Raging Bolt and Iron Crown Appear: The Final Battle Against the Paradise Guardian Dragons

The elevator carried the four of them slowly downward. As they waited, the two professor AIs answered a few more questions, but they seemed to know nothing about The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, which Xingye wanted to learn about.

"I see..."

Xingye did not press them. It seemed only the professors themselves, now deceased, had known part of the truth about The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.

Still, something bothered him. The main cause of the Polluted Tera Energy was The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, yet the professor AIs' investigation had pointed to the Time Machine. And the upheaval in Area Zero had begun nearly two hundred years ago. How could there have been a Time Machine back then?

So he did not trust the professor AIs completely. Not that he thought they were lying, but their findings might be flawed.

Just then, the elevator gave a faint shudder and eased to a stop. Professor Sada's AI turned around and said, "Once the Defense Protocol activates, it absolutely will not stop unless you defeat us!"

Professor Turo's AI picked up where she left off. "When we enter sleep mode or are destroyed, the seal on the Great Crater of Paldea will be lifted and cannot be restored. We're all connected, so you'll only have one chance. Once it starts, there's no stopping it. And..."

Before he could finish, Xingye smiled. "Don't worry. We were ready for this from the moment we became Trainers!"

"Right!"

The two professor AIs said no more. The elevator doors slowly opened, and a dazzling light flashed across Xingye's and Lillie's eyes. It took them a while to adjust.

From the elevator doorway, they looked out over an enclosed space glittering with Tera Crystals. Unlike the crystals outside, which had changed color from the