The deep blue sea, the clear sky.
Baimu leaned against the side of the boat, watching the bustling scene not far away, and couldn't help but fall into contemplation.
How did I end up on this pirate ship?
His memory drifted back to yesterday afternoon at the New Water Fleet Research Institute.
"Why not let the New Water Fleet help you?"
Aquan's words were quite surprising.
"...Sorry, Miss Aquan, I really can't join the New Water Fleet, I already belong to an organization," Baimu thought the other side wanted to recruit him into the New Water Fleet.
Instead, Aquan smiled.
"I understand. But first, we will still go to that sea area. The exploration work won't be over until we confirm that Lugia has truly left. The data in the black box could also accelerate the next mission, taking you along is just incidental. Besides, this is a good opportunity to change the world's impression of the New Water Fleet."
"Uh, how so?"
"Do you need corporate sponsorship?"
As Aquan said this, she looked like a sly thief.
After that.
It was Baimu negotiating with Shanren, Shanren then negotiating with Aquan, and finally confirming the New Water Fleet would sponsor his upcoming Gorgeous Competition endeavors.
For this, he needed to add the New Water Fleet's logo to the chest of his custom suit, and if he succeeded in winning a ribbon later, he also had to include "Thanks to the New Water Fleet for their strong support" in his acceptance speech.
If the New Water Fleet didn't have a meltdown in the future, the deal was definitely worthwhile, after all, they were really generous with money.
Even Shanren was tempted, wishing he could replace Baimu as the sponsored one.
Where did the New Water Fleet get all this funding?
It was a question he couldn't figure out no matter how hard he tried.
Back on the boat.
Baimu looked at the deep blue sea, completely not expecting the first company to sponsor him would be the New Water Fleet... or should I say Ocean Team, the two names are pronounced the same, differing only in the actual writing.
The development of things was somewhat beyond his expectations.
However, with the help of the New Water Fleet, it was better than going alone to find Guang Hai, and wasting time wandering around.
"Efficiency really is fast."
He watched the personnel testing the micro submarine not far away.
With the black box recovered, Dr. Akihabara brushed off the depression from the drone failure and worked overnight to prepare Porygon carrying the micro submarine No.1 Machine, attempting to explore the seabed once again.
The one that blew up before was called the Zeroth Machine, absolutely a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Very much in line with Dr. Akihabara's naming habits as well.
It's just unclear if they can explore that underwater cave again...
"Ah, here you are."
Aquan's voice came from behind, she said, "The micro submarine is about to be launched, come to the control room and watch."
"Okay."
Baimu nodded and followed her to the control room, where he saw a very excited Dr. Akihabara.
"Baimu! You're just in time!"
Dr. Akihabara gestured wildly, "Look at this, a land cruise system, now even if we encounter land, we're not afraid, we can just drive right over it!"
He pointed at a screen, on it was a bizarre half-submarine, half-tank machinery.
It seemed like the doctor had considered similar ideas long ago.
"Since there's already land and sea, why didn't you consider adding a Magnetic Suspension System and a driving device for Flying Ability? Sea, land, and air, wouldn't that be great?"
Baimu couldn't help but quip.
To his surprise, Dr. Akihabara was taken aback, then burst into laughter, eyes shining, and slapped him on the shoulder with force, "Yeah! Why didn't I think of that! It makes sense! You're truly a genius!"
This...
Baimu twitched his mouth, not knowing what to say.
From a previous life perspective, developing such complex mechanical structures was not worth the effort, the cumbersome transformation systems plus efficiency problems were a large mountain to overcome.
But in the Pokémon animated world... never mind that, just Jillutai's airship was already incredibly surreal, like the Hanging Gardens of Ancient Babylon, yet the propeller's speed might not even be faster than a household fan, and yet it could fly, where do you argue about that?
Meanwhile.
A signal came from an Ocean Team member in the control room, "Micro submarine No.1 Machine is ready, can be launched at any time!"
As soon as the words fell, a giant screen appeared on the glass at the front of the control room, clearly showing everything captured by the camera of the No.1 Machine.
"Launch!"
At Aquan's command, the micro submarine was immediately thrown into the water by the Ocean Team members outside.
Gululu—
Accompanied by rising bubbles, the micro submarine continued to sink, and when the light dimmed so much that the scene was no longer visible, it turned on its headlights.
Pop!
A small ball fish immediately appeared on the screen.
The little creature seemed startled by the micro submarine's sudden lights, swam up, hit the micro submarine with its barbels, and swam away in a huff.
The micro submarine wobbled.
"All data is normal!" said an Ocean Team member.
"All systems are normal!"
"External armor scanned, everything is normal!"
Hearing this, Dr. Akihabara chuckled and explained to Baimu that to learn from the last time's experience, when the Sharpedo school collision damaged the internal components, he had specifically installed a shock absorption system.
He also mentioned that if it weren't for so many things being crammed in and having to consider the volume, he actually wanted to add a Protective Barrier system, but that thing hasn't been miniaturized enough to fit into a half-human-sized machine yet.
The micro submarine continued downward.
Even though he was already aware of the blurred lines between freshwater and saltwater fish in the Pokémon animated world, seeing Goldeen and Seaking swim back and forth in the sea was still somewhat speechless in person.
Maybe these are a group of seawater Goldeen?
Before long.
The familiar trench appeared before everyone's eyes, almost everyone held their breath.
Whether they would encounter Lugia again depended on whether they could find the underwater cave again.
Of course, the creature might still be roaming nearby, so Aquan ordered her subordinates to turn off the headlamp, switch to night vision mode, and crank up the audio to full volume.
The deep-sea trench was silent and cold.
The micro submarine slowly moved toward the recorded position, the scanner exploring the surrounding environment, not missing a single detail.
Finally.
The designated location was reached.
Baimu clenched his fists, staring at the screen, and when he saw that in front was not a rock wall drilled through, but a pitch-black hollow, he immediately looked at Aquan beside him.
"Found it!"
There was a hint of excitement in her voice too.
Undoubtedly, the underwater cave was right ahead, but the micro submarine stopped at the entrance to the cave.
"Last time we got here, the signal became intermittent. It wasn't until after we recovered Porygon that we figured out what it looked like inside."
Aquan explained, "This time the doctor has equipped the submarine with a system to stabilize the signal, but frankly, no one can ensure it will be effective, so now the problem arises.
"Should we personally take the prepared submarine to investigate now, or, to be on the safe side, let the micro submarine explore? The latter might fail to transmit signals, or it might alert the creature."