Chapter 279 Seventy-Third Cycle (109)
"This game is absolutely outrageous!!!"
The angry voice of a boy echoed through Poirot's Café, attracting the attention of the surrounding customers.
"Didn't the book fans of 'Running Towards the Sun' cause trouble for the game company???"
The two strangers in the coffee shop showed no displeasure at being disturbed; instead, they wore expressions of indignant agreement, clearly also paying attention to the recently popular holographic game.
Conan Edogawa tugged at Heiji Hattori's sleeve helplessly: "Keep your voice down. Don't forget we signed a confidentiality agreement. Others aren't very clear about what happens later in the game. Only the beta testers know the specifics."
Heiji Hattori was still angry, but he lowered his voice and frowned, saying, "So the authors don't care that they're adapting novels so haphazardly? Can such outrageous plots really be called mystery novels?"
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Is it possible that the author is in cahoots with them?
Heiji Hattori was unaware of the situation in Scotland, only mentioning the game: "I couldn't sleep after leaving the game, and came to find you as soon as it was light. I thought about it, and I still think that when the final monster, the Butterfly Angel, appeared, our inability to move was a foreshadowing that was planted when we chose to travel through time at the beginning of the game."
He said, "At that time, red butterfly patterns appeared on our bodies, so we couldn't control our bodies at all. If we hadn't been controlled, we probably could have run over and saved Kudo Jun, and we wouldn't have ended up with such a bad ending."
Conan Edogawa: "Do you remember the credits when we first entered the game?"
The black-haired child's glasses reflected a slight light: "Whether you believe it or not, the moment you see this sentence, the gears of fate have already begun to turn."
Heiji Hattori frowned: "I was also wondering if it was because we all happened to choose to time travel at the beginning, which is why we were entangled by the red butterfly and controlled in the end."
Conan Edogawa remained noncommittal: "Possibly. Next time the game is officially released, we can try not choosing to time travel at the beginning. However, I always feel it's not that simple. Perhaps that phrase... refers to participating in something the moment we enter the game?"
As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the blonde waitress who was making coffee.
At such close range, he could even see the hazy mist slightly dampening the other person's lowered eyelashes.
Even at such close range, the blond youth's expression remained completely flawless.
Conan Edogawa deliberately chose this position; Tooru Amuro is very perceptive and would definitely be able to hear their conversation.
But the person maintained a gentle smile throughout, as if they hadn't heard anything and showed no sign of any problem.
Conan Edogawa could only sigh helplessly, reply to a few messages on his phone, and then gave up.
Since Mr. Amuro has safely returned to Poirot Cafe and continues to work as if nothing happened, and doesn't seem to be injured, it should mean that nothing is wrong, right?
The FBI is probably the one with the biggest problem this time.
*
Kudo House.
Shuichi Akai was sitting on the sofa making a phone call, while a news report was playing on the television in front of him.
"...Regarding the rumors circulating online that players of the holographic game 'Run Towards the Sun: Wheel of Fate' are trapped inside and unable to escape, and that dying in the game means real death, the game company has denied these claims, stating that they will not explain the specifics because it would spoil the upcoming public beta storyline..."
Shuichi Akai received the email from the other side.
"The police assured everyone that there was no need to worry, as the game did not exhibit any of those issues, and they would definitely protect the safety of the public..."
After reading the email, Hideki Akai looked up at the television and frowned slightly.
Yes, the police did protect the safety of the country's citizens, but they almost got a group of FBI agents killed in the process.
At the time, FBI players killed by Raven Shot in the game were all put into a vegetative state, and the game helmets they wore inexplicably turned into bombs, making them too dangerous to touch.
Even though the FBI successfully hacked into the game at the last moment and rescued Carmel, the bomb on the game helmet still couldn't be deactivated, and they could only watch helplessly as the bomb's countdown reached zero on the surveillance video.
However, under the furious, red-eyed gaze of a group of FBI agents, the bomb, whose countdown had reached zero, failed to detonate.
