Chapter 71: Return to the Homeland
Rewind time by a few minutes. Aboard the luxurious giant cruise ship, a figure agilely slipped through a porthole into a cabin, without alerting anyone on the deck above.
Once inside the cabin room, he swiftly removed his wetsuit and tossed a bag that had been hanging at his waist into the center of the room.
One of the individuals already waiting in the room stepped forward, opened the bag, and emptied its contents: two Horsea, barely clinging to life.
"Why only Horsea? What about the Dratini? Wasn't that the main objective of the mission?"
The man taking off the wetsuit explained, "Didn't manage to catch the Dratini, but I encountered a Dragonair on the way. Although time was tight and I couldn't bring it back, I injured it severely. The location happens to be not far from here. I imagine it should be enough to lure those brainless, stupid dragons over."
The person in the room responded, "That's acceptable too. As long as it serves to lure those brainless Pokémon over."
Judging by the fact that they targeted the Dragonair while also kidnapping the Horsea, their actions were simultaneously provoking the two major ruling families of this reserve: the Dragonite and the Kingdra!
If the Milotic weren't accustomed to raising their Feebas offspring together on an island named Coral Palace, making them too difficult a target, this group might have managed to ensnare all three of Crescent Bay's major intelligent Pokémon families in one go.
Such senseless behavior bordered on madness, yet in stark contrast, the group's thoughts and actions radiated an extreme, chilling calmness.
After bringing back the Horsea, the man who had boarded immediately began to change his clothes. He stripped off the wetsuit worn during the outside operation, dried himself, and then, within this secret room, quickly donned the uniform of a ship's waiter.
"Which floor should I head to next?"
He asked with perfect composure while changing.
Another person in the room answered him.
"Go to the roulette area on the fourth floor. A7 will coordinate with you. She will inform you about the bodyguards you need to be wary of. Eliminate them as quickly as possible."
"Understood."
With that, the assailant, disguised as a waiter, calmly departed. His Gallade even wore a white bow tie and was draped in a waiter's uniform, strolling confidently out of the cabin alongside him.
All services on this cruise ship were top-tier, boasting the finest cuisine, the most luxurious guest rooms, the most beautiful dealers, and naturally, the most professional waiters. It was common for waiters on this ship to be accompanied by humanoid Pokémon providing services—not for any particular practical reason, but simply to display status and style.
However, this practice now provided the perfect cover for these assailants.
The attacker who came from the sea didn't even need to significantly disguise his ace Gallade; simply putting a white shirt on it allowed it to move freely throughout any part of the ship.
If anyone were to reconstruct these events later, they would surely grit their teeth in frustration at the organizers' arrangements made purely for show.
If not for this, the initial infiltration of the ship by these thugs wouldn't have been nearly so convenient.
After all, when a Pokémon is confined within its Poké Ball, it is extremely restricted. No matter how powerful the Pokémon, if its ball is held by someone else, it cannot unleash its abilities.
But now, they were completely free from such worries.
After the man who boarded the ship had left, the room briefly returned to silence.
A few seconds later, a faint cough emanated from a corner.
It turned out that the room hadn't only contained the group of attackers; three victims were tied up in the corner, looking pale and weak, their eyes bloodshot, with scattered bloodstains on their bodies.
Judging by the attire of one of them, he was, shockingly, the captain of this cruise ship.
At this moment, the captain tied up in the corner was so weak he couldn't even stand.
He knew his ship was inevitably doomed.
He had personally witnessed this group infiltrate every level of the ship's cabins, planting their personnel throughout. All security staff of significant standing on the ship, whether trainers or simply armed personnel, had been marked by them.
Just as the assailant who had just left was instructed, everyone received an order before setting out: quickly eliminate the targeted bodyguards.
All the attackers could easily bring their Pokémon along with them, greatly increasing the success rate of their surprise attacks.
Up to this point, no alarms had sounded on the ship, nor had anyone noticed anything unusual or come to the cabin to inquire about the captain's whereabouts.
Therefore, the captain tied up on the floor had already lost all hope for his ship.
He could only muster his final breath, attempting to reclaim a shred of shattered dignity with one last threat.
"You bunch... of ignorant, reckless brats! You dare to target this ship? Don't you even bother to find out who the owner behind this vessel is? Heh! I'm afraid you'll steal the money but won't have the life left to spend it!"
He widened his eyes as much as possible, trying to make his gaze fiercer to amplify the effectiveness of his verbal threat.
In fact, from his perspective, his threat indeed carried significant weight.
The owner behind this ship was extremely powerful.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to operate this kind of grey market business that skirted the boundaries of the law.
Regrettably, however, upon hearing his words, the remaining few people in the room merely offered faint smiles.
Ignoring him, sometimes, is the greatest form of mockery.
"You... you simply don't understand who you've provoked!!"
The captain still attempted to wound his opponents with words.
Unfortunately, his efforts were met only with indifferent disdain.
"Heh!"
"Whose money do you think you're robbing? That belongs to—"
"Alright, old man, stop babbling."
Finally, someone grew impatient with listening and cut off the captain's hollow threats.
"Who told you we're hijacking this ship for the money?"
This retort, conversely, stunned the captain into silence.
A luxurious cruise ship engaged in the grey gambling industry like this... wasn't it practically overflowing with nothing but money?
If not for money, what else could you possibly be after?
The next moment, the young man who had spoken stuck out his tongue.
On the surface of his tongue, strangely, there was a tattoo resembling a grimacing ghost face. It was unknown what technique could have possibly been used to tattoo it onto a tongue.
The instant he saw that tongue tattoo, the captain finally broke down completely, his expression twisting into one of extreme horror.
"You... you are the Stitched Shadow Army?!"
Now, he finally believed what the other party had said.
Some people, perhaps, truly don't commit robbery for money.
And the Stitched Shadow Army happened to be among the most likely candidates fitting that description.
This was a worldwide terrorist organization that caused headaches for every league across the globe, having been active for nearly two hundred years.
Initially, they were established by a group of extreme human supremacists, born out of disagreement with the great reconciliation between humans and Pokémon.
Over these many years, this organization has continuously attempted various methods to reignite war between humans and wild Pokémon, even including Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. They advocate that humanity should re-establish its dominance over the planet through devastating warfare and violence!
In the past few decades, they mostly operated transiently within various smaller league territories. Although they committed numerous offenses, they had never dared to directly provoke the world's seven major leagues.
So much so that many people had almost forgotten that this organization was originally founded, two hundred years ago, right here in Eastern league!
And now, it seemed, they had returned to their homeland.
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