Chapter 288: Return to the Cavern

The azure sea, the clear sky.

Baimu leaned against the ship's railing, gazing at the bustling scene not far away, and fell into thought for a moment.

How on earth did he end up on this pirate ship?

His memory drifted back to the Shinsu Fleet research institute the previous afternoon.

"Why not let the Shinsu Fleet help you out?"

The words from Azumi's mouth were quite surprising.

"... Sorry, Miss Azumi, I really can't join the Shinsu Fleet. I already belong to an organization." Baimu thought she was still trying to recruit him into the Shinsu Fleet.

Azumi, however, laughed.

"I understand. But first, we're still going to that stretch of sea. The exploration won't end until we can confirm that Lugia has truly left. The data in the black box will also help speed up the next mission, so bringing you along is just a bonus. Second, this is a good chance to change the world's impression of the Shinsu Fleet."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Do you need a sponsoring company?"

When Azumi said this, her brows curved just like a cunning little thief fox.

Afterwards.

It was Baimu negotiating with Yamamii, Yamamii negotiating with Azumi, and finally confirming that the Shinsu Fleet would sponsor his upcoming Contest career.

In return, he needed to add the Shinsu Fleet's logo to the chest of his custom suit, and if he later won a Ribbon and gave an acceptance speech, he had to add the line, "Thank you to the Shinsu Fleet for your tremendous support."

If the Shinsu Fleet didn't blow up in the future, the deal could truly be called a bargain—after all, they really were generous with the money.

Even Yamamii was tempted, wishing she could take Baimu's place as the sponsored one.

Where did the Shinsu Fleet get so much funding?

This was a question that puzzled him no end.

Back on the ship.

Baimu gazed at the deep blue sea, never having imagined that the first company to sponsor him would be the Shinsu Fleet... or rather, the Marine Corps—these two names were read the same way, differing only in how they were actually written.

The way things had developed was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Still, having the Shinsu Fleet's help was better than him searching for the open sea on his own and running around wasting time everywhere.

"They're really efficient."

He watched the maintenance crew not far away tuning up the mini-submarine.

Having regained the black box, Dr. Akihabara shook off the gloom of the drone failure and worked through the night to produce the Polyangula-mon-carrying mini-submarine Unit-01, attempting another undersea exploration.

The one that had been blown up before was called Unit-00—a proper Neon Genesis Evangelion reference. Very much in line with Dr. Akihabara's naming habits.

The only question was whether they could still find that undersea cavern from before...

"Ah, there you are."

Azumi's voice came from behind. She said, "We're about to deploy the mini-submarine. Come watch from the main control room."

"Okay."

Baimu nodded and followed her to the main control room, where he saw Dr. Akihabara looking thoroughly excited.

"Baimu! Perfect timing!"

Dr. Akihabara was so worked up he was waving his arms and dancing about. "Look at this—a land-cruising system! Now even if we hit land, we won't have to worry. We can just drive right up onto it!"

He pointed at a screen, which showed a strange half-submarine, half-tank machine.

It seemed the doctor had been thinking about something like this for quite a while.

"Since you've got land and sea covered, why not consider adding a maglev system and propulsion unit to give it flight capability? Sea, land, and air—wouldn't that be nice?"

Baimu couldn't help but quip.

Who would have thought Dr. Akihabara would freeze, then burst into hearty laughter, his eyes lighting up as he vigorously slapped Baimu's shoulder. "Right! Why didn't I think of that! That makes sense! You're a genius!"

This...

Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth, unsure what to say.

Judging by his past life's perspective, building such a complex mechanical structure was more trouble than it was worth—the cumbersome transformation system and efficiency issues were both mountains that needed to be overcome.

But in the world of the Pokémon anime... well, never mind everything else—just Lawrence III's airship alone was bizarre enough, like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The propellers spun at a speed that might not even match a household electric fan, yet somehow the thing could fly. Where would you even go to argue about that?

While they were chatting idly.

A Marine Corps member in the main control room sent a signal: "Mini-submarine Unit-01 is ready for deployment. Can be launched at any time!"

As the words fell, a massive screen appeared on the glass at the very front of the main control room, showing exactly what Unit-01's camera was capturing.

"Launch!"

At Azumi's command, the mini-submarine was immediately dropped into the water by the Marine Corps members outside.

Glug glug—

Accompanied by surging bubbles, the mini-submarine kept sinking. As the light dimmed until the surroundings could no longer be seen, it switched on its front lights.

Snap!

A small Balloon Pokémon immediately appeared in the frame.

It seemed to have been startled by the mini-submarine suddenly turning on its lights. It swam up, tapped the mini-submarine with its feelers, then turned around and swam off in a huff.

The mini-submarine wobbled.

A Marine Corps member spoke up, "All data normal!"

"All systems normal!"

"External armor scanned—everything normal!"

Dr. Akihabara grinned upon hearing these reports and explained to Baimu that, having learned from the experience of internal parts being damaged after being rammed by a school of Sharpedo last time, he had specifically added a shock-absorption system.

He also said that if it weren't for having to cram in too many things while keeping the size in mind, he would actually have preferred to add a protective barrier system, but that thing hadn't yet been miniaturized enough to fit into a machine barely half a person's height.

The mini-submarine continued downward.

Although he had long known about the blurry classification between freshwater and saltwater fish in the Pokémon animated world, seeing Goldeen and Seaking swimming about in seawater still left him at a bit of a loss for words.

Perhaps these were a school of saltwater Goldeen?

Not long after.

The trench they had seen before appeared before everyone's eyes, and nearly all of them held their breath.

Whether they could encounter Lugia again depended on whether they could find that undersea cavern from last time.

Of course, the other party might also be prowling nearby, so Azumi ordered his subordinates to switch off the searchlights, switch to night-vision mode, and crank the speakers to full volume.

The deep-sea trench was silent and cold.

The mini-submarine crept forward toward the coordinates on record, its scanner probing the surrounding environment, leaving no detail unchecked.

Finally.

They had reached the designated location.

All Baimu clenched his fists and stared fixedly at the screen; when he saw that ahead was not a rock wall drilled through, but a pitch-black hollow, he immediately looked at Azumi beside him.

"Found it!"

A hint of pleasant surprise was mixed into the other's voice as well.

Without a doubt the undersea cavern lay ahead, but the mini-submarine stopped before its entrance.

"Last time we reached this spot, the signal started cutting in and out, and it wasn't until we recovered Porygon that we finally figured out what it looked like inside."

Azumi explained thus: "This time the professor installed a signal-stabilizing system on the submarine, but to be honest no one can be sure it'll work, so now the question is this.

"Do we go in person aboard the prepared submarine to investigate right now, or do we play it safe and send the mini-submarine to scout? The latter might fail to transmit a signal, and it might also alert the enemy."