The micro-submarine has been diving for about a minute.
Yet it still hasn't reached the seabed.
During its descent, its camera clearly captured numerous wild oceanic Pokémon.
For example, the magnificent sight of the schools of Mantine and Remoraid swimming past, along with their accompanying Pokémon, Quilfish, swimming in abundance.
A bit deeper.
Qwilfish and Luvdisc swam past, the former having a torpedo-like evolution from hundreds of years ago, which has vanished in modern times, strangely enough. As for the latter, Baimu always thought it might be the simplest design among the Pokémon series.
Deeper still...
Just about reaching the seabed.
One could see Clamperl opening and closing, and Chinchou foraging along the seabed.
Though the surroundings were pitch black, it was peaceful and harmonious, giving Baimu the feeling of watching a wildlife documentary, feeling very serene.
At that moment.
Liu Yuan suddenly said, "Do you mind if I speed up the playback?"
"Uh, please go ahead."
"Alright."
He pressed a button, and the footage suddenly sped up immensely, with many fleeting shadows of Pokémon swimming by, accompanied by somewhat piercing sounds from the audio.
How many times is the speed increased?
Sixteen times? Thirty-two times?
"Can you really see anything at this speed?" he couldn't help but ask.
"I don't need to see clearly; I just need to catch the highlights."
Liu Yuan chuckled, "Isn't our goal about whether the micro-submarine detected Lugia, and specifically tracked its movements?"
"…Makes sense."
Baimu found himself captivated by the vibrant underwater world, almost forgetting the primary objective, thankful the international police were professional and undistracted by external factors.
He continued to watch the video at accelerated speed.
Someone thoughtfully brought a chair, and after expressing his thanks, he sat on the side, concentrating intently.
Unfortunately, he clearly didn't grasp the essentials, becoming dizzy after ten minutes due to the rapidly flashing images, just as the micro-submarine received orders to surface for maintenance.
Liu Yuan adjusted the speed to hear their conversation clearly.
Regrettably, the maintenance crew provided no useful information before returning the micro-submarine to the seabed.
The screen went black.
"Is it over?"
Baimu rubbed his temples, softly asking.
"No, that was just the first video; there are eight in total, each varying in length. Altogether, about forty hours."
Liu Yuan glanced at the media files, responding, "No worries; it will be fast, over an hour or so. If it's too much, feel free to rest; I'll take over."
"…Let me continue watching, please."
Baimu shook his head, having not forgotten his mission.
Despite being a pretext, a reasoning Shanren arranged for him, if Lugia were right before him, he couldn't afford to miss it.
Endure it for now.
Liu Yuan glanced at him and said nothing more, clicking open the next file at an accelerated speed.
Time flew by.
Though they hadn't sighted Lugia yet, the micro-submarine clearly docked for maintenance on a large vessel.
Each maintenance session involved changing sea areas for seabed exploration.
Unquestionably, the micro-submarine aimed not solely at verifying Dr. Akihabara's findings but also collecting underwater data, as Aquan previously stated.
The opposition admitted as much without reservation or concealment.
However, Baimu harbored curiosity over the post-submarine explosion scenario, pondering if such a massive ship exists due to the submarine blowing up, giving those thieves a window for clothes theft?
Certainly, some pre-explosion incident occurred.
Holding this thought, he proceeded watching the sped-up video.
Unexpectedly, Liu Yuan opened the second-last video, promptly a melodious call echoed, resembling song yet intertwining with a sharp whale wail.
"Stop!"
Baimu couldn't help but exclaim, while Liu Yuan's hand coincidentally halted the speed.
"What's it?" The latter turned to ask.
He countered, "Didn't you hear that sound just now?"
"It's the call of a school of Wailord. What's the issue?" Liu Yuan remained puzzled.
Baimu shook his head quickly, "No! Wrong! This isn't Wailord's call. Though similar, it's definitely not; this melody—"
As a Pokémon enthusiast who has repeatedly watched the movie "Lugia's Burst Birth," upon hearing that familiar melody, it's like his genes awoke, incapable of forgetting.
That was Lugia's call!
"Are you implying Lugia made that cry earlier?" Liu Yuan pressed play, revealing many Wailord passing in the footage.
This left Baimu somewhat embarrassed, yet he insisted, "Really, it's Lugia's call! Listen closely; it has a melody. Wailord doesn't have a melody in their calls."
He dragged the progress bar, replaying the melody-like cry in the audio.
"..."
The ordinary office worker-ish man was silent for a moment before turning to call, "Jiya! You awake?"
Five seconds later.
A woman with eye masks stood up, "What is it… Captain…"
"I need you to pull the database file of Lugia's cry!" Liu Yuan shouted, "Quick action!"
"Got it!"
Jiya rose instantly and operated on the computer before her.
Suddenly, a sound file popped up on Liu Yuan's computer, and he casually clicked through, advancing the screen to a software application.
Two sound segments displayed above and below, the cry from the video, contrasted with the international police's stored Lugia's cry.
He initiated data comparison.
The two cries immediately blared in the sound system, while wavelengths merged into colorful patterns on the screen.
"Looks like you are right."
Liu Yuan remarked to Baimu.
The latter merely nodded, without reply.
Confirming there might be traces of Lugia in this video, Liu Yuan slowed the speed, reducing from thirty-two times to eight times, eerie swift footage, yet Baimu started adapting.
Keeping his eyes glued to the screen, hoping to catch sight of the figure.
Seemingly answering his call, when the micro-submarine sank into the trench, a silver light flickered across the camera's base.
Liu Yuan swiftly paused, rewinding and enlarging it.
The silver-white plumes and black dorsal fins immediately appeared in both their views, undeniably Lugia's silhouette.
After a moment of silence, Liu Yuan reduced the speed from eight times to twice.
On-screen.
The Porygon controlling the micro-submarine seemed to perceive its presence, adamantly pursuing Lugia's direction and accelerating horsepower.
Recorded images of Lugia multiplied increasingly.
Yet seemingly unaware of the land visitor, still leisurely swimming, moments later diving into a trench recess, vanishing.
The micro-submarine quickly followed, unveiling an extraordinary sight upon entering that recess!
It turned out to be an underwater cave capable of surfacing from the ocean!