Izumi Kyoka bit her lower lip tightly, without even turning her head to look back.

Mr. Ranpo is always right, no matter which Mr. Ranpo.

From the beginning, she has been Mr. Ranpo's most hidden backup. Whether it was pushing Atsushi's actions, or at this moment... protecting this novel and escaping.

The two Mr. Ranpo are indeed similar enough that if one of them deliberately imitates the other, probably no one can tell them apart.

At least if Mr. Ranpo hadn't told her in advance, Izumi Kyoka felt that she would not be able to tell the other person apart no matter what.

- Time goes back to nine days ago.

"Kyoka!" Edogawa Ranpo likes this member who joined the detective agency after Nakajima Atsushi very much, and it is a liking enough to share snacks. Therefore, it was not a special thing that Ranpo Edogawa, holding snacks, called out to Kyoka Izumi from time to time and began to share recommendations. No one would pay special attention to it.

Kyoka Izumi thought that this time was no different from usual. She also liked this detective, or she liked everyone in the detective agency, and Nakajima Atsushi was particularly special.

However, Kyoka Izumi did not expect that this time, after stuffing the snacks into his arms, the detective's expression became serious.

"I have a mission for you, and only you can do it." Ranpo Edogawa said to her.

Izumi Kyoka was slightly stunned. As a newcomer who had just joined the detective agency and had a history of crimes, if she was saved, she would have a terrible impact on the detective agency. Let alone this part, the fact that the detective agency was willing to accept someone like her made Izumi Kyoka want to repay the detective agency.

"What do I need to do?" Izumi Kyoka accepted the task without Edogawa Ranpo saying anything. Because during this time, she could see that this detective was the center of the detective agency.

Edogawa Ranpo was obviously not surprised by her reaction, and smiled and said, "If you leave it to Kagamika, it will be reassuring indeed."

Edogawa Ranpo knew that Izumi Kagami's thinking was somewhat linear - if you asked Izumi Kagami to do a task, she would not think about the twists and turns in the middle, but would only achieve the result of the task.

For example, if a document is delivered to someone, then once the formal channel is slightly delayed due to some accident, in order to "deliver" the document to that person "on time", Izumi Kagami will directly sneak into the other party's home, and then defeat the security and management personnel until the document is delivered to that person.

And what Edogawa Ranpo needs is this "unscrupulous" and directness.

So at this time, he didn't need to explain too much, he just needed to point out what Izumi Kyoka needed to do in the plan.

Izumi Kyoka discovered the dangers that the detective agency would encounter in the future from these plans. But because of her personality, her expression remained calm, and she did not show other emotions such as surprise.

"I know, I will do it." Izumi Kyoka nodded and agreed to the plan. Noticing that Edogawa Ranpo was still standing there, she asked, "Is there anything else?"

Edogawa Ranpo was silent for a while and said, "I'm not sure."

Izumi Kyoka tilted her head in confusion. She didn't quite understand what Edogawa Ranpo meant. He clearly said he was not sure, so why did he say to her in such a firm tone: "If the other me comes to see you, no matter what he says... even if it conflicts with my plan, his request will prevail."

This was indeed the case. In the afternoon, another "Mr. Ranbu" appeared in front of her and asked her: "From now on, you just hide in the dark. If the plan goes well, someone will secretly spread the news that You were captured by the port mafia in advance."

Perhaps he noticed the change in Izumi Kyoka's mood when he heard a certain keyword, this "Mr. Ranpo", who usually appeared more relaxed and peaceful than the other person, suddenly slowed down his voice and promised her: "Don't worry, Ranpo will not let you be captured by anyone."

He used "Ranpo" instead of "Ranpo-sama" as Edogawa Ranpo usually called himself.

"You, like Atsushi, are important members of the detective agency." The lifeless detective narrowed his eyes: "Everyone will prove that the trust you have placed in us is definitely not wrong."

"From now on, I'll leave it to you, Kyoka."

- Time returns to the present.

Izumi Kyoka was holding a book in her hand. Someone was helping them from behind. A group of security guards who had ruined Fukuchi Sakura's "hero" personality appeared at the destroyed location.

When no one was around, Fukuchi Sakura could act recklessly. But in front of people, he had to show the character and behavior of a decent person.

Tanizaki Junichiro's ability is indeed excellent enough, but for people with extremely strong hearing or perception, this illusion is useless - Tanizaki Junichiro can't do it, or can't change people's perception at present.

Just like his ability is absolutely useless to "Mr. Ranpo", people can't see it at all, and they won't be fooled by him at all. Moreover, maintaining supernatural powers for a long time would also be a burden for him.

