"What the... isn't that Cynthia?!"
At that moment, a few sharp-eyed players among the trapped group below also noticed the sudden appearance on the city wall and cried out in surprise, prompting everyone else to look up.
"What's going on? Is she just an NPC randomly spawned by the Instance? That doesn't make sense!" someone muttered in confusion.
"Arceus and Giratina already showed up... what's so shocking about Cynthia showing up too?" another player said flatly, his face completely numb from all the mind-blowing stuff he'd seen.
"Oh, right!"
Hearing the whispers nearby, Ye Fan stayed silent, his eyes fixed on the city wall. For players who had experienced enough Instances and paid close attention, the existence of exclusive worlds wasn't exactly a secret.
Combined with how familiar those two seemed, he quickly deduced that Cynthia had likely been summoned by Caleb using some item or ability.
'I really am outmatched.' Ye Fan closed his eyes and said nothing more.
Just then, Baek Gyeol walked over and asked, "What do we do now?"
Ye Fan glanced at her, his expression complicated, "We've already lost."
Gyeol frowned, "Are you seriously just giving up like this?"
In her memory, the man before her had always been a proud, confident prodigy. She'd never seen him like this, "You're not the Ye Fan I know. Where's your pride? Your confidence? Your refusal to lose?"
Hearing that gave Ye Fan goosebumps. He scowled, "Don't spout that crap, it's gross. If you want to get revenge, go do it yourself. What else can we do? Can you beat him? It's not like I can't handle losing."
Gyeol was momentarily speechless. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew she couldn't beat that guy. One Mewtwo was already a nightmare, and now there was also Arceus and Giratina...
Seeing her reaction, Ye Fan didn't say anything else. He just looked up at the two figures on the wall, a deep sense of emptiness filling his chest. It reminded him of everything that happened back in that Celebi Instance.
He didn't think he'd done anything wrong. Young people were passionate... They loved fiercely, hated openly, and plenty got into fights over impulsive moments.
And he believed that if their roles were reversed, Caleb would've felt just as angry and resentful as he did when something he was about to claim got snatched away at the last moment.
Thinking this, Ye Fan leaned wearily against his Pokémon.
Just minutes ago, he received a notification that his territory was under attack. So he'd already figured out why Caleb was keeping them trapped here.
They couldn't fight back.
He'd brought nearly all his forces with him on this trip. Even if they made it back, he probably couldn't protect his territory.
Caleb had no idea what Ye Fan was thinking, and honestly, he didn't care.
Terrence and Hatsumi had just messaged him saying they still needed a few more hours to reach their destination. That meant he'd have to keep this group penned here for a while longer.
This Instance was nearing its end. Aside from Ye Fan's crew, the remaining players were basically weaklings. They were no threat at all...
After chatting with Cynthia for a bit, Caleb called over Arceus and Giratina so Cynthia could observe them up close.
Sure enough, the moment those two legendary Pokémon approached, even the usually cool and composed Cynthia couldn't hide her excitement. Her eyes lit up instantly.
Just then, a commotion broke out below. Caleb heard his name being called, and after listening more closely, realized someone was shouting for him to come down.
So he turned to Cynthia and Arceus and said, "You two chat here for a bit. I'll go take a look."
Arceus nodded graciously.
Cynthia gave a soft hum, then smiled warmly at her sweet, well-behaved little brother, "Go ahead!"
Seeing living legends from myth had left her unusually thrilled. But she knew this moment was entirely thanks to Caleb.
Overwhelmed with gratitude and joy, she looked at him standing there obediently, and couldn't resist reaching out to ruffle his hair.
Caleb: "?"
He had no idea how he appeared in Cynthia's eyes. His mouth opened, but whatever he'd planned to say vanished completely from his mind.
Of course, Caleb noticed Cynthia's excitement at seeing Arceus, so he didn't think much of her gesture.
Pretending not to notice her little affectionate move, he paused briefly and said, "Alright, let's leave it at that for now. We'll talk later."
"Okay." Cynthia nodded.
So Caleb headed down, bringing Mewtwo and Lucario with him, his arm slung casually around Dragonite's neck.
A dozen or so players immediately rushed over. One particularly pretty girl was pushed forward by her friends. The moment she saw Caleb's handsome face and the Mewtwo beside him, her cheeks flushed bright red.
People naturally admire strength, and combined with Caleb's good looks and tall frame, the girl's eyes instantly sparkled with cartoonish heart-shaped bubbles.
She stammered, "Um… Caleb… I'm sorry! We shouldn't have joined Ye Fan to attack you."
"Oh." Caleb said indifferently, then generously added, "It's fine. Just wait to get eliminated."
Hearing that, the group behind the girl panicked instantly. A burly guy turned red-faced and begged, "No! We're sorry! Please don't boot us out!"
Caleb stayed silent, his expression unreadable as he stared at the dozen or so players in front of him.
He was about to refuse and walk away, but when he saw another group of players watching coldly from the side, he changed his mind. Smiling slightly, he asked, "You want to ally with me?"
The group's hearts leapt into their throats. Excited and hopeful, they all shouted in unison, "Can we?"
"Sure, no problem, if you can afford it." he said.
Their stomachs dropped. They exchanged uneasy glances before asking, "How much?"
"Not much," Caleb smiled, "Just half of this Instance's final reward."
That's 50,000 points per person. Sixteen people meant 800,000. Add the 100,000 from the instance itself, and he'd have enough for a ticket... Caleb mentally crunched the number.
The group in front of him looked torn, whispering nervously in private:
"50k… isn't that way too much?"
"But isn't it better than getting nothing?"
"I don't care, I'm in! You guys do what you want!" The girl who spoke earlier nodded decisively towards Caleb, "I agree!"
This Instance was special. Aside from a few restricted features, almost all Infinite World functions worked here, including direct point transfers.
She pulled up her panel, scanned it toward Caleb, and instantly sent him 50 000 points. Then, she eagerly submitted an alliance request.
Caleb was slightly surprised by how quickly she acted, but recovered fast and smoothly accepted.
Seeing that, the others stopped hesitating and followed suit...
In no time, Caleb's point balance broke the million mark.
There was no limit to alliance members. Apparently, Infinite World hadn't anticipated this kind of exploit. So when Caleb turned his gaze toward another group of easy targets (including Ye Fan), the system suddenly issued an emergency bug fix notice:
*Ding!*
[A system flaw has been detected in this instance!
- Flaw: Unlimited alliance member capacity
- Fix: Unlimited → Maximum 19 members...]
The announcement left every player stunned.
Then, as if realizing something, they all turned their heads in perfect unison to stare directly at Caleb.
Caleb: "…"
'This was definitely not my fault!'