Chapter 142: It's scary, but I don't think I'm scary
“…”
There was a strange silence between the two.
After waiting for a while, Qian Jianmu didn't hear any sound. He slowly looked at the young man sitting against the wall.
...has completely shrunk into the clothes!
The furry top of his head was exposed to the cold wind, and Qian Jianmu's originally somewhat strange expression slowly became subtle and confused.
He didn't think much and asked:
"Are you cold?"
Dazai Osamu:?
The pile of clothes moved, and that cold eye slowly appeared. It looked at him strangely and complained in a humbly tone.
"...The first thing you clear when playing Galgame must be the only friendship line."
“…?” Qian Jianmu wanted to refute this point: “But it’s quite difficult to create a pure friendship line.”
“……? Is it difficult?” Dazai Osamu blinked blankly.
Isn’t it the easiest option to achieve it by choosing the most unlikely option?
"If you are not careful, restricted plots will occur and even normal options can go wrong. If you want to become real siblings, you must be careful to identify wrong options..." Qian Jianmu explained seriously.
"Stop talking, that's not a galgame, that's an adult game... Wait, who gave it to you?!"
The person sitting there was about to jump up, his expression was hard to describe in a few words. When he saw Qian Jianmu's hesitant expression, his emotions suddenly became as calm as dead water.
"Oh, it's me. It's okay."
Dazai Osamu, you deserve to die! Even if I am Dazai Osamu, you deserve to die!
His emotions suddenly became incoherent. The young man took a deep breath and stood up weakly. He looked down and saw the red scarf hanging around his neck. He wanted to pull it off and throw it on the ground, but it got mixed with the down jacket on his body, which was quite loose and not properly worn. He really didn't have the strength to pull it out, and instead messed up his clothes.
It was pitch black, with nothing on top and nothing on the bottom, and it looked like a giant ostrich standing there.
Qian Jianmu endured it and maintained a calm expression in the face of death.
"The kotatsu is ready. Please stay here before you leave."
The interior of the room was made very comfortable by the previous sword man. Even after he left, the house was still in good condition, with complete water, electricity, and game consoles. It just didn't look like a house for rest, but rather a room for leisure and entertainment.
However, judging by the folded blankets next to the central kotatsu, this person probably just came back a few days ago and just found a random place to sleep.
"So… what is this?"
The small compass was still in his hand. This time he traveled across the world truly, and this compass played an indispensable role in his achievement. This thing that can travel through the world has always been in his hands, and Qian Jianmu has never shown any intention of taking it back.
Dazai Osamu really didn't have the energy to care, and was too lazy to say anything. He just gave a look and let people understand it themselves.
In this regard, Qian Jianmu’s reading comprehension is quite good.
"If you want to go back, just press the button on the compass. If you want to come back, you can just use it."
"Is it really okay to hand it over to someone who could die at any time?"
“Not everyone can handle the jump.”
The reason why the Shinsengumi can endure it is because they are born blessed and have their spiritual power registered with the Government of Time, which gives them a back door.
This compass was completely made by Qian Jianmu himself, and it didn't even have any protection that might have existed. If an ordinary person used it rashly, the only result would probably be that he would be shattered by the chaotic energy of time and space.
But Dazai Osamu's physique allows him to travel between the cracks in parallel worlds, and the compass only opens the channel for him.
In fact, Dazai Osamu himself should not be able to travel through time on his own initiative. Fortunately, the Time Government has worked hard for decades to use scientific explanations for things related to time and space, and connected them with physical objects, transforming the unnatural into the natural.
Dazai Osamu cannot interact with supernatural forces, but if there is real pure technology involved, he can use it.
"So, did you give it to me?"
The pale young man lowered his eyes, thinking about something, smiled inexplicably, and put the cube machine on the table.
The shirt was tightly wrapped around his wrists, blue veins meandered on the back of his hands which were too bloodless, his soft and cold fingertips tapped lightly on the table, his drooping black hair concealed his overly thoughtful expression.
Just when Chijianmu thought he was going to say something, the young man lay back and rolled flexibly into the loose kotatsu, leaving only his furry head exposed.
"I'm so tired. I don't want to do it anymore."
He complained quietly:
"I want to sleep until I die."
