Chapter 144: From Betel Nut Girl to Female Demon Lord
It cannot be denied: Dayna, this woman, truly was the most "outstanding" among all the successive cadres in the history of the Stitched Shadow Army.
Since Specter founded this organization, every Stitched Shadow cadre had never been someone of noble birth.
After all, those with vested interests in the existing order would not want to overthrow the old world.
Their initial members consisted of fugitives, poachers, and street thugs—but they were all merely desperate individuals with nowhere else to turn.
For so many years, besides Dayna, there had never been another grassroots cadre who could see through Specter's puppet trick solely through their own ability.
And not only did she see through it, but she also seized the momentum to win over and turn the other two against him, using the opportunity to mastermind an entire grand chess game!
The ship hijacking incident in the Crescent Bay Reserve, on the surface, was entirely carried out by Liam's subordinates, but in reality, she was the one fanning the flames from behind the scenes.
Originally, she used Liam as a spearhead, which was sufficient to force the Leader to either change the organization's principles or confess his secret ties with the Kubfu Alliance.
Either outcome would severely damage the Leader's prestige.
However, very unfortunately, that particular scheme was ultimately foiled by Arthur through an extremely accidental encounter.
With the plan exposed, the organization's situation was once perilous, like a pile of eggs on the verge of collapse.
Yet even in such a desperate situation, as dangerous as a teetering pile of eggs, this woman still managed to play a hand that pulled the firewood out from under the cauldron (a drastic solution to a crisis).
Regardless of how things transpired, after tonight, the Stitched Shadow Army organization was due for a change of leadership.
Perhaps after suffering a great loss of vitality, being left with only a messy situation of remnant forces couldn't be considered a winning position, but at least she hadn't lost.
As long as she wasn't out of the game, the future remained unpredictable!
From the earliest days, carrying a Shellder she had casually picked up while collecting seafood at low tide, peddling her wares along the coast as a Betel Nut Girl, to now, being only one step away from completely grasping an internationally renowned violent gang in her hands as a Female Demon Lord...
Dayna's first half of life could truly be described as formidably successful, as if she were using cheats!
Now, she was only one step away from achieving the perfection she envisioned in her mind—
That was to kill Arthur, whom she had identified as the mastermind, and thoroughly erase all traces Oliver (Gengar/Specter's puppet) had previously left within the organization!
Originally, she had been very close to success.
The moment the Sandslash appeared, Arthur, who was in mid-air, felt his heart suddenly accelerate; he could almost smell the approaching presence of death!
Dayna's Sandslash was of the frigid zone variety, an Ice/Steel type.
This type of Sandslash can learn the Steel-type move "Metal Claw"; the close-combat lethality of its sharp claws is even more terrifying than that of the common Ground-type Sandslash!
Arthur was falling, with fundamentally nowhere to dodge. It looked as though he was about to be disemboweled by the Sandslash's claws, which were poised and ready to strike—
However, just at that moment, an expanse of black mist suddenly covered down!
Immediately following, seven Honchkrows with well-developed chest muscles cawed chaotically as they charged into the mist, flapping their wings and delivering a violent beating to the Sandslash.
This scene even left Arthur stunned as he watched.
Then, he landed and rolled, simultaneously dispelling the impact of his fall while quickly distancing himself from that dangerous Sandslash.
By the time he rose to his feet again, Honedge had already spun and flown back to him, and he caught it with one raised hand.
With a sword in hand, Arthur's confidence instantly returned!
At this moment, Little Lapras also sprayed her second "Ice Shard," delivering a finishing blow to the falling Crobat , and was currently sliding quickly towards his side.
Frogadier also similarly leaped down from the second floor, having made preparations, ready at any time to use the priority skill "Shadow Sneak" to launch the first attack.
Now, the situation had instantly reversed!
It should be Arthur and his Pokémon's turn to, in reverse, siege the Sandslash!
However, the person secretly helping him didn't know his combat strength and hadn't seen that he was, at this moment, actually sharpening his knives, preparing to put this sneak-attacking Sandslash onto the chopping block.
