Chapter 72: Died From Talking Too Much
Hurricane howled. Out on the sea surface, Arthur's sailboat was currently hurtling forward at full speed, charging headlong like a wild boar.
However, as a consequence, everyone aboard could only obediently stay huddled inside the cabin for the time being, securing any items that were shaking around.
The wind outside was simply too strong!
At this moment, the uncles from the production team all looked pale and sickly, their eyes seeming to scream: Who am I? Where am I? What are you taking me to do?
They had long stopped caring whether the show was popular or not; right now, they probably just wanted to go home...
In reality, the show was incredibly popular at this point.
From the moment the three Dragonite first arrived, the live stream's popularity had been continuously exploding. By now, it had reached the top spot in the outdoor category across all platforms.
On Star Blog, four related hot search terms had instantly appeared, including the long-unseen "Son of Suicune" tag, which had once again surged into the top ten hot searches.
It was now the third day since the program began broadcasting, and the host's identity had finally been uncovered by enthusiastic netizens.
Originally, after entering the youth training camp, Arthur had remained quiet for several months, his popularity almost hitting rock bottom. But this incident catapulted him back to the pinnacle.
It left his home agency, Articuno Media, completely baffled.
They initially thought they were just sending a minor streamer out to pick up some leftover opportunities; who could have imagined it would generate such an explosive result?
Competitors one by one sent probing inquiries, hoping to learn the secret of how this was achieved and whether they could replicate it.
Unfortunately, the agency itself had no idea.
When competitors turned on the live stream to watch, they fell silent one after another.
This kind of production seemed somewhat impossible to imitate...
Having a Dragonite use "Hurricane" as a booster to race a boat?
If this was real, they wished it were fake...
And if it was fake...
Damn it! Even if it were fake, they couldn't stage something like this!!
A Dragonite that knows the ultimate move "Hurricane"—do you think they grow on trees? You invite one over just to create show effects for you? With that kind of clout, why would you still be here as a minor streamer? Wouldn't pursuing a professional career and making a name for yourself be more appealing?
Therefore, from a certain point onward, even though Arthur and his group did nothing further, the voices of doubt in the live stream rapidly dissolved.
Because when reality reaches a certain level of absurdity, you can only temporarily choose to believe it's true...
But even now, the audience hadn't realized—this was merely the beginning!
Because soon, they finally spotted the luxurious, massive ship on the sea surface.
Dragonite Three was hot-tempered and couldn't hold back. As soon as he saw the target, he gained altitude and let out a furious roar from afar.
The angry dragon's roar carried extremely far across the vast, open sea.
At this moment, aboard the distant cruise ship, the lookout stationed in the top observation post happened to spot the approaching Dragonite and the sailboat as well.
He immediately picked up his walkie-talkie to report.
"This is Lookout Post One, reporting to Captain. Three Dragonite and one unmarked private sailboat sighted approaching from East-Southeast 25 degrees. Speed is high. Contact is imminent. Requesting instructions."
After three seconds of silence, a response came through the walkie-talkie in an unfamiliar voice.
"Maintain observation only. Someone will handle it."
The lookout was momentarily taken aback.
Firstly, the responding voice wasn't the captain's, but it was definitely using the captain's channel.
Secondly, the order itself was very strange.
What did "maintain observation only" mean?
The arrivals were, after all, the strongest intelligent Pokémon family in this reserve. Logically and reasonably, some form of response should be given, shouldn't it? Moreover, this ship depended on the goodwill of the reserve's inhabitants to operate. Shouldn't they seize this opportunity to extend grand hospitality?
He couldn't figure any of this out.
However, ultimately, it wasn't the place of a humble lookout like him to ponder such matters deeply.
In the end, he didn't dwell on it, picked up his binoculars again, and simply maintained observation.
But the more he watched, the more he felt something wasn't right.
Those three Dragonite were approaching incredibly fast! They exuded an imposing, aggressive aura.
What on earth was going on?
A few minutes later, just as the lookout's frown deepened and he was internally debating whether he should request further instructions...
Suddenly, someone on the ship below acted faster than he could.
But that action instantly almost scared the soul out of his body.
He saw three bursts of fire light up on the deck below.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
In an instant, three rockets launched from shoulder-fired launchers streaked diagonally into the sky, heading straight for the three Dragonite!
The lookout's hands started trembling uncontrollably on the spot. He grabbed the walkie-talkie, switched it to the all-channels frequency, and screamed into it, his voice breaking, "Who is that on Deck One?!! Are you out of your minds?!! Why are you attacking?!! Those are Dragonite!! Have you gone insane?!"
But the radio walkie-talkie remained eerily silent, the quietness disturbingly unnatural.
Meanwhile, the attacks from the deck below continued.
Of the three rockets fired earlier, one missed its mark, while the other two were tanked solely by Dragonite Three, dealing negligible damage.
Dragonite Three's ability was Multiscale. As long as all the scales on its body were intact and undamaged, its surface defense was terrifyingly high. Mere single-man portable rocket launchers weren't enough to penetrate its scale armor.
But the very next moment, the arrogant Dragonite Three suddenly became alert.
He sensed danger!
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Once again, three warheads took flight, but this time Dragonite Three instinctively sensed peril.
Reacting instantly, he used the move "Protect." An eggshell-shaped shield of blue energy instantly enveloped him.
The next moment, the warheads collided with the energy shield and ruptured, instantly exploding into a cloud of condensed white mist.
The mist was composed entirely of solidified water droplets and ice shards; the surrounding air temperature plummeted drastically!
These warheads were loaded with weaponized liquid nitrogen, likely also mixed with a small amount of synthetically produced Ice-type energy crystals.
This was already extremely close to being a man-made Ice-type energy attack.
Since the advent of synthetic energy crystal technology, human development in warfare weaponry had entered a completely new era.
After all, humans have historically been a species like this; even in the absence of war, they habitually prioritize applying the most cutting-edge technologies to the military domain first.
This is an unchanging, fundamental trait.
"Roar!!"
This time, the proud Dragonite Three finally let out a roar of pain.
Dragonite's typing is Dragon/Flying, making Ice-type attacks a double weakness. Those two warheads hit with devastating effectiveness.
Although the effect of the move "Protect" is strong, the energy shield it creates rapidly thins after absorbing a single energy impact, rendering it unable to defend against multiple hits in quick succession.
And as fate would have it, this time all three warheads were aimed squarely at him, Dragonite Three.
This thoroughly enraged Dragonite Three.
And simultaneously, the lookout positioned above was about to completely lose his mind.
"What are you doing?!! Look at the mess you've made!! Are you all insane!!"
Yet, bizarrely, the radio channel remained sunk in an unbearable silence.
The lookout finally realized something was terribly wrong.
"Hello! Hello! Captain? Are you there, Captain? First Mate? Jay? Is anyone there at all? Is the signal bad?"
Finally, after his persistent efforts, someone on the channel replied to him.
However, the reply sent an instant chill down his spine, making his hair stand on end.
"You're too noisy. I was considering sparing your life since climbing up to the lookout post is too far, but why did you absolutely have to be so loud."
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