop on Viper.
Most importantly, he wanted to know if Viper mentioned this batch of recruits—especially him.
The fact Viper had listened to a recording of them was something Reiji already knew. Darkrai had told him. Taihei just hadn't been brought up to speed yet.
Whether it was audio or video, the signals Reiji had given Taihei had been incredibly subtle. There was no way the gang could have noticed anything odd. At worst, their choice of Poké Balls might look a little strange—but odd picks like that showed up all the time.
For today, he wasn't planning on any training sessions.
He wouldn't experiment with the dreamscape either.
As long as he didn't know whether someone was watching him, he didn't dare let Poliwhirl and the others be seen. If his main team was exposed, suspicion would lock onto him immediately.
It wasn't like they'd ever really been trusted in the first place, but he didn't want to give anyone extra reasons to doubt him.
Once he made it through these first couple of days, it would get safer.
After that, he'd just have to give the gang something messy enough to keep them busy. With enough chaos on their plate, they wouldn't have time to keep an eye on a couple of fresh recruits.
…
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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