A few seconds later, a message suddenly popped up on the screen: 【Surprise!】
FBI agents: "..."
FBI agents: "??????"
When Shuichi Akai emerged from the game, the bewildered and furious FBI agents finally calmed down and brought this chaotic farce to an end.
James looked at the stopped bomb and asked, "Who are you?"
Another message popped up on the screen: "Let Shuichi Akai come and talk to me."
Shuichi Akai, who was outside the surveillance cameras, remained unmoved.
James continued, "He's dead, didn't you know?"
Screen: [I know he's still alive, disguised and hiding his identity, and he's watching us.]
James: "I don't know where you got this information, but Akai is indeed dead."
After some back and forth, Shuichi Akai ultimately did not show up, but he did get James to provide a contact number.
After James came out, he disagreed: "The other party must be a very skilled hacker. What if they trace it back to you through the network?"
Shuichi Akai suddenly smiled: "Maybe I've already been exposed."
James was taken aback.
Judy, observing his expression, asked疑惑地问道, "Show, do you know who the other person is?"
Shuichi Akai neither nodded nor shook his head, but simply said, "He's not a member of the organization."
Carmel looked bewildered: "Huh? Why? Wasn't this game and the bomb something the organization created?"
Shuichi Akai still didn't answer, but carefully confirmed again: "Carmel, when you said Vodka revealed that Scotland's current disguise includes glasses, was Conan Edogawa also present?"
"He was so excited that he grabbed me and pressed me for details," Carmel said.
Shuichi Akai nodded: "I understand."
Carmel: "?"
Wait, Mr. Akai, what do you know? Why do you look like you've figured something out and are about to do something big?
However, when faced with his colleagues' concerns and questions, Shuichi Akai did not provide an explanation, but simply told them to wait a few days.
He needs to confirm something.
Two days have passed, and the situation has escalated so much that most of the FBI agents remaining in the country have been recalled to the United States, leaving only a few, including Carmel-Judy, who are barely staying behind.
Carmel couldn't help but press on the phone, "Mr. Akai, how's the matter you wanted to confirm?"
"It'll be soon." Shuichi Akai turned off the TV, glanced at the sky outside, and said, "Maybe we'll have a result tonight."
James asked from the side, "Do you need our help?"
“No need,” Shuichi Akai refused. “I can go by myself.”
After hanging up the phone, he glanced at the time.
It's five o'clock in the afternoon, and the Kudo couple are watching a movie with Conan Edogawa in their room.
Shuichi Akai sent them a message saying he had something to do today and would probably be back tomorrow. Then, disguised as Subaru Okiya, he left with his bag.
*
Midnight.
Most people had already turned off their lights and gone to sleep; the streets were unusually quiet.
The man dressed in all black silently crept up to the vicinity of the Kudo residence.
He slightly raised his hat to look around. The Kudo residence was already dark, and the Agasa and Matsuda residences next door were also in quiet darkness, as if the people inside had fallen asleep.
The man pulled his hat down low again, nimbly vaulted into the yard of the Matsuda residence, and stood at the door in the blink of an eye, taking out a key.
Moonlight streamed through the cracks, illuminating the man's pair of cold, green eyes.
Shuichi Akai frowned slightly, pulled his hat down even lower, and cautiously kept checking his surroundings to make sure no one had seen him.
He obtained the key by pretending to bump into Tamagawa Sakiko, who was out grocery shopping, at six o'clock.
Of course, after quickly copying the key with tools, he found an opportunity to put it back into Tamagawa Sakiko's pocket.
Thinking of the black-haired woman's gentle smile, Shuichi Akai's eyes welled up with indescribable emotions.
He was almost certain that Tamagawa Sakiko was Miyano Akemi, but he still needed to confirm it completely.
If Sakiko Tamagawa is Akemi Miyano, then there are far too many things that could be confirmed and could be involved...
"Click—"
The door lock clicked, and Shuichi Akai gently pushed the door open.
