Just as Yuki's mind was in a state of chaos, Ariel had already walked up to them.
When that masked face was fully exposed under the lights, Yuki's pupils suddenly contracted, and her mind went blank.
It was true!
It really was him!
The big shot who had helped her a while ago was actually the notoriously fierce 'Ruth' of the Team Rockets!
The impact of this realization was far more intense than passing the selection itself.
Ariel ignored the colorful expressions on Yuki's face, his gaze calmly sweeping over the remaining nine people.
They were equally surprised by how young 'Ruth' was, but more than that, they felt excitement and fanaticism.
"Do you know why I chose you?"
Ariel finally spoke; his voice wasn't loud, yet it reached everyone's ears with exceptional clarity.
No one dared to answer.
"Because you are smart enough, and ruthless enough."
Ariel's tone was as flat as if he were stating a simple fact.
"You know what to do and when to do it, and you know that to climb up, you can use any means necessary. This is good; I appreciate it."
He paused, his tone shifting as his gaze became sharp.
"However, I do not believe in anyone's loyalty."
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads, instantly cooling the excitement that had just risen and sending a chill to the depths of their hearts.
"Loyalty changes. Because of interests, because of threats, because of... emotions."
The corner of Ariel's mouth curled into an almost invisible arc, carrying a hint of mockery.
"And I have no need for things that change."
He snapped his fingers.
An alloy door on one side of the selection grounds slid open silently, and a figure slowly floated in.
It was a Malamar.
It was a size larger than an ordinary Malamar, its tentacles dancing silently in the air, and the glowing organs on its head flickered rhythmically, emitting an eerie light.
A pair of emotionless eyes stared coldly at the twenty people in the field.
A powerful spiritual pressure instantly enveloped the entire area.
The combat personnel tightened their muscles almost instinctively, their hands subconsciously reaching for the Poké Balls at their waists, but then they froze.
They knew very well that in front of Lord Ruth, any reckless move was equivalent to suicide.
Yuki's face turned pale instantly.
As a clerk, she knew the data on various Pokémon like the back of her hand.
Malamar, the Overturning pokémon, famous for its powerful hypnosis and mind control abilities.
She instantly understood what Lord Ruth intended to do.
He didn't want verbal fealty or contractual constraints.
What he wanted was to directly brand the concept of loyalty into their souls from a spiritual level!
This wasn't selecting a team at all; this was manufacturing the most obedient tools!
This was Lord Ruth's method!
By following Lord Ruth, one could certainly soar to the sky.
But the price involved was something others couldn't even imagine!
Yuki clenched her teeth and secretly closed her eyes.
'Yuki, you can do this! This is your only chance!'
Yuki bit her lip; because she had reported her supervisor to the organization a few days ago, the matter had become known to everyone.
It was clear that the internal workings of the Team Rockets were not as fair and selfless as she had imagined.
That supervisor was wary of the big shot's power and didn't dare to move against Yuki openly, but Yuki knew herself.
It was only a matter of time.
Time would wash away everything, including the fear in one's heart.
Once that supervisor regained his composure and realized that the mysterious person who broke his arm actually had no real connection to Yuki...
When that time came, she would truly have nowhere left to go.
Ariel looked at the fearful gazes of the crowd.
He understood perfectly that he would not invest his heart into anyone whose loyalty could not be guaranteed.
Furthermore, Malamar currently couldn't reach the point of completely controlling a person's thoughts.
Moreover, with such a large target group, what Malamar could do was perform a loyalty test on them.
Then, it would select the loyal group and use hypnosis to subtly implant the thought of absolute loyalty to Ariel into their minds.
In this way, it not only ensured that these subordinates were living human beings with their own judgment and on-the-spot reactions but also maximized their loyalty.
This was what Ariel wanted to do.
It was also something others couldn't imagine, nor could they achieve.
Through a single Pokémon, he would build an absolutely loyal team.
Malamar hovered in the air, a sense of oppression filling everyone's hearts.
This feeling of suppression didn't come from sight, but from some higher-dimensional spiritual crushing.
"Open your minds; that is an order."
Ariel's voice was flat without any fluctuation, like a scalpel cutting through thick air.
"Those who refuse have no need to walk out of this door."
The breathing rhythm of the twenty people below was completely disrupted at this moment.
They were the bottom tier of the Team Rockets, accustomed to deception and living on the edge, but faced with this direct exploitation of the soul, biological instinctual fear began to overcome all greed.
Malamar's huge, emotionless eyes scanned the area below.
It wasn't just looking; it was perceiving.
Perceiving those fluctuating emotions, perceiving those pulsing brainwaves.
"I... I've had enough!"
A burly man finally snapped.
The flesh on his face shook violently, his previously clenched fists loosening to instead clutch his head.
This unknown fear tunneled into his spinal cord like a venomous snake.
He let out a distorted roar, turned around, and rushed toward the closed alloy door.
"I don't want to be a puppet! This isn't a promotion; this is turning us into the walking dead!"
His footsteps were heavy, stamping out chaotic sounds on the concrete floor.
Ariel didn't even blink.
One of Malamar's tentacles flicked lightly.
There was no sound of explosion, nor any scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere.
An extremely distorted ripple appeared in the air, as if that patch of space had been violently squeezed by an invisible giant hand.
The running man's figure suddenly stalled, and his entire body collapsed inward in a way that defied physical common sense.
The muffled sound of bones shattering combined into one, like countless dry branches being snapped simultaneously.
Under everyone's gaze, a two-meter-tall man was compressed into a bloody cube of flesh about twenty centimeters in length, width, and height in less than three seconds.
Dark red liquid slowly seeped out from the cracks of the cube, pooling into a small puddle on the cold floor.
The entire field was deathly silent.
That extreme visual impact caused the remaining nineteen people to completely lose the courage to flee.
Someone's stomach cramped, making a retching sound, but they desperately covered their mouth with their hand, for fear of attracting the attention of the lord on the high platform.
"Disobeying a superior's order, according to the rules, is a capital offense."
Ariel looked down at the object that no longer resembled a human form, his tone still flat.
"So, who is first?"