Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 281 Testimony of the Master of Meidan Pavilion

"I can understand the conjectures made by the two of you from your own perspectives."

Faced with the two elderly people's seemingly unquestionable assertions, Officer Jenny spoke patiently.

"But as I told Zina and the others at the attic, if the prisoner who placed this android head here was acting according to normal human thought, and his ultimate goal was to demonstrate, then the location of the rooftop attic is far too remote..."

"Ha, perhaps. Demonstrations with a specific purpose often pay attention to these details."

Mei Dan scoffed, interrupting Officer Jenny directly. He, who was not sensitive to the subtle differences between the intelligence agencies and the police system, continued.

"But, young policewoman, I think you should also know that in this world, much hatred is aimless and completely unreasonable."

The old professor, with his signature mocking expression, snorted dismissively and began his long-winded discourse—

"Whether it's humans or Pokémon, at some stage in the beginning of life, there will be a period when they are unable to control their violent tendencies. This stage for the latter may even recur with evolution. At this time, it is necessary to rely on the moral contract established between groups to limit and punish these inner dark sides, and to persistently educate them so that we can consciously restrain this instinctive violence and become life forms that can be accepted by society."

"This is a classic theory of original sin. Is this also a field that a PhD in biology should be studying?"

Miss Officer Jenny remained noncommittal, wiping the unidentified liquid simulating blood from her hands with a napkin she had prepared earlier, and crossed her arms as she looked at the owner of the establishment.

"The behavioral logic of biological communities naturally falls within the scope of biological research. Of course, I am not an expert in this branch of research; I have only dabbled in it." The old man was unusually modest.

Officer Jenny from the intelligence department nodded: "Is that so? I do think that using acquired concepts like 'good' or 'evil' to summarize innate biological instincts will inevitably lead to errors, no matter how much you argue, just like using black and white to describe gray... But that's not important, we can discuss it further later. How does what you've said relate to our previous topic?"

"Of course there is a connection. No matter how bad my personality is, I wouldn't go so far as to talk nonsense and waste time at such a critical moment."

Contrary to his words, Medan appeared unhurried, crossed his legs, and continued his sermon—

"If we consider secular morality as a cage that confines the evil in human nature, then religions in the general sense are like dismantling this well-functioning iron cage into pieces. They use magnificent halls, elaborate rituals, and new rules labeled as doctrines, sacred words, and divine revelation to construct a new, fancy cage that is different from the previous one. People can see the gods they pray to through the carefully arranged gaps in the cage."

"What do you mean?" Officer Jenny asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, during this process of replacing the cage, certain evil aspects of human nature may very well take the opportunity to break free. Just like when we debug a program in a computer, if we want to add something new to the code, it will inevitably conflict with other parts of the original code, and various oversights will occur. Running the program will likely result in errors, not to mention that they want to drastically replace the entire system."

"So you mean that the moral order established by religions might conflict with our current value system?"

Officer Jenny tried to understand it in her own way.

"In different 'iron cages,' certain bottom lines that we consider inviolable may be easily trampled on by fanatical believers in religion; while other things that we originally thought were unimportant may become the sore spot of those who believe in gods... To put it bluntly, accepting religion makes people single-minded and neurotic, right?"

"Heh, to be able to summarize it so simply and clearly, you must have met guys like this before, right?" The curator added, "The more immature a new religion is, the easier it is to educate a bunch of idiots with extreme ideas. For example, those guys who attacked my mansion with bricks in Binhai City before."

"So, Master Meidan knew the identities of those fanatical theists?" The intelligence officer, intrigued, raised one eyebrow.

"My dad and I knew a long time ago!"

With her hands on her hips, Winnie interjected in a manner befitting her father, suggesting she was present when Medan was harassed.

"I would say that the identities of those guys were clear from the beginning. After all, they stuck the condemnation notes on the stones and threw them into the house through the broken window."

What did the note say?

"Oh dear, it had a bunch of curses written on it, like 'You'll be punished by heaven sooner or later, and your soul will never find peace after death,' nothing profound at all," the girl said with a lively laugh. "To be honest, I thought there were some kind of hidden code, acrostic, or reverse cipher on the note, and I studied it over and over for a long time—but of course, I found nothing."

The curator rubbed his forehead and continued, "And at the end of that note, he brazenly wrote down his affiliation—the Arceus Society, the most notoriously ignorant new religion in the Sinnoh region. Hmph, being threatened by a group of guys like that, it's impossible to even feel angry."

