"Grandpa is also investigating this matter on his side, and there's already a lead."
Nicole sipped her coffee lightly, her delicate face carrying an expression of enjoyment.
Julian's Adam's apple twitched slightly. The aroma of the coffee was simply too tempting, but Slowking wouldn't let him drink it.
"Thank Champion Duke for me."
Regarding the assassination attempt, whether Duke was acting as the president of the Trainer Association or repaying Julian for saving his life.
No matter which way he looked at it, Duke was determined to get to the bottom of it.
It was just surprising that he had already found a lead.
His own grandfather hadn't found anything yet.
Should he say, as expected of the strongest champion in Drakoria?
Just as he was about to ask Nicole what the lead was, his phone rang. A glance at the screen showed it was his grandfather calling.
"My dear grandson, how is your health now?"
"I'm fine now, nothing serious," Julian replied.
In truth, the situation was still quite serious, but Julian didn't want his family to worry.
"It wasn't the Lawson family who did it. I already know who's behind it."
Not the Lawson family? That meant the Lawson family patriarch had died for nothing.
If he found out about this in the afterlife, would he be so angry that he came back to life?
"It was done by people from Babath."
"Babath? Why would they target me?"
Julian was taken aback. If it wasn't the Lawson family, he had assumed it would be another Drakorian family, yet the culprit turned out to be a foreign force.
Could it be that he showed too much of his talent, that Babath wanted to eliminate him?
But did they really have the guts?
Babath was just a small island nation, not far from Drakoria. Their overall strength was nowhere near Drakoria's. If they dared to pull something like this, weren't they afraid that Drakoria would find out and send two champions over to pay them a visit?
"This matter is related to the appearance of a Top-tier secret realm on an island in the Western Ocean."
John then explained everything in detail.
To put it simply, a Top-tier secret realm had appeared on an island in the Western Ocean, and many countries' satellites had detected it.
A newly discovered Top-tier secret realm—while extremely dangerous, it was guaranteed to contain countless valuable treasures. With enough luck, it might even produce one or two new champions.
Naturally, every major country wanted to be the first to claim it.
And this secret realm wasn't within any nation's territory.
Recently, countries had been arguing over who would get to enter first, turning the United Nations into a chaotic battleground.
The five big nations were the main competitors, while smaller and mid-sized countries cheered on their respective allies, hoping that if their big brother secured an entry slot, they might get one or two spots as well.
After several days of back-and-forth negotiations, the five nations finally decided to send their younger generation into the secret realm, setting the age limit at under thirty.
Each of the five big nations would send five representatives, while other eligible nations would send two each.
The total number of participants would be one hundred.
This proposal was unanimously agreed upon by the five nations.
However, just one day after the proposal was passed, Julian was attacked.
In the eyes of many countries, Julian was almost guaranteed to be one of the five representatives for Drakoria.
His battle record was overwhelmingly impressive, and his Pokémon's strength was beyond scientific reasoning. Naturally, nations hostile to Drakoria started considering underhanded tactics.
John had been so enraged that he momentarily lost all rational thought. The moment he heard about the assassination attempt, his first suspicion was the Lawson family. Without hesitation, he took out the Lawson family's patriarch.
"A Top-tier secret realm… and they want me to enter?"
Julian was overjoyed at first, but quickly realized how dangerous this was.
Typically, the strongest Pokémon in an Advanced secret realm were at the Elite-level, and in special Advanced secret realms, pseudo-Champion-level Pokémon could occasionally appear.
But in a Top-tier secret realm, Champion-level Pokémon were almost guaranteed, and in the worst-case scenario, even Legendary Pokémon could be present.
Many of the first-class Legendary Pokémon discovered in recent years had originated from Top-tier secret realms or Ruins.
The higher the level of a secret realm, the greater the resources and opportunities—but the danger increased exponentially as well.
Especially with a newly discovered Top-tier secret realm, which had never been explored before, the first group to enter might not gain many benefits but would undoubtedly face immense danger.
The five big nations had considered sending their own Elites or Champions into the realm—under the condition that no other country sent anyone in.
But if multiple countries sent their Champions or Elites inside, the inherent dangers of the secret realm, combined with the political tensions between nations, could turn it into a disaster.
There was a real possibility that the Elites or Champions sent in would all end up dead.
For a big country like Drakoria, even though they had over five hundred Elite-level trainers, only about thirty were considered top-tier. Losing even one or two would be a serious blow.
And if a Champion died—that would be a devastating loss.
As for the smaller and mid-sized nations, having even one Champion was already impressive. Their strongest trainers were usually only at the pseudo-Champion level.
If they entered the secret realm and lost their nation's Champion, they wouldn't even be able to recover from it.
So after further discussion, the five big nations decided to send their younger generation, limiting participation to trainers under thirty years old.
Some people might argue that the younger generation represents the future of a nation, and the ones being sent in would undoubtedly be the most outstanding young trainers from each country.
Compared to the older generation, these young trainers weren't as powerful—so wouldn't that make their chances of survival in the secret realm even lower?
You're unwilling to let the older generation of trainers die, so you're gambling with the future of the nation instead?
Well, that's not entirely wrong.
But there's one thing that hasn't been considered—why do veteran trainers like John or Duke become Champions of a nation? It's because, in their youth, they were fearless, daring to fight, to risk everything. That's how they reached their current heights.
A professional trainer's life is one filled with danger.
No strong trainer has ever risen to the top without facing life-threatening situations.
John had been through at least ten near-death experiences in his lifetime.
Even assassination attempts like the one Julian just faced—his grandfather had been through them before.
A Top-tier secret realm was fraught with peril, and for young trainers, it was almost certain death. But if they survived, the rewards would last them a lifetime.
And wasn't this also an opportunity? Even among Elite trainers, only a select few ever had the chance to explore a Top-tier secret realm.
Now, that opportunity was right in front of them. Would anyone be willing to give it up?
"What's wrong, dear grandson? You don't want to go?"
"Of course I'm going!"
Julian answered without hesitation.
This was a Top-tier secret realm—one that had never been explored before. The danger was undeniable, but that wasn't a reason to back down.
The ticket had already been placed in front of him—how could he refuse?
Any trainer who dreamed of standing at the peak of the world wouldn't let this chance slip away.
To go further down the path of a professional trainer, one had to put survival second and courage first.
*****
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