Pokémon Detective Case Files.

In the distance, the green figure had already disappeared into the depths of the corridor with several consecutive leaps, as if it was trying to avoid a direct confrontation with the Fighting King's Pokémon.

Lian Wu was unaware that it was precisely because of his extreme focus on minimizing energy dissipation and pursuing pure physical attacks that the Iron Leaf, responsible for interception, was unable to draw sufficient energy from the battle. Without external energy harvesting support, continuous combat was too taxing for it, so it could not rashly activate the "Electric Field" ability and could only resort to harassment and delaying tactics.

The battle was temporarily over, but Bogarman picked up his short fins and stared thoughtfully in the direction where Iron Leaf had disappeared.

"Poga, Poga!"

It suddenly cried out, its small fins pointing firmly to one side of the corridor—not the corner where Ironleaf had previously launched its harassment, but another seemingly intact wall on the side.

"You said...we should go this way?" Lian Wu pointed in the opposite direction from where Tie Banye had fled, looking puzzled.

"Bobobo..."

The little penguin shook its head vigorously, its two flippers making an "X" sign.

Then, he spat out a thin but precise "water gun" from his mouth, the water jet shooting straight in the third direction—to a certain spot in the middle of that wall.

"Is there a problem here?" Lian Wu raised his flashlight with suspicion, carefully scanning the area with the beam.

Where the spot of light swept across, the Fighting King's pupils suddenly contracted.

At a certain height, the exquisite yet repetitive Gothic etched patterns on the wall exhibited a subtle misalignment, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. It was as if two similar wallpapers had been carelessly pieced together, resulting in a millimeter-level break in the continuity of the patterns.

"Po-Ga!" Pogaman flapped his wings and made an exaggerated punching motion.

Lian Wu understood immediately and nodded to his partner behind him.

There, the old construction worker had already picked up the two concrete pillars again and silently stepped forward.

Although limited physical strength prevented them from brute forcefully carving a path through the maze to the core, there are currently no architectural walls in the world that can completely block the ace partner of this fighting king.

After all, demolition is the old profession of construction craftsmen.

boom!

The concrete column slammed heavily onto the vicinity of the misalignment point, piercing straight in.

First came the muffled thud of the surface cement crumbling, followed by the ear-piercing screeching of the twisting and deforming inner metal layers, and finally—

Boom! Thud!

The two-meter-long column was deeply embedded in the wall. Just hearing the hollow echo, Lian Wu was already certain of Pogaman's judgment—

There's nothing behind the wall!

Seeing that the attempt was effective, the experienced craftsman exerted force with both palms, using the embedding point as a fulcrum and the concrete column as a lever to pry it up and down. The wall creaked under the strain, and cracks spread like a spider web. Just then, another concrete column delivered the fatal blow, slamming hard into the already deformed weak point of the wall.

Crash... Boom!

Suddenly, the entire wall collapsed inward, revealing a large, jagged hole.

However, the corridor behind the cave was not the one Lian Wu had anticipated.

Instead, it was a rough space with a completely different style, seemingly forcibly pieced together into the main body of the castle.

Countless unpolished concrete beams and columns were exposed, pipes hung haphazardly overhead, and the ground was even more than half a meter lower than where Lian Wu was standing—all the materials and craftsmanship were incompatible with the castle's exquisite Gothic style, as if they were foreign objects hastily integrated in when the construction was only halfway done.

This is precisely where the irreparable "errors" were accommodated during the reconstruction of this mechanical castle; it is a flaw that must be hidden in the meticulous blueprint of the "City Defense Master".

At the other end of this chaotic space, on a wall that had clearly been rotated before, Lian Wu saw a familiar mark.

A crooked mark deliberately scorched by some kind of corrosive liquid.

That's... a mark left by someone using the poison-attribute move "Venom Impact".

Chapter 468 When evil reaches its peak, it overflows.

Unlike Wanlong and Lianwu, Yueju did not encounter any guards sent by the "City Defense Masters" along the way.

It wasn't because the plasma cluster was hesitant to act, intimidated by the gambling king's legendary past and reputation, but rather for a simpler, and more infuriating, reason—

He couldn't find him.

Yes, from the moment the three Unova Elite Four members were swallowed by the blue light on the castle wall and forcibly teleported into the castle, Cranberry vanished in an instant, like a drop of water falling on the "Hot Sands".

All the "eyes," all the surveillance equipment—including listening probes and wide-angle cameras hidden in vents, wall crevices, and even decorative patterns—failed to capture the slightest trace of this Elite Four member after entering the castle. Even a tsunami of Pokémon couldn't find the gambler's shadow.

