Chapter 293 Seventy-Threeth Cycle (123)

Chapter 293 Seventy-Threeth Cycle (123)

"ZERO?"

The blond youth frowned slightly: "The Public Security Bureau does indeed have an organization codenamed ZERO, but..."

“It’s not an organization, it’s an individual.” Karasuma Renya interrupted him. “Someone told me that the public security undercover agent codenamed ZERO infiltrated the organization a long time ago, and even penetrated deep into the core of the organization.”

The crow and the black cat both crouched down beside the old man, their three pairs of eyes fixed intently on him.

Rei Furuya frowned, glanced at Vermouth, and asked, "When did ZERO join the organization?"

“If I were certain of this, I would have sent people to arrest him long ago,” Karasuma Renya said. “You should know very well how the organization deals with traitors.”

Rei Furuya nodded, his expression unchanged, and calmly analyzed, "Sir, you suspect me, which means that ZERO probably joined the organization in the last few years. You suspect the traitor is among the eight of us who are meeting today. Unfortunately, apart from Vermouth and Gin, who grew up in the organization, the remaining six of us are all suspects."

Karasuma Renya waited for him to continue.

"The reason you suspected me first is because I was an intelligence agent, but I never reported on the ZERO thing."

Rei Furuya sighed as he finished speaking, then gritted his teeth and said, "The only person who can fool me, without a doubt, is Sakura!!!"

Vermouth chimed in, "Sakura is a collaborator with the Public Security Bureau. If the Public Security Bureau really sent an undercover agent to organize this, that guy will definitely protect ZERO's information very well, especially to prevent Bourbon from finding out."

“Sakura…” Karasuma Renya flared up at the mention of the name. “Sakura! Sakura again! Damn Sakura! I’ll find him and tear him to pieces one of these days!!!”

Perhaps due to excessive excitement, the elderly man coughed violently again, the medical equipment on the bed lit up red, and two doctors rushed in instantly.

Rei Furuya and Vermouth took a step back and stood quietly by the wall, watching.

After a while, seeing that Karasuma Renya's condition had stabilized again, Vermouth turned to her and asked, "Who do you think the undercover agent is?"

“Anyone could be it,” Furuya Rei said. “To be able to hide it from me and the entire organization, he must be a formidable person. It wouldn’t be surprising if he did something.”

Vermouth nodded: "And judging from the situation, the gentleman doesn't really suspect you. It's the others who seem unaware of this that are more likely to be the suspects."

"Could it be Scotland?" Furuya Rei suddenly turned his head and asked.

Vermouth: "..."

Vermouth said expressionlessly, "Using this as a personal vendetta at this time would make you seem more suspicious."

The blond youth sighed regretfully.

*

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Gin, along with Vodka, Chianti, and Cohen, had already laid an ambush on the target's likely route home, waiting for their prey to appear.

After a while, Gin suddenly frowned: "What about Scotland?"

Scotland was indeed not in the same group as them, but they were involved in this operation. However, after so long, they have not shown any intention of sending them any intelligence. What's going on?

"Maybe you're busy with something else?"

Vodka took out his phone, casually replying as he texted, "After all, Scotland has quite a lot to handle this time. We need to plan our intelligence and progress, and even coordinate with our overseas branches..."

He suddenly choked up halfway through his sentence.

Even Chianti and Cohen, who weren't initially interested, turned to look.

Vodka exclaimed in shock, "He went to see Bourbon! He said we can decide things here ourselves!! Even the BOSS agreed!!!"

The other three remained silent.

"Boss, why would you agree?" Even Cohen couldn't help but complain.

Gin glanced at him, said nothing, but his eyes sharpened for a moment.

Even if Scotland couldn't distinguish between what was important and what wasn't, the gentleman wouldn't let him act recklessly at such a crucial moment.

Something unexpected must have happened over there.

Gin picked up his phone and confirmed with the man.

A message came back a while later, saying not to worry about Scotland and to continue their mission.

“Brother, should we send someone else over there to take a look?” Vodka asked. “It’s a pity that guy won’t give Kiel an interview, otherwise we could lure him to a suitable place and kill him.”

However, the BOSS issued this mission rather hastily, without giving them more time to make arrangements, so they could only proceed directly with the assassination.

Masaaki Furuya has been giving speeches all day, and he not only hired security guards but also had police escorts.

I really don't understand how such a cowardly and afraid-of-death guy could become a strong candidate for prime minister.

In short, since the target's home is also heavily guarded, the best way for them to eliminate him today is to assassinate him on his way home.

Therefore, this mission directly dispatched three skilled snipers, with Vodka as an assistant.

Now that the intelligence work in Scotland has stopped, the rest has to be handed over entirely by Vodka.

But! It's almost six o'clock! It's nearly dark! And that guy is still giving a speech!

Even considering this situation, he deliberately chose to give a speech in Tokyo, the most bustling and prosperous city, when office workers and students are out having fun after get off work and school!

"Wait! Could he have deliberately chosen Christmas as the time???" Vodka blurted out.

"Tsk! Is he not planning to leave work?" Chianti said irritably.

The target was always in a crowded place. Unless you disregard the consequences and directly send a pawn to rush over and kill him in public, it would be very difficult to carry out an assassination.

But putting aside the fact that he has so many bodyguards around him, the assassins he sends out might not even succeed if they aren't skilled enough.

Simply put, since the BOSS forbids them from making too much noise, this solution has to be put aside for the time being.

"Wait a little longer." Gin sneered. "The crowd will eventually disperse. It's impossible to be flawless for 24 hours straight."

"Wait for an opening to appear, then strike a fatal blow."

*

7 PM.

The elderly are not in good spirits, especially Karasuma Renya, who is 140 years old.

While he was asleep, Vermouth was responsible for going outside to deal with the large families and police who were trying to probe the base of the Tottori Prefecture organization.

Bourbon was left in the lab to oversee the progress of all the plans, and was to wake Karasuma Renya in case of any unexpected events.

But this was not because Karasuma Renya trusted him and allowed him to stay by his side to handle matters throughout the organization.

On the contrary, this is a suspicion and a test that is already on the verge of a turning point.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Scotland pushed open the laboratory door.

Rei Furuya and Kagemitsu Morofushi exchanged a glance, then immediately showed their displeasure and said, "Why are you here? I didn't hear that the Boss asked you to come."

As he spoke, his hand was already on the alarm clock by the bed: "If you barge in without permission, I'll wake up the BOSS."

The fact that he was able to enter this place so easily was naturally because he had Karasuma Renya's permission, but he was deliberately causing trouble.

“Alright.” Morofushi Kagemitsu smiled, walked in and sat down in the chair next to him, saying, “I do have something to report to the BOSS.”

As he spoke, he pressed the wake-up button first.

Karasuma Renya woke up quickly.

He seemed to smile as he looked at the blond youth staring at the Scottish man with hostility.

Generally, Scotland would act as if he was worried about angering Bourbon and would go along with him, only suddenly turning cold and ruthless when it was absolutely necessary.

At this moment, those sharp, upturned, deep blue eyes were staring directly at him, instead of gazing at the blond youth beside him as usual.

This seems to express a certain determination on the other end.

“I had a very interesting dream.” Karasuma Renya sat up, and a crow flew over and landed on his shoulder.

Rei Furuya instantly became alert and turned to look at him.

Is the system cheating again by giving Karasuma Renya spoilers?

But it doesn't quite look like it.

If Karasuma Renya had been spoiled, he wouldn't be able to maintain such a calm demeanor, and he wouldn't be sitting here so peacefully.

“It was a very interesting dream.” Karasuma Renya beckoned the black cat lying in the blond youth’s arms to come over, and slowly said while stroking the cat, “I dreamed that this world is fake, and everyone’s life in this world is also fake data that has been arranged in advance.”

Furuya Rei didn't take it seriously: "It's probably because our Brain in a Vat project is about to succeed. Once the Digital Life project succeeds, the world might indeed become like that."

Karasuma Renya laughed upon hearing this: "It's really strange that you can still maintain such a firm atheistic state after seeing so many of the organization's illogical experiments."

“After all, those experiments were still just theoretical and hadn’t been successful, right?” Rei Furuya shrugged.

“No, one has already succeeded,” Karasuma Renya said. “And I’ve witnessed one myself.”

"What?" Furuya Rei was taken aback and frowned slightly.

"You didn't really take the story of the time traveler I told you before seriously, did you?" Karasuma Renya said with a smile. "That one is true."

The blond youth instinctively turned to look at Scotland beside him.

“Scotland knows about this too,” Karasuma Renya said. “And he’s brought along a success story that you can witness firsthand.”

The black-haired youth nodded and placed his laptop on the table.

A video quickly appeared on the computer screen.

That perspective is clearly from a laboratory monitoring mice, and the image quality is a bit strange.

“This monitoring and experimental data was previously deleted by Shirley,” Scotland said. “I only discovered it by chance while organizing the data, and it took some effort to recover it successfully.”

“Shirley, I had such high hopes for her.” Karasuma Renya shook his head and sighed, “She actually concealed the most important experimental data. What a disobedient and naughty child, just like her parents.”

"...The APTX4869 experiment?" Furuya Rei asked. "Her parents? Were there problems with the Silver Bullet experiment as well?"

"Yes, the silver bullet experiment had made progress, but the Miyano couple found various reasons to stop, and in the end, they even took the experimental data with them and turned to ashes in the fire."

Karasuma Renya sneered.

"But they certainly didn't expect that their daughter would inherit their abilities and be able to develop drugs with similar effects based on the remaining data."

On the computer screen, a healthy and lively adult mouse suddenly began to struggle wildly, rolling and convulsing in pain in the experimental chamber, with white smoke even rising from its body.

"APTX is an abbreviation for APOTOXIN, which is a portmanteau of 'apoptosis' and 'toxin,'" Rei Furuya said, watching the video intently. "It means programmed cell death and toxins."

Under their watchful eyes, the adult rat gradually shrank until it completely transformed into a baby rat.

"The ultimate goal of this experiment is to increase cell proliferation by inducing programmed cell death while simultaneously enhancing telomerase activity, thereby successfully rejuvenating all cells in the human body, except for those in the nervous system, including bones, muscles, internal organs, and hair."*

The blond youth, who clearly understood the experiment, widened his eyes slightly and stared intently at the white mouse that had successfully rejuvenated.

The surveillance video showed that the mice that had successfully rejuvenated were not dead; they were still lively and energetic until Shirley noticed something was wrong when she went to work.

The chestnut-haired girl was equally shocked and repeatedly checked the experimental data. Ultimately, all the data indicated that the mouse had successfully rejuvenated without any side effects.

