Chapter 243, Seventy-Third Cycle (73)

A bloody and eerie nun's room.

Conan Edogawa stared intently at the words on the wall.

Why did that line appear here? Was it set up by the novel's author, Ryuichi Taki? Or was it orchestrated by someone else?

What exactly happened in that nun's room? What was the other party trying to express? What was the purpose of going to all this trouble?

Is this all a Scottish conspiracy?

Does Scotland already know everything and intend to wipe everyone out here?

"W-What the hell is this place?! ...

The bald man completely broke down, yelling and shoving the people behind him as he frantically ran downstairs.

"I can't take it anymore! I'm leaving right now! I'd rather brave the heavy snow and go down the mountain than stay in this godforsaken place any longer!!!"

"Hey! Wait! It's most dangerous for you to act alone right now!" Ida Kou shouted, but before he could finish speaking, the incredibly fast man had already disappeared completely.

"..."

The others seemed to only then realize what was happening, shifting their gaze and attention from the various traces in the room, glancing towards the door, and then exchanging glances with each other.

"Tch, what a disgrace, all muscle and no brains." The blond guitarist rolled his eyes. "Ignore him. Actually, he's the most timid one, but at least he has a strong body and decent fighting skills. That big oaf can really brave the heavy snow to go down the mountain."

Hakuba Saguru stared intently at him: "Haven't you noticed something's wrong yet? Why did the priest disappear along with us? If the priest is missing, who will penalize our out-of-character behavior and supervise and guide us in the game? This is clearly illogical. This game is no longer the original game; it has been controlled and transformed into a killing field by some unknown person."

After saying that, he turned around and went to chase after the bald man with Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji.

The blond-haired man froze, seemingly unable to react for a moment.

Kogoro Mouri nodded, stepped forward, and grabbed his shoulder, saying, "I advise you not to act alone. Although the bloodstains in this room are probably pig's blood disguised as human blood, the blood and bones we found on the altar earlier were real human blood and bones. And they looked very fresh, indicating that the person had just died, perhaps the one who first disappeared. This shows that this church and this activity are indeed not ordinary deduction activities; perhaps someone is secretly killing people."

Date Wataru asked, "Mr. Mori, why are you so sure? We don't have any props right now, how can you tell the difference between pig's blood and human blood?"

“I was a policeman too,” Kogoro Mouri said, rubbing his nose. “Besides, you get the hang of it after seeing a lot of people. It’s just a subtle difference in feeling, hard to explain.”

Conan Edogawa: "..."

That's true; they've probably seen more bloodshed than most veteran police officers.

*

After easily shaking off those people, Phantom Thief Kid ran straight towards the clock tower.

The clock tower's walls, which were over ten meters high, were nothing to him; he didn't even need a flying vehicle, he could just swing the hook up and get up there.

It's 3:30 a.m., and the wind and snow outside are still quite heavy, but the moon is still visible, allowing a little moonlight to penetrate the darkness.

Moonlight streamed through the windows into the clock tower, illuminating the Phantom Thief Kid statue hanging high on the ceiling and tinting his white clothes with vibrant colors.

He put on gloves, fumbled around for a while, and finally simply took out his tools and roughly sawed open the iron mechanism box, taking out a small black wooden box from inside.

The wooden box was also locked.

He secretly warmed his hands with a hand warmer, then picked up a wire and snapped it open with a few clicks, even secretly comparing his speed with Amuro Tooru's.

The box contained only a gold key, a blue diamond, and a black USB drive.

Kaito Kid picked up the diamond, looked at it in the moonlight through a window without stained glass for a while, and then put it back in disappointment.

He picked up the keys and the USB drive, frowning in thought.

He wasn't the only one who could deduce that the item was placed here; he was just the one who could get it most easily, plus he had infiltrated the thieves' group and learned a lot of information.

But once he touches it, the identity of Phantom Thief Kid will be basically exposed, and he will no longer be able to stay here pretending to be someone else.