"Oh...that's great." Qian Jianmu took the phone and sent text messages to people around him to place an order, and responded softly.
"Speaking of which, Makuhito..." In a corner where no one could see, the leader Dazai Osamu's eyes suddenly became dark:
"How is the Dazai Osamu of this world who has been sleeping all the time?"
“…”
***
There is not much that Qian Jianmu can do for the Supernatural Power Conference.
First of all, it depends on what choice Yukiya himself makes.
The final chapters of "The Setting Sun" and "No Longer Human" have been published. At the same time, the final chapter of "Repetition of Inaction" by Yukiya has also been published.
[Time] is like a magician who teases the world. No one knows what he is going to do until the end.
The only thing Qian Jianmu could conclude was that he still retained a certain degree of gentleness.
Oda Sakunosuke was still alive, Sakaguchi Ango was still alive, even Mori Ogai was still alive, and it seemed that [Time] had no intention of causing a big fuss, not even a river of blood.
After all, he still felt that Dazai Osamu would not do anything bad.
Although it was very abnormal, he still believed it.
Fyodor, who was almost tortured to insanity: Haha.
At first, Edogawa Ranpo disagreed with him, but for some reason, Edogawa Ranpo became more relaxed than him. From this point of view, I believe that Edogawa Ranpo is not wrong.
The leader felt something was wrong as soon as they met: Haha.
In short, Sengenmaku accompanied the leader to rest at the shrine for a day or two before setting off to the Armed Detective Agency to look for Edogawa Sachiko.
As long as he caught Sachiko, he would not be behind in the initiative.
He knew that the situation was not serious, but he could not just go out with Dazai Osamu's face. Besides, he did not really want to go back to his own world, so he had to stay alone in the shrine, sitting in front of the game console. He picked up the game console with some awkwardness and as if it had been a long time, and played the game that Senmaku bought for him.
...So why did it turn out like this?
However, he had never played these games... and they were indeed very boring to play.
Having said that, it’s almost done.
Oh, is it an Easter egg?
A somewhat strange smile appeared on the lazy young man's face.
[In the picture, the protagonist walked through the town and came to a shrine.
This is a very small shrine, located on a not very high hill. You walk up step by step from the downstairs, and then finally pass through the main hall and arrive at the wooden house where people live.
It's very strange that there is electricity in a place like this.
But now that we've come this far, there's nothing we can do, right? Just like in many games, walk into the house and search for NPCs or supplies.
However, the protagonist was very smart. He seemed to know which room someone was in and walked straight to the door.
Knock knock, knock knock.
He knocked on the door and asked:
"Anyone there?"
The sound of game BGM seemed to be coming from the room, but the people in the room did not speak, just quietly pressing the buttons on the controller.
As expected of the protagonist, he just pushed the door open and walked in without any courtesy at all.
Then, he walked closer and closer, and stood in front of the low table, with his back to him, and the man pressed the game controller.
The protagonist smiled:
"You look even more miserable than I thought."
Then, the NPC with his back to him turned around, revealing a face exactly like his.
He said——】
"Sure enough, you will come to find me."
The sound of "game over" reached my ears. The young man sitting in front of the game console had a bandage on his eyes loosely covering half of his face. He did not turn his head, and there was a smile in his eyes, but with a hint of coldness and sarcasm.
"Aren't you going to sleep? Why didn't I let you fall asleep?"
"…You're so fierce?"
The young man standing opposite him was wearing a khaki coat and had a warm smile, but upon closer inspection there was no smile in his eyes. He had his hands in his pockets and tilted his head.
They are obviously the same age, and the man in khaki even deliberately chose a body of the same age, but when the two people face each other at the same time, the difference in body shape clearly shows the completely different sufferings they have experienced.
The leader, Dazai Osamu, is thinner, more frail, and more sinister. The young man in the khaki trench coat seemed clean and relieved, but he had a strange sense of danger, like a poisonous snake swimming underwater in a beautiful landscape.
"If it wasn't for me, you would have died, right?" Time sighed, "But you don't look like you want to die."
"Yeah?"
The game cursor moved upwards, and the restart button was pressed. The bandaged young man said in a calm tone:
"Can you still die?"
“…It’s really unpleasant.”
