Su Wen had never imagined he would acquire the most challenging piece of the ?Mega Evolution puzzle so quickly.

  Indeed, the item on the auction stage was a ?Key Stone.

  Fortunately, it was a Key Stone. If it had been a Mega Stone for a specific Pokémon, like ?Charizardite X, which has the ability to gather energy, it wouldn’t just be expensive—it might not even appear at the auction at all.

  When Chen You heard Su Wen’s words, he couldn’t help but reach out to feel Su Wen’s forehead, wondering if he was running a fever.

  Su Wen swatted Chen You’s hand away, saying helplessly, “My mind is clear. This stone is useful to me.”

  Su Wen’s pockets were empty, but Chen You was a hidden millionaire. The compensation from the Pokémon League after his parents’ untimely death, the insurance payout, and the inheritance left by his parents and grandmother added up to several million yuan.

  Wu Yan, sitting on the sofa, watched Su Wen and Chen You whispering to each other. He gnced at the gss bead on the auction stage but couldn’t see anything special about it.

  After repeated confirmations, Chen You finally pressed the bidding button just as the auctioneer was about to announce the item as unsold.

  “Bidder 28 offers 100,000 yuan!” the auctioneer excimed excitedly.

  All the guests looked up at the private room where Su Wen and the others were seated, curious about who this “sucker” was.

  Some wondered if the stone had some special value, and a few wealthy bidders even considered raising the bid. But then they remembered that Bidder 28 was the same person who had overpaid by a million yuan for the ?Electirizer. What if this was just another whim of a rich eccentric?

  Shaking their heads, everyone gave up on bidding, and Su Wen managed to borrow some of Wu Yan’s prestige.

  “100,000 going once, 100,000 going twice, 100,000 sold!”

  Seeing no further interest, the auctioneer swiftly struck the gavel.

  Even then, Su Wen wasn’t fully at ease until the server handed him the ?Key Stone.

  Through his ?Aura, Su Wen could sense the wave patterns emanating from the small stone, perfectly matching those of a ?Mega Stone. It was genuine.

  Chen You, however, couldn’t share Su Wen’s excitement. He couldn’t understand why Su Wen would spend so much on a stone. Was he possessed?

  After painfully swiping his card for 100,000 yuan, Chen You decided he’d ask Zhou Wan to knock some sense into Su Wen ter.

  “Thanks, Chen You. I’ll pay you back when my dad returns,” Su Wen said, his face beaming with joy.

  Chen You looked at the Key Stone in Su Wen’s hand and sneered, “I think Uncle Su will make you experience the full extent of ‘fatherly love’ when he gets back.”

  Ignoring Chen You, Su Wen asked the server if the auction house had a bracelet to store the Key Stone. The server, attentive to VIP requests, consulted with colleagues and soon brought back a metal bracelet with a secure compartment.

  The bracelet had a slot in the center. By rotating a button, the slot opened, allowing Su Wen to pce the Key Stone inside. After tightening the button, the stone was securely held in pce.

  “This bracelet won’t break, right?” Su Wen asked, holding his left hand up to the light to inspect the Key Stone, his joy growing.

  The server bowed slightly. “Rest assured, sir. This bracelet is made by ?Depo Corporation, an imported product. It can even withstand attacks from Master-level Pokémon. If sold separately, it would cost tens of thousands of yuan.”

  Su Wen immediately understood that he was benefiting from Wu Yan’s VIP status. After dismissing the server, Su Wen turned to Wu Yan and said, “Teacher Wu, I owe you one. I’ll treat you to dinner when we get back.”

  Wu Yan waved it off casually, saying it was no big deal, then asked, “You’re too shrewd to buy something useless. Can you tell me what this stone is for?”

  Su Wen grinned and used Wu Yan’s own words against him. “Don’t worry, Teacher Wu. You’ll find out eventually.”

  It wasn’t that Su Wen didn’t trust Wu Yan, but it was far too early for ?Mega Evolution to be revealed to the world.

  As the saying goes, “A man’s wealth is his own ruin.” Even Zhou Li, who owned a ?Z-Crystal, had to tread carefully. Now that Zhou Li was missing, Zhou Wan had been forced to stay at the school for safety.

  If Mega Evolution became known to the world, Su Wen could imagine the Pokémon League being the first to demand he hand over his ?Mega Stone and ?Key Stone.

  Su Wen had already decided that unless it was a matter of life and death, or unless he reached Elite-level strength, he would never use Mega Evolution.

  Wu Yan rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine.”

  The remaining items didn’t interest Su Wen or Wu Yan much. The final auction item, however, was intriguing—a ft, yellow-and-white metal block.

  Within a 30-centimeter radius of the block, time slowed down. The auctioneer dropped a pen from above the block, and instead of falling instantly, it took over 20 seconds to nd.

  Strangely, this time-slowing effect only applied to inanimate objects. Living beings, like humans or Pokémon, were unaffected.

  Su Wen immediately thought of ?Dialga and the ?Adamant Orb, but this metal block had no connection to them whatsoever.

  Wu Yan made a symbolic bid, but the price quickly soared past 50 million yuan, forcing him to sit back and watch.

  In the end, the metal block was bought by another private room for 130 million yuan.

  “Now that’s real wealth,” Wu Yan remarked, gncing at the other room. The buyer had only purchased this one item, as if they had come specifically for it.

  After the auction, Wu Yan prepared to drive Su Wen and Chen You back at his usual breakneck speed. But as he started the car, he noticed a piece of paper tucked under the windshield wiper.

  “Damn, did I get a ticket?” Wu Yan blurted out, but then he remembered he had parked properly. Why would he get a ticket?

  “Su Wen, get out and throw that away for me. Probably some scam about ‘wealthy women seeking heirs’ or something,” Wu Yan said.

  Su Wen, still admiring his Key Stone, reluctantly opened the car door and walked to the front to retrieve the paper.

  Just as he was about to toss it into a nearby trash can, he caught a glimpse of the message written on it:

  “Bring the Z-Crystal to the abandoned chemical pnt in the western suburbs to exchange for Zhou Wan. If anyone else is involved, Zhou Wan will die.”

  Su Wen’s hand clenched instinctively. He looked around, feeling a chill run down his spine. It was as if unseen eyes were watching him from every direction.

  It seemed the ?Dawn Organization had never forgotten about them.

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