Chapter 549: One Man's Crisis, a Crowd's Mockery
After listening to Forrest's description, Arthur didn't say anything immediately.
But in his heart, he had already formed a theory.
It was most likely Dayna, the new leader of the Stitched Shadow Army, as Specter had mentioned!
The enemy was indeed close!
They had never left; they were still in the Ashen Desert, plotting something!
The suicidal "artist" was definitely just the beginning. These people would surely have further actions!
This made Arthur's sense of crisis even stronger.
Although every participant here had a camera watching them 24/7, and troops were stationed around the desert's perimeter, making the event seem safe, with people all over the world leisurely watching the livestreams...
Just thinking about the room full of photos and clues about him that the little dragonfly and the others had reconstructed made Arthur feel a numbing sensation, like an electric shock.
He couldn't completely ignore the threat just because his strength was recovering.
He was in the light, and the enemy was in the dark. This situation was ultimately disadvantageous to him!
This gave Arthur a considerable sense of crisis. Consequently, his determination to investigate grew firmer, and his methods became rougher.
However, this also led to more ridicule, exclusion, and isolation from some of the surrounding trainers.
"What is that Kubfu guy trying to do? Didn't the officials already announce they would investigate that suicide attack? Why is he still fussing over it alone? Does he really think he's a messenger of justice?"
"Exactly! All the alliances have issued announcements. Why does he have to meddle? Trying to show off how special he is?"
Such cynical remarks were common in recent days.
The reason was simple: most trainers here didn't take the matter to heart as Arthur did.
Although the suicide attack sounded terrifying, the mad bomber had targeted Tyranitar, not any specific trainer.
This might have been the brilliance of the Stitched Shadow Army's first move—
The Ashen Desert region had always been unstable. Battles, explosions, and terrorist attacks happened occasionally; the local customs were "simple and tough." Coupled with the fact that the relationship between Pokémon and local humans wasn't exactly harmonious, an attack on a local desert Pokémon wouldn't overly provoke everyone's nerves.
Afterward, officials from various alliances quickly announced they would launch an investigation, and the desert activities continued.
Many trainers quickly turned the page on the incident.
If the Stitched Shadow Army had attacked a nearby trainer camp right off the bat, everyone's attitude would definitely not be like this.
And this was the enemy's cunning!
Dayna had confirmed from Forrest that Old Tyranitar was Arthur's ally and helper, but the desert Phantom was not anyone else's helper.
So she sent people to attack Old Tyranitar first. Arthur was anxious, but most others felt it was none of their business.
Even Arthur's frequent visits and investigations annoyed many people around him.
Fortunately, he had acted decisively before, beating Glick, the representative troublemaker, into submission in one battle. Otherwise, his investigation progress in recent days would have been even harder.
However, even so, there were still many who mocked and excluded him, especially those from the Sinnoh Alliance.
On this day, even Forrest, who had been partnering with him, tried to persuade him. "Take a break, maybe? There's no rush right now. Many acquaintances are coming this afternoon, including my captain, and your team's Aaron, Leo, and others.
"Why don't you consider continuing the investigation this afternoon? Or ask your family for help?"
Recently, Forrest had been hinting at wanting to meet Arthur's "family," which made Arthur want to facepalm every time he heard it.
But he was also grateful to Forrest for running around with him these past few days, so he just sighed lightly.
"It's not that there's no rush. The enemy's next attack could come at any time. Finding a clue one step earlier could salvage this passive situation one step sooner."
Forrest didn't speak.
But from his eyes, Arthur could easily read that even Forrest didn't quite believe Arthur's claim.
Just like most people didn't think there would be another attack.
This sense of crisis was unique to Arthur; it was hard for others to empathize.
This was the source of the disconnect.
And what Dayna, hiding in the dark, wanted to exploit was perhaps this very disconnect.
She wanted to separate Arthur from the vast majority of trainers present, then remove his aids and helpers one by one, and finally find an opportunity to ambush him alone!
For this reason, Arthur believed they would definitely attack Old Tyranitar again!
Because the injury to Old Tyranitar last time was clearly not severe enough.
Fortunately, Arthur now had a good way to convince Forrest.
"My family's judgment aligns with mine."
This sentence instantly energized Forrest!
"So the attack is indeed imminent!" he said seriously.
My bad, my bad, I really didn't mean to fool you, Arthur silently repented for a second.
Then he turned and skillfully directed Forrest to change driving direction.
After so many days, it wasn't just Forrest who had doubts. Behind the camera lens, most viewers around the world watching the livestream were slowly getting tired of Arthur neglecting his proper duties.
"Streamer, stop playing detective games! Go back and find someone to duel! Your points ranking has dropped out of the top 100."
"Or go find Seeds! Challenging a Chieftain would be fine too! We're not here to watch your blind analysis."
"A perfectly good popcorn blockbuster turned into a nonsensical mystery flop by you. Refund!"
Comments like these were increasing daily in the livestream chat.
Most people didn't believe Arthur's claim that the attacks would continue.
Some even accused him of grandstanding with ulterior motives.
However, at noon that day, Arthur, who had stopped to rehydrate, suddenly froze, his expression becoming extremely focused!
In the telepathic link, Lina, keeping watch from high altitude, sent a message: A jeep has appeared ahead and is approaching in this direction.
And what was very alarming was: There is no bird Pokémon following behind this person's vehicle.
In other words, this was a desert traveler without a camera.
Recently, due to this large-scale event affecting the entire Ashen Desert, travelers appearing near the territories of the Seven Chieftains and Two Phantoms rarely weren't participating in the event.
And if they were participating, they usually had a camera following them!
The road Arthur was patrolling was exactly the direction where he had recently found out the previous mad bomber was first sighted!
A ghost unrecorded by cameras was quietly approaching from this direction again!
In this moment, Arthur's eyes instantly sharpened—
Perhaps his chance to respond to the doubts and ridicule of those around him had arrived!
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