LRAB Chapter 308 The Solution – The Full Picture of the Mechanism's Mystery
Chapter 308 The Solution – The Full Picture of the Mechanism's Mystery
Chapter 310 The Solution – The Full Picture of the Mechanism Mystery
"This is a kidnapping case."
Ignoring the astonished expressions of everyone present, Sinnoh Champion Cynthia spoke up.
"The victim of the kidnapping was this giant Electrode from the Green Age. As a descendant of a hero Pokémon, it was cruelly imprisoned in the underground cave of the Forest Mansion and slept for over a hundred years."
"The culprit in the whole case is the builder of this Forest Mansion. In order to continue the kidnapping, this person built the Forest Mansion to supply electricity to the underground, which allowed the device that sealed the mischievous Raiden to operate on its own for the past hundred years, allowing the kidnapping to continue to this day."
"As for the target of the criminal's attempt to intimidate and extort, it is Arceus, the creator of Pokémon, who has long since departed from the human world in mythology and still looks down on all things from the distant void."
The motive behind kidnappers' crimes is to bring the high and mighty gods back to the world.
"Arceus himself acknowledged the heroic deeds of heroes. Would such a god, upon learning that the descendants of past heroes were in peril, once again show them a sliver of mercy?"
The builders of the Forest Mansion were betting on this slim, almost fantastical possibility.
"Champion Bamboo Orchid, are you serious? Even if, according to the League's intelligence, the descendants of the King of the Emerald Cave did indeed disappear without a trace a hundred years ago, isn't it a bit too crazy to link this to Arceus?"
Even Officer Jenny, who had overheard some of the details of the deduction in the underground cave, was still struggling to process this sudden accusation.
"If this had happened before yesterday, I don't think I could have possibly come to this conclusion under any circumstances —"
Zhu Lan looked around at everyone, then sighed and said, "However, when I was in this forest mansion that seemed to inspire fervor, when I heard firsthand Director Hayden's wild ideas about creating science fiction creatures, Professor Medan's obsession with scheming against the gods, and finally saw with my own eyes the intricate designs of the mechanisms scattered throughout the mansion, I found that I could gradually understand the mindset of the person behind it all."
"It sounds like your mental state is a bit dangerous, Zhu Lan champion."
Officer Jenny looked the Sinnoh Champion up and down with suspicion, and only stopped staring after seeing that he was behaving as usual.
Professor Mei Dan, sitting across the long table, immediately raised a clear question: "Miss Zhu Lan, even research related to mythology requires factual evidence, right?"
"Based on the information we have, all we know is that there is a giant, mischievous Raikou, which has been sleeping deep underground in the Forest Mansion. And the strange things about the Forest Mansion that you told us after you came out of the basement."
"So, even if everything you said is true, and there are indeed some shady things hidden in the architectural structure of this Forest Mansion, why are you so certain that these fragmented clues are neither a chance encounter nor traces left by some large-scale experiment, but ultimately point to that ethereal existence in the sky?"
You didn't just make up this answer on the spot after hearing my research, did you?
Although Mei Dan didn't say it explicitly, the way he crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow made his attitude quite clear.
"Rest assured, this is certainly not some baseless conjecture. This imprisonment incident from a hundred years ago must be related to Mythical Pokémon..."
Legendary Pokémon, or perhaps something higher than them, are involved. This is an undeniable fact. The evidence for this is this—
The mythologist reached into her pocket and took out what she and Officer Jenny had found at the end of the underground tunnel.
It was a feather.
The light feathers curved like a crescent moon, as if they would float away if you let go, and the whole thing emitted a beautiful fluorescent green light.
Its luster was a vibrant, brilliant green, making it almost unbelievable that this was an ancient artifact at least a hundred years old.
The fluorescent green light was so dazzling that it not only shone brightly in the poorly lit Forest Mansion, but also completely overshadowed the original color of the feathers.
Apart from Cynthia and Officer Jenny, everyone present immediately felt a sweet and relaxed atmosphere the moment they saw the feather.
