“An enemy?!”
Chen Kai’s nerves instantly tensed, and his hand quickly pressed on the Poké Ball at his waist, while Ampharos immediately perked up its ears, scanning its surroundings vigilantly.
“Hehe… so I’ve been discovered.”
A familiar female voice suddenly echoed in the air. Immediately after, the scene of the open space rippled like water, and a Light Screen slowly dissipated. Noma stood there with a smile on her face, accompanied by her Mr. Mime.
She first bowed respectfully to Diancie, and said in a gentle and polite tone, “Esteemed Queen Diancie, please allow me to apologize for my presumptuous visit.
I am Noma Williams, from the Western Europe Pokémon Archaeological Institute. Your kingdom is even more beautiful than described in the ancient texts.”
Noma’s voice was soft, completely different from when she had spoken with Chen Kai before.
Diancie nodded slightly, feeling a bit more favorably towards this human who had appeared suddenly but was so courteous. At least, she was much more pleasing to the eye than Chen Kai.
Then, Noma winked at Chen Kai and said mischievously, “Surprise ~ Chen Kai! Didn’t expect that, did you?”
Chen Kai was not in the mood for jokes. His hand remained tightly pressed on the Poké Ball as he asked seriously, “Noma?! When did you follow me?!”
“I just got here.” Noma spread her hands, and Mr. Mime also mimicked her, making an innocent expression.
“I sensed Pokémon battling over here, so I came to check it out, and it turns out…”
She glanced at Diancie, “I didn’t expect you to be chatting so happily with a Legendary Pokémon?”
“I… I wasn’t happy at all!” Diancie said with a touch of tsundere, crossing her arms and turning her head away.
Noma was too mysterious. Even Iron Bundle and the others hadn’t detected her stealth, so Chen Kai was full of doubts about her explanation.
So, he asked Diancie for confirmation: “Diancie, is what she said true? She just got here?”
Diancie nodded: “Yes, she only appeared stealthily a minute or two before my phone died just now.”
“Oh, Chen Kai, why don’t you trust me? I’m so sad!” Noma said, making an exaggerated gesture of clutching her chest.
Confirming that Noma hadn't seen Iron Thorns and the others, Chen Kai didn't need to act for now, but he still eyed Noma suspiciously.
Chen Kai knew in his heart that for someone like Noma, who was skilled in invisibility, to be seen entering the mine, it must have been intentional.
Chen Kai’s tone was calm but accusatory: “You deliberately led me here, didn’t you?”
“Uh… well…” Noma’s eyes flickered, “Look, haven’t you already found what you were looking for? The result is great, isn’t it!”
Chen Kai opened his mouth to retort but found that what Noma said seemed to be true.
If Noma hadn't intentionally guided him, he probably wouldn't have found this place and would still be blindly searching in the Vosges Mountains.
Diancie watched Chen Kai’s discomfited expression with interest.
“Alright, alright!” Noma smiled, looking at Chen Kai, then at Diancie, and quickly changed the subject: “Didn’t I just hear you two say you were going to the palace to sit down? Why don’t we go inside and chat? It’s better than just standing here, right?”
Chen Kai frowned: “What scheme are you up to now?”
Noma blinked innocently: “What schemes could I have? Didn’t Her Majesty just invite us?”
She turned to Diancie, her tone light, “Your Majesty, isn’t that right?”
Diancie crossed her arms, her pink diamond crown shimmering slightly, seemingly in thought.
Perhaps enjoying seeing Chen Kai discomfited, she nodded gently a moment later: “Very well.”
She gracefully turned, her white skirt-like body floating in the faint light of the mine, flying towards the palace.
Stardust and Radiance immediately followed close behind, casting a wary glance at Noma as they passed her, clearly on guard against this human who had appeared so suddenly.
However, they were even more wary of Chen Kai.
Noma, however, didn't mind at all. Instead, she followed with great interest, looking around as she walked, muttering, “Wow, the purity of these raw diamonds is so high! And the arrangement of those crystal clusters over there is so unique!”
