Chapter 136: The World Gathers on You
Past events are ultimately past events.
Arthur, after all, was not that much of a sentimental person.
An hour later, he had already managed to calm his emotions.
Afterward, he went to meet Raymond's cousin, who was also a Special Operations Regiment Commander in this batch of reinforcement troops.
Arthur's original intention was merely to probe for news, to inquire more about the Kubfu Alliance military's movements.
However, the sister-complexed Raymond consistently felt that he was secretly eyeing his little sister, Monica, and maintained his guard in numerous ways throughout their interaction.
This, conversely, led to his cousin coincidentally learning that Arthur was a newly acquainted friend of Monica's, and his perception of Arthur consequently became considerably more cordial.
It made Raymond quite annoyed...
Watching this, Arthur couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
Ultimately, Arthur successfully probed out some of the information he wanted—
Currently, the Kubfu Alliance had already dismantled almost all of the Stitched Shadow Army's overt bases and industries; previously, it could be said they had steamrolled all the way through, like smashing dry weeds and rotten wood.
Many financial groups and multinational enterprises that secretly supported the Stitched Shadow Army had also received economic sanctions from Kubfu.
The Stitched Shadow Army also seemed to have no intention of a desperate, life-or-death struggle; it was likely they were thinking of cutting their tail to survive.
Looking at it now, the current situation was already infinitely approaching the endgame.
The Kubfu Alliance had locked its subsequent targets onto several high-level members of the Stitched Shadow Army.
Just as Dayna and the others had previously speculated: without obtaining a few heads of significant weight, the Kubfu Alliance would not rest easy.
"Currently, the one whose tracks we've caught is the cadre within the Stitched Shadow Army codenamed Liam."
"Previously, a large-scale gang fight incident just occurred in the slums here, with the death toll breaking a hundred. The situation escalated quite significantly. We have already confirmed that Liam definitely participated in this!"
"Currently, multiple pieces of evidence all confirm: he is still stranded within Star Brilliance territory right now!"
Speaking up to this point, Raymond's cousin suddenly remembered, "Oh, right, that incident at the time, little friend Arthur, you seemed to be at the scene too, right?"
"Yes..."
Arthur, for a moment, replied quite helplessly.
...
Simultaneously, far away at the border, within a secret stronghold of the Stitched Shadow Army, Linda came for an audience with the Leader, similarly also to discuss the upcoming endgame situation.
Linda pushed open the door; the room was dim.
Leader Oliver sat in an armchair in the center of the room, one hand propping up his chin, his face covered by a mask, appearing as if deep in thought, his demeanor majestic.
In the dimly lit room, the air was ghostly and sinister, as if wronged souls were wailing.
To the left and right of the chair, there was a ghost on each side with blood-red eyes, their entire bodies shrouded in black smoke.
They were precisely Gengar and Mismagius.
Oliver sat steadily between the ghosts and phantoms, his sitting posture like that of the Godfather, like an underworld god in charge of souls, controlling life and death.
Reminiscing back then, over twenty years ago, when Linda first joined the organization and met Oliver, she was awestruck by this scene, greatly shocked!
She only felt this person's majesty was as vast as the sea, as if he were a ghost god.
But now, after learning numerous truths, when she saw this scene again, she only felt it was pretentious mystification, comically laughable.
So fond of sitting among numerous ghosts and shadows... is it because you're afraid of people seeing that you're a dead man?
Once upon a time, Linda had been very, very loyal to the Leader.
Because she had truly witnessed the Leader's methods and strategies.
Over a decade ago, the Leader laid out a plan on the Sicilia Peninsula, almost playing the Sinnoh League in the palm of his hand.
That time, they successfully provoked a conflict between Sinnoh and the Underworld God Giratina, causing over three hundred kilometers of the Sinnoh League's northern reserve border to fall into dispute.
Hostilities were on the verge of erupting!
