Ye Li had risen at a jaw-dropping speed.
He had gone from an overlooked clerical worker to the boss's assistant, then to a rising star wielding authority over finances and breeding, all in less than a month.
His rocket-like ascent naturally stirred discontent among some of the organization's veteran executives.
In their eyes, Giovanni must have fallen under this young man's spell, blinded by his sweet talk.
How did a kid who did not even know how to battle Pokémon deserve such a high position?
These voices of discontent secretly gathered into an undercurrent directed at Ye Li.
The most blatant among them was an executive named Lambda.
Lambda headed Team Rocket's traditional Pokémon capture and trafficking operations. He was greedy and narrow-minded.
The Pokémon breeding base plan Ye Li had proposed undoubtedly encroached on his interests.
Once the base was built and could mass-produce Pokémon with high potential, his department, which made money by capturing wild Pokémon, would inevitably plummet in standing, or even be dissolved outright.
That was something Lambda absolutely could not tolerate.
So he began secretly putting obstacles in the way of Ye Li's plan.
On the surface, he did not dare defy Giovanni's orders and greeted Ye Li with smiles, addressing him as "Master Ye Li" at every turn.
Behind the scenes, however, he paid lip service while constantly working against him.
Half of a shipment of state-of-the-art Pokémon incubators and breeding equipment that Ye Li had requisitioned from Devon Corporation was forcibly withheld by Lambda during transport, under the pretext of "prioritizing supplies for the front lines."
Without this crucial equipment, construction of the breeding base immediately ground to a halt.
Ye Li quickly realized where the problem lay.
He went to negotiate with Lambda, but the man knowingly played dumb, spouting nothing but bureaucratic platitudes.
"Oh dear, Master Ye Li, I'm terribly sorry."
"Our brothers on the front lines are fighting the League, and their equipment has suffered serious losses. My hands are tied."
"Could you make do with some old equipment for now? Once the fighting on the front lines eases, I'll make sure you get the new equipment right away."
His words were watertight, leaving Ye Li with nothing he could use against him.
Ye Li gritted his teeth in anger, but there was nothing he could do.
Although he now had Giovanni's authorization, his footing in the organization was too shallow for him to confront a deeply entrenched veteran executive head-on.
Damn it, office politics again!
Ye Li returned to his temporary office at the base and slammed his fist onto the desk in anger.
I hate this kind of internal strife more than anything! Our own people setting traps for each other-it's the biggest cancer on the organization's growth!
This Lambda is so shortsighted. All he sees is the little bit of profit right in front of him, with no regard for the organization's future development.
Keeping someone like him around will only cause trouble!
But I don't have any evidence right now, or the authority to act against him directly. What should I do? Do I really have to complain to Giovanni?
No, that would make me look too incompetent, unable to handle even something this small.
Caught in a dilemma, Ye Li was utterly frustrated.
He had no idea that every word of his worries and curses was being broadcast live into Giovanni's mind.
Inside Giovanni's office.
He quietly listened to Ye Li's furious thoughts, his formerly calm gaze growing colder by degrees.
Lambda.
Of course he knew exactly what sort of man he was.
Greedy, shortsighted, and fond of forming cliques.
Back when Team Rocket was just starting out, it had needed people like him to do certain dirty jobs.
But now that Team Rocket was transforming and striving to become a true empire, people like him had become stumbling blocks to its progress.
Giovanni had been considering what sort of opportunity he should look for to bring these old hands in the organization into line.
Now, it seemed that opportunity had arrived.
He decided to use Lambda, that stone too blind to know better, to give Ye Li, his freshly forged blade, a proper edge.
He would let everyone know that Ye Li was the man he, Giovanni, had personally chosen.
To move against Ye Li was to move against Giovanni himself.
The next day.
Without any warning, Giovanni personally arrived at the breeding base under construction.
His sudden arrival took everyone by surprise.
Lambda also hurried over when he heard the news, his face plastered with a fawning smile, hoping to show his worth before the boss.
Giovanni ignored him and walked straight to the incubation room, where work had stopped because of the missing equipment.
He looked at the empty racks, then turned and regarded Lambda with a calm gaze.
"Where is the equipment I ordered?"
Lambda's heart lurched, but he still forced himself to repeat his earlier explanation.
"Boss, the equipment was prioritized for the front lines..."
Before he could finish, Giovanni raised a hand and cut him off.
"The front lines?"
Giovanni's lips curved into a cold smile.
"I just spoke with the person in charge at the front."
"They said there hasn't been any large-scale fighting recently, and their equipment reserves are plentiful. They have no need whatsoever for supplies from the rear."
"Lambda."
Giovanni's voice was like a Siberian cold front, making even the surrounding air seem to freeze.
"Why don't you explain it to me?"
"Where exactly did that shipment of equipment go?"
Lambda's face instantly turned deathly pale, and beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
He had never imagined Giovanni would personally verify such a "minor matter."
Under Giovanni's almost tangible stare, Lambda's psychological defenses collapsed in an instant. His legs gave out, and he dropped straight to his knees.
"Boss... I... I was wrong!"
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