Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 275 When in doubt, quantum mechanics?
On Sunday noon, Shiraishi and Otaki came to the VIP room of the Shinkansen station together. Heiji also came to see them off. Ayako had been waiting here for a long time. Satsuki was also there, and it seemed that she also wanted to see Shiraishi off. Although Queen Cecilabeth had left, she had things to do in Osaka later and would not return to Toudou so soon.

"Huh? Isn't that the beautiful forensic doctor who came with us this time?" Heiji said in surprise after seeing Gaoyue.

Ayako:……

Gao Yue: ???
"Last time, I came here with forensic pathologist Sancheng to investigate a case...this time we are not here to investigate a case." Shiraishi rolled his eyes.

"So this lady is... um..." Heiji couldn't tell what Gaoyue's occupation was at first.

On the one hand, of course he could see that Gao Yue was so noble that he didn't even need a "detective" to tell. He could tell as long as he knew some luxury brands. In this respect, he felt that Gao Yue was like a young lady, a noble lady... these kinds of atypical "professions".

But on the other hand, he also noticed that Gao Yue's hands were obviously rough, as if she often did housework?

For a moment, Heiji didn't understand either.

In fact, Gao Yue came to see Shiraishi in private now. Otherwise, she would usually wear long gauze gloves to cover her overworked hands, so there would be no "flaws".

"I'm Yamashiro Satsuki, just an ordinary single woman. You don't have to guess, little detective." Satsuki obviously knew Heiji's identity a long time ago.

Ayako moved her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she held it back.

"Eh? Big sister, how do you know me?" asked Heiji in surprise.

"The son of Chief Hattori and the best high school detective in Kansai!" Gao Yue praised him and talked about it.

For a while, Heiji was greatly benefited...

However, Ayako now realized the reason behind this - the headquarters of "private railways" was originally in Osaka and Nagoya!

When Yoshinosuke Yamashiro was young, he wanted to "go to Kyoto", that is, to develop in the Eastern Capital, but he was not successful.

His son Shancheng Gongyi, Xiao Gui and Chen Sui continued to focus the management of [Shancheng Railway] on developing the Dongdu market, and the results have been seen...

The current "True and Only Designated Second Generation Yamashiro Chairman Gao Yue" has begun to shrink his power and turn back to consolidate the "rear area", so he can get to know the important officials and their families in Osaka.

"I'm sorry, I originally wanted to invite you to experience the new luxury train that is about to be launched, but something like this happened. I'm sorry for not treating you well... Ayako, you won't blame me, right?" Gao Yue said reluctantly at this time.

Gao Yue's original plan was to find an opportunity to invite Shiraishi out for dinner after arriving in Osaka - the home base of "private railways" is in Osaka and Nagoya, which is different from Toudou, so Gao Yue has plenty of opportunities here!

But unfortunately, Shiraishi went drinking with Officer Otaki last night, and Satsuki was also very busy last night - if it was just Kid coming to make trouble, everyone would be used to it, and it usually wouldn't involve any personal injury, but yesterday on the "Royal Express", a real daring maniac appeared.

"Of course not, this is indeed a good experience!" Ayako comforted eagerly.

"Senior Shiraishi, thanks to you for being here... I can't go back to the Eastern Capital right now, I'll thank you in person after I get back... Ayako has to come too!"

"Don't worry, I will definitely come."

At the station, the two of them had a cordial conversation...

Shiraishi then spoke up, "By the way, I'll get off at Okutama Station."

"Eh? What's the matter?" Ayako was stunned when she heard that.

"Well, I'll go find Koizumi-san and ask him about... those people." Shiraishi said vaguely.

Ayako had already realized by now - Shiraishi wanted to find the "witch" to ask about the person who stole the [Crystal Mother]!

"Koizumi-san?" Gao Yue was also puzzled when she heard this - when did this classmate appear? Why don't I know him?
Seeing this, Ayako explained: "Oh, Koizumi-san is not Shiraishi's classmate, but... a high school girl who is attending school now."