Chen Kai stood still, his gaze fixed on Noma’s retreating figure, his brow deeply furrowed.
“What exactly does this person… want to do? Didn’t she say she was looking for the god of order before? Now she’s desperately trying to get close to Diancie…”
He looked back at Miraidon, who was still sleeping, and after recalling him to his Poké Ball, he finally moved to follow.
Passing through a naturally formed diamond archway, the scene before them suddenly opened up—a magnificent diamond palace stood within a massive underground cavern, with countless glowing crystal clusters hanging from the dome, illuminating the entire space like a brilliant starry sky.
Noma looked around like a curious child: “Oh my goodness! This is much more spectacular than what’s described in the archaeological texts!”
She suddenly pointed at a diamond wall, “Wait, that pattern—”
Chen Kai followed the direction of her finger and saw an ancient diamond mosaic embedded in the wall, depicting a scene of a group of Diancie and Carbink surrounding a giant pink diamond.
Diancie floated beside them and proudly introduced, “This depicts the first Queen receiving the gift of nature.”
“Gift of nature?” Noma’s eyes lit up, “Are you referring to the mega evolution stone?”
Diancie nodded, confirming Noma’s guess.
Noma immediately pulled out her notebook and quickly wrote, muttering, “It really matches the murals in the Meteorite Ruins…”
Chen Kai keenly caught her choice of words: “Meteorite Ruins?”
Noma’s writing hand paused slightly, then she continued recording nonchalantly: “Ahaha, it’s just some ancient ruins~”
Diancie looked at Noma again: “It seems you know quite a lot.”
She elegantly floated towards the crystal round table in the center of the palace, “Why don’t we sit down and chat slowly?”
Carbink maidens immediately served drinks—they were crystal clear 【True Mineral Water!】
The water was clear and transparent, yet it shimmered with colorful hues under the faint light, like distant stars in the night sky.
Diancie explained: “This is water unique to our kingdom, rich in minerals beneficial to living beings.”
Chen Kai and Noma took their seats, conversing while sipping their drinks. On the surface, the atmosphere among the three was harmonious, yet there was a subtle distance maintained between them.
Diancie, on the other hand, was the most straightforward of them, directly shifting the topic to humanity’s understanding of the mega evolution stone.
When she learned that humans had recently discovered the true purpose of the ite and were beginning to collect them frantically, her body tensed slightly, a subtle change that did not escape Chen Kai’s notice.
Chen Kai saw Diancie’s worry and quickly said, “I promised you before that if there were any relevant clues, I would notify you immediately!”
Noma also quickly agreed, stating that she would help keep an eye out.
Hearing them say this, Diancie was very touched and couldn't help but pour out her woes: “Oh, it’s all the Fourth Queen’s fault. She went and provoked that big black bird for no reason, and ended up losing the ite, causing us to decline generation after generation. Now, even…”
Diancie had intended to say that she couldn’t even defeat Chen Kai’s strange Tyranitar, but seeing Noma present, she didn’t want to lose any more face, so she stopped abruptly.
This left Noma confused: “Even what? Why did she suddenly stop talking?”
However, more than that, she was more concerned about the big black bird Diancie mentioned: “Your Majesty, the big black bird you just mentioned, could it be the god of death?”
Diancie tilted her head in thought for a moment, then replied, “Humans seem to call it that.”
Upon hearing Diancie’s affirmative answer, Noma’s eyes noticeably dimmed a few shades.
However, she still didn’t give up, pressing on, “Then, Your Majesty, do you know where the god of order is?”
Diancie shook her head: “I don’t know.”
Noma’s shoulders instantly slumped, her expression filled with dejection.
Chen Kai silently observed Noma’s reaction, thinking to himself, “This person… is she really looking for the god of order?”
Just as the atmosphere fell into a subtle silence, a Carbink scurried over: “Your Majesty! We finally caught a human in the eastern mine shaft!”