She then conducted several more days of observation and experiments, and found that the mouse that had successfully rejuvenated was still alive and kicking, while all the other experimental mice had died.

Of all those mice, only this one survived and miraculously rejuvenated without any side effects.

But the reason cannot be found.

If this continues, it will only cause more casualties.

They're the guinea pigs now, but what happens when the organization finds out about the results?

At that point, this drug will no longer be used by the organization as a deadly poison.

The chestnut-haired girl gritted her teeth, deleted all experimental data related to the white mouse, and then looked at the surveillance camera.

“This surveillance video was deliberately sabotaged; the missing parts were replaced with other footage, which would be difficult for the average person to notice,” Scotland said. “Perhaps it was Shirley herself; she also has some knowledge of hacking techniques and it would be convenient for her to do it in the lab.”

Karasuma Renya laughed.

"Hahaha……"

His laughter grew louder and louder, finally escalating into utter madness: "Rejuvenation! Rejuvenation! The experiment was a success all along!! I knew heaven was on my side, hahaha!!!"

Rei Furuya looked thoughtful. After he finished laughing, he calmly said, "But if it only works on mice, it doesn't necessarily mean it will have the same effect on humans. Many incredible experiments have been successful on animals, but they can't be replicated on humans."

"Moreover, Shirley, who was in charge of this experiment, is dead," he added.

“Sherry is no longer important!” Karasuma Renya said excitedly. “We now have a ready-made successful human experimental subject!”

He had completely lost control of his emotions and rushed to the computer to look at the photos of Scotland that had just been opened.

"Edogawa Conan!" he shouted, "This recently famous detective kid! He looks exactly like Shinichi Kudo when he was a child!"

On the computer screen was a recent photo of Conan Edogawa taken from a news article, next to which was a photo of Shinichi Kudo from ten years ago when he was still an elementary school student.

And the text note following Shinichi Kudo: Died of APTX4869.

"Shinichi Kudo! Hahaha! Kudo!!!" Karasuma Renya screamed maniacally, "That's him! That's him!! Go and bring him back to me!!!"

"Bring Shinichi Kudo back alive, no matter the cost!!!"

Scotland responded calmly, then asked, "At any cost? What about Gin's team...?"

"Send them all to capture Conan Edogawa!" Karasuma Renya ordered decisively. "Everyone near Tokyo, go capture Shinichi Kudo! No mistakes allowed!!!"

“Okay.” Scotland nodded and picked up his phone to call Gin directly.

Karasuma Renya was panting for a while, until Gin, though not understanding, began to shift his target to capture Edogawa Conan under the BOSS's orders. Only then did he look at the silent blond youth beside him.

The blond youth's expression showed a strange struggle and daze.

Karasuma Renya waved his hand, letting Scotland leave for a while.

The black-haired, blue-eyed youth turned to look at the blond youth, but ultimately obeyed and went outside.

Karasuma Renya brought the startled crow back, then shoved it in front of the blond youth, making his dazed purple eyes meet the crow's scarlet eyes.

“Bourbon, good boy, you can remember now.” He released the previous hypnosis and brainwashing.

The blond youth's eyes cleared instantly, and a variety of expressions flashed across his face in a moment, but he quickly calmed down under the gaze of Karasuma Renya and the crow, remaining silent and seemingly still processing the information.

Karasuma Renya couldn't wait to explain and share with him: "A year ago, I told you about the time traveler from fifty years ago and the fact that this world has a 'protagonist.' At that time, I suspected that you were the time traveler or the protagonist, but you quickly cleared your name. Just to prevent you from knowing too much that you shouldn't know, I made you temporarily forget some key details, which is why you think that story is fake, just my delusion."

"But now you should know very well! All of this is real! It's not some crazy fantasy of mine!" Karasuma Renya laughed heartily. "Time travel exists! Rejuvenation exists! Even the protagonist of this world, [Kudo], truly exists! He even became the sole survivor of the experiment! Truly worthy of being called the [protagonist]!"

"Looking back now, everything made sense!!!"

Karasuma Renya was almost in a frenzy, rapidly speaking while checking data on the computer: "APTX4869, the arrangement to 4869 is just a coincidence, but there are no coincidences in a preordained world! This was all arranged by fate! It was destiny! [4869] sounds the same as the [Sherlock] of the world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes! So the organization internally named the unfinished APTX4869 [The Crippled Detective]! Because the novel's author, Arthur Conan Doyle, used the name Sherlin Ford before officially naming the protagonist Sherlock Holmes! Even Gin's license plate number is [486]." 9. …Wait, what role did Gin play in all of this? Oh right, he was the one who fed Shinichi Kudo APTX4869…So, Shinichi Kudo is the [detective protagonist], my organization is the [criminal villain], and I'm the biggest boss. In fiction, the protagonist always defeats the villain, especially in detective stories, which usually glorify the idea that good triumphs over evil. So, I'll end up being defeated by Shinichi Kudo? But why? How can a minor like him defeat me? Even novels need logic, right? Or does he possess some unknown power…?

“But sir,” Furuya Rei interrupted him, feeling his heartbeat as he slowly said, “If Conan Edogawa really is Shinichi Kudo shrunk, if he can only take APTX4869 to become young instead of die because he is the protagonist, if this is to show his special status as the protagonist, then taking APTX4869 might have no effect on others no matter what.”

“I know.” Karasuma Renya turned to meet his gaze, a strange smile on his face. “Everyone except Shinichi Kudo is dead, so I won’t take APTX4869 right now. Shinichi Kudo has other uses.”

The blond youth tilted his head, puzzled: "Huh?"

Karasuma Renya called Scotland in and said with a smile, "Have Gin take Kudo Shinichi over to the White Tower."

The two people in front of him were stunned when they heard this, clearly not expecting that instead of capturing Shinichi Kudo and taking him to the laboratory, they would go to that strange Buddhist pagoda.

The white pagoda in Tottori Prefecture stands on a high mountain, right next to the laboratory. The organization claims it is a Buddhist pagoda, but it does not allow ordinary people to enter.

Generally, only corpses and people to be executed are sent to the White Tower by the organization.

Moreover, the people responsible for the transport were all brainwashed tools, without their own thoughts, and absolutely loyal to Karasuma Renya alone.

“Gin and the others are not suitable to enter the White Tower,” Karasuma Renya said. “Besides, there is still some work to be done. You two should go to the White Tower to prepare after you catch them, so that we can welcome our [protagonist].

Rei Furuya agreed and turned to watch with them as the entire organization mobilized to capture Conan Edogawa, an elementary school student.

Karasuma Renya told Gin to bring his camera and broadcast it live for them, and then had Scotland project the footage onto the large screen on the wall.

Before they even arrived at their destination, Karasuma Renya suddenly received a call from Vermouth.

Vermouth said, "Boss, shouldn't I come along? Almost all the codenamed members have been mobilized, right? Scotland and Bourbon are here too..."

Karasuma Renya said, "You stay here and continue dealing with those restless rats."

Vermouth couldn't help but continue to plead: "Sir..."

“Vermouth, go back to where you belong.” Karasuma Renya interrupted her. “I asked you to test the Kudo family before. They clearly had problems, but you didn’t notice. That was already a dereliction of duty on your part.”

He said slowly, "I'm very angry. I'll punish you later."

Vermouth, who was already straddling the motorcycle, remained silent for two seconds before finally obeying and returning to her mission.

Around 9 p.m., the organizers gradually surrounded Beika Town.

The target is the Mori Detective Agency.

"I knew this Kogoro Mouri was suspicious!" Gin slammed the car door shut and gritted his teeth, saying, "Ha, if it weren't for Shuichi Akai, I would have killed this detective last time."

Just then, the mocking voice of a dark-skinned, ruthless man, who seemed to be enjoying the show, came through the earpiece: "This time, Shuichi Akai is dead. Gin, you're not going to fail again, are you?"

"Bourbon," Gin said coldly, "don't you have anything better to do? If you have nothing to do, come and help us arrest people."

Something's not right. Something's not right in Scotland and Bourbon. And it's also strange that the BOSS here suddenly wants them to capture an elementary school student. What exactly happened?

“I’m busy,” Bourbon said. “You’ve come to the wrong place. You don’t need to go to the Mori’s office anymore. The Mori family and the Kudo family are still at the Metropolitan Police Department and haven’t been able to come back. They’ve been following the police to investigate that cannibalism case all day.”

He could even hear Scottish voices beside him: "They haven't come back this late. They'll probably be investigating the case all night, or they might be sleeping at the Metropolitan Police Department. It's a pity that our undercover agents in the Metropolitan Police Department have all run into trouble, so we don't know what's going on inside."

Bourbon ignored him and continued, "The BOSS means that even so, you must bring back Conan Edogawa at all costs, and remember, he must be alive."

Regardless of the cost?

Chianti's ears twitched, her eyes widened, and she immediately shouted, "So, are we going to attack the Metropolitan Police Department right now?!"

Clutching a sniper rifle in one arm and touching the red butterfly tattoo near her eye with the other, she roared excitedly, "Hahaha! Finally, I can really pull off something big! Someone will die whenever my butterfly flaps its wings! It can't wait to drink blood!!!"

“Don’t go crazy, Chianti. The BOSS values ​​this mission highly.” Bourbon remained calm. “It doesn’t need to be so complicated. Just throw out a little bait, and the detective will take the bait himself.”

"Tch." Chianti immediately deflated. "Playing dirty tricks again, how boring."

Gin ignored them completely, and instead looked down at the detailed mission intelligence sent by Scotland.

The plan was simple: first, send a cannon fodder pawn, strapped with a bomb, to the Metropolitan Police Department entrance, threatening them to release the others or else they would all self-destruct.

In this way, Conan Edogawa, who has made the news several times before for catching criminals and assisting in defusing bombs, is very likely to appear.

Once his location is confirmed, the organization can pinpoint it precisely, create a "minor problem," and take advantage of the chaos to arrest him.

How hard can it be to catch a primary school student?

They didn't even understand why the boss was being so cautious.

...

In fact, Conan Edogawa is really hard to catch.

Rei Furuya and Hiromitsu Morofushi remained silent, sitting with Renya Karasuma in front of the monitor, watching them work for almost an hour, sacrificing several ordinary members without code names, and even capturing Vodka, before finally cornering a certain strange elementary school student.

During this period, the appearance of Curaçao was the most shocking to the organization and their biggest obstacle.

Besides Curaçao, Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri are also incredibly strong fighters.

The live stream camera was focused on Vodka, and you could clearly see his shock when Ran Mouri dodged his shot. He couldn't even dodge the subsequent attacks; he was taken down by the black-haired girl and arrested by the police.