[Time] His smile faded a bit, and he was too lazy to say anything more. Their greetings would never make each other relax, but would only make each other more alert.
"Give me the compass." He held out his hand.
"Reason." said the leader.
"It's so troublesome, can't you just give it to me directly?" [Time] complained.
"Eh...? I want to hear why Edogawa Ranpo wants to cooperate with you."
Finally, the leader turned his head, his eyes sunk into the darkness, and a sinister smell of blood seeped out from his cold gaze. This kind of bloody murderous intent with "numerous victories" is invisibly horrifying.
Like a monster in the darkness, or a shadow destined to remain because of the contrast between light and dark, its mere existence symbolizes sin.
[Time] He doesn't know what the leader has experienced. He cannot read the memory of Dazai Osamu, who has the No Longer Human attribute. His understanding of the leader actually comes from Chimamaku's understanding of the leader.
It's really scary.
His experience was far inferior to that of the leader. He did not have the determination to burn his boats, nor did he have experience in massacres. His cruelty, for a long time, focused on teasing and killing individuals. In terms of evil spirit alone, he is one level behind the leader.
When it was first struck by his aura, even [time] was slightly stunned, but then it easily returned to its normal state without leaving a trace.
"… Isn't Mr. Ranpo the kind of person who is obviously scary but doesn't think he is scary?"
He smiled:
"I think you should understand that for someone like Ranpo-san, as long as you arouse his interest a little, he will..."
"If that were the case, you wouldn't call him sir." The leader interrupted him, with a hint of boredom in his eyes:
"So much to say, are you free?"
"Eh..." He does talk a lot, but there's nothing he can do about it. Time lowered his eyes a little aggrieved: "It's just a prelude."
He slowly approached, kept a safe distance and sat next to the leader, picked up the extra controller, and adjusted the game to two-player mode.
"Of course—it's related to Maku-kun."
The leader raised his eyebrows:
"You know him well?"
He hadn't even heard much information about Dazai Osamu from Chigenmaku, so he had never seen him before, right?
[Time] didn't answer, but just smiled strangely.
He said:
"The future is familiar, does it count?"
***
People with special abilities from various countries have arrived in Yokohama one after another.
This is very dangerous. After all, the last place where so many countries gathered was the mysterious island.
The outbreak of time was so disturbing that almost no one could guarantee that the time disaster would not cause the destruction of all of Japan. Fukuchi Sakurachi was the first to make a report to appease the upper echelons. At the moment when he could not completely appease them, Fukuchi Sakurachi submitted an application for the World Superpower United Nations Conference.
At first, no one paid attention to this report, but soon, the trend of time chaos began to spread to the world, and the existence of time disasters was gradually taken seriously.
In order to seize this opportunity and to gather those key figures in Yokohama, Fukuchi Sakurachi put in a lot of effort. He traveled around the outside world all year round, exchanging interests with all parties, and finally pushed the conference to this point.
To be honest, no one expected him to be able to do this.
Even if what he exchanged was life and death of [time], one still has to stand in awe of him.
"I don't know what he's going to do, but if I want to know roughly, I can tell by just taking a look. No matter what, the truth will always be revealed, at the end of his goal."
When discussing his somewhat bizarre life goals, Ranpo said:
“A person’s entire life is written in his or her eyes. Especially his or her current mood, which is written in the largest type.[1]”
"When we are in a situation where we have to follow the rules, for now, neither the attacker nor the defender has any intention of destroying Japan, so what are we afraid of?"
In fact, they all knew that Bai Qilin was preparing for a big fight, and the foreign psychics were also ready to go, pointing their swords at Qingsen at all times, and decided to end the control of [time] at this moment.
However, on the day before the conference, the two were still in the Armed Detective Agency, slowly roasting marshmallows on a gas stove.
The snow-white marshmallows were roasted brown. When the roasted shell was peeled off, there was stringy snow-white sugar liquid underneath. There was hot chocolate and crispy whole-wheat biscuits on the table.
Qian Jianmu looked at him for a while and picked up a finger biscuit.
"The changes in this world are almost entirely left to Ranpo. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not that hard yet. The intelligence contacts you left behind are very useful."