Therefore, the most suitable person to lead everyone to escape at this time is Izumi Kyoka, who was originally a member of the port mafia and is good at concealing her breath.

After they were really far away from Fukuchi Sakurachi and made sure that they were in a temporarily safe place, Izumi Kyoka slowly stopped. And even if she turned around at this time, she could no longer see the original location of the ship.

——Izumi Kyoka knew what she had done.

She squeezed the novel in her hand tightly.

She liked everyone in the detective agency, and Nakajima Atsushi was special, guiding her out of the darkness and towards the direction of light. And Edogawa Ranpo can be said to be the first person besides Nakajima Atsushi to extend a friendly hand to her and share with her.

Edogawa Ranpo is the center of the detective agency. No matter how dark Izumi Kyoka's past was, or how many people she had killed. As long as Edogawa Ranpo shows his attitude, no one will doubt his judgment. So Izumi Kyoka can be easily accepted by everyone.

In particular, everyone in the detective agency is originally very kind and gentle.

And she ran away without hesitation-even if this was required by "Mr. Ranpo". But it is equivalent to throwing the detective who has no self-protection ability into the most dangerous battlefield.

What does this behavior represent? You don't need to think about it, you can know the answer.

Izumi Kyoka saw the horror of Fukuchi Sakura's infatuation in the dark. The blade that can almost travel through time and space, there is almost no way to defeat him!

In fake movies and TV shows, the protagonist always has plenty of time to say to his partner, "I won't leave you!" "Go!" "No, I won't go!"

But there is no such opportunity in reality. If Izumi Kyoka had hesitated for even a second, she would have been beheaded by Fukuchi Sakura!

Her behavior at that time was in accordance with Mr. Ranpo's plan, and it was the only thing she could do at the time.

Although she had analyzed all this rationally, Izumi Kyoka still felt upset. The behavior of abandoning her partners and running away made her feel that she was no different from the enemies of the detective agency.

However, if Mr. Ranpo was so smart, they must have anticipated everything - this moment, was it also in his plan?

Izumi Kyoka thought so.

At this moment, the book in her hand suddenly opened automatically without any wind. Izumi Kyoka loosened her hand slightly and looked at the people who appeared from the book -

Edogawa Ranpo was the cleanest, Tanizaki Junichiro looked a bit wolfish, but at least he was not injured. Nakajima Atsushi was seriously injured, but his ability allowed him to grow back even if his limbs were broken, so he was fine.

Only Akutagawa Ryunosuke looked the worst, no matter the wounds on his body were still bleeding or his face was too pale, but at least he was still alive and could still look at them with that scary and hostile look.

No one knew what happened in the book. Akutagawa Ryunosuke didn't say much. He just stared at them for a few seconds and left the place very quickly.

Nakajima Atsushi breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously. He really didn't know how to get along with Akutagawa Ryunosuke. After Akutagawa left, he looked at Edogawa Ranpo anxiously: "By the way, Mr. Ranpo--"

"Let's meet with the president first." Edogawa Ranpo interrupted him before he could say the next word.

Nakajima Atsushi seemed a little unresponsive, but trusting Edogawa Ranpo was already the instinct of the detective agency members, so even though he had confirmed the danger of Fukuchi Sakura's idiocy, Nakajima Atsushi still breathed a sigh of relief at this time, not believing that another Ranpo would put himself in danger.

Therefore, Mr. Ranpo must have a backup plan, he just needs to gather with everyone first!

With this optimistic idea, Nakajima Atsushi looked at Edogawa Ranpo with a trusting look.

And Edogawa Ranpo did not say anything, and led them to gather with the other people who had dispersed from the detective agency.

This time, the detectives of the Armed Detective Agency did not get lost, and did not need others to lead the way.

Seeing all the detective agency members intact, even Mr. Dazai was there, made Nakajima Atsushi feel confident about rescuing another Mr. Ranpo. Nakajima Atsushi

actually couldn't understand this kind of brainstorming plan. Whether it was Edogawa Ranpo's analysis of Fukuchi Sakurachi's purpose, or what they should do in the future, with Edogawa Ranpo and Dazai Osamu there, it was not his turn to think about these things.

"I've said before that the reason why we are now considered enemies by the police is because Kamui, that is, Fukuchi Sakurachi, wrote these words in the book."

The existence of the "book" is special, and the stories written in the "book" will become reality. But it also has limitations, and the stories in it must be reasonable and logical. It's like if you write in the "book" that you are a rich man, then this reality will not come true.

But if you write down that you buy a lottery ticket on a certain day, and you are lucky enough to win billions and become a millionaire, then your becoming a millionaire will become a "reality".

