Chapter 130 The experiment began completely beyond expectations.
The experiment begins.
The first hour passed, tick, tick.
The monitoring equipment was calibrated. The baseline readings were recorded. The final analysis of the formula was complete. Everything was ready, except for the heroine.
Dr. Agasa contributed his expertise, even though his expression said "I'm so panicked but I dare not say it."
Even Kudo Shinichi, the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, gave up on persuasion and switched to a temporary job as a caregiver, monitoring vital signs. After all, persuasion was no longer enough, so rescue was still necessary.
Finally, everything is ready.
Shiho sat beside the Victorian bed where Charlotte lay dying, and the room where Eleanor worked, now their little science theater.
"The formula is injected intravenously." Vermouth drew the liquid into the syringe. "After that, the catalyst connection must be established simultaneously."
"What connection?" Kudo Shinichi's detective radar went off. He was already on board, but he had to make sure it didn't sink.
"Blood contact," Vermouth said succinctly. "Direct contact at the cellular level."
She rolled up her sleeves and there was a small scalpel on the workbench.
"After Shiho injects the formula, I'll cut open both of our arms. Our blood will mix, and the catalysis will begin."
The corner of Kudo Shinichi's mouth twitched. "Ah, this sounds... so much like some strange ritual?"
Danmu prediction: [High energy ahead, it's magic, I added magic!]
"Shinichi-kun, the end of science is metaphysics, don't you understand?" Dr. Agasa said calmly while adjusting the monitor. "Are you ready, Shiho-kun?"
Shiho nodded and held out her arm.
Vermouth approached with the syringe in hand. Her hand holding the needle was shaking a little, but it still revealed her owner's mood.
"This is your last chance to regret it." She lowered her voice so that only Shiho could hear her at this distance.
"Go ahead." Shiho's answer was equally gentle.
The needle penetrates the skin, accurately finding a blood vessel. The drug is injected.
The feeling was first cold, then burning hot.
Shiho inhaled sharply. This feeling was completely beyond her expectations.
Vermouth's movements were seamless. She picked up the scalpel, made a shallow cut on her arm, and then replicated the wound on Shiho's arm.
She pressed their wounds together.
The connection described in Eleanor's notes was thus formed.
One second. Two seconds. Nothing happened.
The monitor beeped. Kudo Shinichi frowned, his cold gaze darting between the instrument and the two of them. Dr. Agasa stopped breathing.
Then, Shiho felt it.
A rushing current. Not electricity, not a chemical reaction, but something entirely new.
Vermouth also gasped, she felt it too.
"Success." Dr. Agasa said softly, looking at the curve on the monitor with respect. "In the cell activity experiment... I've never seen this kind of reading."
Shiho's vision became crystal clear. She could see the dust particles floating in the air. She could count the threads on Vermouth's silk shirt.
In her eyes, the world's colors were saturated to the highest possible level. Sounds fragmented into countless layers: the hum of instruments, Kudo Shinichi's nervous breathing, the saxophone emanating from the distant club lobby.
"Are you okay now? How do you feel?" Dr. Agasa took notes frantically.
"A lot," Shiho whispered. "I can feel... everything around me."
The senses are infinitely magnified, but beneath that, there is a deeper connection with Vermouth that goes beyond physical contact.
Memories that didn't belong to her suddenly flooded back into her mind: her childhood in Paris, decades of research, and the weight of time. These memories were too heavy for a woman like Chris Wynyard, who looked only 29 years young.
"I saw you," Shiho whispered, her eyes locked on Vermouth.
"I saw you too." Vermouth's tone sounded a little tense. "You are talented, but alone. You have been quietly searching for answers that no one cares about."
At this affectionate scene, the surveillance camera suddenly lost consciousness and went crazy.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Kudo Shinichi, who was in charge of the nurse, rushed over, his face pale.
"The heart rate is too high! Doctor, this is dangerous!"
"This is part of the experimental process!" Dr. Agasa's answer was weak. "According to Eleanor's records, there will be an acceleration phase before reaching equilibrium!"
Shiho could no longer hear their conversation. At that moment, she was lost in the surging vitality between her and Vermouth, and could feel her cells regenerating and replicating at an accelerated rate.
But she also sensed another state.
Vermouth is getting weaker.
The direction of the flow of vitality is always too biased.
“This isn’t balance,” she gasped, trying to pull her arm away. “This is wearing you down.”
Vermouth's arms tightened, "Everything is normal."
"That's not normal!" Shiho retorted. "Your vitality is fading. I can feel it!"
"Bingo." Vermouth smiled, her tone as calm as if they were discussing the afternoon tea menu by the Seine in Paris. "That's what the script says."
Shiho's brain buzzed. In a flash, everything that had happened in the second level of the Logos simulation—the experiments on the Purple Hill, the family inheritance Vermouth had mentioned, the alchemist's experiments in the third level—all connected.
"You already knew that." Her voice was cold. "You know this isn't Charlotte's 'balance' at all."