The comforting atmosphere enveloped her like a soft veil, and even though everyone had stayed up late until nearly dawn, the maid, Zina, couldn't help but let out a long yawn.
Yawns spread like wildfire, and one by one, everyone present fell asleep and collapsed—of course, such a thing could not happen.
"Togekiss just used the 'Mystic Guard' move, so there's still a Mystic Curtain here that grants immunity to status ailments. It should minimize the effect of the feathers."
"However, if you really can't stand it anymore, you can rest for a while in the reception room. But please don't go to other parts of the mansion, as Pokkis and the others can't take care of that far."
Despite the champion's understanding words, no one in the audience intended to fall asleep at such a time.
Even the maid Zina, who had been yawning earlier, was now curiously examining the glowing prop in the champion's hand, looking quite interested.
Vinissa peeked out and asked, "Cyndaquil Champion, what Pokémon's feather is this? It looks so beautiful, just like the aurora borealis shimmering in the polar sky."
The mythologist nodded, the feather he held swaying slightly in the air. "We found it where Volibear was originally sealed. It was an altar the size of a room, with a large hole torn into the first level of the tunnel. Countless chains made of magnetite and a large amount of building materials were scattered around, which should have been left behind when Volibear broke free of its seal. This glowing feather was discarded near the very center of the altar, indicating that it was originally used as the core of the sealing device."
"Based on the characteristics that this feather currently exhibits, the origin of this strange ability that makes people feel so comfortable that they can't help but want to sleep is not hard to guess."
"Among the legendary Pokémon that fits the description in ancient myths and legends, Cresselia, known as the 'God of Dreams,' is probably the first one."
Legend has it that Cresselia is the embodiment of the new moon, and if you fall asleep while holding its feather, you will enter into a sweet dream.
Zhu Lan shook the feather again, and the fluorescent green light trailed an elegant arc in the air.
Scientists in the Unova region are said to have developed a technology that can solidify dream energy into a physical form. I wonder if that technological creation can compare to this magnificent, crescent-shaped feather?
At this moment, that pleasant sense of weariness intensified, and everyone couldn't help but nod in agreement—at this moment, the authenticity of this illusory item was beyond doubt.
"Of course, if people still have doubts about the condition of the underground space, they can also take a look at the photos we took on site."
Before Miss Champion could finish speaking, Rotom the Cellphone eagerly emerged from behind her.
While making a lot of noise, a series of photos of the scene were projected in the dimly lit conference room.
The holographic images were incredibly clear, capturing not only the chains forged from magnetite in the darkness, but also the steel columns extending down from the walls of the mansion in the distance.
The most eye-catching of them all is the altar that stands at the center of countless bent and converging steel pillars.
The so-called "altar" is actually just the personal interpretation of the Bamboo Orchid champion. From the perspective of technologists like Mei Dan and Hayden, it's...
It was more like the core of a steampunk-style device.
Compared to mythological heraldry and religious decorations, the altar is filled with more steel frames and mechanical gears. These savage-looking metal components intertwine to form a huge and hard cocoon within the dark cave, creating a visual impact that is neither ancient nor modern.
On the cocoon shell, which had been torn open with a large hole, more than ten Thunder Stones, emitting faint electric light, and the same number of Ice Stones, were screwed into the connection between the steel frame and the chain.
"Although there are more than a dozen ice stones embedded inside, you can't actually feel much cold air here."
The mythologist pointed to the image in the air and explained.
"Based on on-site observations, the mechanical gears inside originally appeared to be movable. Under normal operating conditions, they would use the static electricity unconsciously emitted by the Washing Jade Naughty Thunderball to slowly drive the entire altar to rotate at a speed that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye."
"In addition, the distribution of these minerals containing Pokémon energy on the altar is also very interesting. Unlike the Thunder Stones, which are evenly distributed around the front, back, and sides of the device, the Ice Stones are concentrated on one side of the device."
"Although the quality of the stones varies, the fact that the prisoner was able to acquire so many evolution stones a hundred years ago suggests that he was probably a super-rich businessman, just like Hayden."
Officer Jenny glanced teasingly in a certain direction. Hayden, whose name had been called, looked around indifferently.
