To protect the Pokémon buried in the Lost Tower long ago, as well as the privacy of some trainers challenging it, no surveillance cameras had been installed on any of its floors. Cameras were only placed in the passages leading upward from each floor, to confirm whether challengers had cleared it.
Now, on the surveillance feed for the passage from the first floor to the second, Qingliu slowly came into view, striding toward the second floor.
Had he... successfully cleared the first floor?
The assistant, who had already assumed Qingliu had failed and was preparing to enter the Lost Tower, took a moment to process what he saw.
"If he's on the feed, that proves he cleared it, but... how is that possible?"
As the town mayor's assistant, he handled matters concerning the Lost Tower whenever the mayor found it inconvenient to go out or simply did not want to. Because of that, he knew a great deal about the tower, including which Pokémon were on each floor.
Among all the challengers over the past few years, no one had ever cleared the first floor after spending more than eighteen minutes there, let alone more than twenty.
That was because the first floor contained two Zubat adept at fighting battles of attrition with Leech Life, along with a Misdreavus that also favored drawn-out battles and replenished its strength by feeding on negative emotions.
But now someone had actually beaten those three Pokémon in a battle of attrition?
How had he done it?
What Pokémon had he used?
Could it also be a Pokémon like Zubat or Misdreavus, with an ability that made it a budget perpetual-motion machine?
Or was it simply another Ghost-type Pokémon?
That was certainly possible. After all, no Pokémon had appeared on the surveillance feed just now. Still, there was no telling for sure. Judging by the time alone, though, Qingliu had broken a record.
The record for spending the longest time on the first floor and still clearing it!
The assistant was utterly stunned. Until now, he had firmly believed such a thing was impossible.
But with the truth right before his eyes, he had to believe it, whether he wanted to or not.
And... now that someone had cleared a floor, the mayor should be a little less angry, right?
The assistant turned to look at the mayor.
The mayor stood tall a short distance away, his eyes narrowed and his face wearing a warm smile. At a glance, he looked like a kindly, approachable man from next door.
There was no trace of his earlier cold, unapproachable demeanor. Even his once rather prominent belly seemed to have vanished.
The sudden contrast left the assistant feeling a little out of sorts.
"Mayor?"
The mayor's voice was as soothing as a spring breeze. "What are you standing around for? Hurry and tell the town's two media outlets to prepare tomorrow's news. Oh, and bring the reward for clearing the first floor while you're at it. We'll give it straight to that gentleman when he comes out."
"Ah... yes, of course."
The assistant hurriedly sent out Dodrio, climbed onto its back, and raced toward town.
"All these years, and he still hasn't improved."
Watching his assistant leave, the mayor shook his head in exasperation. Without his knack for reading a situation, how long would it take the man to stand on his own?
Meanwhile, the sharp-eyed, quick-handed reporters had spotted the development too. Before their minds had caught up, their bodies were already moving.
They swiftly grabbed their microphones and shouldered their cameras, abandoning Candice to rush toward the publicly displayed passage surveillance feed outside the Lost Tower, where they began filming and offering their own commentary.
Some were squeezed out and left with no room to film. One of them-the tall reporter who had stayed behind earlier-seemed to suddenly think of something and hurried back to Candice with his camera.
"Miss Candice, is the gentleman who went inside earlier a friend of yours?"
Going from being surrounded by reporters to having only one beside her, asking questions that were not even about her, Candice could not help giving a wry smile and sighing.
Still, the abrupt change did not make her jealous of Qingliu. More than anything, she was happy that he had cleared the floor.
Even knowing how strong Qingliu and Agumon were, she had started to think they had failed after seeing how long they had spent inside.
Now that Qingliu had appeared in the passage, proving he had cleared the floor, she breathed a sincere sigh of relief. At least he had met the expectations she had held for him.
"May I ask that gentleman's name? Is he your boyfriend, Miss Candice?"
Hearing a question so clearly designed to manufacture a story, Candice knew she could not react flusteredly, or they would twist it into something else.
So she calmly shook her head and replied, "His name is Qingliu, and we're just friends. He was interested in the Lost Tower, so I brought him here to give it a try."
Seeing that Candice had not taken the bait, the tall reporter posed another question.
"Then how does Mr. Qingliu's strength compare to yours, Miss Candice? Is he stronger? After all, he managed to clear the first floor even after spending over twenty minutes there. Could you tell us whether his goal is to clear the entire Lost Tower, like Miss Cynthia?"
"Qingliu is much stronger than I am. As for his goal, he hasn't told me, but I believe clearing the first floor would already satisfy it."
Faced with Candice's smooth answers and unable to find an opening, the tall reporter fell silent. In the end, he had to turn his focus back to her.
"You said Mr. Qingliu is stronger than you, Miss Candice. Could you give us a concrete idea of how much stronger?"
"..."
Candice's smile immediately froze.
A concrete idea of how much stronger he was than me?
How was I supposed to answer that? I couldn't exactly tell you something as humiliating as losing to him even when I fought three against one, could I?
"Sorry, that's private. No comment."
"Then may I ask why we didn't see Mr. Qingliu's Pokémon on the surveillance feed just now? Is it a Ghost-type Pokémon that can turn invisible? Or is it some uncommon, rare Pokémon? Please share a little information with us, Miss Candice," the reporter pressed.
Once again, Candice was speechless.
These reporters always managed to pick out the sensitive questions from all the things they could ask. No wonder her father had disliked having them in the Gym back in Snowpoint City.
"Sorry, that's private. No comment."
After saying that, Candice gave the tall reporter no chance to respond. She pointed toward the surveillance display on the other side and said, "There's an open spot over there now. If you don't go, someone else will take it again."
While discussion buzzed outside the Lost Tower, Qingliu had already passed through the passage and reached its second floor.
The surroundings still carried the chill of a graveyard, accompanied by a faint yet easily distinguishable sweet fragrance.
The moment Qingliu caught that scent, a certain kind of Pokémon came to mind. As he opened Agumon's Poké Ball, the panel began scanning the surroundings.
Soon, three figures came rushing toward them, wreathed in smoke. Their bodies were black spheres, with large white eyes and wide mouths that revealed a pair of fangs.
"Agumon, straight ahead and to the front right! Use Pepper Breath!"
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