Chapter 184: Mamon: Ho-Oh Is Truly My Lucky Star!

"I would like to ask you to take care of this child for a while."

Mother Lugia's telepathy carried deep reluctance, yet she still made up her mind.

After all, she indeed had little time to care for little Lugia in the coming days.

And this human before her was at least one Groudon had acknowledged; moreover, after getting to know him, Mother Lugia's impression of him was quite good.

Is there such a good thing?

Mamon looked at little Lugia with some surprise; although still young, it was after all of the Lugia clan, and Mamon was naturally extremely willing to take care of it.

"No problem, please rest assured, I will definitely ensure Xiao Bai's safety."

Mamon made a promise to Mother Lugia.

"Thank you."

Mother Lugia used her psychic power to make little Lugia float over, then affectionately rubbed its head gently against little Lugia.

Little Lugia giggled happily, completely unaware of what had happened.

"This is my feather; if there is ever a need, Mamon, you can contact me through this feather."

Afterwards, little Lugia and a feather shimmering with silver light floated before Mamon.

"Good."

Mamon caught this special silver feather; it must function the same as Ho-Oh's rainbow feather.

Not only could Mamon contact Lugia through the feather, but Lugia could also locate Mamon's position through it.

"Next, I must go find the clan leader. Goodbye."

Mother Lugia took one last reluctant look at little Lugia, then slowly spread her wings and rose into the air.

"Goodbye." Mamon waved to bid her farewell.

Mother Lugia's melodious cry rang out high; after circling once in the sky, her massive form dove into the sea and vanished.

She's gone...

May watched the sea surface gradually calm down; her mood was quite complex, but mostly she felt much more relieved.

It was slightly different from what she had expected, because when she first asked Mamon for help, she intended to seek Ho-Oh's forgiveness.

Now it had become Lugia, but there was no real difference between the two.

May looked at Mamon, her gaze soft and gentle; my lord was indeed remarkable.

By rights, since Mamon had fulfilled the agreement, from now on, her life belonged to Mamon.

But how to put it? May did not regret it; in fact, she felt she was actually quite lucky.

Mamon was young and capable, handsome in appearance, and had a good personality.

The only issue was his identity, a high-ranking member of Team Rocket; but as the saying goes, marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog; May had already made her mental preparations.

"Oh my, oh my~ Little guy, as expected of you, you've become Lugia's keeper." The lazy, teasing voice of Riza drifted over.

"It's alright, just a bit worse than expected."

Mamon gently stroked little Lugia's head; the smooth, soft feathers felt absolutely top-notch.

This indeed differed from what he had expected; actually, at first he had intended to take the entire Lugia mother and child pair.

With Groudon present, Mamon felt defeating Mother Lugia would not be difficult.

However, after learning about Dark Lugia, Mamon's thoughts changed.

Compared to ordinary Lugia, he indeed still preferred that Dark Lugia.

"For now, let's just move freely. Riza, when you have time, go familiarize yourselves with Team Rocket's base locations; for specifics, just contact Chakra."

Mamon spoke to Riza and Ito.

Recently, Team Rocket had no major operations requiring Riza's involvement, but Chakra's side probably had many plans.

It depended on whether Riza herself wanted to participate.

"Okay~" Riza's lips curled slightly upward; that shorty.

"Then we'll be going first."

Mamon, along with Caitlin, May, and the others, left Okido Island.

"Riza?"

Watching Mamon and the others leave, Ito looked at Riza.

"Let's return to the organization first and give this feather to the Masked Man." Riza held up little Lugia's silver feather; she didn't know if this feather would work.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter; anyway, Mamon can contact Lugia, so as long as she achieves more merits and asks him for a Lugia feather, Mamon certainly won't refuse.

"Hmm." Ito nodded.

"Then we'll go find that shorty Chakra to play." A malicious smile curled Riza's lips; she hadn't forgotten how foul-mouthed Chakra had been to her.

And now, she was a top executive, Chakra's superior.

"Is this alright?" Ito frowned slightly: "After all, you've only joined Team Rocket for one day."

Ito felt it was too early for Riza to trouble Chakra; after all, they had just joined Team Rocket, even though Mamon valued Riza quite highly.

"No, no, no, it's been two days, Ito." Riza's expression was extremely leisurely.

"And who said I'm going to trouble the shorty? I just want to deepen our bond with my dear colleague, that's all."

Riza smiled quite wickedly.

Ecruteak City.

Mamon and the others returned here, to the mansion May had prepared for Mamon.

"Woo-ya~"

After entering the house, little Lugia looked around curiously, clearly very interested in this environment it had never seen before.

Caitlin followed behind little Lugia, fearing the child might run off and encounter an accident.

"May, my promise to you is now fulfilled. When we first agreed, all you needed was for me to help you meet either Ho-Oh or Lugia."