The original plan was indeed to take the gem and leave, while also giving the police a surprise.

But now it seems that things are indeed not as simple as that guy Hongzi said.

When he arrived, Hongzi spoke to him in a riddle-like manner, the gist of which was that if he went this time, he would be completely involved in the affairs of the Demon of Light and the Hero of Darkness, and at that time he would be swept up by the irresistible torrent of cause and effect and would never be able to escape.

Kaito Kid asked, "Will I die?"

Koizumi Akako: "...No, but it's very dangerous. You don't need to get involved."

Kaito Kid rolled his eyes: "When haven't I been in danger?"

He is least afraid of trouble.

Moreover, he had actually been involved with Conan Edogawa's affairs for a long time, ever since the Suzuki Express incident.

Even if he could back down, he wouldn't back down.

Whether it's animals or alcohol, those organizations lurking in the shadows—it's one thing to mess with, it's two things to mess with.

Kaito Kid had made up his mind. He put everything into the box, then jumped down from the ceiling with the box in his arms.

He jumped down and landed right in front of the window adorned with butterflies.

He also placed the black box neatly on the floor in front of the window, right in the middle of the light and shadow of the blue and red butterfly.

Kaito Kid straightened up, flicked his wrist, and a card appeared at his fingertips.

He released his finger, and the card floated down, landing face up on the black box.

The white card features a simple sketch of Kaito Kid, with a small heart drawn next to it.

Kaito Kid clapped his hands in satisfaction, then jumped out the window and left.

*

Shuichi Akai and Takaaki Morofushi watched the entire incident on the basement's surveillance camera.

Zhu Fu Gaoming switched between different surveillance cameras and zoomed in, but he couldn't see anyone anymore.

"Has he left?" Shuichi Akai asked.

“He may have left, or he may have changed clothes and stayed. After all, he can’t fly away in this weather,” said Zhu Fu Gaoming. “Two of the surveillance cameras outside are broken, so we don’t know what’s going on with those people outside. Anything is possible.”

"He's already gotten what he wanted, so why isn't he leaving?" Shuichi Akai asked with a surprised expression. "He should have realized how dangerous this place is by now, right?"

“Perhaps there’s someone or something he cares about here,” Morofushi Komei smiled.

Shuichi Akai pointed a finger at the screen above: "Like this high school detective?"

The surveillance footage showed Bai Ma Tanzheng lying unconscious on the ground.

“Perhaps, or perhaps it was an unexpectedly kind and helpful phantom thief who was just about to do something heroic.” Morofushi Takaaki stood up. “You stay here and watch over things, I’ll go handle things over there.”

"Who exactly did Kaito Kid impersonate?" Shuichi Akai asked from behind. "When he reverted to his true form, there were three people who were not within the surveillance range."

“There’s not much point in pursuing this.” The priest’s figure was obscured by the closed door, but his voice came from the gap that wasn’t completely shut. “He can transform into anyone.”

"You don't need to know these things; it's not your job."

*

Three people went out to chase the bald man, making a total of four people who left, but only three of them returned.

Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda pulled in the timid, bald man.

"Hmm? Hakuba-kun?" Kogoro Mouri asked immediately.

All three looked up in confusion: "What?"

Ida explained, "He went out with you and hasn't come back yet."

Conan Edogawa's expression changed slightly: "Oh no! The culprit's target this time is him!"

The black-haired child easily slipped through the gaps between the group of adults and ran downstairs, while cautiously observing his surroundings.

The bald man only had one escape route. When people are scared, they subconsciously run towards familiar passages, and he would probably only run through the nearest and most obvious church entrance.

The others realized what was happening and joined in the inspection.

Nothing unusual happened along the way. The front door was open, and the wind and snow outside were heavy, covering the messy footprints from before in a short time.

It seems that Matsuda Jinpei and his men had to go outside to capture the bald man, and the traces even extended into the nearby woods.

