radicalducati Chapter 45 The Robbery of the Seven Treasures Museum
Chapter 45 The Robbery of the Seven Treasures Museum
In Tangcao Town, Hugo and Azure, with the mood of a picnic, happily hurried on their way.
Solving the case is the happiest moment for the detective and his assistant. Especially since Azure single-handedly uncovered the culprit's scheme, this joy was amplified to an even higher level.
However, the detective next to the assistant was suddenly disturbed by a ringing phone.
The ringtone was grating, like metal scraping together, and carried a mysterious, ethereal quality, like the roar of some unknown creature. But no matter how you looked at it, it wasn't pleasant to hear. It was unclear why the detective would use such a strange sound as a call alert.
Upon seeing the caller's name in the contact list, Hugo asked Azure to leave for a moment, so the assistant could only watch from a distance as the detective whispered into the phone.
When the detective returned after finishing his call, Azure suddenly noticed that his demeanor was completely different from before. He looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy, as imposing as a Politoed after using "Bellis Drum".
Hugo, his expression serious, stared into the girl's eyes and said, "The Qibao City Museum has been robbed, and a large number of ancient artifacts are missing. It's clearly the work of Group Plasma. For various reasons, I must immediately go to Qibao City to assist the local police—"
"I want to go! Don't worry, I definitely won't hold you back," Azure immediately volunteered, raising her arm high. "Do you need a Pokémon that knows 'Fly'? I can have someone teleport it over right away."
When the overly enthusiastic assistant mentioned "flying," the detective's serious face twitched slightly, and he decisively refused: "No need, it's faster to go by train, and I can rest a bit on the train."
Before boarding the train with his black ticket, Hugo casually bought a newspaper at the station. Since it was a morning paper, it mostly contained yesterday's news.
Hugo quickly flipped to the culture section of the newspaper and immediately found the information he needed. A striking headline occupied a large portion of the page: "First Exhibition in Twenty Years! The Founding Stone of the United States!"
"Is the newspaper saying that the national treasure is the same one that was stolen this time?" Azure asked the detective as she sat down on the train.
The Founding Stone in the newspaper was dark and oddly shaped, barely round, and lacked any mythological significance. It just looked like an ordinary spherical stone.
"To be precise, it was one of the stolen artifacts. Also stolen were many ancient Pokémon fossils, some ancient stone tablets whose reliefs have not yet been deciphered, and an alien meteorite that the Hoenn League gave as a gift to the Shippo Museum... Each of these items is worth as much as a national treasure."
Hugo rubbed his forehead, looking like he had a terrible headache.
"The newspaper said that the stone is the remains left behind by Zekrom, the black dragon who founded the kingdom, after his death. Could it be some kind of item that can summon legendary Pokémon?"
Bilan pointed to an article in the morning paper and asked, her tone suggesting she was already used to the possibility of such a terrible event.
“That prop is irrelevant,” Hugo said without hesitation. “Because I thought that stone might become a target of the Plasma Group, I had it secured with the relevant personnel.”
"Safety procedures?"
"It's the anti-theft system. I think that stone should be absolutely safe based on the anti-theft plan I provided to Qibao Museum. But I can't guarantee the safety of the other exhibits."
"So," the girl continued, "was it Team Plasma who robbed the Shippo City Museum this time? But museums usually have security personnel, right? How did they manage to do it?"
"They didn't tell me the details over the phone; they said they'd have to get to the scene to find out. But I have a feeling that this case is going to be very difficult to resolve."
"How to say?"
"At the time, the Qibao City Museum had at least one Gym Leader and one Unova Elite Four member stationed there, but it was still robbed."
"Huh?" Azure stared in disbelief. "You're not kidding, are you?"
Hugo shook his head, his expression serious, not at all like he was joking.
"You may not know the details since you're new to the Unova region, but actually, Aloe, the Gym Leader of Shippo City, also serves as the curator of the local museum. Therefore, the Shippo City Museum and the Shippo Gym are connected. During periods when valuable artifacts are on display, Aloe is always stationed there."
The detective pointed to the photo of the owner of Qibao Pavilion in the newspaper to support his claim.
"The gym leader has an almost endless supply of Pokémon in the gym, it's like having a personal arsenal. An opponent who can defeat Aloe in that kind of place is definitely not to be underestimated."
"Then what about that Elite Four member?" Azure looked at the detective, puzzled. "How did you know there was an Elite Four level trainer in Shippo City at the time?"
