I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Link: Patreon.com/Pokeficlord
—------------------—
Roy stepped into the building, first glancing at the lobby's decor.
Tsk tsk, truly grand.
The marble floor was polished enough to reflect shadows, the crystal chandelier overhead must have cost at least several hundred thousand, and two shoulder-high money trees stood behind the front desk.
This is the financial district; even the air wafts with the scent of money.
He walked over to the floor plan diagram and scanned it quickly.
Floors 1 to 20 of this building were various financial companies, 21 to 30 were law firms and accounting firms, 31 to 40 were tech companies, and further up...
Roy's gaze stopped at the topmost floors.
Floor 41 was the headquarters of some investment firm, floor 42 was a private club, and floor 43 was labeled as the 'Equipment Floor.'
Equipment floor?
He recalled what those three men had said earlier—'Right here on the top floor.'
The top floor was the 43rd, which was that so-called equipment floor.
Roy withdrew his gaze and turned toward the elevator.
Several white-collar workers stood in the elevator lobby, all dressed in suits and leather shoes, holding coffee and staring expressionlessly at the jumping numbers on the elevator display.
Roy stood behind them, and when the elevator arrived, he followed them inside.
He reached out and pressed the button for the 43rd floor.
A young man wearing glasses next to him glanced at him with a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but didn't ask anything.
The elevator ascended, and people got off at every floor.
By the 40th floor, Roy was the only one left in the elevator.
He looked up at the numbers above the elevator door: 41... 42...
Ding.
Floor 43 had arrived.
The elevator doors slowly opened.
Outside was a dim space, completely different from those brightly lit office floors downstairs.
Roy stepped out of the elevator and looked back.
The elevator doors closed behind him, and the numbers on the display began to descend.
He turned around, surveying the environment before him.
This was a very empty floor, with crisscrossing pipes and ventilation shafts overhead, a gray concrete floor below, and dust settled everywhere.
Miscellaneous items were piled around—old office chairs, dusty filing boxes, and several conference tables missing legs.
It certainly looked like an equipment floor.
But Roy noticed a detail.
Although the dust on the ground was thick, there was a faint trail, as if people frequently walked through.
He crouched down to look closely.
Footprints.
Many footprints—large men's shoes and women's high heels—all pointing in the same direction, deep into the floor.
Roy stood up and followed the footprints forward.
Passing through piles of junk and rounding several large ventilation ducts, the footprints finally vanished before a wall in the corner of the floor.
No.
It wasn't a wall.
As Roy approached, he discovered a very hidden passage wedged between two massive ventilation shafts.
The passage was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through, and the angle was very tricky; if he hadn't followed the footprints, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Roy turned sideways and stepped in.
The passage was about a dozen meters long, growing darker the further he went until it was almost pitch black.
He switched on his flashlight and continued forward.
At the end of the passage was an iron door.
A rust-spotted iron door.
Roy stood before the door, looking it up and down.
This door was completely out of character with the style of the rest of the office building.
Outside were marble, crystal lamps, and high-end decor, but here was a crumbling iron door, its panels covered in rust and the wall plaster around the frame peeling away.
But looking closely, the lock was very new.
It was an electronic keypad lock, its screen still glowing with a faint blue light.
Roy smiled.
These social elites are truly too clever for their own good.
Trying to hide things with a broken iron door, only to install a top-tier electronic lock—isn't that just shouting 'nothing to see here'?
He reached out and pressed the lock.
The keypad lock emitted a 'beep-beep' prompt, requesting a password.
Roy couldn't be bothered to guess the password.
His gaze sharpened, and his Psychic power was instantly released.
Invisible Confusion surged into the lock cylinder, turning it gently.
Click.
The lock opened.
Roy pushed the door open.
A scent mixed with floral fragrance, incense, alcohol, and... some sort of suggestive atmosphere wafted toward him.
The scene before him left him stunned for a moment.
It was a garden.
To be precise, it was an extravagantly luxurious garden.
Beneath his feet was a path paved with pebbles, flanked by various rare plants. Roy couldn't identify the species, but seeing the luster of the leaves and the brilliance of the flowers, he knew they were definitely not cheap.
Overhead was a transparent glass dome, offering a view of the sky outside.
Sunlight spilled through the glass, casting dappled shadows across the plants.
The path was also dotted with several sculptures, all in classical European styles—muscular angels, fountain goddesses, and the like.
In the distance, a palace-like building could be faintly seen, with white exterior walls and a golden dome shimmering in the sunlight.
