Chapter 290 Seventy-Threeth Cycle (120)

Rei Furuya stood in front of the blonde robot that looked almost exactly like him, his expression unusually blank, and he couldn't help but reach out and gently touch the robot's face.

...It's soft, and its texture is very similar to human skin.

The others looked at the blond youth, then at the blond robot, then back at the blond youth, then back at the blond robot, their expressions filled with astonishment.

Akemi Miyano covered her mouth: "They're practically twins, you can't tell they're robots at all. Matsuda-kun is amazing."

"They really look alike." Date Wataru exclaimed in amazement. "If it weren't for the slightly different expressions and demeanor, it would be hard to tell them apart."

Even Kenji Hagiwara was a little surprised: "Although I knew that Jinpei planned to develop Rei-chan into a lifelike character, I didn't expect it to go this far! Hurry up! Jinpei, make it move! How about a street dance? How about letting Furuya and Rei-chan have a dance battle?"

Jianggu Ling: "..."

Rei Furuya's half-moon eyes: "I'm not jumping. Take your phone back."

Kenji Hagiwara put down his phone with a regretful expression.

Matsuda Jinpei made no attempt to hide his pride: "That's right, Unit-00 can not only breakdance, but also fight and shoot, so its combat power is quite strong!"

"Huh?" Rei Furuya looked at him incredulously. "You really built a Gundam?!"

Kenji Hagiwara brandished his fist: "Unit Zero! Deploy!!!"

Hiroki Sawada chuckled from the side, "It's not that exaggerated, but it can indeed do most of the actions of an ordinary human. Then Noah's Ark and I transmitted Kudo Huai, also known as Zero's, combat data and behavior template to it, so that it can imitate 80% of Zero."

Matsuda Jinpei's expression was still slightly dissatisfied: "The expression is still a little stiff. A perceptive person would notice something's wrong if they looked closely, but it's enough to handle most situations. Oh, right, the battery life is relatively poor. If it's running at high speed without being recharged, it can only last for five hours."

"That's already amazing, really," Furuya Rei said sincerely. "Matsuda, are you perhaps a genius?"

Matsuda Jinpei: "?"

Matsuda Jinpei flew into a rage and rushed over to choke me: "You blond bastard, didn't you ever think I was a genius?!"

Rei Furuya chuckled and patted his hand: "I've thought about it, I've thought about it. Mazda-chan is the best!"

"If it maintains a serious, expressionless face, can it fool the organization?" Morofushi Kagemitsu, who had been deep in thought, suddenly spoke up. "Or rather, can it take Zero's place in the final death scene?"

Matsuda Jinpei suddenly turned to meet his gaze, then smiled: "I modified it for this very purpose!"

The group immediately became excited and huddled together to discuss how to train the robot and how to execute the final plan.

Rei Furuya took out his future phone from his pocket, but even after they finalized their plan, they didn't receive any success messages from everyone ten years in the future.

This already proved that the robot project would not succeed, but no one gave up.

Perhaps, just perhaps, this tiny possibility will play a huge role in some decisive moment in the future?

The future is certain, but it is also unpredictable.

To divert their attention, Furuya Rei steered the conversation back to Matsuda Jinpei's birthday.

"Time flies, you'll be 29 today." Rei Furuya genuinely sighed, jokingly teasing the youngest among them, "Matsuda will soon be a 30-year-old uncle too."

Although time seemed to drag on endlessly in previous cycles, when the final moments finally arrived, I couldn't help but marvel at how quickly time had passed and how reluctant I was to part with the beautiful moments I was enjoying.

"Even if I'm an old man, I'm still the most handsome old man." Matsuda Jinpei put on his sunglasses and snorted.

The others cheered him on, saying that even though he was old, he was still the most handsome old man.

Rei Furuya watched them playfully bickering with a smile.

Thirty years old! Forget about the people in front of him, that's an age he never reached even if he lived to the very end in his previous life...

It's so good that they didn't die in their twenties.

That's great, everyone's still alive and well.

They will live a long time, perhaps ten years, fifty years, or even a hundred years from now...

We've reached the final step.

Rei Furuya absolutely cannot allow any mistakes to occur in this cycle.

*

November 28th.

There are 27 days left until there are zero deaths in the valley.

