Chapter 270, Seventy-Third Cycle (100)
Because they needed to save time, Vermouth and Bourbon acted separately.
The moment Bourbon stepped out of the portal, the man on the other side immediately turned around warily and exclaimed, "Who?!"
Because of the need for "one-on-one tutoring," each player is placed in their own private space when choosing a faction, where no one should be disturbed.
But Vermouth and Bourbon were different; they had a key from Scotland that allowed them to go wherever they wanted.
Bourbon smiled and prepared to introduce himself: "Hello, Mayor Daisan, I am..."
"What mayor? I've been dead in the eyes of the world for a long time." Saying this, the man was clearly still very happy. He then looked the blond youth up and down, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly stepped forward to grab the young man's hand.
"You...you are the Thousand-Faced Witch?!" he exclaimed excitedly.
The blond youth deftly dodged his hand, his smile slightly chilly: "I'm sorry, I'm a man, codename Bourbon, not Vermouth."
Mayor Oyama was a little disappointed, but still excited: "Bourbon, I know you. You came to see us a few days ago, right? You're also in charge of this experiment? Is this what you look like in real life? How old are you? Why do you look like a high school student? Are you really not a successful product of the experiment like the Thousand-Faced Witch?"
"Perhaps you, Mayor, are aware of a face shape called a baby face?" Bourbon said with a forced smile.
Mayor Oyama realized he might have angered someone and calmed down a bit.
After all, he has only been awake for a few days and does not yet know much about what will happen thirty years from now. His life and death are entirely in the hands of the members of this organization, so it is best not to act rashly.
"Haha, I'm from the last century, so I'm not very familiar with the slang you young people use these days," the young, handsome man laughed, turning to look at the boy who still had a blank expression.
The boy had transformed from his original tall, muscular game character back into his real-life form. He was excessively thin, and his legs, which were kneeling on the ground, were clearly unable to move—he was a boy with a disability in both legs.
"Zhanxiong, what's your decision?" Mayor Dashan's expression turned stern again. "You're my grandson, and you should have lived up to your name by achieving great things. But instead, a car accident turned your life upside down. Are you content with that?"
"I suppose you're unwilling to accept this, otherwise you wouldn't have entered this game." The man's tone was seductive. "You've experienced what it's like to regain your health in this world, haven't you? Having seen the light, are you sure you can still endure those inconvenient and ridiculed dark days? Don't you have someone you like? Don't you feel inferior in front of someone you like?"
The boy's face turned very pale, his eyes turned red, and the veins on his clenched fists bulged.
Finally, he raised his hand and pressed the black button.
Will you choose an organization's faction?
【whether】
The boy clicked "confirm".
Instantly, countless streams of black sewage, like the most unclean things in the world, poured out from the black cube, quickly spreading throughout the entire space.
Strangely enough, even though the entire space turned black, the three people inside could still see each other very clearly.
Feeling the strength return to his legs, the boy stood up and said in a deep voice, "What do you want me to do for you?"
Mayor Oyama turned to the blond youth behind him with a sigh: "This kid still doesn't seem to trust me. He probably thinks I'm an AI that fakes data. Well then, I'll leave the rest to you."
Bourbon walked over with his phone and answered a video call for him.
"Zhan Xiong!" the middle-aged man in the video shouted urgently.
"Dad!" the boy exclaimed excitedly.
However, his excitement didn't last long. He quickly came to his senses and glared fiercely at the blond youth in front of him.
The handsome young man with blond hair and dark skin smiled and said, "I'm sorry, young master, please don't blame us."
Mayor Dashan responded with a "Hmm?".
The blond youth chuckled, "You should thank your grandfather, otherwise you wouldn't have been among the first to enter the new world and enjoy it."
Mayor Dashan nodded with satisfaction, stood behind the boy, put his arm around his shoulder, and looked at the frowning middle-aged man in the video, saying, "Moreover, with me here, the power and status you gain in this world will only be greater than in the real world. So, before the new world is established, now is the perfect time for us to make our mark, do you understand?"
"..."
"I see."
"But you must ensure Zhanxiong's safe return."
"Of course, why would I do anything to my lovely grandson?"
Ha, what can't a madman do?
In reality, most of the NPCs attending the banquet were actually ghosts who should have died long ago.
Let them experience the reality of this world firsthand and observe the descendants of the families who have been brought in. If they think it's acceptable, find an opportunity to recruit them as well.
Of course, this list is limited to people who still hold considerable power and status in society; only such people have the initial value for cooperation.
After all, most of the people involved in this brain in a vat research were actually working on it separately from their families, in collaboration with Karasuma Renya.
The truth behind the tragedy forty years ago was that when Karasuma Renya was ninety-nine years old and felt he was about to die, he invited scholars from all walks of life to solve the mystery and find the treasure. If they couldn't solve it, he would kill them all.
After the killing, he also fell into complete madness and began to officially and massively carry out his crazy plan: to establish an organization, to seduce and control the country's top financial officials, and to begin his two plans for immortality.
Even now, despite the terrifying advancements in technology that have allowed Karasuma Renya to live to nearly 150 years old, his body has reached its limits, and his mind is gradually descending into madness.
It's time to wrap things up.
Bourbon crossed one off the list and moved on to the next space.
Some are inherently greedy and share the same goals as the organization, so there's no need for coercion or enticement; they join eagerly regardless of the danger.
Some were interested, but felt the plan was unreliable, and at least they didn't want to participate while they were still young.