At this time, Nakajima Atsushi watched Edogawa Ranpo reach out to Izumi Kyouka: "Kyouka, give me the "book". "

Izumi Kyoka just thought that Edogawa Ranpo was referring to the novel in her hand, and without any hesitation, she handed the book that she had been holding in her arms to Edogawa Ranpo.

For some reason, Nakajima Atsushi always felt that the novel gave him a very strange feeling. He had just come out of this book a while ago.

At this time, Dazai Osamu looked at Edogawa Ranpo with a little surprise, as if he was confirming something.

Edogawa Ranpo did not deny his guess, and affirmed: "This is the "book." "

- When everyone heard this sentence, their thoughts seemed to be stuck.

In the last second, they were still listening to Edogawa Ranpo talking about the "book", but in the next second, they were told that this story written by Po Shu was actually the "book"?

How is this possible! However, these words were spoken by their Mr. Ranpo.

Nakajima Atsushi's mind was working very fast at this moment: "If it is really a book, then how could we--"

Logically, the "book" should be on Fukuchi Sakurachi, carried with him everywhere, and there is no chance that it would appear here, and even appear with the novel written by Po as an opportunity?

But before he finished speaking, Nakajima Atsushi reacted, his eyes lit up: "The only one who could touch these two things at the same time at the scene was 'Mr. Ranpo'!"

"I understand, are we going to use the "book" to save 'Mr. Ranpo'?" Nakajima Atsushi believed in their detective without reason, and even ignored the logical problems in it, "So that's how it is, Mr. Ranpo, is this your and Mr. Dazai's plan? "

Dazai Osamu broke Nakajima Atsushi's optimism: "No, I really didn't expect this time, Atsushi-kun."

He never thought that the "book" would appear in the detective agency in this form.

Everyone was waiting for Edogawa Ranpo's explanation.

However, this time, even Edogawa Ranpo could not give a detailed explanation-

because the one who did this was an alien force with supernatural powers and technology that did not belong to this world.

[Mission 1: Contact the cornerstone of the world "Book". (Completed)

Mission 2: Capture Fukuchi Sakurachi who will destroy the balance of the world. (Completed)

Mission 3: Kill Bram Stoker. (Completed)]

[I still don't understand why you want me to transfer the power of the "book" to that novel. 】

The existence of the "book" is equivalent to the cornerstone of the world, which can be said to be quite dangerous, but because of this, it is natural for Fukuchi Sakurachi, who possesses this power and has written on it, to carry the "book" with him.

And when they appeared in the same occasion, the system had already begun to capture the power emanating from the mobile phone "book".

From the moment Shi Wu said that he wanted to return to everyone, the system understood that even if he resurrected Shi Wu alone, this guy would still choose to pick up the sword again for his partners.

Given the strength and danger of the enemies he faces, even if he is resurrected, Shi Wu will easily die again-even if he dies once, Shi Wu will not regret his choice, and will thank the system for giving him the opportunity to fight side by side with everyone again.

Therefore, the system updated its task list.

Task one, contact the cornerstone of the world. This is to gather more power, which is easy to understand.

Task two, capture Fukuchi Sakurachi in advance, the world line is enough to be changed, this "change" power is also needed after the system updates its task plan.

As for Task three - about the vampire, the vampire will cause a great disaster in the world in the future, and this disaster will be solved from the root, well, so it has the same reason as Task two, and there is no special meaning.

"But you are still willing to help me do this." At the moment the countdown ended, Shi Wu disappeared directly from the spot and from the sight of Fukuchi Sakurachi.

Facing the system that said such cold words, Shi Wu noticed a problem, "Mission 2 completed?"

[... According to the calculation, after you left, the Armed Detective Society revealed the truth and arrested Fukuchi Sakurachi. ]

"Even if I didn't do it, it counts as mission completed?"

[I said that there is no limit to any means to complete the mission. As long as this result is achieved. ]

Shi Wu nodded as if he understood, "Anyway, Fukuchi Sakurachi will no longer be the enemy of the Detective Society, right?"

[Yes. ] The system answered this question dryly.

No one could figure out what happened in the middle. They only knew that all of this was part of Mr. Ranpo's plan - after all, when it was determined that this novel was a "book", Mr. Ranpo didn't show any surprise on his face.

Everyone's thinking was basically in sync with Nakajima Atsushi, believing that this was still a backup plan left by "Mr. Ranpo". The same was true for Izumi Kyoka. After knowing that a novel was equal to a "book", she felt that there was really nothing that Edogawa Ranpo could not expect.

Especially since she was the only one who took over the novel and hid in the dark to watch everything develop. She could understand the magic of it even better.

