Chapter 3 Daily Route 1/?: I don't want it to be early...

The two most difficult situations for humans to handle are extremely long wind-up animations and zero-frame start-up animations.

The sudden appearance of Kenji Hagiwara, with his sales pitch that defied normal logic, pushed the limits of human reaction and held the robber under control for several minutes.

The three people in the black car were silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered that they were robbers, and robbers don't need to reason.

The burly man sitting face-to-face with the man in the passenger seat had a fiery temper. He slammed his fist on the car window frame and yelled at Kenji Hagiwara, "We don't need license plates, get lost!"

Shorty also leaned out of the back window and, putting on a kind face, said in a gentle tone, "Sir, we have an emergency."

"Hey you guys..." Kenji Hagiwara started to say, wanting to delay for a while, but he was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"Alright, you idiots, stop talking nonsense," a tall, thin man in the driver's seat shouted, interrupting the nonsensical conversation. He slammed the steering wheel to the left and crashed into Kenji Hagiwara's car. "Get out of here if you don't want to die!"

But Kenji Hagiwara seemed to have sensed something was amiss, and at the same time, he turned the steering wheel to brace himself against the robbers' car, a smile appearing in his deep purple eyes: "Hey, you bastards, don't be so rude to service industry workers, Kenji-chan will get angry."

The robbers' escape speed was temporarily slowed down. The so-called salesman didn't seem to care that his sales pitch was rejected. Instead, he stubbornly used his car to block the black car to death.

"Damn it! He's a cop!"

The passengers belatedly tried to accelerate to avoid the white car that was pressing down on their side, but the other car's skills were far superior to theirs, blocking all escape routes and aggressively pressing down on them.

The two cars, one black and one white, were grinding against each other, the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound and sparks flying between them. Kenji Hagiwara stepped on the gas and swerved to the right, slamming the front of the robber's car against the roadside railing.

The black car suddenly shook violently. The short, chubby guy who had just gotten up was thrown hard to the side of the back seat. Zhuge Tongzhi also lost his balance and crashed into the left side window. The numb vein on his arm rubbed against the door armrest, and his left arm instantly felt sore and numb.

Subconsciously clutching his long-suffering left hand, Zhuge Tongzhi's lips twitched slightly from the soreness and numbness, and the 100-meter countdown in front of him just reached zero.

The word "Jump" changes from white to red, flashing to warn users who are about to deviate from the route.

At that moment, she was thrown to the side closest to Kenji Hagiwara's white car. Zhuge Tongzhi, who was leaning against the car door, rolled down the window that was right next to him and leaned half of his body out of the window. The short, chubby guy on the other side of the back seat, who was rubbing his head and grimacing, saw this and immediately tried to pounce on her and grab her.

But the black-haired girl grabbed the top edge of the car roof with both hands before he could react. She pulled herself up and pulled her legs out of the car, leaving the short guy empty-handed. He then tried to lean out of the window to grab the girl.

The best course of action at this point might be to pull yourself onto the roof of the car.

However, Zhuge Tongzhi's left arm was already throbbing with pain after she had only managed to pull herself out of the car. At this point, she probably wouldn't even be able to stay firmly attached to the colliding cars.

Yu Guangzhong: Dwarf Radish's hand was about to reach Zhuge Tongzhi's ankle.

Struggling to pull away from the man's hand, the girl raised her head and glanced out of the corner of her eye at the car behind her, which was extremely blurry because it was covered by her hair. Then she looked at Kenji Hagiwara's car, which was still some distance away in front of her, and gritted her teeth, kicking the short, chubby man hard in the face.

Okay, O said there's a road there!

The short man was kicked precisely in the bridge of his nose, and tears mixed with blood gushed out. He covered his nose in a disheveled state and rushed to the window, but the girl had already used the recoil to fall backwards towards the back of the car.

"Are you crazy?!" The man's eyes widened. The car was going over 100 miles per hour. Jumping off now would mean certain death or serious injury.

As he fell backward uncontrollably, Zhuge Tongzhi's heart pounded wildly.

The whistling wind almost drowned out the screeching of friction between the two cars. Her black hair swung from behind her head to her eyes, as if reaching out to grasp the blue sky that was getting further and further away.

In the weightlessness, Zhuge Tongzhi's pupils dilated slightly, and the navigation arrows that were constantly being passed and disappeared were reflected in his ink-black eyes. The blue and white arrows before disappearing were like birds merging into the blue sky.

Amidst the throbbing sensation that made her limbs stiffen, her body precisely followed the path planned by O towards the asphalt road, hurtling towards the ground at a speed of one hundred miles per hour.

