Aoki left with the injured Number Four, while Brad and Catherine continued their mission according to Aoki's plan.
Although Number Four was injured, Aoki ultimately did not attack him, which unconsciously increased his trust in Aoki, even though this trust might seem insignificant.
Neither of them spoke on the way back.
Taking down Number Two made them quite a bit of money. Although some unexpected things happened along the way, it went relatively smoothly overall. Now, Number Four is starting to feel a bit nervous about being discovered.
Two nights later, they would regroup. Once they got through this hurdle, they would be fine.
"Are you sure there are no traces left?" Number Four suddenly spoke up, just to confirm the situation.
Aoki's voice remained unchanged, but she feigned impatience and waved her hand, saying, "When did you become such a coward?"
Despite Aoki's slightly sarcastic remarks, Number Four showed no sign of anger. In his view, he and Aoki were now in the same boat. The fact that Aoki hadn't attacked him while he was weak made him feel somewhat relieved, which further solidified his belief that they were in the same boat.
"Actually… if you want to clear our names, there's a very good way, but I don't know if you still have the strength, courage, and ambition," Aoki said again, her voice carrying a hint of excitement and a slightly seductive tone.
"Hmm?" Number Four was instinctively surprised when he heard Aoki's words. Batram had become much bolder in the past two days, but at least for now, it was a good thing. He just didn't know what kind of solution he had come up with.
Hidden beneath the Psychic membrane, Aoki's face held a deep sense of mockery. "If we attack another adult's subordinate, we'll be the first suspects. And since we're the two closest to Area Two, I don't have the strength to take down Area Two alone..."
Aoki stopped mid-sentence, but the meaning behind her words was simple: since we are the closest, and I don't have the strength to deal with the other party alone, then Number Four will definitely be suspected along with Aoki. If someone really investigates, they might actually be able to find some evidence from the clues.
Upon hearing Aoki's words, a hint of anger appeared on Number Four's face. Although there was nothing wrong with what Aoki said, he still felt like he had been tricked.
From this perspective, the reason why Aoki didn't attack him when his strength was greatly diminished is also because of this.
"Hmph! It seems... you want to have me completely under your thumb." Number Four's voice was cold, and the little bit of trust he had managed to build up in Aoki vanished completely.
But at this moment, he also wanted to hear what Aoki's solution to break the deadlock was.
It's true that he might suffer, but Number Four doesn't think Aoki will choose to sit idly by and wait for his fate. He was the one who brought up this whole thing, and he acted impulsively. Plus, with Charm's huge profits involved, he didn't think things through properly for a while.
"Stop beating around the bush, tell me your plan. We're in this together now. What doesn't benefit me won't benefit you much either!" Number Four said coldly. By this time, his Psychic had recovered considerably, and the Psychic membrane had been reconstructed on his face.
Aoki hesitated for a moment. As is typical of Batram's personality, it's better to keep things a little mysterious in this respect to make it more believable.
Only when she sensed that Number Four was indeed getting impatient did Aoki say, "Since our actions against that lord's subordinates have made us suspects, why don't we lend them a hand and balance the power between the two sides..."
Upon hearing this, Number Four frowned. "Give them a hand, to balance the power between the two sides?"
Suddenly, Number Four seemed to understand what Aoki really meant. He almost fell off the flying Crobat. If it weren't for the fact that the flight speed was fast enough to prevent him from opening his mouth at will, Number Four would have definitely stuffed his mouth full of cold air.
But after understanding Aoki's meaning, Number Four was surprised to find that Batram, who usually seemed timid, actually had such audacity!
Actually, Aoki's idea was that since killing one of the opposing leader's subordinates would arouse suspicion, they might as well kill one of their own leader's subordinates to confuse the issue. In that case, both sides would lose one person, and then each side would have their own version of the truth, leading to endless disputes.
As the entanglement continues, the entire lake begins to become murky. Even if someone suspects the two of them, they won't target them directly; instead, they'll prioritize self-preservation. At that point, their trust will be in jeopardy.
Although this is not a good thing for their religion and this mission, upon closer reflection, it is full of opportunities for the two of them.
Since they've already made a profit, instead of hoping for benefits they might not get or having to share the spoils with everyone else, they might as well hold onto the benefits they have now!
Most importantly, this way, their suspicions were almost entirely diverted to others.
It's not that they won't be suspected anymore, but in this way, they are no longer the two main suspects.
I barely managed to suppress my shock and slowly accept Aoki's audacious idea.