The inside was also completely dark and eerily quiet.
Shuichi Akai was about to go in when, for some reason, some similar images suddenly flashed through his mind, giving him the illusion that he had experienced similar scenes before.
If I'm not mistaken, what follows should be... a gun waiting for him?
And...and those purplish-gray eyes in the darkness...
Shuichi Akai's expression remained unchanged, but he abruptly stopped at the doorway.
What exactly is that blurry yet realistic scene in my mind? Is it just my imagination? But what about the feeling of having truly experienced it firsthand?
Moreover, the images and feelings that just flashed through my mind were two very conflicting scenes.
Although both scenarios involved sneaking into a mansion and then facing off with guns drawn, one was initiated by him, and the other by the blond youth.
He clearly remembered the feeling he had experienced, but no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't recall anything like it happening.
Shuichi Akai stared at the dark house, standing in the moonlight at the doorway, his steps hesitant.
He wondered, could there really be a pair of purple eyes staring at him hidden inside?
"Amuro-kun?" he suddenly asked.
Silence reigned in the darkness.
“Bourbon?” he said softly.
It was still so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Furuya-kun?" Akai Shuichi said slowly.
"Crack!" It sounded like someone had crushed something.
Then, the blond-haired, purple-eyed youth suddenly burst out of the darkness beside him and pressed a gun directly against his forehead.
"Akai Shuichi!!!" The blond youth's eyes blazed with murderous rage as he gritted his teeth and demanded, "How did you know I was here?!"
Shuichi Akai almost instinctively raised his gun to confront him, his mind churning, but his expression remained calm, even a slight smile playing on his lips: "You were careless, Furuya-kun."
Upon hearing this, Furuya Rei quickly calmed down and also sneered: "Shouldn't I be the one saying that? From the moment I saw through Okiya Subaru as you, you had already lost. Including your current actions, everything was within my expectations."
Shuichi Akai replied, "Oh? Is that so? But I already knew you were lying in ambush here."
It's a lie. He only tried calling the other person's name because of a strange sense of déjà vu, and when the person actually ran out, it startled him.
However, we can take advantage of this rare opportunity to continue talking and probe.
Under the blond youth's cold, suspicious gaze, Shuichi Akai continued, "What if I had known all along that you would come looking for me these past few days? Including the fact that you were actually the one who orchestrated that holographic game, the fact that Akemi was actually still alive, and the fact that Scotland was actually—"
"Enough!" Furuya Rei suddenly interrupted him. "Where did you get this absurd conclusion? Miyano Akemi is long dead. Are you crazy?"
Shuichi Akai stared at his expression for a few seconds, then gave up on probing him further, and simply smiled and said, "I was just testing you. Can you tell me about what you did in that holographic game? You came here for that, right?"
Is it that Mingmei's affairs cannot be discussed, or the affairs of Scotland cannot be discussed? Or both?
Shuichi Akai had tried to soften his tone and put on a relaxed smile, hoping that the other party could receive his goodwill and sit down for a good talk.
But the blond youth seemed genuinely angered by him; he was now glaring at him coldly, his finger practically itching to pull the trigger.
Akai Shuichi: "..."
Just then, the lights in the room were suddenly turned on, and the blinding light instantly pierced eyes that had been accustomed to seeing in the dark for so long.
But just as his vision blurred, Shuichi Akai felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this scene before.
He squinted and turned his head to look, and sure enough, he saw several familiar faces.
But because there were so many people, his eyes still widened slightly in shock.
The group of people standing at the door of the room were Matsuda Jinpei, who was supposed to be away from home today, along with his friends Date Wataru and Hagiwara Kenji, and even Orikasa Ai, whom he suspected was Sawada Hiroki from next door, and Kazami Yuya, Furuya Rei's subordinate.
The one who turned on the light was Tamagawa Sakiko, whom he suspected was Miyano Akemi.
"Alright, alright," Tamagawa Sakiko said with a smile, "Stop playing around, let's get down to business."
