bookbashuk Chapter 410 The one who steals the country becomes a prince.
Chapter 410 The one who steals the country becomes a prince.
Chapter 412 The one who steals the country becomes a prince.
Hugo met Lionel in the detention center's meeting room. Only a few weeks after his arrest, the vice president of the alliance's hair had already begun to turn gray.
"Did you use hair dye before?" the black-haired detective asked with great interest before the interrogation officially began.
"Yes, after all, it makes older people look more energetic." Lionel Scaratos, dressed in a simple prison uniform, nodded without feeling offended by Hugo's casual conversation, as if he were still the vice president of the league sitting in his office. "Mr. Champion, what brings you here? I've already told you everything I know."
"I have faith in Gloria and her team's interrogation skills." Hugo nodded through the glass of the meeting room. "However, regarding the plasma cluster..."
There must be some things you don't fully understand, but you vaguely sense something is amiss, right?
"Although I've amassed some influence, I've never truly entered the core of that organization. My only effort was completely wasted because of your intervention. There are just too many strange and incomprehensible things." Lionel shook his head. "You're suddenly asking me all this because something happened?"
"You're quite adept at getting information out of people, Mr. Vice President, but at this point we have no reason to hide anything from you." Hugo spread his palms. "You should still remember the name Morikawa Shigeru."
"Morikawa, what foolish thing did he do?" Lionel's face showed a rare hint of hesitation.
The detective calmly stated, "To repay your kindness, the family staged a kidnapping, but their real purpose was to assassinate me, the rookie champion."
Lionel gasped in surprise, then slowly uttered the words.
"—This makes absolutely no sense."
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"Of course it's meaningless." Hugo nodded calmly, almost coldly.
Even Lionel himself didn't harbor much hatred towards Hugo, yet the Morikawa family wanted to repay their benefactor by assassinating the champion. What word can describe such behavior other than "stupid"?
"The reason you went to prison was because the murder of Team Plasma scholar Akroma within the Alliance was exposed. It was entirely due to your power struggle within Team Plasma, and you only have yourself to blame for this fate. But Morikawa thinks you were arrested because your identity as a Team Plasma member was exposed, and he considers me, the one who finally caught you, as his enemy. It's truly an undeserved disaster."
"You mean Ms. Ryoko and Sayuri were also involved when you said 'their family'?"
"Oh?" Hugo raised an eyebrow slightly. "You seem particularly interested in this family?"
Under the cold incandescent light, Hugo clearly saw the changes in Lionel's expression.
"Ms. Ryoko assaulted a League driver to create a false impression during the kidnapping, and her daughter, Sayuri, gave false testimony to the police."
Considering her minor status, Sayuri might receive leniency, but Ryoko faces at least four to five years in prison. As for Morikawa Hajime…” he paused deliberately, “from faking a bombing victim to personally assassinating the league champion, each one is a serious crime. In comparison, your attempt to eliminate Akromah, also an attempted murder, could be considered doing a service to the people.”
"The Morikawa family—they are very good people." The former vice-chairman was clearly trying to remain calm. "There's no point in subjecting them to excessive punishment."
"Are you and Morikawa good friends?" Hugo suddenly asked.
"To say there was absolutely no friendship would be a lie." Lionel shrugged and sighed helplessly. "Perhaps it was initially just to win people over in the church, or maybe it was just to observe the lives of the lower-level employees in the alliance, but after all, we've been associated with their family for so many years... I really don't want to drag them down with me."
This was the moment Hugo had been waiting for.
"Then you have a chance now." The detective leaned forward slightly, his voice low. "We are investigating a case file that you handled. If we can uncover the hidden story behind it, we will consider reducing the charges against the Morikawa family and treating the entire assassination as a forced act under the misleading influence of the Plasma Group."
"What kind of file is it?"
Without hesitation, the former vice president, who was determined not to miss any opportunity, asked the champion directly.