Some people participated in the game out of curiosity and expressed disgust at the Brain in a Vat project and the still unsuccessful Digital Life project.
But when threatened with force and intelligence vulnerabilities by the organization, they eventually agreed.
Vermouth and Bourbon met and discussed the list.
"Have all the big shots on the list been dealt with?" Vermouth asked.
“Yes, the most important government officials, corporate executives, tycoon families, and underworld arms dealers in the country who entered the game have all agreed to cooperate with the organization.” Bourbon flipped through the documents. “It’s just that things aren’t going very smoothly overseas. Those six targets don’t trust the game enough, so they didn’t come. But we still managed to get the four most crucial people.”
"Didn't the Ooka family and the Haneda family come?" Vermouth said regretfully. "I thought they would definitely come to find out what happened."
“These two families are small, and everyone is treated like a precious treasure. We can’t let them take any risks,” Bourbon laughed. “Compared to that, I’m more surprised that Sonoko Suzuki from the Suzuki Group didn’t come either.”
"Oh, she seems to have gone off to play with Kaito Kid, so she didn't come to play games," Vermouth said, not wanting to say more about the angel's best friend. If it weren't for the accident, Ran Mouri shouldn't have come in at all.
"Oh right, there's someone on Agasa Kurisu's side too, right? I think his name is Professor Agasa? Let me see, he seems to have refused his uncle's invitation, and said he was very angry that the game made his uncle such an evil NPC, so he chose the red side in the end," Bourbon suddenly said.
Vermouth's heart skipped a beat: "Whatever, he's not some big shot anyway. It's just that Agasa Kurisuke collaborated with the BOSS fifty years ago and now wants to see his descendants. But actually, such an ordinary person wasn't part of our plan in the first place; he was just a pawn to deal with outsiders."
Sherry, who has shrunk, now lives at Professor Agasa's house.
She changed the subject, saying, "What about the other players? Have their identities been confirmed? Those who have survived this long are no ordinary people, right?"
“They’ve been locked up for so long, I don’t know. They haven’t found anything in Scotland.” Bourbon shrugged. “Oh well, they’re not our target anyway, so we can let them go. Let them move on to the next part of the story, otherwise they’ll really scare the rats. It wouldn’t be fun if all the rats hid.”
“Once the game world is perfected and has captured all the information from the real world, no one will be able to escape the organization’s control.” Vermouth typed a reply to Gin, saying, “Gin’s side is also finished. He said he took down Viper, ah, but Spider got away.”
"Huh? Pshaw!" Bourbon laughed loudly. "That guy was spouting all that nonsense before, and he still let him get away? Are you kidding me? Is Gin even capable?"
"...You'd better not say that in front of him." Vermouth sighed. "Never mind, let's go over there together and start the next step of the plan. Anyway, the game is locked now and we can't log off, so even if that spider wants to run away, it can't. From now on, it's just a matter of playing cat and mouse."
“I’m not really interested in Spider-Man,” Bourbon said, “but I absolutely can’t miss the excitement on the other side.”
Vermouth looked up at him.
A sinister, crazed smile appeared on the face of the handsome, blond-haired, dark-skinned young man.
"The time has finally come to take care of the FBI. I can't wait."
*
Why isn't it moving? Is it stuck?
The black-haired boy slapped the game panel twice, but it didn't budge.
"..."
Conan Edogawa was very anxious, but there was no use in being anxious. It was probably too late now, so he should think about what to do next.
He originally thought he could leave this space immediately after choosing his faction, but it seemed to be stuck here. Perhaps the organization deliberately trapped them here while doing other things.
The entire space was red, the red spreading across the sky and earth, reminding him of those unsettling red butterflies.
However, the red faction should be better than the black faction, at least in terms of the probability of him appearing in front of the organization members, and the possibility of him being exposed will also be reduced.
However, Conan Edogawa was genuinely curious about what would happen if he chose the Black Organization.
Is it really possible to join the organization?
He considered this point and was indeed tempted, but in the end he chose the police side of the red team.
The reason was simple: he knew that Mr. Akai would definitely choose to join the organization's black camp to probe for intelligence.
Mr. Akai is a professional undercover agent; he should be able to handle any real danger, and he can also help the police.
But if you add him, then it's hard to say.
After all, many of the organization's actions this time were quite strange, making him very vigilant in protecting his identity.
Moreover, he also has his own tasks and there are still many things to investigate, so it would be better to proceed separately according to the original plan.
【bite】
The system, which seemed to have crashed, suddenly came back to life.
You have chosen to join the Red Team.
You have five seconds to return to the lab.
[You have five minutes to escape the organization's pursuit and find the time machine to travel back twenty years. Failure means death, with no second chance.]
Conan Edogawa: "..."
ah?
[Countdown begins]
【5】
【4】
【3】
Conan Edogawa: "?!"
How can people do things?
【2】
【1】
【0】
As soon as Conan Edogawa landed, he caught a glimpse of several men in black with guns running to the door. Without turning his head, he turned and ran.
My heart pounded faster with each "bang bang bang" of the bullets.
Although he trusted Mr. Amuro and Hiroki and felt that dying in the game wouldn't lead to real-life death, he couldn't help but worry.
Conan Edogawa seized the opportunity and jumped directly into the "brain pool".
The man in black dared not fire directly at the "brain pool," giving him a brief opportunity to catch his breath and observe.
What about the others?
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