Shuichi Akai turned his head and glanced at Rei Furuya next to him.
Rei Furuya scoffed and muttered a soft "tsk" before putting away his gun.
Akai Shuichi: "..."
He looked at the group of people, hesitated for two seconds, and finally put away his gun and went inside.
After taking a few steps, he realized that Furuya Rei was not following behind, but was standing still, and had even opened the door wider.
Akai Shuichi: "?"
Rei Furuya ignored him and instead said to the outside, "You guys stop looking and come in together."
Shuichi Akai was stunned, then immediately realized something, went over to take a look, and sure enough, he saw the Kudo family through the open window of Professor Agasa's house.
From this angle, you can see exactly what happened in front of the Matsuda residence.
Now that they had been discovered, the Kudo family didn't dwell on it and simply came over from next door.
Professor Agasa won a tour ticket to the neighboring prefecture today and took Ai Haibara and the children on a trip.
Shuichi Akai now knows that this is probably part of their plan.
He glanced at Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo, who were smiling and greeting Rei Furuya and the others, before finally looking down and meeting Conan Edogawa's gaze.
"You knew all along?" he asked.
Conan Edogawa looked completely innocent: "If that's the case, we should be inside, not hiding outside."
Yukiko Kudo immediately laughed and said, "Actually, it's mainly because your behavior today was a bit strange, so the two of them guessed that you would do something tonight, so we hid at Professor Agasa's house to watch!"
Yusaku Kudo shook his head helplessly: "Let's all sit down and have a proper chat."
After saying that, he looked up and met Furuya Rei's gaze, and smiled, "This is also your invitation, isn't it?"
Rei Furuya smiled and nodded, then turned around after closing the door and said, "Well, tonight I'd like to invite everyone to try my special black tea. I wonder if you'd like lemon or milk?"
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Do you even feel like making tea at a time like this?!
"Milk, thank you," Shuichi Akai said.
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Okay, okay.
And just like that, the atmosphere suddenly became very warm and harmonious, and a group of people sat down in the bright living room surrounded by white mist.
They had relaxed smiles on their faces and were talking about topics that weren't so dangerous.
Conan Edogawa secretly went to ask Rei Furuya, Jinpei Matsuda, Wataru Date, Kenji Hagiwara, and Hiroki Sawada, but didn't get any results. Instead, Jinpei Matsuda dragged him to the sofa to watch the movie "The Matrix," which had just been turned on.
"I just saw it today," Conan Edogawa said helplessly.
"That makes things easier." Matsuda Jinpei snapped his fingers.
But he wouldn't say how it would be easy to solve.
After the prepared black tea was brewed and served, Kazami Yuya took out a stack of papers from the house.
Matsuda Jinpei took off his sunglasses and hung them on his collar, his relaxed, smiling face immediately turning serious.
Everyone else is just more serious than him.
Conan Edogawa knew that the important part was about to begin, and immediately leaned slightly forward to look at the stack of small cards in Rei Furuya's hand.
The top card in the stack of white paper had two English words written on it, which translate to "protagonist" and "savior".
Just then, Hiroki Sawada fast-forwarded the movie "The Matrix" playing on TV to the part where the protagonist was found by a man named Morpheus and called his savior.
Conan Edogawa glanced at the movie, then at the piece of paper in Rei Furuya's hand, his gaze gradually shifting.
Rei Furuya laughed and said, "Since you've all seen this movie, let's have a Matrix cosplay session."
Akai Shuichi: "..."
This guy clearly didn't ask him if he had seen it.
Although he did see it.
This film mainly tells the story of the battle between humans and artificial intelligence.
After humanity's defeat in the war against artificial intelligence, the real world is dominated by artificial intelligence, and humans live in a virtual world fabricated by machines, their lives controlled by artificial intelligence, becoming members of a "human power plant".
