Chapter 246, Seventy-Third Cycle (76)

"What's wrong?" The priest with blue, upturned eyes looked down at him. "Are you surprised by this plot?"

Of course he was surprised! He even suspected that the other person was hinting at his identity!

Shinichi Kudo is physically shrunk but remains intelligent, becoming Conan Edogawa who pretends to be stupid every day to navigate between the organization and the police.

This can't be a coincidence anymore, can it? There are just too many similarities between that novel and reality; it's impossible to explain it as a mere coincidence.

Conan Edogawa clenched his fist to prevent himself from revealing the cold sweat on his palms and his nervous fingers.

One cannot escape one's fate.

Regardless of whether he truly knew or was being tested, even if it was true, even if it truly was fate, he could not escape it.

Perhaps having already suspected it, Conan Edogawa quickly calmed down, even appearing quite composed.

As he racked his brains, he looked up and sighed helplessly, replying, "It is indeed surprising. I always thought that the author, Taki Ryuichi, was a heartless and cold-blooded killer. Others also said that he could be admitted to the same ward as other mentally ill authors... But I didn't expect that he had already laid the groundwork and was planning to make up for all the sadness and regrets in the last book. He actually wanted to create a perfect happy ending where no one died. Even in normal sweet stories, this is rare, right?"

Morofushi Takaaki slightly curled the corners of his mouth: "So that's what surprised you. This will indeed shock many readers. It's extremely angsty when it's angsty, and extremely sweet when it's sweet. The biggest uproar will probably happen after the final chapter is released."

Conan Edogawa shrugged and said, "I'm starting to suspect that the author didn't show up before because he was afraid of being forced to revise the plot by being put in a sack or held at knifepoint. If this plot is actually released, the readers will definitely be moved that the author's mental state is so good, and that the previous plot kills weren't just him going crazy. The author, Ryuichi Taki, might finally dare to show up... It's a pity I probably won't be able to see it."

"You really like Taki Ryuichi? Do you want to see him?" Morofushi Takaaki asked.

Conan Edogawa blinked: "Yes, could it be that I can see him now?"

"It probably won't work," said Morofushi Komei with a smile. "What a pity."

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Was this person doing it on purpose?

“However, I can tell you the script for this event,” said Morofushi Takaaki. “In the original storyline, the biggest suspect should be your character. If you had continued on that path, you would have found that many clues would have focused on you, and you might have even discovered that your identity card was [Judas].

Conan Edogawa: "???"

This is a setup! So he was originally supposed to be the one framed? But now, because someone wants to cause trouble and thinks he's too young to take the blame, they've changed the person? Or did Mr. Akai do something that affected their original plan?

Does this mean that Ryuichi Taki, the author who set up the plot, was not actually a fully informed participant?

"If you didn't discover the truth, then the final outcome you'd see would be that Dazai had actually betrayed the police and joined the organization long ago. That's why he was able to get close to the time machine during the final battle. Then he used the time machine to travel back from the future to save Oki Masaya and cooperate with the organization members, using his prophetic abilities to eliminate all obstacles in order to become a high-ranking member of the organization and gain immense power," Morofushi Takaaki continued.

He held up three fingers: "You didn't have time to carefully examine your identity card, did you? Actually, if you studied it carefully, you would have found that your identity card is a little different from others. There are two layers of disguise on your identity card. The first layer is [Matthias], which was added to you by the real traitor. After peeling off this layer of disguise, the next layer is [Judas], but that is also fake; you added it yourself. After tearing off this layer of disguise, the bottommost [Messiah] is the true identity of your identity card."

Conan Edogawa is stunned.

Why would someone with an identity card need to play a spy game?

"Why...why would I add a layer of Judas disguise on top of the real Messiah?" he asked.

"Because in the setting of this event, this is actually not the first time you have traveled back in time to change the past, but you have failed every time before," said Morofushi Takaaki. "So, this time, after you complete the prerequisites, you also temporarily lose your memory. This way, you can deceive the organization's test. Afterwards, you can follow the clues step by step to recover your memory and finally become the Messiah who can truly save the world."

After saying that, he sighed with great regret: "Unfortunately, this perfect plan also failed, and it didn't even have a chance to be shown."

“There is no such thing as a perfect plan in this world. No matter what you do, something will always go wrong somewhere.” Conan Edogawa frowned and retorted. “All criminals who think they are clever will never be discovered, but their evil deeds will eventually be exposed and the truth will come out.”

"Is that so?" Morofushi Takaaki raised an eyebrow slightly, turned his gaze to the time machine, and said softly, "But if we really have a time machine, if we can control the past and the future at will, of course we can create a perfect world, right?"

Conan Edogawa looked him in the eye seriously: "There is no such thing as perfection in this world. Just like gears always get stuck, even a time machine can't achieve that. Whether you choose to force it to move and ultimately let everything vanish, or choose to start over, get back on track, and try to catch up on what you've fallen behind, is up to you."

Zhu Fu Gaoming looked down at him, his tone subtle: "Are you... advising me to turn back before it's too late? Even though I've already done such a thing?"

Conan Edogawa's eyes were firm: "It's not too late now. If you continue to be stubborn, you will only ruin everything you have. You can still choose to start over, return to normal, and try to make up for the mistakes you made back then... You're just afraid of starting over."

The child struggled to raise his finger, tracing the circular mark on the time machine's armrest with his fingertip, his tone unwavering: "Officer Morofushi, zero is not the end, zero is the beginning of everything."

