Pokémon Hospital.
Jin Yu stood outside the operating room with a dark expression. Behind him stood Ling Si and Tang Hu, both looking extremely anxious.
After leaving the Azure Dragon Society, Jin Yu had rushed straight to the hospital to treat the old man's injuries.
As for Tang Hu, he immediately hurried over after receiving Ling Si's message.
"Elder Tang Hu, you already know I was using you. So why did you still come?"
Jin Yu spoke emotionlessly.
Hearing Jin Yu address him formally, Tang Hu shivered involuntarily and quickly explained, "Young Master Jin, what are you saying? To be noticed by you is my blessing. How could I ever hold resentment?"
At this point, Tang Hu had already suffered significant losses.
If he lost Jin Yu's support on top of everything, he'd be left utterly empty-handed.
No matter how Jin Yu treated him, Tang Hu had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure.
"At least you're self-aware," Jin Yu calmly nodded in response. His gaze then shifted to Ling Si beside him.
"And what about you, Boss Ling?"
Ling Si immediately stepped forward, stating, "The Flying Eagle Gang is completely at your disposal, Young Master Jin."
Seeing that neither of their attitudes had changed, Jin Yu secretly felt relieved.
Though he held both men in disdain, right now he had no better options available.
His purpose in coming to Shanghai was, in fact, to complete the Jin family's test.
If Jin Yu could establish a foothold here, he would become eligible to compete for the position of the Jin family's next Dragon Envoy.
If he succeeded in becoming the Dragon Envoy not only would Jin Yu hold an esteemed position within the family, but all the Jin family's resources would shift entirely to him.
At that point, his strength would surely skyrocket.
Even reaching the rank of an active Elite Four wouldn't be impossible.
However with his current plan having failed, it wouldn't be easy to win over the Tang family.
After all, other members of the Tang family weren't as brainless as Tang Hu.
Flattering Jin Yu was something best left to the younger generation, while older family members like Tang Hu should have stayed aloof.
If things succeeded, great. If not, the Tang family wouldn't lose much.
This was exactly the same logic behind the arranged political marriage proposed by their Grand Elder.
But someone like Tang Hu, constantly stepping forward to curry favor—
Would eventually end up as someone else's pawn, destined for ruin.
...
Ding!
After over half an hour of waiting, the red light above the emergency room finally turned green.
Nangong Qiu lay on a bed as the doctors wheeled him out.
Seeing this, Jin Yu no longer paid attention to Tang Hu and Ling Si, immediately stepping forward.
"Doctor, is he alright?"
Seeing that Nangong Qiu was still unconscious, Jin Yu directly questioned the attending physician.
Removing his mask, the doctor replied, "Fortunately, this old gentleman is a Psychic. He temporarily sealed the wound with his psychic power."
"Otherwise, the consequences would've been unimaginable."
"Thankfully, the wound has now been properly treated."
"It's a shame you didn't bring this gentleman's severed arm. If you had, reattaching it might've been possible."
The doctor shook his head regretfully.
Although Nangong Qiu's arm had been sliced off by a Beedrill, the cut itself was exceptionally clean, as though it had been severed by an extremely sharp blade.
Thus, if they had the original limb, reattachment odds would have been high.
After hearing this, Jin Yu fell silent.
Of course, he understood this as well!
But at the time, the circumstances had left no chance for Jin Yu to retrieve the arm.
"Young master, it's fine."
"It's just an arm."
"This old servant has psychic powers, anyway. Losing an arm won't affect me too much."
At this moment, Nangong Qiu had somehow woken up and tried to comfort Jin Yu.
Seeing this exchange, the doctor realized there was more to this situation than met the eye and didn't comment further.
Soon after, guided by a nurse, the group moved Nangong Qiu into a luxurious private ward.
"Ling Si, return and take charge of the Flying Eagle Gang."
"When you get back, you can publicly announce your affiliation with my Jin family."
"This should help prevent many troubles."
"Understood, Young Master Jin."
Ling Si nodded obediently, then turned and left.
Having learned Jin Yu's true nature today, many of Ling Si's previous schemes now needed adjustments.
"Young Master Jin, should we report this incident to the Pokémon Police?"
"I happen to have some connections there. As for Guo Yi's threats, I imagine he was merely bluffing."
Tang Hu cautiously suggested.
From his perspective, Guo Yi's threats were probably just empty talk.
If Guo Yi truly dared to kill Jin Yu, he'd be openly challenging the Pokémon League itself!
No matter how powerful his teacher might be, Guo Yi surely wouldn't dare cross that line!
Jin Yu glanced at Nangong Qiu's missing arm, then shook his head and replied, "From what we've seen today, Guo Yi doesn't play by normal rules."
"Nobody can predict what he'll do next."
As the saying goes...
A man of worth does not sit beneath a collapsing roof.
Jin Yu wouldn't risk mutually assured destruction with Guo Yi.
