Chapter 279: Undersea Cave

The miniature submarine had been diving for a little over a minute.

Yet it still hadn't reached the seabed.

During the descent, its camera clearly captured numerous wild marine Pokémon.

For instance, schools of giant flying fish and small flying fish swimming in groups, along with schools of needlefish that looked like companion Pokémon — the sight of them swimming in massive numbers was quite spectacular.

A little deeper.

Corsola and Luvdisc swam past one after another. The former had a torpedo-like evolution a few hundred years ago, but in modern times that evolution is gone — strange. As for the latter, honestly All Baimu always felt it might be the simplest-designed Pokémon in the entire series.

Even deeper…

Just about reaching the seabed now.

One could see Pearls opening and closing, and Lanternfish skimming along the ocean floor looking for food.

Although the environment was pitch-black, it had the advantage of being quiet and peaceful. All Baimu felt like he was watching a nature documentary — his mood was very calm.

At this moment.

Yanagihara suddenly said, "Do you mind if I watch it on fast-forward?"

"Uh, please go ahead."

"Alright then."

He pressed a key, and the footage instantly became extremely fast. Many swimming fish Pokémon turned into black shadows flashing past, and the audio gradually produced a slightly piercing sound.

How many times was this sped up?

Sixteen times? Thirty-two times?

"Can you actually see anything at this speed?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I don't need to see clearly. I just need to watch the key parts."

Yanagihara smiled and said, "Isn't our goal to see whether the miniature submarine detected Lugia, and to deliberately track its trail?"

"... Fair point."

All Baimu felt he'd been so captivated by the colorful undersea world that he'd nearly forgotten the original purpose. Good thing the Interpol officer was more professional and unmoved by outside distractions.

The video continued playing at high speed.

Someone thoughtfully brought over a chair. He thanked them and sat down nearby, watching intently.

Unfortunately, he clearly hadn't mastered the knack for this. The rapidly flashing images made him dizzy after just ten minutes of watching. At the same moment, the miniature submarine received the order to surface and was handed over to maintenance staff for inspection.

To hear their exchange clearly, Yanagihara switched the playback speed back to normal.

Unfortunately, the maintenance staff didn't provide any useful information before sending the miniature submarine back down to the seabed.

The screen went black.

"It's over?"

All Baimu rubbed his temples and asked softly.

"No, this is only the first video. There are eight in total, each with a different length. Altogether they're about forty hours."

Yanagihara glanced at the video file and replied, "Don't worry, it'll be quick — just over an hour. If you can't hold out, you can take a break. I can handle it."

"... Please let me keep watching."

All Baimu shook his head. He hadn't forgotten his own mission.

Even though coming out to find Lugia was mostly a gimmick and excuse that Yamatsumi had arranged for him, if he really discovered Lugia right before his eyes, how could he miss it?

He'd just have to tough it out.

Yanagihara glanced at him, said nothing more, and opened the next file to continue watching at high speed.

Time slipped by quickly.

Although they still hadn't caught a glimpse of Lugia's trail, through the segments where the miniature submarine surfaced for maintenance, it was obvious that the maintenance workshop was located on a large ship.

And each time maintenance was performed, they would change the sea area before resuming the seabed survey.

Clearly, the purpose of deploying the miniature submarine wasn't only to test Professor Akihabara's results — it also included the seabed data collection that Azumi had mentioned earlier.

The other party had already admitted this and wasn't hiding it.

What just made All Baimu a little curious was the situation after the submarine exploded. Such a large ship — because the submarine blew up, those two thieves found the chance to steal clothes on the sea?

Something must have happened before the explosion.

With this thought in mind, he continued watching the sped-up video.

He hadn't expected that the moment Yanagihara opened the second-to-last video, a melodious cry suddenly came from within — like a song, yet also like a low whale call mixed with sharp tones.

"Stop!"

All Baimu couldn't help but speak up, and Yanagihara's hand happened to stop on the speed control.

"What's wrong?" the latter turned and asked.

He asked back, "Didn't you hear that sound just now?"

"That's the cry of a school of Wailord. Is there a problem?" Yanagihara was still somewhat puzzled.

All Baimu hurriedly shook his head. "No! That's not right! That's not a Wailord's cry. Although the two are somewhat similar, it's definitely not — this melody—"

As a Pokémon fan who had watched the movie *The Birth of Lugia* over and over, the moment he heard that familiar melody, it was like a genetic awakening — there was no way he could forget it.

That was Lugia's cry!

"You mean what just sounded was Lugia?" Yanagihara pressed play, and a large number of Wailord immediately swam past on screen.

This made All Baimu a little embarrassed, but he still said with great certainty, "Really, that was Lugia's cry! Listen carefully — it has a melody. Wailord's cries don't have a melody."

He dragged the progress bar, and the song-like cry came through the speakers again.

"..."

The ordinary office-worker-like man was silent for a moment, then turned and called out, "Jia! Are you still awake?"

Five seconds later.

A woman wearing an eye patch stood up. "What's wrong... Captain...?"

"I need you to pull up the audio files on Lugia from the database!" Yanagihara shouted. "Hurry up!"

"Understood!"

An Interpol officer named Jia immediately stood up and worked the computer in front of her.

An audio file instantly popped up on Yanagihara's computer. He casually tapped a few keys, and the screen switched to a piece of software.

Two audio clips were displayed, one above the other — the cry from the video, and the cry of the Lugia in Interpol's possession.

He pressed data comparison.

Two cries immediately came from the speakers, and colorful wavelengths leapt across the computer screen, merging into one.

"Looks like you were right."

Yanagihara said to All Baimu.

The latter only nodded, saying nothing.

Having confirmed that this video might contain traces of Lugia, Yanagihara slowed the playback speed, from thirty-two times to eight times. The footage was still terrifyingly fast, but All Baimu was beginning to feel he could keep up.

He stared fixedly at the screen, hoping to catch that corresponding figure.

And as if summoned by his gaze, just as the mini-sub plunged into an ocean trench, a flash of silver, almost imperceptible, swept past the bottom of the camera.

Yanagihara's hand flew to the pause key, then rewound and zoomed in.

Silvery-white downy feathers and a black dorsal fin immediately came into view for both of them — without a doubt, this was Lugia's figure.

Yanagihara was silent for a moment, and the speed changed from eight times to two times.

On the screen.

The Porygon piloting the mini-sub also seemed to sense its presence, and without hesitation swam in the direction Lugia had gone, increasing its power.

More and more footage of Lugia was recorded.

But it seemed the other party had not noticed this visitor from the land — the mini-sub — and was still swimming freely. A moment later, it swam into a hollow in the trench and disappeared.

The mini-sub quickly followed, and upon entering that hollow, discovered an utterly incredible sight!

It was an undersea cavern that could rise up and break free of the seawater!