Roy stood at the entrance, dazed for two seconds.
"Holy crap."
He couldn't help but swear.
It was as if someone had transplanted the entire back garden of some European royalty here.
In this land-starved financial district, on the top floor of a forty-plus-story office building, they had created such a garden?
How much money must that have cost?
Roy walked forward a few steps, slowly following the pebble path toward the central palace.
The sights along the way truly opened his eyes.
On his left was a small bamboo grove—he recognized the species, each stalk costing tens of thousands. On his right was a rockery with flowing water that drained into a small pond below, where koi as fat as pigs were being raised.
Further ahead was an outdoor tea area with several sets of rattan tables and chairs, with uncleaned teacups and snacks still on the tables.
The scent in the air grew increasingly complex.
The scent of high-end incense was faint but ubiquitous.
The smell of alcohol—red wine, white wine, and champagne.
And another scent...
Roy nodded and muttered to himself, "The world of the upper class, heh."
He continued forward.
Suddenly, a faint fluctuation reached him.
It was very weak; if he didn't have Psychic powers, he wouldn't have felt it at all.
This fluctuation was a bit like... Hypnosis?
Roy stopped, his gaze sharpening.
Invisible Psychic power instantly radiated from his body, forming a transparent shield around him.
The fluctuation hit the shield and was directly deflected.
Only then did Roy continue forward.
This must be the 'hypnosis' those white-collar workers mentioned—using the power of Drowzee and Hypno to help them release stress.
Just as he was thinking this...
Suddenly, a strange noise came from the nearby bushes.
Rustling, along with suppressed panting.
Roy's footsteps paused, and he turned his head toward the bushes.
The sound was coming from inside.
He hesitated for a moment but still walked over, gently parting a leaf.
Then he saw a heated scene.
On the grass behind the bushes, a man and a woman were entwined.
The woman wore a black tight-fitting dress, so short it barely covered her backside. Her curly hair was loose, and she was a dark-skinned woman.
The man was the short, balding man he had seen downstairs earlier.
At this moment, the balding man was pressed against the black woman, the two of them clutching each other and kissing noisily.
The man's hands weren't idle either, roaming all over the woman. Her dress was hiked up to her thighs, revealing a pair of long, sturdy legs.
Roy watched for a second and silently let go of the leaf.
Thrilling.
So this was the 'thrill' the tall man had mentioned.
No wonder the balding man looked so expectant; this was indeed quite thrilling.
Roy shook his head and continued forward.
Could they really be throwing some massive party up here besides sleeping?
He quickened his pace toward the central palace.
After walking for about five minutes, he finally arrived at the palace entrance.
It was a European-style building with white exterior walls, a golden dome, and two Roman columns standing at the entrance.
The entrance consisted of two solid wood doors carved with intricate patterns, left slightly ajar.
Roy leaned close to the crack in the door and looked inside.
Inside was a very spacious hall, decorated like a five-star hotel. Thick carpets covered the floor, a crystal chandelier hung overhead, and leather sofas and coffee tables were arranged around the room.
There were many people in the hall.
The men were all in suits and leather shoes, and the women were in elegant dresses, ranging from young to middle-aged.
But most of them were sitting on the floor, leaning against sofas, or even lying flat on the carpet.
They were asleep.
Each one was sleeping like a log, some even snoring.
A few others were sitting in the center of the hall, undergoing hypnosis.
Roy saw the two Pokémon.
One Drowzee and one Hypno.
The Drowzee looked like a yellow tapir, small, with squinting eyes, holding a hypnotic pendulum that it was swinging back and forth in front of someone.
The Hypno was a size larger than the Drowzee, also yellow, holding a pendulum-like object, its eyes glowing with an eerie light.
Several people sat before them, men and women alike, their gazes dull and heads nodding, on the verge of falling asleep.
The entire hall was quiet, save for the sound of the swinging pendulums and light snoring.
Roy withdrew his gaze and took out his walkie-talkie.
"Officer Jenny, please respond if you receive this."
Jenny's voice immediately came through the walkie-talkie: "Receiving! Mr. Roy, what have you discovered?"
"I'm at the XX Building in HopHop Town. There's a hidden club here, and I've found the source of a hypnotic wave." Roy lowered his voice: "Two Psychic-type Pokémon, many hypnotized citizens, a mass entertainment gathering."
"What?" Jenny's voice was filled with shock: "I'll bring people over immediately! Be careful!"
"Alright."
Roy put away the walkie-talkie and pushed the door open to enter.
The door made a slight creaking sound.