As if her senses were endlessly stretching as she fell, she stumbled into a warm embrace.

"Please note the direction of travel. Current speed: 109."

The navigation prompts are being updated in real time.

The person who caught her let out a muffled groan, and was immediately thrown off balance. Zhuge Tongzhi felt as if she had been thrown onto a slide and swayed back and forth for a while, but fortunately, the person who caught her was very skilled and eventually regained her balance.

"Zhuge, are you alright?!"

The person who caught her shouted in a clear, childlike voice amidst the wind.

It's Conan!

Thanks to Professor Agasa's ingenious inventions, Conan's high-powered skateboard has speeds comparable to a race car, giving him the basic ability to safely catch the girl.

Imagine catching someone charging at you from a standstill at 100 yards, even if they're just a light-sized elementary school student. That would be enough to give their arm a good whack, send them tumbling to the ground, and make them say hi to the asphalt.

However, the speed difference between Conan and Zhuge Tongzhi, who jumped off the car, was very small, which allowed him to keep the skateboard steady after catching the girl.

"I'm fine, Edogawa. Thank you for catching me!"

With his heart still pounding, Zhuge Tongzhi, holding onto Conan's arm, stepped sideways onto the narrow skateboard.

But this posture is awkward, and the shifted center of gravity affects Conan's movement.

She thought for a moment, and taking advantage of the fact that she was much shorter than Conan, she squatted down and sat cross-legged at the very front of the skateboard. She grabbed the slightly upturned front of the skateboard with both hands and shouted loudly to Conan behind her, "In return, you can use me as the handlebars of your electric scooter!"

Hey, don't give such a strange reward all of a sudden! Conan's lips twitched involuntarily, but he honestly put his hands on the girl's shoulders and lowered his body. The skateboard accelerated again, carrying the two oddly positioned children as they chased after the two cars that were locked in a struggle.

However, time was of the essence, so we had no choice but to listen to her first.

Conan, expressionless, helped Zhuge Tongzhi up, trying to convince himself that there was nothing strange about their current position.

But after pressing down on Zhuge Tongzhi's shoulder to make the scooter turn, Conan couldn't help but close his eyes in pain.

Damn, it's so weird.

He's probably riding an electric scooter right now!

Conan, who refuses to hold onto his skateboard and spends most of his time riding it on the streets, now holds the girl's shoulder and for a moment feels like he has betrayed his past self.

But with the two cars locked in a deadly confrontation right in front of them, Conan didn't care about anything else and crouched down, pulling Zhuge Tongzhi forward.

“Hey,” Zhuge Tongzhi, who had been quietly holding the handrail, suddenly spoke up. She pointed to a corner of the alleyway that was visible in the distance, “Let’s turn right into the alley from the front.”

The girl looked up at the navigation icon floating in the air, turning right and forward, marked with 'shortest path'.

"Let's block them there."

Upon hearing this, Conan quickly looked up and glanced at the road sign in front of him that they had instantly left behind. He recognized the familiar road name on it.

If nothing unexpected happens, the robbers' hideout is also on that road, and now that Kenji Hagiwara has restricted the black car's movement, the only way to shake off the police is to turn right. Turning there in advance might actually block them.

Conan glanced at the black car ahead, which was unable to accelerate further because of Kenji Hagiwara, raised the rearview mirror on his watch and pointed it at the rearview mirror of the white car. He flashed it a few times in a regular pattern, and then used Morse code to spell out "R" with varying durations of light.

Hopefully, the officer will cooperate with the operation; otherwise, it's fine.

Conan, who doesn't have high expectations of the police, seized the opportunity, pressed down on Zhuge Tongzhi's right shoulder, and carefully adjusted the center of gravity of the skateboard while it was moving at high speed. The two of them smoothly turned into the alley on the right.

But how did she know which way the robbers would go?

The street scene rushed past on both sides, a cloud of dust rose from behind the scooter, and Conan looked inquisitively at the girl in front of him, only to meet her gaze as she suddenly turned around.

The boy, whose hair was disheveled by the strong wind, paused in his movements.

Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at Conan before turning his head away. Facing the wind, he narrowed his dry eyes slightly, fully understanding Conan's confusion.

It would be strange not to have doubts.

The route given by O-De seems to need to have the "De" in O-De removed to be appropriate.

The black-haired girl sat cross-legged on the skateboard, tilting her head back like a cat to look ahead. As she spoke into the wind, she felt a hollow, fullness as if she were being filled with air.

