Chapter 460: Zha'aobo? X2!

On the other side, Xiao Gang and his group were looking up, staring at the ever‑expanding Ultimate Abyss in the sky.

Lillie's fingertips were white from gripping, and she held tightly in her arms the fluffy blue‑purple cloud—Cosmo Gu, also called the Little Nebula.

Her eyelashes trembled lightly, and her eyes were filled with unmistakable panic.

"Ash…" her voice trembled, "My mother still opened the Ultimate Abyss. What should we do now?"

Ash paced back and forth anxiously, his brows knotted into a lump.

The Pikachu tail on his shoulder stood straight up, rubbing his neck restlessly, chirping "Pika‑pika" nonstop.

Xiao Gang was the most composed among them.

He stared at the twisted black fissure on the sea surface; the air around it quivered faintly, and even the sunlight was drawn into a bizarre shape.

He took a deep breath, patted Lillie's shoulder, and said, "Don't panic; panic won't solve anything. Calm down first."

He paused, then asked, "You said before that only the Little Nebula could open the Ultimate Abyss. Yet this opening happened so suddenly—what's really going on?"

Lillie shook her head blankly, her gaze hollow, "I don't know… I really don't know."

The Little Nebula in her arms blinked its round big eyes, looking equally clueless.

Yet its body trembled slightly, its round eyes fixed unblinking on the distant Ultimate Abyss, as if pulled by an invisible thread, its breathing matching the rhythm of the opening.

The group was momentarily at a loss.

Xiao Gang turned to Xiaoyin beside him, "Xiaoyin, contact Huo La and ask his opinion."

Xiaoyin gave no reply, only a slight nod, his fingertips already pressing the phone screen.

Meanwhile, aboard the luxury airship hovering above the Ultimate Abyss,

Lusamine stood at the very front of the deck; the sea wind tangled her golden hair, yet she seemed unaware.

She stared intently at the bottomless black fissure before her, her eyes burning with an almost mad obsession, as if the end of that fissure were her entire world.

Zha'aobo stood a half‑step behind her, his face pale, his voice trembling, "Chairperson, this fissure is too unstable; we have no idea what's on the other side. It's too dangerous; you can't go in."

"I must go." Lusamine's voice was flat, yet resolute, "Mo En is waiting for me. I'm going to bring him home."

"Chairperson!" Zha'aobo stepped forward, gritting his teeth, "Doctor Mo En has been missing for fifteen years! Fifteen years! He might… might already be gone!"

"Silence!" Lusamine snapped around, her complexion suddenly darkening.

Her gaze was as cold as ice, cutting Zha'aobo's face like a knife, "Zha'aobo, I'll say this once more. Mo En is still alive. He must be waiting for me. Even if I stake my life, I'll bring him back."

Zha'aobo froze under her stare, his complexion flashing between blue and white. He clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening, his chest feeling as if a scorching stone were lodged inside.

After holding it in for fifteen years, he finally blurted out, "Chairperson! All these years, my feelings for you, I really…"

Lusamine looked at him, a hint of complexity flashing in her eyes.

She remained silent for a while, then sighed softly, her tone lacking blame, only an unyielding resolve, "Zha'aobo, stop speaking. In my heart, there has always been only Mo En."

Zha'aobo's fists tightened further, his nails digging deep into his palms. He opened his mouth, but no word came out.

At that moment, a chilling laugh echoed from behind, shattering the deck's silence.

"Hahaha, I told you long ago. She has no place for you in her heart. To her, you're just the most obedient, most useful dog."

The two turned their heads simultaneously.

They saw a figure cloaked in a wide black robe, who had appeared at the far end of the deck at an unknown time.

Their face wore a ghastly white Mask, their back hunched severely, exuding an indescribable cold eeriness.

Lusamine's brows knit instantly, her hand instinctively resting on the Pokeball at her waist, "Is that you? How did you get here?"

The person didn't look at her, eyes fixed on Zha'aobo, tone dripping with schadenfreude, "See, I didn't lie to you, right?"

Zha'aobo's complexion darkened like a pot's bottom, his teeth clenched as he asked, "What exactly do you want?"

"What?" the figure chuckled lowly, raising a hand to tear off the Mask.

Lusamine inhaled a cold gasp, instinctively stepping back half a step. The face beneath the Mask was an exact match to Zha'aobo's.

The hunchbacked "Zha'aobo" took a step forward, voice hoarse, "Zha'aobo, the terms I offered you before still stand. If we join forces, this world is ours, and the ultimate metropolis beyond the Ultimate Abyss is ours as well."

A buzzing thought rang in Lusamine's mind, all clues snapping together, and she realized, "So you've been deceiving me all along! I found it odd why you insisted Zha'aobo be Alola's external Boss; you're the real mastermind, you're Zha'aobo too!"

The hunchbacked Zha'aobo finally turned his head toward Lusamine, pulling a hideous grin, "Chairperson, you only see it now—too late. But that's fine; you're of no use to me now."

As soon as the words ended, a pitch‑black shadow began to crawl up from his feet.

It was a wholly black Pokemon, its body seemingly forged from solidified obsidian, its angular crystal structure glinting with a cold metallic sheen.

The moment it appeared, the deck's light seemed to be devoured by it, dimming instantly, even the distant Ultimate Abyss's faint violet glow was subdued.

Huo La's pupils suddenly contracted, his knuckles whitening.

He stared fixedly at the distant black silhouette, his voice pressed low, bearing a weight never before felt: "Naike Luo Zi Ma."

"Bike Branch Manager, there's no time for anything else now. How much control do you actually have over the Aether Foundation's interior?"