Chapter 183, Seventy-Third Cycle (13)
"What was yesterday's date?" the psychologist asked.
"June 25th." Jiang Guling replied.
"What's the date today?" the psychologist asked.
"October 2nd." Jiang Guling replied.
"What's tomorrow's date?" the psychologist asked.
Rei Furuya remained silent.
It's just past midnight now, and the police specifically chose this time to test his recovery.
Before he came, everyone in the cherry blossom group told him what the dates were for "tomorrow" and "the day after tomorrow," but that wasn't accurate; sometimes it was right and sometimes it was completely wrong.
But Dr. Watanabe didn’t seem to react anything when he said “yesterday”, so maybe this time it just happened to be accurate?
Rei Furuya tentatively spoke up, hoping to try his luck: "October 6th."
The psychologist drew a line on the notebook, then looked up at him with a happy smile: "Congratulations, Furuya-kun, you're all right."
Rei Furuya didn't feel anything special, but he still smiled to reassure Dr. Watanabe and the police officers who were watching nervously beside him.
They were already very familiar with each other, so they casually mentioned some things that everyone already knew and ended the interview.
Dr. Watanabe escorted him to the door alone, chatting amicably about other topics.
"So much time has passed without us realizing it. It's all thanks to you that you noticed something was wrong and stopped that child from doing something foolish. Otherwise, if something had really happened... it would have been such a pity for Aso." He sighed.
“I only told them the information; it was Detective Mouri and my friend who really made the effort.” Rei Furuya shook his head. “If they hadn’t brought the wrongful death of Aso’s father back to light and found the letter from his father wishing him to live a good life, we wouldn’t have been able to stop him even if we wanted to.”
Even after experiencing so much chaotic time and various cases, aside from the storylines involving Conan, Sherry, Akemi, Gin, Vermouth, and Shuichi Akai related to the organization, Asano Minami also left a deep impression on him.
Because he was given a rare warning by the world at that time, he suddenly clutched his heart and almost scared Hiro next to him to death.
Fortunately, it was just a warning. Although the deviation in the world line was a bit large, it wasn't enough to cause sudden death.
That was the only time in Rei Furuya's playthrough that he almost messed up and had to reload.
Later, when they reviewed the case, they pondered why an ordinary case would almost cause Rei Furuya to die suddenly. The only possibility was the protagonist, Conan Edogawa, because it must have been an important part of Conan Edogawa's growth.
According to Matsuda Jinpei, who once reprimanded Conan Edogawa for his pursuit of the truth and even drove the culprit to the brink of madness, the change was probably in Conan Edogawa's attitude towards cases and culprits.
Since then, Conan Edogawa has no longer been the young detective who only cares about solving puzzles. He has started to think about more things and even said that a detective who only cares about solving puzzles and then drives the criminal to his death is no different from a murderer.
Of course, he doesn't hesitate to investigate the truth when necessary. The scales of justice have never tipped in his heart; it's just that now he has gained a keen sense of human nature and a thorough understanding of human relationships.
It's clear that Conan Edogawa is truly growing step by step, to the point where he's now capable of cooperating with the FBI to deal with the organization.
Rei Furuya found his growth trajectory quite interesting. When he first met Conan Edogawa, he was already a child who could frighten him. Even though he had his naive and impulsive moments, witnessing his growth process firsthand still made him feel a bit emotional.
"Yes, time really flies..." he said with a smile, bidding farewell to Dr. Watanabe.
When Rei Furuya stepped out the door, his breath was already enough to form white mist in the air.
He sighed helplessly.
It was still the sweltering heat of June when he came in last night, but today it's early winter in October. Everyone else has changed into winter clothes to suit the season, but he's still wearing a thin shirt.
Fortunately, he was prepared.
Rei Furuya unfolded his black coat, put it on, and the cold wind was instantly shut out.
He took out his phone, first letting the group know he was safe, and then got on the bus.
After starting the vehicle, Furuya Rei did not leave immediately, but instead tapped the Reincarnation Group with his finger.
[1. Rintaro Okabe: From Steins;Gate, currently on his 2500th playthrough, has died 0 times.]
[2. Homura Akemi: From *Puella Magi Madoka Magica*, currently on her 425th playthrough, has died 0 times.]
[3. Rei Furuya: From "Detective Conan," currently on his 73rd playthrough, and has died 73 times.]
4. Subaru Natsuki: From *Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-*, currently on his 51st playthrough, already died 51 times.
[5. Shinpei Ami: From "Summer Revisited," currently on his 39th playthrough, having died 39 times.]
Time does indeed pass quickly, especially for Homura Akemi, whose time flow is now somewhat synchronized with his. The cycle repeats once a month, and it has already gone through more than four hundred cycles.
The other three people and their time flow were stretched out for a long time, especially Okabe Rintaro's three thousand cycles of reincarnation, which are still not over.
However, everyone's situation is relatively stable.