Zhuge Tongzhi finally calmed down from the excitement of jumping out of the car. Her voice was a little lazy, and her words, torn apart by the wind, drifted into Conan's ears. The girl said softly, "I followed the navigation, Edogawa."

"And all I want to do is go home."

I promise I won't lie to you, great detective.

Zhuge Tongzhi's stray hairs were all swept back from her head. With Conan pressing her shoulders, she suddenly felt extremely free, and also a sense of security like being held by someone flying a kite.

Because you are also my anchor point for returning home.

…

On this side, Kenji Hagiwara completely let loose.

When the police officer noticed the girl climbing out of the window in the rearview mirror, his heart tightened and he wanted to step back to catch her, but the next moment the child fell backward as if she didn't care about her life. Fortunately, the boy with glasses caught her the next moment.

Kenji Hagiwara exhaled, noticing the reflection in the rearview mirror, and suddenly remembered a topic that often came up during the police station's social gatherings.

His colleagues from the First Investigation Division often complained to him that elementary school students who were solving cases would always appear at the crime scene, and he would always just smile, pat them on the shoulder, and say half-jokingly, "Well, if you're bad, just practice more, XX-kun."

But to be honest, elementary school students these days are really something else. Kenji Hagiwara looked away from the two children who had turned into the alley, noticing a small white spot on his retina from the bright light.

R, right, go to the right.

The police officer, who perfectly understood the meaning, slammed the steering wheel shut, a smirk on his lips, and firmly slammed the black car into the far right lane.

Soon the two cars arrived at a wide T-junction. With no other choice, the black car swerved into the right lane without hesitation.

Kenji Hagiwara followed closely behind, slamming on the brakes. With a beautiful drift, he swerved into the alley, his tires tearing at the road surface, testing the limits of friction. The white car nimbly caught up with the black car, the loud screeching sound drawing the attention of passersby who turned around and whispered among themselves.

The same goes for a man carrying bags of groceries in his hands.

The blond, dark-skinned man frowned as he watched the two cars blatantly racing in broad daylight. He took out his phone with one hand, sent a message to his assistant, and after confirming that the assistant had received the message, he put the phone back and continued walking.

Even now, no one from the Ministry of Transport has caught up with us.

Is this how they act as police officers?!

Unfortunately, he still needs to apply for a job at Poirot Cafe and doesn't have time to teach those two street racers a lesson. Hopefully, Kazama can provide a satisfactory solution.

The blond, dark-skinned man finally looked away from the white car that was now just a trail of smoke, his thoughts momentarily shifting—but the Mazda really did have excellent performance, and the driver had good taste.

Lacking awareness of traffic rules, he shrugged and headed towards his destination with his shopping bags.

Behind him, a foreign woman who had just passed him withdrew her surprised gaze, smoothed her long blonde hair, and answered her vibrating phone.

"Hang, that's strange, I think I just saw Hagiwara-san's moving truck..."

"Hmm, have you arrived in Tokyo yet?" The foreign woman, who had been in a stable relationship with her boyfriend for several years, asked cheerfully. "I hope this transfer won't change again."

"Ah—that's great, Hang..."

…

The road chase continues.

The robbers, who had lost their hostages and were being relentlessly pursued by the police, were extremely agitated.

Seeing the persistent white car in the rearview mirror, the big guy slammed his fist on the car door in frustration. When he looked up, he saw two small figures standing directly in front of the car.

A bespectacled kid with a soccer ball in front of him, his glasses reflecting a strange white light, turned around and faced them with one foot on the soccer ball.

A black-haired girl holding a skateboard was the hostage they had failed to catch, who had slipped away like an eel.

The girl is now waving happily at them.

In response to Zhuge Tongzhi's call, the thin man slammed on the brakes, while the big man leaned out of the car window without hesitation, pulled out a pistol, and fired two shots at the two children.

But the pistol only made a hollow sound when the trigger was pulled. The man flipped his hand and found that the pistol he had prepared was locked. The short guy in the back seat also leaned out and found that his gun was locked as well.

It was that damn brat! Just as the two were cursing and trying to unlock the door to shoot again, Conan made his move.

"ha----!"

Accompanied by a spirited child's voice, the boy pressed the button on his shoe, and with a burst of lightning swirling around the sneaker, he powerfully kicked the small soccer ball in front of him.

"Go!"

The black and white soccer ball spun high into the sky, leaving afterimages, and suddenly expanded into a giant balloon as it reached the center of the alley, blocking the entrance to the two-way street.

