Chapter 552: Predator and Prey
Seeing that Forrest had finally released his Pokémon to join the fight, Arthur smiled with relief.
This driver is much more reliable than the last one.
At this moment, a certain former "driver," far away in the Batta Alliance, was on a long vacation, sprawled on his sofa, enjoying the air conditioning. Thinking back to those few days, Skarner felt he needed at least a month off to recover. He had agreed to just drive, but the trip had turned out to be more thrilling than his mercenary days on the battlefield!
"That kid is ridiculous!" Skarner cursed with a smile as he recalled the events.
And now, it was Forrest's turn to have similar thoughts...
"I shouldn't have listened to you. Being your driver is more intense than my military exercises!"
While dodging sneak attacks from Digging Pokémon and having his Lucario protect him, Forrest complained, feeling mentally exhausted.
But despite the complaints, he didn't back down from the fight.
He also analyzed the situation for Arthur. "Protect the camera! As long as the video signal isn't cut, given our social influence, the Alliance will send a rescue team immediately upon seeing this. As long as we hold on, there's hope!"
The desert was too vast to expect passersby to save them. Their only chance was the livestream audience notifying the authorities.
This was exactly why the enemy had sent Talonflame to target the Sigilyph and its camera right from the start! They wanted to isolate Arthur and Forrest as much as possible!
However, Arthur had his own ideas.
He knew that many of the enemy's assumptions were based on delusions, but these delusions wouldn't hold up under scrutiny. If the Stitched Shadow Army were captured by the Kubfu Alliance, their misconceptions would eventually be exposed. And when that happened, Specter's true identity would be revealed!
Arthur didn't want Specter's identity exposed.
If it were, as the former leader of a terrorist organization and the true mastermind, Specter would likely be taken into custody by the Alliance as a high-risk Pokémon and imprisoned! Many Pokémon who had killed humans were subjected to such confinement. Given Specter's past crimes, a conservative estimate would be a sentence of three thousand years...
Arthur's deal with Suicune had been precisely to prevent this! At least in the current official records, Specter was just a wild Ghost-type Pokémon Arthur had accidentally captured in the Mt. Moon Nature Reserve. As for his old age, while it was rare for an old wild Pokémon to be captured, it wasn't impossible, right?
To secure this cover, Arthur still owed Suicune a Rare Candy to this day.
But if the high-ranking members of the Stitched Shadow Army were captured, this cover risked being blown.
Arthur hadn't bothered to correct Forrest's previous guesses about Specter because Forrest had no evidence and wouldn't report him intentionally. But he was sure the desperate Stitched Shadow Army would.
So Forrest actually had no idea what Arthur's true intention was in persisting with the investigation of the suicide bomber these past few days!
He didn't want to be a hero of justice, nor was he simply trying to stop a terrorist attack.
He was doing it for self-preservation, and to take the initiative!
If the Stitched Shadow Army continued to haunt him, Arthur had even considered taking matters into his own hands and eliminating the threat permanently!
Dayna wanted to capture him; Arthur knew that. But Dayna didn't know that Arthur also wanted to kill her to silence her! That way, Specter's past sins would be buried forever, known to no one.
In this game, the line between hunter and prey wasn't as clear-cut as one might imagine.
Just as when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you...
However, Arthur had never shared these darker thoughts with Forrest. But now, he said something that puzzled Forrest.
"Don't bother protecting the camera. Use it as bait to lure them in and take out as much of their manpower as possible."
Forrest found this unthinkable.
"Are you crazy? You're playing with fire! If the camera isn't protected and we get captured, the Alliance might not even be able to find us for a rescue!"
Arthur smiled coldly.
"Don't pin your hopes of survival on the enemy sparing your life for some ulterior motive. Why don't we find a way to solve this dilemma ourselves?"
The next moment, Arthur spotted Dayna's position! Her car was approaching, very close, close enough that he could see her long hair without binoculars.
Then, something happened that shocked Forrest!
He watched as Arthur quietly walked up behind the Sigilyph and personally unplugged the camera's signal cable!
Then Arthur shushed the Sigilyph, putting a finger to his lips.
"Shh, don't let anyone notice. Keep flying with this thing and pretend you don't know anything."
Although Arthur's Pokémon were all on the front lines and couldn't translate for him, the clever Sigilyph quickly understood Arthur's meaning. Especially the bone-chilling, restrained killing intent, which rapidly improved the Sigilyph's understanding of human language. It got it instantly.
"Sigi, sigi!"
The Sigilyph nodded frantically.
Forrest was dumbfounded.
"What are you doing?"
He suddenly felt the boy in front of him become incredibly unfamiliar, his voice turning dry.
Arthur smiled slightly and whispered back.
"Isn't this what you taught me? When you want to do something that's inconvenient to show, remember to block the camera first."
Forrest recalled, and realized he really had said that.
But back then, he thought Arthur was just an innocent eighteen-year-old who knew nothing.
Now, looking at Arthur again, it was like looking at a deeply hidden demon. The smile on that somewhat babyish face was chillingly bloodthirsty.
"What... do you want to do?"
"Help me stall the ambushing Pokémon here. I believe you can do it. Back at the Shurima Royal Academy, I heard Instructor Forrest's wild combat skills were among the best in the army."
After speaking, Arthur drew his dual swords, locked his gaze on Dayna's approaching car in the distance, and began his charge with firm resolve!
Although Gravity created a no-fly zone, it couldn't stop him from running forward!
"Old Flame, fall back and Dragon Dance! When you're done, cover Specter while he uses Nasty Plot!"
Leaving a command for his two aces to cover each other while buffing, Forrest then witnessed a shocking scene—
To fill the gap left by Old Flame retreating to Dragon Dance, Arthur went straight to the front lines wielding Doublade himself!
With a single slash, he cut halfway through a Golurk's knee, forcing the two-meter-tall ghost giant to kneel.
Then Arthur took a step, jumped off the giant's bent knee, and soared into the air. Affected by Gravity, he fell extremely fast, which invisibly amplified the force of his downward slash.
One slash!
With just one slash from a mortal body, he cut down a Golurk that looked to be at least professional-level, leaving it unable to rise!
Only then did Forrest begin to doubt.
In this battle, who is surrounding whom?
Who is the prey, and who is the hunter?
Has the enemy really figured it out?
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