On his side, his guess was correct. Although the incident involving the fake Gin Vodka and Miyano Akemi appeared out of nowhere, the real them and the original story still happened on the same date later.
It was just a matter of time; everything that was meant to happen will eventually happen.
There's not much they can change; every time they're on the brink of death.
Rei Furuya closed his phone, started the car, and drove away.
The flickering neon lights of the city added an air of mystery to his contemplative expression, making his eyes appear both enigmatic and enigmatic.
The flow of time in the reincarnation group was still different and had no pattern, but he had figured out what the time situation was like in his own world.
It is indeed chaotic, but it is also safe and stable. As long as he can keep his spirits up and his will remains firm and unwavering, there is no problem.
From a three-dimensional perspective, for the consciousness of everyone in this world, only a little over two months have passed since Shinichi Kudo became Conan Edogawa.
However, from a four-dimensional perspective, approximately twelve years have passed since the game officially began in this world.
This judgment is not accurate; it is merely a deduction based on major events that occur every so often in April.
Yes, it's April 1st again.
To be more precise, it was between April 1st and April 4th.
When this date coincides with a major event surrounding Conan Edogawa, and the world's rules become at their weakest, it means that approximately one year has passed in this world on the fourth dimension.
That started after the agave died.
The major event that occurred on April 1st was the incident where Teiji Moriya suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder and blew up a skyscraper.
Then, every so often, when time cycles back to April 1st, between April 1st and April 4th, a sensational event will inevitably occur around Conan Edogawa, usually accompanied by a huge explosion.
To date, this has happened twelve times, and each time the circumstances are strikingly similar.
By the third time, Rei Furuya had begun to have doubts.
What if—and I mean what—for four-dimensional beings, each major event on April 1st represents the passing of a year? Like a game's anniversary celebration?
By now, he has basically confirmed this hypothesis.
In other words, perhaps for four-dimensional beings, 12 years have passed in their world since the Detective Conan game officially began.
This is the thirteenth year.
He had been trying to guess what the thirteenth April Fool's Day joke would be, and this was very important to him.
Because at those times, the power of the world's rules becomes very weak, the system becomes active again, and he can do more.
But for now, at least for now, Furuya Rei has temporarily put this matter aside.
He has more important things to do now.
*
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Vermouth picked up a hair tie and tied up her long blonde hair. She reached out and touched the chin of the blond, dark-skinned young man sitting obediently in the chair, teasingly asking, "You haven't given up on him yet?"
“He’s not dead yet.” Bourbon looked up at her, his purple eyes deep and unfathomable. “That man isn’t one to die easily. Only I can kill him, and I will prove it to everyone.”
Vermouth paused, her smile fading slightly. She withdrew her hand and couldn't help but sigh, "Fine, whatever you want. But did you tell that gentleman before you did this?"
"The boss agreed." Bourbon smirked.
While applying makeup and disguising him, Vermouth chuckled irritably, "What about Gin? Does Gin know about your plan? If you wander around outside with this face and rumors of Shuichi Akai's resurrection, aren't you afraid that Gin and his squad will snipe you? That guy always prefers to kill the innocent rather than let the guilty go free."
The blond, dark-skinned youth looked up at her, sat down in his chair, and gave her a bright smile, saying, "What are you afraid of, Gin? I'm going to secretly find out the fake-dead Shuichi Akai, then kill him and give Gin a good slap in the face. Of course, I can't tell him my plan. Besides, if we really run into them, don't you still have me? If I'm in danger, you'll definitely come to save me, won't you?"
Vermouth: "..."
Vermouth took the powder puff and smeared it directly on his face.
Bourbon's laughter sent white dust flying into the air, choking Vermouth. In retaliation, she ruffled the blond youth's hair before continuing to apply makeup and disguise him.
Vermouth doesn't believe that Shuichi Akai is still alive. Gin set a trap and watched Kir kill Shuichi Akai with his own eyes. They have also watched the video repeatedly. Shuichi Akai's death is not suspicious at all.
Now only Bourbon still firmly believes that Shuichi Akai is alive and continues to search for his whereabouts.
Since Vermouth had nothing else to do, she let Bourbon cause trouble and helped him out while slacking off herself.
She watched as Bourbon, disguised as Shuichi Akai, probed the FBI, but the FBI's reaction was nothing out of the ordinary; all the probes only further proved that Shuichi Akai was indeed dead.
Vermouth had witnessed this firsthand before; the blonde kitten had cried terribly in the car, and now, faced with Bourbon's probing, it was startled and distraught, both pitiful and amusing.
After several days of fruitless work, Bourbon wasn't in a hurry. After completing the mission, he tore off his disguise and watched a video of Shuichi Akai's death while eating.
Vermouth really liked Bourbon's cooking, but after walking over and seeing what his videos of eating food were, she couldn't help but twitch her lips.
Vermouth originally thought that she should be one of the people in the organization who hated Shuichi Akai the most because she had been tricked by him so many times and was called a rotten apple, but it didn't seem to be to the extent that Bourbon hated her. It's really intriguing to see their entanglement.