"Why would the kidnapper do this? Was this setup necessary?"
Professor Mei Dan stretched out his finger and fiddled with the air, zooming in and out of the photo in front of him until he was sure there was absolutely no trace of forgery. Only then did he ask with a lot of suspicion.
"Probably to prevent the mischievous Razor, which is underground, from sensing the changing seasons."
Zhu Lan speculated—
"Although I didn't see what the Thunder Stone looked like trapped inside, the electricity it contains, combined with the surrounding magnet chains,..."
It should be possible to suspend it in mid-air while it is in a deep sleep, thus causing it to lose its sense of space.
"When the underground temperature rises in summer, the slow gears will drive more ice stones, turning them closer to Electrode, preventing the sealed Electrode from experiencing the changing seasons and thus depriving it of its perception of time."
"Without time, without space, a sleeping Electrode remains in the dark world. How should I put it? This arrangement, which almost perfectly matches the Sinnoh creation myth, truly reflects the ironic style of the owner of this Forest Mansion. At the same time, there must be another reason why the kidnappers made the altar rotate: to prevent Electrode from remaining in the same sleeping posture for too long."
"Isn't the Naughty Rathalos round? Does it need to roll over and stretch periodically?"
The old professor couldn't help but reveal his sarcastic and cynical nature, asking sarcastically.
The mythologist shook his head. "Stretching is unlikely. But just like how we sometimes feel muscle soreness when we wake up after sleeping for too long, if Raiden is kept in the same sleeping position for the past hundred years, there's a chance that Raiden's body or the surrounding magnetic field might undergo some kind of change. If this causes Raiden to sense something is wrong with itself and thus break its slumber, then the kidnappers' goal will be completely thwarted."
"So, the final key still lies with this crescent feather. Was it originally in this position?"
Meidan pointed to the base at the bottom of the cocoon, where there was a hole about the thickness of a finger in the very center.
"I found this glowing Cresselian feather from far away in the whole device, right here," Zhu Lan said, pointing to a spot on the side of the center.
"However, this hole is indeed exactly the same size as the Crescent Feather, just enough to insert the feather root. But this is only an estimate. We are worried that inserting the feather rashly may reactivate the device and cause unnecessary complications, so we plan to wait until the Alliance arrives here before conducting the experiment."
"Yes, with such a big mess, of course the Alliance will come."
Hayden, who funded the reconstruction of the Forest Mansion, muttered as if he had a toothache, "Could it really just be such a coincidence?"
Before seeing these photos, he could still stubbornly insist that the Forest Mansion merely overlapped with the sealed place of the mischievous Raid. Their involvement in the incident was nothing more than an extremely unfortunate coincidence.
However, it now appears that this coincidence actually stemmed from his own actions.
It was Hayden who, incredibly unlucky, chose a prison that held giant Pokémon as his old classmate's vacation spot.
"Professor Medan and Director Hayden, both of you have led major scientific research projects. You must be very familiar with the input-output ratio of experiments. Tell me, what kind of research is worth spending so many Pokémon Evolution Stones and such a precious Crescent Feather as consumables to seal the experimental subjects?"
"Our research has never focused on benefits, it's just that..." Professor Mei Dan said, getting up.
Hayden chimed in, "However, we mad scientists aren't just throwing money away. Since we've already invested so many precious resources, as the designers of the experiment, we naturally expect a return commensurate with our investment."
"And the person who sealed away the mischievous Raiden was prepared from the very beginning for the kidnapping to continue for a hundred years."
Zhu Lan reminded him, raising her index finger towards the sky.
"Given such a long time span, there are very few people he can threaten with extortion."
"No, you came to this conclusion because you made certain assumptions."
Director Hayden astutely seized upon the flaws in the argument.
"Why does it have to be extortion? The criminal sealed away the Enchanted Turbo for some other purpose, such as researching the reason why this Enchanted Turbo became so large."
