The Dragon-taming Kudo family, a colossal power standing at the very peak of the League, reveals a terrifying efficiency once its true machinery starts to move.
Champion Kazuma's will is the highest command of the family.
That very afternoon, while Shiba was still reeling from the shock of learning he was about to obtain a top-tier secret treasure, his grandfather Kazuma had already finished all arrangements.
No cumbersome procedures.
No redundant reports.
The old man merely picked up an encrypted phone with a retro design but the most cutting-edge anti-tracking modules built inside, then dialed a string of numbers that did not exist in any public database.
Shiba was brought by his grandfather to a secret family clubhouse he had never set foot in before.
It lay nearly a hundred meters beneath Magic City, and along the way they passed triple authentication: iris, voiceprint, and genetic sequence. Behind every alloy gate stood guards whose auras were condensed and whose eyes were as sharp as blades.
These were the Kudo family's most core defensive force.
Finally, the grandfather and grandson sat down in a room constructed entirely from soundproof and anti-surveillance materials.
The air was utterly still.
At the exact moment Kazuma dialed that mysterious number, the Prophecy System roared to life in Shiba's mind!
A blazing golden light suddenly burst out from his grandfather's body, transforming into lines of searing words that branded themselves deep into his consciousness.
[Golden Prophecy: At seven o'clock tonight, the secret-treasure merchant "Thousand Faces" will arrive here.]
[Kudo Kazuma will spend a fortune large enough to buy a medium-sized city and successfully purchase from him a Steel-type supreme treasure born from the core of an extraterrestrial meteorite, saturated with immense stellar energy—"Heart of Stars"!]
A fortune…
Large enough to buy a medium-sized city!
Shiba's breathing hitched violently the instant he saw that line.
It felt as if an invisible giant hand had seized his heart. Blood rushed to his head, bringing with it a brief wave of dizziness.
A city—what did that even mean?
It meant the homes of countless families, bustling commerce, massive infrastructure—a cluster of wealth on an astronomical scale!
And now, this fortune was about to be poured into a single Pokémon of his, without the slightest hesitation.
This was no longer just "training."
They were using gold and diamonds to pave for him a throne that led straight to the summit!
That crushing weight settled on his chest, yet instead of fear, it ignited an even more turbulent fighting spirit.
Get stronger.
He had to get stronger. As fast as possible.
He absolutely could not betray this expectation that spared no expense and held nothing back!
He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned faintly white, and the resolve in his eyes solidified into something unshakable, like bedrock.
Time slipped by, second by second, in silent waiting.
Night quietly draped itself over the city.
On the wall, the minute hand and second hand of the clock overlapped precisely, pointing at seven o'clock sharp.
"Creak—"
The heavy door was pushed open without a sound.
A man walked in.
He wore a well-tailored business suit. A gentle smile rested on his face, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He looked just like one of those elite office workers you could see anywhere in the financial district.
There was none of the powerful presence you'd associate with a top Trainer on him, not a trace of energy fluctuations.
Ordinary.
So ordinary it was almost exaggerated.
Yet Shiba's body tensed in an instant.
Because he knew that this seemingly harmless middle-aged man was the legendary figure who roamed freely between the underworld and the light, holding in his hands countless secret treasures that Trainers the world over dreamed of.
The secret-treasure merchant, "Thousand Faces."
"Champion Kazuma, long time no see."
Thousand Faces inclined his head slightly. His tone was familiar, yet he still maintained a perfectly measured business-like distance.
No extra small talk.
No probing conversation.
When it came to deals between top-tier figures, efficiency was always the highest priority.
Thousand Faces set down what looked like a plain silver metal briefcase on the tabletop, which was carved from a single slab of obsidian.
There were no patterns on the surface of the case, yet under the lights it reflected a strange quality, as though it could swallow the light itself.
Space technology.
Shiba immediately recognized that this seemingly ordinary briefcase had to be a storage treasure whose interior had been expanded by space-manipulation techniques.
"Click."
A soft sound.
The case was opened.
There was no shower of multicolored light, no blinding, dazzling brilliance.
Inside the briefcase, there was only a layer of deep-black velvet lining, and at the very center lay a single metallic sphere.
It was only about the size of a fist.
Its entire surface showed an unimaginably deep, dark blue, as if the entire night sky of the universe had been condensed into it.
On that dark-blue surface were scattered countless tiny silver points of light.
Those light-spots did not remain still. Instead, they slowly flowed and shimmered along some mysterious trajectory, and with every flicker they emitted a rhythm that made one's heart tremble.
The moment it appeared, the temperature of the entire sealed room plummeted.
An icy, pure, yet vast and overwhelming energy ripple diffused through the air.
The Poké Ball in Shiba's pocket began to tremble violently.
"Bii-bii!"
"Bii-bii-bii!"
Even through the Poké Ball, the urgent cries of the Shiny Beldum—filled with primal longing—came through clearly.
That was life itself calling out for evolution!
It was the ultimate yearning for power on a higher plane!
Shiba's gaze was completely captured by that metallic sphere.
This was the Steel-type supreme treasure.
The condensed essence from the meteorite core, born in the depths of the cosmos.
—Heart of Stars!
What came next was something Shiba had no right to take part in.
He watched as his grandfather Kazuma and Thousand Faces each took out an encrypted handheld device and began operating them.
On their screens, strings of numbers flashed by nonstop. Every jump in those figures represented a sum that could stir even the largest listed corporations.
The entire process was terrifyingly quiet.
In the room, the only sounds were the faint electric hum from the devices and the subtle, star-like rhythmic breathing of the energy emanating from Heart of Stars.
At last, both their devices lit up at the same time with a green prompt indicating that the transaction was complete.
"Pleasure doing business."
The smile on Thousand Faces' face remained gentle. He closed the briefcase without the slightest hesitation and turned to leave the room.
From the moment he appeared to the moment he left, only about ten minutes had passed.
But in that brief span of time, a transaction that could shake the economy of an entire city had already concluded.
Now, only Shiba and his grandfather Kazuma were left in the room.
Kazuma slowly stood up and walked over to the table. With an extremely solemn posture, he extended both hands and carefully lifted the cold Heart of Stars.
He turned around and looked at his grandson. In his aged eyes there was nothing but relief and expectation.
"Shiba-kun, take it."
"From today on, it belongs to you."
When that secret treasure—like a fragment of a brilliant starry sky cupped in both hands—was formally placed into Shiba's palms, a chill and heavy sensation rushed from the contact point through his entire body in an instant.
His heartbeat, at that moment, reached a height it had never known before.
He could feel it: within this small sphere was contained a true sea of stars.
He knew that his Shiny Beldum was about to undergo an earth-shaking metamorphosis, one worthy of being recorded in the history of Pokémon!
This cosmic gem would allow him to forge, with his own hands, a Steel-type king in the truest sense of the term—an invincible iron sovereign!
(End of Chapter)
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