Chapter 109: Showdown

They escorted Hongzhi to the vicinity of the Xi Er Fu Company Building, watched him being taken away by League police, and only then Huo La and Bilan slipped back to the Pokemon Center using the shadows of the alley.

As soon as they pushed the door open, both of them collapsed onto the bed, their chests heaving wildly as they gulped breath, neither having the strength to speak first— the confrontation with the Secretary moments ago had been too dangerous; a single misstep could have meant eternal ruin.

After a long while, Bilan finally propped herself up to sit, leaned in close to Huo La, almost nose‑to‑nose, staring at him.

Huo La felt utterly uncomfortable under her sudden close stare, raised his hand and pushed her head away: "Don't get so close, it's hot."

Speaking that, he slowly rose, walked to the chair and sat, poured himself a glass of cold water, downed it in one gulp, and only then felt his tense nerves ease a bit.

Bilan also sat opposite, poured herself a glass of water but didn't drink, merely holding the cup, her gaze fixed on Huo La as if studying a rare treasure.

"Alright, stop looking, my face isn't ruined," Huo La waved helplessly.

"No way!" Bilan refused resolutely, leaning forward, "I ask you, when the Mask fell earlier, what was up with that yellow‑haired face?"

Huo La's fingertips paused— he had known the girl would press further.

The matter involved the system's Second Identity and could not be disclosed. He lifted the cup, took a sip, and vague‑ly replied: "It's a secret."

Seeing Huo La clearly unwilling to speak, Bilan curled her lip, let out a disgruntled "tch", stopped pestering, and changed tack: "I never expected Yingzi to actually be the 'Secretary', one of the Rocket Team's Five Great Commanders! The frantic act she put on at the Pokemon Center earlier was way too convincing!"

"Hmm, that ties up all the loose ends," Huo La set down his cup, his gaze darkening. "Silph Company's security system is reputed to be Kanto's top‑tier; for the Rocket Team to infiltrate silently and take over, there must be a mole. It now appears that mole is the 'Secretary' operating under the alias Yingzi."

He rubbed his chin, sorting out the logic: "Her 'Escape' with Hongzhi was deliberate— from the start she likely intended to use the 'Rescue Escape' pretext to kidnap Hongzhi and seize the Core Data on his body. She just didn't anticipate Hongzhi getting separated from her, which threw her plan off."

At that thought, Huo La glanced at Bilan: "You running into her was probably a genuine accident. But she certainly played along, using a plea for help to test me— the incident on the Saint Tenu has the Rocket Team still suspecting me."

Bilan nodded in understanding, about to say more when Huo La spoke: "Go next door and wait with Xiao Gang for a while; I expect someone will come looking for me soon."

"Hm? Who? Still trying to chase me out?" Bilan raised an eyebrow, fully wary.

Huo La looked up, his tone even: "Secretary."

The moment those two words were spoken, Bilan instantly dropped her playful grin, stood up without a word: "Fine, I'll withdraw for now; call me if you need anything!"

Having said that, she trotted out of the room, not forgetting to close the door behind her.

The room finally fell silent, and Huo La immediately opened the system interface.

Sure enough, in the roster column for the Second Identity "Rai", a Pokemon icon had appeared— it was the Kingler he had used earlier for disguise.

And the mission status bar glaringly displayed "Completed."

He stared at the three words "Completed" for a while, then suddenly spoke, his tone bearing a hint of certainty: "System, you knew from the start that Yingzi was the Rocket Team's Secretary, right?"

The system interface gave no response, only silence.

Huo La didn't mind, reached for the backpack beside him, rummaged inside while continuing: "So the mission was never 'Assist Yingzi' from the start, but 'Intervene in the Silph Company incident.' Whether Yingzi is real or not, as long as I take part and safeguard the Core Data, the mission counts as completed."

The system remained silent, as if it had never heard him.

Huo La curled his lip, simply closed the interface, and pulled from his backpack the reward—a Master Ball.

The sphere bore the familiar purple‑white scheme, its smooth surface glimmering with a warm sheen; the purple half bore a prominent "M" emblem, feeling weighty in the hand, exuding an aura of "Absolute Capture" authority.

Huo La toyed with it for a moment, a smile curling his lips— with this artifact that can 100% capture a Pokemon, subjugating Gengar completely would be a trivial task.

Just as he thought of Gastly, a pale violet aura squeezed through the door crack, and Gastly's cheeky face floated within it: "Little brat, looking at you, you didn't come back missing any arms or legs? Seems you've done pretty well."

"Thanks to you, I'm alive again," Huo La shoved the Master Ball back into his backpack, his tone carrying genuine gratitude.

"That's natural; when I act, can there be any slip?" Gastly swayed the aura proudly, "I'm truly curious how your mind works, that you even considered there might be someone watching you."

"Thank you," Huo La said sincerely.

Had Gastly not steadied the watcher for him, and the system's Second Identity disguise not confused the Secretary's sight, this time he would truly have been exposed.

At that moment, a knock sounded, accompanied by a familiar, slightly coquettish female voice: "Little brother Huo La, could you open the door for a chat?"

Huo La's gaze hardened— the Secretary had indeed arrived.

Huo La took a deep breath, steadied his mind, and reached to pull the door open.

The sight beyond the door gave him a slight start— besides the "Secretary" in a sleek black uniform with a bright smile, Natsume stood beside her, her expression cold and austere, a stark contrast to the former's allure.

"What's the matter, little brother Huo La, not inviting us in to sit?" Yingzi's fingertip lightly rested on her glasses, her tone still dripping with seductive charm.

Huo La stepped aside, watching the two naturally walk into the room, then closed the door behind them.

When the three were seated, he offered not a word of small talk, but looked straight at Yingzi: "You were a different person this morning; is this your true face?"

"Heh, little brother Huo La is indeed sharp," Yingzi chuckled lightly, extended her hand, "Let's get reacquainted; I'm one of the Rocket Team's Five Great Commanders, codename 'Secretary.'"