The timeline of this world is too long, and there are not many things to deal with. It is more about observing the progress of things at all times, so Sengenmaku asked Edogawa Ranpo to take charge. In fact, there are not many things left. Before leaving, he contacted all the intelligence dealers he knew before, hired familiar intermediaries at a high price as quickly as possible, integrated a temporary buying and selling intelligence chain, and handed the contacts to Ranpo.
The funds for purchasing intelligence came from the remaining 500 billion. However, news involving the world or high-level news was too expensive. By the time he returned, only a few tens of billions were left of the 100 billion or 200 billion.
Even Chigenmaku didn't expect Ranpo to investigate to this extent. Money is not important. Behind the money is a large amount of information flow and very hard investigation and exploration.
Even though Ranpo is very smart, he will get tired if he continues like this.
Some subtle changes told Chimamaku that in these few short years, Edogawa Ranpo's personality had changed.
Unlike before when he happily stayed in the Armed Detective Agency all day, he now thinks more, is more mature, and is more cunning.
Rather than being mature, it’s happier to be a little childish, right?
"…I'm sorry, would it be happier if you just investigated the case?"
He asked hesitantly, but saw the black-haired boy sandwich the marshmallow between the biscuits, his eyes raised slightly and fell on him.
“Everyone is working hard. This is not just my job.”
As if he felt that these words could not really put Qian Jianmu at ease, he put down the snacks, propped up his face, his green eyes were as beautiful as emeralds, and his tone gradually changed from relaxed to serious.
"What kind of person am I in the eyes of Mu-kun? Actually, even if you can analyze a person's personality, you can't really understand it, right?"
"However, although I follow the motto of 'If it suits my taste, everything is fine', on the other hand, I sometimes feel that way."
“I want to be afraid of something. Even if it’s insignificant or funny, I want to be afraid of something. [2] – That’s the feeling.”
The boy narrowed his eyes and gave a beautiful, sly smile.
"A peaceful day is good, but a little excitement is also good."
"Your marshmallow is going to burn! I punish you by making you bake another one for me!"
Qian Jianmu lowered his head, threw away the burnt marshmallow, replaced it with a new one, and sighed.
"I always feel like something is happening..."
"I'm doing something bad to you, and you probably noticed that." Ranpo stuffed the biscuit into his mouth and said vaguely.
"Ah... that's fine then."
The emerald green eyes were shining with a clear light. The white-haired boy reflected in such beautiful eyes was relieved when he heard the words:
"How long will it last? Can you tell me?"
…
The person who did the bad thing tells the story frankly, and the person who did the bad thing trusts him wholeheartedly. The two are entangled in a strange relationship, as if dancing on the edge of a cliff, with the feeling of falling, and it is hard to tell whether it is happiness or anxiety.
Ranpo shook his head and thought slowly.
He is still so gullible now, how gullible was he in the past?
There were explosions in the distance, flames gradually rose, and white mist spread, but it never spread out, but condensed in that small piece of heaven and earth.
The world suddenly changed.
The flame stopped, the marshmallow stopped melting, the boy's thoughts stopped, the wind in the air and everything stopped.
Distant Aomori.
Fyodor opened his eyes and saw a long-haired man dressed in women's clothes standing opposite him, holding a knife.
Time froze into a solid state, and a knife scar that penetrated the bone appeared on the neck of the imprisoned black-haired Russian man.
"No Longer Human."
The supernatural power of Sin and Punishment was nullified. The young man had no expression on his face and spoke in an extremely difficult voice:
"Goodbye, mouse."
Ah——finally out of this long time loop——
Time flows, cutting, splicing, the man in women's clothing holding a knife puts down the knife and returns to the Armed Detective Agency in Yokohama.
The murderer looked as if nothing had happened. He passed by Mitsuyo Kakuta who was suspended in the air, and Akiko Yosano who was bending over to prepare medical supplies. He slowly walked into the office and stood in front of the only boy who could move with him.
The white-haired boy was tilting his head to look at the strange scene outside the window. This still world at this moment had a strong sense of falsehood, like a paused movie.
"Xing Ye." He said a little depressed: "When will it end?"
The long-haired man opened his eyes, lifeless like a real doll, but he responded quietly in his heart:
——Wait a moment, Maku-kun.
——It’s just the beginning.
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