After a moment's thought, Hugo decided to reveal part of the truth to his assistant.
"When Touko and I were on the train to Karakusa Town, we met Unova's Dark-type Elite Four member, Cranberry, in the first-class carriage. He seemed to be on some kind of mission, and his destination was Shippo City, where this case happened. Ah, I should have known. He was going to be a guard for those ancient artifacts."
"So, Team Plasma has the combat power to rival a Champion-level trainer?" the assistant made a logical deduction.
Hugo's face showed a momentary embarrassment: "No, for some reason, that superstar is temporarily unable to go all out. In fact, the call just now was from Yueju asking me for help. He hopes that a detective can help the police recover the artifacts."
After all, that person was trying to infiltrate the enemy as an undercover agent. If they were to teach the Plasma Group's robbers a lesson right now, it would be difficult to carry out the subsequent plan.
However, they couldn't just let Group Plasma run rampant. In desperation, Blueberry remembered the business card she had put in her pocket earlier, which had the contact information for the Hugo Detective Agency written on it.
.
The distance between Tangcao Town and Qibao City is only two stops, and the travel time is indeed about the same as that of "flying".
After getting off the bus, Hugo went straight to the Qibao Museum, and sure enough, he saw a large group of police officers pacing around like ants on a hot plate.
The detective found Officer Jenny, who was leading the crowd, and stepped forward to introduce himself: "Excuse me for being so bold, but I am Hugo from Feiyun City. I am a detective invited by the deputy curator, Mr. Muli. Please allow me to enter the museum to meet the client."
The policewoman in front of him, who looked almost exactly like Officer Jenny from Flying Cloud City but seemed a bit older, looked surprised: "Hugo... I think I've heard of you, but do you have anything to prove your identity?"
"This is a photo of the detective agency's business license, and this is the Alliance ID card... You can also call Mr. Muli or Officer Jenny in Feiyun City. But time is of the essence right now, could you let me into the museum first?"
As an amateur detective, Hugo seemed quite self-aware, skillfully listing various documents to prove his identity, as if he had repeated this action countless times.
"By the way, this is my assistant, Azure. I can vouch for her identity, and please allow her to travel with me."
Officer Jenny was impressed by Hugo's professionalism. After briefly communicating with the person on the other end of the walkie-talkie, she let the two of them into the museum.
"Do you always carry those documents with you?" Bilan asked curiously.
"It doesn't take up much space if I keep it in a folder, so I usually carry a set of photocopies with me when I go out. Oh, by the way, what I said earlier was actually a lie." Hugo remained nonchalant, but his assistant was quite startled.
"Although I know the deputy curator, Muli, he has not entrusted me with any tasks. I just made it up for convenience. But this little lie can be corrected immediately."
The detective went straight to the museum curator's office, opened the door, and saw a middle-aged man who looked like he was sitting on pins and needles. He wore glasses and had a dangerously high hairline. Compared to the researchers at the Yew Research Institute, this man had a much stronger scholarly air about him.
However, the scholar was in a state of unease at the moment, and when he saw the detective open the door, he immediately showed an expression as if he had seen a savior.
"Detective Hugo, it's you! It's so good to see you again at a time like this!"
Upon seeing the detective, the middle-aged man was startled, then jumped up excitedly from his chair and strode forward to shake Hugo's hand tightly—
"You must have seen the robbery today! It was a terrible day. The aloe vera plant was attacked by strangers, the museum's warehouse was ransacked, and the dojo was smashed... I didn't know what to do. I'm only a little relieved to see you here. Please, you must save the collections that were stolen by the robbers! Those are important cultural relics!"
Hugo patted the man on the back, trying to calm him down, and introduced him to Bilan: "This is Mr. Muli, the deputy curator of the Qibao Museum and husband of Aloe, the dojo leader. Mr. Muli, this is my assistant, Bilan. Enough of that. May I ask if the original Founding Stone is still there?"
Muli lifted his glasses, rubbing his eyes and wiping away tears, and said, "It's still there, it's still there. I listened to your advice and replaced the stones on display with highly realistic fakes. Although it's a bit unfair to the tourists who came to visit, it has really come in handy now. Damn it, I should have been more careful back then, otherwise this wouldn't have happened."
“You’ve done a great job. Now all we need to do is recover the stolen artifacts. Please let me see the curator and Mr. Yueju.”
"The detective said, rolling up the sleeves of his white coat, looking ready to get down to business," he said.