Chapter 408: Haven

Jibeiweng and Spinel exchanged a glance; without words, Spinel spoke first, his tone still a bit gloomy, eyes fixed tightly on Huo La: "Do you know where they are?"

Huo La looked at Spinel, his brows slightly furrowed, seemingly surprised by such a question, paused, then tentatively said: "Sinnoh, and also Paldea."

"Heh heh." Spinel let out a low laugh, the laughter full of mockery, "We've known that for a long time. What we want to ask is, exactly where, so we can find those two Pokemon."

Huo La's brows furrowed even tighter, the doubt in his eyes deepening—he was indeed surprised by their reaction.

By his guess, Jibeiweng had entered Paradise back then, Spinel was a member of the Rainbow Rocket Team, and since they knew how to open Paradise, there was no reason they wouldn't know the whereabouts of those two Pokemon; this simply didn't make sense.

Seeing Huo La remain silent, Spinel's impatience grew; he waved his hand irritably, his tone icy: "Go out, stop getting in the way here."

Paipa's heart tightened, fearing Spinel would cause trouble, and hurriedly reached out to grab Huo La's arm, stepping quickly toward the door, not daring to speak a word.

Watching the two rush away, Jibeiweng slowly said: "That kid definitely knows where to catch those two Pokemon."

Spinel nodded slowly, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his cuff, while his mind raced through memories of his past worlds; his voice low and restrained: "But according to records, the last black Tornadus appeared long ago, having fallen during the Xicui Era."

Jibeiweng gave a slight nod and asked: "That Ancient Spirit Ball, still not found?"

"No." Spinel answered aloud, yet in his mind an image surfaced—a boy with black‑red hair, his brows and eyes bearing a hint of defiance.

"Speed up the search," Jibeiweng turned his head slowly, his gaze landing on a faintly glowing device in the distance, his tone tinged with urgency, "The remaining crystal shards won't last much longer. Also, that boy, go talk to him; I have a feeling he knows something we don't."

"Mm." Spinel replied faintly, turned and left the room.

The door shut behind him; he glanced at the elevator's floor display, pulled out his phone and opened a chat window, his fingertip hovered over the screen for a while, typed a few lines, then reconsidered and deleted them line by line, leaving only a barely perceptible cold laugh.

"Lei Yi… heh heh…"

Meanwhile, Paipa and Huo La had just stepped out of the elevator; Paipa finally let out a long sigh, lowered his voice and complained to Huo La: "Lei Yi, you were way out of line just now; you can't just blurt out something like that."

Huo La gave no reply, his brows still slightly furrowed, lost in thought.

"Paipa, why are you here?" a woman's voice called from the far end of the hallway, bright and brisk.

Paipa turned immediately, a hint of relief on his face: "Mom!"

Huo La was pulled back by that "Mom," looked up. Walking toward them was a woman dressed in a retro yet wild style, the top scholar of Paldea—Doctor AoLin.

"You kid, you ran here without a word," Doctor AoLin laughed, patting Paipa's shoulder, then turned her gaze to Huo La, studying him gently for a few moments, "Is this your newly met friend?"

Paipa quickly nodded.

Doctor AoLin smiled slightly: "Let's go, don't linger in the hallway, we'll talk in the lab."

In the lab, a man with impeccably groomed hair was engrossed in a research project; he wore a high‑tech uniform, his fingertips deftly manipulating precise instruments, an aura of rigorous concentration surrounding him.

"Futu, the son is here," Doctor AoLin's voice broke the lab's silence.

Hearing his name, Futu slowly lifted his head; when his eyes fell on Paipa, the tension in his face melted into a gentle smile, he set down his tools and samples, hurried forward: "Why did you suddenly come over?"

Paipa looked at Futu and called softly: "Dad."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he plopped onto a nearby chair, and without catching his breath, recounted everything that had happened on the top floor, from start to finish, in detail.

AoLin and Futu listened quietly; as Paipa spoke, the smiles on their faces faded, their expressions grew heavier, brows furrowing deeper, and not a single word was spoken until Paipa finished, the lab remaining silent.

After a long while, Futu slowly turned, exchanged a glance with AoLin, and solemnly said: "AoLin, you take Paipa out first; I'll have a private chat with Lei Yi."

AoLin nodded in understanding, turned to the still‑eager Paipa: "Paipa, we're leaving. We'll go downstairs to prepare lunch, so your dad can have a good talk with your friend."

"Huh? But Dad, we haven't cleared up what just happened…" Paipa's face full of confusion, about to stand and keep questioning, AoLin reached out, grabbed his ear, gave it a gentle shake, and signaled with her eyes that he shouldn't ask more.

Paipa winced, closed his mouth obediently, and was half‑dragged out of the lab by AoLin; the door closed softly behind them, quietly separating the lab's heaviness from the outside's lightness.

After another brief silence, Futu finally spoke, his sharp gaze landing on Huo La, his tone serious: "Where did you learn that the key to opening Paradise is the black Tornadus and Terapagos?"

Under Futu's steady stare, Huo La remained calm, slowly uttering four words: "Historical records."

Futu furrowed his brows, immediately shook his head, his tone firm: "Impossible."

"All accounts of Paradise, even within the expedition team, are known only to a handful of core members; there's no way any documents could have leaked, let alone be seen by outsiders."

"Even if someone had heard of Paradise's existence, they could never know what the key to open it is."