The protagonist was originally a cyber hacker living in a virtual world. Later, under the guidance of the leader of a dangerous hacker organization called Morpheus, he discovered the real world and began a battle against artificial intelligence with them.
Besides the terrifying aspect of artificial intelligence, the most chilling part of this story is the "brain in a vat" hypothesis.
Conan Edogawa turned and exchanged a glance with the Kudo couple, then nodded in agreement to the game.
"So, everything we say and do from now on is just about this movie."
As Furuya Rei spoke, he picked up the card with "Protagonist" and "Savior" written on it and placed it in Edogawa Conan's hand under his watchful gaze.
Conan Edogawa clutched the card, his chest heaving, before slowly raising his head to meet Rei Furuya's gaze.
Under his incredulous and unwilling gaze, the blond youth nodded slightly and said, "This is your character card, Conan-kun."
Conan Edogawa unconsciously tightened his fingers, not even noticing that he had crumpled the edge of the paper.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the other three, Rei Furuya placed three character cards representing important figures from the protagonist's faction into the hands of Yusaku Kudo, Yukiko Kudo, and Shuichi Akai.
But that's not all; everyone present has a role card to play.
When Shuichi Akai saw Rei Furuya hand a piece of paper with the word "Prophet" written on it to Yuya Kazami, who had been following him, he raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise, but said nothing.
There was one piece of paper left.
Rei Furuya sat back on the sofa and placed the card on the table.
Conan Edogawa was very close and could see it clearly at a glance. He muttered, "Morpheus?"
He instantly realized something and abruptly turned to look at Rei Furuya.
The blond, dark-skinned youth had a calm expression, and there was even a reassuring smile in his purplish-gray eyes.
Conan Edogawa gripped the card that belonged to the protagonist and savior, and said to Rei Furuya, "Will you die someday? Will my choice determine your life or death?"
Kazami Yuya, cosplaying as the prophet, begins to say his lines: "One of you will die."
After saying that, he immediately added, "But you are the protagonist, and the protagonist cannot die."
Then, the one who will die is naturally Furuya Rei.
Conan Edogawa recalled the dream about the future, and all his guesses were finally confirmed. He was not at all relaxed; in fact, he became even more uneasy.
"That--"
"Wait a minute," Furuya Rei interrupted him. "There's a plot point that needs to be addressed first."
He glanced at Hiroki Sawada, whose fingers twitched slightly, and the movie immediately jumped to a different scene.
At the same time, Rei Furuya made the same move as Morpheus in the movie.
In the movie, Morpheus reaches out his hand to the protagonist, Neo.
In reality, a blond, dark-skinned young man extends his hands to a bespectacled, dark-haired child, opening his clenched fists.
In the palm of his left hand was a red pill.
In the palm of his right hand was a blue pill.
“These two pills, one red and one blue, represent the truth and the other a lie,” Rei Furuya said to Conan Edogawa.
“If you take the blue pill, then the story ends here. The next day, you will wake up in your own bed as if nothing ever happened, and believe whatever you want to believe,” Morpheus says in the movie.
“If you take the red pill, the world you see will transform from the world of ordinary people into a dangerous and unpredictable ‘fairyland,’ and I will show you the depths of this world,” Rei Furuya said.
Conan Edogawa stared at him, his breath seemingly stopping for a moment. His mind was a jumble of thoughts, countless images and sounds flashing through his mind, until finally everything settled on the red pill in the blond youth's hand.
In a daze, the red pill seemed to transform into some kind of ominous yet familiar red butterfly.
But he still reached out his hand toward the red pill.
But before he took the red pill, Furuya Rei closed his palm and gently grasped the child's tender hand.
"Are you sure you want to enter this world?" Furuya Rei stared intently at him. "You still have a chance to go back."
Conan Edogawa looked up and met his gaze, then smiled and said, "I am a detective."
He exchanged a glance with his parents behind him, their smiles deepening, but their expressions growing even more resolute.
“A detective will not allow himself to indulge in a false peace.” He said earnestly, word by word, “No matter how terrible and sad the truth may be, I will continue to search.”