This is definitely not normal.

This maze was a sophisticated instrument designed by Gero himself, with the coverage angle of each "eye" meticulously calculated. He had clearly verified it repeatedly beforehand, and theoretically, this system should not have any blind spots.

However, the Dark Elite Four member, along with his Slash Commander, managed to escape the range of all surveillance networks within two seconds of landing, thanks to the flash of light emitted by the transfer device.

"Damn it."

The dull thud of a fist slamming into the metal workbench made the already empty cocoa cup jump slightly.

Between theory and practice, there exists a wall filled with imperceptible errors—and Gerald, as an engineer, knows this better than anyone.

Normally, these minor deviations are often absorbed by the system's large fault tolerance or canceled out by the careful design of skilled engineers. Even if they are accidentally exposed, they will not have a substantial impact on the entire chaotic system.

But an error is an error.

Once discovered and exploited by some extremely clever individuals, these ideas will snowball along the logical chain, eventually causing the entire system to malfunction or even collapse!

The setbacks suffered by Iron Rock and Iron Leaf were certainly frustrating—in Jero's script, they were supposed to exhaust Wanlong and Lianwu's stamina and trump cards. But he never expected these "stage devices" to eliminate the Alliance's top-tier combat power during the maze phase. That didn't matter.

The real problem is that, as of this moment, that "extremely intelligent guy" is still nowhere to be found.

Jero deduced that Blueberry was currently frantically running around in the blind spots of various surveillance cameras. But he couldn't predict the extent to which this gambler, lurking in the shadows and with unpredictable thoughts, would ultimately disrupt the entire plan with his seemingly scattered actions.

He doesn't want to become the next Vio.

Of course, to be honest, the castle monitoring system, which the "city defense master" had high hopes for, was not entirely without feedback.

Nearby microphones occasionally picked up slight vibrations resembling footsteps, and at the edges of certain key intersections, shadowy figures would occasionally flash by at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye—indicating that the creature that had always remained out of sight had not only found the correct direction of advance but was also steadily approaching the core.

"Did he take advantage of the time difference in angle when the monitors turned? No... that gap alone is far from enough for someone to become completely invisible. He simply controlled the length of time he was exposed to different monitors each time, turning the confrontation with the monitoring system into a game similar to whack-a-mole, leaving me no time to react. Indeed, relying on one person to monitor all channels of the entire maze simultaneously is still too much of a stretch..."

Jero rubbed his temples in frustration.

He could originally use the sounds and shadows to roughly determine the area where Blueberry was located, but while he was distracted by controlling Iron Rock and Iron Leaf to fight against the two Heavenly Kings, he completely lost track of the former.

"If I had known, I should have sent more people to manage these monitoring channels... But that would have created a conflict with the very foundation of the castle due to the complex command system, which would have reduced the efficiency of automatic response. It would have been better to simply install pressure sensors and write corresponding automatic data acquisition programs... In any case, there's no point in thinking about these things now."

For engineers, given enough tools and time, spilled water can be recovered. Summarizing experiences is sometimes more important than burying oneself in hard work—but right now, what he lacks most is precisely time.

Stay calm, you must stay calm.

No calculation can be solved by the anxiety of the calculator, and the same principle applies to engineering.

"In the end, no matter how he hides, in this ever-changing labyrinth, I am still the only one who holds the reins."

Before the flickering light screen, the Plasma Sage's gaze turned cold—

"Since he can achieve invisibility from God's perspective by predicting the blind spots of the surveillance network... then 'God' only needs to design a path that leaves him with no other choice."

Then, place the most crucial piece at the end of the road.

As he pondered, Jero's finger slid rapidly across the holographic interface of the control terminal.

First, he isolated the area where the other two Heavenly Kings were located. Then, he pulled out the lowest-level set from among thousands of building transformation plans—the last procedure he had originally set up for the "final victory of the Plasma Group."

In the glorious future where the Union Alliance no longer exists, this castle no longer needs to appear as a labyrinth. It will unfold, be reshaped, and transform into a solemn and straight thoroughfare to welcome believers and converts who come to pay homage to the new order.

Of course, in this situation of "receiving uninvited guests," those grand reliefs and vaulted ceilings can be omitted.

As the engineer's fingertip touched the screen, the simulated button on the light screen obviously couldn't make a sound.

The next second, from the depths of the steel castle, which had been managed, modified, and polished by the Plasma Group for nearly ten years, came a deep, familiar hum, like the awakening of a giant beast.

Countless forks in the road were violently cut, misaligned, and shifted.