"Although this Naughty Raikou is huge, it is still within the range of natural development and shouldn't have that much scientific research value. Besides, before the reconstruction, the Forest Mansion shouldn't have had any place that could be used for scientific research, right? But the mansion itself is inseparable from the sealing device. If it was just a short-term research project, and the equipment was moved out of the Forest Mansion after the experiment, why would the culprit need to design a life support device that could run automatically for a hundred years specifically for Naughty Raikou?"
"Therefore, I believe that only kidnapping as a criminal motive can best explain everything we are currently witnessing."
"The builder of the mansion's obsession with Arceus can also be seen in the chain-like patterns carved on the entrance of the mansion and in this carefully restored ancient book of poems."
"Even this Cresselian feather might have been an unintentional byproduct of the mansion owner's investigation of mythological relics and his pursuit of clues about Arceus. That's why he would seal it underground along with the hostage without any regard for its safety."
Zhu Lan refuted the accusation in a gentle and detailed manner, while carefully placing the feather on the long table in front of her.
Following this incident, this item will be provided to the Sinnoh League's research institutions for trace sampling, scientific analysis, and data archiving. It may not be returned to Cynthia for further processing by its discoverer for several months.
This process is not mandatory, but as the champion of the Sinnoh League, she must set an example.
It is said that if you carry this feather with you, it will attract the attention of Cresselia, the original owner of the feather, on the night of the new moon.
However, Cynthia holds a pessimistic view on this—in mythology, there are indeed many stories of Pokémon giving away pieces of their bodies to humans as tokens of goodwill.
However, this crescent feather has clearly been lost for a long time, and the special energy it used for sending and receiving signals should have been completely worn away long ago. Otherwise, the builders of the Forest Mansion would not have trusted it to be used as a consumable item as a sealing tool to put the mischievous Raiden into a slumber.
What kind of person was that kidnapper from a hundred years ago?
What reason could that person possibly have for coming up with the crazy idea of using intimidation to summon the gods?
Is it a desire to resurrect the dead? Or a wish to become stronger? Or a desire to transcend the real world? Or a dream of time travel?
No, a god summoned through extortion like this would certainly never grant the wish of the one who makes the wish.
So, does the other party want to conquer the god who created the world, just like trainers capture Pokémon?
Or, like Professor Medan's opposite, are they simply obsessed with proving the existence of gods?
"No, based on the information we have so far, we cannot be completely certain that the criminal's blackmail target is definitely a god."
Mei Dan, sitting across the long table, pondered for a long time and finally found another basis for rebuttal.
"It's not just mythical creatures that can live for centuries; organizations and institutions formed by humans can do the same."
"Long-lasting institutions can uphold the same ideals through generations and consistently shoulder the responsibilities and ideals left by their predecessors. Perhaps the prisoner took this into account, which is why he issued a threatening statement to a large organization that existed at the time."
"Unfortunately, such an institution did not exist at the time," Officer Jenny said with a shrug.
"It will be several more years before the Pokémon League system is introduced to Sinnoh from other regions. By the time the Sinnoh League has fully taken over the affairs of the Sinnoh region, the rumors of the haunted Forest Mansion will have already spread around Hundred City. The timeline doesn't match up at all."
"Doesn't the Sinnoh League have any predecessor organization?"
Hayden, who had founded his own company, immediately followed up, "When large organizations like this are established, they usually absorb some local small and medium-sized institutions, or they are simply formed by the merger and reorganization of these institutions, right?"
Lancelot and Sora said, "If we're talking about their predecessor organizations, we should mention the faith organizations from Sinnoh's homeland, Team Kongo and Team Pearl. They're the two groups of believers I mentioned some time ago who mistook the Sinnoh Grandmaster Arceus for Dialga and Palkia."
Most of the records about Hero Pokémon are from oral traditions passed down among those people.
Officer Jenny looked at the enormous, slumbering deaf spirit in the distance. "Speaking of which, the person who reported the disappearance of the Cave King to the Sinnoh League was a descendant of Team Kongo. That clan seems to have always been tasked with protecting the Guardian King. If their ancestors knew that the missing Impish Pi hadn't regained its freedom but was instead secretly imprisoned, they would probably be filled with shame and grief, wouldn't they?"
