"If it was a person, the chances of successful interception would be quite high as long as we acted in time. But this time, what we need to intercept isn’t just a person—it’s the data on that new incubation fluid," the dean of the research institute said with a headache. "Indeed," Julian nodded. If they were merely intercepting a person, a human target would be relatively conspicuous, and if the individual tried to escape, their means of transportation would be limited to cars, planes, ships, or Pokémon. But what Julian and the others truly needed to intercept was the data on the new incubation fluid, not Max himself. After leaving the lab, the other party could easily hand the data off to someone else, or even to a Pokémon. If it was handed to another person, there would still be a chance of intercepting it. However, if it was entrusted to a Pokémon, the likelihood of interception would be extremely low. The military and the aviation bureau couldn’t possibly stop and search every Pokémon passing through their jurisdiction. And if it was given to a Psychic-type Pokémon, then interception was even less possible—with a single Teleport, they might already be long gone before you even noticed. After confirming that Max was a spy, Drakoria immediately launched an investigation into him, starting with his interpersonal relationships, hoping to uncover some clues. Anyone who knew or had connections with Max was swiftly detained. Several high-ranking military officials were furious, slamming their desks in anger—after all, Max had been assigned by the military to protect Professor Charles in the lab. Now that he turned out to be compromised, the military inevitably bore responsibility. But at this point, assigning blame was secondary. The most important matter was still to recover the data in Max’s possession. Otherwise, if that new incubation fluid data left the country and fell into the hands of another nation, it would be their national strength that increased instead. As for which country Max might be a spy for—realistically, only a handful of nations had the capability to pull this off. And of course, the prime suspect was undoubtedly Celestria. Celestria: 'Don’t go making baseless accusations without evidence.' Because Drakoria had sealed its land, sea, and air routes, a large number of tourists, businessmen, and foreigners became stranded in the country. Drakoria cited "special circumstances" as the reason without elaborating on what those circumstances were. This led to widespread dissatisfaction among those trying to leave the country. While Drakoria’s citizens were relatively tolerant, many foreigners caused disturbances at airports. The airport authorities explained what they could, but for foreigners who refused to listen and resorted to violence, they were subdued on the spot. Drakoria’s unilateral lockdown led to heated discussions among its people. Naturally, there was no shortage of clever minds guessing that perhaps a spy had obtained some critical national data—or even a person—which forced Drakoria to urgently seal its borders. The last time Julian was kidnapped by Wyvernia, Drakoria had reacted the same way—but hadn’t managed to catch anyone. Now, trying to intercept a string of data would be dozens of times more difficult than intercepting Julian back then. The events unfolding in Drakoria naturally caught the attention of other nations. Various countries learned that Drakoria had lost important experimental data. Babath: "Could it be godfather’s doing?" Gallia: "Damn, it must have been the work of Celestria." Malasiar: "I knew Celestria would make a big move." Pannar: "Big brother, this was definitely done by Celestria." Volkaria: "Friend, want to team up and teach Celestria a lesson?" Meanwhile, at the President's office in Celestria, the president received several messages from allies. These messages either subtly or outright asked if Celestria was behind it or inquired about sharing the data. Celestria insisted: "It really wasn’t us." Recently, they had been busy helping a peak Pseudo-Champion trainer break through, and all their energy was focused there. They had no time to pull something . But nobody believed them—everyone was convinced it was their doing. It was like yellow mud falling onto their pants—even if it wasn’t shit, it sure looked like it. To avoid misunderstandings from Drakoria and prevent them from sending people over, Celestria outright stated that they weren’t responsible, speaking with conviction. Whether Drakoria believed them or not was another matter. Drakoria: "Even if you weren’t the one, you must still be involved somehow." Back at the research institute, Julian had already made his calls. He turned to Nicole and said, "Let’s go back and finish dinner." The research institute dean: 'Huh? How can you think about eating at a time ?' Julian shrugged. There was nothing he could do about the situation anyway. There was currently no information about Max. After leaving the laboratory, the guy must have used a Ditto to change his appearance. And who knew if he had already transferred the data? If the data had been transferred, it depended on how many times it had been passed around—whether it was transferred by a person or handed over to a Pokémon. With all these factors combined, recovering the data would be extremely difficult. It might be better to wait and see which country developed the new incubation fluid later—they would most likely be the culprit. Then, without overthinking it, just go and confront them directly. "Mm," Nicole nodded. If Julian wasn’t concerned, she had even less reason or ability to handle it. Julian's phone rang. When he saw it was his grand-uncle calling again, a sense of foreboding washed over him. "Hello, Grand-Uncle." "Julian, we old folks have discussed it and decided to put you in charge of this matter. All departments in Drakoria will cooperate with you. It’d be best if you can recover the data, but if not, that’s fine too." Julian wore a bitter smile and was about to refuse this extremely difficult task when a sudden "ding" echoed in his mind. [Temporary mission issued: Retrieve the data.] [Mission reward: 50,000 points, one Invincibility Card (10 minutes).] The system’s voice froze the rejection that had been on the tip of his tongue. Just then, the phone transmitted James's voice once more: "Brat, don’t even think about refusing. This task is yours." "Grand-Uncle, you've truly saddened me. In your eyes, am I really such an irresponsible Champion? This mission is mine—don't anyone dare try to take it from me!" With that, Julian hung up the phone. James stared at the phone in his hand with a strange expression. "Could it be I misjudged this brat? No… that can’t be right. This kid, just like John, has always been the type who hates trouble. He’d never bother to use his brain for a troublesome affair ." And this mission absolutely required using one's brain to have even the slightest chance of success. Julian had no idea that, in his grand-uncle's eyes, he had always been seen as a reckless brute. As for why the task was assigned to Julian, the reason was simple: the Elders believed the chances of retrieving the data were extremely slim. But Julian was a miraculous kid—becoming a Champion at 22. Since such a miraculous thing had already happened, perhaps there was a possibility he could retrieve the data. In any case, it was a case of trying every possible solution, no matter how unlikely. Giving it a shot couldn't hurt. Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-