novel-bin Chapter 35 Secret Talks in First Class
Chapter 35 Secret Talks in First Class
"What I need from you is very simple; I hope you can read this document."
In the spacious first-class carriage, Hugo and Blueberry sat facing each other.
The detective didn't immediately pull out his prized business card from his firm. Instead, he respectfully handed Yueju a touchscreen phone, though it looked old and worn, like a piece of junk he'd picked up from a secondhand market, not worth the trouble of throwing it away on the spot.
Seeing the detective's suspicious behavior, the Dark-type Elite Four member chuckled, "You bastard, you didn't record that embarrassing battle before, did you? Trying to blackmail me with it?"
“No, I never intended to further damage your reputation as the King of Gamblers with a sensational negative video titled ‘King of Match-Fixing.’ I never even considered such a thing.” Hugo returned the gesture with an equally sincere smile. “I just hope you can take a look at this document.”
The detective handed over his phone, which was on its unlocked screen, displaying the title of a document—
"Investigation and Hazard Analysis of Plasma Clusters in the United States Region".
The playful expression vanished from Yueju's face. He took the phone and silently began to browse through it.
As night fell, the train carriage was as quiet as the night sky outside the window.
Hugo had muted the live battle broadcast on the screen in front of him beforehand. From above, he could see Douzi and the high school girl silently commanding their Pokémon, dominating the doubles match. Both girls, fighting for the prize money, were full of energy and seemed poised to win.
"Sigh..." Yueju sighed and turned off her phone, leaning back in her chair with a look of utter misfortune. "Whether your information is true or false, I hope I never saw it."
“I’m actually glad to see you like this,” Hugo said. “It at least proves that you, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, are not one of them.”
“Then let me make you even happier. Besides me, Wanlong, Lianwu, and Gadria, the other three Elite Four members, are not from Team Plasma either. As the champion, Alder is the leader who opposes that organization. He has long requested the League to pay attention to Team Plasma’s unusual movements. However, he has been staying at home all day recently because his Bug-type partner is seriously ill, so this request has been put on hold.”
“Uh… no, I haven’t suspected the other Heavenly Kings.” Hugo scratched his cheek awkwardly. “After all, Mr. Blueberry, you look a bit like a bad guy, and intuitively I feel that you’re the only one who needs to be confirmed. Since we met on the train, I hoped to take this opportunity to dispel my stereotypes.”
Instead of being angry, Yueju burst into genuine laughter, "You've got some nerve. You're truly worthy of daring to attack Team Plasma, aren't you? You were the one who devised the opening tactics for the battle, weren't you? You're quite the gambler. Luckily, I didn't run into you at the gambling table this time."
"Your phone contains a huge casino," Hugo reminded him in response.
"Didn't you consider betting on Team Plasma to win? They have enough followers to start a revolution, and more than half the population sympathizes with their religion. Dozens of high-ranking Alliance officials are also aligned with them. Right now, their high-end combat power is slightly lacking, but if they can find a few more assistants who can fight against the Champions, they'll be enough..."
At this point, Hugo made a gesture of turning his palm over, leaving everything unsaid.
"Looks like you think I'm a very important asset," Yueju said with a self-deprecating laugh, crossing her legs. "But you've misjudged me. I can swear on my luck from this day forward that in any conflict between the League and Team Plasma, I will always stand on the League's side."
“No, no, Mr. Lantau, I am not an internal affairs officer here to investigate your loyalty. I am merely a private investigator outside the alliance system, here to discuss matters with you for the sake of justice, no matter the means.”
What are you trying to say?
Hugo casually took out his business card, placed it on the edge of the closed car window, and flicked it with his finger, sending the card sliding in a straight line to the blueberry side.
"The following is my own opinion; what you, Lord King of Lingzhi, intend to do is none of my business."
Despite the well-insulated, enclosed carriage, Hugo still kept his voice down.
"According to my investigation, whether as a religious group or as an underground force, Group Plasma is too large. They have accumulated enough resources and manpower to support a large-scale rebellion, and now they are consciously supporting politicians who support their ideology to come to power. Their infiltration of the Alliance has made their secret operations increasingly covert... Based on this, we can draw the following two conclusions."
"First, peaceful means have completely failed, and a large-scale vicious conflict between the Alliance and the Plasma Group is inevitable. Second, the Plasma Group is operating in the shadows, while the Alliance is in the open. The longer the Plasma Group continues to plot, the more trump cards they may have, which will be more disadvantageous for the Alliance."
"You mean we should detonate this unexploded bomb beforehand?" Yueju asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hugo seemed not to hear him and continued, "From Team Plasma's perspective, their biggest problem right now is that they lack trainers capable of competing with Champion-level fighters. They must be extremely eager to replenish their ranks with high-end combat power at this level. And if, and I mean if, a Champion-level trainer were to volunteer, they would welcome him with open arms, and might even share their internal intelligence with this rare executive."
As if it had smelled something interesting, the corners of the blueberry's mouth curled up slightly with a mischievous glint in its eye.
"However, their initiation screening is unavoidable, and there are two main procedures—first, the trainer who voluntarily surrenders must have the motive and reason to betray the League. If he has never expressed sympathy for Team Plasma's claims and gets along well with other Elite Four champions in the League, they will definitely suspect his motives for joining the League."
As Yueju listened, she nodded, and later she even started taking notes on the cards she carried with her using a ballpoint pen.
"The second is a unique test within Team Plasma. There is a young man in that group named N who has an extraordinary ability—simply put, he can understand what Pokémon are saying. If the situation described by this defecting trainer is the opposite of what his Pokémon are saying, then the trainer will be in an awkward situation."
“I see.” Blueberry scribbled down the last keyword with messy symbols. “Do we need to coordinate with our Pokémon?”
"From Team Plasma's perspective, they also have two main fears. First, the leakage of their intelligence. If outsiders, especially the League, know their trump cards, the League can devise a solution ahead of them, greatly reducing their danger. Second, they worry that during the final battle, this high-level trainer might suddenly defect, causing the hard-won balance of power to tilt towards the League's side..."
“There’s no need to go on with this kind of pros and cons analysis,” Yueju interrupted Hugo. “I’m the perfect candidate, and I will take your advice and become an undercover agent to infiltrate the Plasma Cluster.”
Hugo feigned ignorance: "I never said anything like that, it was just casual conversation."
Lingju remained noncommittal, simply reaching out to pick up the business card from the crack in the windowsill.
"This is the contact number, right? I'll call you when I get important information."
Under the cover of night, the villainous king, with his legs crossed, casually toyed with the business card in his hand. The dim light inside the car shone on his tan suit and dark blue hair, while his light blue eyes shone brightly.
This trainer, who views life and battles as a gamble, is now making his biggest gamble to date with ease.
He will trust the man before him without reservation—a suspicious man who claims to be a detective and whom he has only met once—and, despite the misunderstandings of the world, will venture into the deepest part of the plasma cluster, a place as dangerous as a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.
The detective squinted and watched; in the faint starlight, it seemed that a warrior belonging to the night was about to rise.