After Vodka was arrested, they no longer had live video feeds to watch; they could only hear their movements through the headsets of the operatives.

Gin was clearly furious.

He was also the one who rushed to the front and cornered Conan Edogawa.

However, when he kicked the door open, there was suddenly no sound.

"Gin?" Karasuma Renya asked anxiously.

"Kudo...Shinichi?" Gin's tone was hesitant and doubtful, but he still raised his gun. "Get down from the window if you don't want to get your head pierced by a sniper outside."

Although he generally doesn't remember the people he's killed, there are simply too many.

But just an hour before carrying out this mission, he had reviewed the information on the Mori and Kudo families and remembered that he had killed Shinichi Kudo.

"You're still alive?" He sensed something was wrong and circled the person. "Where's that brat?"

This room doesn't look like a place where anyone could hide, but Gin is still prepared to search it thoroughly.

"Stop looking! Don't waste any more time!" Karasuma Renya stopped him, her voice rising with excitement, "It's him! It's Kudo Shinichi! Gin! Bring Kudo Shinichi back to me right now!!!"

Gin: "..."

Gin stared at the black-haired, blue-eyed boy with darting eyes for two seconds, then realized the boy was up to no good and went straight up to knock him unconscious.

He squatted down, forcefully pulled at the boy's face, and frowned as he realized that the face was actually real.

But he had personally fed this overly curious detective kid the organization's new poison, and then confirmed his death. There had never been any problems before.

He actually failed.

Moreover, they want to capture Conan Edogawa, so what does that have to do with Shinichi Kudo?

Why are you no longer looking for Conan Edogawa, but instead bringing Shinichi Kudo back directly?

As Gin carried the person away, many details flashed through his mind.

Vermouth's unchanging face... the legends about immortality and regaining youth in the lab... that strange holographic game and its protagonist, Kudo Jun... and the unusual commotion in Bourbon and Scotland today...

Gin threw the unconscious boy from his shoulder into the car and tied him up. While driving, he used his phone to search for photos of Shinichi Kudo when he was a child.

It was exactly 10:30 p.m.

“Gin might notice something,” Furuya Rei said, trying to sow discord between the boss and the boss. “He’s very perceptive; he might be able to deduce the truth. I’m not saying I suspect him, but mainly because his connection with Shinichi Kudo is so deep, and his license plate number is 4869.”

Karasuma Renya turned his head and saw that Scotland was also looking at the blond youth with a puzzled expression, probably wondering what was wrong with the last license plate number.

Karasuma Renya didn't want him to know the truth of the world yet, so she changed the subject, saying, "The people have been captured, and it will take them an hour to get here. You can head to the White Tower now to make some preparations."

*

It's 11 p.m.

Conan Edogawa appears outside the organization's experimental base in Tottori Prefecture.

A car drove through the forest and stopped in front of him.

Under the moonlight, a woman with long golden hair walked out, looking at the black-haired child in front of her with a complicated expression.

"You've been exposed?" Vermouth asked. "What happened? The organization already knows you've started a joint attack, and all areas are on high alert."

“Don’t worry, this is part of our plan,” Conan Edogawa said. “Our people have already infiltrated Tottori before we even got a chance to warn us.”

Vermouth breathed a sigh of relief, took the empty box out of the trunk, and asked, "Who was that guy Gin caught?"

Conan Edogawa crawled into the suitcase, winked, and smiled, "It's Kid."

“…How did he get involved too?” Vermouth sighed, preparing to close her suitcase.

Conan Edogawa suddenly raised his hand to brace himself and asked, "Where's Mr. Amuro? Is he alright?"

Vermouth paused, her mind flashing back to the red roses the blond, dark-skinned young man had given her when they first met, and the words, "You suit red very well," as well as the words he had said not long ago, "You really do suit red very well."

“…I’m not sure.” Vermouth’s golden eyelashes fluttered. “All I know is that he went to the White Tower with Scotland. That place is dangerous and eerie, and I don’t really know what’s going on inside.”

She looked down at the black-haired child and said, "What? You want to go to the White Tower too? That might be a little difficult."

"No." Conan Edogawa smiled reassuringly at her, gripped the edge of the suitcase and slowly closed it, saying firmly, "I still want to go to the lab with you, just like the original plan."

"Leave that area to them."

*

Meanwhile, on the other side, the white tower.

Through the camera on Scotland's chest, Karasuma Renya watched as he and Bourbon climbed the mountain through the secret passage of the underground laboratory and entered the white tower standing at the top.

When the blond youth saw the demonic patterns and altar-like objects that were everywhere inside the white tower, the subtle changes in his expression were all clearly captured by the camera.

In stark contrast to the laboratory, the White Tower contains virtually no electronic instruments that could generate electromagnetic interference; instead, it is filled with various ancient and bizarre ornaments and patterns.

The blond youth seemed to realize something, his expression stiffened slightly, but he quickly regained his serious, expressionless demeanor and began to concentrate on his preparations.

"Sir, are you planning to sacrifice Shinichi Kudo to summon a demon?"

While diligently working, the blond youth was also gathering intelligence.

"If it's a sacrifice, is one really enough? What about the corpses and traitors who were sent here before?"

To his question, Scotland consistently answered that he did not know.

After observing for a long time, Karasuma Renya finally connected to the separate earpiece channel for Scotland with satisfaction.

"Scotland, it's time to tell you something..."

*

11:34 PM.

Gin had already brought Shinichi Kudo to the outside of the White Tower.

【BOSS, we've arrived.】Gin sent this message on his phone, looking up at the towering white tower in front of him with a complicated expression.

"Move!" Karasuma Renya immediately gave the order to Scotland.

"Bang!" Scotland fired without hesitation, the time from drawing the gun to firing was only a fraction of a second.

But in those mere fractions of a second, the blond youth under his gun somehow managed to dodge it.

“It seems he anticipated his exposure.” Karasuma Renya wasn’t surprised, struggling to discern their battle situation through the violently shaking screen. “Scotland, you seem to be at a disadvantage.”

Scotland, caught in the midst of battle, had no time to respond, but Karasuma Renya could tell that he hadn't held back against Bourbon either, even managing to hit him twice.

The blood splattered on the black demon totem on the pure white wall behind made the atmosphere even more sinister.

Bourbon, on the other hand, seemed only focused on escaping and didn't seem to want to get entangled with him.

“Increase the attack and lure him to the window,” Karasuma Renya said.

They were originally on the ninth floor of the White Tower, but Bourbon has now moved them to the fifth floor.

Meanwhile, Gin had already climbed to the roof of the four-story building next door and raised his sniper rifle to aim at the window on the fifth floor of the White Tower.

Through the sniper scope, he noticed something was wrong over there.

Bourbon, who seemed intent on escaping, suddenly seized an opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack. Scotland, whose physical skills were not as strong as Bourbon's, was momentarily unable to withstand the attack and was on the verge of being defeated.

Gin clicked his tongue, but didn't move his hand, patiently waiting for the best opportunity, until he saw that Scotland was really about to be wiped out before pulling the trigger.

"Bang!" The sniper bullet shattered the glass and pierced the blond youth's chest, quickly spreading into a pool of blood where he fell.

"Gin!" Karasuma Renya roared through the earpiece, "Didn't I tell you not to kill him now?!"

“He’s not dead yet.” Gin put away his gun and went downstairs. “He’s a little off track, but he can live for a while longer. That should be enough for you.”

Karasuma Renya almost pressed his face against the screen as he watched Scotland carefully turn the blood-stained blond youth over on the ground, seeing that crimson blood was still gushing from the hole in his chest.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the camera and seemed to instinctively press down hard on the wound.

"Is he still alive?" Karasuma Renya immediately got up and rushed over. "Scotland, how much longer can he live?"

The camera swayed slightly, and it seemed that Scotland was embracing the seriously injured and weakened Bourbon. All that could be seen through the gaps in his blond hair were the guns lying on the ground and the flowing blood.

Before Scotland could answer, Bourbon paused for a moment before chuckling, "You're not going to die anytime soon, no need for that expression, Scotland. Besides, isn't my current predicament all your fault? Is it really funny to be all crocodile tears right now?"

Even on the verge of death, he seems determined to deliver a sarcastic and sarcastic remark to his enemies.

"At this point, should I call you Bourbon or Furuya Rei? Or... ZERO?" Scotland whispered. "Even if you're an undercover agent, we've lived together in the organization for so many years, have you ever been truly sincere even once..."

"Of course not!" The blond youth's voice was filled with rage. "I've been different from you criminals from the very beginning. I've lived with you every day, suppressing my anger and murderous intent. Do you know how disgusted I feel every time I see you?"

Scotland was a little stiff from the shock. Karasuma Renya saw Bourbon sneakily reach for the gun on the ground and his eyelids twitched. He was about to speak when Scotland grabbed his hand first.

“Zero.” Scotland called the undercover policeman’s real name softly, but firmly pried his hand off and took the gun. He smiled and said, “I won’t let you commit suicide so easily. Don’t rush, we still have some time. Let’s have a good talk.”

11:45.

Scotland quickly bandaged Furuya Rei's wounds and then took him back to the ninth floor, the highest level of the White Tower.

It took Karasuma Renya a while to get up from the basement of the White Tower, since there were very few electrical appliances and not even an elevator; he had to be carried up.

Along the way, he heard Scotland and Furuya Rei still talking.

Rei Furuya asked, "When did you find out? How was I exposed? I thought I was hiding very well."

Karasuma Renya thought to himself, "Do you think we would tell an undercover agent like you any organization information?"

Scotland said, "This afternoon, when I went to the lab, I mainly talked to the boss about you; Shinichi Kudo was secondary."

Karasuma Renya: ...

Fine, he's going to die anyway, so it won't matter if he reveals the information.

Bourbon then asked, "Since you confirmed my identity so early on, why did you only take action now? You made me act for so long."

Karasuma Renya: "Su—"

Scotland replied, "Because the boss wanted to see what you would do in this situation. The boss thought you might have other motives, but unfortunately you were very composed."

Karasuma Renya: "..."

If it weren't for Scotland's initiative in telling him that Furuya Rei was an undercover agent and his proactive actions in arresting him, he would have suspected that Scotland had already been turned by Furuya Rei.

Rei Furuya continued, "Actually, the Karasuma Renya who was with us in the lab before wasn't the real person, was he? His health isn't that good; he didn't choke and faint when he was so excited. And since a year ago, that guy has basically stopped meeting with us in person. What exactly is that thing that's so familiar with the black cat and the crow?"

Karasuma Renya was furious upon hearing this, yet he still couldn't stop Scotland from answering.