"Your goal is..." From this moment on, Number Four would no longer underestimate Aoki. After all, no one would dare to look down on someone who had such courage.
"District 5 is one of their people, and he's very powerful. He's a perfect scapegoat because District 6 is one of ours, and his strength…" Aoki trailed off again, but the implication was clear: the people in District 6 weren't very strong.
Aoki's current identity is Batram. Even Batram can say that the other party's strength is not that great, which shows that the strength is really not that great.
To be honest, the person Lorelei dealt with earlier was almost the weakest among those who came in this time, while their target this time was slightly better than that person, but still one of the bottom three. This shows that there is a reason why they are looked down upon so much.
Area 5 is a very strong person, while Area 6 is relatively weak. After the weak one is eliminated, people will subjectively believe that the strong one did it.
After all, Area 7 is also what Aoki and the others call "their own people," so the people in Area 5 are definitely the most suspicious.
This has truly created chaos in this mess.
After hearing what Aoki said, Number Four, with his intelligence, naturally understood his various thoughts.
But while that's what they say, doing it really requires a lot of determination. Even Number Four had a vague feeling of being led by the nose by Aoki, though this feeling wasn't very clear.
After a long silence, Number Four finally uttered two words: "How dare you!"
But apart from the method Aoki mentioned, it seems that this is the only way to clear them of suspicion, at least in this way everyone would be suspected equally.
As for the possibility that this might cause significant internal conflicts within the cult...
What does this have to do with him?
Whether in the past, present or future, as long as it benefits oneself, what does it matter if it harms the interests of the religion?
Anyway, it's not my own organization.
The cult was able to gather such a group of people through two methods: interests and threats, whether it was a threat of force or other threats.
It's a joke to expect any cohesion from the people in such a profit-driven organization.
Aoki knew that Number Four wouldn't refuse. He was now in a situation where he had no choice but to do it; otherwise, he couldn't clear his name from suspicion.
"Let's go!" Number Four's decisive voice rang in Aoki's ears.
He was decisive and made no attempt to rest, heading directly to the Number Six region.
The people in the Number Six region are relatively weaker than them, so even though his strength is now diminished, dealing with them shouldn't be too much of a problem. Moreover, Aoki's Pokémon didn't suffer any damage after fighting Number Two.
In this battle, Aoki knew it was time for him to take action himself, since he couldn't always be the one directing others in battle, could he?
We're heading to Space-Time Mountain in two days, and we need to get all these things sorted out in the meantime. It's not exactly urgent, but we don't have plenty of time either.
Crobat and Honchkrow increased their flight speed under the orders of their respective trainers!
Flying in the night, both their outfits and their Pokémon were clearly well-suited to the environment.
...
Two days later, Aoki and Number Four returned to their respective areas of responsibility, as if they had never met or done anything together.
The two met in mid-air by a very "coincidental" coincidence, and then flew together toward Space-Time Mountain.
Although this was Aoki's first visit to Space- Time Mountain, he had enough knowledge of it from Batram's memories.
Meanwhile, Space-Time Mountain became a gathering place for members of the cult. Among them were not only those in charge of the twelve regions, but also those who stayed on Space-Time Mountain, such as the four who used Eevee, and Ichi and Bailing, who had not left Space-Time Mountain much since arriving there.
Of course, there's also the dark-faced man in charge of this matter, and the Nervous Man who seems to have nothing to do with it.
To be honest, although Aoki had become a true Batram in front of Number Four, he was still a little uneasy at this moment, mainly because of that Nervous Man.
Aoki couldn't guarantee that the other party's exceptional psychological abilities would be able to detect her disguise. This was the most dangerous and unpredictable aspect of all Aoki's plans.
For Aoki, the other party was the biggest uncertainty. Even the stern-faced man in charge of this matter did not put as much pressure on Aoki as he did.
From Aoki's perspective, this trip to Space-Time Mountain was truly a matter of heaven or hell, entirely dependent on the other party's decision.
Aoki was also gambling, betting that Nervous Man hadn't paid any attention to the black-faced man's men at all, and also betting that because of Number Four's preconceived notion, everyone would assume that Aoki was Number Three, that was Batram. Once this first impression was formed, as long as Aoki didn't do anything outrageous, they wouldn't focus their attention on Aoki.
Whether he is suspected or valued, there are obviously far more powerful Number Four than him.
Moreover, once those two people don't show up and it's confirmed that they've really disappeared, all the attention will be focused on that matter, making Aoki even safer.
This is one of the reasons why he still keeps Number Four around; Number Four is an important piece in his plan to disrupt the cult.
