Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 280 The Basement and the Vanished Notebook

Chapter 282 The Basement and the Vanished Notebook

"Champion Zhu Lan, as a police officer, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

In the basement of the Forest Mansion, Officer Jenny, dumbfounded, turned her head toward Orchid bit by bit, like a mechanical doll with rusty joints.

"If the information I found on my phone is correct, this Professor Meidan teaches the following subjects at Binhai University..."

It should include biology, including Pokémon and humans, right?

"Yes."

The Sinnoh champion nodded calmly. "To be precise, it should be biotechnology. Genetic engineering, which we often hear about, is included in this broad category. However, the subjects taught by scholars do not always fully represent their research fields. Professor Medan should have knowledge of other interdisciplinary subjects in addition to biotechnology."

"Is information technology also considered an interdisciplinary field within biology?"

Officer Jenny raised her arms, spreading them out in front of the countless computer mainframes that resembled a gray forest, expressing her shock and bewilderment.

She had expected to see laboratory equipment such as beakers, droppers, microscopes, and operating tables in the basement, but what she saw completely exceeded the policewoman's expectations.

Before the two, amidst the rows of mainframes, faint lights constantly emanated, indicating that "the machines are running," resembling a luminous green starry sky.

No one could have guessed that such a set of futuristic computer equipment was hidden in the basement of such a secluded and remote old mansion, whose exterior walls were even completely covered by trees!

"Bioinformatics, molecular biology, bionics, or even research on virtual Pokémon like Porygon—these fields all require the use of information technology. Professor Meidan's research topics are probably related to these fields as well."

Zhu Lan looked around at the rows of instruments, talking as she strolled. The air seemed to pulsate with a crowded yet orderly rhythm as these electronic devices operated. A red Rotom phone popped out of her pocket, snapping photos of the surroundings.

Officer Jenny frowned and shook her head repeatedly: "Even if there's some connection, it's impossible to bury a giant computer under the Forest Mansion, right? It's really strange. When did they move these instruments into the forest? Isn't there a problem with heat dissipation?"

"Judging by its size, it doesn't seem like a supercomputer." The well-informed champion scholar stopped and turned to Officer Jenny, who had returned behind him, and said.

"Although I don't know much about the field of computer science, I have seen real supercomputers at the research and development center in Zhuqing City. Those machines occupy at least several hundred square meters, and a basement definitely cannot hold such a huge instrument. This place is at most a computer cluster of ordinary size, which is normal for doing research such as Pokémon gene sequencing. However, there are only two researchers in the building, Professor Medan and his assistant Neil. If you want to do a large-scale project like gene sequencing, you probably don't have enough manpower."

Orchid's explanation did not offer Miss Officer Jenny much comfort; in her view, there was no difference between a supercomputer and a computer cluster.

The policewoman walked to the long table at the far end of the basement, looked at the huge, black-screened electronic monitor on it, and sighed with a worried expression, "Now I finally understand why Mei Dan was so confident that we couldn't find any clues to our research here. It turns out, all the specific research details are hidden in the computer. We don't know the password, so we can't see them at all."

Zhu Lan pointed into the distance: "Isn't there a small room right opposite the monitor? It shouldn't be the server room. Can you tell anything from inside?"

"Oh, there? I went in and checked it out when I came down first."

Officer Jenny crossed her arms, giving him a look that said, "Go ahead and come in if you want."

"Inside is Mei Dan's bed and desk, which must have been where the professor slept while working—though it's called a desk, there's not a single sheet of paper on it. If it weren't for the unmade bed next to it, you'd never guess someone had ever lived here. It's really strange, isn't it? Are even researchers starting to go paperless these days?"

"No research on note-taking? Well, if you have a computer and a handheld tablet, most of the functions of pen and paper can indeed be replaced by the touch screen of a monitor."

As Zhu Lan spoke, she followed Rotom's phone to the small room. Inside, there was practically nothing but a bed and a set of tables and chairs.

The table and chairs were simple iron pieces without cabinets or drawers; roughly made but seemingly durable, with an adjustable table lamp on the tabletop. The bed was simply covered with a white sheet, with blankets and pillows scattered haphazardly.

It's just like a hospital bed.

It's unclear whether these items were originally part of the Forest Mansion or were brought into the Hundred Generations Forest by Professor Meidan.

"However, if Professor Medan uses this place as his workplace, it's quite strange that there isn't even a single reference book he can consult at any time."

Miss Champion casually checked the table lamp on the table, fiddled with it for a bit, and after turning on the knob switch, the bright white light instantly dispelled the gloom in the basement.

"Furthermore, the presence of a desk lamp here indicates that Professor Meidan's work here indeed required reading or writing. The light bulb shows signs of aging, suggesting that its owner has used the lamp many times. Whether it was used for reading, writing, or some other purpose, the fact that there isn't a single piece of paper around here is truly unacceptable."

Officer Jenny looked at the Sinnoh Champion, deep in thought under the lamp, and found it somewhat amusing. Her clear, bright eyes blinked, as if to say: "Truly worthy of being Hugo's sister; is that inquisitive spirit a family trait?"

Seeing that Zhu Lan was completely unaware of her spying and had put the lamp back in its place, Officer Jenny continued, "Back to the main topic, Miss Zhu Lan. Since the research materials that should have been here have mysteriously disappeared, do you think the mansion owner might have hidden all the research materials because he was afraid of the two of us? After that instructional battle, didn't Mei Dan disappear for a while? Maybe he moved those reference books around that time."

Are the books to be moved in such a short time?

Zhu Lan thought for a moment and said, "That's a possibility, but the more crucial question is—what would be the point of doing that?"

"significance?"

"Professor Meidan couldn't possibly have known in advance that we were coming to the Mori Mansion. If it was really inconvenient, he could have simply prohibited us from exploring the basement under the pretext of research confidentiality. Why would he go to such lengths to move research materials for two strangers?"

"What's the point—no, it's absolutely unnecessary. It's precisely because it's unnecessary that we were put in this basement."

With Zhu Lan's guidance, the quick-thinking Officer Jenny immediately came up with the answer.

"These documents should have been transferred long before we arrived at the mansion!"

Seeing the Sinnoh Champion still deep in thought with his arms crossed, the policewoman instantly cleared her head. "At this moment, the most reasonable explanation is that letting the two of us into the basement was simply a convenient excuse."

The research secrets inside had actually been removed long ago. The reason they did this wasn't to deceive the two of us, but to mislead another visitor who had already announced their travel plans.

Zhu Lan looked up, gazing meaningfully at the black ceiling. A thread of the mystery had already appeared before her.

"The visitors who should have arrived at Mori no Yaman today were not us, nor Neil and Vinnie, but Professor Medan's old classmate, Mr. Hayden, who founded Hayden Pharmaceuticals."