The person who pushed open the door made Mewtwo freeze in surprise.
It was two figures wearing black uniforms with the distinctive "R" logo, their faces cold and stern!
This outfit was exactly the same as the group in his memory, those people who stood before him, watching with either fanatical or icy gazes.
They strode in, their eyes like precision scanning machines, instantly locking onto Mewtwo standing before the counter.
It looked like these people were targeting the game character he controlled, but to Mewtwo's perception, those gazes seemed to pierce through the virtual world and stab directly at him in reality!
"It's time for maintenance on Test Subject 102." One of them spoke in a flat, emotionless voice, as if stating a predetermined fact with no room for negotiation. "Come back with us."
Mewtwo's consciousness was violently ripped from that state of understanding!
The virtual world's image instantly became blurry and distant. His primary perception was forcibly dragged back to reality—that cold, hard cultivation tank filled with nutrient fluid and monitoring probe signals.
He still maintained that motion of trying to pet Marshtomp, but in reality, his arm was bound by complex tubing, unable to move an inch.
All his dispersed consciousness instantly returned to his body. He resumed his identity as a test subject bound by countless wires, eyes tightly shut in the cold nutrient fluid.
The tank's hatch was opened. Through his psychic senses, Mewtwo could clearly see a stern, imposing face appear before him.
This face was one Mewtwo was seeing for the first time.
Team Rocket's leader—Giovanni—had appeared here.
Giovanni didn't look at the data on the screen but fixed his gaze firmly on Mewtwo, observing the cultivated body in the tank as if examining his most outstanding weapon. Deep in his eyes, hints of fanaticism and excitement showed, though he suppressed them well, almost imperceptibly.
A researcher in a white lab coat beside him quickly knelt halfway down, lowering his head to report: "Giovanni, sir, the test subject's mental wave frequency has shown several abnormal peaks recently, but overall stability is maintained. Power output parameters continue to steadily increase, far exceeding expectations. Overall condition is excellent."
"Good."
Giovanni's voice was low and satisfied. He reached out his hand—not to gently caress, but to pick up a helmet gleaming with cold metallic luster, covered in complex circuits and suppression runes, and examined it in his hand.
"It's time to proceed with the next phase of stress testing. Let me see... just where this thing's limits... truly lie."
"Yes, sir."
The researcher took the helmet from his hand and placed it on a nearby machine. Immediately, a mechanical arm reached deep into the cultivation tank and firmly fastened it onto Mewtwo's head, a perfect fit with no chance of escape.
The cold sensation and the pain of internal probes piercing his skin instantly shattered the warm images of the Pokémon Center that had just lingered in Mewtwo's mind!
Three notifications appeared before his eyes, then vanished.
[Warning: External connection under severe interference!]
[Forced instruction reception interrupt!]
["Invitation Card" connection terminated!]
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Kairos felt his vision suddenly go black. The happiness-filled Pokémon Center he'd just seen through Mewtwo's perspective, the newly evolved and energetic Marshtomp, the well-meaning Beedrill, and Mewtwo about to reach out and pet his Pokémon—everything came to an abrupt halt.
Finally, through the invitation card's connection, he seemed to vaguely sense that in some distant laboratory, all that remained was the humming of running equipment and suddenly illuminated, ominous lights that seemed to signal the start of a new round of testing.
Kairos sighed and sat up straight in his chair, his expression somewhat complicated.
---
Although the invitation card's game link had been severed, he could still see Mewtwo's emotional state on the system panel before him. The screen was now dominated by negative emotions like pain and anguish.
Clearly, Team Rocket was instilling new thoughts in Mewtwo, imposing further restrictions on him, or conducting dangerous tests.
Kairos couldn't help but feel some regret. If only Team Rocket hadn't chosen this exact moment to experiment on Mewtwo, interrupting that hard-won seed of self-awakening.
If he could've had just a little more time, Mewtwo should've been able to grasp some crucial truths...
Just as he was pondering this, a dialogue box suddenly appeared before him, different from the system's usual style—archaic and severe, with edges flickering dark red light, like blood stains!
[Ding!]
[Key story node detected and triggered!]
[Host has triggered SS-rank special mission—"Mewtwo Strikes Back"!]
[Mission Description: Team Rocket has clamped cold shackles onto Mewtwo. The fate of this strongest artificial Pokémon in history will be written and decided by you.]
[Mission Objectives: 1. Free Mewtwo completely from Team Rocket's control!]
[2. Prevent the "Mewtwo Strikes Back" incident from occurring!]
[3. This mission has hidden additional conditions related to the character himself. Please explore on your own, Host.]
[Mission Reward: This mission's reward will be calculated based on the Host's final completion rate. The higher the Host's completion rate, the more generous the mission reward will be, with no upper limit!]
[Current Mission Time Remaining: 38 days 23 hours 59 minutes 30 seconds]
Seeing the mission notification that suddenly appeared before him and the continuously counting down timer, Kairos couldn't help but freeze slightly.
A special mission? This seemed to be the first time he'd triggered one of this nature.
Not only did the mission objectives contain hidden content, even the mission reward was determined by his final completion rate.
His gaze fell on this mission's objectives.
Setting aside that hidden additional condition for now, the first two items didn't look very easy to complete either.
First was freeing Mewtwo from Team Rocket's control.
Although he'd now connected to Mewtwo through the invitation card, the other party was still under Team Rocket's firm control, and he had far too little information...
At the very least, he'd need to figure out where Mewtwo was before there'd be any possibility of rescuing him.
And besides that, completely guiding and steering Mewtwo onto the right path, preventing the "Strikes Back" incident from happening, was another difficult point.
However, judging from Mewtwo's performance in the game just now, Kairos felt... this might actually be easier.
He could only say it was fortunate he'd arrived early.
If Mewtwo had already been completely brainwashed by Team Rocket, and he'd only then started helping him understand everything, that would've been a bit difficult.
Well, if he had to make a comparison...
It'd probably be slightly harder than beating the Emerald version he was currently making with a level-one Magikarp as a starter Pokémon.