Ekoda High School.

During break time.

Kaito Kuroba lay sprawled on the table, bombarding his mother, who was overseas, with text messages, demanding to know if she knew why the Black Organization was suddenly targeting the Zoo Organization. Was the target the "Stone of Destiny," Pandora's Gem? Was the Black Organization using Pandora to research immortality? And was the man who helped him at the end of the holographic game "Wheel of Fate" his father who had faked his death eight years ago?

The once incredibly elegant phantom thief lady was also brought to a sigh by her son's constant noise.

In the end, Kuroba Chikage could only give up on giving her son a surprise and told him that she planned to return to the country in a week and talk to him in person then.

Kaito Kuroba suddenly sat up, causing the chair to creak loudly.

—She didn't deny it!!!

So Dad might actually still be alive!

The boy jumped up excitedly on the spot, spun around twice, and gradually calmed down, sitting in a chair and falling into thought again.

His initial goal in becoming Phantom Thief Kid was to find out the truth behind his father's murder. That's why he inherited the name "Phantom Thief Kid" and went around stealing jewels. After stealing them, he would find that they weren't Pandora and return them. Throughout this time, he was constantly fighting against a mysterious organization whose codenames were all animals.

But now, it seems Dad only faked his death, and that lousy organization has been dealt with by another organization, with some members dead and others on the run. Moreover, it seems that completely eliminating the organization is already part of Mom and Dad's plan, otherwise they wouldn't have revealed to him that Dad might still be alive... Kuroba Kaito felt a little confused about what to do next.

It seems like his affairs are almost over?

If I had to say, he was genuinely curious about Pandora.

He's also always been very concerned about Conan Edogawa's battle with the Black Organization...

Okay! It's decided then!

Kaito Kuroba throws a punch and decides to go help the little detective.

During his lunch break, when no one was around, he went to find Koizumi Akako.

Although he didn't want to ask the witch for help, the situation on the little detective's side had completely exceeded his expectations, and the answer might only be found with the equally unscientific witch.

"Do you know about Karasuma Renya's immortality plan?" he asked the red-haired girl, leaning back in his chair.

Koizumi Akako crossed her arms and sneered, "Foolish mortals, it's all just wishful thinking."

"It's good that they didn't succeed. It seems Pandora didn't fall into their hands either." Kaito Kuroba breathed a sigh of relief, but then frowned and said worriedly, "But that organization is indeed very powerful. It won't be an easy task to eliminate them."

"Don't worry, the Demon of Light will lead them to victory." Koizumi Akako looked at him and warned, "But you'd better not get involved; that's not the fate of Phantom Thief Kid."

Kaito Kid thought to himself, "Do I look like the kind of person who believes in fate?" But he continued to probe, "If they're going to win, then there's nothing seriously wrong, right? Why can't I get involved? Is there really some kind of divine punishment?"

"..."

Koizumi Akako gave him a deep look: "I know what you're trying to do, but you'd better not get your hopes up. That kind of dimensional existence isn't much different from divine punishment. If you get caught up in it, you might die too."

Kaito Kuroba perked up and leaned closer, saying, "Even you really can't deal with this? Is fate truly unchangeable?"

Koizumi Akako gave a reluctant snort and remained silent.

Kaito Kid continued, "Oh? You mean the little detectives will ultimately win their battle against the Black Organization, but someone will definitely die in the end? That person's fate of death is one that even you can't change?"

"Stop beating around the bush." ​​Koizumi Akako leaned back in her chair, flicking her long red hair with one hand. "I told you this a long time ago."

She recited her prophecy from several months ago once again.

"The ancient clock tower, representing time, will announce to the world that when it strikes its fifty-thousandth chime, the Demon of Light will be reborn in the sunlight of the Eastern Capital, bringing hope to annihilate all criminals in one fell swoop."

"This is a game between God and the devil. When the bells rang to commemorate the birth of the Holy Lord, the hero of darkness will fall in the darkness of Satan's city, successfully saving the world and bringing both happiness and sorrow."

The witch raised her red eyes to look at him and said with certainty, "My divinations are never wrong."

*

December 1st.

Poirot Cafe.

World-renowned novelist Yusaku Kudo ordered a cup of coffee, sat down at the table, and interviewed the blond young man across from him with a pen and paper.

