In the end, Xia Chi accepted the reward from the Donghuang Champion-or rather, from the entire Donghuang League behind her.
After Yu Muxue explained things, he had a pretty good idea of what the League intended.
This was an investment in Xia Chi himself, as well as a way to keep him in the Donghuang League.
After all, anyone willing to look into it would know that Xia Chi had become very close to the Paldea League.
And then there was Iono, that unpredictable factor.
If Xia Chi really did run off to Paldea one day and marry into her family, it wouldn't be surprising.
There were even rumors that important figures from quite a few Leagues had invited Xia Chi to conduct academic research in their regions.
Against that backdrop, Yu Muxue and the Donghuang League's efforts to win him over made perfect sense.
Objectively speaking, an island not far from Shanghai was certainly valuable.
But as an investment in Xia Chi, it only just made the cut.
Everyone knew that the [Tera Orb], now wildly popular worldwide and in desperately short supply, had brought Xia Chi an enormous fortune.
And that income was sustainable.
As long as Terastallization remained popular and Tera Orbs kept selling, the string of digits in Xia Chi's bank account would keep looking a little prettier.
So investing in Xia Chi with money, rare Pokémon, top-grade training resources, or even pseudo-legendary Pokémon-things generally considered scarce-would accomplish very little.
To put it bluntly, his Tera Orb factory could earn all that back in a few days.
Then was there anything that wasn't so easy to obtain, yet still held value for Xia Chi?
Oh, there was, folks. There certainly was.
An island fit the bill perfectly.
First, while an ordinary uninhabited island could indeed be