For most young people, formal birthday banquets like this one felt rather stiff. With elders present at the neighboring tables, hardly anyone could truly relax.
Jacob made his rounds first, greeting the elders at each table one by one before finally returning to his own seat.
The guests seated at the other tables showed Jacob considerable respect. After all, he had become quite well-known—both in China and internationally—as a Pokémon Doctor and High School Cup Champion.
His future looked incredibly promising. As time went on, Jacob's influence throughout China continued to grow steadily.
With such bright prospects ahead, no one wanted to risk getting on his bad side.
Once Jacob settled back into his seat, Kyle immediately leaned close and whispered, "Damn, Jacob! Why didn't you mention you'd invited Eleanor and Nina?"
"You never asked," Jacob replied with a slight smile.
"Something that big, you should've told Dorm 508 right away!" Kyle draped an arm around Jacob's shoulder, then glanced dismissively at their other two roommates. "Look at Nikolas and Chandler—they're so nervous they barely dare to breathe."
Jacob and Kyle turned to observe their remaining roommates. Sure enough, both sat ramrod straight, looking as reserved as students during a strict class session. Their serious expressions were almost comical.
"What's so funny?" Nikolas asked, clearly confused.
"Nothing," Jacob said, shaking his head. He turned his attention back to Kyle. "By the way, how are things progressing with you and Miss Valerias?"
"Everything's under control. Just wait and see—I've got this completely handled. If it's not a sure thing, it's at least ninety percent there." Kyle's confident expression made Jacob shake his head in mild amusement.
"I see," Jacob responded noncommittally.
...
The lunch spread was quite impressive. As the young people ate, they began chatting about various topics.
Naturally, the sinking of the cruise ship King two days earlier came up in conversation.
Kyle brought it up first. He'd clearly been reading plenty of online gossip lately, and spoke in a mysterious tone. "Have you all heard about what happened with the King sinking two days ago?"
His words immediately captured everyone's interest at the table.
Eleanor glanced over at Elise, and only after seeing her younger sister's calm expression did she relax slightly.
Her sister had barely escaped the King disaster with her life. To help her recover emotionally, Eleanor had specifically brought her out for a change of scenery.
It also provided an opportunity for Elise to meet these talented young people, rather than spending all her time with troublemakers and neglecting more important matters.
"I've heard about it," Julia replied.
"Do you know what really happened?" Kyle lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I saw some inside information online. Apparently, the King sank because someone attacked it."
"Someone posted photos at the time. They were deleted quickly and pretty blurry, but you could still make out that it was Regieleki."
"Regieleki!"
Everyone at the table reacted differently. Some clearly already knew the real story behind the King's sinking, while others were hearing this for the first time.
Julia and Nina, for instance, had just learned about it. They weren't particularly interested in such matters, and since no one had gossiped to them about it, they naturally knew very little.
Others, like the Eleanor and Elise sisters, obviously already knew the general situation.
"Yes, Regieleki," Kyle continued, now resembling an intelligence broker. "According to what I read online, the real reason the King sank was because a Trainer with Regieleki fought against a mysterious Trainer who had a giant Lapras and a huge Darkrai. Their battle caused the ship to sink!"
"Someone even managed to record video at the time, but unfortunately it couldn't be uploaded and got deleted."
"The internet claims these two Trainers were fighting because one of them wanted to kidnap someone."
Listening to Kyle's gossip, Elise couldn't help but smile slightly.
Clearly, Kyle had been misled by distorted rumors online, and his version of events was becoming increasingly absurd.
As someone who'd actually been there, she knew the true situation better than anyone.
The others at the table, however, listened intently and quickly pressed for more details. "So the Trainer with Regieleki fought the Trainer with Darkrai—who won in the end?"
"Seems like it was the mysterious Trainer with the giant Lapras," Kyle explained. "His Lapras is basically a marine overlord. It had the advantage of fighting on water."
"Who were they trying to kidnap? The kidnap target must have been someone important," everyone continued asking.
"Of course it wasn't just anyone," Kyle said knowingly. "People online were speculating at first, but this morning, news came out from abroad."
"The person who was supposedly kidnapped is named Andrew—he's the son of Champion Meyer from the British Empire."
"A Champion's son?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock. "They're that bold? They actually tried to kidnap Champion Meyer's son?"
"Why would they kidnap Champion Meyer's son?"
"Was it for money or revenge?"
...
While everyone discussed this heatedly, Jacob kept his head down and focused on eating, acting as though none of this concerned him in the slightest.
At the same time, he discreetly reached under the table and gently squeezed the delicate hand of Teacher Nina beside him, causing her face to flush red.
She shot him a fierce glare in response.
"Of course, these reports aren't necessarily accurate—they're mostly just rumors," Kyle added. "However, there's another piece of news that's definitely true."
"You can check the official statement released by Champion Meyer yourself. Though the specific ransom amount wasn't disclosed, people estimate the cash alone was worth hundreds of millions of Pokédollars—and that's not even counting the other items."
Kyle spoke eloquently, clearly an expert at browsing the internet. "Champion Meyer also released information about the kidnappers. Currently, all they know is that the kidnappers are Chinese. Beyond that, they have nothing."
"The ransom was several hundred million? No wonder they targeted Champion Meyer's son—one successful kidnapping and they'd be set for life."
"Wait, the person is Chinese? Does that mean they might kidnap one of us too?"
"Eleanor, Elise, and Arya—you all need to be extra careful. Your grandfathers are Champions too."
...
Hearing her name mentioned, Arya remained completely composed. Or rather, from the moment she'd sat down, she'd maintained a cool, aloof demeanor, neither participating in the discussion nor offering any opinions.
She simply ate her meal quietly, not saying a word.
Arya's appearance embodied classic Eastern beauty—long hair, a slender waist, and a white dress that complemented her exquisite features perfectly.
Her eyes sparkled with a hint of coolness, and her entire presence exuded an aloofness that kept others at a distance.
Her temperament was elegant and refined, as warm as jade yet as pure as a fairy.
While Arya showed no reaction, Elise's personality was considerably more fiery.
She'd already been irritated by everyone speaking negatively about the "kidnappers" who had actually saved her life. Now that the conversation had turned directly to her, she finally found an opportunity to speak up.
"Don't be fooled by all those fake news stories online," she said directly. "The real situation isn't like that at all."
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