"The document that was lost on the night Morikawa had his car accident, because of the slippery roads from the rain, and which you later completely erased from your record," Hugo said. "Ultimately, it's a problem you created yourself."
"I remember it was just an ordinary document," Lionel frowned almost imperceptibly. "I just mentioned it to one of my clerks and that resolved the whole thing."
"Is it really that simple?" The new champion's voice suddenly turned deep, like an undercurrent in a deep pool. "Gloria just finished questioning the crew leader who assigned the mission. Following this lead, we found a former Inspectorate official named Holt—the very man who issued that escort order."
The lights in the visiting room flickered, casting eerie shadows on Hugo's face: "Interestingly, this Mr. Holt suddenly submitted his resignation two years ago and has since vanished without a trace."
Lionel's eyes changed. Years of political instinct made him immediately realize something was amiss—a missing official, a deliberately concealed shipping record, and that perfectly timed "accident" on a rainy day.
"While we cannot release you from the detention center during the investigation," Hugo paused, "I will coordinate with the Alliance Security Department to cooperate with your investigation. Make sure to use all the intuition and insight you've honed while navigating the Alliance bureaucracy and the Plasma Group to thoroughly uncover the truth hidden behind this file."
"Okay, I will do my best," Lionel said firmly.
A long-lost glint flashed in the eyes of the former vice president of the alliance—for this friend who could hardly be called a friend, he decided to gamble with the little value and chips he had left.
While Detective Hugo was making a deal with the attempted murderer in the detention center, another deal was also successfully completed in another secret room.
"This is the prop you're looking for, but it looks like it might be fake—I warned you beforehand."
A figure shrouded in a black hood silently approached the long table, and gloved fingers pushed a black round stone to the center of the table.
Although the person wearing the hood had a somber appearance, the voice sounded like a woman's.
"To be honest, even if you didn't distract the Alliance's police, I could still steal it easily. The security there is very lax. Judging from the level of importance they're placing on it, it's highly likely that this thing isn't genuine."
The stone rolled on the smooth tabletop with a dull thud.
"It's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't."
The Plasma Sage, dressed in a deep blue robe, extended his palm and precisely stopped the rolling of the black round stone.
"The final payment has been transferred to the account you designated."
"Oh? Don't you need to check it?" A cold laugh came from under the hood. "Aren't you worried that I might have switched this thing?"
"The Founding Stone will spontaneously visit the people it is destined to be, and once it is born, it will move towards where it is meant to go."
"Ha, charlatan."
The woman scoffed, turned around, and waved to the sage behind her. "A pleasant transaction. Although the United States Alliance's defenses are riddled with holes, your ability to lure that detective away has certainly made my job much easier."
"Speaking of that detective..."
Asura, one of the seven sages of the Plasma Group and known as the "Soul Thief," narrowed her eyes and called out to the other party.
"He's been really tough lately. I heard you used some means—to expel Hugo from Sinnoh. If we were to hire you to do the same thing again, what would be your price?"
"Unreliable information is the root of failure. That was pure rumor, it's completely unfounded."
The figure under the hood showed no interest, her voice tinged with obvious weariness. "Besides, I'm just a thief. I don't do anything other than stealing." She casually tossed a Poké Ball. "I have a deal in the Galar region tomorrow, and I've already sent out the notice. I'm not in the mood to waste time in Unova."
"He who steals a hook is punished, he who steals a state becomes a prince."
Amidst the cryptic words of the sage Asura, the thief nimbly leaped onto the windowsill. The night wind whistled as it lifted the hem of her hood, revealing a grappling hook, smoke bombs, a master key, and various Poké Balls at her waist.
The Poké Ball in her hand suddenly opened, releasing a pink Mosquito. Using the Pokémon's levitation ability, it leaped from the air into the night.
In the dimly lit chamber, only the figure of the blue-robed sage holding the stone remained—"The true dragon transformed from the Light Stone is carried by Lord N daily, the fake Dark Stone is here—but where is the real Founding Stone?"