69novels Chapter 305 The Solution - The Pursuit of the Truth
Chapter 305 The Solution - The Pursuit of the Truth
Chapter 307 Resolution - The Pursuit of the Ultimate Truth
"Ah—it's that matter."
Looking at the Sinnoh champion in front of her, who exuded a strong sense of responsibility, Officer Jenny couldn't help but feel ashamed.
She was the one who boasted that she would resolve the matter, but now it seems that Officer Jenny has almost forgotten her original intention.
After all, she hadn't taken such a promise seriously; it was merely an excuse for the cold-blooded investigator to stay in the mansion and continue extracting information from Hayden. "The mystery of the severed head is inextricably linked to the existence of that ancient Shinonome Thunderbolt. And regarding the latter, we actually obtained countless pieces of indirect evidence before tonight's events occurred. No, wait!"
Just as Zhu Lan was about to move on to the topic, she suddenly frowned. "Calling it ancient seems a bit inappropriate, as it makes it sound like a creature that went extinct hundreds of years ago. But wooden versions of Poké Balls could still be seen sporadically on the market until fifty years ago, so the era in which this kind of Electrode was active might be surprisingly close to modern times—to be on the safe side, it's more accurate to call it Green Electrode."
"I suddenly feel like you don't really care about that android anymore."
The investigator complained with a dark expression, feeling that his previous guilt seemed somewhat unnecessary.
"Okay, let's get back to the indirect evidence. First of all, the most unnatural part of the entire building is undoubtedly that dark spire. Although the spire is now almost completely blended in with the other towering trees, if we turn back the clock a hundred years, before those trees grew to their current height, this Forest Mansion with its towering spire would definitely be the most eye-catching building within a hundred miles."
While talking about the topic on the ground, Zhu Lan ended her investigation of the iron pillars inside the wall.
Without consulting Officer Jenny who was in the middle of a conversation, she left the Rockruff guarding the Thunderbolt and, with the Sea Gastrodon who had just finished its battle, took the lead and headed deeper into the underground pit.
Walking along the path—
"Although the spire of the Forest Mansion has been a landmark in the surrounding forest for the past hundred years, functionally, it served little purpose in the densely wooded Hundred Generations Forest, whether as a storage attic or a watchtower for defense. Now, with the surrounding trees growing as tall as the spire, even its function as a landmark has been diminished—"
"Hey, hey, don't suddenly start exploring the crime scene on your own! Wait for me!"
Officer Jenny caught up with Orchid on the run, illuminating the road ahead with her police flashlight, and said breathlessly, "But I understand what you mean. The structure of that spire is too abrupt. Rather than a way to increase space or guide visitors, it looks more like a giant lightning rod."
"Yes, but there are no buildings around the mansion that need protection. The Hundred Generations Forest is damp all year round, so there is no need to build a lightning rod to prevent forest fires. So I guess there might be something underground here that needs to attract lightning to provide electricity."
Zhu Lan bent down to avoid the huge rock hanging upside down above her head.
Although the passage in front of them had already been opened once by the mischievous, emerald-washed lightning bombs, some loose rocks and sand had collapsed again.
It buried most of the road leading underground.
If it weren't for Cynthia's Gastrodon being able to use the "Earth Power" move, which would ensure her and Officer Jenny's safety even in the event of a landslide, she wouldn't have ventured into such a dangerous place without any preparation, even as the Sinnoh Champion.
The reason the spire looks dark is perhaps because it has been struck by lightning for a long time—this is the starting point of all my reasoning.
"So, there's more evidence to come?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Yes, as I said before, there is a wealth of evidence."
Zhu Lan nodded affirmatively, "For example, although the entire view is hidden by dense trees, the exterior walls of this mansion were originally unusually thick."
"Do you remember when we first entered the villa? I felt something was strange. The structure of the Mori Mansion was clearly a regular rectangle when viewed from above. Why did we see such a long entrance hall when we entered the building from the middle of the long side of the rectangle in such an excessively spacious mansion?"
"The answer is very simple—this is also a design technique employed by the people who built this mansion. The purpose was to make the walls, which are thicker than city walls, less conspicuous, thereby concealing the existence of these massive lightning rods inside the walls."
"The strange wall-hammering incident we encountered in the second-floor mansion is naturally also related to these pillars. You've probably already deduced that the Pokémon trapped in the wall behind the bookshelf is likely Rotom, which originally resided inside the android head and had just returned to the mansion from the outside."
"The reason it was trapped was because this elf, which had been stuffed into a human body two years ago, took the wrong route when trying to return to the underground through the original iron pillar passage because it did not understand the terrain of the renovated Forest Mansion; or perhaps it was because of human activities in the mansion that the iron pillars rusted further, so that Rotom could not pass through and had to choose another route."