“Yes,” Scotland said. “That’s just a clone of the BOSS. He has no consciousness of his own. All his reactions are transmitted to him instantly by the BOSS through a brain-computer interface, just like when we played the holographic game before.”

"The organization's technology has already reached the point where it can do something like this? Doesn't that mean it's equivalent to transferring one's consciousness into another body? As long as one keeps changing bodies, one can achieve true immortality?" Furuya Rei's voice grew weaker and weaker, but his mind worked even faster.

Though his voice was soft, he analyzed quickly, "No, that's not right. If that's the case, Karasuma Renya wouldn't need to be in such a hurry. This technology is definitely not perfect yet. If I'm not mistaken, Karasuma Renya's consciousness still needs his original body, right? If that original body dies, his consciousness will also dissipate..."

"So what happened to his original body?" Furuya Rei asked. "Where is Karasuma Renya's original body?"

"Right here!" Karasuma Renya shouted angrily from the doorway.

11:55.

Karasuma Renya, leaning on his cane, walked into the ninth floor of the White Tower.

The ceiling on the ninth floor is actually a huge semi-circular glass dome, covered with a sheet of iron that is usually used to prevent and protect people from peeping from above. However, tonight both the sheet of iron and the glass dome are open.

It was almost midnight, and the full moon hung high in the darkness, its bright light illuminating everything inside with crystal clarity.

The White Pagoda, originally a structure of religious and cultural significance associated with Buddhism, is commonly known as the White Pagoda because of its white-painted exterior. This pagoda, which should have been considered a sacred site by Buddhism, symbolizing national prosperity and the well-being of its people, representing the radiant light of Buddhism like the sun and moon illuminating the earth, and embodying hopes for a better life, has now been transformed into a den of iniquity.

Inside the White Pagoda, instead of glittering golden Buddha statues, are dark demonic totem patterns and sculptures, and the air is pervasive with the lingering smell of blood and corpses.

A huge circular pattern dominates almost the entire room, containing a large pentagram surrounded by stars, moons, suns, and some twisted, unidentified patterns, easily reminiscent of a magic circle that summons eerie entities.

The feeling of holiness and evil intertwining was so unsettling it sent chills down my spine.

"God is dead, I am the devil." Karasuma Renya walked step by step toward the blond youth bound at the very center of the magic circle, and exclaimed with immense pleasure, "This day has finally come. This time, can I successfully reverse the flow of time and bring the dead back to life?"

As the last word fell, he was already standing in front of Furuya Rei.

This location is where the central sun is located.

11:56.

“I still can’t get over the dream I had a year ago,” said Karasuma Renya, whose aged appearance had become somewhat frightening. “Especially when I learned that you were the undercover agent ZERO who had united various countries, the possibility of all this became even greater.”

He stared intently at the blond youth in front of him with his turbid and crazed eyes, his face twitching with excitement: "Since the protagonist Shinichi Kudo exists, it's not entirely impossible for you to become a time traveler."

Under the moonlight, the blond, dark-skinned youth had his hands bound behind his back, his white sweater stained with blood, and he was tied tightly to the chair in a disheveled state. Upon hearing this, he gave a cold, mocking laugh.

“If I could really go back in time, I would travel back immediately, stop your plans in advance, and wipe you all out. How could you have been so rampant until now?” he mocked. “Karasuma Renya, I think you’ve really gone senile.”

Karasuma Renya's face twitched violently again, and the veins on the back of his hand holding the cane bulged with anger, but he didn't get angry. He just laughed angrily: "Bourbon, don't even think about provoking me to kill you. I won't let you die so easily."

As he spoke, he gradually calmed down and sighed, "Although I also think that if you really could travel through time... let alone an organization, with your abilities you could even control the world without difficulty, so how did you end up like this? But what if? It's never a bad thing to try. You're already the best sacrifice besides Shinichi Kudo."

11:57.

"What about Shinichi Kudo?" Rei Furuya asked, frowning. "It seems he wasn't actually sent here, right?"

“Yes.” This time it was Scotland who answered, actively clarifying his doubts, “Gin has already taken people to the laboratory.”

"No need to explain everything to him!" Karasuma Renya turned his head unhappily and said, "Time is almost up, do it, Scotland, didn't you say yourself that you would at least kill him with your own hands?"

"Hmm." Scotland nodded, pulled out his gun, and stopped in front of Furuya Rei.

After all that commotion, the blond youth had lost his black coat and red scarf, and was now only wearing a pure white turtleneck sweater. The carelessly wrapped bandage on his chest was stained crimson with blood.

The black-haired, blue-eyed assassin looked down at his prey, who had lost all ability to resist, and seemed lost in thought. His hand holding the gun even trembled slightly.

In that instant, a similar scene flashed through his mind, as if it had happened before: he raised his gun, pointed it at the blond youth's head, and fired...

11:58.

"Hurry up, there are only two minutes left." Karasuma Renya didn't notice that he was checking his watch and looking up at the huge, seemingly about-to-fall full moon, excitedly saying, "I had someone calculate it, midnight tonight is the best time to summon!"

If this doesn't work, then wait until he controls the country and try sacrificing people from city to city.

"Boss, does such a thing really exist in this world?" Scotland asked slowly.

Karasuma Renya instantly became alert: "Of course there is, and we summoned an existence from beyond this world. What? Have you changed your mind? Are you afraid? Or did you suddenly become reluctant to kill Bourbon at the last minute?"

“No, not at all.” Scotland slowly raised his gun and pointed it at the blond youth’s head. “If he really does have the ability to travel through time at will, that would be really bad. And if we don’t kill him, are we going to let him go back to the sunlight and live happily with those police detectives? I can’t stand that.”

Karasuma Renya nodded in satisfaction, but still felt that if they had discovered Bourbon was an undercover agent earlier, and if they had had a chance to take Bourbon away and imprison him, Scotland might not have chosen to kill him directly.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs".

Their current situation is also very dangerous.

If the summoning fails, he needs to hurry to Shinichi Kudo's place to carry out Plan B.

11:59.

"Attack! Scotland!" Karasuma Renya had already retreated outside the magic circle. "You have one minute left. If you don't get out before midnight after killing Bourbon, you will also become a sacrifice."

The room was so big that Karasuma Renya saw Scotland slightly bend over, seemingly saying something to the blond youth in the chair, but he couldn't hear it from the doorway.

Just as he was about to switch the headset channel to the monitor on Scotland's body, the dark-haired youth straightened up and raised his gun, pointing it at the blond youth's head.

Rei Furuya looked up, his purple eyes meeting the man's dark blue eyes in silence.

"Bang—" The Scottish officer fired a shot.

The bullet pierced the blond youth's head, and blood splattered wildly onto the array patterns on the ground.

The loud gunshot echoed in the room, and Karasuma Renya was stunned for a moment. Even after Scotland walked up to him with a gun, he was still staring blankly at the gun in the distance.

Under the moonlight, the blond youth sat in a chair, his head drooping as if he were just asleep.

"Tick-tock—tick-tock—"

Blood stained his blond hair, then slid down his face and finally dripped onto the floor.

Scotland actually killed Bourbon!!!

00:00

"Thump—thump—thump—"

Tokyo.

As the clock struck midnight, countless young people revelled and celebrated the arrival of Christmas.

Tottori.

“It’s midnight,” Scotland suddenly said.

"Oh, right, it's midnight." Karasuma Renya snapped out of her reverie, her eyes darting around with intense focus. "It's about to begin!"

He looked down at the dark magic circle on the ground, looked up at the silvery moon in the sky, and then turned to look at the blond youth with blood flowing all over the ground.

00:01

In the silence, Scotland said, "It seems we've failed."

"..." Karasuma Renya didn't speak, but his hand gripping the cane trembled.

00:03.

“Three minutes have passed. Should we keep waiting?” Scotland picked up his phone and glanced at it. “Excuse me for being blunt, Boss, if we don’t proceed with the next step of the plan soon, the police are really going to break through the defenses.”

"...Even Bourbon didn't work, is it really impossible to summon that being?" Karasuma Renya murmured anxiously. "Then we can only rely on science? Or should we try it on Kudo Shinichi after we finish the experiment?"

"Boss, don't you still want to live in Shinichi Kudo's body?" Scotland reminded the old man, who was almost driven to madness.

Karasuma Renya paused, then came to her senses: "Yes, no matter what, the protagonist's identity has been confirmed. Doing things as the protagonist will definitely be much smoother."

The old man lifted his cane and stepped into the magic circle, quickly walking towards the blond youth in the center.

Scotland followed behind him: "BOSS?"

“Bourbon is special too. His body can’t be wasted. Even his corpse needs to be taken back for research.” Karasuma Renya stood in front of the lifeless body of the blond youth, bent down to grab his face and lift it up for observation.

"puff--"

Karasuma Renya looked down in disbelief and saw the sharp silver blade piercing through his chest, the reflected light so bright it was almost blinding in the moonlight.

"Scotland, you—"

The black-haired man behind him coldly drew his knife, and with his other hand fired two shots at the two men in black at the door who hadn't even reacted yet.

Karasuma Renya heard the sound of two bodies falling to the ground, and then the room fell silent again.

He staggered forward, clutching his chest, and fell onto the blond youth's cold body, sensing the other's unusual behavior.

"So we were exposed after all." A familiar male voice came from above, his tone relaxed. "Never mind, let's take care of this one first."

"Okay." This time it was Scotland's voice. Then he was lifted up forcefully and thrown face up onto the ground next to him.

In a blur, he saw a dark gun barrel pointed at him.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two bullets, one to the heart, one to the head, with unparalleled accuracy.

After the excruciating pain, Karasuma Renya immediately lost consciousness.

A few seconds later, after experiencing an indescribable twisting, dizzying, and tearing pain, Karasuma Renya suddenly opened his eyes in a room.

"Aaaaaah!!!" he nearly went mad, screaming hysterically, "Scottish!!! Bourbon!!!"

Karasuma Renya clutched his head, staring intently at the monitor screen in front of him. He saw the blond youth being untied by Scotland, standing up from his chair, his head covered in blood as he examined the old man's body on the ground.

"You're not dead!!! Why aren't you dead???" Karasuma Renya stared straight at the bloody hole in the blond youth's head, and then he actually saw a faint piece of metal around the wound.

He was stunned, while the Scottish man on the other side had already taken off the monitor and earpiece, threw them on the ground and stomped on them, leaving the screen completely black.

The soaring anger and intense surprise froze instantly. Karasuma Renya realized that Furuya Rei was not resurrected, but that there was something wrong with this "Furuya Rei" himself.

