Chapter 236, Seventy-Third Cycle (66)
Conan Edogawa froze instantly, his mind reeling with shock.
But under the gaze of those blue eyes, he tensed up, quickly composed himself, and feigned surprise, widening his eyes as he asked, "Officer Zhu Fushi? What are you doing here?"
"Police?" The band members behind him exchanged a slight change in expression. "Why are the police here?"
Morofushi Komei glanced at them, his gaze lightly sweeping over Midorikawa Hikaru and Amuro Tooru's faces, before finally saying to the bespectacled keyboardist who had asked the question, "I am Morofushi Komei. I used to be a policeman, but I resigned a long time ago. Now I am a priest."
Conan Edogawa's expression was a little strange as he turned to observe.
The four band members exchanged glances. The long-haired woman and the blond man explained a few things, and then the other two also showed relieved expressions.
Zhu Fu Kongming is a policeman who appears in the third part of the novel. In the fourth part, he suddenly quits his job as a policeman and goes to a remote place to become a priest in a small church.
This character almost certainly has the prototype of Morofushi Takaaki. In addition, this is Nagano, and something is a bit off about this incident, so it doesn't seem strange that he would appear here.
It is clear that Morofushi Takaaki is immersing himself in the role of a priest.
However… according to the current timeline, shouldn't Morofushi Kongming have been a policeman in the first part? Does his saying this mean he was also "reborn"? Or does he possess memories of the future because of the priest's special identity card?
Conan Edogawa turned back to continue observing Takaki Morofushi.
The man stood with exceptionally upright and elegant posture, his expression serene. Dressed in priest's attire in the church, he made people even more hesitant to speak loudly in his presence.
"Why would a policeman become a priest..." the bald man muttered under his breath, clearly unfamiliar with the novel's plot.
“Those who do not study, though they exist, are merely walking corpses.” Zhu Fugaoming slowly put on his white gloves.
Bald man: "?"
Huh? What do you mean? What language is he speaking?
Kogoro Mouri's facial expression remained tense, but his eyes still revealed confusion.
Xiaolan wasn't there this time, so there was no one to translate for him, and he didn't know what it meant.
Hikaru Midorikawa explained in a low voice, "It means that people should learn as long as they live. People who don't learn, although they exist in the world, are no different from walking corpses."
Conan Edogawa finished recalling the character design of Morofushi Kongming, and his lips twitched.
This man is clearly a priest, but he used to be a staunch materialist fighter and policeman. Now, he doesn't mutter about God or the Bible; instead, he spouts famous quotes from ancient Eastern texts.
This priest is quite free.
Amuro Tooru stepped forward and smiled, "Father, did you send us here?"
Conan Edogawa perked up, temporarily suppressing the barrage of thoughts about the dangers of Scotland that filled his mind.
Amuro Tooru is also starting to follow the plot. The backstory of their gathering at the church is that a mysterious person sent them an invitation and accurately revealed their most important secret in the letter.
We're still unsure about Morofushi Takaaki's situation, so there's no need to rush. In particular, we shouldn't show any unusual behavior. Let's focus on figuring out what's going on and leave Nagano as soon as possible.
"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed." The cryptic priest chuckled.
"Does the priest have any clues or hints to tell us?" Midorikawa Hikaru asked, actively engaging in fan fiction activities related to his favorite novel.
Zhu Fu Gaoming stared at him for two seconds, then picked up the candlestick on the table and moved to the wall with the light source.
The group entered the room, almost filling the small priest's room.
The game has begun, and you can touch things in the church to look for clues. Several people are secretly searching while the priest has his back to them.
Conan Edogawa was also secretly observing, looking for a place to hide dangerous weapons, and he kept an eye on Takaaki Morofushi out of the corner of his eye.
The priest opened the drawer, took out a key, and handed it to them.
“The glory of God comes from the East,” he said.
The key was placed in Midorikawa Hikaru's hand, and everyone else waited quietly for the priest to continue his explanation.
But the man smiled, picked up the candlestick, walked back to his desk, and sat down, as if his task was already complete.
The group of people looked at each other and discussed in hushed tones.
"What do you mean? That's it? What kind of key is this? Should we go find a place to insert the key now?" Kogoro Mouri said.
"God's glory comes from the East? That's from the Bible, isn't it? What does He mean by saying this to us now? Does He mean we should go to the East where there is light?" Amuro Tooru pondered.
"As expected of a mystery novel, all those cryptic riddles..." The blond man in the band clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Hakuba Saguru turned his head thoughtfully and glanced at Morofushi Takaaki, who was reading a book by candlelight.
Conan Edogawa hesitated for three seconds, then turned his face to reveal an innocent and adorable childlike expression. He ran to the table next to Takaaki Morofushi and leaned over: "Father, are there really no other clues? It's so cold today, and the church is so big. Will we keep searching until tomorrow?"
While they were talking, he pretended to casually glance at the book on the man's table out of the corner of his eye.
Running Towards the Sun III.
It is the third book in the series, and the protagonist is Masaya Oki, codenamed Scotland.
The priest glanced at him with his narrow, upturned blue phoenix eyes: "Today should be the night of the full moon. After tonight, it will be Easter."
Conan Edogawa's expression changed slightly.
Coincidentally, today is also March 30th in real time, and tomorrow is Easter.