"In short, it unfortunately got lost in the electronic circuitry that Manager Aying and the others had added, and was trapped inside by the 'light wall' released by the Ice-Treading Puppet, between the walls of that room without iron pillars."
"Besides these, when Roseredo cleared the trees in front of the mansion, didn't we feel that the architectural style of the Forest Mansion was a bit incongruous when we looked at it? At the time, we felt that it was neither a traditional mansion in Old Sinnoh nor a spire castle in the Kalos region, so much so that for a moment we thought it was an architectural style from a more distant region."
"We think this way because the owner of the mansion sacrificed the aesthetic appeal of the building for the purpose of attracting lightning. However, the mansion is now surrounded by layers of trees, and the interior has been renovated by Aying and her team, which has inadvertently hidden this sense of incongruity."
"Who is that guy?! Why did he have to build a house like that in a forest?"
The cramped space inside the cave made Officer Jenny feel a little depressed, and she couldn't help but complain about it.
Zhu Lan stopped and thought seriously for a moment, then said with an uncertain tone, "Before tonight's events, I didn't know the answer to this question either. After all, who can fathom the thoughts of people from a hundred years ago? But now it seems I have a clue."
The people behind urged impatiently, "What? What?"
"Let's talk about it when we get back to the Forest Mansion," the champion said, shaking his head in refusal.
"That's nothing more than wild speculation. It's more practical to solve the current issue of the android's decapitation. Trying to solve two problems at the same time often results in not being able to answer either one."
"Well, that's true." Officer Jenny sighed as well.
"The haunted mansion, the Hayden Pharmaceutical corruption scandal, the android decapitation incident, the atheist's delusional research, the Naughty Raiden rampage incident, and finally, the century-old mystery of the Forest Mansion—we've already conflated too many issues in our discussions. At this moment, it's better to clarify things."
The Sinnoh champion felt as if he had heard a term that could not be ignored: "The Hayden Pharmaceuticals embezzlement scandal?"
"Please don't worry about that. It's just someone using the reflection left in the mirror to inflate their own value in front of suspicious foreign organizations. As long as it hasn't been discovered yet, it's basically harmless."
The more I listen, the more suspicious it becomes. What exactly is the boss of that company that develops androids doing?
Zhu Lan turned around and scrutinized Jun Sha. After looking at her for a while, seeing that the latter still looked calm, she could only sigh.
"Fine, since you've put it that way, I have no reason to interfere."
Realizing that such incidents would ultimately have to be handled by the Alliance's intelligence department, Zhu Lan decided not to pursue the matter further. She could only choose to trust Officer Jenny's character and judgment, and continued the previous topic, "However, speaking of mirror reflections, this is actually indirect evidence. The reason why the mansion's glass windows appear hazy..."
It's not just because the trees outside block the view and prevent cleaning that the stains remain. It's also because the windows were originally designed to be very heavy.
No matter how transparent the glass is, there will always be impurities present. Mirror reflections and the material's absorption of light will also significantly affect the light transmittance of a window. Therefore, if the thickness of the glass increases, these impurities and interferences will continue to accumulate, causing it to appear hazy and dull.
"Although no specific investigation has been conducted, the materials used in those windows also warrant further investigation. They may have been made of special glass to match the thick walls; otherwise, they could not have remained intact for a century."
"I even think that the window might not be made of glass at all, but some kind of more stable crystal mineral. Its properties might help attract lightning, perhaps stabilizing the life of the mischievous lightning bolts underground."
"Miss Zhulan, but if that's the case, wouldn't the cost of the entire house be extremely high? And this building must have been constructed a hundred years ago, right? It's not just a matter of cost; wouldn't there be enormous technical challenges as well?"
Officer Jenny suddenly realized an obvious contradiction -
"The same goes for glass, and those pillars before. Making them must have required a considerable level of technology. Did people in that era have the capability to do these things?"
"Of course it's possible."
Zhu Lan had an expression that said, "What are you still saying now?"
"The builder of this mansion sealed such a huge, mischievous lightning bolt underground. Do you really think that person is someone to be trifled with?"
"But even that huge Electrode was taken down by Gastrodon in one move, and that was without any type advantage." Officer Jenny was a little confused about the Champion's criteria for judging strength.
"Don't underestimate the strength of the Sea Gastrodon. Being defeated by its 'Earth Power' in one move is nothing to be ashamed of."
Miss Champion shook her head and said.
"That Jacuzzi that just emerged from underground is actually at its last gasp. And it can't unleash a Grass-type move that's powerful enough to shake the entire mansion without a price to pay."
"In fact, I'm still terrified. Luckily, Gastrodon used the terrain to unleash even more power from 'Earth Power,' otherwise, if Electrode had actually unleashed 'Big Bang,' I don't know how things would have turned out."
