"Boss... this..."
One of the members couldn't help but speak up, his voice trembling.
Ariel's cold gaze swept over, and the man immediately shut his mouth.
"I recall Team Rockets has a specialized Accelerant that can ignite a blazing fire even in heavy rain."
"Am I remembering correctly?"
"This..."
A Squad Leader said in a low voice,
"There is indeed such an Accelerant. We have it set up in several locations within Fortree City, and the members carry it with them."
"But..."
"No buts!"
Ariel's voice carried no emotion, as if he were stating an established fact,
"Act in five minutes. Remember, exactly five minutes."
He held up a finger and emphasized:
"Furthermore, don't get bogged down in one place. Strike one spot, leave immediately, and move to the next target. I want you to be like ghosts, throwing the entire city into chaos."
"Guerrilla warfare, understand?"
Those ten members' hearts raced. Looking at Ariel's unquestionable gaze, although they didn't know what 'guerrilla' meant, they ultimately swallowed all their doubts and fears.
"Yes! Boss!"
The ten took their orders and quickly slipped into the secret passage leading to the center of the tree trunk, their figures soon vanishing into the darkness.
Inside the room, thirty people remained.
Ariel adjusted his black coat and straightened the mask on his face.
He turned and walked toward the wooden door, chilled by the lashing rain.
"Creak—"
He pulled the door open.
A gale carrying torrential rain instantly rushed in, making the hem of his coat flutter wildly.
Outside, Winona, hovering in mid-air, had her pupils contract sharply.
She stared intently at the figure emerging from the shadows: the black coat, the black mask, and that sense of stillness that was so out of place with the surroundings.
"I thought Team Rockets was nothing more than a bunch of cowards hiding in their holes."
Winona's voice was cold, mingling with the sound of the rain and carrying undisguised mockery,
"I didn't expect someone would actually be brave enough to come out and face death."
Ariel stood under the eaves of the doorway. Rain dripped from the roof, forming an intermittent curtain of water before him.
He ignored Winona's mockery, speaking instead in a tone that was almost conversational.
"Gym Leader Winona, you certainly are putting on quite a show of authority."
His voice was neither humble nor arrogant, showing no sign of panic. Instead, it was like chatting with an old friend.
"Our Team Rockets has been Ingrain here, and it hasn't just been a day or two. We both know full well the Alliance's stance. For whom are you putting on this performance today? For these lovely citizens down there?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a stir went through the crowd.
Winona's face darkened instantly.
The opponent had actually directly torn away the veil of pretense that everyone had tacitly agreed upon!
"Gym Leader Winona, with such a grand display today and pushing things to this point, I assume you're prepared to burn bridges with the Alliance high-ups?"
"I'm curious, if I were to order my thirty or so brothers to fight you to the death today, how do you plan to clean up the mess?"
His words carried a resolve for mutual destruction.
Hearing this, Winona suddenly laughed.
The laughter was crisp but carried a sense of supercilious disdain.
"A fight to the death? With just you and those thirty pieces of trash inside?"
She looked as if she were listening to a massive joke,
"You're good with words, but don't you think too highly of yourself? Forget thirty—even three hundred would be nothing more than a rabble before me!"
Ariel laughed as well.
Beneath the mask, his laughter was soft, yet it caused Winona's laughter to stop abruptly.
Because his hand slowly rose, pointing not at Winona,
but at the citizens below, huddled under umbrellas in the square to watch.
"Is that so?"
Ariel's voice pierced through the rain, reaching everyone's ears clearly.
"Then what if... my brothers don't want to risk their lives against a big fish like you, but choose to play with these little minnows down there instead?"
The smile on Winona's face froze completely.
Her heart felt as though it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, making even breathing difficult.
She could easily defeat the Team Rockets members before her; she had that confidence.
But could she protect the hundreds and thousands of citizens below?
Team Rockets had the numbers. Once they went mad and attacked ordinary people without regard for the consequences... she didn't dare imagine that scene.
Even if she won in the end and captured every member of Team Rockets, so what?
Fortree City would be drenched in blood, with heavy casualties among the citizens.
She, the "Guardian of the City," would become the biggest laughingstock in the Hoenn region!
By then, not only would the Alliance high-ups hold her accountable, but even the citizens who once supported her would drown her in resentment and curses.
Winona's face turned pale in an instant.
She realized she had been forced into a dead end.
A stalemate where she would lose no matter what she chose.
The wind grew stronger, making her body sway slightly.
Rain lashed against her face, bone-chillingly cold.
Ariel watched her rapidly changing expression, knowing the moment was ripe.
He took a step forward into the rain, letting the cold water soak his hair and clothes.
"Gym Leader Winona, let's make a deal."
His voice was calm, carrying the composure of someone in total control.
"Stop now and act as if nothing happened. I guarantee that I'll take my people and disappear from Fortree City immediately."
"From now on, we'll each mind our own business."
"You keep your reputation, your city, and your precious time. And I save myself quite a bit of trouble."
"This is the best outcome for both of us."
A deal?
Winona stared fixedly at Ariel; she had never suffered such humiliation!
A city's guardian was actually forced to negotiate terms with a member of a criminal organization?
But... did she have a choice?
Just as a battle raged within her, with humiliation and reason clashing violently...
Suddenly—
"Ah! Fire!"
A shrill scream came from a corner in the west of the city, piercing the dull, rainy night.
Then, as if by a chain reaction.
"The east! There's a fire in the east too!"
"Look! Over there! It's in the direction of the Commercial Street!"
One panicked shout after another rose up.
Winona whipped her head around and saw orange firelight rising from several different directions in the city almost simultaneously!
The firelight was so blinding in the pitch-black rainy night, like blooming flowers of death, tinting half the sky red!
The crowd below completely erupted into chaos, panic spreading like a plague.
Screams, cries, and the sound of running feet instantly turned the entire square into a living Inferno.
Winona's body froze in mid-air.
"How can there be a fire in such heavy rain?"
Slowly, inch by inch, she turned her head back, her gaze firmly Lock-On to Ariel.
That look was no longer one of anger or struggle.
It was a kind of... bone-deep chill and horror.
It must be his doing!
He... had arranged everything long ago!
In the rain, Ariel stood there, motionless.
The mask hid his expression, but Winona felt as if she could see just how cold and indifferent the eyes beneath that mask were.