Ye Li officially took charge of Team Rocket's purse strings.
Every day, he watched astronomical sums flow through his hands, yet felt not the slightest excitement.
He had no desire to embezzle, and even less courage to do so.
He knew perfectly well that by giving him this assignment, Giovanni had put him over the fire.
Even the slightest error in his accounts could give someone leverage to attack him.
So his only thought now was to keep the accounts absolutely clear and accurate, leaving no openings for anyone.
He spent every day holed up in his office, facing piles of reports and data, and had even lost several strands of hair.
But keeping the accounts in order was nowhere near enough.
Giovanni's assignment was for him to use this money to expand Team Rocket's Pokémon reserves.
That was an even tougher challenge.
Ye Li soon discovered that buying fully developed Pokémon with strong fighting abilities directly from the black market was simply too expensive.
A Machoke with decent potential alone could sell for over a million.
As for rare Pokémon with special abilities, even having the money did not mean any were available.
The game corner brought in plenty of revenue, but it could not withstand spending like this.
This won't work. We'll burn through everything we have.
Ye Li went over the accounts while calculating inwardly.
Buying ready-made Pokémon is terrible value. It's like buying a fully furnished house-expensive, with no room to grow.
If we're going to do this, we need to be the developers and start at the source!
A bold, even revolutionary idea gradually took shape in his mind.
We can't keep settling for stealing, robbing, and buying Pokémon everywhere.
Team Rocket needs its own sustainable Pokémon breeding system!
We need to establish our own egg-hatching and breeding base!
The idea startled even Ye Li himself when it first occurred to him.
But on closer consideration, it seemed entirely feasible.
What matters most in the Pokémon world? Genetics!
As long as we can get some highly gifted breeding Pokémon and find experts in breeding and inheritance, we can produce highly gifted offspring in batches, just like an industrial production line!
A highly gifted Growlithe might cost several million. But a Growlithe egg might only cost a few hundred thousand!
And through scientific breeding and genetic selection, the Growlithe we hatch might even surpass their parents in talent and potential!
For Growlithe, for example, we could specifically breed those that inherit Extreme Speed.
And for Koffing, we could specifically breed tactical Pokémon born knowing Destiny Bond or Memento.
Once we have these Pokémon in large numbers and equip the organization's rank-and-file members with them, Team Rocket's overall combat strength will make a qualitative leap!
The more Ye Li thought about it, the more excited he became. He could almost see an invincible Team Rocket army made up of highly gifted Pokémon.
He ran through the entire plan in his head, from selecting the base's location to choosing breeding Pokémon and recruiting breeding experts, even including the later feed costs and training programs.
A complete, enormous strategic plan, enough to change Team Rocket's entire future, quietly took shape in his mind.
In Giovanni's office.
He was receiving an update on Ye Li's recent work through a secret report.
The report said that Ye Li diligently handled the accounts every day, with nothing unusual to report.
But Giovanni knew what an immense storm was brewing inside that seemingly calm head.
When Ye Li's complete "Pokémon Breeding Base" plan entered his mind without a single word missing, even Giovanni felt an unprecedented shock.
Hatching eggs?
Genetics?
Breeding highly gifted Pokémon in batches?
This idea went completely beyond the understanding of every faction in this era.
Whether it was the League or the other criminal organizations, their methods of obtaining Pokémon were still stuck at the most primitive stage of "catching them in the wild."
Yet Ye Li had already set his sights on something deeper: "mass production," like a creator!
It was a terrifying strategic concept, enough to overturn the entire Pokémon world's existing order.
Even Giovanni's breathing grew somewhat rapid.
He looked at Ye Li's file, his eyes filled with an indescribable fervor.
He had struck gold.
He had stumbled upon a treasure capable of changing the world.
Without any hesitation, he immediately pressed the internal communicator.
"Tell Ye Li to come see me at once."
When Ye Li walked apprehensively into the office, Giovanni slapped a document granting the highest level of authorization down in front of him.
"I've approved your plan."
There was a barely perceptible trace of excitement in Giovanni's voice.
"From this moment on, I'm giving you the highest authority, the largest funding allocation, and the best personnel."
"I don't care what methods you use. Within one month, I want to see the beginnings of Team Rocket's first breeding base."
"You will have full responsibility for this plan."
Ye Li stared at the authorization document, utterly dumbfounded.
My... plan?
What plan?
Haven't I just been doing the accounts in my office this whole time?
He felt as though he had been shoved into a role he was not ready for. Without understanding how, he had gone from an accountant managing money to the chief officer of a "Team Rocket Logistics Breeding Base" whose nature he did not even understand himself.
Team Rocket really was getting more and more surreal.
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