Zhu Lan patted the head of the sea hare beast following behind her, then changed the subject—
"But on the other hand, the fact that it immediately decided to use 'Big Bang' the moment it sensed us on the ground suggests it was a choice made out of necessity. After all, having been sealed away, it doesn't have much of a good impression of humans on the ground anymore."
Officer Jenny exclaimed in surprise, "Does it mean it considers us to be accomplices of the Sealer?"
Zhu Lan nodded: "Similar incidents often occur when ancient Pokémon are discovered during archaeological excavations. So I think that person is either a powerful trainer or possesses some kind of method to control legendary or mythical Pokémon."
"Trainers with Pokémon of this strength have many ways to build a house from scratch."
"For example, if I wanted to build the Forest Mansion, I would have Garchomp dig the foundation, Roserade grow suitable trees, Rockruff process the wood, Gastrodon carry it, and Lucario and Togekiss assemble it."
"Although we may not be able to work together smoothly at first, and the process may be messy, each of my staff can handle the work efficiency of more than ten Pokémon of the same kind. If we find someone with construction experience like Manager Aying to advise and explain things, it shouldn't be too difficult to quickly and properly build a house."
"Similarly, although my team doesn't have any Pokémon that are good at pouring iron pipes or cutting ore, if Elite Four's Magmortar and Wushun's Gallade were to do it, even if it took a little more time, they could still complete the task without fail."
"Your Garchomp should be able to cut ore, right?"
"To perfectly cut a clear crystal into glass? Hmm, perhaps my training method is a bit too unrestrained. Without any specialized training, no Garchomp could do that," Cynthia answered honestly.
The investigator shrugged: "So, that mischievous lightning bolt has been sealed underground for the past hundred years, feeding on the occasional lightning bolts that fall from the sky? It's amazing it's survived until now."
"I believe it was forcibly sealed in some kind of dormant state, where the energy needed for survival is compressed to a minimum. My exploration of the tunnel this time was to find the remnants of that seal."
Zhu Lan carefully turned sideways and narrowly squeezed through a crevice in the rocks.
"Moreover, even if this Pokémon can only feed on lightning strikes, the lightning in the sky still contains a vast and enormous amount of energy. Just imagine, when this Forest Mansion was first built, the towering forests around it couldn't have grown up immediately, right? In addition, there were trees that were felled on the spot when the house was built, so there should have been a fairly large flat area around the Forest Mansion at that time."
"This mansion was originally located deep in the mountains of the Baidai Forest, and its terrain was naturally higher than other parts of the forest. In addition, the forest climate in this area is prone to frequent thunderstorms. I even think that the problem faced by the Xicui Thunderbolt at that time was an energy surplus rather than a food shortage."
"There's actually an excess of energy?"
"Yes," Zhu Lan nodded.
"The reason why the Forest Mansion became a haunted place for Rotom to gather in an era without electricity a hundred years ago was because a huge, mischievous lightning bolt full of electrical energy slept underground here. The lightning from the sky was conducted to the ground through steel, and Rotom could draw enough electricity to sustain themselves from the vicinity of this king of the caves."
"The reason why Team Galactic is so careful in recording the information here is probably because they are aware of the existence of that naughty Raikou below."
It's just that their organization was destroyed too early, and there wasn't time to carry out the arrest plan.
Officer Jenny astutely pointed out the logical flaws—
"Isn't this reasoning a bit far-fetched? What if they were just being meticulous and simply registered this address?"
"It's not far-fetched."
Zhu Lan's calm voice came from ahead, sounding particularly solemn against the echo of the cave chapter.
"Miss Officer Jenny, do you remember who revealed the existence of this Forest Mansion to the police?"
Without hesitation, the latter replied, "It's Pluto, the chief science officer of the Galactic Group, who's imprisoned in the Alliance prison. We only recently managed to get him to talk—wait a minute!"
"That's right, that's the most unsettling element of the whole incident," the champion said.
"Although we discussed it on the way here, I, as the Sinnoh Champion and Mythology Scholar, am indeed the best candidate to search the mansion. But even if I am the best candidate, I am not the only option. Rather, the fact that I was able to take the time out of my busy League affairs is a very lucky coincidence."
The events that occurred in the mansion today were not a chain reaction caused by the champion's visit.
Officer Jenny had no doubt that if Cynthia wasn't here, that mischievous Thunderbolt would have stormed out of the basement and, with its godlike white light, would have overwhelmed all the residents of the Forest Mansion and the investigators from the Alliance.
"That Hades guy, he wants to use the Mischievous Thunderbolt to kill me?"
A bone-chilling cold seeped from the investigator's spine.
"This possibility is quite high. It's not just about the information on the Voltorb; the Galactic Group also has some knowledge of Hayden Pharmaceuticals' research on creating androids."
The Sinnoh Champion solemnly warned, "Remember that android head with the same hair color as Officer Jenny? Don't forget, that's the signature dark green hair of Team Galactic members. Why do you think that is?"
