Chapter 196: Afterward
Ekaterina, who had originally been full of joy, instantly had her facial expression drop upon hearing this.
She could tolerate Qu Suxin competing with her for the man, because the other party had the capital and strength.
But what right did Yu Lili have?
Of course, there was also a bit of jealousy involved.
After all, Yu Lili was too young, which was Yu Lili’s biggest advantage in itself, an advantage that neither she nor Qu Suxin had.
Most importantly, Lu Li might not value strength at all in the late stage.
Although Yu Lili was not Lu Li’s childhood sweetheart, she could still be considered his first love, even though they hadn’t dated for two years yet.
“Let’s go see that one.” Ekaterina said coldly.
Lu Li, who had just entered the hall and was about to take the elevator, ran into Ekaterina who was coming down in the elevator.
Ekaterina used the exclusive elevator, so she came down very quickly.
“Sister Na!” Lu Li quickly greeted her.
Ekaterina smiled and nodded, then looked at Yu Lili and asked: “Is this little girl your friend?”
“Yes.” Lu Li nodded, without any awareness of being caught in a love triangle.
“Little girl, what’s wrong? Scared?” Ekaterina asked.
Normally, without knowing the other’s identity, Yu Lili might have already started arguing back.
But now, Yu Lili had no mood at all to confront the other party.
Lu Li quickly explained: “Lili’s mood might not be good right now.”
Ekaterina listened, looked at Yu Lili expressionlessly, and didn’t say anything more.
Since Lu Li had taken the initiative to step forward, if she kept holding on, she would be the one to lose.
Ekaterina said: “I’ve arranged the room for you, right next to yours, the one Yao Yifei stayed in before.”
“Mm! Sister Na, you go ahead with your business, I’ll take Lili up first.” Lu Li, who was solely focused on settling Yu Lili, didn’t notice the displeasure in Ekaterina’s tone.
“That little girl has death aura on her, she must have had a relative pass away.” The Froslass hidden in the shadows suddenly reminded her.
“Such a coincidence?”
Ekaterina raised her eyebrows.
The clever her instantly thought of the causes and effects.
“So Yu Zhonggang died in the Pokémon Center? He’s a Heavenly King Level Trainer at least, he should have no problem protecting himself, right?” Ekaterina was somewhat surprised.
The Froslass said calmly: “Not strange, today there were no less than ten Champion Level Pokémon appearing in the Ancient Capital and surrounding areas. Yu Zhonggang was just a trainer who had newly entered Heavenly King Level, dying in this turmoil is too normal.”
The Froslass, who had battled alongside her trainer her whole life, had seen life and death, such as Heavenly King Level Trainers and even Champion Level Trainers dying just like that.
Ekaterina, who didn’t have much sympathy, sneered: “This is actually a good thing. As the saying goes, debts die with the person. With Yu Zhonggang dead, Lu Li doesn’t have to repay the favor.”
The extremely experienced Froslass reminded meaningfully: “Not necessarily. Yu Zhonggang’s wife is still alive, and his daughter is alive too. Don’t you think the threat from that little girl now is even greater?”
Hearing this, the sneer on Ekaterina’s face gradually solidified.
…………
After sending Yu Lili to the room, Lu Li advised in a low voice: “Give Aunt a call.”
With Heavenly Dao Lu Li’s reminder, Yu Lili finally couldn’t hold it together anymore. Yu Lili, who threw herself into Lu Li’s arms, broke down crying: “I… how am I supposed to tell this news to my mom! She’ll be so heartbroken when she finds out.”
“The living still have to move forward. Aunt will have to face it sooner or later, and… the sooner Aunt knows this news, the sooner she can arrange Uncle’s funeral.” Lu Li continued to comfort Yu Lili gently.
After crying for a good while, Yu Lili, whose emotions had stabilized again, tremblingly picked up the phone with her right hand.
Soon, the call connected.
“Lili? Weren’t you at the match today?” Jin Fengjiao’s puzzled voice came from the phone.
“Mom~”
Yu Lili called out with a sobbing voice.
Hearing her daughter’s tone, Jin Fengjiao instantly became anxious.
Jin Fengjiao quickly comforted nervously: “Good daughter, don’t cry. Tell Mom what’s wrong. Mom will always be on your side.”
“It’s not me, it’s Dad.”
“Zhonggang?”
Jin Fengjiao’s heart tightened, an indescribable panic surging from her heart.
Jin Fengjiao asked nervously: “What happened to your dad?”
“Dad… Dad just sacrificed himself.” After saying this, Yu Lili seemed to have used up all her strength.
Hearing this, Jin Fengjiao’s body instantly stiffened, and she didn’t even notice the phone slipping from her hand.
