thefictionvixens Chapter 476 Outsiders in the City
Chapter 476 Outsiders in the City
Chapter 478 Outsiders in the City
To be honest, being an engineer isn't a profession that excels at combat.
However, whether it's paving roads and building bridges or constructing buildings, every parameter that engineers specify is closely related to human life.
Pressure, stress, torque, coefficient of friction — Jero spent his life studying various heavy objects in motion and at rest. When he was an architect, his task was to ensure that those heavy objects did not loosen as much as possible so as not to collapse and crush flesh and bones; while when he was a "city defense engineer", his responsibility was exactly the opposite.
"Speaking of which, why is Jero's nickname 'City Defense Master'?"
Just as Lei Gong's "Electromagnetic Cannon" move temporarily cleared out the enemies in the corridor, Lila, panting as she ran and hid in the fire duct, asked the handsome detective beside her.
Along the way, the two had been on the verge of danger multiple times because of Zero's traps—a spiraling corridor, a monster cage full of hostile Pokémon, an unpredictable laser net, floor traps that suddenly disappear on flat ground, a room that could crush a person into a pancake in seconds—if it weren't for the handsome guy's familiarity with Zero's methods as the "City Defender," and the existence of Raikou, a powerful legendary Pokémon, they would probably have been crushed to pieces by the endless traps and the overwhelming number of Pokémon acting as guards.
"Aside from this Team Plasma castle that just appeared, he shouldn't have any experience building castles before, right? He's just an architect with some reputation in the industry. Why would the United Volcano criminals give Zero such a title? It's not like he gave it to himself within Team Plasma, is it?"
"The files related to the 'City Defense Master' have not yet been declassified by the Sinnoh League, so it's normal that you don't know about them, Miss Lila."
With the help of Espeon's "Flash" move, the handsome guy drew a new route on the simple map in his notebook before looking up and answering—
"To put it simply, Gerald was a college classmate of Akagi, the leader of Team Galactic. During Team Galactic's active period, he used the alias 'City Defense Master' to provide structural modification plans for at least seven key facilities of the organization. The sliding floor of the Galactic Warehouse, the hidden mezzanine of the Pathé Building, and the spatial trick of the Curtain Department Store that swapped an entire floor into the Galactic Tower across the street—all of these were his work."
He raised his hand, signaling the wicked frog to spray "venomous shock" onto the wall of the passage behind it. The hissing sound of acid corroding metal was particularly clear in the enclosed space—a clumsy way to prevent getting lost when the space was reconstructed.
"As for the relationship between this 'City Defense Master' and Team Plasma, it wasn't until two years ago, after the Seven Sages of Team Plasma officially came to the forefront, that the Sinnoh League thoroughly investigated it. Some analysts in the department believe that during the period when he was infiltrating Team Plasma, he was still widely active in the underworld of Unova as a 'City Defense Master'."
"So you're very familiar with his tactics."
"I wouldn't say I'm familiar with them," the Interpol agent from Sinnoh said cautiously, shaking his head. "I'm just testing the waters by throwing things in front of people in corners and passageways, taking a few examples of the trap patterns I've seen before."
"
"But it's already very effective." Lila examined the scorch marks on Raigong's front paws where the laser had grazed them, and applied an immediately effective wound medicine to her partner. "Without your probing, we wouldn't have even made it through that first rotating corridor."
"I think if I hadn't been holding you back, you and Lei Gong would have been able to rush into the core area without any worries."
"No." The expedition captain immediately shook his head, his expression serious. "Although I don't understand Gerald as well as you do, I've realized that speed alone won't get us to the end of this castle. Drawing a map step by step, like in a game, is the right way to conquer this maze."
"But we don't have that much time to spare."
The handsome man shook his head instead—
"This castle is the lair that Zero and Team Plasma have been operating for many years. The fact that they went to such great lengths to seal off the underground entrance suggests that its true danger is far greater than what we are seeing now."
He pointed to the corridor in front of him: "So far, all we've encountered are automatically triggered traps in the castle. And although the Pokémon chasing us are everywhere, it's just an optical illusion caused by their concentrated appearance in the narrow passages. No Team Plasma members have come forward to command them—which means that the 'City Defenders' and Team Plasma still don't see our infiltration as a threat that must be dealt with immediately."
""
"Is it because Hugo and the Four Heavenly Kings are keeping things occupied outside?" Lila said matter-of-factly. "Gero's attention is diverted by the battle outside the city, so naturally he can't keep an eye on what's happening here."
"But where are the other members of Team Plasma?" The handsome man frowned. "There are Team Plasma soldiers patrolling even outside the sewers. Why haven't we seen a single person after exploring the central area of the castle for so long?"
"What do you mean?" Lila looked around at the seemingly endless, silent castle corridors and finally understood the source of the inexplicable sense of crisis in her subordinate's heart.
The handsome man sighed: "If we compare the Plasma Cluster Castle to a city, then the place we are in now might not be inside the city behind the walls."
Lila raised an eyebrow: "Neither inside nor outside the city, could we be somewhere between the bricks of the city wall?"
"To be precise, it's closer to the barbican in ancient city defense systems." The handsome man paused, gesturing with both hands, "It usually consists of two layers of walls, inner and outer. Once the enemy breaches the first wall and enters the barbican, the defenders can seal the breach again and encircle and annihilate the separated enemy forces from both sides. But the problem now is..."
The handsome detective, known for his "whistling," gave a wry smile and whistled at an inopportune moment. The abrupt note bounced and drifted away in the corridor without eliciting any response.
"The castle's barbican is closed, yet no one has come to kill us," Lila added, having already grasped the handsome man's meaning.
"That's probably because we weren't the intended target of this fortified city at all," the handsome man said. "We just accidentally climbed into the gaps of the animal trap, while the hunters' attention was entirely focused on another, real beast."
Before the words were finished, the low rumble of gears meshing came again from behind the wall in the distance.
The two were tired of hearing similar sounds in the castle, but this time was different—as the sound came, Espeon's neck hairs stood on end, Raikou's throat rolled out a warning rumble of thunder, and Croagunk didn't hesitate to use "Brick Break" to embed its arm into the wall.
However, the expected dramatic spin did not occur.
But between the bricks in the wall, countless blue lights flickered faintly.