Halfway through her sentence, the investigator slapped her forehead: "Oh dear, on the other hand, considering their completely oblivious attitude when they reported to the Alliance, didn't the Kongo Squad have absolutely no idea why the Guardian King had disappeared?"
"Don't bring out a bunch of evidence in your favor now. It's too unfair in a debate," Director Hayden said, dissatisfied.
"The duty of those in power is to keep secrets. In Hayden's extreme theory, it means trying every means to deceive the public and ensure that their deception is not exposed."
Officer Jenny shrugged: "As I've said before, information about the descendants of the Guardian King is a matter that needs to be kept confidential. Revealing this part of the inner arts to you here is already me overstepping my authority and taking a risk."
"Alright, alright. Apart from Team Pearl, who has management authority over the Cave Kings, and Team Kongo, who doesn't know the truth about Electrode's disappearance, there was also a research team with the same name as Team Galactic that was very active in the early days of Sinnoh's rise to prominence. It was a pioneering army composed of people from various regions who explored the Sinnoh region, which was still in ruins at the time, and carried out the most primitive Pokémon research work."
Zhu Lan, trying to smooth things over, continued recalling historical records, saying...
"However, as Takumi advanced and his settlements gradually dispersed throughout Sinnoh, the actual power of Team Galactic gradually crumbled. After all, back then, Pyro didn't have the convenient communication conditions we have now. It was impossible for cities far away to report everything to headquarters and allow those who didn't know the inside story to command remotely. In addition, many veterans of the Takumi era returned to their original hometowns after retiring, and Team Galactic gradually disappeared into the river of history."
"Until later, when the Akari family dug it up from the ground again, it completely ruined its reputation."
Officer Jenny crossed her arms and added -
"According to the intelligence gathered by the Alliance, that family is actually a descendant of former Team Galactic members."
"If we were to investigate this closely, the descendants of the original Team Galactic members would be scattered throughout the Sinnoh region. Even if Akatsuki is a descendant of those pioneers, it doesn't prove anything."
Zhu Lan said.
"As Professor Medan said, 'Upholding the same ideals through generational changes and consistently shouldering the responsibilities and ideals left by predecessors' is the true proof of an organization's existence. From this perspective, the Galactic Team a hundred years ago and the Galactic Group that perished two years ago are practically unrelated, except for their similar names."
"Sigh, then this can't possibly be extortion against Team Galactic either," Professor Medan sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
After eliminating many conditions, only the conclusion about Zhulan best fits all the events that have occurred so far.
One hundred years ago, this experiment attempting to summon the gods ended up overlapping with Professor Medan's experiment one hundred years later, which aimed to prove that the gods did not exist.
The two interfered with each other, and at the same time, they seemed to meet a disastrous end.
The hostages that the former had painstakingly hidden were rescued, while the latter's carefully planned counter-evidence experiment was rendered useless due to the explosion triggered when the former's seal was broken.
Is this a trick of the gods, or a coincidence of fate?
"Hmph, it's more accurate to say that the later Galactic Group used this mansion to plan a very important matter."
Officer Jenny couldn't help but grit her teeth whenever Team Galactic was mentioned.
"Yes. In a sense, this explosion, and even the earlier decapitation of the living, was all orchestrated by Pluto, a former executive of the Galactic Group."
The Sinnoh champion bent down and moved an object that had been placed on the ground onto the table.
-
It was the human head that she and Officer Jenny found in the underground tunnel.
The head was covered with a gray cloth, so it didn't appear particularly gruesome under the green light of the crescent feather next to the table. However, after seeing the object of this size and shape, the people in the mansion, who had already experienced a visual shock, immediately understood what it was.
"Is this the human head we found in the attic?" the maid, Zina, asked, mustering her courage.
"That's right. The most authentic way to find out the truth of a case is for the victims to tell their own stories."
Zhu Lan nodded slightly, then said to everyone present, "This head fell into the underground gun during the earthquake. Logically speaking, it shouldn't have moved too far. But when we found it, it was located at the deepest part of the underground tunnel—which means that someone moved it before we arrived."