"Tang Hu, go back to the Tang family and truthfully report today's events to your Grand Elder."
"Of course, there are certain things you can mention and others you shouldn't. I trust you understand?"
Jin Yu's cold stare swept across Tang Hu.
Tang Hu instantly lowered his head, replying, "Rest assured, Young Master Jin. I know exactly what to say."
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Go ahead."
After Tang Hu had fully departed Jin Yu turned toward Nangong Qiu with an apologetic look.
"I'm deeply sorry, Uncle Qiu. It was my oversight that cost you an arm."
This trip to Shanghai directly impacted Jin Yu's competition for Dragon Envoy.
Therefore, every subordinate he'd brought was deeply trusted.
Nangong Qiu had been assigned as his caretaker by Jin Yu's mother since childhood.
Hence, Jin Yu genuinely felt guilty about Nangong Qiu's injury.
In truth Jin Yu hadn't expected Guo Yi would be so recklessly daring.
Without any absolute proof, he'd decisively attacked, giving no face at all to Jin Yu or even the Jin family behind him.
Of course what truly caught Jin Yu off guard was that Guo Yi's teacher had actually left his ace Beedrill behind.
Otherwise!
How could Guo Yi's Elite Four-tier Ninetales possibly have stopped them from leaving?
This time Jin Yu had not only underestimated Guo Yi himself, but had completely misjudged his strength.
Ultimately, this led to the current disastrous outcome.
"Young master, please don't blame yourself."
"Though we lost this round, we can always strike back next time," Nangong Qiu comforted him, before sighing deeply.
"Sigh..."
"It's just a pity your plan failed. If we'd managed to control the Tang family, you'd have been halfway to completing your test already."
Truly worthy of being Jin Yu's trusted confidant even now, Nangong Qiu was still considering Jin Yu's interests.
"It's fine, Uncle Qiu. There's still plenty of time ahead."
"The test won't end for another whole year. We've got ample opportunity to settle the score with Guo Yi."
"For now, your priority is just to rest and recover."
"In the short term, I won't provoke Guo Yi again."
After this clash, Jin Yu had deeply felt Guo Yi's ferocity.
Until he had a foolproof plan, he definitely wouldn't cause trouble for Guo Yi again.
However wWhat Jin Yu didn't realize was that his supposed year-long test wouldn't last even half a month...
Before he would be forced to leave Shanghai in utter disgrace.
...
Thursday afternoon.
Today was the third day after Guo Yi and Jin Yu's initial confrontation.
During these past few days because all the factions in Shanghai now knew the Flying Eagle Gang was backed by the Jin family, their actions weren't nearly as aggressive as before.
To avoid a complete falling-out with the Azure Dragon Society, most factions ended up doing only superficial work.
As a result, the Azure Dragon Society's takeover slowed significantly.
Meanwhile, Jin Yu had obediently stayed at the hospital without stirring up further trouble.
As for Guo Yi the school had suspended regular classes due to the freshman tournament, so his Dragon-Slaying lectures hadn't started yet.
However today marked the finals of the freshman tournament.
Once it concluded classes would return to normal tomorrow.
And the two finalists as everyone had anticipated, were Su Qingxue and Hu Yan'er.
Moreover, their previous matches perfectly illustrated the differences between pure strength and pure luck.
Quarter-finals!
Semi-finals!
Final four!
Each of Su Qingxue's opponents had arguably been the strongest among the remaining competitors.
Yet, relying on the overwhelming strength of her Beedrill and Nidoqueen, she crushed them all with ease.
Hu Yan'er's opponents, while not weak, were clearly at the bottom of the remaining players.
Not only were they weaker overall, even their Pokémon either Water- or Flying-types weak to Pikachu, or Normal- and Grass-types easily countered by Monferno.
Thus, though Hu Yan'er was not as powerful as Su Qingxue, she breezed effortlessly into the finals.
This even made some spectators wonder whether Hu Yan'er had cheated somehow.
As for the finals there was little suspense left.
Since Su Qingxue didn't hold back, the championship naturally belonged to her.
...
"I hereby announce that the champion of the 125th Shanghai Pokémon University Freshman Tournament is—Su Qingxue!"
Instantly thunderous applause reverberated throughout the stadium.
With her overwhelming strength, Su Qingxue had won the very first trophy of her life.
Although the freshman tournament wasn't particularly prestigious, and its trophy wasn't especially valuable this victory marked a new starting point in Su Qingxue's life.
She believed in future national university competitions, professional tournaments, and even global championships—she would achieve great results, possibly even claiming the championship title!
While Su Qingxue was immersed in the joy of her first-ever championship—Guo Yi was currently holding his phone, already preparing for tomorrow's lecture.
"Hello, is this Chu Nan?"
"I'm Guo Yi, a teacher from Shanghai Pokémon University. There's something I'd like to discuss with you…"