"I had considered this issue before," Officer Jenny said. "At the time, I thought it was probably around the time Hayden Pharmaceuticals was on the verge of bankruptcy within the Galaxy Group."
The technological achievements were obtained from the latter. Professor Medan doesn't have much political sensitivity; he probably just saw how useful the other party's technology was and installed it on the androids.
"I basically share that view, but the problem lies in time."
Lancelot continued leading the way, holding up two fingers to Officer Jenny behind them—"Two years ago, on the eve of Team Galactic's destruction, when Hayden Pharmaceuticals received information from the Development Project, Professor Medan's androids were already basically complete. Even if they acquired some new technology from Team Galactic at that time, they absolutely wouldn't have had time to apply it to the already completed androids—unless..."
"Unless Hayden Pharmaceuticals and the Galaxy Group have more than just the Space Energy Development Project! They started cooperating two years ago, or even earlier!"
Officer Jenny reacted quickly, gritting her teeth and angrily saying, "Damn it, that old fox Hayden! I should have known better. If he dared to collude with that suspicious organization across the ocean, how could he possibly let Team Galactic, right here in Sinnoh, go unpunished!"
Zhu Lan continued the original topic: "And that technology is very likely the mind transmission technology that Mei Dan was fully in charge of—the transmission device that injects the soul of an elf into the human brain."
"We can't be sure that the device is definitely located in the head, can we?"
Officer Jenny, who had personally studied the bionic head, asked a serious question in return.
"If it's just to give the soul-like Rotom a place to live, can't the device be placed in other parts of the body? Like the chest cavity or the lower abdomen or something?"
"I don't think Medan and Hayden would do that. After all, what they want to create is a cyborg from the concept of science fiction, not just a robot that has a humanoid shape. They should try to simulate real humans as much as possible in terms of the location of their organs."
"Ah, that's right. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to explain ourselves to our clients," Officer Jenny said, as if she had just remembered something, immediately agreeing with her companion's opinion.
Zhu Lan continued, "At that time, the Galactic Group was at its zenith, and Hayden Pharmaceuticals had a very good cooperative relationship with the Space Energy Development Corporation. So Hayden went a step further and directly spent money to buy semi-mature technology and product prototypes from the Galactic Group headquarters, and handed them over to Medan for further research. Only in this way can the strange shape of the android's head be explained—the entire skull frame was made by the mad scientists on the Galactic Group's side, which is why the android's hair is that color. And in this process, Pluto, the Galactic Group's chief scientist, was very likely to have learned about the progress of the android research."
"Ah! I see. Not only were the bombs buried underground, but even the fuse that almost detonated the entire incident was already in Pluto's hands!"
The conspiracy of an old friend is like a dwarf planet hidden in the asteroid belt. Although its existence is almost invisible to the naked eye, the threads of its gravity still effectively control the puppet in the distance.
"A miscalculation! I was so careless. It was like a trainer walking down the street being ambushed by a cat I'd easily defeated, the sudden 'Electric Shock' shooting from my heel all the way to the tips of my hair."
Officer Jenny gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "Those Team Galactic members have been in prison for over two years, and they're still plotting something like this? What good does it do them?"
"Since they're locked up in prison, their plot is most likely related to a prison break, right?"
Zhu Lan rested her fingertips on her chin and analyzed the situation logically.
"To be honest, I'm not good at this kind of reasoning with obviously incomplete conditions, so I can't guarantee anything. Maybe you can wait until Hugo wakes up tomorrow and consult him. That guy seems to have some experience with this kind of reasoning in the United States."
"That is, if our new Unova Champion can spare the time," Chikara added with a smile.
"Never make jokes like this. It's extremely dangerous in every sense of the word."
Officer Jenny had a bitter face—
"To be honest, it's not funny at all. Especially from your perspective, it's like when the charred towers in the Johto region were destroyed by war, and the legendary Ho-Oh suddenly fell from the sky, smiling and saying to the people, 'Don't worry, I don't care at all.'"
Your sense of humor isn't much better. Especially what you just said; it's as if you haven't learned anything from the Naughty Razor incident.
Zhu Lan responded with the same phrase.
Just as Officer Jenny was about to say something, someone said, "Ah, we've arrived."
Zhu Lan stopped in her tracks.
Unbeknownst to them, the two had already arrived at a wide underground area.
"As expected, this is the final mystery in the Forest Mansion incident."
Just as the Sinnoh Champion was about to say something like a detective solving a case, something on the ground in front of her caught her attention.
"Is this just a coincidence, or some kind of unforeseen fate?"
"Miss Zhulan, what did you find?"
Officer Jenny walked over to the Sinnoh champion, curiously peering at what he had discovered, and was then startled.
What appeared before the Sinnoh Champion and the League investigators was none other than a dusty, lifeless, android head.
"This guy is so persistent!"