What's going on? Could it be a robot?! But can a robot achieve this level of realism? Do the police already have such lifelike androids?

That guy was still a real human when he went through so many checks in the lab!

He was clearly looking at the camera the whole time, so when did they change the person...? Was it Sakura again?!

Karasuma Renya gritted his teeth: "Those guys! Did they collude with that damned hacker Sakura to modify part of the surveillance video? They can modify it at any time... I really underestimated you!"

He was so angry that his already aching headache worsened.

But now is not the time to rest. The Scottish rebellion has made the situation even worse, and action must be taken as soon as possible.

Fortunately, he remained highly vigilant throughout and did not go there in person, otherwise he would have really fallen into the trap.

Gasping for breath, Karasuma Renya picked up his phone and sent messages to Vermouth and Gin, while ordering everyone in the organization to kill the two traitors, Scotland and Bourbon, on sight!

*

On the other side.

In the organization's experimental base.

On the way to the White Tower, Rei Furuya, who had been hiding in a corner after switching identities with Unit-00, was calling Kagemitsu Morofushi, telling him to leave the White Tower immediately.

“Vermouth messaged me saying she received orders from Karasuma Renya. He’s still alive, and the one we killed was a clone.” Furuya Rei spoke rapidly. “It’s okay! He’ll definitely go find Conan next! You should get out of there right away!”

“But ZERO,” Morofushi Kagemitsu said, quickly searching every room, “Even if Karasuma Renya doesn’t come in person, he’ll definitely be watching closely this matter that he values ​​so much. What if the summoning really succeeds? His true form is definitely in this white tower—”

"But he's definitely trying to escape the White Tower! The moment he leaves, the entire White Tower will collapse due to the self-destruct device underground, and everyone inside will die!" Rei Furuya suddenly raised his voice. "I obediently didn't go there! You have to be obedient and ensure your own safety! Hiro! If you don't leave, I'll have Unit-00 carry you down!"

Unit-00, who had keenly heard its own name called, looked up: "It's fine, it's only the seventh floor."

Morofushi Kagemitsu: "..."

Morofushi Kagemitsu eventually gave in.

But in the end, he was still held by Unit-00 and jumped off the building.

The moment I landed safely, the white pagoda behind me collapsed with a loud crash.

"See! I told you Rum's near-death experience would involve you! You almost got into trouble!" Rei Furuya said angrily. "Rum must have died in the final explosion too!"

Zhu Fujingguang snapped out of his daze and quickly comforted him.

"Zero, how are you doing?" Morofushi Kagemitsu asked.

“No problem, I’m almost at the core of the lab. Once the time comes, all I have to do is destroy the research data,” Furuya Rei said quietly. “You’ve already taken care of the most crucial and dangerous tasks. This is all I can do now. If you weren’t worried about altering too much of the plot and affecting the timeline, you probably wouldn’t have let me participate in this final battle.”

Morofushi Hiromitsu said, "Zero, I'm still worried about you going into the organization's core laboratory alone. Why don't I come over now?"

Rei Furuya sighed: "Hiro..."

Morofushi Kagemitsu laughed and said, "I was just kidding. I'm going to guide everyone to break through the organization."

Although his voice was smiling, his expression was very serious.

The Zero unit next to him tilted its head and looked down at today's date on its phone screen.

December 25th.

Morofushi Kagemitsu and Unit-00 got into the car, and for what seemed like the umpteenth time, he checked the calendar details.

In recent years, they have been researching fantasy elements, especially the rules that the system uses to govern the game, both overtly and covertly.

The calendar for the past two days has been the subject of a focused meeting and discussion.

Although it shouldn't be taken entirely seriously, the horribly negative comments still cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

Even now, having safely passed the first death point, it remains unsettling.

After a brief moment of relief, everyone in the cherry blossom group began to worry again.

【December 25

Suitable for: cleaning, offering sacrifices; other matters should be avoided.

Avoid: All activities are inadvisable.

“Zero, you must be careful, and it’s best not to touch anything to the east,” said Morofushi Kagemitsu.

[Clash: East. People with the corresponding element should not undertake important tasks today, and should be cautious when traveling eastward.]

Today's Fetal Deity: Do not casually knock on or move objects located in the due east direction outside the storage room and bed.

However, the entire organization's base is located in the east direction.

"Are those experiments really safe? Is that drug poisonous? You absolutely mustn't touch it!" Matsuda Jinpei said.

[The ruling deity: Xuanwu. Today is an inauspicious day according to the underworld, associated with water, and black in color, representing fraud and dishonesty.]

"Furuya, if anything happens to you, you must tell us immediately. Don't hide anything, or we will really, really, really be angry," Kenji Hagiwara said seriously.

【The Twelve Gods of Construction and Removal: The Day of Holding. It signifies perseverance and upholding principles.】

The Five Elements: Sand and Soil. [This symbolizes burying talent, hindering one's future, causing isolation, loneliness, and helplessness.]

"Furuya, no matter what difficulties we encounter, I believe that as long as we work together, we can always overcome them. That's how we've overcome so many obstacles to get to where we are today, right?" Date Wataru said.

[Auspicious and Inauspicious Deities]

Robbery Star: Also known as the Great Loss of the New Year, the Robbery Star brings unbearable disaster. One will waste time chasing fame and fortune, and must guard against the complete loss of ancestral property.

"Yes! We've reached the final step! We'll definitely succeed!" Hiroki Sawada said. "Now, apart from the system, nothing can stop us! We just need to focus on the system from now on!"

Twenty-Eight Mansions

The Dangerous Moon and Swallow Constellation Star: Do not build tall buildings under the Dangerous Star; you will suffer punishment, hanging, and bloodshed. Your children will die by drowning within three years, and future generations will never return. If you are buried on this day, you will face mourning on the first and hundredth day after your death. Every three or two years, you will grieve. Open the door and release water to the court.

"Zero-kun, please come back safely," Miyano Akemi said. "We're all waiting for you to come back."

Rei Furuya paused for a moment, gripped his phone tightly, and earnestly promised them, "Don't worry, I will definitely come back safely."

The time has come to 12:24 AM.

Despite everyone's strong demands, Furuya Rei still didn't go out. Instead, he hid in a dark corner of the laboratory where no one was around and used his phone to keep track of everyone's actions.

Now only Vermouth remains undetected.

Kir was exposed after he captured Conan Edogawa.

Vermouth said that after Chianti dragged the critically injured Cohen back, she strongly suspected that the person who had injured them at the Metropolitan Police Department was Shuichi Akai.

Aside from Shuichi Akai, no one else could have such outrageous sniping skills, so Shuichi Akai must still be alive.

Now that they know the Public Security Bureau and the FBI are cooperating, or rather, that police agencies from several countries have joined forces to deal with the organization, it's not surprising that Shuichi Akai is there.

Later, members of the organization, almost scared out of their wits, reported seeing Shuichi Akai, which was enough to prove that the man was indeed still alive.

Gin was so angry he laughed: "First it was Shinichi Kudo, and now it's Shuichi Akai. Fine, very well, this time I will personally confirm your deaths. I want to see if you can come back to life!"

Of course, Kiel couldn't be let off the hook either.

However, Hondo Emi had already fled and was now back at the CIA with her father and brother. Based on her familiarity with the organization, she and Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was leading the Public Security Bureau, officially launched a counterattack before the organization could react.

Although Gin was also very concerned about Shinichi Kudo, the BOSS told him to hand over the mission to Vermouth, and made it clear that he was the only one who could deal with Shuichi Akai now. So Gin had no choice but to shift his hatred to Shuichi Akai and snipe him.

Of course, Bourbon and Scotland are actually the people he hates the most right now.

If Vermouth received news of these two traitors who had deceived him for so many years, she felt he would definitely abandon everything and come to kill them.

Therefore, Vermouth also felt that it was best for Rei Furuya to hide away and only use his hacking skills for now.

If the news that Rei Furuya is also in the lab is exposed, then the actions of Vermouth, Conan Edogawa, and "Shinichi Kudo," who are also there, will be affected.

"Noah's Ark, send me the situation on Matsuda's side." Furuya Rei wasn't really idle; he had been keeping a close eye on the battles both domestically and internationally, guiding the progress of each battlefield alongside Noah's Ark and Sawada Hiroki under the guise of Sakura.

Previously, it was the undercover agents who were tense; now it's the police officers' turn to attack.

Fortunately, all preparations were complete, and the once solid and stubborn organization base was now facing the enemy as if it had opened its doors on its own initiative.

However, the members of the organization are all desperate criminals, and once they realized they couldn't escape, they showed their vicious side, making the battle still extremely dangerous.

Fortunately, the police have an overwhelming numerical advantage and are not inferior to the organization in terms of weaponry. The current battle situation is almost one-sided, gradually squeezing the organization's living space.

By 3 a.m., the scales of victory had completely tipped in favor of the police.

When Karasuma Renya finally regained consciousness after the aftereffects of being forcibly withdrawn from his mind, he began to panic upon seeing the current situation.

He decided to go and see for himself the progress of Shinichi Kudo's experiment.

The laboratory, which resembles a giant underground city, is divided into four areas.

One is Karasuma Renya's private laboratory, located at the very innermost core of the entire laboratory. No one is allowed to enter except for a select few; those who go in and out are brainwashed assassins. Researchers inside are generally unable to leave.

The remaining three, in order of distance, are the Brain in a Vat laboratory, the APTX4869 laboratory, and the one on the far edge is the Pandora laboratory, which was moved here and refocused after the organization codenamed Animal was dealt with.

The "Shinichi Kudo" brought back by Gin was not taken to Karasuma Renya's personal laboratory, but to the Brain in a Vat laboratory next door.

If Karasuma Renya couldn't figure out what was special about Kudo Shinichi, he planned to annihilate Kudo Shinichi's consciousness, just like he did with his clones, and then implant a brain-computer interface capable of transmitting his own consciousness into Kudo Shinichi's head through minimally invasive surgery. From then on, Karasuma Renya would be the "protagonist" of the world, blessed with good fortune no matter what he did.

But when Karasuma Renya went to see Kudo Shinichi in person, he was greeted by a bullet.

"Bang!"

Karasuma Renya died for the second time today, this time by Vermouth.

Before losing consciousness, he saw the blond youth, whom he had been unable to find, walk out from behind the laboratory door, knock out two stunned researchers, and then walk familiarly toward the unsurprised Vermouth.

Even the "Shinichi Kudo" figure that was originally unconscious on the operating table stood up.

"This guy is way too cautious, I'm really impressed."

"Could this be the original? It shouldn't be a clone, right?"

"This time he should really be dead, right?"

When Karasuma Renya regained consciousness, even the excruciating pain that felt like his soul was being torn apart could not mask his terror and rage.