If not for the Mythical Pokémon and Alliances from other continents intervening at the last moment to dissuade them, they would have already succeeded in dismantling the Great Reconciliation between humans and Pokémon that had lasted for two hundred years!
That was all single-handedly arranged by the Leader!
At that time, Linda could be said to have been exceptionally convinced and full of admiration for the Leader.
Although, at the time, many people within the organization were already dissatisfied with the Leader's excessive restraints on their actions in the East Continent, protesting the Leader's command forbidding them from arranging activities within Kubfu territory.
But Linda still believed the Leader definitely had some profound meaning behind doing so.
After all, if he dared to make a move against the Sinnoh League leader, another of the world's three superpowers, there was no reason for him to solely fear Kubfu.
She once trusted the Leader unconditionally.
Until she discovered that the one she had been loyal to all along was actually just a puppet, a dead man!
In that moment, she felt like a clown.
It was just that "Oliver" was unaware of all this.
In his eyes, Linda was still that sole, trustworthy, loyal cadre.
From the dim room came a hoarse, middle-aged man's voice, "Linda, ah, the organization has reached a critical moment of life and death. The trouble Liam and the others stirred up, it's time to let them repay it themselves."
The implied meaning was precisely the intention to sell out Liam and end all this.
Linda lowered her head and said nothing, appearing as if she still obediently listened to and followed the Leader.
The hoarse voice continued, "This time, I will also go. When the time comes, I will fake my death to escape. With myself and Liam both falling into the trap, Kubfu will presumably be satisfied."
Oliver still thought Linda was unswervingly loyal to him, so he unreservedly told her all his plans.
Who could have thought that Linda would turn around and share the news with Dayna?
"Heh, fake death to escape. For a dead man, this move is indeed quite useful," Dayna mocked.
"Looking at it this way, the person manipulating the Leader from behind the scenes should be from Kubfu, right?" Linda analyzed in a deep voice.
This group of people in the Stitched Shadow Army, down to their bones, all possessed a bit of human supremacist ideology.
They were dedicated to provoking war between humans and Pokémon because they believed that the humans of the new era would definitely win!
What they wanted to reshape was the new world order after a great human victory!
Therefore, they instinctively refused to believe that the one controlling the Leader from behind the scenes would be merely a single Pokémon.
They had fundamentally never even considered that possibility.
The three cadres unanimously believed that the one manipulating Oliver, this puppet, was definitely someone else!
Currently, their biggest suspect was precisely Kubfu!
It had been more than just a day or two that the current world's three superpowers had been mutually tripping each other up. The White Eagle Alliance from across the ocean especially loved to meddle in the major and minor affairs of the East Continent.
It was entirely logical and reasonable for Kubfu to have secretly manipulated the Stitched Shadow Army in its early years to stab Sinnoh in the back!
"Then this time, the Leader is going to meet Liam to implement the so-called fake death escape. Perhaps we can turn their plot against them, go and ferret out that mastermind behind the scenes!"
Dayna's proposal greatly tempted Linda.
However much loyalty she held for the Leader in the past, that was how much hatred she now held for this "mastermind"!
Thus, the two quickly reached a consensus, and their conspiracy began then and there.
At this moment, Liam, still stranded in Star Brilliance territory, was yet unaware that, unconsciously, multiple forces had already begun to lay out their plans revolving around him.
The Kubfu Alliance had locked onto his tracks, hoping to use this to follow the track clues to find more.
Oliver had locked onto his tracks, planning to sell him out, using the opportunity to stage a play and end this boring farce;
Dayna and Linda had also locked onto his tracks, planning to use him as bait to fish out the mastermind who had been manipulating their own leader all along.
Another day passed, and even Arthur, through the Stitched Shadow Army spy he had 'carefully poisoned', received a relayed message and learned of Liam's whereabouts.
Liam felt bitter in his heart.
He clearly hadn't done anything.
Yet, inexplicably, the entire world seemed to have already fixed its gaze upon him!
He had truly become the one upon whom the world gathered...
(End of Chapter)
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