She thought for two seconds, then moved her chair over and sat down with him to watch the video of Shuichi Akai's death while eating.
When they saw something exciting, the two would even laugh out loud.
Knowing they were causing trouble here, the BOSS, who had switched to the surveillance footage to see what they were doing, fell silent.
Karasuma Renya: "..."
Karasuma Renya watched for a while, then turned off the monitor with mixed feelings.
During the meal, he remembered this incident, and the silver bullet that had once filled him with such fear and hatred…
Karasuma Renya was silent for two seconds, then took out the video of Akai Shuichi's death and ate his meal while watching it with great pleasure.
This video is really great for watching while eating.
*
"That Shuichi Akai was Bourbon in disguise?!" Vodka exclaimed in shock. "Why didn't he say so sooner? Chianti almost shot him!"
Chianti was furious that he had been spotted before he could fire and that someone had given him a taunting smile through the scope. He was so angry that his face turned red, but he refused to say anything.
"Hmph, that guy is still as autocratic as ever." Gin sneered, rolled up the car window, and said, "Let's go, ignore him."
Chianti couldn't hold back any longer: "Are Bourbon and Vermouth crazy?! They did something this big without telling us beforehand! They only tell us we came all this way for nothing after we've surrounded them! Were they deliberately playing us for fools???"
Kiel couldn't help but ask, "Has Bourbon always been like this? Doesn't anyone do anything about him?"
Gin glanced at her, then lit a cigarette. "He's a mystic like Vermouth, and..."
Kiel looked at him curiously.
"Even if I knew information about Shuichi Akai, I wouldn't tell him," Gin sneered.
Even if Shuichi Akai were really alive, he would find Shuichi Akai alone and kill him again, just to infuriate Bourbon.
Kiel: "..."
*
"Hey, Haibara, do you really not know about Bourbon's situation?" Conan Edogawa couldn't help but ask Ai Haibara for the nth time.
Ai Haibara put down her bag: "He's a mystic, or maybe an intelligence operative. Do you think a researcher like me would know that?"
Conan Edogawa knew this too, but he couldn't help feeling a little anxious now.
Rather, Ai Haibara's composure was unusually calm.
Conan Edogawa walked around to her suspiciously, narrowing his eyes: "You don't know him, but you must have heard some rumors, right? Such a powerful member of an organization was ordered to capture you, why do you not seem worried at all?"
Ai Haibara glanced at him and said coolly, "Of course I'm worried. Haven't I been asking you about Subaru Okiya lately? How come you're not worried about him at all? You even let him stay in your house?"
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Conan Edogawa coughed awkwardly, then looked away and began to give perfunctory answers again.
Ai Haibara rolled her eyes, walked past him, and prepared to leave.
"Where are you going?" Conan Edogawa asked.
"Ai is playing at Mr. Matsuda's house. I'll go call her back." Ai Haibara had already reached the door, and even from her back, her excitement and eagerness were evident.
Conan Edogawa's glasses reflected light: "Really? Dr. Agasa will be back from grocery shopping soon. If Ms. Tamagawa is home, let's invite her over for dinner later."
Ai Haibara paused in putting on her shoes, didn't turn around, and just hummed in response.
After the door was closed, Conan Edogawa walked to the window and watched Ai Haibara run lightly through the snow before knocking on the door of the Matsuda residence next door.
The woman who opened the door was a gentle-looking woman with long black hair. When she saw Ai Haibara, she smiled, bent down, and gently brushed the snowflakes from her hair. Then, she took Ai's hand and led her into the house while talking to her.
Tamagawa Sakiko.
Conan Edogawa kept the name in his mind, but after thinking about it without success, he put the matter aside for the time being and simply went to the Kudo residence next door.
Subaru Okiya was also at home.
Or rather, Shuichi Akai, who faked his death and disguised himself as Subaru Okiya, a university graduate student.
Shuichi Akai welcomed the young detective and asked him if he had discovered any interesting clues.
However, Conan Edogawa didn't say anything. He just looked up at him and, for the first time, seriously told him about Bourbon.
“Kier said Bourbon has been deployed, but we have very little intelligence about Bourbon right now,” he said.
Shuichi Akai didn't seem to care much. While making tea, he said, "If it's about yesterday, don't worry. It won't involve you. It has nothing to do with you. I'll handle it myself."
“There is a connection. I saw Vermouth riding a motorcycle nearby at the same time, so I suspect that the person who impersonated Mr. Akai to test the FBI was Bourbon, and he has already come to our side,” Conan Edogawa said.
Shuichi Akai also believes that the only person who could go to such lengths to test him after his death is probably Bourbon.
"If that's the case, Mr. Akai should know him, right?" Conan Edogawa asked earnestly. "Mr. Akai, can you tell me what kind of person Bourbon is?"
Akai Shuichi: "..."
Shuichi Akai, recalling the things about Bourbon, fell silent, holding the teapot.
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