Chapter 138:
No one knew how the Association had caused such a commotion, but the once-sturdy walls of the office now bore subtle cracks.
With Slowpoke by his side, Cain crept out of the office. He was familiar with the layout of the fourth and fifth floors, having cleaned them more than once in his previous life. And this was one reason Cain dared to stir the pot now.
The hallways were empty; Team Rocket's researchers must have evacuated at the first sign of trouble, while their combatants were engaged in battle with the Association above.
Unobstructed, Cain bypassed the access-restricted doors as if they were mere illusions. He simply placed his hand on the small pad next to each door, allowing his AI system to hack in and open the door without leaving a trace.
In less than five minutes, Cain arrived at the entrance to the fifth floor.
Meanwhile, the Association members who had been fighting their way through had only just reached the second floor.
But as Cain stood before the door to the fifth floor, he started to hesitate. He had overheard the middle-aged man talk about sending someone to the fifth floor to copy and destroy the database earlier.
So if Cain barged in now, he'd likely run into that person, and with his current strength, his chances of victory were low.
Cain lowered his hand from the door's security pad as his thoughts raced. But just as he considered abandoning his plan, the sounds of battle erupted from the third floor.
The Association members realized that by the time they breached the final defense and reached the fifth floor, Team Rocket's research data would be all but destroyed.
So, several leaders decided to pick up speed and sent a few scouts ahead.
The first two elite Association trainers to break through were now trying to force open the door between the second and third floors.
It must be said that Team Rocket had put a lot of effort into securing these critical doors; that even two elite trainers couldn't break through quickly.
After a moment's hesitation, Cain decided not to enter the fifth floor. Instead, he punched the alarm switch at the entrance, shattering it.
Instantly, alarms blared throughout the fourth and fifth floors.
Having destroyed the alarm switch, Cain darted into a small room near the fifth-floor's entrance. He pressed his hand against Slowpoke's back, ready to have Slowpoke Teleport them away at the first sign of someone entering the room.
Pressing his ear to the door, Cain slowed his breathing, a skill he had mastered during his previous life as a member of Team Rocket.
Many infiltration missions required this skill, so Cain was quite adept at it.
Outside, the sound of a mechanical door opening could be heard, followed by hurried footsteps and a string of curses. "Damn it! Damn it!..."
As the sounds faded away, Cain took a deep breath but chose not to open the door immediately. Instead, he decided to wait in silence.
Sure enough, three minutes later, the frantic footsteps returned, but this time, they were calmer, stopping in front of the entrance to the fifth floor.
"Nobody here? Then who destroyed the alarm switch?"
Hearing the man's muttered question, Cain's heart raced. He employed his meager psychic power to create a thread-like connection between himself and Slowpoke, which would allow Slowpoke to use Teleport and cut the channelling time required in half.
"Boom!"
A loud crash echoed from above, signaling that the intruders had broken through the second-floor door and were now attacking the third.
"Damn you, Association dogs!"
With rapid footsteps, the man hurried away once more.
Cain let out a long sigh. Finally, the man outside had been lured away.
Without any further hesitation, Cain and Slowpoke entered the fifth floor.
Inside, they found a ring of computers with numerous keyboards and some empty shelves that once held various items—all now gone.
Cain sprinted to the main computer terminal and placed his hand on it.
"System, analyze the database and gather information!" he shouted inwardly.
"Beep! Task initiated. Database analysis in progress. Due to the large volume of data, the process may take a while. Current progress: 0.1%."
Cain knew there would be a lot of data, but he hadn't expected this much. Even with the AI system's analytical speed, the progress bar inched forward at an agonizingly slow 0.1% pace.
Although anxious, Cain knew there was nothing he could do but wait. He kept his hand on the computer and scanned the room, looking for anything of value.
It was clear that the person Ariana had sent had been thorough in cleaning up the place. Apart from the untouched computers, everything else had been taken, leaving nothing but scattered papers strewn across the floor and tables.
With nothing else to do, Cain focused his attention on the system's scanning progress.
Ten minutes had passed, and the progress was only at 5%.
Still, that 5% wasn't to be underestimated; it was an enormous amount of data.
Another ten minutes went by, and the sounds of battle neared. The voice of the Team Rocket member who had fled earlier could be heard commanding from outside.
From the sound of it, he was in quite a predicament, struggling to handle two Association trainers of the same level. In the lower ranks, Team Rocket members might be stronger than Association trainers. However, as they climb higher in rank, the Association trainers' strength tends to grow exponentially, with Elite Association trainers usually being able to suppress Team Rocket Elites in normal battles.
That was because, by the time they reached the elite level, Association trainers were no longer naive newcomers. At the very least, they had experienced real, bloody battles and some even had the lives of underground organization members on their hands.
Moments later, the battle gradually reached the entrance of the fifth floor. Cain had no choice but to stop. If he didn't leave now, he probably wouldn't be able to once they entered. Fortunately, the system's task was now 15% complete, which for Cain, represented a vast amount of data. He could only hope that much of it would be useful.
"Slowpoke, Teleport... Huh?"