Yusaku Kudo: "Mr. Amuro, I find your image very interesting. May I write a novel based on your likeness?"

Amuro Tooru: "Of course, if it's just a novel."

Yusaku Kudo: "That's great. Then I'll ask some questions based on the novel's content... Don't worry, I'll just ask questions based on your personality. If you don't feel comfortable answering, just shake your head."

Amuro Toru chuckled: "It should be fine, after all, it's just a novel. As long as my name isn't written in it, it's okay."

Yusaku Kudo: "Alright, then let's call the protagonist [ZERO] for now."

Yusaku Kudo: "This is a novel with a reincarnation theme. The main plot is that the protagonist, ZERO, repeatedly reloads his save file to save the important people he lost in his previous life."

Yusaku Kudo: "My premise is that after going through countless hardships, ZERO goes through the cycle to the end and finally saves everyone, but he puts himself in a life-threatening danger that he cannot change even if he knows the future."

Yusaku Kudo: "The problem I'm facing now is, if this danger is fate allowing Zero to live, or putting other important people who have been saved with great difficulty into danger again, I'm forced to choose between the two... If you were Zero, what would you choose?"

Tooru Amuro: "As long as there is even the slightest possibility of struggle, I will try my best to keep both sides alive."

Yusaku Kudo: "What if this struggle could put others in danger?"

Toru Amuro: "..."

Amuro Tooru: "It depends on how dangerous it is."

Yusaku Kudo: "The biggest possibility is that it could endanger lives, or even the country and the world."

Amuro Tooru chuckled: "Then there's no need to think about it."

Yusaku Kudo sighed: "If that's the case, what kind of conditions and events do you think would be needed to threaten ZERO like that?"

Amuro Tooru: "To be honest, there are quite a lot. Teacher, your setting is that fate rules the world, and this world is a game between God and the devil. They want to make humanity unable to resist, and there are just too many ways for them to do so."

Yusaku Kudo: "What if I set up ZERO's reincarnation at the end, after many destinies have already been changed, and God and the demons are fighting each other, resulting in them not having a strong grasp of the world?"

Amuro Tooru showed him a page from his notebook containing the settings: "Didn't you say here that the witch said the prophecy of ZERO's death wouldn't be wrong? In the end, the protagonist's fate of dying is unchangeable, right?"

Yusaku Kudo: "But the main theme of my novel is to break free from fate. You see, the protagonist has been reincarnating so many times and has been changing his fate. In the end, he must save himself to make it a perfect ending."

Amuro Tooru laughed: "I like novels like this. I wish reality could be like the novels."

Yusaku Kudo nodded: "Yes, novels need to be logical and reasonable, but reality doesn't. In reality, people don't know whether an accident or tomorrow will come first. For example, a car accident. If a car accident suddenly appears at the end of a novel without any warning, it will definitely be criticized as a bad ending, but in reality, it can end immediately without any warning."

“But—” His tone suddenly shifted, and he smiled at the blond youth, saying, “But who can be sure that the world they live in is real? Maybe the world is just a giant brain in a vat?”

"The novel we're talking about now is a game world with a reincarnation setting," Yusaku Kudo shrugged. "If I don't want to be hunted down by editors or receive death threats from readers, I definitely can't write recklessly."

Amuro Tooru instantly understood: "You mean that the final event must have been foreshadowed and designed, right? It won't really develop absurdly without any warning like in reality, but rather it's an event guided by the preceding plot, a development that the reader needs to accept."

Yusaku Kudo nodded: "Yes, if that's the case, then how do you think the final ending should be designed?"

Amuro Tooru remained silent.

Rei Furuya tried to think from the perspective of an author and game producer, and to imagine from the system's point of view, how the event that led to his death could be designed to provide the system with the greatest emotional energy from the viewers watching the game livestream.

Systems may not need a perfect ending, nor do they need positive reviews, but a poorly executed game ending certainly won't maximize the emotional impact on the audience.

The most likely reasons are still "unresolved feelings" and "I could have done it"...

Rei Furuya came up with a few ideas and shared corresponding solutions with Yusaku Kudo.

However, there has still been no news of a successful future mobile phone project.

It's already December.

There are 24 days left until there are zero deaths in the frost.