area51novel Chapter 96 Chasing the Murderer Across the Sea
Chapter 96 Chasing the Murderer Across the Sea
Victini is a legendary Pokémon in Unova that brings good luck and victory. Doug named his whaling ship after it, presumably hoping to use the power of metaphysics to help him avoid risks at sea and encounter the rare Wailord.
However, Hugo, standing before the ocean telescope the size of a mobile cannon, could only stare blankly at the vast ocean, feeling no sense of good fortune whatsoever.
"According to Captain Doug's plan, this ship will soon deviate from the Unova-Hoenn route and head towards the no-fishing zone. After that, we will no longer be able to track down the ship carrying the criminals."
The detective looked desperate and said to his assistant in frustration.
“Hugo.” Azure racked her brains, trying to ask the detective some thought-provoking questions—
"Is it possible that the murderer never even set sail? Look, we're already sailing this fast. If it were a normal ship, even if he set sail a whole night ahead of us, we should have run into them by now, right?"
"No, they will definitely travel by water, because those people have an extraordinary obsession with the ocean."
The detective spoke without hesitation, then revealed the murderer's true identity—
"When it comes to the secret organizations in the Hoenn region, we have to mention Team Magma and Team Aqua. The former's style of doing things is close to that of the underground mafia. With their strong sense of territoriality, they would not make such a plan to collude with Team Plasma from other regions; while Team Aqua is different. The ocean they sing praises to is like a vast net connecting the entire world."
"You mean Team Aqua is the mastermind behind this incident? But if that's the case, they could just be ordinary people hiding in the containers of passenger or cargo ships, right? That imposter could impersonate President Zuvoki, so he could probably impersonate someone else too, and sneak back to Hoenn without anyone noticing. Why do you say they would definitely be on one of their own ships?"
"Because their purpose in coming here is to conduct some kind of transaction. The navy fleet has gone to such lengths to come to the Union, and it is impossible for them to return empty-handed. Moreover, with a large amount of goods obtained through the exchange in hand, they are unlikely to trust other people's cargo ships to transport their goods."
Hugo continued operating the telescope, and it seemed that another ocean freighter had appeared in his field of vision.
The detective adjusted the focus of the lens, trying hard to see the ship's exterior clearly.
"But how can you be sure that the exchanged goods taken by the Navy Fleet were large quantities of cargo, and not small but valuable items?"
"The reason is simple: the bodies of the victims we found were buried in the sand at the mouth of the sea. This means that the fleet that successfully completed the transaction set sail from that place back to Hoenn. Choosing such a secluded destination must be because the scale of the cargo transport was so large that it could not be easily carried."
As he spoke, the detective couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. The cargo ship he had just seen through the binoculars was actually a ship he had observed not long ago. It was probably Mr. Doug adjusting his speed to change course, which was why the ship that had been left behind had caught up.
"Actually, judging from the modus operandi, the person who devised this transaction plan and the person who executed it have somewhat different personalities. The former is meticulous and has a certain artistic talent for crime. He must be the legendary leader of the Water Fleet, Shui Wutong. Apart from him, no one else has the ability to perform such a large-scale substitution under the noses of the two alliances."
"And who was the one who carried out the plan?" Azure pressed for details. "How did you analyze his personality?"
"The other party should be a short man, enough to disguise himself as an old man, and he holds a position in the organization second only to the leader. However, he has achieved his current success mainly through ruthless and absolute violence. By the way, he should have a Crawdron among his Pokémon."
The detective spoke casually, drawing undisguised admiration from his assistant.
"I won't go into detail about the Iron Claw Lobster and its ruthlessness. The wounds on the corpse's back clearly demonstrate these two characteristics. With your current level, Azure, you should be able to understand the logical relationship at a glance. The reason I believe this executive member holds a high position in the organization is because of the existence of that Almost Doll Mega Evolution Stone."