Even if they did discover her identity, Aoki wasn't completely unprepared. While not foolproof, she should be able to ensure her personal safety.
This is Aoki's last safeguard, and also Qing's last backup plan.
Although this operation was really dangerous, Aoki still had to do it, not only from the perspective of the alliance, but also from Aoki's own perspective.
The cultists are everywhere, and Aoki can no longer guarantee that his identity and status in the League are 100% safe. Moreover, Aoki estimates that after they leave, the cult will truly emerge and directly intervene in the Pokémon World.
Putting all that aside, the cult and Aoki are fundamentally incompatible; if the other side wants to gain something, Aoki will deliberately prevent them from doing so.
Moreover... he was indeed very curious about what exactly was inside that spatial barrier on Space-Time Mountain that would cause the cult to go to such great lengths to appear here, in order to obtain this thing as the beginning of their existence.
Having been hidden for so long, its slow revelation shows just how important this thing is.
In addition, the subtle desire that the Unowns on Aoki initially expressed to him for the things on Space-Time Mountain made Aoki even more curious about what was inside.
Since Aoki is curious about what's inside the spatial barrier, she has to go there this time.
Taking a deep breath, Aoki and Number Four landed on Space-Time Mountain. From this moment on, Aoki had to concentrate and remain vigilant to face everything that was to come.
Like Aoki, there was also Number Four, but what he was worried about was not the same as what Aoki was worried about. He was worried because he and Aoki had dealt with Number Two and Number Six together and divided up all their things.
Moreover, the two had very clear goals: Aoki only needed all the resources and materials, while Number Four took all of their Pokémon.
It seems that number four earned a lot, but in reality, Aoki had no interest in those Pokémon in the first place. They were just a useless thing, neither worth keeping nor worth discarding. Obtaining all the resources and materials was already a huge fortune for him.
However, noticing that Aoki was taking a deep breath just like him, Number Four assumed that Aoki was worried about the same thing as him.
He said to Aoki, "We've come this far, don't be nervous. Just follow the plan, and there won't be any problems."
I don't know if I'm comforting Aoki or just trying to soothe myself.
Aoki didn't explain anything, he just nodded to indicate that he understood, it was clear that the other person's thoughts were not on the same page as his.
The two recalled their Pokémon and went up to the top of Space-Time Mountain. Due to the spatial barrier, there was a huge platform where Aoki and the others could stand and walk. At this time, a lot of people had already gathered there. In addition to those who had been staying there all along, many people in charge of the outer regions had also arrived.
Aoki and Number Four didn't exchange any more words. They silently walked to their original spots and stood there, waiting quietly.
However, as Aoki walked past Ichi and Bailing, her eyes, hidden beneath the Psychic membrane, still unconsciously glanced at the two of them.
It seems that Ichi and Bailing are doing quite well in the cult. Although their strength is not great, their status seems to be somewhat special.
The arrival of Aoki and Number Four went unnoticed by the people there. However, when Aoki looked at Ichi, Ichi, with her keen senses, also looked back at Aoki, frowned slightly without saying anything, but had a strange feeling in her heart.
Aoki's attire at this moment, both in appearance and psychology, was perfectly disguised, so Ichi only felt something was strange, but couldn't pinpoint the source of the strangeness.
One after another, members of the cult dressed in black robes arrived.
It was nighttime, but Space-Time Mountain was as bright as day. Although it was still unknown what was emitting light on the mountaintop, it could be vaguely sensed that it was closely related to something within the space barrier.
As people arrived one by one, Aoki saw the dark-faced man whom he respected appear out of thin air from Batram's memory. Less than a second after he appeared, the space fluctuated slightly, and the powerful Nervous Man of Psychic arrived one after the other. The two seemed to have some special tacit understanding, or perhaps they were fighting for something.
The dark-faced man was already used to Nervous Man's actions. His piercing black eyes swept across the entire area, lingering on each person for a while. When he noticed that two people had not yet arrived, his brows furrowed subconsciously.
When his gaze swept over her, Aoki felt a burning gaze on her, and a very uncomfortable feeling arose.
No wonder these people are so afraid of him; just one look from him can make them feel so uncomfortable.
The Nervous Man, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of the Blackface Man. He had an expression of great enjoyment on his face, as if he was happy as long as he saw the Blackface Man's face get even darker.
Nervous Man didn't waste his time using Psychic to examine them one by one; after all, even he wouldn't have such suspicions.
