Villain Conference, Part One

Meanwhile, deep within the Saffron City base, inside a conference room.

The oval table was filled with people. Seated at the head was, naturally, Cheng Yu, the Dark Hunters' chief representative in the Kalos Region.

Seated around him were the key partners in this operation and the organization's core members.

To Cheng Yu's right sat two middle-aged men with slightly arrogant expressions.

They were representatives of the Kingdom of Azoth—one was a royal minister, while the other was the royal family's chief scientific adviser.

Their eyes held both an instinctive wariness toward their partners and an unease they could not conceal, knowing full well that they were making a deal with tigers.

It seemed they did not place much value on the power of the Ultimate Weapon.

To Cheng Yu's left sat a corrupted high-ranking official from within the League.

He was chiefly responsible for coordinating regional affairs and providing intelligence cover for the operation. At the moment, he was trying hard to maintain an outward appearance of composure, but his slightly trembling fingertips and wandering gaze exposed his inner tension and greed for the enormous profits he had been promised.

The rest of the long table was occupied by other relevant personnel.

Cheng Yu's fingers lightly tapped the tabletop. The dull, rhythmic tapping sounded exceptionally clear in the pin-drop silence of the conference room.

"Everyone," he finally said, "the Ultimate Weapon Reactivation Plan has reached the point where nearly every piece is in place."

As soon as he finished speaking, the enormous main screen behind him lit up. Cold light fell across faces bearing different expressions, displaying complex streams of data, energy graphs, and real-time surveillance footage.

"Y Energy," Cheng Yu said, pointing at an energy graph that fluctuated in an eerie violet-black hue, "has been safely extracted from