No sound could be heard in Ariana's conference room; even the trajectory of the flowing air seemed frozen.
The walls were polished from solid pieces of obsidian, smooth as a mirror, reflecting no shadows and only swallowing all light projected onto them.
The ceiling was high, with a strangely shaped metal chandelier hanging from it; the light was not bright but carried a coldness like that of an operating room, carving everything in the room into sharp silhouettes.
A long metal conference table stretched across the center of the room, and Ariana sat at the head.
She wore a dark red form-fitting uniform today, her fiery red hair making the lines of her face look even colder and harder.
Laic entered with his head bowed, his footsteps completely absorbed by the thick carpet.
He gently placed three paper reports in front of Ariana, his movements as standard as if they had been practiced a thousand times, then silently bowed, stepped back, turned, and left.
The entire process made no unnecessary noise, as if it were just a slight flicker of light and shadow in the room.
The door closed silently, and silence returned to the room.
Ariana didn't touch the three reports immediately.
Her fingertips gently traced the cold metal tabletop, her gaze empty, seemingly lost in thought.
After a few seconds, she reached out and picked up the top one.
The texture of the paper was somewhat rough.
The first report was about Alain.
[Team Rockets 13th Newcomer Training Camp, Graduation Grade: Second Place.]
Ariana's gaze continued downward.
The report listed several missions Alain had executed in the Hoenn region, mostly intelligence gathering and resource exploration; the mission evaluation reports were very detailed, and the wording was full of praise—strong execution, high loyalty, excellent mission completion.
But Ariana's gaze finally landed on the word circled in red marker at the end of the report.
[Killed in Action!]
The report's appendix briefly described the cause of death: during an escort mission, he encountered a Sucker Punch from a League Patrol; to cover the evacuation of supplies, he took the initiative to stay behind and died after a fierce battle.
Ariana's mouth twitched slightly; it wasn't a smile, but more like a physiological muscle spasm.
Foolish.
Loyalty is a consumable, not capital.
If you can't even save your own life, what use are high evaluations?
She didn't even bother to look at the lengthy battle descriptions in the appendix and threw the report aside.
The second report, Raic.
[Team Rockets 10th Newcomer Training Camp, Graduation Grade: First Place.]
Ariana's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly.
Raic's graduation grade was better than Alain's.
However, the content of the report formed a comical contrast with that first-place title.
The mission records were sparse, and every mission evaluation was filled with words like passive avoidance of battle, opportunism, and a serious discrepancy between ability assessment and actual performance.
The last record was from a regional conflict with Magma Team, where he missed the best timing to attack due to cowardice, leading to the failure of the entire squad's mission, and he was sent back to headquarters.
Ariana could even imagine how this member named Raic had relied on theoretical knowledge on paper and cleverness in simulated battles to get first place in the Training Camp, only to be so useless on a real battlefield that he couldn't even hold a Poké Ball steady.
"Trash."
She didn't even have the interest to throw this report aside, letting it slide from her fingers and drift to the floor.
Finally, she picked up the last report, which was also the thickest.
There was only one name on the cover: Ariel.
[Team Rockets 15th Newcomer Training Camp, Graduation Grade: First Place.]
[Mission One: Obtain intelligence on Gym Leader Brawly.]
[Mission Evaluation: Perfect; abundant and detailed information.]
[Mission Two: Obtain information on Team Aqua.]
[Mission Evaluation: Perfect; zero casualties; coordinated from within to assist Team Rockets in intercepting the Ocean Science Museum's collection.]
[Mission Three: Assassinate League official Sasaki.]
[Mission Evaluation: Perfect; blew up Sasaki's house without leaving any clues pointing to the organization.]
...Looking through the series of missions, there wasn't a single failure. This Ariel was like a precision mission machine—stable, efficient, and lethal.
Finally, Ariana's gaze landed on the last mission, which had the most written about it.
[Lead a squad to attack the Weather Institute.]
The length of this mission report took up nearly half of the entire file.
Ariana read word by word, her expression gradually shifting from initial scrutiny to an indescribable focus.
In the report, Laic used his usual emotionless brushstrokes to calmly recount the entire course of the event.
Ariel, acting as the temporary commander for this operation, had forty ordinary Team Rockets members under him.
Early in the operation, they encountered an unexpected strong enemy—the Flying-type Gym Leader, Winona.
In such a sudden situation, Ariana asked herself; even she would need a few seconds to weigh the pros and cons.
But the report stated that Ariel made a decision almost the instant Winona appeared.
He didn't hesitate or stall; he directly set aside ten people.
"Set the fire."
This was the only command Ariel gave at the time.
Ariana's fingertips gently rubbed the words "Set the fire."
She could imagine the feelings of those ten members when they heard this command.
It was sending them to their deaths. Using ten lives to buy time for the main force's movement.
How cold-blooded, yet how correct.
Then, Ariel took the remaining thirty people, met up with Laic, and faced Magma Team's main force head-on.
The back of the report included a detailed data analysis of combat casualties.
Magma Team participants: Fifty-one.
Team Rockets participants: Thirty-two (including Laic and Ariel).
Results: Magma Team was completely wiped out; Tabitha escaped with a severed arm, over twenty people were captured, and the rest were killed on the spot.
Regarding Team Rockets... Ariana's pupils contracted slightly.
She saw that number.
Team Rockets, thirty members, final number of survivors: twenty-six.
Only four people were killed in action!
With an inferior force of thirty-two people against fifty-one from Magma Team, they achieved a near-total wipeout, while their own losses were only four!
How is this possible?
Ariana didn't believe it; she read that string of data three times, seeing every character clearly.
There was no exaggerated rhetoric in the report, only the coldest numbers and facts.
Captured over twenty Magma Team members.
This meant that while holding an absolute advantage, Ariel still had the energy to take prisoners.
His command was no longer a simple battle, but a precise, surgical cutting.
A terrifying thought rose in Ariana's mind.
Those ten members sent to stall Winona were "expendables."
And these four members who died on the frontal battlefield were also "expendables."
What if... what if Winona hadn't appeared?
What if those ten members hadn't been thrown away as pawns but had joined the frontal battlefield instead?
With a full complement of forty people, under Ariel's command against fifty-two from Magma Team... Ariana was almost certain that the losses would have been even smaller, perhaps even... zero!
A chill climbed up her spine, but following it was a near-perverse excitement.
She finally saw the last column of the report, the final evaluation written by Laic himself.
[Mission Performance: Extremely outstanding.]
[Personal Traits: Ruthless and decisive in action, skilled at utilizing all available resources, including human hearts.]
[Comprehensive Suggestion: Focus on training him.]
"Heh..."
A very light laugh escaped Ariana's throat, sounding exceptionally clear in the dead-silent conference room.
"Focus on training?"
She looked as if she had heard a massive joke, her expression a mix of mockery and admiration.
"Does someone like this even need training?"
He was born for this.
The next second, Ariana extended two fingers and picked up the report about Alain on the table, as well as the one about Raic that had fallen to the floor.
*Rip—*
A crisp tearing sound rang out, and the two reports representing "mediocrity" and "trash" turned into fluttering fragments in her hands, drifting down like two insignificant funerals.
Only Ariel's file was gently smoothed out by her palm and placed in the center.
Her gaze lingered on those two words for a long time, as if admiring a perfect piece of art.
"Ariel..."
She softly spoke the name, the tail end trailing off long, carrying the pleasure of having found prey.
"It's you."
"My future..."
She paused, seemingly weighing the most appropriate word.
"...successor.