People are in Conan, but Ace Attorney

Chapter 971 Game Players
—————June 17th, 11:35 AM—————

—————Tokyo area, Dr. Agasa's research institute——————

Professor Agasa looked up at Ai Haibara with a blank expression.

Then he lowered his head, fiddled with the computer in his hand for a bit, and then suddenly looked up at Ai Haibara, several question marks slowly forming above his head. Startled, he asked,

"What? Superman Hikaru has given up on humanity?"

Haibara Ai:?
In Professor Agasa's memory, Ai Haibara always seemed to be under Hikaru Motoi's protection.

Given Xiang Yuanguang's terrifying combat power, these items are probably just extras to him and not very useful. So, the fact that Haibara Ai came to ask about these extras only proves one thing, doesn't it?

Has Xiang Yuanguang given up on protecting Xiao Ai?
Ai Haibara shook her head and sighed at Professor Agasa's peculiar thought process.

"I just want to have the power to protect myself."

"Just like the situation in Kamurocho before, if I had the same comprehensive equipment as Kudo, I wouldn't have fallen into such a dangerous situation in Kamurocho."

In conclusion, to sum up.

"Professor Agasa, I want a set of equipment too."

When asked about Ai Haibara's request, Professor Agasa simply scratched his head and did not refuse.

Well, this is a perfectly reasonable request.

Without saying a word, Professor Agasa took Ai Haibara to retrieve the spare gadgets from the inventory.

However, Ai Haibara had only taken a few steps into Professor Agasa's lab when she noticed that there seemed to be other people inside.

She stopped abruptly, leaned against the threshold with some confusion, and looked inside.

I happened to see a girl's back.

The girl was wearing headphones and seemed completely absorbed in the game. She looked very familiar, as if I had seen her somewhere before.

However, Ai Haibara can say with certainty that she never had any direct contact with this girl.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have only a vague impression of this girl, instead of completely forgetting who she was.

"What's wrong, Ai?"

Professor Agasa noticed that Ai Haibara hadn't followed, and although she was heading to the storage room, she turned back.

He came up behind Ai Haibara, followed her gaze to the girl playing video games inside the room, and suddenly realized what was going on, explaining...

"Ai, you should know this person."

Should I get to know him?

Ai Haibara's eyes revealed a hint of confusion.

Then, Dr. Agasa explained,

"Didn't they invite several high-level players to participate when the Cocoon game was being played?"

"This girl is one of them."

As Professor Agasa described, Ai Haibara finally recalled the information about the person in front of her.

One of the players who was specially invited by the Sindora Foundation.

Chiaki Nanami looks like a middle school student, or even an elementary school student, but is actually a high school student.

This player seemed to perform well in the Cocoon game, but ultimately failed due to an unexpected defeat.

After the Cocoon Game ended, Chiaki Nanami had already left.

She had no contact with Chiaki Nanami throughout the entire process, so she didn't have a deep impression of her until Professor Agasa mentioned it, at which point she recalled things related to Chiaki Nanami.

However, if you're just a gamer, there doesn't seem to be anything noteworthy.

Ai Haibara turned around and, leading the way in reverse order, headed towards the storage room. Professor Agasa, as if used to it, followed behind, continuing to explain...
"I also participated in some of the programming work for Noah's Ark."

"Miss Nanami came here to visit because of this, hoping to learn about programming issues related to artificial intelligence. However, she seems to be engrossed in games right now."

"I can come back and talk to her about programming after I get the props."

...Yes, Professor Agasa even helped with some of the programming for Noah's Ark.

Ai Haibara nodded slightly.

As the two left the corridor and entered the storage room.

Chiaki Nanami, who was in the room, also took off her headphones and placed them aside.

A lifelike image appeared on her laptop, exactly like Nanami Chiaki herself. It was an artificial intelligence she had developed with the help of a friend.

Alter Ego.

If it weren't for that friend having other things to do and not being able to come with her,

Chiaki Nanami didn't just come alone with the artificial intelligence; she brought the boy with her.

Where did Noah's Ark go?

Chiaki Nanami looked at the loading page on her computer screen, feeling somewhat annoyed.

The top players who were invited to test the Cocoon game have all gone their separate ways and are basically unreachable. If those top players could help, there might still be some progress.

No, if Hosho Reito had helped, he should have been able to find Noah's Ark on his own.

"But this city is inexplicably plagued by disasters..."

"Is it my imagination?"

As she looked at the program in front of her, her thoughts drifted from the things she was concerned about to the news she had seen.

The frequency of crimes in this city district called Beikacho is outrageously high, making it arguably the least livable city in all of Tokyo.

I really don't know why Beika Town has become like this.

...However, if you want to know this, perhaps it would be good to visit the key figure who completed the Cocoon game?

Chiaki Nanami still remembers the scenes inside the Cocoon game.

In order to achieve the final ending of the Cocoon Game, she chose to help Hikaru Mukamoto enter the final instance, 19th-century Old London, just like Hosho Reito.

Although it's unclear how Xiang Yuanguang subsequently helped the players in that instance progress through the game.

However, in the end, the story of 19th-century London did indeed end thanks to the efforts of Hikaru Motoi, a lawyer by profession with spiky hair who managed to achieve the best ending despite stumping many classic players.

It's truly moving.

As soon as the Cocoon game ended, Xiang Yuanguang was called away by others and disappeared somewhere. There was no chance to discuss the subsequent walkthrough strategies.

Since I'm in Beika Town today, I might as well go to Mukamoto Omnipotent Agency to check on Mukamoto Hikaru's situation.

By the way, could you share your experience of completing the game?

"The search is over."

Alter Ego responded.

Although both are artificial intelligence, there is a significant difference in computing power between Alter Ego and Noah's Ark, to the point that Alter Ego gained nothing from it.

Seeing this, Chiaki Nanami could only sigh, close the laptop, and put it in her backpack.

Well, there's no other way. Let's go find someone else first.

(End of this chapter)