Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 276 The Fanatic's Carnival

Chapter 278 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 accusatory words, which sounded like he was accusing 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 this time, we naturally encountered many people with biased ideas and incomprehensible stubbornness. Some of them were die-hards in remote villages who clung to the old ways and did not hesitate to hinder local development in order to uphold tradition.

Some are pitiful and pathetic individuals who grew up in the unique local cultural environment and developed a distorted understanding of the world; but the largest group consists of the fanatical believers of theism mentioned by Mei Dan.

Thanks to the rugged terrain of the Colosseum Mountains, remote villages outside the reach of cities in the Sinnoh region are often hidden like scattered fragments in the corners of the world. There's a reason these places haven't developed into cities: to spiritually combat the harsh natural environment, all sorts of strange and wonderful beliefs have emerged.

There's a local community that worships the Nine-Tailed Fox, praying for clear skies and a bountiful harvest. Every year, they offer young children as sacrifices—a simple ritual where the chosen child spends one night at the altar, returning home after a peaceful night. It's merely a formality, and nothing has gone wrong in decades. But when Zhu Lan probes the locals' reactions, she discovers that everyone, including the child's parents, believes that even if the "sacrifice" disappears, it's a sign of divine intervention and shouldn't be investigated. This sends a chill down one's 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, although the society's leaders were imprisoned, no one knew whether the scattered followers might secretly trigger some 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 wage holy wars.

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

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

How come it's exactly two years ago? Isn't that exactly the time when the Galactic Group reached its peak of power and finally 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 also mobilized. At that point, they no longer needed to hide their strength or conceal their intentions, and began to openly wage an economic and propaganda war against the Sinnoh League, 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. By the way, 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 paying any price."

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, who had been inspired by everything, immediately relayed the suggestions, 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 defiance of the 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 League gained some advantages in its battle of wits with Team Galactic.

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

It really is a case of innocent bystanders suffering the consequences.

Officer Jenny glanced at Cherie 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."

Mei Dan 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 Hayden helped me out again and introduced me to this house in the forest. Hehe, he even provided me with a handy assistant and maid."

"Oh, is that so? Wouldn't it be inconvenient to live in a house like this?" Officer Jenny asked a somewhat 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 see the rest of this mansion?"

"Sure," Mei Dan shrugged, looking indifferent.

"The first floor, the second floor, and the basement below—there are no secrets in this house, you can check it all you want."

"It's not an inspection, I just want to do some research." Zhu Lan turned and toyed with the teacup in her hand, her gray eyes deep and unfathomable, as if she were 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 being targeted by superstitious people.