"A Mega Stone for Pokémon? Yeah, since Samuel already brought out the stone, why didn't this Team Aqua member steal this very expensive jewel along with it?"
"A very insightful question," Hugo remarked.
"The gem didn't just roll into the sewers along the wasteland by itself, and among everyone here, the only one who had the chance to throw it down the drain was that imposter who received the Superstone. Samuel must have frankly stated the value of the stone before handing it over, yet the Superstone was still thrown down the drain. Azure, do you see anything in this?"
"I understand." Azure clapped her hands excitedly, seemingly having figured it out as well.
"It must be because that executor also has the authority to dispose of such valuable materials within the Water Fleet that he was able to determine that this super stone was useless and discard it into the ditch."
The girl recalled the fairy tale Hugo told that night at the Feathered Residence—whether in ancient or modern times, Doll is essentially a kind-hearted healing Pokémon. It's easy to imagine that such a Pokémon would have no place in a harsh organization like Team Aqua.
Therefore, the Mega Evolution Stone of the Pokémon became a useless item that was neither useful nor worth discarding. On a dark and stormy night, it was unhesitatingly thrown into the sewer by the ruthless senior officers of Team Aqua.
"Furthermore, throwing the Superstone down the drain also carries a sacrilege connotation towards the dead," Hugo suddenly blurted out, delivering a scathing remark.
"Samuel is a geologist who is obsessed with rocks and the earth. Naturally, the members of the Navy Fleet, who are passionate about the ocean, would not like Samuel's research. He must be quite happy to throw his research results into the sewers and let them flow away like garbage."
The assistant looked disgusted; compared to this fanatic, even the money-obsessed Rockets seemed somewhat endearing.
"But if that's the case, why haven't we found any suspicious ships on the sea yet?" The girl returned to the original topic. "I completely understand the enemy's personality and abilities. Just as you said, Detective, their only way back is to return to the giant ship to Hoenn. So why can't we find them?"
"I had considered the possibility that the other party might use a submarine to transfer cargo, but if that were the case, Doug, who has been in control of the underwater sonar, would have detected them long ago. Moreover, the speed of an object in water is affected by water resistance, so the speed of a submarine is generally similar to that of a conventional cargo ship, and it is no match for the Bictini."
"Is it possible that we missed it? After all, the sea is so vast..."
“Absolutely impossible.” Hugo waved his hand and pointed to the telescope beside him that looked like a white cannon. “This instrument can see the patterns of a savage perch emerging from ten kilometers away. It’s impossible for it to miss something as big as a ship.”
“Alright.” Azure shrugged. “It seems that the Aqua team will either be traveling in an incredibly fast warship or in an equally elusive submarine, while we’ll have to follow Mr. Doug to catch a wild Wailord before returning to Unova.”
"Unless there's something that's always been in our sight, but we've always ignored it..." The detective continued to mutter to himself, burying his head in his hands in thought.
"Ah—ahhhhhh."
The sky seemed to collapse in an instant. Suddenly, the detective and his assistant felt an incredibly violent tilt.
Having barely managed to suppress her screams, Azure looked at the compass at the bow of the ship and couldn't help but gasp again—
"Hugo, Captain Doug has turned the course back to the Hoenn Passage. What's going on?"
Hugo, leaning against the ship's side as if nothing was wrong, simply waved his hand impatiently when he heard Azure's question.
"It's probably that wild whale king he's looking for has come back. You'd better be prepared, the closer you get to the target, the more frequently it will adjust its direction... Ah! Ahhhhhh."
The detective suddenly screamed, just like Azure had a few seconds earlier.
"I'm such an idiot! It's the one I've been looking for all along!"
When using lighting fixtures, due to the principle that light travels in straight lines, the fixture itself will also create a large, dark shadow near the light source. However, people often only follow the direction of the light and miss the dark shadow behind the light source—this is the so-called "darkness under the lamp" phenomenon.
What Hugo consistently overlooked was the darkest place beneath the surface of the sea.