Kenji Hagiwara explained helplessly, "He ran so fast, and it was hard to see anything in the wind and snow. We searched for a while before we found him in the forest over there, too scared to go any further."

"Should we go out and look for them?" Kogoro Mori asked, his head aching. "It's so big outside, and with this heavy snow, how are we supposed to find them?"

"No, he shouldn't have gone out." Amuro Tooru squatted down by the door to examine the footprints closely.

Hikaru Midorikawa squatted down with him to examine the footprints on the ground: "Although they are messy, you can tell that there are only three people's footprints, so Hakuba-kun must have disappeared inside the church."

Conan Edogawa stared at the two men's backs for a while, then turned to look at the three policemen behind them.

Matsuda Jinpei was wearing sunglasses, so his expression was not visible, but Hagiwara Kenji and Date Wataru both looked rather serious.

Kogoro Mouri turned back and said, "Let's search inside the church some more. Let's not split up now."

"It'll be faster if we split up to search," Kenji Hagiwara suggested. "In case something really happens, time is of the essence. Let's split into several groups to search for people, so that no one gets left behind."

Given the church's size and their suspicion that there were secret agencies conducting a more thorough inspection, this method was indeed the best.

So far, all the missing persons have been individuals who were alone.

"Alright, let's stick to the original group assignments then," Amuro Tooru sighed.

“But he doesn’t seem to be able to participate in the search right now.” Midorikawa Hikaru looked at the bald man who was startled and seemed mentally unstable. “How about we let him come with me and Master Kogoro? Master Kogoro is very capable. Even if he loses control again, it won’t be a problem.”

Kogoro Mouri puffed out his chest: "Leave it to me."

Hikaru Midorikawa glanced at the thin, blond-haired man who had emerged from the bedsheet, then looked at the group of three over there, and said with a smile, "Why don't you split one person from your team and team up with this gentleman?"

Date nods and steps forward.

The personnel were quickly assigned and immediately divided into four groups to search the first floor.

Kogoro Mouri, Hikaru Midorikawa, and the bald man are in charge of the chapel; Tooru Amuro and Conan Edogawa are in charge of the toilets; Wataru Date and the blond-haired man are in charge of the clock tower; and Jinpei Matsuda and Kenji Hagiwara are in charge of the warehouse.

Ten minutes later, everyone gathered in the chapel.

The search revealed an extra black wooden box and a white card, but two people were missing.

Upon seeing the wooden box and the card, Date explained, "We found this in front of the window with the butterfly stained glass. This card of the Phantom Thief Kid was placed there. After observing it closely, I realized that it was taken from a statue on the ceiling of the clock tower. It was violently damaged, and it should be the final reward of the original puzzle."

The blond-haired man was both annoyed and scared: "Playing tricks, what's Phantom Thief Kid doing here? Did he steal something else?"

"Probably not. Kaito Kid's only targets are jewels, and he almost always returns them after stealing them," Conan Edogawa said.

“Kaito Kid must have come for this gem, but why would such a large gem be among the rewards for this event? And what’s in this USB drive?” Amuro Tooru picked up the contents and examined them.

Hikaru Midorikawa took the gem from his hand and examined it carefully by the candlelight: "Why do I feel that this gem... looks so much like the Azure Tear that was supposedly stolen by the bandit gang last week?"

Kogoro Mouri's eyes widened: "What?! It's that gem that's supposedly worth 200 million?!"

Date Wataru's mind wasn't on that. He checked the time several times, frowning, and said, "Weren't we supposed to meet at the chapel in ten minutes at most? It's been twenty minutes already, why haven't Matsuda and the others arrived yet? Could something have happened? I have to go check on them!"

Conan Edogawa suddenly looked up, his scalp tingling instantly.

No way... right?

The others realized the same thing and, while rushing towards the warehouse, reassured themselves, "No way, weren't there two of them? Could they both have disappeared together?"

Conan Edogawa remained silent, his heart pounding, and cold sweat trickling down his back.

Moreover, those were two very capable police officers who shouldn't have fallen for the trap so easily, given their preparation and vigilance.

