Chapter 93: Necessary Precautions
Xiu watched Professor Oak leave the living room, likely heading back up to his lab, leaving Xiu alone with his thoughts and the weight of the recent agreements.
He needed to inform Bao Ba and Xiaoyuan of his current situation, reassure them he was safe, and, more pressingly, provide updated instructions for Xiaoyuan regarding the ongoing piracy operation.
'With Professor Oak potentially monitoring Scyther's progress, he mused, and my own situation requiring careful management, direct involvement in the illegal side of things is too risky now. Time to transition fully to phase two.''
He glanced at the old-fashioned computer terminal sitting on the desk near the bookshelf. "Right," he murmured to himself. He walked over, powered it on, wincing slightly at the loud whirring sound of the aging cooling fan. The familiar Alliance logo slowly materialized on the screen as the system booted up. "Definitely older than I am," he complained silently, navigating the clunky interface.
He quickly composed three separate emails. The one to Director Bao Ba was brief and polite, informing him he'd arrived safely at Professor Oak's Institute, had been offered a temporary assistant position, and thanking him again for his assistance. He deliberately omitted the details about Abra's condition and the Scyther research proposal – no need to burden Bao Ba with those complexities unless absolutely necessary.
The email to Shirley was warmer, more personal, inquiring about her Vulpix training, offering encouragement, and reminding her to utilize Yuto and Bao Ba's expertise, subtly reinforcing the plan they'd discussed. He kept it light, avoiding any mention of his own troubles or the real reason for his stay at Oak's lab.
The email to Xiaoyuan, however, required careful thought. He outlined his current situation vaguely, then transitioned to detailed operational instructions, emphasizing the need to accelerate the plan for decentralization. He needed to ensure she understood the urgency, the necessity of minimizing risk now that the operation was growing.
Finally satisfied, Xiu hit send on all three emails, watching the confirmation prompts appear. Just as he was about to log off, an incoming video call notification popped up on the screen. The caller ID indicated Xiaoyuan's encrypted account. He hesitated only a moment before clicking 'accept'.
The screen flickered, then stabilized, showing Xiaoyuan's face. She looked anxious, tired, likely having just finished her own long day managing the burgeoning operation.
"Xiu? Is that really you?" she asked, her voice tight with nervousness and relief.
"It's me," Xiu confirmed, offering a faint, reassuring smile.
Seeing him, actually seeing him safe, seemed to snap something within Xiaoyuan. Her relief instantly curdled into fiery indignation. Her expression hardened.
"You!" she practically yelled, her voice rising sharply. "You finally remembered I exist?!"
"Calm down, Xiaoyuan," Xiu began, anticipating this reaction.
His placating tone only seemed to infuriate her further. "Calm down?! How DARE you tell me to calm down!" she raged, leaning closer to her own screen. "You disappear without a word! Leave me alone with this whole mess! This factory, the orders, the recruits, the risk! Do you have any idea what it's been like?" She launched into a furious tirade, venting weeks of accumulated stress, fear, and resentment, recounting every problem, every near-miss, every sleepless night spent managing the operation he'd dropped in her lap.
Xiu listened patiently, letting her vent, offering quiet interjections of agreement like "You're right, that was difficult," and "I understand why you're angry", making it clear he wasn't going to argue or defend himself. He knew she needed this, deserved this. He just let her unload, weathering the storm of her criticism.
Finally, her anger spent, Xiaoyuan's tirade wound down, her breathing heavy, her tone returning closer to normal, though still laced with lingering resentment. She began reporting on the actual business operations, detailing the progress made since his departure, referencing the points in his recent email.
"Revenue is up significantly since we expanded the catalogue and tapped into the Trainer market, just like you predicted," she reported, her voice regaining some professional composure. "However," she added, frowning, "the risks are increasing too. I've invested most of the profits back into setting up the legitimate bookstore front and scouting locations for the secondary print site, exactly as you instructed. But..."
"But you're hesitant about the next step," Xiu finished for her. "Decentralizing the actual piracy. Cutting off direct sales, transitioning fully to being an anonymous supplier for the bookstore and potentially other 'grey market' distributors."
"Yes!" Xiaoyuan admitted, anxiety returning to her voice. "We just cracked the Trainer market! The profits are huge! Giving that up now… letting others handle the final sale… it feels like throwing away money!"
"Xiaoyuan," Xiu said patiently, "think long term and read the email I sent again carefully. I detailed the rationale. Yes, we give up a portion of the immediate profit margin by acting only as a wholesaler— but we gain immense security in return. We become ghosts as the bookstore front takes the public risk, deals with customers, and handles logistics. Our hidden print shops supply the product anonymously. Even if one part of the network is compromised, the rest remains intact. It's about sustainability, not just short-term profit."
He continued, analyzing the risks. "The bigger we get, the more attention we attract. Continuing direct, large-scale piracy will eventually lead to a crackdown. Decentralizing, hiding behind legitimate fronts, letting others take the final sales risk… it's the only way to survive long-term. We might even increase overall volume by supplying multiple outlets, offsetting the lower margin per book."
He could see her wavering, processing the logic, weighing the risk versus reward.
"Okay," she finally conceded reluctantly. "Okay… I'll try setting it up your way…"
Xiu's expression hardened instantly. "Xiaoyuan," he interrupted sternly, his earlier patience gone, replaced by cold authority. "This isn't about 'trying'. This is about survival. Your survival. Our survival. We are operating in grey areas, constantly under threat. We have no power to resist the established forces if they decide to target us directly. If you cannot follow these security protocols exactly, if you take unnecessary risks out of greed or sentimentality… then shut it down. Give it up now. Because the alternative," his voice dropped, becoming chillingly serious, "is ending up dead or imprisoned. Understand?"
His harsh words, the stark reminder of the danger, clearly shocked Xiaoyuan. She stared back at him, wide-eyed, then nodded woodenly, swallowing hard. "…Understood."
— — —
Later that day, after finishing his assigned duties, Xiu retreated to Professor Oak's vast library, seeking refuge and knowledge. While browsing the shelves filled with seemingly endless volumes on Pokémon history, biology, and theory, his eyes landed on a section dedicated to ancient languages and archaeology.
Intrigued, remembering the murals Oak had shown him related to Scizor, he pulled down a particularly thick, dusty tome.
"What's this you've found?" Professor Oak's voice suddenly appeared behind him. He'd entered the library silently.
Xiu turned, holding up the book. "Just browsing, Professor. This looked interesting."
Oak glanced at the title etched on the spine: "Ancient Scripts of Proto-Civilizations: From Entry to Burial." He chuckled. "Ah, that old thing... a bit advanced for casual reading, isn't it?"
"I… I couldn't really make sense of it," Xiu admitted sheepishly. "The characters…"
"Hardly surprising," Oak smiled. "That particular text focuses heavily on funerary inscriptions and ritualistic texts from archaeological expeditions, requiring a significant grounding in proto-Kanto linguistics and ancient history to decipher properly." He waved a hand towards a different section of the library. "If you're genuinely interested in ancient languages, start over there. The introductory primers are on the third shelf down— much more suitable for a beginner." He then turned and left the library, leaving Xiu alone again with the towering shelves of knowledge.
Xiu looked at the book in his hand, then towards the 'Introductory' section Professor Oak had indicated. He sighed. 'So much to learn… so little time.'