Chapter 631: High Alert

"Wake Howard up."

Faced with Raymond's inquiry, Elliot pointed at Howard lying on the bed. He had to confirm whether Julian had left midway or not.

Raymond was puzzled, but seeing his father's grim expression, he didn't dare ask further. Without hesitation, he strode over and delivered a hard slap to Howard's face.

Those who took Rophenine would suffer from lethargy for an entire week if forcibly awakened from sleep—provided, of course, the dosage wasn't too high. Otherwise, whether they'd even wake up at all was uncertain.

After seven or eight hard slaps, Howard finally showed signs of stirring. Frowning in pain, he slowly opened his eyes, though his consciousness remained hazy.

"Howard, tell me where Julian went!"

Elliot grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up from the bed.

Howard's head was pounding, but at Elliot's words, memories of what happened at the tripe restaurant flooded back. He had a high alcohol tolerance, and they'd only been drinking beer—there was no way he should have passed out.

As for Julian…

"I don't know. When Raina and I passed out, Julian was still conscious," he said slowly.

Elliot's expression darkened further.

"Are you saying Julian didn't leave midway?"

Howard nodded.

At this moment, Raymond finally understood why his father looked so grave.

Julian had gone for late-night snacks with Raina and Howard. Now, the other two had been drugged into unconsciousness, and the mall where the tripe restaurant was located had coincidentally caught fire.

The two of them were rescued by firefighters—but Julian was nowhere to be found. And no one saw him leave the building either.

'Julian's been kidnapped!'

A terrifying realization flashed through Raymond's mind.

"Dad, what do we do now?" Raymond instantly panicked.

Julian's identity was extremely special. If he had been drugged and kidnapped while out with Raina, then even though the Larch family were also victims, without proof, there was no way to rule out their potential involvement as accomplices.

The same went for Howard.

"I'll call John."

Elliot took out his phone, found John's number, and dialed, silently praying the man wasn't in a secret realm or on a mission.

Fortunately, after a few rings, the call connected.

"Old Larch, what the hell? Calling me in the middle of the night—just because you're old and don't need sleep doesn't mean I don't!" John's laid-back voice came through the speaker.

"Julian's gone missing," Elliot said heavily.

"What did you just say?!" John's voice suddenly grew sharp.

Elliot quickly explained everything that had happened.

"Old man, you'd better pray my precious grandson is safe, or I'll tear your Larch family apart!"

A furious roar erupted from the phone before John abruptly hung up.

"Notify the Inspection Bureau about Julian's disappearance. Have them seal all exits from Verdance City—roads, waterways, and flights. No one leaves, only enters."

"And take some men to the tripe restaurant. No matter what it takes, find the owner of that damn place."

"Then contact all the major families in Verdance City for assistance. Make sure they keep it quiet—we can't let this leak to the outside yet."

Elliot, after all, had weathered many storms in his life. Once he calmed down, he began issuing orders methodically.

Raymond nodded and started making calls one after another.

As the top family in Verdance City—even in its decline—the Larch family still held great influence.

Within moments of the calls going out, both the city's authorities and the major families sprang into action. Even the military stationed near several of Verdance City's secret realms dispatched additional personnel.

Soon, every major exit route—highways, airports, docks—was under strict inspection.

The entire city was now on high alert.

Meanwhile, John had already informed Duke of the situation while rushing to Verdance City himself.

His precious grandson had been targeted again. Being too outstanding inevitably drew unwanted attention.

To think he got drugged just from going out for supper… and now his phone was already switched off—this was almost certainly foul play.

As for who could've done this? There were too many possibilities, and with the current lack of information, John couldn't narrow it down.

---

In the sewers, Julian had no idea how long they'd been walking. Other than the brief halt at the start because of the Rattata horde, they hadn't stopped since.

Beep beep beep—

Selina's communicator suddenly buzzed.

"Sir," she answered respectfully.

A voice crackled from the other end: "Verdance City has gone into full lockdown. How much longer until you reach the extraction point?"

"About two more hours."

"Try to hurry. I'll buy you as much time as I can. If you complete this mission, you'll be a national hero."

The call ended with those motivational words.

Julian heard every word of the exchange.

And they weren't speaking the local language—but in the language of Wyvernia—so this woman really was a spy from Wyvernia.

As for how Julian understood it? Simple—he'd just bought a language pack from the System Shop. Hell, he could even understand indigenous tribal dialects if he wanted to.

At this point, Julian was just feeling speechless.

All he'd done was grab a late-night snack—who knew the restaurant was a front for foreign espionage?

Julian couldn't help but wonder if this whole thing had something to do with Howard.

After all, it was Howard who invited him out for supper, and he was the one who picked the restaurant.

As for whether Raina was involved, Julian felt it was unlikely.

The Larch family ran a National-level Grass-type gym and came from a prestigious lineage. It was hard to imagine them committing treason.

As for why the enemy hadn't just killed him—it was obvious.

They believed that a living Julian was more valuable than a dead one.

As long as he stayed alive, even if his grandfather found out this was the work of Wyvernia, he wouldn't dare make any reckless moves. His life could be used as leverage to hold his grandfather or father hostage.

But if he died, and that Champion-level grandfather of his lost his precious grandson… then the full-blown rage of a grieving Champion was not something a small nation like Wyvernia could handle.

---

After Selina ended the call, the "sir" she mentioned made a few quick phone calls of his own.

Soon after, chaos erupted at multiple checkpoints across Verdance City.

Out of nowhere, several pseudo-Elite-level Pokémon appeared and launched direct assaults on the personnel guarding the roads.

For most Trainers, pseudo-Elite Pokémon were already a terrifying force to face. And these ones had lost all sense of reason, completely fearless of pain or death.

Under their frenzied assaults, dozens of workers and their Pokémon were killed.

Worse yet, these incidents occurred simultaneously at all major transportation hubs across the city—even in central districts, multiple cases of Pokémon self-destruction attacks were reported.

The city of Verdance had just been thrown into a full-blown state of terror.

*****

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