Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 291 The Solution – The False Judgment Pot

"I see, I see, that's how it is... Well then, even if it's just a guess without certainty, could you elaborate on the source of their funds?"

Miss Officer Jenny crossed her arms, adopting a defensive stance of "I won't offend you unless you offend me," and listened attentively to Hayden's story, nodding occasionally in response.

Unlike the previous careless and hasty interview, and the subsequent aggressive attitude, the Alliance intelligence investigators now showed great patience.

The situation was as if Hayden were a toddler who had just learned to speak; Officer Jenny's tone was gentle and kind, yet she tirelessly guided him to reveal more information...

Just as she had predicted, the financial backer of Hayden Pharmaceuticals was indeed a financial conglomerate in the Galar region.

Through the distributor alliance, the other party not only acquired shares in Hayden Pharmaceuticals' board of directors but also secretly provided the latter with a substantial amount of additional funding each year to support all research projects within the company that could advance the bionic human program.

In addition to hiring consultants and experts from the Galer region to assist Medan's android research, this funding has played a tremendous, rocket-like role in many projects, such as the development of new materials for prosthetics, the mechanization of artificial internal organs, and the miniaturization of medical computers.

In fact, thanks to this funding, the hardware development of the android project nearly doubled. Coupled with the technical guidance provided by Medan, who oversaw the entire project, the research was successfully completed six years after receiving the funding.

The ambitious plan, originally expected to take more than 20 years, was miraculously realized in just eight years, within a normal business cycle.

Hayden speculated that the head of this financial magnate was likely a descendant of an ancient family from the Galle region, commonly known as the "aristocratic class."

As for why he was able to enter the sights of those noble figures when he first arrived in Galar, it was because a mysterious organization that called itself "The Club" acted as a go-between.

...A club? That doesn't sound like the full name. This seems to be new information.

Could it be a newly emerging underground organization in the Galar region? No, considering that they can control enormous capital, that organization should already have enough power to operate openly.

Officer Jenny listened quietly, her hidden recording device faithfully recording their conversation.

Having invested such a huge sum in sponsoring Hayden Pharmaceuticals, the ultimate goal of both the financial magnate and that noble descendant is equally simple and clear—

When a person's wealth and reputation have reached their peak, and their social status is unparalleled, their future pursuits will naturally be limited to continued existence in a biological sense.

Since Pokémon souls can be transferred into android bodies, wouldn't human souls be able to do the same thing if technology advances further?

If the theory is correct, then humans only need to keep replacing one bionic body after another, and then the ultimate goal of medicine—immortality—can be achieved so naturally and easily, right?

Hayden, in collusion with Medan, moved the research site from Binhai City to the deepest part of Baidai Forest in order to conceal the fact that the android experiment had been successful.

No, it's less about concealment and more about delaying the issue.

The company founder's real purpose was to extract funds.

As the android project neared its end, based on the subtle attitudes of the investors during regular meetings, as well as the intelligence and rumors gathered in the business world, Hayden keenly realized a rather grim fact—

Professor Medan and Hayden Pharmaceuticals are indeed close to successfully completing their bionic humanoid project and are already leading the world in fields such as bionic materials and Pokémon consciousness transfer technology. However, considering the follow-up of this research, they have actually not ventured into the next step of the investors' plans—the technology of "human consciousness transfer."

The financial tycoons that invested also showed no intention of making any further investments or commissioning them to research "human consciousness uploading" technology.

This situation arose partly because Hayden Pharmaceuticals itself lacked sufficient technological expertise. However, it was also because the investors, through the "club" channels, deliberately outsourced the research and development of this crucial technology for achieving "immortality" to other companies.

Hayden speculated that the institution he was dealing with was likely the Vladali Institute in the Carlos region, whose achievements in holography and brain science were unparalleled, and which also had intricate connections with the "Club" in the Galar region.

They want companies other than Hayden Pharmaceuticals to develop technologies for uploading humans into entirely new bodies, in order to prevent Hayden Pharmaceuticals from acquiring immortality technology at the same level as them. Otherwise, they would not be able to achieve a complete monopoly on "life" and "death."

It is conceivable that if Hayden had announced two years ago that the android project had been completely terminated, investors would have stopped investing without hesitation, taking all the information about the android project with them, leaving behind a small sum of money as consolation, and then withdrawing completely.

Moreover, once the financial ties between the two parties are severed, the relationship between the "club" and Hayden Pharmaceuticals may even evolve into hostility. The aristocratic conglomerates will not allow another company that also controls android technology to compete with them, and will inevitably do everything in their power to suppress Hayden Pharmaceuticals, which they previously supported.

By then, even the distributor alliance that is currently firmly on the side of Hayden Pharmaceuticals will become a thorn in the side of the company's board of directors, and who knows what underhanded tricks they might pull.

It was for this reason that Hayden finally decided two years ago to relinquish most of his power within the company and retire gracefully, becoming a freelance director specifically responsible for liaising with the Galar region.