Vermouth betrayed him too!

Moreover, that group of people had even infiltrated the organization to such a deep extent. The reason they had been pretending all along was because they were infiltrating the organization from within, since they were unsure of his true identity!

But now! They might be close to finding him!!!

Karasuma Renya had a splitting headache, but then he received a call from Gin.

Gin.

Karasuma Renya stared intently at that name with bloodshot eyes, his gaze almost bursting with rage.

Curaçao, Kiel, Bourbon, Scotland, and Vermouth are all traitors.

So, will Gin also betray him?

Thinking about it carefully, both Shinichi Kudo and Shuichi Akai narrowly escaped death at Gin's hands...

*

Four o'clock in the morning.

Rei Furuya glanced at the time: "It's about time. Noah's Ark and I will start destroying all the experimental data."

"Isn't it a bit too dangerous to act now?" Vermouth said. "How about we go together after the organization is completely defeated?"

She also hated those experiments.

“No, we must destroy those lab data and equipment that shouldn’t exist in the world before anyone else breaks into the lab. There are too many people and too many different kinds of people involved in this operation, but those things cannot be seen and taken out by anyone.” Rei Furuya said, reaching out to touch the red scarf around his neck, and said with a smile, “Besides, I’d better leave here before dawn.”

Kaito Kid nodded thoughtfully and said, "Alright, things are almost settled here. I'll go check on Pandora."

Although Rei Furuya had confirmed countless times that none of the gems at Pandora's Lab were Pandora's, he knew how much Kaito Kid cared about this, so he figured it would be good to go and check.

Vermouth flicked her long blonde hair and said, "Then I'm going to find Cool Guy. I want to see the Silver Bullet pierce the heart of the organization with my own eyes."

The three then parted ways.

They are all skilled at disguise and adept at blending into crowds and picking locks. With the support of Noah's Ark and Hiroki Sawada, they have no problem moving around even within an organization that has not yet completely collapsed.

Rei Furuya remained in the brain-in-a-bottle laboratory. After the two left, he disguised himself as the researcher who had been knocked unconscious and dragged "Renya Karasuma's" corpse out.

It's unclear what exactly went wrong with Karasuma Renya's side, but they didn't seem to care about this side either. As a result, most people who were unaware of the existence of the clones believed that the organization's boss was truly dead after not receiving any response from their superiors.

The already turbulent public sentiment collapsed instantly, and many people fled in the chaos.

After the news spread, the organization members who were still resisting outside were thrown into chaos.

Rei Furuya essentially used drugs to knock out a few guards and then destroyed the data in the lab.

At first, some researchers were so frightened that they roared and questioned him about why he was ruining their years of hard work. Others frantically tried to stop him, saying that if the experiment went wrong and the big shots involved in the Brain in a Vat Project suffered brain death, then they would all be doomed.

"But once the police storm in and find this evidence, we're even more doomed!!!" The researcher in Furuya Rei's disguise was already of high status and had a bad temper, and now he roared back with even greater force, making the already confused researchers even more conflicted.

Some people believe the organization is finished and they probably can't escape. If the police find this data on human experiments that are not tolerated by the world, they are definitely doomed.

There was also a group of people who valued the experiment more than their own lives, and were determined not to allow anyone to sabotage it. They even believed that no one would be indifferent to immortality, and that even if one Karasuma Renya fell, there would be thousands upon thousands of Karasuma Renya supporting them to continue their research.

But in the end, more people wanted to survive, so they tied up the opposing researchers and destroyed all the experimental data on the brain in a vat.

They even went so far as to activate the self-destruct program for all the brains in the vats, injecting highly corrosive liquid into them to quickly melt the brains, leaving only a vat of murky liquid.

After destroying the evidence, everyone worked together to take care of the few remaining black-clad assassins, and then began their respective escape routes.

Furuya Rei, on the other hand, changed his alias again and, in a state of panic, ran to the mysterious laboratory next door belonging to Karasuma Renya to inform them of the news.

This part is a bit more difficult. This laboratory is Karasuma Renya's biggest secret. It contains experiments related to time travel, the truth of the world, his own body research, cloning, and brain-computer interfaces. All the people in the laboratory are his most loyal, and there are also quite a few brainwashed assassins.

Moreover, most of the forces in the base that Karasuma Renya could still trust and control were now concentrated here to protect his safety.

Because of Vermouth's betrayal, everyone entering now needs to have their face checked to see if they are disguised.

However, the problem at the entrance had already been solved by Vermouth and Conan Edogawa, who had broken in first.

The only people Rei Furuya needs to deal with are the remaining researchers whose minds are no longer quite right and the mindless suicide soldiers.

This took him a little effort, but fortunately, he was well-prepared and spent nearly an hour finally destroying all the things related to time travelers, world protagonists, clones, and brain-computer interfaces.

In the end, only the Pandora experiment remained.

Amidst the chaos, Rei Furuya didn't flee the research institute with the others. Instead, he hid in a corner, preparing to ask Conan Edogawa about the situation.

He didn't plan to go to Pandora Labs again to destroy the evidence, even though leaving the data there would have a significant negative impact on him and might affect his reinstatement review after going undercover. As long as it didn't pose a danger to the millions of ordinary but happy people in the world, it was fine.

Even if the Pandora affair is exposed, it doesn't matter, since it's all fake anyway. There are many more important things to do right now.

After successfully infiltrating the research institute in the form of a child, Conan Edogawa took the antidote and became Shinichi Kudo. He was then disguised by Vermouth as a senior researcher and entered the secret laboratory exclusively for Renya Karasuma.

After they killed the second Karasuma Renya, Conan Edogawa confirmed the location of Karasuma Renya's true identity.

Vermouth went to help, and Conan Edogawa planned to go directly to Karasuma Renya with the tranquilizer dart. After dealing with Karasuma Renya, Vermouth could disguise herself as Karasuma Renya and end the battle completely.

This is a completely different development from the future, and Rei Furuya is a little worried and wants to go and help.

But before he could even dial the number to inquire, Conan Edogawa arrived first.

A slightly anxious voice came from the other end of the earpiece: "Mr. Furuya! Karasuma Renya isn't letting anyone near him. He probably already knows we've infiltrated his area, and—buzz—I'm afraid—buzz, you need to hurry—buzz buzz buzz—"

The rest of the words were completely drowned out by noise and then cut off completely.

Rei Furuya frowned and took out his phone, only to find that all signals were blocked.

Even Noah's Ark, which had always been with him, had disappeared.

When cornered, even a dog will do the opposite of what it wants. Karasuma Renya, driven to the brink, also began to act mad, which was not unexpected.

He knew that the base had been infiltrated by spies and traitors and was no longer safe, so he directly blocked the signal of the entire base, cutting off all communication between people.

So, next, Karasuma Renya will either have to perish together with them or prepare to escape.

Based on Furuya Rei's understanding of Karasuma Renya, there's a 90% chance it's the latter.

Karasuma Renya's obsession with living was so strong that he was willing to abandon everything.

However, once he escapes, he will definitely activate the self-destruct program of the entire base immediately, causing everything to disappear in the explosion.

Unfortunately, the self-destruct mechanism here was already solved by Rei Furuya and Noah's Ark.

After a moment's thought, Furuya Rei tore off his disguise in the now deserted laboratory, changed back into his own appearance, and even put his original clothes and scarf back on.

Although there was no signal for the time being, he was covered in listening devices, tracking devices, and surveillance cameras that everyone had placed on him, so that they could find him quickly if anything happened.

The blond youth pinched the end of the red scarf on his chest and glanced at it, confirming that the miniature camera inside was still working properly, recording everything that happened in front of him into its memory.

Then, he turned and walked deeper into the research institute.

Rei Furuya still plans to go and check on Conan Edogawa.

Even before the signal was cut off, everyone in the Sakura group urged him to leave the base every few minutes, and Hiro, who was closer, was already on his way.

But it's 5:30 now, and it's completely dark. Dawn comes late in winter, so he still has time.

At six o'clock, he will definitely leave before dawn.

Rei Furuya quickly arrived at the entrance to the secret passage that Renya Karasuma had used for his escape, but there was already someone there.

"Why is it you again?" Furuya Rei said unhappily.

Shuichi Akai turned his head: "Again?"

He keenly sensed the difference and immediately pressed, "This doesn't mean you don't want to see me, does it? Or is it something else?"

In that future, did he also meet Rei Furuya here?

"...Not really." Furuya Rei was too lazy to explain to him that in this future cycle they didn't meet here, but they did fight together to the very end in the final battle of their previous life.

But he was still a little concerned about this variable, so he walked over and asked, "What are you doing here?"

“I’m here to hunt down Gin,” Shuichi Akai said. “He suddenly came back an hour ago for some reason, and I’ve been chasing him all the way here.”

While almost all the organization members were fleeing outwards, Gin was the only one running inwards, his face filled with a crazed murderous aura.

Shuichi Akai was determined not to let Gin off the hook, and considering that Rei Furuya was still there and had been a death sentence foretold by the prophet, he simply abandoned the other FBI agents and came alone.

Anyway, he was used to acting alone, so it didn't affect his other plans.

"Gin..." Fangtani Rei's expression was subtle.

According to the original plot, he was supposed to perish together with Gin, which could be considered as him being killed by Gin.

In this future cycle, Gin was also present when he disappeared.

Or, according to the experimental data from the future, Gin was present at the scene of each of his deaths, making him the first eyewitness and the prime suspect.

But no matter which time it happened, whether Gin survived or not, they were never able to get any specific information from him.

So this time, almost everyone unanimously decided to kill Gin if they had the chance.

Since we've reached the point where Gin is going to die anyway, killing him a little earlier shouldn't be a big problem.

Shuichi Akai was relentlessly pursuing Gin with a sniper rifle, and Hiromitsu Morofushi also joined the pursuit for two hours during the mission.

Shuichi Akai was used as bait, Kagemitsu Morofushi laid an ambush, Wataru Date laid the trap, Jin Matsuda used a plain bomb, and Kenji Hagiwara sped off, successfully luring Gin into the trap.

Even so, Gin miraculously escaped.

Gin is powerful, but not to this extent.

Such a bizarre event immediately reminded them of the system's and the world's consciousness's ways.

Shuichi Akai stepped forward and blocked Rei Furuya's path: "I'm going after them. You get out of here as soon as possible."

After saying that, seeing the blond youth frown and show signs of getting angry again, he immediately added, "They're still waiting for you outside."

Rei Furuya paused for a moment, then relaxed slightly.