The black car, hurtling straight ahead, had no chance to avoid the giant soccer ball. The airbags deployed as expected, and all three occupants lost consciousness from the violent impact. The black car, still inside the giant balloon, spun its wheels a few times before sliding down the balloon.

And so, this robbery case comes to an end...

Okay?

Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at the navigation system in the void, which was still displaying the destination but no longer providing any clues. He suddenly turned to Conan beside him and asked, "The boy is on the phone with Inspector Sato of the First Investigation Division. He has just confirmed the identity of Kenji Hagiwara."

"Conan, did you tell that policeman not to follow us?"

“No, I told him R…” Conan finished speaking, then suddenly realized that the policeman might be following the black car, and the road was completely blocked by balloons. “Oh no!”

The boy, still on the phone, instinctively shouted and lunged forward to deflate the balloon, but the soccer ball, which was rapidly expanding through a chemical reaction, was still undergoing the reaction and was slowly inflating.

It's too late! Conan frantically tries to think of a solution.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Sato Miwako was calling his name in confusion. Matsuda Jinpei, equally worried, leaned over to the policewoman, still holding the steering wheel. The two of them were driving towards the location.

Miwako Sato simply turned on the speakerphone, placed the phone between the two of them, and shouted into the phone, "Conan, what's going on over there?"

Amidst the static of the telephone, the boy quickly explained the situation in a clear, childlike voice, "I blocked the road and stopped the robbers, but Officer Hagiwara doesn't know the road is blocked here, he..."

Conan's words were suddenly cut off. Matsuda Jinpei, who was staring straight ahead, frowned behind his sunglasses. He stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward as if it had grown wings.

What happened to Hagi?

"...How could he drive like that?" A child's voice sounded weakly after a moment. "Officer Hagiwara is alright. He drove... um... flying over."

Ah... Matsuda Jinpei silently turned his head to look ahead, slightly eased off the accelerator, and the car, which had been accelerating, slowed down, continuing to drive at the maximum speed allowed by traffic regulations, and quickly headed towards the location sent by Conan.

After confirming that her colleague was safe, Sato Miwako gave Conan a few words of advice.

After a while, the phone was handed to Kenji Hagiwara.

The man who had just driven his car and leaped over a giant soccer ball at a 90-degree angle against the wall in a manner that defied Newtonian mechanics was now reporting the situation to his colleague on the other end of the line with a clear voice and full of energy. Matsuda Jinpei, however, didn't hold back and called him an idiot. The two of them started bickering on the channel.

Conan stood next to Kenji Hagiwara, dealing with the giant soccer ball that was slowly deflating. The boy ripped off the soccer ball covering the black car, revealing the three people who had fainted underneath.

Taking advantage of his small stature, he quickly climbed into the car and confirmed that none of the three people had any life-threatening injuries.

Conan breathed a sigh of relief and casually asked Zhuge Tongzhi behind him, "Are you going to the hospital?"

He noticed that she had been holding her left arm the whole way, and he also wanted to ask her what the navigation she was talking about actually meant.

What does "going home" mean?

After a long while, no one answered from behind.

"Zhuge?" Conan turned around and saw only Kenji Hagiwara, who was stretching after hanging up the phone, walking towards him with the skateboard that had been held in Zhuge Tongzhi's arms.

The 1.88-meter-tall police officer squatted down in front of the boy, looking at Conan with a respectful eye-to-eye posture, and said to him with a friendly smile, "That little girl had a stomachache and went to the restroom. I might have to trouble you to go to the police station to make a statement first, kid."

He handed the skateboard back to the extraordinary elementary school student in front of him, and casually asked, "Where did you buy your skateboard?"

Pretty cool

My hands are itching to take it apart.

Conan, taking the skateboard: "...Haha, this is a birthday present from Dr. Agasa!"

At the ripe old age of 17, Shinichi Kudo, disguised as a primary school student, adopted a high-pitched, clear, childlike voice that sounded even more innocent and mischievous: "It was made by Dr. Agasa himself, and there's only one left!"

"Haha, it's really cool!" Kenji Hagiwara laughed and rubbed his head. A police car stopped behind him, and a man and a woman in different police uniforms got out.

Besides Officer Sato, whom Conan is familiar with, there is another officer wearing sunglasses, with curly hair, and a powerful aura that doesn't seem like a good person. He is striding over and slapping Kenji Hagiwara on the back, causing the half-crouched, long-haired man to stumble.

But Kenji Hagiwara wasn't angry. He simply straightened up and bumped fists with the newcomer, and the two smiled at each other.