"Be careful at night. It's best not to go out after midnight, and never go out alone."
The priest, wearing white gloves, gently turned a page in the book.
"Once one devotes oneself entirely to a task, one becomes unwilling to take on any further responsibility. Exhausting one's physical strength for these trivial matters, one becomes physically and mentally worn out, ultimately achieving nothing."
Conan Edogawa: "..."
I'm sorry, this sentence is too long and I'm not quite sure of its specific meaning. He doesn't really have that much in-depth knowledge of classical Chinese.
If Xiaolan were here, she would definitely know what it means...
"What that means is," Midorikawa Hikaru, who had suddenly appeared behind him, crouched down, his long, cold black hair falling down like a snake's tongue brushing against his ear, "that once you try to do everything by yourself and stop delegating tasks to others, you exhaust yourself, becoming mentally and physically drained from doing those trivial things, and in the end, you end up not doing anything well."
Conan Edogawa froze, too stiff to move, and could only manage a weak smile: "I-I see."
After finishing speaking, Midorikawa Hikaru turned around and smiled at Amuro Tooru behind him, saying, "Right, Amuro-senpai?"
Amuro Tooru's body seemed to stiffen slightly: "...Yes, you're right."
Subaru Okiya's glasses reflected light slightly from behind.
He pushed up his glasses, his expression serious, and then frowned as he looked at the three police officers over there.
Matsuda Jinpei was examining the window frame, while Date Wataru and Hagiwara Kenji were looking around beside the bookshelf, seemingly unaware of what was happening, or perhaps indifferent, thinking there was no danger.
Did Rei Furuya keep it a secret from them?
*
After giving three hints, the priest remained silent.
They had no choice but to leave and discuss the next steps in the second-floor corridor.
According to the priest's suggestion, the key could open the mechanism in the east where there was light, and they might have to wait until tomorrow's sunrise to discover it.
Therefore, the priest advised them not to go out after midnight, and especially not to go out alone.
But his last sentence was about division of labor and cooperation.
"They're probably afraid that the traitor among us will commit the crime," Hakuba Saguru said.
"How about this, we'll split into pairs and search the church separately, then meet up again before midnight," Amuro Tooru suggested.
Conan Edogawa immediately turned to look at him and found that Hikaru Midorikawa was staring straight at Tooru Amuro, and then opened his mouth to speak.
He immediately raised his voice and ran over to hug the blond man's leg: "I want to be in a group with Amuro-nii!!!"
Amuro Tooru was slightly taken aback, looked down at the leg accessory on his body, then smiled, patted its head and said, "Okay."
Midorikawa Hikaru was a step slower, staring blankly at Edogawa Conan for two seconds before turning to Kogoro Mouri and saying in a light tone, "Then I'll team up with Master Kogoro."
Kogoro Mouri, of course, had no objections.
The others were quickly divided into groups as well.
Subaru Okiya and Saguru Hakuba are in the same group.
A bald drummer and a long-haired female lead singer form a group.
The bespectacled keyboardist and the blond guitarist are a pair.
The remaining three, Kenji Hagiwara, Jinpei Matsuda, and Wataru Date, formed a group.
"It's 7:45:20 PM now. We have four hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-six seconds left." Hakuba Saguru closed his pocket watch. "That's enough time to roughly search the entire church."
Just as the group was about to leave, the priest's room door suddenly opened.
Everyone turned around instantly, staring blankly into those clear, blue eyes.
“You all went OOC once, so we’ll deduct one point, leaving you with four points,” said Zhu Fu Gaoming, picking up a pen and making a few marks on his notebook.
Everyone: "..."
*
The toilet on the first floor of the church.
"An..." Conan Edogawa lowered his voice hesitantly, "There can't be any surveillance cameras listening in the restroom, right? Won't I get caught being out of character and get points deducted again?"
Amuro Tooru, holding a candle, opened each toilet stall door to check them, and replied, "It shouldn't be the toilet, but let's try to maintain our character settings. We'll get used to it and won't be careless anymore. Conan-kun, you also need to be careful. Don't say anything out of character in front of others. Being eliminated for that reason isn't a good gaming experience, is it?"
Conan Edogawa raised the flashlight from his watch and shone it on the walls and ceiling: "That's true. Fortunately, Dazai and Kobayashi are on good terms, so it's no problem for us to act together and discuss the case."
Dazai Yu was a precocious genius at the age of nine, while Kobayashi Shoichi had a naturally youthful appearance. Both of them were very capable and often worked together on cases, so they became friends at a young age.
There was a box in the corner. Amuro Tooru crouched down and opened it to take a look.
Edogawa Conan stood behind him, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke with a firm gaze.
"Um, I'm sorry, this might be a bit presumptuous, but I still want to ask Mr. Amuro a question."
Conan Edogawa raised the flashlight beam slightly so that it didn't shine directly into the man's eyes, but still allowed him to see the man's face and expression as he slowly turned around.
“Scotland.” Conan Edogawa took a deep breath and met those purple eyes. “Scotland is here too, right among us, isn’t it?”
Amuro Tooru didn't speak, just stared at him quietly, his face expressionless.
Conan Edogawa held his breath, his heart racing, but he didn't look away, expressing his seriousness and determination with his eyes.
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