That person still thought Arthur was seeking a way to escape.
After all, this Sandslash was not weak in the slightest; his Honchkrow could also only barely suppress it for a moment at best.
"This way! Quick, come over!"
An anxious voice came from a room to the side.
At this moment, the black mist covering the Sandslash in front had still not dispersed.
Arthur quickly weighed the situation for a bit. Waiting for the mist to disperse and then finding a way to kill the Sandslash might consume a bit too much time.
The situation he currently faced meant that the longer he lingered, the greater the risk.
There were simply too many Stitched Shadow Army members in the slums...
He had never been an emotional person. After calming down, the urge for revenge was quickly suppressed.
"Specter, withdraw!"
He turned his head and yelled once towards the sky (Specter likely still airborne or in smoke form).
Arthur ultimately still made a decision: Withdraw first!
He turned back and ran into that pitch-black room. Before entering, the person inside used a Poké Ball's recall beam to retrieve Honchkrow. Then, they closed the door, switched on a flashlight, and pulled Arthur to quickly run towards the back door.
Borrowing the single beam of light from the flashlight, Arthur finally saw clearly that the person who had saved him was indeed Kevin, with whom he had shared quite a few fateful encounters previously.
"How did you get here?"
He asked.
Kevin replied in an annoyed tone, "This is my home! Is it very strange for me to be here? On the contrary, it's you guys! You come over stirring up trouble, never caring about the lives or deaths of the surrounding residents!"
"Uh..."
Thinking about it, this is a slum. Kevin living here indeed seems to be no problem.
The opponent's questioning left Arthur momentarily speechless as well.
It wasn't until the two of them had run quite a distance along the intricate and complex alleyways of the slums that Kevin finally released him, turned around, and asked.
"You're a Kubfu Alliance person, right? Previously, that time, I saw a reporter interviewing you. I heard them say you seem to be quite a celebrity in Kubfu. So, that means last time when you said you were here to 'move goods' and all that, it was actually fake, right? That was your disguise, wasn't it?"
Arthur nodded, "Uh, yes."
At this moment, there was no longer any need to hide anything.
He had already been identified by people as the Stitched Shadow Army's mastermind, hidden in a ghostly domain for a century. What identity could possibly be grander than this?
Seeing him admit it, Kevin took a deep breath and continued, "I won't ask much about what you're specifically trying to do. I only ask you this: you are currently hostile towards the Stitched Shadow Army, is that right?"
Arthur quietly turned his head and glanced at his own shadow.
There, Specter's face materialized and gave a slight nod.
Thus, he understood the stance he should take.
"Yes."
Kevin, without saying another word, stated firmly, "Then good, I'll help you! What do you want to do now?"
At this moment, Kevin's eyes seemed to be burning with a ball of fire.
Although he had never liked his family's gang business and had always dreamed of becoming a competitive trainer, he certainly wouldn't forget that his father, his second uncle, his third uncle—his entire family—had died at the hands of Stitched Shadow Army cadres!
Not wanting to mix in the underworld didn't mean the youth didn't want revenge.
"Okay." Arthur nodded in agreement.
However, some things still had to be said clearly first.
"But I'm currently being hunted. Escaping is the main priority right now. I can't go on a satisfying revenge spree with you at this moment."
"No problem." Kevin was also very rational. "As long as it's something those people don't want to see happen, I'm willing to do it. Even if it's just helping you escape, that's good too. I'm familiar with the terrain in this area. Which direction are you planning to escape towards next? I'll lead the way for you."
Arthur pondered for a moment.
Then, he couldn't help but think of the sky-shattering loud sound he had heard not long ago.
That was the roar caused by the Kubfu army demolishing the building.
To be able to create such a big commotion, it seems the manpower dispatched by the Kubfu military this time isn't small. If I can get closer over there, it should be much safer.
At least, it was better than blindly running off in other directions without a plan.
So, Arthur replied, "Towards the direction of that cluster of unfinished buildings. The army is there."
(End of Chapter)
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