Chapter 24: Dazai, 22, won't expose the detective, but he is 12 now.
Edogawa Ranpo knelt on the futon, staring at the man in front of him with solemnity and confusion.
He reached out his hand and placed it on the white-haired boy's neck again.
Still heating up? Still heating up? ? !
Who’s got a fever of 60 or 70 degrees? !
This is too outrageous. If I continue like this, I will get burned just by touching this person.
Although he lives in a world that is not very materialistic, Edogawa Ranpo, who is still very materialistic, has a rare blank expression.
He stood up woodenly, walked to the door of Zhongjing and knocked.
Dazai Osamu had been making a fuss for most of the night, and Nakai had just fallen asleep, looking at him with some confusion.
Edogawa Ranpo pointed in the direction of the room.
“…Um, someone is going to get excited.”
Dazai Osamu, who had just fallen asleep, suddenly jumped up.
"boiling?!"
——
Summer, night, rainy night.
Three people sat around the lying boy. Nakai held the thermometer in confusion. The mercury thermometer was completely useless and the electronic thermometer had reached its upper temperature limit. He remembered that there was a thermometer to measure the room temperature, and was thinking about how to take it out and press it on Qian Jianmu.
If the temperature is 38°, it is a high fever and you need to take medicine. If the temperature is 39°, you need to be monitored and be ready to seek medical treatment at any time. If the temperature is 40°, you need to be sent to the hospital for emergency cooling.
So when one person's fever reaches 65°, the three of them will not be very panicked.
Haha, just 65°. Since it's a thousand-room curtain, it's not surprising.
Dazai Osamu excitedly took an egg from the kitchen and stuffed it into Chigenmaku's clothes. He checked whether it was cooked every few minutes, as if he would really dare to eat it if it was cooked.
In fact, both Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo were still running a fever, but a fever of over 60 degrees might only happen once in a lifetime, so both of them looked very energetic. Edogawa Ranpo's fever was really starting to subside. He took the snacks that he hadn't had the energy to eat during the day and ate them while saying:
"Have you confirmed (chew chew chew) that this person (chew chew chew) is human (chew chew chew)?"
Dazai Osamu joined in the fun:
"If you continue to boil it, will it steam like hot water?"
Nakai frowned a little worriedly:
"Will putting ice cubes on your head cool you down? Will they evaporate immediately?"
Edogawa Ranpo then continued:
"Will (chew chew chew) burn?"
For a moment, the room was filled with a happy atmosphere.
On the other side, Qian Jianmu said that he was still awake, just his computer was frozen, which didn't mean he couldn't hear.
It was probably around midnight, and he had just fallen asleep when the voice of zero suddenly popped into his mind.
"Notice that an unknown energy has been detected, analyzing..."
"Analysis successful, the energy is named: Ship of Theseus."
"In the matching of abnormal abilities, the priority is as follows: Thousand Screens (Compatibility:???), Zero (belongs to Thousand Screens) (Compatibility: 90%), Eye of Pain (belongs to Lilith) (Compatibility: 50%), Source of Life (belongs to Caroline) (Compatibility: 10%), Poison Blood (belongs to Moyun) (Compatibility: 5%)... Unknown marking gambling rules (Compatibility:???)"
...Thank you for listing all the parts of me that belong to others.
…
But... so this is how the world works?
The situation in this world is far worse than he imagined.
Even if he doesn't care, there will be big problems in this world.
If the supernatural power could separate his existence from others...
Qian Jianmu was awakened and was extremely sober. After a brief thought, he replied:
"Give it to zero."
"The Ship of Theseus has been granted supernatural powers successfully. Energy is being transferred."
"The Ship of Theseus and Zero are merging. Zero is entering the upgrade process..."
"Zero is upgrading. Energy points consumed: 23000 points."
"A large amount of energy is injected, the body temperature is forced to remain constant, and the waste energy will be discharged in the form of heat."
Then, he caught fire (physical version).
A large amount of junk information carried in the origin of the world rushed into his brain, making him feel again the mental torture of being humiliated by seven languages ​​in turn.
If he were to explain this state in the future, it would probably be like being surrounded by a group of Gojo Satoru using the Infinite Space. A large amount of junk information mixed with useful information quickly passed through his brain. He couldn't discard it all, but he couldn't read it one by one either. He could only spend a lot of energy analyzing it.
Although he was not unfamiliar with this situation, he was indeed in a state of oversaturation and freeze. Although he could vaguely realize the information from the outside world, he no longer had the energy to act.
In fact, the first victim of this extremely high body temperature was Nakahara Chuuya.