The walls flipped like loose pages.

The floor is raised or lowered in sections.

The ceiling is folded in layers.

The complex network structure rapidly collapses and contracts under precise force.

Ultimately, it coalesced into a straight, narrow corridor without any side branches.

It is like a narrow strip of sky cleaved by an axe between two cliffs, only wide enough for three people to walk side by side, with smooth alloy walls on both sides that are impossible to climb, extending upwards to a height that is difficult to see.

All decorative patterns were removed, leaving only the cold, hard metallic color, which reflected a merciless, pale glow under the dense light sources embedded in the wall.

At the end of this straight passage, a figure stood quietly.

It stands firmly on all fours, its head held high, its metallic body a cold, steely blue.

Atop his head, a pair of beams of light composed of azure energy particles radiated a constant and majestic glow, like a crown.

Its posture and silhouette are exactly the same as those of Gopaleon, the holy swordsman in the Unova legend who symbolizes "justice" and "guidance".

However, its overall precise mechanical texture, the artificial light bands flowing at the joints, and the inorganic blue light in its eyes all proclaim its "unnatural" nature.

If Wanlong were here, that novelist would immediately blurt out the name of this paradoxical Pokémon.

—Iron shell.

But even without that obscure knowledge from a gossip magazine, the cranberry, born into nobility and well-versed in Unova mythology and heraldry, would never mistake the prototype it imitates.

Beneath the feet of this artificial Pokémon, a dazzling golden halo has already steadily spread out.

It is precisely an "electrical site".

"Now you have nowhere to hide."

In the control room, the whispers of the "City Defense Division" certainly did not spread to the distant corridors through any sound transmission devices.

But standing within that forcibly constructed "narrow passage," the evil-type Heavenly King seemed to be able to clearly feel the controlling will that was transmitted through the cold metal and the blinding light.

The light sources that fill the walls of the narrow corridor illuminate the space like the shadowless lamps in a hospital operating room.

Without a doubt, the integrated, narrow corridor doesn't have many side streets that need to be monitored.

Those "eyes" that were originally scattered everywhere can now clearly monitor every speck of dust in this cramped space without changing their field of vision by even a millimeter.

And those lurking in blind spots are no exception.

"It's time to teach that cheating gambler a lesson."

Jero's sinister mutterings sounded particularly clear amidst the low hum of the instruments.

Before him, the light screen was divided into several sections, illuminating various parts of the castle, but the 'City Defense Master's' gaze was fixed on the entrance to the "narrow passage" and the black figure that had finally appeared.

“Originally, following Quixes’s advice, I didn’t intend to deal with you intruders during the labyrinth phase. But the trouble you caused on the Royal United Ship almost broke the Order’s disposable funds! If I hadn’t paid out of my own pocket, even the final form of this castle would have almost become a half-finished product due to budget shortages. Ah... even the most good-tempered and tolerant engineer would find it hard not to feel a desire for revenge against society when faced with such a financial black hole caused by malicious fraud.”

At this moment, the only way for Blueberry to pass this level is to defeat Paradox Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Jero had already mobilized resources—he suspended the operation of Iron Rock and Iron Leaf, channeling their energy reserves through underground pipelines to this location and pumping them all into the Iron Head shell at the end.

Based on the data analysis of the previous battle between the two Heavenly Kings, without the support of his companions, unaware of the truth about the energy extraction device, and standing on the "Electric Field," it was impossible for Lantana to defeat the Guardian, whose energy state was at 300% in its complete form.

The balance of power is undoubtedly tipped in one direction.

There's no reason to lose.

Jero squinted at the monitor screen.

After the "eyes" finished moving, they gradually focused, making the scene in the corridor clearer.

A metal corridor with every speck of dust visible, a stark, lifeless light, and...

The outline that was originally identified as "bilberry" began to look strange.

Its edges are rough and its texture is poor, like a crudely made stage prop.

That wasn't the gambler king's signature red and black suit at all, but rather an empty shell in the shape of a human, barely tangled together with dark green vines and leaves!

At that very instant, a clear, undisguised sneer came from the listening device.

"idiot."

As soon as he finished speaking, the "gambler silhouette" that the grass turtle had carefully pieced together with "magic leaves" fell to the ground, just like a piece of paper in the literal sense.

Real blueberries—

It's not at that meticulously designed "narrow passage" entrance.

It wasn't under the stark white light that was locked onto by countless cameras.

A cold, abyss-like black blade of light slashed out from the shadows without warning.

From the end of the transformed corridor, behind the dazzling golden light of the "Electrical Field," behind the imposing iron-headed guardian—