Unless... unless the person behind this church is really part of an organization, and perhaps more than one.

But what exactly is their purpose?

*

Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji have also gone missing.

No traps were found in the warehouse, and nothing seemed amiss along the way; it was just like every time before.

Conan Edogawa takes a deep breath.

There were 13 people when they arrived, but now there are only 7 left.

But he couldn't even find a clear clue.

Don't rush, don't panic, things haven't reached the point of no return.

Thinking about it carefully, none of the known clues lead to a definite conclusion yet; there are still many possibilities, perhaps...

“There’s a butterfly living inside a human’s head.” Hikaru Midorikawa sighed as he stood in front of the butterfly window, then looked down at the serious-looking child. “Right, Conan-kun?”

"Hmm? Hmm." Conan Edogawa looked up and met his gaze. "Mr. Midorikawa, are you talking about the butterfly bone?"

"Huh? That's a classic line from the 'Sakurako-san's Feet Are Buried with Corpses' storyline about the butterfly bone, Conan-kun, don't you know that?" Midorikawa Hikaru exclaimed in surprise.

Conan Edogawa froze instantly: "Huh? Mr. Midorikawa, you watch anime too?"

"Hmm, it's alright, but I have seen this anime. But why do you look like you have absolutely no recollection of it?" Hikaru Midorikawa tilted his head, his long black hair falling down. "Didn't Conan-kun say he had a strong impression of this plot?"

Conan Edogawa's breath hitched, but he still tried his best to maintain an innocent childlike expression, blinking his big eyes as he quickly thought of a solution.

"Hmm?" Midorikawa Hikaru took a step closer to him.

“Kids are forgetful,” Amuro Tooru interjected as he walked over. “Besides, they’ve been through so much today, it’s normal for their brains not to process everything right away.”

After saying that, before they could react, he continued seriously, "Listen to me, everyone, I have an idea."

Everyone in the clock tower who was looking at the butterfly windows and the ceiling turned to look at him.

The blond, dark-skinned youth stepped out of the darkness and stood where the light shone, his purple eyes calm and sharp.

"It seems no one has ever met Taki Ryuichi, the author of 'Running Towards the Sun,' right?" He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is it possible that he also participated in this event without anyone knowing?"

Everyone else was stunned, even the bald man, who seemed to be in a daze, opened his eyes wide in shock.

Hikaru Midorikawa suddenly realized: "I see. If that's the case, then everything can be connected."

Amuro Tooru nodded: "Yes, we've reorganized the clues and are trying to figure out the whole incident."

Conan Edogawa wiped the cold sweat from his palms, took a few steps away from Hikaru Midorikawa, and approached Tooru Amuro but didn't dare to get too close. He listened attentively to Amuro's reasoning, comparing it with his own.

"Perhaps this event was a very normal offline mystery novel event, and the author, Ryuichi Taki, even joined in hiding, giving himself an identity card that read 'Jesus.' That's why there were 13 of us, but the hint board said there were only 12 players, because one of them was actually a staff member."

This seems incorrect, because Conan Edogawa himself holds the identity card of the thirteenth candidate, unless someone holds two cards at the same time, possessing the identities of both Jesus and a disciple.

This is not impossible. If the author really did participate, he might use a pseudonym to cover up his identity and participate in later activities. He might be a staff member and a player at the same time, just like a game GM playing the game under a pseudonym.

"However, one person or a group of people set their sights on this game, deceived the author and staff, and then disguised themselves to enter the game. They were the first to kill the author, Ryuichi Taki."

Yellow Hair: "...Huh?"

"In other words, the first Mr. Furuura to die may have been Taki Ryuichi. There are two main pieces of evidence. First, he was the only one who left behind an identity plaque after his death, and it was the same plaque as Jesus. Second, his blood was put into the Holy Grail as Holy Blood, and his sphenoid bone was also put into the altar as Sacramento. This is death."