Hearing the sounds from the phone, Yu Lili shouted anxiously: “Mom! Mommy! Mom! Are you okay? You…”
Hearing her daughter’s anxious shouts, the dazed Jin Fengjiao finally came back to her senses.
In extreme despair and grief, there are no tears. Jin Fengjiao tried to pick up the phone, and after several attempts, she finally picked up the phone from the ground.
“Daughter, what exactly happened?” Jin Fengjiao forced herself to calm down.
If it were an ordinary woman, she might already be at a complete loss, but Jin Fengjiao was different.
Jin Fengjiao, from the Jin Family, had received the best noble family education herself. Though it was somewhat biased, her abilities could not be denied.
Yu Lili recounted what happened at the Ancient Capital Pokémon Center.
Only then did Jin Fengjiao realize afterwards what her daughter had encountered today.
“Damn it! Why is there no news report on this matter? And why didn’t I receive the news right away?” Jin Fengjiao thought angrily in her heart.
If she had received the news in advance, she would definitely have advised Yu Zhonggang to stay in the Pokémon Center’s clerk office instead of going to that so-called No. 1 Competition Arena.
The turmoil at the Pokémon Center was obviously caused by that Reserve Ideal Messenger. No. 1 Competition Arena was the center of the storm—why did Yu Zhonggang, who had just entered Heavenly King Level, go there to join in the fun? Was that a place for a new Heavenly King Level Trainer like you to join in?
Although she was usually somewhat aggressive in her actions, there was always a premise: she would absolutely not risk her life. Once it involved her own life safety, she would definitely choose the safest path.
Now that Yu Zhonggang was dead, their mother-daughter duo’s biggest backer was instantly gone.
As for the family?
When Jin Fengjiao remarried Yu Zhonggang, the Jin Family could only be considered her second backer, and now it might not even be a backer anymore.
Squinting her eyes, Jin Fengjiao instantly thought of Yu Zhonggang’s second tier Pokémon kept with his lover.
Now the most important thing was not handling Yu Zhonggang’s funeral, but thinking about how to preserve the family business that Yu Zhonggang had built up.
“Lili, you stay in the Ancient Capital for now, then actively contact the Ancient Capital Pokémon Center side. Use your identity as his daughter to collect your father’s body, especially his Aggron—you must get it back!” Jin Fengjiao instructed very seriously.
Whether the family business Yu Zhonggang left behind could be fully inherited by her daughter depended on whether the Aggron could return to the Yu Family.
If it could return, that would be best; if not, they could only give up part of the family business.
Certain assets required Heavenly King Level Pokémon, or Gym Level Trainers, to be qualified to hold them.
“Mm, once it’s confirmed safe, I’ll take Bronzong to find Dad’s body.” Yu Lili said quickly.
Jin Fengjiao emphasized: “The most important thing is Aggron’s Poké Ball!”
Yu Lili frowned, and though she wanted to retort, she ultimately nodded: “Got it.”
After hanging up, Yu Lili said gratefully to Lu Li: “Thank you, Lu Li. Without you, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“It’s nothing, I didn’t really help much.” Lu Li shook his head, then asked: “After Uncle Yu’s death, can you still return to Shuibo Gym?”
Yu Lili shook her head: “Now I’m Teacher’s closed-door disciple. Even if my dad is gone, I won’t be affected at all at Shuibo Gym.”
“Is your teacher in the Ancient Capital?” Lu Li asked another key question.
“No.”
Lu Li said: “Alright then, you rest here first. I’ll go check the situation outside.”
After leaving the room, Lu Li went straight to the top floor where Ekaterina was.
…………
With the fall of the Ideal Messenger and the withdrawal of the Champion Level Trainers, this farce finally came to an end.
The first to arrive in the Ancient Capital for support was Sikong Zhen, one of the Four Title Heavenly Kings, the Electric Heavenly King.
Under the Alliance’s support, three of the Alliance’s Four Title Heavenly Kings came from commoners, and Sikong Zhen was one of them.
After arriving at the Pokémon Center, Sikong Zhen directly apologized: “Sorry, I came late.”
Hearing this, Lei Ze and Leng Huchong’s facial expressions both darkened. As the main victim, Lei Ze directly questioned: “Why was the Alliance’s support so slow?”
Sikong Zhen, who had only been polite, didn’t indulge the other party at all and retorted directly: “There was a riot in a secret realm in the eastern region. I just rushed over from there.”
“And my Flying Pokémon is Volbeat!” Sikong Zhen added.
It was well known that Volbeat had the fastest speed in short-distance flight, but became very slow in long-distance flight, mainly due to stamina issues—Volbeat had to rely on wind power for long-distance flight.
