Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 266 The Fanatic's Carnival

People are too lazy and always willing to accept all sorts of unverified assertions. These baseless assertions spread among themselves, merge with each other, and form circular arguments, eventually drowning out the ancient rationalism and skepticism in their subconscious, flooding the world like a tidal wave.

This is the origin of superstition.

Hearing the mansion owner's resentful words, which sounded like he was exposing a criminal, Zhu Lan Champion sighed softly and felt a little more pity for Professor Mei Dan.

While the mythological study of the bamboo orchid mainly relies on archaeological excavation and theoretical argumentation, field investigations involving visits to local communities are also an important part of the research.

Therefore, this Sinnoh champion often travels to villages and towns in the Sinnoh region and even around the world during his vacations, visiting local villagers and elders to collect various folk customs and different versions of legends and tales. Sometimes, if he's lucky, he can even witness some unique local festivals and ceremonies.

During that time, I naturally encountered many people with biased thinking and incomprehensiblely stubborn attitudes—

Some of them are stubborn individuals who cling to outdated traditions in remote villages, willing to hinder local development for the sake of tradition; others are pitiful and pathetic people who grew up in the unique local cultural environment and have developed a distorted understanding of the world; but the largest group of them are the fanatical believers of theism that Mei Dan mentioned.

Thanks to the rugged terrain of Mt. Columbus, remote villages outside the reach of cities in the Sinnoh region are always hidden like scattered fragments in the corners of the world. There are reasons why these places haven't developed into cities; to resist the harsh natural environment, all sorts of strange beliefs have emerged.

There are people who worship the Nine-Tailed Fox, praying for sunny days and a bountiful harvest, and offering young children as sacrifices every year—though it's just a simple ritual where the chosen child spends one night at the altar, and can go home after a peaceful night, merely a formality, and hasn't had any accidents for decades. But when Zhu Lan probed the locals' reactions, she discovered that everyone, including the child's parents, believed that even if the "sacrifice" disappeared, it was an auspicious sign of the gods descending to earth, and naturally, there was no need to investigate. This sent a chill down her spine.

Some neighboring villages worship Dialga and Palkia respectively. Despite having no conflict of interest, the two villages are bitter enemies. Their differing beliefs, coupled with years of accumulated resentment, have even led to large-scale battles between the two villages, involving Pokémon and resulting in countless injuries.

Some even claimed to be messengers sent by Arceus, the creator god, and brazenly established a theocratic society resembling an underground kingdom in a certain town. This ultimately forced the Sinnoh League to intervene and forcibly disband this so-called "Arceus Society." However, while the society's leaders were imprisoned, no one knew whether the scattered followers might secretly trigger a new crisis.

Such theistic fanatics always appear in large groups. In the past, when information was scarce, they could only remain in a corner of the world, steadfastly upholding their beliefs and convictions. But now, with global signal coverage and everyone able to access the internet, the high-speed highway of information exchange has become an effective weapon for them to launch holy wars.

On the other hand, Officer Jenny's expression was slightly subtle.

The timing of Mei Dan's public criticism was far too coincidental.

How come it happened exactly two years ago? Wasn't that precisely the time when the Galactic Group reached its peak of power and ultimately met its demise at the summit of Mt. Coronet?

At that time, in order to ensure the smooth execution of his insane plan, Sun committed a series of heinous crimes in the Sinnoh region. Behind him, Team Galactic's various businesses were also mobilized. At that point, they no longer needed to hide their strength or conceal their intentions, and they waged an economic and propaganda war against the League from afar, greatly weakening the authority of the Sinnoh League.

While the entire alliance was racking its brains over this, being toyed with by a ruthless genius in a labyrinth, the police department received advice from a detective—

"Team Galactic has indeed been a bit too reckless lately, even draining the three great lakes of Sinnoh. Those who worship the Lake Spirits must be furious... Ah, right, how about mobilizing those who worship gods? If we just stir up an undercurrent beneath the surface of the internet, the public opinion war between the League and Team Galactic might be completely reversed without any cost..."

The one who heard Hugo's suggestion was another Officer Jenny. This Officer Jenny didn't know what kind of occasion and environment they were in at the time. Perhaps the detective had warned that such a response might cause some hidden dangers, or perhaps it was just casual conversation. He regretted his suggestion halfway through.

In short, what followed was that Officer Jenny, inspired by the suggestion, immediately relayed it, and several high-ranking members of the alliance quickly passed a secret resolution within the alliance, which was then perfectly implemented.

Silently, the name "Team Galactic" gradually became deeply associated with contempt for gods. Big data-driven publicity and promotion also played a role, and a group of fanatics suddenly appeared on the Internet who would rush to attack any content related to Team Galactic. As a result, the Alliance gained some advantages in its battle of wits with Team Galactic.

And it was at this time that Professor Medan was targeted by those fanatics.

It's truly a case of innocent bystanders suffering the consequences...

Officer Jenny glanced at Orchid beside her and saw her pick up her tea again and sip it with a natural expression, clearly unaware of her brother's indirect connection to the incident.

She breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the alliance's secrecy was quite effective. She herself only learned some of the inside information because she attended that alliance meeting.

"...Sigh, it's all because of those stupid and crazy guys. It's one thing for them to cause trouble for me online, but they even found my address in Binhai City and did disgusting things like throwing paint and smashing windows."

Meidan was still complaining incessantly.

"I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I had no choice but to move to a place like this. Originally, I was even planning to move out of the Sinnoh region altogether, but my benefactor Hagrid helped me out again and introduced me to this house in the forest. Hey, he even provided me with an assistant and a maid."

"Uh, is that so... Wouldn't it be inconvenient to live in a house like this?" Officer Jenny asked a seemingly unrelated question, feeling a little guilty.

"Hehe, not at all. In fact, with less interaction with those idiots, my research progress has accelerated considerably."

“You said before that we could visit the laboratory,” Zhu Lan suddenly spoke up. “Then can we look at the other parts of this mansion?”

"Sure," Mei Dan shrugged, looking indifferent.

"The first floor, the second floor, and the basement below... Anyway, there are no secrets in this house, you can check it out as you please."

"It's not an inspection, I just want to do some research." Zhu Lan twirled the teacup in her hand, her gray eyes deep and unfathomable, lost in thought.

Ever since she entered this forest mansion, she has often had this thoughtful expression. Is it because she has discovered something?

"Du, du, du."

A knocking sound came from the door, but it was distinctly different from the knocking at the main entrance.

The sound came from above.

Hearing the noise, Qi Na, who was standing to the side, hurriedly walked towards the stairs, her small steps making a clattering sound.

"Hehehe, it seems my real guest has arrived."

Mei Dan nodded slightly, still wearing a sarcastic smile.

It was as if they were mocking the two uninvited guests, implying they weren't real guests.

Seeing the mansion owner's smile, Officer Jenny suddenly understood why the old man's words were targeted by superstitious people.