Mammon looked toward May and Tamao, and spoke with a beaming smile.

"Yes." May's tone remained just as gentle as ever.

"As per our agreement, this humble woman shall henceforth entrust the rest of her life to you, my lord Mammon…"

May wore a gentle, graceful smile, preparing to say, "Please take care of me from now on."

"There's no need for that." Mammon shook his head, cutting May off.

"Why? Is there something about this humble woman that displeases you…?" May froze for a moment, then hurriedly asked.

"Not at all. I still like you very much, May. However… Tamao has already decided to fulfill the promise in your place, and has even paid part of the reward in advance."

Mammon glanced at Tamao. At this moment, the third of the five sisters kept her head lowered, not daring to look at her eldest sister.

"Tamao… you…"

May looked at Tamao beside her in disbelief, her eyes filled with shock and a touch of complexity.

She never imagined that her usually calm and rational younger sister would actually do something like this.

And what did Mammon mean by having paid part of the reward in advance?

Tamao pressed her lips together, still keeping her head down, not daring to meet May's gaze.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cordelia, with her keen five senses, was also paying attention to what was happening here.

Of course, Cordelia didn't really have much of a favorable impression of either of these sisters — after all, they were both 'bad women' trying to get close to Mammon.

The fact that they were turning on each other truly delighted Cordelia.

"Tamao, why would you do this…"

May's tone was hard to describe. Of course she could roughly guess what Tamao was thinking, but she still wanted to ask clearly.

"Because Big Sis always sacrifices herself for us like this."

Tamao finally broke her silence, answering calmly in a rather magnetic voice.

"We've clearly grown up already, but Big Sis still acts the same as before, taking it for granted that as the eldest sister she should sacrifice herself for her younger sisters."

Hearing Tamao's words, May's expression grew even more complex.

"I've already grown up. I have the right to decide my own life. I don't want to accept 'freedom' bought by my sister's 'sacrifice'. I don't need it."

A ripple stirred in Tamao's tone, but it quickly settled back into calm.

"Besides, I really like my lord Mammon. Being able to serve my lord Mammon for the rest of my life would, for me, also be a very happy thing."

Is that really the case?

May looked at Tamao. Tamao did not meet May's eyes, but turned her gaze to the side.

May sighed inwardly, but said nothing more. She understood this was Tamao's kindness — Tamao had given up the rest of her life to grant them their 'freedom'.

But the key was, alongside her gratitude, a rather strange feeling also stirred within May.

Because she truly didn't feel she'd been wronged at all…

And clearly, I was here first — yet Tamao ended up getting ahead of me?

"I understand, my lord Mammon. Please treat Tamao well."

But whatever her thoughts, May knew there was no turning back now. She bowed deeply to Mammon and made her plea.

"Don't worry. I can't give Tamao a proper title, but I'll treat her well." Mammon had no reason to refuse.

"There is one more thing. Originally this humble woman was still quite hesitant, but now I can make this request of you with peace of mind."

May's tone remained very gentle.

Tamao also looked toward her elder sister. What other request did Big Sis have to ask of my lord Mammon?

"Go ahead." Mammon was quite curious.

"The previous deal with you was only part of it. Now Lord Lugia has already forgiven us, but on Lord Ho-Oh's side there is still no resolution."

"My lord Mammon, this humble woman wishes to make a pact with you once more. I am willing to offer the rest of my life as the price — please let us meet Lord Ho-Oh."

May's tone was gentle, yet incomparably firm.

Originally she had been thinking of finding a chance to ask Mammon later, but now Tamao's sudden 'intervention' had given her a better reason.

"!!!" Tamao's eyes went wide.

"This… are you serious?" Mammon's expression was extremely strange.

"This humble woman is very serious." May's tone was very solemn.

"I have no objections myself — after all, I'm the one getting the bargain. But wouldn't it be a bit improper for two sisters to serve me together?"

Looking over May and Tamao, each with her own distinct charm, Mammon was being a little cheeky for someone who'd gotten the better end of the deal.

Such top-quality sisters were a rare sight — and they were real sisters at that.

Most importantly, the condition of winning them over was really no difficult matter for Mammon.

Ho-Oh, you really are my lucky star!!

Mammon couldn't help sighing in admiration. The Pokédex entry for Ho-Oh truly did not deceive — those who see Ho-Oh are said to gain eternal happiness.

Ever since meeting Ho-Oh, Mammon felt his life had been growing more and more perfect.

This is the true worth of Ho-Oh!!

Decided. From now on, he wouldn't secretly call it "Shiny Pidgeot" anymore.

But on the other side…

Tch! Playing the sisters card to seduce Mammon, are you? Have you no shame!!

Cordelia's face was expressionless.

These two dancing girls are truly too shameless!

(End of Chapter)