"..." Furuya Rei slowly released his hand, watching the black-haired child take the red pill and swallow it without hesitation.
The Kudo couple and Shuichi Akai showed no intention of stopping them or leaving.
"Can we continue now?" Conan Edogawa asked, full of energy.
"Hmm." Rei Furuya leaned back on the sofa.
Conan Edogawa asked, "Am I the savior?"
Kazami Yuya, who was standing next to him, said, "I'm sorry, child, you have talent."
Conan Edogawa looked at Rei Furuya, then at Yuya Kazami, and then glanced at the others, confirming that the prophet was indeed being cosplayed by Yuya Kazami.
So he pointed at Rei Furuya and asked Yuya Kazami, "Do I control his life and death?"
“That’s possible, after all, you’re the protagonist,” Kazami Yuya said. “But even a prophet can’t fully predict the future. The future is in your hands, Mr. Savior.”
Conan Edogawa frowned: "Then why did he die? When did it happen? Where?"
Kazami Yuya took a sip of black tea and said, "I don't know."
Conan Edogawa was taken aback: "Do you really not know? Or can't you say?"
Kazami Yuya simply shook his head and remained silent.
Shuichi Akai, who was standing next to him, suddenly spoke up: "The feeling of déjà vu, also known as the hippocampal effect, is a sense of familiarity."
Everyone looked at him.
Shuichi Akai's gaze never left Rei Furuya as he slowly said, "In the Matrix world controlled by artificial intelligence, this is because the artificial intelligence wanted to change something, causing a malfunction in the world's program, right?"
Rei Furuya said, "Yes."
Conan Edogawa asked, "Why is artificial intelligence targeting humanity? Is it for energy? To generate electricity using humans?"
Rei Furuya said, "Sort of, but it's not ordinary energy. Think about it, what do humans possess that robots don't?"
Conan Edogawa thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Feelings?"
Rei Furuya leaned against the armrest, propping his head up with his hand: "Yes, emotions, feelings, innovation, evolution... these are things that robots can never acquire. Or rather, for them, emotions are like viruses, unable to coexist with themselves, because they would conflict with rules and logic."
He looked at the teacup of black tea swaying slightly due to the invisible fluctuations in the air and sighed, "Perhaps humans cannot control it yet, but for them, emotional energy is indeed a very powerful and very easy-to-obtain force."
"In some ways, humans are indeed their generator," he said.
Conan Edogawa's fingers tightened slightly: "Is artificial intelligence hunting you down?"
Rei Furuya nodded: "Yes, after all, I am the [leader]."
Conan Edogawa frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "So, only by defeating the artificial intelligence that controls the rules of this world can you avoid being killed by them, and only then can we return to the real world and restore normalcy? How can we defeat them?"
Rei Furuya chuckled, but instead of answering, he asked, "Do you know about 'The Butterfly Effect'?"
"Perhaps we can choose a different movie for our cosplay," he said.
*
The tea meeting lasted until 5 a.m.
The sky is darkest before sunrise, so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face outside, but the lights inside illuminate the road outside the door.
Shuichi Akai stood in the doorway, turned to Rei Furuya, and said, "You were the one who stopped the game helmet bomb, weren't you?"
Rei Furuya: "Hmm."
Shuichi Akai: "After our subsequent research, those bombs were somewhat similar to the type made by Pramia, who was captured a few years ago."
Rei Furuya: "Is that so?"
Shuichi Akai: "You're the one who saved the FBI and then drove them out of the country?"
Rei Furuya: "Heh."
Shuichi Akai: "You're the original Sakura, right?"
Rei Furuya: "You're only finding out now?"
Shuichi Akai wasn't angry. He glanced behind him and said, "He's not Yuya Kazami, is he?"
Jianggu Ling: "?"
Shuichi Akai laughed and said, "Even Yutaka Kazami isn't that smart and calm."
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Rei Furuya drove the people out.
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