The night was ink-black, its darkness thick and impenetrable. A large Team Rocket transport aircraft, painted entirely matte black and powered by advanced silent engines, glided through the night sky like a ghost and landed without a sound on flat ground several kilometers from the abandoned volcano.
The hatch opened, and Apollo led the way, swiftly assembling his assault force of fifty elite operatives in orderly ranks. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, without a single unnecessary sound, displaying exceptional military discipline.
Ye Li followed at the rear, pulling his tactical coat tighter around himself as he tried to adjust to the volcanic region's slightly warm, sulfur-scented air.
A temporary command tent was quickly erected. Apollo and several squad leaders gathered around a tactical screen displaying live footage transmitted by miniature reconnaissance robots deployed in advance.
In the footage, the entrance to Team Magma's base-the enormous abandoned mine-could fairly be described as impregnable. Not only were two teams of Team Magma members standing openly on guard at the entrance, but several concealed sentries also lurked in the shadows of the surrounding rocks, almost impossible to detect. More troublesome still, the only approach to the entrance was covered with numerous infrared sensors and highly sensitive vibration detectors. Any living creature that approached would immediately trigger an alarm.
"Hmph. A bunch of fools who only know how to play in the mud underground, and now they're trying their hand at high-tech defenses?" Looking at the dense red warning lines on the screen, Apollo gave his trademark disdainful sneer. To him, defenses of this caliber were nothing but a paper tiger.
He clenched his fist, preparing to issue the kind of order he knew best, and the most direct one. "First and second squads, prepare! Use Golbat's Supersonic to disorient them, then have Golem and Machamp break straight through from the front! Tear that defensive line open with the most brutal force you've got!"
Beside him, Ye Li looked at the defense system, which seemed riddled with holes and downright crude to his eyes, and the urge to snark began blazing within him again.
Another frontal assault? Again? Can't Apollo fit any tactical ideas into his head besides 'charge recklessly'?
This is practically a textbook trap. They clearly came prepared and concentrated all their defensive strength at the entrance. If we charge straight in, even if our superior strength lets us win, we'll inevitably get bogged down in a tough fight, suffering unnecessary casualties and equipment losses. This isn't an efficient raid. This is trading lives for results.
You strike a snake at its weak point. War isn't about who hits harder, but who uses their head better. Against a defense system built entirely on modern technology, the most effective solution is naturally technological too.
Look, all their surveillance cameras, infrared sensors, and alarm systems need electricity. If we can find their power facilities, or take a more direct approach and disable all their electronic equipment, won't this seemingly airtight defensive net become a pile of useless scrap?
Ye Li's inner monologue, like a tactical analysis report of the utmost precision, was transmitted clearly and in real time to Giovanni back at headquarters through a miniature communicator disguised as a button, which Giovanni had specifically arranged to have placed on Ye Li's collar.
Giovanni sat in his command chair, listening to this "tactical guidance," and his lips curved in satisfaction. Without any hesitation, he immediately issued new orders to Apollo over an encrypted channel with the highest clearance.
"Apollo, suspend the frontal assault."
Giovanni's calm, authoritative voice came through the communicator, freezing Apollo just as he was about to wave his hand and give the order.
"Follow Adviser Ye Li's 'suggestion' and revise the battle plan."
Apollo was completely stunned. Adviser Ye Li's suggestion? He instinctively glanced back at Ye Li, only to find him looking back with an innocent expression, his eyes practically saying, "I didn't say anything."
Though full of questions and unable to understand how the boss had "heard" Ye Li's suggestion, Apollo always chose unconditional obedience when it came to Giovanni's orders. He took a deep breath, turned to Ye Li, and asked respectfully, "Sir Ye Li, do you... have any insights?"
Ye Li sighed inwardly, knowing Giovanni had "set him up" again. Forced into the role, he could only clear his throat helplessly and repeat his earlier thoughts in somewhat more tactful terms.
"...Sir Apollo, I think a frontal assault might be rather costly. I've noticed that their defenses rely entirely on electronic equipment. Perhaps we could first find a way to cripple their entire electrical system."
As he spoke, he directed the accompanying technicians to carry a silver-gray metal case down from the transport aircraft. The case was small but heavy, its surface covered with complex circuitry and cooling vents. This was a newly invented secret weapon created by the base's chief scientist, Engineer Wang, based on the theory Ye Li had provided.
The "portable high-frequency directional electromagnetic pulse device."
In an extremely short time, this device could release a powerful electromagnetic pulse in a specified direction, strong enough to destroy all delicate electronic components.
The technicians swiftly set up, calibrated, and aimed the device. Under Ye Li's guidance, they precisely set its pulse coverage to a fan-shaped area with a radius of five hundred meters, centered on the mine entrance.
"Fully charged. Ready to fire at any time," a technician reported.
Ye Li nodded and told Apollo, "We can begin."
As the technician pressed the activation button, the device emitted an extremely faint hum. A powerful electromagnetic wave, invisible to the naked eye, swept across the entire Team Magma base in an instant like an unseen tide.
Inside the mine, the brightly lit scene plunged in an instant into deathly silence and darkness that seemed eternal.
Every light tube sputtered a few sparks before going out completely; every surveillance screen on the walls dissolved into chaotic static; the shrill alarm systems fell silent together after barely half a brief, mournful cry; even the devices on the Team Magma members' belts used for rapidly transferring Poké Balls temporarily stopped working, their internal chips burned out.
The sudden darkness and chaos, which had struck without any warning, threw every Team Magma member in the base into tremendous panic and turmoil.
"Now! Night-vision goggles on, everyone! Move in!"
Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Ye Li had created, Apollo decisively ordered an all-out assault.
The fifty elite Team Rocket operatives donned dark-green night-vision goggles and poured into the now completely undefended base like phantoms emerging from the night, silent yet as swift as thunder.
The entire raid went more smoothly than anyone had imagined. There was no fierce exchange of fire, no roaring Pokémon, only muffled blows and the sounds of bodies falling in the darkness. Amid the chaos of losing their sight and communications, Team Magma's guards had no chance to organize effective resistance before these nocturnal hunters took them down one by one.
Not a drop of blood was shed throughout the entire operation.
Apollo followed behind the team, walking through the cleared passages. He looked at the young man beside him, who had remained calm from beginning to end, as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant, and his eyes filled with indescribable astonishment and admiration.
Without losing a single soldier or raising a single weapon, he had completely crippled the defensive line the enemy took such pride in. Such incredible, almost magical methods lay entirely beyond Apollo's previous understanding of combat.
At that moment, in Apollo's mind alone, his working relationship with Ye Li became even closer and more seamless. He realized that this young man's value far exceeded what he had initially imagined.
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