Shuichi Akai met his gaze and said earnestly, "Trust me, I won't let anything happen to them, and I absolutely won't let Gin and Renya Karasuma escape."

“But you…” He hesitated for a moment, then, fearing he might cross a line, said tactfully, “You’d better stay away from Gin right now and leave here as soon as possible.”

The storyline of Rei Furuya has now come to an end.

Even the death scene was barely considered as letting Unit-00 go.

It can be said that the threads of fate that controlled the puppet have been severed from him, and he is completely free.

His only task now is to leave the organization's base safely and return to everyone alive.

This was the most troublesome problem for them in this operation, and it was also an opportunity that everyone had worked hard for countless times ten years later.

Rei Furuya took a deep breath, smiled and nodded, then looked at him: "Okay, then I'll leave the rest to you."

“You will do it, right, Shuichi Akai?” he said.

Shuichi Akai smiled and said, "Of course."

5:45.

Rei Furuya also begins to flee the organization's underground research facility.

He left the core secret laboratory, walked past the Brain in a Vat laboratory, and then through the APTX4869 laboratory.

He even encountered Karasuma Renya's cat and crow, which were used by Karasuma Renya to confuse them during the operation, making them subconsciously believe that the clones they followed and were close to were the real ones.

Both the cat and the crow liked Furuya Rei very much and wanted to follow him around.

However, Furuya Rei knew that these two animals were not quite normal either, and worried that they were also pawns of the system, so he locked them up in the laboratory and planned to have someone come and capture them later.

When he arrived at the outermost layer of the Pandora Laboratory without any obstacles, he saw the police who had broken in.

He happened to run into members of the Public Security Vanguard Team led by Kazami Yuya. Both of them were his familiar subordinates, so he didn't need to worry about being arrested as members of the organization or having to go through the trouble of proving his identity.

"What about Kazami?" Furuya Rei asked.

"Reporting to Mr. Furuya, Mr. Kazami has gone to Laboratory Number One." One person said respectfully.

Laboratory No. 1 was the code name given to Pandora Laboratory by the Public Security Bureau.

"He's alone? What's he doing in there?" Rei Furuya frowned. "There are probably still members of the organization inside the base. How could he act alone?"

The other person hesitated for a moment, but still said with a burning gaze, "Mr. Kazami went to destroy the experimental data! Mr. Furuya, you haven't had time to deal with the data from Lab One yet, have you? If people from other countries' agencies, especially the FBI and CIA, see those things, it could be detrimental to you. They have to be disposed of!"

The Pandora Experiment was initiated by Bourbon, who was the highest-ranking person in charge besides the BOSS, a fact they now know.

Rei Furuya sighed helplessly, "Actually—"

"Bang!"

Rei Furuya suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction from which the gunshots came.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

Rei Furuya ran straight towards the area where the gunfire was intense.

When he saw the organization's number one assassin with silver hair and green eyes, he actually had the thought, "Just as I thought," and "It's finally happening."

"Gin." Rei Furuya calmly raised his gun.

"Bourbon!" Gin also turned his gun on him.

"Mr. Furuya!" The injured Yuya Kazami's eyes lit up, but he quickly said nervously, "Mr. Furuya! I have destroyed all the information about you here! We can leave now!"

"You guys go first." Furuya Rei slightly raised his chin, letting the two people who followed behind take the injured Kazami Yuya away, while he himself faced off against Gin, who was staring at him like a vicious wolf.

He wasn't afraid of an injured Gin; having other people around would only distract him.

"Bourbon, I never expected you to be an undercover agent." Gin had never been so embarrassed, but seeing the blond youth at this moment, every cell in his body was excited.

He was excited that he would have the chance to kill the traitor with his own hands.

"Heh, police." Gin met those cold, purplish-gray eyes and laughed. "I never thought someone like you would be a lackey of the police. A madman like you can be an undercover agent?"

Rei Furuya didn't want to reply to him a second time, and was more concerned about the variables this time. He sneered, "I never expected that the famous organization's top killer, Gin, would be trembling and hiding in such a corner after the organization's destruction. That's quite a surprise."

Gin's anger intensified, and the killing intent he had been gathering erupted instantly as he pulled the trigger and began the battle.

Even amidst the fierce battle, he still managed to explain in a calm tone that he wasn't hiding there out of fear of being chased by Shuichi Akai.

"I came here because I saw Shinichi Kudo, but that kid still got away!" Gin said through gritted teeth. "That guy, those methods, he's clearly Kaito Kid!"

Rei Furuya seemed thoughtful, then chuckled and said, "So, it wasn't actually Karasuma Renya who called you back to protect him, but you found the clues yourself and came here? Gin, does your boss not want you anymore?"

Gin: "..."

Rei Furuya clicked his tongue and said, "Gin, you've always been loyal to the organization, but you've never been truly trusted by the Boss. I'm just an undercover agent, and I know more than you do."

Gin: "..."

Rei Furuya exclaimed loudly, "Gin, you're really having a tough time!"

Gin: "..."

Gin was furious.

*

On the other side.

Conan Edogawa and Vermouth finally cornered Renya Karasuma.

This secret passage has come to an end; above that is the ground.

The ground was completely occupied by the police, who, based on the intelligence provided by Furuya Rei, were heavily armed and guarding every exit, not letting anyone who came out of the underground escape.

Karasuma Renya no longer trusts anyone with their own thoughts. After jamming the signal, the robot is also rendered useless, so he only brought two brainwashed assassins who had always been by his side.

Vermouth and Conan Edogawa discussed it and decided that since they had guns, tranquilizer darts, and a soccer ball, they could go in and take a look.

Vermouth tried to unlock it, but failed.

Conan Edogawa made her step back a short distance, crouch down, and activate his leg-strengthening shoes.

A blinding flash of lightning instantly illuminated the dimly lit secret passage.

Conan Edogawa took a deep breath, released the soccer ball from his belt, and kicked it hard at the goal.

"boom--"

The deafening sound startled Vermouth, who covered her ears in shock.

Conan Edogawa: "..."

It seems like... I used a little too much force.

This was the first time he had used the device with Shinichi Kudo's 17-year-old body. In a moment of carelessness, he used too much force, smashing through the door and half of the wall, and even blasting open the ground with a turn.

Bright lights shone down from above, and through the swirling smoke, the bewildered voices of the crowd above could be heard.

Fortunately, the tunnel was built very solidly and did not collapse.

But are the people inside still alive?

"What's going on?" Shuichi Akai finally caught up with them and expressed his confusion at the scene before him.

After giving a quick explanation, the three of them cautiously went inside.

The blinding light shone down from the broken hole, and Conan Edogawa tore off his disguise to reveal Shinichi Kudo's face, indicating that he was one of their own.

As the dust settled, they were finally able to see what was inside.

The three people were all in the open space in the corner, and they didn't seem to have been hit.

Karasuma Renya lay curled up on the ground in pain, making no sound, but he did not appear to be injured.

The two black-clad guards stood beside him like robots that had lost their commands, showing no reaction to any other movement.

Shuichi Akai and Vermouth each subdued one of them, while Conan Edogawa carefully approached Renya Karasuma on the ground with a tranquilizer dart, only to be stunned upon getting close.

Karasuma Renya's wide-open eyes had lost their luster, and she was tightly clutching a somewhat familiar medicine box in her hand, with red APTX4869 capsules scattered on the ground in front of her.

"..."

Now that he has openly and legitimately resumed his identity as Shinichi Kudo, Conan Edogawa is filled with mixed feelings. Standing before the organization's boss who died from APTX4869, he is speechless for a moment.

Karasuma Renya may have still hoped that the miracle of APTX4869's rejuvenation would happen to him, or perhaps he was unwilling to accept it or felt that his young body would allow him to escape.

But he ultimately lost his gamble.

Fate did not favor him.

Shuichi Akai turned around, then suddenly frowned and asked, "Where's Gin?"

Vermouth was taken aback and turned to look at him: "Gin?"

Conan Edogawa suddenly turned his head, about to ask further questions, when two policemen jumped down from above.

It's Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji.

While keeping watch from above, Date Wataru shouted, "Where's Furuya?!"

Shuichi Akai realized what was happening and immediately turned and ran back.

“I came here after Gin, and I ran into Furuya on the way. I then told him to leave the base in the opposite direction. But Gin isn’t here, so he’s very likely to run into Gin again.” Shuichi Akai’s face darkened. “He’s in danger.”

Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, who instinctively ran after him, instantly changed their expressions, but managed to remain calm.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, we’ve considered this possibility. Morofushi was on his way to the base entrance to greet Furuya, the two of them together can definitely handle Gin, nothing will happen,” Kenji Hagiwara murmured.

The problem is that Rei Furuya was capable of dealing with Gin, and the reason he got into trouble might not be solely due to Gin; Gin was just a trigger.

While running and anxiously tapping his phone, Matsuda Jinpei's eyes suddenly lit up: "The signal is back! But the headset communication is still garbled! I'll try calling him!"

"Beep—beep—beep—"

In the long silence, the call went unanswered and eventually disconnected automatically.

Conan Edogawa, who had followed, also felt his heart sink.

*

"Whoosh..."

The winter wind ripped at his lungs like a knife as Morofushi Kagemitsu ran through the darkness.

It's almost six o'clock.

The sky was still pitch black, but this darkness, almost so deep that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, perfectly represented the darkness before dawn, and daylight was just around the corner.

Morofushi Kagemitsu rushed into the underground research institute and frantically ran down the stairs.

The sound of heartbeats and footsteps overlapped, creating a deafening roar.

My mind went blank, as if my soul had left my body, and I could only remember one goal.

Zero...zero...please, please don't let anything happen...

Inside, Morofushi Kagemitsu encountered several public security police officers who did not recognize him and were frightened and wary because of his expression.

Only Kazami Yuya, who had once worked with him, recognized him. Ignoring his bandaged wound, he immediately stood up, grabbed him, and said, "Furuya-san is inside! Gin is there too!!!"

He was pointing towards the institute's tightly closed gate, where several police officers were trying to force it open.

The door lock was pierced by countless bullets, and just as Morabushi Kagemitsu looked over, the door was smashed open by several policemen working together.

Morofushi Kagemitsu immediately ran over.

The research institute was very large, with doors leading to other doors, but the other doors inside were not locked.

As he stepped through the third door, Morofushi Kagemitsu suddenly stopped.

He looked down at the familiar phone on the ground, cracked and broken. His mind went blank for a moment, and a chill ran from his feet to his head, making him feel icy cold all over.

This phone doesn't have a cherry blossom pendant; it's Rei Furuya's original phone, not the future phone from ten years later.

But at this moment, the phone still broke according to its original fate, with the cracks all being exactly the same.

