bookbashuk Chapter 425 Uncle 2, Sakaki!
Chapter 425 Uncle 2, Sakaki!
Sakaki has been troubled these days.
The Kanto League, having somehow caught wind of this, has begun a major search of the Rockets' bases in recent days.
Although those publicly known businesses have long since been thoroughly cleaned up, the things done in secret cannot withstand close scrutiny.
He had been in meetings for two days straight, his voice was hoarse, and he went through cup after cup of coffee on the table, his brow never relaxing.
Then, the guard announced: "Li Luochen is here."
Sakaki stood up abruptly.
The chair was pushed half a meter away by his knee, making a screeching sound as it scraped the floor.
The coffee in his hand wobbled, spilling a few drops onto the table, the dark brown liquid slowly spreading along the grain of the solid wood.
Li Luochen, isn't that his dear nephew?!
They've actually come to the Kanto region?
Why didn't they tell me beforehand?
Sakaki paced back and forth behind his desk a couple of times, then stopped and looked down at himself—a dark gray suit, his tie was neatly tied, but the collar of his shirt was a little wrinkled and one of the buttons on his cuffs was loose.
He tugged at his tie and patted his cuffs, then suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Oh dear, isn't it too stingy to treat you like this?
The dojo's exterior is quite impressive, but in his nephew's eyes, wouldn't the furnishings inside seem a bit too...tacky?
Sakaki was unusually at a loss for what to do.
He picked up the intercom on the table, thought for a moment, and then put it down again.
Should we go down and receive it directly?
No, that's too formal; it'll just seem too distant.
Should we let the guards bring it in? But that doesn't seem like a enough consideration.
He paced around the office twice more before finally striding briskly toward the door.
Never mind, I'll go pick it up myself.
My nephew rarely comes to visit, and as his uncle, I can't just let him wait at the door!
......
......
At this moment, Li Luochen and his fire-breathing dragon were squatting on the ground, looking up at the sky.
The human and the dragon were strikingly similar in posture—their hands (front paws) rested on their knees, their chins on their arms, their eyes gazing at the pale blue sky above, their expressions blank, as if they were contemplating some important life matter, or as if they were thinking of nothing at all.
"Roar..."
The Charizard yawned, its mouth wide open enough to fit a watermelon, its tongue curled up, and then it lazily closed its mouth again.
It blinked, and even squeezed out a tear from the corner of its eye.
Not only Charizard, but even Li Luochen started to feel sleepy.
His legs were getting a little numb from squatting, so he changed his posture, shifting his weight from his left foot to his right foot, and then back again.
Then, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from afar.
Knock knock knock...
The leather shoes trod on the stone pavement quickly and urgently, as if someone was chasing behind, or as if something ahead was impatiently waiting.
Li Luochen stood up, stretched his numb knees, and turned his gaze to the deep corridor inside the iron gate.
A tall figure emerged from the dim light.
His black buzz cut was so neat, each hair clearly separated, as if it had been measured with a ruler.
The dark gray suit was impeccably tailored, with straight shoulder lines and sharp creases; it was clearly a high-quality, handcrafted custom-made item.
He took long strides, each step steady and quick, his trouser legs swaying slightly as his leather shoes landed.
The newcomer was an older man with a blank expression on his face, his eyes and brows carrying the indifference of someone who had long held a high position.
But something in those eyes—when he saw Li Luochen standing at the door, something lit up in them, like a beam of light suddenly reflected in a deep pool, brief but distinct.
This is Sakaki.
Li Luochen's second uncle, the head of the Evergreen Gym, and the secret controller of Team Rocket.
He stood inside the iron gate, facing Li Luochen across several steps.
Sakaki stopped and looked Li Luochen up and down. His gaze swept from head to toe, then back to his face, carrying a complex mix of scrutiny and satisfaction typical of an elder.
Then, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
It wasn't exactly laughing, but it wasn't exactly not laughing either.
"Second Uncle?"
Li Luochen tentatively called out.
The voice was soft and carried a hint of uncertainty, as if afraid of mistaking someone for someone else.
After all, Li Luochen had never actually met Sakaki.
It was this address of "Second Uncle" that finally made Giovanni, the manager of Team Rocket, lose his composure.
He stood there, his tall body swaying slightly as if struck by something.
A crack finally appeared on that usually expressionless face—not a breakdown, not a loss of composure, but a deeper, more restrained tremor.
It's like something is surging beneath the frozen surface of a lake; you can't see it, but you can feel it.
Second Uncle.
He has had no relatives since his son, Xiaoyin, went missing.
In those years, he searched frantically, using every resource at his disposal, turning over every corner of the Kanto region, but it was as if Gin had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.
Over time, although he asked his subordinates to help him collect similar information, he stopped doing so.
It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't dare.
He couldn't face the answer, couldn't admit that he might have really lost his last loved one.
Over the years, he buried himself in his work, in the Rockets' shady dealings, using busyness to numb himself and power to fill the void in his heart.
He thought he had gotten used to it, that the words "family" would never touch him again...
But Li Luochen stood in front of him and called him "Second Uncle".
Sakaki's Adam's apple bobbed.
He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow beneath them.
When he looked up again, his eyes were slightly red, but he held back and didn't let any extra emotions show.
Although Li Luochen is not her biological son.
But he was the son of the elder brother he had recognized.
Not by blood, but closer than blood!
Sakaki mentally went over those words several times, and the more he thought about them, the tighter his throat felt.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but his voice seemed to be stuck in something, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word for a long time.
Finally, he simply reached out and patted Li Luochen heavily on the shoulder.
That slap was taken with great force, as if he wanted to squeeze all the emotions he had accumulated over the years into that one action.
"It's good that you're here," he said.
His voice was hoarse and brief, as if he wasn't used to speaking like that.
But the hand lingered on Li Luochen's shoulder for a long time before slowly withdrawing.
Sakaki turned around, his face turned to the side, and said to Li Luochen, "Come in. I prepared a small gift for you. It was a bit rushed this time, so it's nothing particularly valuable. I hope you like it."
After saying that, Sakaki walked deeper into the dojo.
Seeing this, Li Luochen followed.