Chapter 163: Your Servant Rio, Willing to Serve General Lance with Utmost Devotion
Lance patted Rio’s shoulder and announced to the crowd: "Starting now, this man answers to me personally."
The man Giovanni had been trying so hard to recruit—now working under him. Calling him "General." Even if this person only looked like Rio, just the thought sent a thrill of satisfaction through Lance.
On the other side, seeing Lance’s over-the-top reaction, Rio’s mind raced as he calmly analyzed the situation.
From a psychological standpoint, there was no absolute right or wrong in this world—everything that seemed unreasonable to an outsider was perfectly logical to the person involved, simply viewed from a different angle. If Lance’s exaggerated reaction was indeed logical, then the question was: what was his motivation?
First, his initial gaze when Rio was on the battlefield—it was a look of recognition. It meant Rio reminded him of someone he knew well. Then, when he approached to confirm, it showed that this person had left a deep impression on him. And when Rio called him "General Lance," his expression of immense satisfaction revealed a deep desire for that unforgettable person to genuinely call him that.
In other words, Lance was using Rio as a substitute—a stand-in for the real Rio—to fulfill his psychological cravings.
In the span of a single breath, Rio narrowed his eyes at Lance. He understood everything now.
This bastard simply didn’t have the ability to make the real Rio his subordinate, so he settled for someone who looked like him—namely, Rio in disguise—and treated him as if he were Rio to satisfy his superiority complex.
And what caused this complex? Most likely jealousy. Giovanni’s two meetings with Rio had shown him immense sincerity, which had undoubtedly caused quite a stir within Team Rocket. And it made Lance jealous because he felt he wasn’t being treated fairly.
On top of that, Giovanni ultimately failed to recruit Rio. But now, Lance had someone who looked like the very person Giovanni wanted but couldn’t have—and that someone was respectfully calling him "General."
With that thought, Rio cupped his hands: "Your servant Kojiro is willing to serve General Lance with utmost devotion!"
"Excellent, excellent..." Seeing Rio play along so perfectly, Lance felt even more satisfied. This was exactly what he wanted from Rio—respect. Genuine, heartfelt respect. Since he couldn’t make the real Rio his subordinate, couldn’t control him, couldn’t command him—couldn’t he at least enjoy the fantasy with a lookalike? Don’t dismiss spiritual victory as real victory. The emotional payoff was undeniably satisfying!
"From now on, you’re under my personal command. You answer only to me." Lance patted Rio’s shoulder again.
"Understood, General Lance—but..." Rio hesitated, putting on a troubled expression.
"But what?" Lance asked, confused.
"I just became squad leader—could I have that guy reassigned to my command?" Rio pointed at Azang, the blonde-haired man across from him, who was still reeling from Lance’s earlier bizarre reaction. Rio had just earned his squad leader position and hadn’t even gotten to enjoy the perks yet.
"Fine." Lance glanced at Azang and immediately understood Rio’s intention. He was well aware of the bullying culture in the camp—he’d seen it all. That’s why he’d set up the battle rings—to select the truly strong for the Articuno operation. If he spotted anyone promising, he’d bring them under his command after the mission.
As it happened, this situation proved his decision was right. Without the battle rings, he’d never have discovered someone who looked so much like Rio.
As for Azang—no one asked for his opinion. Within minutes of Lance’s approval, the two who had been massaging him before dragged his belongings out of the tent.
"If you don’t mind, Kojiro—I’d like you to refer to yourself as Rio and repeat what you said earlier," Lance said as they left the battle rings and headed toward his camp.
Rio played dumb: "General Lance, which part would you like me to repeat?"
"The part about serving with devotion."
"Your servant Rio is willing to serve General Lance with utmost devotion!"
"Ooh~~" Lance immediately wore a look of pure bliss.
Rio was both speechless and amused. Lance’s expression reminded him of a character from a certain comedy series—when a casual compliment sent someone into a spiral of satisfaction, and they kept asking for more. At its core, it was about insecurity—a need to fill an emotional void that had never been fulfilled.
Lt. Surge, walking beside Lance, watched the scene unfold with a baffled expression. He knew the name Rio—it was legendary among Team Rocket’s executives. This was the guy who had repeatedly foiled their plans, sent General Apollo to prison, and even defeated Giovanni once. Despite all that, Giovanni still held him in high regard and made generous offers to recruit him—all of which were rejected. And now, Lance seemed to be... defiling that name in a rather unusual way.
Lt. Surge couldn’t help but interject: "General Lance—isn’t ’Rio’ the name Boss Giovanni has been trying to recruit? Aren’t you worried he might take issue with this?"
Lance immediately turned and frowned. "What—are you planning to tell him?"
Lt. Surge fell silent for a moment, then said slowly: "I wouldn’t dare."
Lance turned back to Rio. "Say it again."
"Your servant Rio is willing to serve General Lance with utmost devotion!"
"Ooh~~"
"Your servant Rio is willing to serve General Lance with utmost devotion!"
"Ooh~~"
Rio repeated it several more times before Lance’s satisfaction threshold finally began to lower. No longer as easily pleased as before, Rio gained a new understanding of Lance.
What a bizarre character. Truly bizarre. This guy is something else.