Rather than watching the company fall into crisis and let years of hard work go to waste, it's better to adopt a posture of complete alignment with the Galar conglomerate, making the android project a secret between themselves and Medan. In this way, Hayden Pharmaceuticals would transform from a threatening enemy back into an ally with whom they could make money, leaving the other party with absolutely no reason to harm Hayden Pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, Hayden, still harboring a faint sense of resentment, also launched his own insignificant act of revenge.

Using the excuse that "the final stage of the secret research needs to be kept secret," the project, which was supposed to have ended two years ago, is still receiving a steady stream of funding from investors.

Hayden only needs to send back research data that Medan has already implemented to its partners little by little each month, like squeezing toothpaste, and a large amount of net profit will be generated out of thin air for Hayden Pharmaceuticals, which urgently needs to consolidate its foundation due to rapid expansion.

Professor Medan, being a stickler for logic, would certainly not readily agree with such an obviously deceptive practice. Moreover, he had a long-term collaborative relationship with the Galler scholars hired by the conglomerate, and the psychological pressure of lying and giving false testimony would be immense.

Therefore, as a condition for binding his old classmate to the same chariot, Hayden remembered the theory that Meidan had mentioned in the past to prove the reality of the gods, so he proposed a plan to renovate the Forest Mansion and set up a computer cluster in it, and continue to fund Meidan's second research project.

Compared to the ill-gotten gains amassed from the Galar conglomerate, this tiny, insignificant investment is truly just a drop in the ocean.

Although Officer Jenny had mentally reconciled the events leading up to this, Hayden's own account presented a completely different motive—

Hayden claimed that he continued to swindle investments from his benefactors who had helped him greatly not out of revenge or insatiable greed, but out of opposition to the "immortality" goals of aristocratic investors.

"...Although our company's main business is equipment development, we are ultimately in the medical industry. We provide hospitals and the public with scalpels that can remove tumors, instruments that can detect cancer, spray containers that can cure Pokémon, vaccines that prevent children from catching colds, and prosthetic legs that allow disabled people to walk freely... While most of these devices can certainly extend the lifespan of users to some extent, our ultimate goal is not the eternal survival of humankind, but rather a broader range of health."

"Given the current level of technology for all of humanity, even if my investors were to achieve immortality through androids, it would only be a privilege reserved for a small number of top-tier wealthy individuals."

"Wouldn't such a future be terrifying?"

"A large group of unproductive, privileged classes, with our help, have survived by using advanced technology, changing into bionic bodies to live on forever, and passing on their depravity and incompetence from generation to generation."

"In such an environment, wealth will become increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. Future millionaires will no longer invest in conquering diseases and eliminating poverty, but will only compete for the right to use android bodies. Ordinary people will be regarded by the former as inferior lives that can only live for a few decades. The 'death' that can bring ultimate fairness to all mankind will no longer exist, and 'life' will become a special commodity that a small number of people can give and demand—such a future is 'unhealthy'."

"Therefore, although I dream of the birth of androids, I really can't approve of the projects of those collaborators. If possible, I hope to seal that terrible future within this forest mansion for as long as possible."

"Like the jar of punishment in the myth of Carlos, which seals away all the greed and evil in the world."

...They make it sound so nice, but what they actually do is no different from fraud.

Listening carefully to the words of the person being interrogated, Miss Officer Jenny certainly wouldn't accept all of the other party's ideas, but if she refuted them, she would interrupt Hayden's desire to communicate, so she could only silently complain in her heart.

Hayden's delaying tactics were actually quite clever—in order to keep the research content confidential, the cross-border funding of Hayden Pharmaceuticals by financial conglomerates was carried out covertly, thus leaving this cunning entrepreneur with a huge amount of room to manipulate the data.

Officer Jenny reviewed the Alliance's existing laws, and given the current situation, even if the Galar conglomerates discovered Hayden Pharmaceuticals' current improper behavior, they would most likely have no choice but to accept this loss in silence due to the lack of contracts and related evidence.

Hayden was essentially a cunning businessman who was so mature that he was almost overly shrewd.

For him, whether it's lofty "ideals" or down-to-earth "reality," they are all like the fighting stance of the Shield and Sword Monster, which can be switched at will.

To realize his science fiction dream, he was willing to cooperate with dubious and unknown organizations to put it into practice. When he wanted to seek practical benefits for his company, he could also concoct a set of lofty theories that were in his own best interest and believe them to be his ideals.

If you have to choose one side of the scale, then use any means necessary to take the entire scale away—that's the kind of person Hayden was.

As for Hayden's old friend Medan...

.

Just as Miss Officer Jenny's thoughts were shifting, and the interrogation of the two people in the corner of the reception room was drawing to a close, in the center of the spacious hall—

"Bamboo Orchid Champion, what you said... is it true?"

Professor Medan's cry of shock mixed with terror came through the room.