"Yes," Officer Jenny continued, stating her deduction from underground: "The sudden earthquake caught all of us off guard. All the humans at the Forest Mansion were on the surface, as were all the Pokémon they were carrying. Under the power of that terrifying energy, it was impossible for any wild Pokémon from the vicinity to enter on their own. Therefore, apart from Electrode that sprang from the bottom of the construction site, there couldn't be any other creature in the tunnel—except for—the one who released Electrode from its seal."
"Soon after that, we found Rotom lurking in the shadows nearby."
The champion continued—
"This Rotom is the Pokémon that originally resided in the body of the human as a soul. It was also the poor victim trapped behind the Gym Leader's bookshelf by the Ice-Treading Doll's 'Light Screen' during the noon wall-smashing noise incident."
"When we found this Rotom, it showed some attachment to the human body it had previously inhabited, so it secretly picked up the head and took it to the end of the underground tunnel, and lingered around the head—but I think this may also be related to the Ghost-type Pokémon, Skygull."
Miss Champion stepped back, as if handing over the space in front of her to the heads on the table.
"In conclusion, although we have made some speculations about the mystery of this incident, nothing is more credible than the parties involved speaking for themselves. Therefore, let the victim reveal the final answer."
"Preliminary statement 11"
Officer Jenny added before giving up her spot.
"The reason we put Rotom back into its original head isn't for any special ritual or malicious intent. It's simply because Rotom, the Cynthia Champion's phone, is unexpectedly unable to translate Pokémon languages in its current state, seemingly due to some kind of mechanical modification affecting its language abilities."
"Therefore, we can only temporarily return it to its original head and use the language module originally built into the head to express itself. This module just happens to adopt a structure similar to the Rotom Compendium, and the Thunder Stone found underground can also provide sufficient electrical energy to this part of the head."
"These cumbersome steps are also part of the π method. After all, once it becomes a mobile phone, the language module must operate according to mechanical logic. Otherwise, it will conflict with the electronic data recorded on the hardware."
The red Rotom phone next to it floated around noisily.
"Is there such a limitation between enemies? They are both Rotoms, yet they cannot communicate with each other," Miss Venetian asked in surprise.
"Logical contradictions are irreconcilable. In automation design, such counterintuitive things sometimes happen."
Professor Mei Dan, who had personally designed the birthplace of the Qi Shengren, explained to her daughter with empathy.
"It's always difficult to have it all. Unlimited computing power and memory can't come without a price. Before we can truly unlock the mysteries of the biological brain, if we want to provide a place for the soul to take its place, we either have to outsource everything and temporarily close off the original biological entity, or we have to keep it as it is and stop progressing. This is actually the threshold and boundary between robots and living beings."
"So, Professor Medan, in your view as the creator, do the inanimate objects you created belong to the side of robots or the side of living beings?"
"When hatred belongs to the mechanical side," Medan answered without hesitation.
"After all, creating life is not difficult at all. Whether it's humans, Pokémon, or even ordinary plants, they all have the impulse and ability to reproduce and continue their species. Even if we modify the genetic blueprints and eventually create a modified creature like Mewtwo, at best we are just dancing in the palm of the creator's hand. What we want to create is a different form of life, the complete opposite of that."
"Even if this new life requires a pre-existing life to manipulate it, does it?"
"This is a gradual process. First, it will be driven by humans who have mastered the manipulation skills, then by ordinary people with no experience, and then by Pokémon, which are clearly different from humans. If there is a next step, we will adopt a program with pre-set operating principles to serve as the soul of the living."
Mei Dan's gaze swept around the long table, searching for the person who was talking to him. He felt that the voice was both strange and familiar.
For some reason, the people around him looked at him with a strange expression.
"Just like Pokémon's evolution, we will refine the technology step by step through rigorous trial and error, ultimately creating a completely new life form with the same abilities as humans, but with the opposite internal logic. Wait a minute, are you...?"
The old professor suddenly seemed shocked, and at the same time, the voice he had been speaking to rang out again—"So that's how it is. Two years ago, I became some kind of intermediate trial-and-error prototype?"
The sound came from the head of the unborn man, which was covered by a gray cloth.