The fact that the cult, which is adept at planting spies in other forces, has actually had its own spies infiltrated is truly ironic.
After waiting another five minutes, the dark-faced man was getting impatient. His limit for waiting was five minutes, and he was now at his wit's end.
"Can anyone tell me why Number Two and Number Six haven't arrived yet?! If they don't show up soon, they might as well never show up again!!" The dark-faced man suppressed his anger.
At this moment, most of the people on the field fell silent, and of course dared not say a word.
Seeing that no one spoke, the dark-faced man forcibly suppressed his anger; he already sensed that things were not quite as simple as they seemed.
Everyone here knows his temper. If he dares to be late like this without any reason, leaving them waiting here, they know they'll face some kind of punishment.
"Number One! Number Three!" the dark-faced man suddenly shouted.
Aoki immediately stepped out from where she was standing, along with another unfamiliar member of the cult.
The two stood in front of the dark-faced man, their heads bowed, as if they dared not look him in the eye.
"You two are right next to number two. Have you sensed anything unusual in area number two?" the dark-faced man asked.
Aoki and Number One had their heads down, as if they were thinking about something.
As Number One looked up, about to say something, Aoki spoke first, "Reporting to you, sir, I haven't sensed anything unusual, given the distance. However, I seemed to have heard about a rather large explosion in Area Two two nights ago. I wonder if it's related to that."
Upon hearing Aoki say what she wanted to say, Number One immediately added, "I felt it too."
Since both of them said so, the man with the dark face couldn't help but take it seriously.
"Number Five! Number Seven! Have you noticed anything unusual?" the dark-faced man shouted.
Two more people walked out from the side, but their response was that they had no information.
The dark-faced man waved his hand, sending everyone back to their places.
At this moment, Nervous Man finally turned his attention here. After all, the person in charge of Area Two was his subordinate, but he had not returned. Moreover, from Aoki and Number One's words, he heard a huge explosion, which meant that something must have happened.
As someone who opposes the black-faced man, Nervous Man hopes to see him encounter many setbacks, but as the leader of his subordinates, he still needs to be responsible for some things, otherwise why would others follow him?
Moreover, Nervous Man is known for being fiercely protective of his own, so his men aren't particularly afraid of the Blackface Man; there's a significant disparity in strength between the two sides.
黑脸男看向旁边脸上戏谑表情消失了的Nervous Man,虽然本就脸色有点黑了,但此刻依旧能够感觉到他脸上的阴沉,"你的人说不定出事了,不如去看看."
对于这个Psychic绝强的同僚,作为本次事件负责人的黑脸男也不敢有过多的要求,虽然他并不惧怕对方,但对方本身的的确是有着非常了不起的实力,让他不敢贸然有什么动作,而且对方和他在神教中,地位其实是相同的.
不用黑脸男说,Nervous Man也知道自己该干什么,扫视了一下全场,好似是在观察什么,紧接着,空间波动再次出现,在一阵的抖动后,直接消失在原地.
看着过了不到五分钟的时间,再次出现在山顶上的Nervous Man,Aoki再次被惊到了.
他有想过Nervous Man的Psychic强度,却没有想过居然可以做到这种程度.
直接Teleport到二号地区那几乎是不可能的,因为距离足够远,那么想要赶的到二号地区,就需要连续的Teleport,再加上在二号地区内手搜寻的时间,一共加起来居然不到五分钟.
Aoki也终于明白为什么就算到现在都没有见过Nervous Man的任何一只Pokémon,别人对他的尊敬和惧怕依旧不曾减弱,这样强大的Psychic已经不能被称之为人类了.
Nervous Man再次出现时,脸色却变得异常难看,比他离开时候的表情,要难看得多.
注意到他表情变化的Aoki眼神一凝,他知道在整个计划最关键的时候来了!
同时注意到Nervous Man脸色变化的四号,也是心中一沉,此刻他的心也悬了起来.
嘭——
Nervous Man单手一挥,一股强大的Psychic从他身上涌出,朝着在场所有人的身上涌去,特别是黑脸男的那些手下.
所有人都做出了防守的姿势,身上的Psychic全都涌现出啦,才能够阻挡住冲击,甚至还有几个人手中已经握住了Poké Ball,而四号就是其中之一,Aoki虽然心惊,但他还是做好了会发生这样的事情的准备.
轰!!!
"又疯了?!你做什么?!"黑脸男大声呵斥,在他开口的时候,从他身后窜出了一只Pokémon.