But Nakahara Chuuya was only two years old at the time, and he himself didn't know what the limit of a normal person's fever was. Although he felt that this person was very hot, he didn't find anything wrong.
"Upgrade progress: 2%/100%."
This state will have to last for at least two days.
Qian Jianmu's computer was frozen, but he was trying to think with extremely fragmented and scattered thoughts.
Should we tell them first?
Although he thought so, he was stuck.
After I decided on this idea and took action, my body did not move. His thoughts exist in the past tense, but his actions have become the future tense.
The outside world is completely unaware of his efforts.
Although everyone gathered together to watch the fun, it would be a lie for the three to say they were not worried. They chatted intermittently and took turns wiping Qian Jianmu's body with ice water. Qian Jianmu rarely wears short-sleeved shirts and shorts, and even chooses high-necked shirts, so this was the first time they saw Qian Jianmu's skin under his clothes.
The boy was very pale, with almost no scars on him, but this was 'almost'.
The only scar on the boy's body was on the skin just behind and in front of his heart, which was a penetrating laceration. It seemed like something was inserted and then brutally tore the wound. The wound went through the heart very precisely, and there was no sign of any struggle.
The scar looked like some kind of crystal, but it also grew hyphae, spreading along the blood vessels to form a large black vein. You can see that the blood flowing in the blood vessels is black, but when the blood is transported to the limbs and head, the color turns into a more normal bluish-black color, rather than the hideous pure black.
Therefore, the abnormality of his blood was never discovered.
The three of them were silent for a moment, pretending not to see anything, wiped his skin, and put on clean new clothes.
Dazai Osamu was the first one to give up. His high fever had not subsided, and after enduring for a few hours, his fever began to recur. But when he was asked to rest first, he refused to leave. He felt dizzy from the fever and became silent. He stared at Qian Jianmu with a serious look, and that gloomy look made people dare not say anything.
After Edogawa Ranpo's observation, Chimamaku's body temperature is currently constant at 65 degrees. It can be determined that the temperature is under control, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.
——But after all, who has a fever of over 60 degrees!
"We need to prepare some food. My snacks don't have a lot of calories." Edogawa Ranpo said seriously, "What will happen next? Will I become an adult?"
Dazai Osamu curled the corners of his lips, said nothing, and turned to the next page of "The Ship of Theseus".
Although he knew that Qian Jianmu was writing, he had no idea what Qian Jianmu had written because Qian Jianmu didn't care at all and no one mentioned it. It was not until just now when he saw the sample issue that he came into contact with the text of Senjianmaku for the first time.
He looked listless, staring at the inky periods in a daze.
For a moment, there was great silence among the three of them, almost watching together as the weather outside gradually brightened. Dazai Osamu was dizzy from the burns, and Ranpo could hardly hold on any longer. Just when the three of them had reached their limit of exhaustion—
The person lying there sat up suddenly.
"Maku-kun!"
"gentlemen?!"
The man sitting there didn't seem to hear their voices. He closed his eyes and looked peaceful as if he was sleeping. Then, he slowly opened his eyes one by one and looked around with a strong inhuman feeling.
However, there was no one there.
Before they knew it, all three of them were silent.
There was no expression on the white-haired boy's face, and no emotion in his heterochromatic eyes. If there wasn't still steam coming out of him, people would have believed it even if they said he was a doll.
The Thousand Curtains looked around in the deserted area and then stopped where they were. After about thirty seconds, a stiff, mechanical voice without any emotion sounded.
“No…no…no…no big problem. It won’t burn…burn out.” Like a program freeze, his behavior showed a strong sense of inhumanity.
The white-haired boy continued:
"It will take...at least...a day... No...no, don't worry about me. Go and rest...right now."
As soon as he finished speaking, his empty eyes without a trace of impurities slowly closed. Then, he was caught off guard and fell straight backwards.
Before Nakai could catch him, he heard a muffled "thump".
Several people looked at each other, and for no reason, a layer of cold sweat broke out on their backs.
No, this is a bit scary.
"Horror story..." Dazai Osamu dropped his magazine in fright and muttered to the boy.
"So, there is really no problem." Ranpo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but appeared to draw the conclusion with ease.
Dazai Osamu lowered his eyes and picked up the book on the tatami. The moment his fingertips touched the page, his eyes were fixed on the line of bold type. He stared at it blankly and suddenly whispered:
"…The Ship of Theseus?"
"No, no, no... No! No!"
Ranpo loudly denied his guess and stood up. He felt a little uncontrollably weak after the high fever and stopped to catch his breath.
"He is a real human being, but..."
Just not being treated well.
