GA: Chapter 177 – You Seem to Think of Me as Too Kind; The Long-Overdue Gardevoir
Reality wasn't a film or a drama. Killing held no such thing as spectacle.
It was always violent. Always bloody.
Dongfang Bai had been in the chat group for a while now, but she didn't truly know the Group Owner. The impression Su Yunqing had given her so far was, consistently, one word: kind.
Whether it was uploading memory copies from every group member's world without asking for anything in return, or the attitude she showed toward each member—no one could find fault with Su Yunqing's character.
If she had one singular fixation, it was China.
Because she was born there, she didn't want China harmed in any other group member's world either—and every member had quietly accepted this.
Even the Sacred Master included.
As Group Owner, Su Yunqing should theoretically have come to understand the cruelty of the world by now—but on this point, Dongfang Bai wasn't certain.
Perhaps it was the impression of Su Yunqing always being so full of energy and life in the group—that image had settled too deeply. So on this matter, she'd hesitated.
As for the other group members—most didn't particularly care about her actions to begin with.
Uchiha Madara, Marquis Voban, the Sacred Master, Luo Hao, Whitebeard, Aizen, even Angel Yan—none of them would give Dongfang Bai's actions a second thought.
Umaru, Lin Fengjiao, Tony, and Kasashita Shiya might care about this sort of thing—but whether they did or didn't had no bearing on Dongfang Bai.
So…
Ordinary Group Owner: "I always get the feeling you all see me as some kind of saint. Annoyed.jpg"
Ordinary Group Owner: "I don't think I've ever said anything particularly saintly, have I?"
Ordinary Group Owner: "They wanted to kill Dongfang, so naturally they came prepared to die. Whether it's righteousness or evil—what does that have to do with me? Shrugging.jpg"
Ordinary Group Owner: "Besides, I'm not exactly a kind person. You transmigrate to a high-martial world and the kinder you are, the faster you die."
High-martial worlds—Su Yunqing felt mildly resigned.
She genuinely didn't think she'd been acting saintly in the group.
Toward Uchiha Madara, Marquis Voban, the Sacred Master—she'd never shown any hostility toward any of them. And had they not killed plenty of people?
Absolutely they had.
Especially the Sacred Master.
Yet even with the Sacred Master, all she'd hoped for was that after growing stronger through the chat group, he'd move his operations somewhere other than China.
And with Aizen joining recently, her concern had been nothing more than worrying about getting backstabbed.
That shouldn't count as being a saint, surely?
Su Yunqing tilted her head slightly.
Honestly, even if they disagreed, there wasn't much she could do. She was the Group Owner, but she had no special authority.
Beyond a thirty percent discount, she had nothing.
She could only use that to make a bit of extra income on the side.
Dongfang Bubai: "It seems I underestimated the Group Owner. In that case—"
"Ding—group member Dongfang Bubai has uploaded a memory copy."
"So—knowing the full plot in advance, you went and developed a new machine to capture Pikachu, and still failed?"
"Not just once either. Every single time."
"And the Rocket Gang headquarters never came through with the Gardevoir egg, we never followed up on it, and you just… forgot?"
Bai Xuan looked at the screen with mild exasperation—Meowth was standing there, scratching the back of its head with visible awkwardness.
Because other Pokémon were easier to obtain—headquarters had plenty of resources—everyone had already received their corresponding Pokémon. But Gardevoir was comparatively rare. And for certain reasons that didn't need elaborating, Gardevoir eggs were extremely difficult to come by on the market.
Especially female ones.
Even so, the delay shouldn't have stretched this long—but the crux of the matter was that Meowth had forgotten.
When the Group Shop opened, Gardevoir became available for purchase—any gender, even shiny. And since neither Bai Xuan nor Su Yunqing had pressed Meowth on it, while Team Rocket's trio remained thoroughly absorbed in the cycle of catch Pikachu → fail → work part-time → catch Pikachu—it had simply slipped Meowth's mind entirely.
If it weren't for a recent operation where they happened to catch a Gardevoir by chance—and still failed in the capture plan, meow—it might never have remembered. That chance encounter had at least prompted it to contact headquarters, where two female Gardevoirs were confirmed to be available. One each had been arranged for Bai Xuan and Su Yunqing.
"It was slow, but the Gardevoirs have excellent stats, meow."
"You'll definitely be satisfied, meow."
Meowth said it earnestly.
They were Team Rocket, after all. And it had paid a substantial sum—the quality was guaranteed.
"Anyway, that's that—Jessie and James are calling me, meow. Bye, meow."
Without waiting for Bai Xuan to respond, Meowth disconnected. Bai Xuan shook his head with an amused, helpless smile.
Of all the group members, if anyone cared least about the chat group, it was unquestionably Meowth.
Beyond the occasional line or two in the group chat, it spent the vast majority of its time cycling through research new machine → capture Pikachu → fail → work part-time with Jessie and James.
Neither the chat group nor any other world's members seemed to be of much interest to it.
For Meowth, being with Jessie and James was the happiest thing in the world. Everything else was secondary.
Precisely because of this, the other group members—outside of genuine necessity—almost never disturbed it.
That kind of uncomplicated, single-minded devotion was worth far more than anything among the rest of them.
Bai Xuan shook his head and looked down at the Gardevoir nestled in his arms—wide eyes looking up at him with liquid trust, an expression of complete dependency.
Green hair like a watermelon cut sat over a small round head. Small hands, white as scallion stalks. A pristine white dress draped over her form, covering her legs. A pair of semicircular red accessories rested on her head.
"So cute."
Angel Yan looked at the Gardevoir in Bai Xuan's arms with undisguised affection. That pure, genuine fondness was something Gardevoir naturally sensed.
But Gardevoir were characteristically shy—and Bai Xuan's presence carried a warmth she found deeply familiar and comfortable. So she stayed tucked in his arms, reluctant to leave.
Even though Yan's feelings were equally genuine, Gardevoir had no desire to move.
"She really does cling to you."
Angel Yan looked on with a faint trace of envy—though a smile came to her face all the same.
As if understanding Yan's words, the little face beneath that watermelon fringe flushed faintly pink. Gardevoir glanced at Yan's gentle smile, then buried her head deeper into Bai Xuan's arms, hiding shyly beneath his sleeve.
The sight was so endearing that even Yan found herself fighting the urge to reach out and hold her.
Who could refuse an adorable Gardevoir?
Humans certainly couldn't. Angels even less so.
Bai Xuan patted Gardevoir gently on the head, and watching Yan instinctively lean closer, he laughed softly and said:
"Angel civilization bought so many Pokémon. When you get back, just pick one for yourself."
"I want to, believe me."
Angel Yan reluctantly pulled her gaze away, expression slightly disgruntled.