“What about the other Heavenly Kings? The Dragon Champion?” Lei Ze asked through gritted teeth.
Sikong Zhen answered seriously: “The Dragon Champion is not in the Asian Alliance right now. Fairy Heavenly King Qu Suxin went to pursue Dark Web criminals, and the other two Title Heavenly Kings are still in seclusion in a secret realm.”
“What about the Regional Heavenly Kings?” Lei Ze, unwilling to give up, continued asking.
“Uh…”
Sikong Zhen looked at Lei Ze with some pity, then said faintly: “You might not believe it, but all the northern region’s Heavenly Kings were invited to the Wang Family secret realm. Apparently, someone saw a god in the Wang Family secret realm.”
Lei Ze, with bloodshot eyes, roared: “Wang Family! My Lei Family and your Wang Family are now irreconcilable!”
Compared to Lei Ze, who had lost his grandson, Leng Huchong, who had only suffered a major investment failure, was much more rational.
At least he didn’t lose his mind like Lei Ze and question a Title Heavenly King.
Sikong Zhen was upright and impartial, and only held back from getting angry because Lei Ze had lost his grandson.
Moreover, this time it really was the Jiuzhou Alliance’s fault, so Sikong Zhen wasn’t in a position to argue too much with a victim.
“I’ll take my leave first, gentlemen. I still need to tally the losses at the Pokémon Center.” After saying this, Sikong Zhen ignored Lei Ze.
After Sikong Zhen left, Lei Ze could only vent his anger on the three Heavenly Kings of the Lei Family.
“You three wastes! Why didn’t you die? Three Heavenly Kings! Three Heavenly Kings couldn’t even protect one rookie trainer?”
Lei Ze didn’t dare to trouble Rayne’s Guardian Spirit, because that was a Champion Level Pokémon left by an ancestor.
The three Heavenly King Level Trainers also knew this matter required someone to take the blame.
Now none of them wanted to take the blame, so they could only shift it to someone else.
A yellow-haired trainer said confidently: “It’s all Yu Zhonggang’s fault! If that bastard hadn’t used wide-range moves in the competition arena, Young Master wouldn’t have had an accident!”
As if grasping a lifeline, the two trainers beside him quickly chimed in.
“That’s right! It’s all that damn Yu Zhonggang’s fault. If he hadn’t used Stomp, the Competition Hall wouldn’t have collapsed, we wouldn’t have been distracted, and Young Master wouldn’t have had an accident.”
“Yes! That damn bastard, he truly deserved to die! He could’ve just held out, and we could’ve waited methodically for support.”
“What’s the deal with that Yu Zhonggang?” Lei Ze asked, squinting his eyes.
The three quickly explained the causes and effects of the matter, of course, with exaggerations.
Lei Ze was also somewhat helpless. Now that his grandson was dead, he naturally couldn’t hold a grudge against the three Heavenly Kings over this.
Even in the Lei Family, three Heavenly King Level Trainers were pillar-like existences. Scolding them was fine, but actually punishing them would be foolish.
The gradually calming Lei Ze said, squinting his eyes: “Looks like this matter really can’t be blamed on you.”
Seeing the old family head preparing to let them off, the three secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They had already prepared to leave the Lei Family.
“Who killed Little En? Did you find the culprit?” Lei Ze asked again.
The yellow-haired Heavenly King Level Trainer analyzed seriously: “The scene was too chaotic at the time. We didn’t sense any fluctuations at all, but the move used was Grass Knot. I speculate it was a Champion Level Grass Attribute Pokémon, with secondary attributes Ghost or Psychic Type.”
“Grass Attribute…”
Lei Ze squinted his eyes thoughtfully.
Looking across the entire world, only three families had Champion Level Grass Attribute Pokémon, but given the nature of the Grass Attribute, those three families actually had no motive to act.
After all, those three families were all focused on farming and didn’t care about so-called ideals or political landscapes.
After guessing for a long time without figuring out the culprit, Lei Ze sighed and said: “Forget it, let’s return to the family first.”
Leng Huchong gently patted Lei Ze’s shoulder and comforted: “Old brother, restrain your grief and accept fate.”
“The Lei Family will never forget the Leng Family’s favor. Thank you for your help today.” Lei Ze said gratefully.
Now that the enemy was confirmed, Lei Ze also wanted to pull the Leng Family along to deal with the Wang Family.
As fellow old foxes, Leng Huchong naturally knew what his old friend was planning, but with the major investment already lost badly, cutting losses in time was the way of kings—how could he continue to join the Lei Family against the Wang Family.