Bald head: "...Wait a minute, Guura is Taki Ryuichi???"

Amuro Tooru continued his analysis: "The images of the Virgin Mary and the infant on the altar represent new life, which corresponds to death. Plus, today happens to be Easter... I guess this was probably part of the original plan, so the priest wasn't surprised. Instead, he said that our reaction was out of character and that we should continue to lose points to keep the game going."

"Unfortunately, the priest was unaware that someone had taken the act seriously and actually killed the author. The murderer was then discovered by Mr. Okiya while killing the priest, and they were both dealt with together. Although the specific reason is unknown, their goal was definitely to kill everyone."

"Based on the situation of the other missing people, we can be certain that there are mechanisms inside this church, but we just can't find them without the right tools," Amuro Tooru sighed regretfully. "For safety's sake, let's leave here. Even if there are dangerous snow-capped mountains outside, it's still safer than this church."

Conan Edogawa's eyes widened slightly, completely surprised that he would come to this conclusion. He was about to speak when a loud "boom" interrupted him.

"What's wrong?!"

"What? What happened now???"

"An avalanche?"

"Why did it suddenly go completely black?!"

Conan Edogawa paused for two seconds, then suddenly ran towards the door.

He was facing the window and saw everything that had just happened.

A layer of black sheet metal completely covered the outside of the window in just two seconds, probably covering the entire glass-encased wall. The heavy metal made such a loud sound when it hit the ground.

—When someone heard that they wanted to leave the church, they simply locked them all inside and trapped them.

Amuro Tooru quickly caught up with him, exchanged a glance with him, overtook him, grabbed the nearest back door and pulled hard, but couldn't budge it.

Conan Edogawa knew how strong Amuro Tooru was; if even he couldn't budge the door, it must have been locked and made of some kind of material.

"We're locked inside?" Kogoro Mouri's face was extremely grim.

Ida Kou frowned and looked around: "There are definitely listening devices and surveillance cameras here."

The bald man seemed stunned and unable to react for the moment.

The blond guitarist, clutching his guitar case to his chest in panic, cried out in utter disbelief, "What the hell is going on?! Are they really going to kill us all?!"

Amuro Tooru gave up on opening the sliding door, frowned, and whispered, "I didn't expect they'd go this far..."

Conan Edogawa, who happened to be nearby, overheard this and immediately felt relieved.

He knew that those words were just meant for others to hear, just to get everyone to leave this dangerous place.

But obviously no one expected that the renovated church would be so well done, it's practically like a small military base.

They then went to check other places together; all the windows were sealed up, and all the doors leading outside were tightly closed.

There was an extra letter under the statue of Jesus, and when opened, it contained only one sentence.

The remaining six players, please continue the game. Even if the priest is not present, please do not act out of character (OOC) in front of others. Those who violate this rule will bear the consequences.

Kogoro Mori shouted, "There are clearly seven of us! And now they're still trying to sow discord and play games with us. Are they some kind of pleasure criminals?"

Hikaru Midorikawa sighed, pushed up his glasses, and said calmly, "If that's the case, then it means the murderer did have some other purpose in gathering us here, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to play games with us."

The bald man, his hand trembling, reached for the blond man's sleeve: "Hey, tell me, could it be that person..."

The blond-haired man shoved him away, his hand trembling, and muttered, "What nonsense are you talking about! How can the dead come back to life?!"

They seemed oblivious to the child beside them, and a thought suddenly flashed through Conan Edogawa's mind.

The dead are resurrected... a fixed 13 spots... a mysterious, sealed-off church... an organization in the novel that possesses a time machine... a character who travels back in time to change the future during a fan event... an organization in reality that claims to reverse time and resurrect the dead... he and Ai Haibara did indeed reverse time and turn from adults into children after taking the drug...

Could it be that this church is one of the organization's experimental bases...?

No, no, no, this is too outrageous! This isn't science fiction, it's reality! How could the scientific world he lives in be secretly unscientific all along?!