Drowzee and Hypno both turned their heads simultaneously to look at Roy.
The few citizens who hadn't fallen asleep yet also looked over groggily, but their gazes were scattered, and they couldn't react at all.
Drowzee blinked at Roy, thinking he was also there to be hypnotized.
It raised its hypnotic pendulum and began swinging it toward Roy.
A hypnotic wave instantly diffused.
Hypno also raised its hand, the light in its eyes growing brighter as two hypnotic waves struck Roy simultaneously.
And then...
The waves hit Roy and simply vanished.
The Psychic shield held steady, without even a ripple.
Roy smiled.
"Playing with hypnosis?"
"I happen to know an old expert."
He took out a poké ball.
"Come out, Gastly!"
Poof.
Purple smoke surged from the Poké Ball, condensing into a ghostly face in the air.
Gastly floated in the air, cackling weirdly.
As soon as it saw the two Psychic-type Pokémon opposite it, its eyes lit up.
Drowzee? Hypno?
Heh, isn't this right up its alley?
Roy pointed across: "Gastly, use that Super Hypnosis move you learned to show them what's what."
Gastly gave a wicked laugh, its eyes suddenly erupting with an eerie light.
This light was deeper and more bizarre than Hypno's, as if it could directly pierce the soul.
It hadn't been studying under that thousand-year-old ghost for nothing.
Super Hypnosis, activate!
Invisible fluctuations radiated from Gastly, instantly enveloping the entire hall.
Drowzee barely had time to resist before its gaze went dull.
Hypno held out for half a second before it too froze up.
The two Psychic-type Pokémon stood in place, their eyes hollow and drool leaking from their mouths, completely fallen into a hypnotic state.
Gastly floated over to them, drifting back and forth in front of their faces, but they didn't react at all.
"Jie jie jie!"
Gastly flew up and down excitedly in the air, incredibly proud of itself.
One against two, a complete victory!
Roy also smiled: "Nicely done."
Gastly floated back and nuzzled his face.
Roy patted it, then continued deeper into the hall.
Jenny and the others would still take a while to arrive; he would check the situation first.
Bypassing the sleeping people and crossing the hall, he found a hallway behind it.
There were several doors on both sides of the hallway, all closed.
Just as Roy was about to push open the first door to look, he suddenly heard some sounds.
Some suggestive sounds.
Various languages were mixed together, male and female, high and low, weaving into a chaotic symphony.
Roy's footsteps paused.
He looked toward the end of the hallway.
There was a door there, slightly ajar, and the sounds were coming from inside.
Roy blinked.
Damn, there's a second stage?
"Gastly, you stay here and watch over them; don't let these people wake up," Roy instructed. "I'm going inside to check the situation."
"Jie jie jie!" Gastly nodded and floated to the center of the hall, beginning to guard the two Pokémon.
Roy slowly approached that door.
The closer he got, the clearer the sounds became.
The scent in the air also grew stronger and stronger.
Roy stood at the door and took a deep breath.
For the safety of the city and to assist the female officer in solving the case, no matter how dangerous it was, a righteous citizen like him had to go in and take a look without hesitation.
He gently pushed the door open, pulling it a crack to look inside.
Then he froze.
Inside was a massive room, decorated like a nightclub, with dim lighting and various sofas, mattresses, and several strange pieces of equipment arranged around it.
There were many people in the room.
Many, many people.
White-collar workers, elites, successful individuals—those men and women who usually looked so respectable in office buildings were all here now.
Roy watched for a second and silently closed the door.
He already knew what the situation was inside.
As for the specifics, the censors certainly wouldn't let everyone see this.
It was just a massive party.
And it was the kind where they entered a hypnotic state and lost themselves.
These people usually looked glamorous and respectable in office buildings, wearing suits and leather shoes, discussing billion-dollar deals, and drinking red wine worth hundreds of thousands a bottle.
As it turned out, once they got here, they truly began to vent their inner suppression.
Roy shook his head and turned to walk back.
He returned to the hall, looked at the people still in deep slumber, and then at the two hypnotized Pokémon, Drowzee and Hypno.
Just then, the walkie-talkie rang.
"Mr. Roy! We've arrived at the bottom of the building!" Jenny's voice came through: "Which floor are you on?"
"The 43rd floor," Roy said. "The elevator only goes to the 42nd; you have to take the emergency stairs for the last floor. After you come up, walk all the way to the back of the floor; there's a hidden passage that leads to an iron door. I've already opened the door."
"Understood! We're coming up right away!"