Officer Sato walked past the two and looked at Conan, handling business as if it were a formality: "We'll need Conan to come with us from now on."

"Haha, it's alright, Officer Sato!" Conan waved his hand and laughed understandingly.

Zhuge Liang!!

…

In a studio apartment in an apartment building near Teitan Elementary School.

Using the excuse of going to the toilet, Zhuge Tongzhi had already returned to her 'home' in this world, following the navigation. Meanwhile, the black-haired girl, who had been searching around, stared lifelessly at the row of documents in front of her, as if she wanted to burn them with her gaze.

Unfortunately, she didn't have Kryptonian genes or laser eyes, and all her documents remained obediently lying on the table.

After a while, she reached out and put the birth certificate, ID card, passport, and some other personal documents that appeared to be legal and compliant back into the file folder where they were originally, and stuffed them into the corner of the bookshelf.

Then, using two fingers, he picked up the transfer notice from Teitan Elementary School, keeping it as far away from him as possible, and placed it on top of a brand-new elementary school uniform, covering the newly printed student ID underneath.

Zhuge Tongzhi stared at the pile of things for a while, then frantically rubbed his hair. He picked up the extra ID photos on the table that looked like they were for filling out forms. In the two-inch or one-inch photos, the black-haired, black-eyed girl had a straight mouth and an expression that was exactly the same as his own.

After tidying everything up, Zhuge Tongzhi, clutching his throbbing left arm, walked into the bedroom and collapsed headfirst onto the only bed in the apartment.

The moment I snuggled into the blanket, a scent of sunshine filled my nostrils, mixed with a faint but comforting fragrance of cherry blossom-scented mite remover.

But the girl didn't feel warmed by the gesture.

Just ten minutes earlier, she had used her key to enter this rented apartment and had now successfully met a girl with the following tag:

Having only arrived in Tokyo two weeks ago after leaving my hometown, with both parents having passed away unexpectedly, and with complete and valid identification documents, the guardian whose photo is unfamiliar is presumably someone who is either constantly away on business trips or someone I have never contacted. My bank account has enough money, but it's not exactly wealthy either.

The good news is that this girl left her hometown for a distant place, but she didn't drop out of school; in fact, she transferred to the best primary school in the area.

The bad news is that I am this girl.

Zhuge Tongzhi pressed his nose against the soft blanket, groaned weakly in pain, and buried his head under the pillow, trying to escape his fate of being transported to another world and having to get up at seven o'clock every morning.

Why didn't she become a wealthy adult who could sleep in every day?

Who stole her life as a rich heiress in another world?!

She doesn't want to get up early, doesn't want to go to school, doesn't want to do homework, and doesn't want to take final exams!

The girl, exhausted from a long day, was on the verge of collapse, with strange screams emanating from her bedroom.

The sunlight streaming through the window, already tinged with twilight, warmly illuminated the simply furnished yet comfortable little bedroom, and then slowly climbed onto the life-size teddy bear on the bed as time passed.

Before anyone knew it, the girl lying next to the teddy bear had calmed her breathing. She turned her head to reveal half of her childish face. She was so tired that she fell asleep, but even in her dream, her brows were still tightly furrowed and her left hand was twitching unconsciously from time to time.

In the empty space in front of the bed, the blue-and-white navigation box automatically switched to night mode, emitting a soft light that illuminated the girl's face.

"Your location is nearby. O-D navigation has ended."

"Generate travel trajectory - Log of the shopping mall robbery (100%)?"

During the prolonged period of unresponsiveness, it automatically disabled the suggestion message and switched to the navigation path planning that had been running in the background:

"Daily route completed: 1 / ?"

Final destination: 'Returning alive to my parents' side.'

"Final route plan generated: 1%"

As night fell, the black-haired girl's face was hidden in the darkness, seemingly trapped in a dream, softly murmuring, "Don't leave me, Zhuge..."

She suddenly covered her throbbing head, curled herself into a small ball and wrapped herself in the blanket. After a while, she finally relaxed.

Zhuge Tongzhi shifted to a side-lying position, freeing his left arm from being pinned down. The sleeping girl, her brows relaxed and her arms and legs outstretched, murmured softly in Chinese, "...I don't want to get up early..."

A note from the author:

----------------------

O: Jump!

Zhuge: I **** (jumps down)

…

Most of the events that occurred before the first year of Detective Conan were postponed to after the first year.

Any bento boxes that obstruct Zhuge Tongzhi's way home will be kicked aside!

…

I hope everyone will leave lots of comments (shyly). I enjoy communicating with everyone.