Although reality is already magical enough, and although there are supposedly witches and magic in reality, he still can't completely believe it unless there is scientific proof!

...However, as Holmes also said, when you have eliminated all other possibilities and only one remains, however improbable it may seem, that is the truth.

"Have you discovered anything?" Amuro Tooru walked over and asked in a low voice.

Conan Edogawa looked up and stared at him for a full five seconds before shaking his head: "No."

But his expression remained unwavering, and his eyes became even more determined as he said, "But there is no mystery in this world that cannot be solved, and there is only one truth. Finding it is only a matter of time."

He wasn't sure how much Amuro Tooru knew, nor how much surveillance and listening was taking place here, but before he could confirm anything, he wanted to find out first.

Even if you unexpectedly stumble into the organization's lair, you must remain calm and think of ways to safely lead everyone out.

"Ah!" Kogoro Mouri suddenly exclaimed.

The altar he was leaning against suddenly moved, almost causing him to fall.

“Hmm? I remember this altar wasn’t supposed to be moved before, right?” Midorikawa Hikaru walked over. “Back then, even the little… Detective Akechi and I couldn’t lift it.”

"Did the previous mechanism activate a new program?" Date Wataru stepped forward and lifted the altar, placing it aside.

Below was a large, square, pitch-black hole. Even with a flashlight, all you could see was an empty tunnel that then meandered into an unknown depth.

The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Should we...should we go down?" The bald man looked like he was about to cry.

Ida Ko was the first to jump: "My friends are all missing. They must still be alive. I'm going to save them."

Although he was tall, he was very agile. After landing lightly, he held his breath and observed for a while before looking up to tell them that they were safe.

“There’s no other way out. If we don’t act according to their wishes, who knows what other heinous things they might do.” Kogoro Mouri clicked his tongue and jumped down as well.

Hikaru Midorikawa followed closely behind.

Then it was Amuro Tooru's turn. After he went down, he didn't immediately leave to make way for the others. Instead, he looked up and stretched out his arm.

Conan Edogawa, who was lying at the entrance of the hole, jumped down very cooperatively and was perfectly caught by the blond youth, who then gently placed him on the ground.

Then Conan Edogawa turned his head and met Hikaru Midorikawa's face, which had lost its smile, and his cold gaze.

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Honestly, if Hikaru Midorikawa really was from Scotland, he actually felt that the organization was doomed sooner or later.

Conan Edogawa quietly moved a little further away from Tooru Amuro, sticking close to Kogoro Mouri, being protected in the middle like an ordinary child, and walking down with everyone.

After walking for about five minutes, they finally saw light in the pitch-black tunnel.

At the end of the light was a door that was slightly ajar.

Date Wataru and Mouri Kogoro were at the front, telling the others to hide. After observing for a moment, they stood on the left and right sides and opened all the doors.

I was on guard for a while, but nothing happened in the end.

It looked like an ordinary laboratory, with not a single person in sight.

"You two wait outside for a moment." Date Wataru and Mouri Kogoro went in again to investigate, but they didn't find any traps. However, they were stunned when they turned around and saw something.

"What's wrong?"

What did you see?

Faced with their questions, the two were speechless for a moment, their faces filled with shock and bewilderment.

Conan Edogawa couldn't resist any longer and ran inside to take a look.

Then he was stunned.

What came into view was a huge, transparent glass box that towered above the ground, almost the size of a normal room. Inside, twelve chairs were arranged in a circle, surrounding a giant blood-red butterfly statue in the center.

All six of the chairs were already occupied.

Those were the six missing people, all chained to chairs, their heads hanging low, their fate unknown.

...No, they couldn't possibly still be alive.

With such a huge metal cross inserted into his heart and so much blood lost, how could he possibly still be alive?

All the blood flowed along the strange patterns toward the red butterfly statue in the center, as if the butterfly were sucking blood.

Conan Edogawa felt cold in his hands and feet, and then, in a daze and with a slow, dull realization, he understood something.

This is... a sacrifice.