Anyway, just like watching a case being solved at other times, they couldn't understand what happened in the process.

Everyone took it for granted that Edogawa Ranpo was invincible, and nothing would be beyond his expectations. Even if another self was arrested, it would be the same.

Everyone trusted Edogawa Ranpo unconditionally.

Originally, Fukuzawa Yukichi thought so too. However, he noticed Edogawa Ranpo's expression at the moment.

At this moment he suddenly realized that from the time they met until now, Ranpo Edogawa's face had never shown the wanton and confident smile that he was more familiar with. Instead, from the beginning, the other party had been silent and quiet.

Fukuzawa Yukichi suddenly had a bad premonition, "... Ranpo?"

Ranpo Edogawa pursed his lips and said nothing.

Dazai Osamu understood something and said to Nakajima Atsushi, "Atsushi-kun, tell me everything that happened at that time again."

As an orphan, Nakajima Atsushi, who was very good at discerning the atmosphere, also became a little flustered. He glanced at Dazai Osamu and nodded hesitantly, "At that time, Mr. Ranpo took me to meet Fukuchi Sakurachi and said that he was cooperating with Fukuchi Sakurachi."

"But soon, Ranpo-san analyzed that Fukuchi Sakurachi was the enemy, and then Fukuchi Sakurachi attacked Ranpo-san, but Ranpo-san hid in the novel first, and told me Fukuchi Sakurachi's ability, and asked me to run away quickly."

Of course, he didn't run away, and he and Akutagawa tried to defeat Fukuchi Sakurachi together, but who knew that Fukuchi Sakurachi's weapon could travel through time and could go back to the past to cut off his hand.

In short, it was a one-sided and hard battle. At this moment, "Fukuchi Sakurachi seemed to have discovered something. His blade did not appear on me and Akutagawa, but disappeared on the spot."

Tanizaki Junichiro continued: "His blade stabbed 'Mr. Ranpo'." The

orange-haired boy lowered his head, feeling somewhat self-blaming and guilty: "If he hadn't pushed me away, I should have been the one attacked at that time."

The blood splashing on his body now was not his own.

Nakajima Atsushi paused for a moment, and then said: "But the strange thing is that 'Mr. Ranpo''s' target didn't seem to be Fukuchi Sakurachi, but only the person lying in the coffin."

- As if he didn't feel the pain, even with a torn wound on his shoulder, he still picked up the Holy Cross Sword and pointed the blade at the vampire in the coffin.

Izumi Kyoka, who had been silent, also spoke, "I was there according to the plan. He asked me to protect the novel and gather with everyone."

"You asked me to follow his commission, so... is everything now within your expectations?" Izumi Kyoka hoped that Edogawa Ranpo would nod. This meant that her previous behavior was not wrong, and they could still go and rescue the other Ranpo.

Edogawa Ranpo did nod: "Yes, it was within my expectations."

Before anyone else could show a relaxed expression on their faces, Edogawa Ranpo added the next sentence: "He won't come back."

Everyone was stunned, looking at Edogawa Ranpo in disbelief.

——This was an answer they had never thought of.

Yes, from the beginning, Edogawa Ranpo knew the outcome at this moment.

Shi Wu didn't know what his expression was like when he talked about ghosts, but he knew that he had to leave after the ten-day countdown.

So Shi Wu's goal was very firm. Shi Wu didn't pay attention to Task One and Task Two at all. His goal has always been to kill vampires. It was beyond his expectation that he would complete the first two tasks.

And this emotion was also exposed to Edogawa Ranpo.

——All of this fell into Edogawa Ranpo's eyes. It was not

until this time that Edogawa Ranpo realized that his focus was wrong.

Shi Wu was indeed as he said, he didn't want to die, and he was afraid of death - but he never regretted his choice.

It was like the wish he said to Edogawa Ranpo that had long been unattainable.

What Toki said at that time was,

[“…I want to see everyone’s smiles. I don’t want to die at all…!”]

What came before not wanting to die was everyone’s smiles.

There are many kinds of superpowers in the world, and there are many that can keep the other party alive. As long as Edogawa Ranpo is given enough time, he can do what he promised.

However——the smiles of those partners that belonged to him alone that the other party wanted to see were something that Edogawa Ranpo could not do for him.

Compared to surviving, the other party cared more about his partners.

Therefore, all Edogawa Ranpo could do at that moment was not to stop him.

"I did expect this a long time ago." Edogawa Ranpo closed his eyes, and one could even guess that in the last moments, the other party would have a slightly apologetic but satisfied smile.

He would say:

[I'm sorry, Ranpo.]

[I want to go home.]

The author has something to say: Shi Wu: If I could go home, I would indeed say so.