What about Zero?

Moribushi Kagemitsu picked up the phone and rushed towards the next door.

*

The innermost laboratory.

"Bang!" The silver-haired man, covered in blood, slammed into a wall inlaid with cabinets. The cabinet behind him, which contained countless dazzling gems, made a clattering sound, and the cabinet door near his elbow even fell off.

"Bourbon!!!" Gin gripped his broken hand, his eyes filled with such hatred he looked like he wanted to devour someone.

He was already injured, so he had virtually no chance of winning against Bourbon in his prime.

Even with a willingness to die together with his opponent, he couldn't find an opportunity; all his attempts were thwarted by the overly vigilant blond man.

"Call me Rei Furuya." Rei Furuya wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, raised his hand and pointed the gun at him, and smiled, "Now, I am Rei Furuya, a public security police officer."

That's really troublesome. Not only did they shoot a bullet hole in his scarf, but they also sent his phone flying.

The futuristic phone I'm wearing now can only communicate with the world ten years from now.

We can't get in touch with him, everyone must be so worried.

"This laboratory, you deliberately built it to cripple the organization's finances?" Gin was even more furious when he saw the room full of precious gems. "You started planning this back then? You've got some nerve!"

Perhaps realizing that he had indeed reached a dead end, but with too many mysteries yet to be solved, Gin was still asking questions.

Rei Furuya kept trying to provoke him and affect his sanity, but Gin remained calm and didn't make the slightest mistake. He was a very troublesome enemy who could easily be killed if he wasn't careful.

However, the fact that he didn't react to such stimulation shows that Gin didn't have any backup plans, nor did he cooperate with the system.

"Yeah, it's really hard work for you to earn money for me to spend." He smiled and raised the gun.

Rei Furuya originally had a lot to say, but delay would only lead to complications, so he stopped wasting words and decided to end the battle directly.

Gin clenched his fist under the menacing gun barrel, about to say something, when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar gem out of the corner of his eye.

The purple gemstone that had fallen to the edge of the counter has been cut in half; one half is being used for research, and the other half is being kept in the cabinet.

Gin certainly remembered this gem, because this purple gem was the first gem that Bourbon bought for a billion dollars from the organization.

Finally, his anger completely overwhelmed his reason, and he actually grabbed the half of the gem and threw it at the blond youth!

"Bourbon!!!"

"Bang--"

Rei Furuya easily dodged the "attack" by tilting his head, while simultaneously shooting and crippling one of Furuya's legs: "I told you, call me Rei Furuya."

Gin lay on the ground, but his eyes were fixed on him.

No, that's not right, they were staring at his back with a surprised expression.

Rei Furuya frowned, suspecting that Gin was faking it so he could take the opportunity to escape.

There should be nothing behind him except the wall.

It wasn't until the red light behind him caught Furuya Rei's attention that he suddenly turned around.

The half of the purple gemstone was smashed against the wall and shattered.

Rei Furuya remembered that Hiro had once said that the gem was similar in color to his eyes.

And the name of this gem is Pandora.

They examined it under the moonlight and cut it open to study it, ultimately concluding that it was a fake.

But at this moment, a diamond-shaped red gem the size of a fingertip was revealed from the broken half of the purple gem.

The red gem shone brightly, its light intensifying the moment he turned around, also staining Furuya Rei's wide purple eyes crimson.

In that instant, he finally understood everything and immediately pointed the gun at his own head.

But he couldn't move and could only watch helplessly as the red gem floated in front of him, its enormous red light rapidly engulfing his entire body.

Gin instinctively rushed over to grab the semi-transparent person, but with one hand and one leg crippled, he could only grab the fluttering red scarf.

The red light faded, leaving only a stunned Gin standing there, clutching the red scarf in his hand.

Furuya Zero disappeared.

Just then, Morofushi Kagemitsu ran in.

He hadn't seen what had happened before, and all the surveillance cameras here were destroyed. In the end, he could only point his cold, angry blue eyes and the murderous muzzle of his gun at Gin, who was holding a red scarf.

Gin: "..."

*

When Furuya Rei opened his eyes again, he was in complete darkness, with the still-glowing Pandora's Gem in his palm.

As he looked down at Pandora, he also caught a glimpse of the situation beneath him, and his purple eyes widened slightly.

He was actually on an enormous cherry blossom tree.

A quick glance suggests that this cherry blossom tree is at least tens of thousands of meters tall, with dense branches and blossoms that illuminate the darkness.

"This is your World Tree." The system suddenly spoke. "The branches extending from the tree represent the development of other worlds under your different choices. This World Tree has a total of seventy-three branches, each branch representing a cycle you have experienced."

Rei Furuya frowned, sat down and observed carefully, and found that familiar scenes were faintly flashing on the petals of each cherry blossom, all of which were things he had experienced before.

"This is the origin of the world, where there is no concept of time or life and death, so you don't need to try to commit suicide; you won't die," the system said again.

Ignoring the issue of Flood Valley Zero, I directly learned through practice.

He skillfully killed himself, only to find himself perfectly resurrected in the blink of an eye.

"..."

Rei Furuya sat cross-legged on a cherry blossom tree, took out his futuristic phone with a cherry blossom pendant from his pocket, and realized that he couldn't contact anyone here either, so he finally stopped struggling.

He fiddled with the Pandora, sighed, and said, "You've really played a big game here. So you were waiting for me all along, which is why I had no choice from the start, right?"

[Talking to smart people is so easy.] The system was quite satisfied and said directly: [You still have a choice.]

"Hmm?" Furuya Rei looked down at the branches of the tree, wanting to go down and take a look, but was blocked by the invisible wall and could only stay on the seventy-third branch that extended out from the top.

[Pandora has been activated. You now have two choices.] the system said.

[First, you choose to take Pandora back to the beginning. Only by bringing Pandora to your past self can that past self begin the cycle of reincarnation and gradually progress to the present, successfully saving everyone. However, without Pandora, you will never be able to return to the present world and will be forever trapped in that timeline, forever in the space-time rift, unseen by anyone. This is a global death.]

Furuya Zero remained silent.

[Second, you choose not to travel through time and instead return to the present with Pandora, thus surviving. However, this will completely alter your fate. Your past self would not have been able to obtain Pandora for time travel, and everyone you save now will die the moment you return.]

Rei Furuya was so angry he laughed: "You didn't give me a choice at all; this is a closed loop in time."

The system said: "I gave it to you, but you already had your choice."

Rei Furuya rubbed his head: "Alright, can I still use my revival cards? Can I have a chance to say goodbye to everyone properly?"

System: [The resurrection card is still usable, but you yourself can no longer return.]

System: [Use a resurrection card?]

Rei Furuya closed his eyes: "Yes."

The Pandora gem in my palm gradually began to heat up.

System: [Do you want to travel back to the zero playthrough?]

Rei Furuya gripped the scalding gem tightly, opened his eyes, and his purplish-gray eyes were resolute yet calm.

"Yes," he said.

In an instant, the blond youth's body became translucent, and he suddenly fell from the top of the cherry blossom tree.

This cherry blossom tree is so tall, and as the petals fall, the images and sounds on them seem to enter his mind.

It was like a revolving lantern.

All the people he knew and the things he experienced were like a videotape of his life being frantically pulled back, with scenes from the past flashing rapidly before his eyes.

"Liar," someone said.

[Eighth save point discovered: "A Dream of Nanke"]

"Little Furuya, did you know? Humans need three hugs every day to live happily!"

Seventh save point discovered: "The Raven Is Staring at You"

"What! The class monitor and Natalie are finally getting engaged? When are they getting married?!"

[Sixth save point discovered: The world line where the four-petaled cherry blossom survives]

"Haha, that group is our ZERO Observation Diary! It's used to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't do anything reckless!"

[Fifth save point discovered: The world line where the three-petaled cherry blossom survives]

"I know you hate red, but a red scarf is a symbol of a hero. Superheroes wear red capes, and Kamen Rider always wears a red scarf around his neck, right? I may be a Hiro, but my hero has always been Zero."

[Fourth save point discovered: The world line where the two cherry blossom petals survived]

"Hahaha, Unit Zero! Great, great, then the five of us can form a five-colored Mazda team!"

[Third save point discovered: The world line where a single cherry blossom petal survives]

"This is the butterfly effect and world line convergence. I have an idea, let's call it Lorentz Butterfly VS Laplace's Demon for now."

[Second save point discovered: "The Shining Officers"]

Congratulations on your graduation! May you all have a bright future and a promising career.

[First save point discovered: Police Academy Under the Cherry Blossoms]

"Hey! You blond bastard! Let's fight!"

You have started your first playthrough.

"We are both God and the devil, because we want to reverse the flow of time and bring the dead back to life."

[Refusal is invalid.]

"Rei Furuya, do you want to reverse the flow of time? Do you want to bring the dead back to life? Sign a contract with us, and all your wishes will be granted."

[The contract is established, the game begins.]

Rei Furuya finally fell to the ground.

The countless sounds and images in my mind fell silent for a moment, and then the system's voice sounded again.

[Congratulations, Rei Furuya! After 73 playthroughs, your dream has come true! Your wish has been fulfilled.]

[The eighth save point, "A Dream of Nanke," has been completed]

[Achieving a Happy Ending: It Was Destiny]

[Ninth save point discovered: Reset]

[Automatically saving]

Save successful

You have started the zero playthrough.

*

December 25th.

Six o'clock in the morning.

The sun's rays pierced the darkness, and dawn broke.

"Thump—thump—thump—"

The clock tower by the sea rang its bells, announcing that it was dawn.

Shops on the bustling streets had already opened early and were playing Christmas carols.

Today, a savior is born in holy light.

The police officers, who had been on edge all night, cheered their victory in the sunlight.

He will rescue those in distress and bring joy and happiness.

With the arrival of the sun came old friends who had returned.

"Those five resurrection cards have been used."

Morofushi Kagemitsu overheard Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Date Wataru discussing something intensely with those around him.

"Morofushi's parents, and Miyano's parents, have all come back to life."

"Kofuruya's mother has also been resurrected. The resurrection method is the same: she was rescued after escaping an accident, but she lost her memory. It is not yet certain whether her memory was rewritten or the world has changed."

"..."

"What about Zero?" Morofushi Kagemitsu gripped the red scarf tightly in his hand, muttering softly, "Where did Zero go?"

"..."

No one could answer him.

*

It's snowing.

A red butterfly slowly flew past the window.

"Woof?"

Harlow's attention was drawn to it, and he stared at it for a moment, but quickly turned his gaze back to the gate.

The little white dog stood guard at the door and refused to leave.

It is waiting for its owner to return.

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