漆黑的身体上带着白色的好似骨骼一样的纹路,白色的角,恶魔一样的尾巴,大量的Dark-type能量从他的身上喷涌而出,这才阻拦了Nervous Man的Psychic压制,所有人也都松了一口气.
"哼!!"感受到阻拦,Nervous Man瞪了黑脸男一眼,手掌一翻,一团特殊的能量凝聚在他的手上.
所有人都看向他的手,不少人隐藏在Psychic薄膜下眼睛瞳孔骤然收缩.
一个个都作为强大的Psychic user,当然知道Nervous Man手中的那团能量是什么,那是纯粹的Psychic的凝聚物,这个东西必定是拥有一定Psychic的人才能够产出的东西.
看到Nervous Man手中东西最紧张的,当然是此刻站在Aoki身旁的四号,因为这团东西他再熟悉不过了,这就是他的Psychic!
这团Psychic能量团中的能量波动,和他的Psychic几乎一模一样.
Nervous Man的Psychic冲击虽然被黑脸男阻止,但却没有停止对在场所有人的观察,所以,他注意到了四号的异常.
不得不说,相比于Aoki来说,四号虽然智商不低,但处事不够冷静,这样自己暴露了自己!
Nervous Man紧紧地盯着四号,一字一句地说道,"这是我在你们所说的,那个发生巨大爆炸的地方,所找到的Psychic,这是属于谁的Psychic,相信你们也都能够认出来!"
所有人都有意无意地朝着四号看去.
但黑脸男却不能任由自己的手下坐实凶手这一个名号.
"去看看Number Six地区!"黑脸男对着Nervous Man说道,话语中带着不可置否的语气.
Upon hearing the dark-faced man's words, Nervous Man revealed a murderous expression, turned his head to glare fiercely at the dark-faced man, and said coldly, " Wallace, are you ordering me around again?!"
Wallace!
Is this the black-faced man's real name?
From Batram's memory, Aoki had never heard anyone call the black-faced man by his name. They usually addressed him as "adult," and it seemed that no one else called him by his name either.
In the religion, the existence of a name is like a constraint on everyone.
But Aoki kept the name in her heart: Wallace!
Perhaps after returning to the Alliance and searching through some materials, we can find some information about this Wallace.
Upon hearing Nervous Man call him by a name he hadn't heard in years, Wallace's eyes sharpened instantly. He stared at Nervous Man and said without backing down, " Everard, I said, I want you to go check out the Number Six region!"
The two faced off directly on the flat ground atop Space-Time Mountain. Everard relied on his superior Psychic abilities, while Wallace relied on the Houndoom standing before him, baring its teeth and poised to attack —a creature capable of completely ignoring Everard. Psychic Houndoom! A Pokémon with Mega Evolution!
In the end, it was Everard who backed down first.
The main reason is that Wallace is in charge of this incident, and if the two really fight, it's hard to know what the outcome will be.
Of course, being called the Nervous Man, Everard would love to fight Wallace, since he would be the first to be punished if the mission failed.
So when others dared not extend their psychic abilities, Wallace and Everard used psychic communication to make certain promises.
An annoyed Everard vanished from his spot once more.
As he disappeared, Number Four, who was standing next to Aoki and was drenched in cold sweat, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
While others were merely experiencing the aftermath of Psychic, he was facing Everard head-on. If it weren't for Wallace's Houndoom intervening at the last minute, he felt he would have been in grave danger.
However, there was one thing he couldn't understand. On that day, he and Aoki teamed up to fight against Number Two. In order to block the explosion caused by Number Two's final Delphox detonation of gas, he did indeed use Psychic to block it.
However, when they left, they repeatedly checked whether they had left any traces.
Fearing that Aoki might leave traces, he personally checked the area even though he was exhausted, and only left after confirming that nothing had been left behind.
But when Everard took out his Psychic, Number Four was shocked and did not expect this scene.
If he hadn't been certain that Aoki had left with him and had no chance to leave anything behind, he would have suspected that Aoki had done it.
Moreover, the two have stayed together for the past two days since they left, in order to prevent each other from doing anything underhanded.
Now, however, he is indeed finding it difficult to offer any explanation. Everyone present is focused on him, in order to prevent him from making any underhanded moves.
Aoki's lips curled up slightly. After planning for so long, now that she was certain her identity wouldn't be discovered, the real show was about to begin!
boom!!!
When Everard reappeared, much longer than before, and this time he did not appear silently. His arrival was accompanied by Number Four being blasted into the middle of the arena. Even though he was on guard, he was unable to prevent this from happening!