Pokémon, you're not allowed to expel me from human form!

However, what's even more eye-catching than this refreshing feeling is the young girl who just walked in.

Alice's white sailor uniform and light gray skirt, simple and clean attire, combined with her hair which was noticeably lighter and beginning to fade from chestnut to light gold, made her stand out. If one were to choose an impression color for her, it would only be white, a pure white that would make people subconsciously stop swearing in her presence.

After entering, she stood very appropriately in a place where she wouldn't obstruct others' passage. She looked around, and when she spotted Luo Ke, she smiled, took a step, and finally sat down opposite Luo Ke amidst the sighs or regrets of the others.

At this moment, Rocco also put down his coffee cup and just looked at Alice across from him.

It is said that beautiful people all have similarities, because that is called perfection, while only ugly people are unique and different.

But every time Rocco sees Alice, her beauty gives people a different feeling; perhaps the only thing in common is beauty itself.

Today, Alice felt to Rocco like a ray of sunlight that had not yet touched the ground, shining in front of him.

It made his mood, which had been slightly clouded by the waiting, much better.

"Alice, what is it you want me to wait here for?"

After the cheating contest ended and Rocco received his prize, Alice asked him to wait for her at the café in Lorraine, while she went home first.

Alice's somewhat hurried footsteps at that time led Rocco to make countless guesses during the hours he waited.

The distant horizon is already faintly turning red.

This means that Rocco waited for Alice for almost the entire afternoon!

He knew Alice quite well; the fact that she only sent a few apology messages during the long wait meant that what she was about to say was very important.

Before discussing such an important matter, Alice changed her clothes and probably took a shower. She wore light makeup and styled her hair carefully.

This means that... she had the Lorraine family confirm the information for a long time, or many times, so she had time to do these things while waiting.

And the reason he didn't send him directly to Lorraine's house to confirm... was it because the matter was dangerous, and he didn't want Rudolph to know?

Maybe so.

Regardless, Luo Ke, who had been guessing all afternoon, was indeed intrigued.

He now wants to know what exactly happened to Alice during the time he was in the finals.

......

65. Luo Ke absolutely did not understand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"There are some things I need to investigate before I know what I should do."

"I initially thought the investigation would be quick, but I didn't expect it to take so long. I'm really sorry."

Alice clasped her hands together in front of her, bowed her head, and wore an awkward smile on her pretty face.

Seeing her ingratiating expression, Luo Ke nodded slightly, accepted her apology, then sighed softly and lowered his voice.

"At first, I wondered if something had happened—but as the wait grew longer, I became more and more suspicious about one thing. You need to use your family's resources to investigate for an entire afternoon to get some information, is it really okay to do this here?"

Although Rocco's expression didn't change and his head didn't turn when he said these words, Alice could see that his eyes had already slanted to other places.

This cafe is well-appointed, comfortable, and has an excellent location, so even though it wasn't particularly crowded at this time of day, about half of the seats were occupied.

There's nothing wrong with chatting about friendly topics in a place like this.

But if we're talking about serious things... that wouldn't be appropriate.

That's what Luo Ke was thinking, and Alice followed Luo Ke's gaze and only then realized what the problem was, so her face turned slightly red, and she smiled apologetically again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think it through. I was looking at comics where the main characters and their friends discussed things in similar settings, I didn't realize there was such a problem—I'm really sorry!"

Eh.

Seeing her like this, Luo Ke shook his head slightly.

Alice is quite reliable in situations like spirit battles, but she's really clueless when it comes to other things, except for spirit battles!

She has that kind of rich young lady vibe.

She's full of fantasies, and can be a little willful from time to time. She often tries to appear calm and professional, but doesn't think things through properly.

The only things we don't lack are drive and motivation.

Seeing her like this, Luo Ke felt that he was getting old.

Come to think of it, wasn't he just like that when he was eighteen?

After working for a few years, I gradually became more relaxed, and my level of concern and perspective on many things changed.

So Luo Ke didn't blame her at this moment. He simply paid for the five cups of coffee and more than ten kinds of snacks he had ordered that afternoon. Before Alice could even take out her wallet and say anything, he spoke first.

"Let's go, it'll be dark if we keep dragging this out. Even if things are really serious, I don't want to miss dinner."

As he said this, Luo Ke turned around and pushed open the shop door.

Alice watched Rocco's retreating figure, especially his composed demeanor, and instinctively followed him. After taking a few quick steps, she even reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

The two of them walked out of the coffee shop. When Rocco noticed Alice's little movements and turned around, he saw Alice looking frustrated and like a child afraid of getting lost.

This gave him a strange smile.

"It seems that what you've encountered is really serious, otherwise it wouldn't have shaken you to this extent."

With Rocco's words, Alice finally realized what she had done unconsciously, so her face turned red instantly and even her ears felt like they were burning.

She quickly withdrew her hand, then closed her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Yes, that's right, this matter is extremely serious!"

As she spoke, she walked past Luo Ke and went to lead the way.

"Okay, we..."

At this point, Alice suddenly stopped, and after a moment of silence, she reluctantly turned around, lowered her head, and spoke softly.

"...Luo Ke, where are we going?"

Luo Ke had anticipated this scene, so he stood still from the very beginning.

Only after he had finished reading Alice's amusing reaction did he finally take a step forward and speak with a smile.

"my home."

"Eh!?"

Alice was clearly taken aback for a moment, but when she saw that Rocco had already walked out, she could only hurry after him and shake her head, as if she were organizing her thoughts using physical methods.