"Well, it's just a guess." Vermouth shrugged and smiled with relief. Her smile was still beautiful, but wrinkles appeared on her face.
The golden luster of her hair, which female celebrities take good care of so well that they can use it to take photos of shampoo-filled photos, has visibly dimmed.
Vermouth spoke calmly and slowly.
"That secret recipe was never meant to save two people. It was her indulgence. To pay back for what she had taken away."
"Stop!" Shiho struggled, trying to break the connection. "Kudo Shinichi! Let us go!"
Her voice, completely different from her usual calm and icy self, echoed in the room.
The only responses she received were two freshly minted stone sculptures.
The knowledgeable detective Kudo Shinichi and the genius inventor Dr. Agasa were both experiencing a massive disconnection. Their pupils trembled as they stared intently at Vermouth's face, fast-forwarding through the decades.
"It's too late, my little scientist." Vermouth's voice was soft, and she calmly accepted the aging of her Hollywood beauty. "The transmission has begun, one-way. Don't look so sad, Shiho. This is my choice."
"Why?" Shiho's voice was a little tearful. "Why did it have to be you?"
"Because...someone has to carry on." Vermouth's beautiful face had completely transformed into that of an unfamiliar old person. Wrinkles and sagging skin covered the face.
Only those emerald blue eyes were still full of rationality and surprisingly bright.
"You will use my life force wisely. Find the true 'balance' that neither I nor your family could find."
"I don't want it!" Shiho yelled. Tears streamed down her face, a physiological reaction that science couldn't explain.
“No, you want it.” There was a breathing noise in Vermouth’s laughter. Her lungs and internal organs began to age. “That’s why I chose you.”
"Your talent is worthy of your scientific ambition. Your bottom line... is higher than that of our ancestors, and even higher than mine."
The monitors began to buzz wildly. Dr. Agasa finally woke up from his petrification and rushed forward.
Vermouth raised her eyes and stopped him with her gaze.
"Doctor, let this all end like this. You know, this is the only way it should end."
Indeed, Vermouth is now old, and even if the experiments are stopped, she will not live long.
"There must be another way!" Kudo Shinichi also came back to his senses, his face pale.
"Science always requires sacrifice." Vermouth narrowed her eyes and smiled lightly, "The key is whether the knowledge gained through sacrifice is worth the price."
Her gaze returned to Shiho. Her skin was plump and showing the glow of an increasingly youthful life.
"Use my life well, my dear talented girl."
Vermouth raised a skinny hand and, using all her strength, gently placed a cold metal object into Shiho's palm.
It's a key. Hanging on a silver chain.
"Yew Slope is yours now. The data, the connections, my legacy... all of it is yours."
She paused and put her ear close to Shiho's.
"And my heart. Although it may not be worth much."
Shiho looked up at her with tears in her eyes.
The connection between the two suddenly shone with a final burst of light. A huge amount of energy poured in, and Shiho gasped.
Vermouth's body slumped forward, completely losing support.
The monitor showed a straight line and emitted a long, desperate electronic sound.
"No!" Shiho subconsciously caught her and held the old body in his arms, "I don't want it!"
“…But this is what I must do.” Vermouth’s aged voice was already as thin as a thread. “Look in the mirror…look at yourself now.”
Without saying a word, Kudo Shinichi grabbed the hand mirror on the table and put it directly in front of Shiho.
In the mirror, there is a face that is both familiar and unfamiliar.
It's Miyano Shiho, but the version seems to be newer.
Her skin was firm, radiating a healthy glow. Her eyes held a logic and depth unbefitting of an eighteen-year-old. Time hadn't left any bugs; it had actually optimized the entire system.
"This experiment... was successful." Dr. Agasa's glasses almost slipped off his nose. "This isn't a two-way binding; it's a forced account transfer."
"A perfect handover." Vermouth's words were intermittent. "The last Easter egg left for you."
"I'll find a way to reverse this." Shiho looked at her in his arms, his voice calm, "I'll write a real balance patch."
"I know." Vermouth tried to smile, "So, this administrator privilege can only be given to you."
Her gaze passed through Shiho and locked onto Kudo Shinichi. Worry was written all over the famous detective's face.
"Keep an eye on her, Detective. Don't let her get away with it and accidentally evolve into a new species."
"I understand." Kudo Shinichi walked to Shiho's side and stood still, his posture like the most loyal knight.
"And you." Vermouth's old gaze returned gently to Shiho's face.
She raised her hand, that wrinkled hand, and slowly placed it on Shiho's cheek.
"Remember, there are some equations that can't be written into biology textbooks. There are some chemical reactions that can't be measured even with the most sophisticated instruments."
"I remember." Shiho covered the old hand with her own hand.
Vermouth smiled.
That smile contained the calmness that came after everything had settled.
Then, contentedly, she closed her eyes.
The hand that was pressed against Shiho's cheek slid down gently and fell limply.
Dr. Agasa stepped forward and silently flipped the switch on the monitor. The power went out.
The screen went dark.
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