Edogawa Ranpo was unable to analyze his own reasoning, just as he found it difficult to explain to others why 2+1=3.
When he saw Qian Jianmu for the first time and that look swept over him, a guess emerged in his mind that he himself could not believe.
He didn't even dare to replace the word with an answer. This was one of the few uncertainties in his life.
Not from this world.
He is not from this world.
He is a wandering soul without parents, teachers, friends, country, faith and belonging.
The language, clothing, and behavioral etiquette all carry a sense of incongruity that is hard to detect but not absent. It is the trace left on him by a civilization that does not exist in this world.
But he was too smart, extremely smart, and he integrated into this world almost without any dull pain. Ranpo instinctively believed that the other party would understand whatever he said. But unlike Ranpo who was well educated and led to find his home in confusion, this smart child obviously lived in an environment with many similar people, but fate had already sent him to hell.
Sometimes, Edogawa felt that he had a strong sense of separation from this world. After the Thousand Makumen curtain appeared, his wandering thoughts thought for a second, maybe it was true?
It's nothing but delusion. People always need delusion to comfort themselves.
Qian Jianmu has never concealed his purpose. He eliminates his own presence and refuses any way that could leave a trace. He allows people to stay with him, but never takes the initiative to make any commitments. It seems alive, but also like a cloud that can be blown away by the wind at any time. The gun was pointed at all the evils and rules in the world, but if you look closely, you can see that the gun is pointing at himself.
He was ready, he was always ready for a long journey.
That's why his heart sank when he saw the ship of Theseus.
What on earth did you go through to make you doubt even your own existence? What on earth happened that made him suffer because of what he had, and he himself couldn't even detect the pain.
But the protagonist of The Ship of Theseus is in pain, he is in so much pain, he is collapsing, and melting endlessly. Walking on an endless road.
...So no matter what, no matter what, he must deny it, he must deny it.
"Since it's the Sengenmaku, that's very possible. It's not surprising!"
Dazai Osamu looked up and stared at him for a moment with his dead eyes. Finally, he lowered his head, pushed the pages of the book aside, lay down on the tatami, and looked up at the roof, which was still dark and dilapidated after the renovation.
“Ahh…are you still going to live even though this is happening?”
Ranpo tiptoed to Dazai Osamu, squatted down and looked at him.
"Your ability is very strange."
Dazai turned his head and looked at him.
"Yours is weird, too."
His eyes flickered slightly, and Ranpo began to laugh. He asked softly:
"What's so strange about that?"
The bandaged hand reached out, and the boy's pale fingertips touched the cheek of the green-eyed boy, but nothing happened.
Ranpo quickly reached out his hand and grabbed his wrist. He curled his eyes, lowered his body and looked at him with a smile, and asked again:
“…What’s so strange about that?”
“…”
"I see, so this is the supernatural power? Now I understand everything. He really picked up trouble."
Edogawa Ranpo nodded and muttered thoughtfully.
"…Ranpo-san, you're a detective, right?"
Dazai Osamu stared at him intently, his pupils trembling slightly uncontrollably.
Dazai Osamu had heard of Edogawa Ranpo more than once. Because Nakai often went to the detective agency, he even accompanied Ranpo to solve cases.
"Super reasoning", the ability to see the truth of an event in an instant.
But when talking about this special ability, Nakai's expression was a little subtle. In subsequent information, this special ability was never mentioned again, and instead more emphasis was placed on his own performance.
This is a very clear distinction. For example, in the Ozaki Momiji incident, to sum up, it was Hideo Nakai who used his special abilities to complete the key part.
Even if the name of the special ability is hidden, the key hidden meaning of xxx doing something is this ability.
But when talking about Edogawa Ranpo, there is no sense of supernatural powers being the main key. It is completely centered around Edogawa Ranpo.
Dazai Osamu originally just kept these fragmentary information in mind, but when he really met this person, he gradually realized that this person was either using his supernatural powers at all times, or he was able to achieve the effects of his supernatural powers without using them.
If a person can do something naturally, how do we distinguish between the so-called special abilities and his own abilities?
Since they met, Dazai Osamu rarely spoke. He usually just watched coldly from the side, observing this person. He could guarantee that he had not revealed any information about his abilities.
The only way to have some contact is to try to touch his body.
But nothing happened.
But it seemed like he had been seen through.
No way…
Dazai Osamu felt an indescribable thrill in his heart, a feeling of physical and mental emptiness when seeing a miracle.
He looked at Edogawa Ranpo in a daze and asked softly:
"Mr. Detective, do you really have special abilities?"
The smile suddenly disappeared, and the green boy opened his eyes that were too clear, calm, and frightening.
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