She also began to realize that because this matter was much more serious than she had initially anticipated, she was indeed too hesitant.

Fortunately, Luo Ke was there.

Having him by my side makes me feel so much more at ease.

...

Luo Ke's residence in Baping City is in the Xiandeng mining area.

Because Victini usually trains Pokémon, Rocco chose a detached house with a large yard, and the surrounding area was spacious and quiet, so as not to disturb others.

If I had to describe how quiet it is here...

"Yeah, it's probably to the point where even if you scream for help, no one will hear you."

It was completely dark by now. Luo Ke placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of Alice as he spoke, and with the warm-toned lighting from the diffused lighting in the room, it really did feel like a crime scene.

But Alice shook her head slightly when she heard Rocco say that, picked up the water glass Rocco handed her and took a sip.

"Stop joking, Luo Ke."

Having come this far, Alice has calmed down considerably.

But Luo Ke could tell that she was still a little nervous, or rather, under some pressure.

However, it's already quite good that it has been adjusted to this level.

So at this moment, Luo Ke finally spoke up and asked a question.

"Alice, so what exactly happened to you while I was playing in the finals?"

Rocco's question made Alice's smile disappear, and at the same time, she said with a serious look what she had originally intended to say in the coffee shop.

"When you were competing with Mr. Kelly, that naughty egg was defeated by your Ditto, and it made some whimpering noises at the end."

"You know, I can understand the language of elves, so I heard it clearly at the time—that naughty Thunderbolt was in pain. It was being controlled by someone in a special way. Whether it was the tactic of using the Chaos Crystal Combination Explosion or that unchanging smiling face, it was all done under the control of someone while its mind was suppressed."

As Alice finished speaking, Rocco's expression remained unchanged.

Ever since he realized that this world had a beauty that he had never experienced before his time travel, he has developed a particular aversion to things like this!

Otherwise, he wouldn't have twisted all four of Kro's limbs after catching him.

Only those who have experienced the coldness of modern society can understand this.

Such a world may have its own beauty, but its beauty is neither equal nor belongs to everyone.

It wasn't darkness, nor despair, it was just... exhaustion!

You're too tired to dwell on darkness or despair.

You're so tired that you don't want to think too much, and you're so tired that you crave simple and pure things even more.

Some people are tired from work, some are tired from social interactions. Even though he is considered better off than many others, he still can't escape the feeling of being tired.

It's as if everyone is carrying some heavy load, pressing down on you, making you bend over, pressing down on you...

Even if someone looks down on you and says that these are just minor hardships, or that things are just not going so smoothly, you can only nod repeatedly and say, "Yes, yes, yes."

Even though Luo Ke has lived through the era of the internet explosion and witnessed the diversity of species, he still cannot understand why people who hunch over would like a world where only those who stand up deserve to be called human.

But he also knew that this matter would not be so simple.

If that were the case, Alice wouldn't have taken so long to investigate after mobilizing her family's resources, and if the issue was simply that Kelly was inhuman, Alice wouldn't have been so swayed.

So he didn't say anything and just listened silently.

How much more can you hate hearing about this?

......

66. I'll just show up at your door in the middle of the night with a hammer, and you'll have everything you need!

“Mr. Kelly is not a difficult person to investigate. His resume is very clear—simply put, he has always been loyal to the ‘Doctor’.”

Upon hearing Alice's words, Rocco's brows furrowed.

"Wait a minute, Alice, which doctor are you referring to? Or... is it someone who simply calls themselves a doctor?"

Although Luo Ke originally did not want to interrupt Alice, he had been paying attention to the person who developed the Chaos Crystal and had even considered cooperating with him, so he cared a lot about the answer to this matter.

Alice was unaware of these things. Although somewhat puzzled, she continued speaking along with Rocco's lines.

“You know him? That makes it even easier to explain—yes, he’s the old gentleman who calls himself a doctor.”

Call ~

My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, died.

“Few people know his original name, but the Lorraine family has always kept records of certain special figures, so we found it this afternoon—his original name was Prophet.”

"After the Prophet's parents passed away, he called himself a Doctor, and he has been doing so for decades. But he does indeed have doctoral degrees in as many as thirty-six disciplines, including minerals, mechanics, energy, and elves. Calling him by any one of them alone is not comprehensive, so over time everyone has come to call him Doctor."

"The doctor has always been a very reclusive person, rarely interacting with others. He only appears at the launch of some important products, and he is very eloquent there."

"But many people in business circles know that he actually doesn't care about anything except research. His businesses were originally managed by his butler, Mr. Kelly's father, and after Mr. Kelly's father passed away, Mr. Kelly took over."

"Moreover, Mr. Kelly never hides his admiration and loyalty to the Doctor, and the Chaos Crystal he uses was also made by the Doctor, so he must be one of the Doctor's men."

"What he did must be inseparable from the doctor himself."

As Alice finished speaking, her brows furrowed tightly, suggesting that what was about to happen was too much for this young lady.

However, she had been calming herself down on the way to Luo Ke's house, so she continued talking.

"Regarding the matter of the elves being forcibly controlled—this matter is actually very well hidden. If it's just a temporary investigation, then even if I mobilize the power of my family, it won't be so easy to confirm."

"But when we investigated this matter, we found that it unexpectedly overlapped with another matter that we had been investigating some time ago."

"That incident is what happened when we were on the ghost ship."