Meanwhile, Roxanne had already made it outside the room. She quickly tended to her wounds before taking a Poké Ball from her belt and releasing an Espathra.
"I'll run out of time if I keep this up. I need to get back to the museum as quickly as possible."
She glanced over her shoulder at the opening, which was gradually closing.
"I hope he makes it."
Without wasting another second, Roxanne hurried toward Darian's unconscious body. She grabbed him and tossed him into the Portal Line before opening another portal, this time leading directly back to the museum.
Then, without hesitation, she stepped through.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Mind Prison, Darian was having a surprisingly casual conversation with Fye Ling.
"So, you're here on your own initiative? You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Darian remarked, leaning back as though they were simply having a friendly chat.
Fye Ling responded with an expressionless face.
"At least I have the initiative to help my organization."
Darian was about to make another remark when something suddenly occurred to him. It was something he should have taught Fye Ling from the very beginning.
"Wait a minute. How did you get past the border inspections? Aren't they stricter than ever right now?"
"That's only if you take the usual route. I used another method," Fye Ling replied casually.
"What method?"
"An official passport."
Darian fell silent for a moment.
An official passport? How the hell did he manage to get one?
He narrowed his eyes slightly as he considered the possibilities.
I'm certain someone important within his organization is backing him.
"Hey, Fye Ling. If I remember correctly, your organization is called Black Lotus, right?"
"Shan Hai Jing," Fye Ling corrected him. "That's our primary name. Black Lotus is merely the name people use to refer to us."
"Wait a second. Isn't that the name of a collection of stories from the Zhongzhou region?"
"I'm confused about that myself, but I don't really care enough to look into it."
Darian stared at him for a moment.
"Hold on. Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because there's nothing you can do about it anyway," Fye Ling replied without the slightest hesitation.
Darian's expression twitched.
What an annoying guy.
Before he could come up with a retort, however, something strange began to happen.
A peculiar sensation spread throughout his body.
"Eh? What's happening to me?"
He looked down, only to realize that his surroundings were beginning to fade.
The walls, the floor, and even Fye Ling's figure gradually dissolved into nothingness. Soon, everything around him disappeared, leaving behind only countless streaks of lines rushing past him at incredible speeds.
Darian tried to move, but he could no longer feel his own body.
It was as though his entire existence had been reduced to a point traveling through an endless stream of information.
Then, in the blink of an eye—
He was back.
Darian suddenly regained consciousness inside the room where his physical body had been left behind.
"Wait a minute. How is this possible?"
He immediately sat up and looked around.
The room was in complete disarray. Debris littered the floor, furniture had been overturned, and several sections of the walls appeared to have sustained considerable damage.
Whatever had happened while he was inside the Mind Prison, it certainly hadn't been peaceful.
Darian scanned his surroundings, searching for any signs of other people.
There was no one.
Wait. There's nobody here. Maybe this is my chance to escape.
His expression brightened slightly, but the relief didn't last long.
Hold on. My Pokémon and the camera are still in the storage room. I should retrieve them first.
He got to his feet and immediately rushed out of the room.
Fortunately, he had already mapped out the layout of the entire facility in his mind. He knew where he was, where the storage room was located, and which route would lead him outside.
Map. An ability like this really comes in handy.
Darian sprinted through the corridors, his footsteps echoing against the damaged walls. The facility seemed eerily deserted, with no guards in sight and no signs of anyone attempting to stop him.
After running for several minutes, he finally arrived at the storage room.
However, the moment he reached the entrance, he stopped.
The door was secured by three separate systems: a physical lock, a numerical passcode, and a fingerprint scanner.
Darian stared at the door for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Looks like I don't have much of a choice. Good thing I'm a mage."
A faint, bluish glow began to gather around his hand. Sparks of electricity danced across his fingers, illuminating the dim corridor with their cold light.
He raised his hand toward the door.
BOOM!
A violent burst of blue lightning erupted from his palm, tearing through the door and destroying its locking mechanisms. The heavy door was blown inward, sending fragments of metal scattering across the floor.
Darian casually stepped over the wreckage and entered the storage room.
"Now, where did they put my stuff?"
He quickly located his storage locker and opened it.
To his relief, most of his belongings were still there. His equipment was intact, and his Poké Balls were all accounted for.
But something was missing.
His camera.
"...Shit. Why is the camera gone? What the hell happened here?"
His expression darkened.
He hurriedly checked the neighboring lockers, opening one after another in the desperate hope that someone had simply misplaced it.
But no matter how many lockers he searched, the camera was nowhere to be found.
And deep down, he already knew it wasn't there.
Damn it. What happened to this place while I was gone?
He clenched his fists in frustration before forcing himself to calm down.
Forget it. I don't have time for this anymore. I need to get out of here.
Darian retrieved his remaining belongings and took out a Poké Ball.
"Come on, Kecleon. We're leaving."
A Kecleon appeared in a flash of red light.
Without wasting another moment, Darian and his Pokémon rushed out of the storage room and made their way toward the facility's exit.
---
Several minutes later, Darian finally emerged into the open air.
He stopped briefly to catch his breath, his shoulders rising and falling as he recovered from the frantic escape.
Then, he turned his attention toward the museum in the distance.
A massive magical dome had formed around the entire building, its shimmering surface separating the museum from the outside world. Even from where he stood, Darian could sense the unusual energy radiating from the barrier.
He glanced down at his wristwatch.
10:00 PM.
"...So it's already this late."
His brows furrowed as he stared at the distant dome.
I wonder how things are going over there. Are they all right?
He had no idea what had happened at the museum while he was trapped inside the Mind Prison. For all he knew, the situation might have deteriorated far beyond what he could imagine.
But standing around wouldn't give him any answers.
Darian took one last look at the magical dome before turning toward the museum.
"Let's hope I'm not too late."
With Kecleon following closely behind him, he broke into a run once more, racing toward the museum as fast as his legs could carry him.