Bai Ye continued, "What about the people you had Mantine tailing later?"
"A man and a woman, though only the man appeared, I know there were two. Qin and Alex. They are Chosen from my world, a famous couple and very strong. Both participated in the Hoenn Pokémon League Master Competition and made it into the top sixteen." Jin Sha replied.
"From the world of Pokémon Masters?" Bai Ye asked.
"Yes," Jin Sha said. "Alex's Pokémon ambushed the opponent and kidnapped Alex. By the time I chased them out of the church, it was too late to stop them. I could only dispatch Mantine to pursue from the air, but they stopped the car at the entrance of a shopping mall in the northwest district and entered the mall with Alex. Mantine couldn't pinpoint their location anymore."
Bai Ye nodded and began to piece together the current situation.
In other words...
Alex had already fallen into the hands of four different groups.
Bai Ye and Jin Sha were the first group. Then the ninja and Laike were the second. The third group was the Pokémon Master couple Jin Sha knew. And then...
It was the Cang Long Hui!
Bai Ye pondered for a moment. That man and woman should have had the same idea as Jin Sha.
Abandoning the car and entering a crowded building like a shopping mall made tracking difficult. Therefore, their intention was likely to stall for time and then look for an opportunity to escape with Alex.
However, something unexpected happened midway, which was that they were targeted by the Cang Long Hui!
Bai Ye suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said to Jin Sha, "You mentioned before that this mission hasn't been successfully initiated twice?"
"Yes, both times a hundred people were gathered, but when it was time to teleport, people suddenly went missing. I don't know if someone refused or died." Jin Sha replied.
"How many people were missing?" Bai Ye asked.
"One person the first time, two the second time!" Jin Sha said.
"But I remember when you gave me the item, the mission displayed 88/100?" Bai Ye questioned.
"What's strange about that?" Jin Sha asked. "Did someone destroy the item, or die?"
"It's not that simple," Bai Ye said, observing the battle through his scope. "Someone is deliberately hunting down people who possess the item."
Jin Sha froze for a moment and said, "Ah?"
Bai Ye continued, "When a hundred people are gathered, the forbidden zone will open. If someone suddenly dies during the opening process, it will lead to an insufficient number of people, and the forbidden zone cannot be opened. But after the hundred-person threshold is met, it only takes about three to five minutes for everyone to confirm teleportation into the forbidden zone. How could it be such a coincidence that twice, just as people were about to teleport into the forbidden zone, people suddenly died?"
Jin Sha thought for a moment and said, "You mean, the reason the forbidden zone failed to open twice was because someone deliberately refused to teleport?"
Bai Ye nodded. "Yes."
Jin Sha asked, "But why? They went to great lengths to get the item. Refusing to teleport would just destroy it."
"So, as I said, someone is deliberately hunting down people who possess the item. The numbers keep decreasing, and then they take the opportunity to get the items and fill the gaps. Until their numbers constitute a large proportion of the hundred people, giving them absolute advantage. To ensure this, when the numbers are insufficient, they make those who have already obtained the item refuse to teleport to delay the opening of the forbidden zone." Bai Ye observed the situation again with his scope. "Conservatively estimating, there are nearly twenty Chosen escorting Alex right now, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of Chosen."
Jin Sha exclaimed in shock, "Are they crazy? Five million per person?"
For a hundred million, cooperation was understandable. In fact, many people were choosing this path.
But there was a reasonable number for cooperation.
Twenty people, five million each...
To Jin Sha, this was too much of a risk, and it indeed was. But Bai Ye didn't know how to explain it to her.
Because the perpetrators were the Cang Long Hui!
The Cang Long Hui all came from the same world. Their consideration of gains and losses was not limited to a single forbidden zone but encompassed the overall situation. As long as they conquered enough forbidden zones, everyone in the Cang Long Hui would be one step ahead of others.
However, the World Battlefield had only been open for a little over two months. Although the Cang Long Hui had taken action, not many people knew about them, let alone understood the organizational structure and terrifying nature of the Cang Long Hui. Therefore, Jin Sha's reaction was normal.
Since it was difficult to explain, Bai Ye stopped trying. He directly said, "Regardless, there are that many people, and they are definitely planning to force their way through the Red Gate Bridge."
The latter part was obvious. With twenty people, they could force their way through the Red Gate Bridge. Police roadblocks wouldn't be able to stop them, nor would the gangsters and villains in the city. Only other Chosen could stop them, but small groups of Chosen couldn't defeat them, and it was difficult to establish trust among them for a temporary alliance.
Furthermore, the Cang Long Hui had a large group of cannon fodder accompanying them. If nothing unexpected happened, Bai Ye believed they should be Alex's subordinates.
In this situation, not forcing their way through would be foolish!
However...
Bai Ye quickly searched for Alex's whereabouts through his scope.
The Cang Long Hui was acting shamelessly, controlling the mission to enter the forbidden zone together. Now that Alex was in their hands, it wouldn't be easy to snatch him back, but...
Bai Ye licked his lips. If he couldn't get Alex, then they shouldn't expect to take him away easily either!
Bai Ye had made up his mind. If he didn't have an opportunity to snatch Alex away, he would kill Alex!
If everyone lost, no one would gain anything!
As Bai Ye thought this, he adjusted the angle of his scope and soon found Alex's location.
The guy was still wearing a prison uniform, surrounded and guarded by five or six people.
The surrounding streets had already been blocked, so they could only escort Alex on foot towards the Red Gate Bridge.
Bai Ye curled his lips, aimed the muzzle of his gun at Alex's head, and slowly moved with Alex.
But at this moment...
On the chaotic street!
The Cang Long Hui members were shielding Alex forward. After everyone had moved past, the manhole cover on the side of the street suddenly made a "gurgling" sound.
Slowly, one by one, purple bubbles emerged from the sewer. Immediately after, countless purple mud gushed out from the sewer and flowed rapidly along the ground, quickly catching up to the Cang Long Hui members.
In the next instant, the mud suddenly coalesced, transforming into a Pokémon! The cracked mud formed a giant mouth, and a pair of eyes appeared above it!