After saying goodbye to Aoki, Xia Chi entered the elevator with the Area Zero Gate employee escorting him.
In the game, the Area Zero Gate couldn't take you straight to the lab at the very bottom, but this elevator was built differently.
The panel beside him clearly had a button labeled [Area Zero Lab].
Xia Chi thought this design made more sense. Otherwise, were the researchers in the lab really supposed to fight their way up from the perilous depths of the crater?
A swipe of a key card lit up the "Area Zero Lab" button.
Then the elevator started, and a sudden feeling of weightlessness washed over him.
The Great Crater of Paldea was roughly fifteen hundred meters deep, though that didn't include the still-undiscovered Area Zero.
It sounded deep, and it really was.
Over two full minutes passed before the elevator finally came to a complete stop.
The doors opened onto a bright, plain white room, presumably inside the Area Zero Lab.
Professor Turo and Professor Sada, who looked as though they had been waiting for quite some time, came forward with their researchers behind them.
"Advisor Xia Chi, you're finally here!"
The more enthusiastic Professor Sada seemed to be the one responsible for external communications between the married professors.
Beaming, she greeted Xia Chi with a hug.
Professor Turo was a little more reserved, holding out a hand as he said, "Welcome to the Area Zero Lab!"
Naturally, Xia Chi smiled and greeted each of them in turn.
Once the pleasantries were over, Turo and Sada led Xia Chi into a conference room inside the Area Zero Lab.
They seemed ready to get straight down to business.
Although they had skipped the usual back-home welcome routine of "dinner, drinks, and a bath," Xia Chi wasn't surprised.
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