[Invincibility Card: After use, even Arceus would have to kneel.] The description was simple, but the function was terrifyingly powerful. Julian’s breathing grew heavy; the card’s effect was simply too shocking. Once used, it granted outright invincibility. At that point, Metagross could literally knock out a First-class legendary with a single punch. Just for this Invincibility Card alone, Julian was determined to complete the mission, no matter what. "Did the surveillance cameras capture anything?" The captain of the Imperial University's security team had already arrived on the scene. Such a major incident had occurred. Although the security of Lab No. 1 wasn't under their jurisdiction, if accountability was pursued, he would still bear some responsibility. Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱 So he was feeling extremely anxious. Moreover, the situation seemed grave—even the newly crowned Champion was here. "Champion Walker, the surveillance footage didn’t capture any suspicious activity," the security captain said, his face filled with guilt and tension. Imperial University had extensive surveillance coverage, ensuring every corner of the campus was monitored. Yet, when the incident occurred at Lab No. 1, all the nearby cameras had mysteriously malfunctioned at the same time. As a result, no useful footage was captured. Julian simply nodded at the explanation. The perpetrator had clearly made thorough preparations in advance—surveillance cameras, something that could easily expose their movements, would naturally be the first thing to be disabled. Julian had asked the question merely on the off chance that something might have been overlooked. But as expected, nothing was found. And just like that, before the investigation had even begun, they had already hit a dead end. All they knew was that the spy’s name was Max—and even that might not be his real name. Which country he was spying for remained entirely unknown. With no footage of his escape route, finding him would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. And what they needed to intercept wasn’t even the man himself, but the stolen data—which made the difficulty skyrocket several times over. By now, the data might have already been transferred to another person—or even a Pokémon. "Senior Julian, what happened here?" The massive explosion at Lab No. 1 had naturally drawn a crowd of students. Most of them, however, seeing Julian and the research institute’s dean present, instantly realized this wasn’t a simple accident. So they kept their distance, not daring to approach. Ryan was also drawn by the explosion and happened to spot Julian, so he walked over. "An explosion. We lost some important data," Julian explained briefly. Ryan nodded, wisely refraining from asking about the nature of the data. "Can we find anything that Max used?" Nicole asked. The dean shook his head, his expression troubled. "He’s been living inside Lab No. 1…" Now that Lab No. 1 had been blown to bits , anything Max might have used had turned to ash; even if some remnants remained, there was no way to know whether those items had belonged to Max. So relying on scent to track him was a dead end. "Go ask the students nearby if they saw anything when Lab No. 1 exploded," Julian said to the security captain. The security captain quickly nodded and left, breathing a sigh of relief—it seemed unlikely he would be held responsible. Julian frowned and started a brainstorming session in his head, thinking about how to find traces of Max’s escape; at the very least, they had to determine the direction he had taken. Celebi, perched on Julian’s head, was growing bored and still thinking about the full table of food Slowking had made. Seeing Julian remain motionless for so long, it tugged at his hair and asked, "When are we going home to eat?" Celebi’s voice sparked an idea in Julian’s mind. He grabbed Celebi off his head and stared intently at it. His stare was so unnerving that even Celebi shivered and instinctively clenched its legs. "Travel back in time and see which direction that guy went. Dean, do you have direct access to Lab No. 1?" The dean hurriedly nodded and pulled out a card. "This card grants direct access to the lab, but it only works if I’m the one using it." "Is there another way for Celebi to enter the lab when it travels back in time? I need it to retrieve one of Max’s personal items," Julian said. If Celebi traveled back and saw the direction Max left, it would be easy, but ultimately useless. Would Max really keep moving in the same direction? They needed his personal item to track him by scent. "Senior, can’t Celebi just change the past?" Ryan asked curiously. Julian shook his head. "When Celebi travels back in time, if it alters the past, the backlash it suffers depends on the scale of the change. Moreover, altering the past would create a parallel universe." "That universe would have no connection to ours." "So even if Celebi went back and stopped Max’s plan, nothing here would change." However, simply going back to observe Max’s escape direction and retrieve one of his items wouldn’t count as altering the past, since Max’s actions would still have succeeded. The current problem was how to get Celebi into the lab in the past. "Senior, actually, Celebi could go further back in time. Max must have eaten outside at some point. We could just take the utensils he used then. There’s no need to fixate on getting his personal items from the lab." "After retrieving the utensils he used, Celebi can then go back to just before the lab explosion and secretly observe which direction Max left." Ryan's words made Julian suddenly realize—he had been overcomplicating things. Such a simple solution hadn't even crossed his mind. "Go. If the mission is successful, I'll buy you that Collector's Edition Scizor skin." Celebi's expression instantly turned serious. It saluted Julian, then drew a circle in the air and vanished into it, disappearing from everyone's sight. Ryan was a bit dumbfounded. "Senior, your way of motivating is kind of… unique." Why did it seem like Celebi was willing to risk its life just for a Collector's Edition skin? "You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kid. If you ever need anything in the future, as long as it’s not unreasonable, I’ll help you once." If it wasn't for Ryan's suggestion, Julian might have remained stuck in his own thoughts for who knew how long. This kid was indeed talented. "Thank you, Senior Julian!" Ryan nodded excitedly, his heart racing. He never expected that a single sentence would earn him Julian's favor. Julian was a Champion, after all—with his backing, as long as Ryan didn’t go looking for death, basically no one in Drakoria would dare to mess with him. Even the dean of the research institute was looking at him with eyes full of envy. Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-