Officer Jenny naturally followed up with, "Wasn't breaking a window with a stone already quite dangerous? According to Mr. Medan, they had also threatened us with paint before. Didn't the police intervene at that time?"

“It’s not that I didn’t want to call the police.” The curator scratched his gray hair. “It’s just that, given the situation at the time, it would have been more convenient to contact Hayden directly. After all, my speech videos were still circulating online back then, and even if I dealt with those guys from the Arceus Society, it might still attract more troublesome people afterward.”

At this point, Meidan nodded to Mr. Hayden beside her, who responded with a nonchalant smile.

"I see. So you moved into the Forest Mansion like that."

Officer Jenny nodded repeatedly, seemingly quite satisfied with this information that was completely unrelated to the headhunting incident.

At this moment, Cynthia noticed that Officer Jenny, who worked as an intelligence agent for the Sinnoh League's intelligence agency, was actually gathering information step by step, even though she seemed to be just chatting aimlessly with Medusa.

This method of investigation is completely different from that of police detectives. Officer Jenny may seem harmless, but she is like a hypnotic device that makes people unconsciously open their hearts, accepting all the information revealed by those involved in the case, regardless of whether it is true or false.

However, with so much information overwhelming us, will the final answer to the matter truly be revealed? And what kind of truth will ultimately emerge?

As Zhu Lan pondered, the conversation between the intelligence officer and those involved in the case continued back and forth.

"Alas, looking back now, my laissez-faire approach was not entirely appropriate... Indeed, one should not be lazy."

Mei Dan turned her gaze to the human head model that was gradually being forgotten by everyone, and shook her head and sighed.

“Mr. Medan, are you so sure that the prisoner who placed this head in the mansion was a fanatical follower of the Arceus Society?” Officer Jenny asked rhetorically.

The old man nodded: "Of course, I understood it the moment I saw this model."

He said solemnly and earnestly—

"If it wasn't to intimidate me, this blasphemer who has no regard for God, why would they dye the wig of this human head model the hair color of a member of the Galactic Group?"

“Indeed. If it were just the hair color, that would be one thing, but even the hairstyle has been adjusted to the standard style of Team Galactic. This is definitely a detail that cannot be simply attributed to coincidence.” Officer Jenny, who also had short, dark green hair, nodded in agreement.

"Team Galactic has been desecrating mythical relics, wantonly denigrating gods, and attempting to capture legendary Pokémon in the Sinnoh region. Such evil deeds are now common knowledge. And now, they have placed a bloody Team Galactic head in my attic. Their intentions are self-evident."

"Do you think it's intimidation? But this mansion is located in such a remote area, far from Binhai City... How did the intimidators find this place and climb over the surrounding woods to enter the mansion?"

"Is it really that unbelievable that those people could pinpoint the address of a retired university professor from the vastness of social networks, and then follow the trail to find out where we lived after we moved? At least the moving company kept track of our migration route. We should actually thank this Forest Mansion; its remote location kept them somewhat calm, preventing them from doing anything even more outrageous," the old man shrugged.

"But then why would they hide the head in an attic where it wouldn't be easily visible?" Officer Jenny continued to press.

"This is of course because those cowardly intimidators dared not step into this Forest Mansion. Therefore, they hastily left their intimidation tools in the deserted rooftop attic and fled. This behavior is so similar to the previous act of throwing a stone through the window. Ambitious yet self-deceiving, enthusiastic yet clueless, this is the way fools take revenge."

"So that's what you were thinking, Mr. Curator..."

The intelligence officer hesitated, seemingly feeling she could extract no more information from Mei Dan, yet still reluctant to leave, she turned back and pleaded—

"Master Meidan, may I ask you one last question?"

“Fine, ask away, as long as I can answer.” Mei Dan proudly raised her chin.

"Could your current research be related to this bionic head case?"

Officer Jenny asked the question that had been bothering her ever since she stepped into the mansion—

"What exactly are you researching, sitting in the basement room of the Mori Mansion every day?"

“That’s already two separate issues.” The curator shook his head directly. “I can only say that what I’m researching has nothing to do with the case. It’s a research secret, and I’m sorry I can’t disclose it.”

Officer Jenny then turned her gaze to Hayden, who, as the investor, was certainly aware of the research her old friend was conducting.

“He wasn’t lying.” Old Man Hayden simply sighed and continued, “Although my old classmate was clearly terribly wrong about the heads.”