Chapter 57: Lusamine Must Keep Lillie Away from Mammon — At All Costs!
"Mother, will Nebby be in any danger when we open the Ultra Wormhole?"
With a Champion-tier trainer providing protection, safety shouldn't be a concern.
But Lillie was still worried about Nebby. After all this time together, the little Cosmog meant the world to her.
"Not at all. Opening the Ultra Wormhole only requires the energy inside Cosmog's body. It just can't control that energy on its own yet, so we need to give it a nudge. It won't be harmed." Lusamine smiled reassuringly.
"Oh, good." Lillie breathed a sigh of relief.
Reconciling with her mother had put Lillie in genuinely wonderful spirits. For her, this was the best possible outcome.
She spent the night at Aether Paradise with Lusamine, and the next morning she was up at dawn.
Today was the day they'd enter the Ultra Wormhole. Lusamine could barely contain herself — she'd waited so long for this.
Ten o'clock arrived.
"Mother, where is this trainer you mentioned?"
Lillie clutched her bag and asked.
"He'll be here any moment. Ah — there he is." Lusamine glanced at her phone.
"Mo~ mo!"
Suddenly, Nebby popped out of Lillie's bag and shot excitedly toward the entrance.
"Huh? Nebby?" Lillie started to call after it — then froze.
A boy in a white shirt and black trousers pushed open the door and walked in, nearly colliding with the incoming Nebby.
That was — Mr. Mammon!
It clicked instantly. The Champion-tier trainer her mother had hired was Mr. Mammon?!
"Oh? What are you doing here, little one?"
The boy feigned surprise as he scooped up Nebby, then looked up and did a double take at the sight of Lillie.
"Mo~ mo~" Nebby was very put out that Mammon was looking at someone else.
"Alright, alright. Scritches."
Mammon chuckled softly, his fingers finding the spot under Nebby's chin. The little Cosmog's eyes immediately squeezed shut in bliss.
"President Lusamine, and Miss Lillie — what a pleasant surprise. We meet again."
Mammon walked over to the two women with Nebby in his arms, wearing the picture of harmless friendliness.
"Mr. Mammon~"
A soft, involuntary smile bloomed across Lillie's face.
"Mammon — you know Lillie?" Lusamine had been about to introduce them. Her brow furrowed instantly.
She'd been hoping fervently that her children would never cross paths with Mammon. He was far too dangerous.
And yet here he was, having gotten acquainted with Lillie behind her back? What was he playing at?!
Worse — the way Lillie was looking at him. Like a lovesick schoolgirl gazing at her crush. Absolutely not!
"Ah~ we've bumped into each other a few times by chance. I had no idea Miss Lillie was your daughter, President Lusamine. What a coincidence."
Mammon laughed lightly, marveling at the serendipity.
"Though now that I think about it, you two do share quite a few features. How careless of me not to notice."
Liar!!
You've been on top of me practically every night — is there a single inch of me you're NOT familiar with? And you're going to stand there and claim you didn't know Lillie was my daughter?
With her back to Lillie, Lusamine's face was perfectly blank. She didn't believe a single punctuation mark of what Mammon had just said. Pure, unadulterated fabrication.
I have to create distance between Lillie and this man. I absolutely cannot let her fall for his act.
Lusamine's imagination ran away with her — a future where she was lying in bed with Mammon while Lillie was there too, cheerfully assisting—
NO. That future must NEVER come to pass!
Lusamine's eyes burned with unprecedented determination — like a warrior marching to her death. For Lillie's sake, she would have to exhaust Mammon herself. Keep him fully occupied. A one-woman containment strategy.
"Yes — thank you so much, Mr. Mammon. If not for you, I might still be lost and confused."
Lillie's tender gaze remained fixed on Mammon's face. He was practically the only thing in her field of vision.
She was genuinely, profoundly grateful.
Without Mammon's guidance, she might never have found the resolve to act — and the reconciliation with Lusamine might never have happened.
Mr. Mammon had saved her family.
"Ha~ Miss Lillie is far too kind. You're the one who made the decision and took action." Mammon was the picture of modesty.
"After all, someone as lovely as Miss Lillie — anyone would have lent a hand."
Lillie's cheeks flushed pink. Being called lovely by a boy right in front of her mother was mortifying.
"Well then — since Mr. Mammon is here, there's no time to waste. Let's begin."
Lusamine saw the situation deteriorating and cut in immediately, interrupting their exchange.
That wretched Mammon! Flirting with my precious daughter RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME? I'm standing RIGHT HERE!
Lusamine couldn't quite name the emotion churning inside her. All she knew was that she was very, very unhappy.
"Sure."
Mammon raised an eyebrow at Lusamine's stony expression.
The three of them made their way to a laboratory near the estate. Faba was already waiting.
"Nebby possesses an innate ability to open Ultra Wormholes, but it can't yet control this power on its own. We'll need to provide an external stimulus to activate it."
Faba placed Nebby on a machine and began powering it up.
"A small jolt is all it takes to trigger the instinct."
Electrical energy crackled across the machine's surface, then fed directly into Nebby's body.
Nebby's expression changed immediately. It let out a pained whimper, its body beginning to pulse with intense light.
"Nebby!"
Lillie's worry spiked.
"Don't worry, Miss Lillie. This level of energy won't hurt the little one. If anything, it's actually beneficial."
Mammon soothed Lillie while studying the energy-wreathed Nebby with narrowed eyes.
Anyone paying close attention would notice that the energy flowing from the machine was being steadily absorbed into Nebby's body.
This experiment was genuinely harmless — even helpful. Cosmog needed enormous amounts of energy to evolve. And evolving from Cosmoem into a Sun or Moon Legendary required even more.
Lillie took a breath and reined in her anxiety.
As Nebby instinctively released its internal energy upward, the space above began to warp and distort. A white, web-like Ultra Wormhole gradually took shape.
At the sight, Lusamine's pupils went hollow — but inside, she was barely containing herself.
Ultra Space — at last!
"President Lusamine, let's go."
Mammon stamped his foot. Shiny Gengar rose from his shadow and used Psychic to lift both Mammon and Lusamine toward the swirling portal.
Moments later, the two of them — along with Shiny Gengar — vanished into the Ultra Wormhole.
"Please come back safely." Lillie clasped her hands together in silent prayer. Ultra Space was a completely unknown world, after all.
But with Mr. Mammon there… it should be fine.
She hurried over to check on Nebby. After a quick look, she exhaled with relief — Nebby seemed to have simply exhausted itself. Though… why was its body flickering with light?
Meanwhile, on the other side—
An impossibly vast desert stretched in every direction, dotted with towering stone pillars, honeycombed with caves, and studded with clusters of blue crystal growing from the rock faces.
From a distance, it was a sight of truly epic scale.
This was one of the Ultra Space realms — the Ultra Desert.
And the Ultra Beast that called this wasteland home was none other than Pheromosa.