The clamor of the celebration and the numbing haze of alcohol receded like the tide.
Only Ye Li and Giovanni remained in the vast banquet hall.
Giovanni waved a hand, signaling all the attendants and guards to withdraw.
The heavy alloy doors slowly closed, shutting out every sound from outside.
"Ye Li."
Giovanni's voice echoed through the empty hall, carrying a trace of suppressed excitement that was difficult to detect.
"Come with me. I'll show you something truly great."
He led Ye Li through a secret passage known only to himself, then took a private elevator requiring multiple identity checks all the way down to the deepest part of Team Rocket Headquarters-a forbidden area even Ye Li had never set foot in.
The elevator doors opened, and a rush of cold air carrying the scent of ozone and unknown energy struck them in the face.
The sight that unfolded before Ye Li was so magnificent that he felt his very soul tremble.
It was an underground space so enormous that words could not describe it, its scale exceeding even the entire mountain mass of the Mt. Silver Range.
Countless energy crystals emitting soft white light studded the vaulted ceiling, like a starry sky beneath the earth.
Beneath that starry sky, an immense ring-shaped metal apparatus with a science-fiction feel hovered silently in midair.
Its structure was extraordinarily complex, composed of countless rotating rings and runes shimmering with energy.
At its center lay a profound darkness that seemed capable of devouring all light.
"This is..."
As Ye Li gazed at the seemingly miraculous creation before him, he felt his breathing nearly stop.
"I call it the 'Genesis Gate.'"
Giovanni's voice sounded beside Ye Li's ear, filled with the mad ravings of a god.
"A great undertaking that will allow us to