Zhu Fugaoming's expression paused slightly.

zero……

[Brother Gaoming, this is my best friend, Furuya Rei. He wants to become a police officer just like us!]

Zero…0…zero…

These words also appear many times in key parts of the novel.

Zhu Fu Gaoming stared blankly at the circular mark on the surface of the time machine, slightly lost in thought.

Could it be that the settings Jingguang wrote were actually related to that blond youth?

Is it the prototype? Or...?

What exactly are they trying to do...?

Conan Edogawa noticed his unusual behavior and, thinking he was wavering, immediately pressed on: "Inspector Morofushi, you can't lie to yourself when making a life-changing decision. I've spent time with you, and I don't think you're that kind of person. Ask yourself honestly, do you really want to do this?"

"Why are you still wasting your breath on this kid?" The tightly closed door suddenly opened, and a not-so-unfamiliar female voice rang out, her tone icy.

Conan Edogawa suddenly turned his head and saw the long-haired woman, who should have been dead, walk in, carrying a stick in one hand and dragging the unconscious blond man with the other.

“He’s such an interesting kid, so I said a few more words.” Morofushi Takaaki turned around. “Why did you make your move now?”

The long-haired woman, who claimed to be the band's lead singer, stood expressionlessly with an iron rod, threw the blond-haired man in front of him, and sneered, "This traitor talked too much to those people. Anyway, he's useless now. I get annoyed just watching him act so arrogantly."

traitor?

Conan Edogawa's mind immediately went into a storm.

What's going on with this gang of thieves? Things don't seem that simple.

"Anyway, he's all yours now. The rest of the people are locked up there; you can experiment on them one by one. I'm going to continue looking for that escaped graduate student." The woman finished speaking, turned around, and left, dragging a long, heavy iron rod in her hand.

A runaway graduate student?

Mr. Akai did manage to escape successfully!

As she reached the door, the woman turned back to stare at the composed priest: "You're unlikely to do anything foolish or vulgar like being moved by a child and then suddenly having a change of heart and atoning for your sins, are you?"

“Of course.” Morofushi Takaaki’s tone remained unchanged. “You know, I also hate traitors the most.”

The woman scoffed, "You'd better be."

She turned and left, and the door closed again.

Conan Edogawa struggled subtly, but the restraints in the time machine chair were too strong, and he failed.

Morofushi Takaaki tied the hands of the unconscious blond man on the ground and temporarily placed him against the wall, then turned and walked towards Edogawa Conan.

As he drew closer, Conan Edogawa grew increasingly nervous, frantically thinking about how to escape should Morofushi Takaaki actually come.

The priest in a black robe stood in front of him, bent down and placed his hand on the arm restraints that had loosened a little from his struggles.

The silver cross on the man's chest and the long white scarf hung down slightly, fluttering in front of him.

"Click—"

Conan Edogawa was taken aback and looked down to see that the restraints on his arms had been untied.

Almost simultaneously, with a "creak," the side door was pushed open, and the pink-haired graduate student walked in.

He pushed up his glasses, his gaze meeting that of Conan Edogawa, whose eyes were wide open, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Conan Edogawa: "..."

"You've arrived." Morofushi Takaaki untied the restraints on Edogawa Conan's other hand and turned to look at the newcomer.

“She’s gone up to find me now.” Subaru Okiya nodded, then looked at the blond-haired man lying by the wall and said, “Now that we’ve taken care of one, things will be much easier for us.”

us?

Conan Edogawa silently climbed out of the time machine, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two people.

What's going on with these two people?

Morofushi Takaaki betrayed them long ago and chose to cooperate with Okiya Subaru?

Subaru Okiya nodded to Takaki Morofushi, then stepped forward, picked up Conan Edogawa, and strode back, saying in a low voice, "Let's leave here first. I'll explain in detail to you later."

Conan Edogawa obediently shut his mouth, which had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, and turned to look at Morofushi Takaaki, who was still standing there.

The man dressed as a priest remained upright and elegant, his deep blue, upturned eyes silently watching them until the door closed.

Conan Edogawa had been holding back his anger the whole way until they entered a secluded corner, where Subaru Okiya finally put him down. The first thing he did was to check that there were no listening devices on him.

“There shouldn’t be any surveillance cameras or eavesdropping here,” the man said in a low voice as he crouched down. “But we should still keep our voices down.”

Conan Edogawa nodded seriously, meeting Shuichi Akai's sharp green eyes in the dim light.

“Listen carefully, you absolutely cannot act rashly right now,” Shuichi Akai said seriously. “This place is indeed related to the organization, and our arrival here is no coincidence, but I haven’t fully figured out their situation yet.”

The guess finally came true, and Conan Edogawa's vision became somewhat dazed for a moment.

His gaze drifted blankly into the void, as countless chaotic thoughts surged like waves.

Does this also mean that time travel organizations, time machines, and experiments are real?

Is this... really real? Or just a fantasy story from a novel?

Furthermore, if the novel and the plot of this event are indeed related to the organization, then how come the character design of the protagonist in the fifth book is so similar to his current situation?

Could it be... that Scotland has really investigated to this extent? Are they now testing them?

“Scotland…” Conan Edogawa suddenly grabbed Shuichi Akai’s arm, looked up to meet his gaze, and anxiously asked, “Is Scotland here too? Who is he?”