Gao Yue: ???
"Otaki, after you arrive at Beika Station, a police officer will come to pick you up to Beika Cape. I may also go there later depending on the time." Shiraishi also instructed Otaki.

Shiraishi is no longer a frontline police officer. There are many things that Shiraishi needs to pay attention to now, and it is impossible for him to focus all his attention on the "Misaki Murder Case."

Among the things that Bai Shi needs to focus on, "winery" and "zoo" are undoubtedly one of the most important goals.

"Huh? You're causing trouble for your sister-in-law again." Otaki saw that it was still a first-class ticket and complimented Ayako a little embarrassedly.

However, Otaki, who already knew Ayako's identity, of course couldn't ask for money - even if it was first class, the Prefectural Police Headquarters would not reimburse him!

Shiraishi and Otaki had not rested the whole night, so after getting on the train, they took advantage of the fact that the first-class seats were comfortable and they could lie down, so they both caught up on some sleep.

Shiraishi has a strong body and of course a good sleep quality. He woke up exactly one minute before arriving at Okutama Station.

"I'll get off first... When we get close to Beika Station, please help call Otaki." Shiraishi said goodbye to Ayako and got off at Okutama.

Outside the station, Suzuki Atsushi had already driven Shiraishi's QX56 over - as a mature chief, Shiraishi was already used to using police officers as drivers...

Unlike that bastard Minamoto, Suzuki Atsushi drives very steadily and has always been the safe driving representative of the Criminal Division.

Afterwards, Shiraishi asked him to take the car back, and he got in the car and headed to the "Witch's Lair"...

Today is the weekend and the witches don't have to go to school. Shiraishi also called in advance and told Koizumi that he would be coming.

As soon as I arrived at the door of this gloomy mansion, before I could knock on the door, the demon butler Hasko opened the door a little with a creepy expression.

"Hehehe, isn't this the candidate for the Witch Lady?" Hasko said with a sinister smile.

Under Hasko's guidance, we walked in the dark corridor, and the ghost lights on both sides lit up one by one...

Bai Shi was too lazy to pay attention to his attempt to create an atmosphere...

click-

Shiraishi found the switch and turned on all the lights.

Hasko: ...

When she saw Hongzi, she was dressed as the "Red Witch" and was sitting on her big throne.

"You can't wait so soon? It's already done." Hongzi said, snapping his fingers, and the mysterious light around him focused, and a bright red tights appeared in the center!

Or the one with a cape...

Shiraishi:? ? ?
"What have you completed? Wait...is this...that set of armor?" Bai Shi was also stunned when he saw this.

Because Shiraishi didn't say what it was, Hongzi thought that he was in a hurry to get the "witch robe".

Come to think of it, the most important thing about the “Magic Girl” is her outfit, right?
Shiraishi hadn't thought about this matter at first, but he was a little worried - would Koizumi Akako only be able to make some "sexy armor"?
If it's someone like Koizumi Hongzi, then I won't be able to wear it...

Now, when he saw the "finished product", Bai Shi was also stunned.

Where's my big suit of medieval armor?
How did it become a tights?

All metal material, directly processed into cloth?
"What's important is not the appearance, but the spirituality of the supernatural material. Of course, after extraction, it can be molded into any shape." Hongzi said proudly, seeming very confident in his "craftsmanship".

Shiraishi:……

"So... your style is not due to the witch's heritage, but purely your personal aesthetic?" Bai Shi asked sharply.

Hongzi: ...

Although Hongzi had long since gotten used to the shamefulness of her outfit, she still felt a little embarrassed under Shiraishi's scorching gaze.

"Each witch's robe is made by the previous generation of witches..." Hongzi said with a slightly helpless tone.

When Shiraishi was puzzled at first and then showed an expression of realization, Hongzi also said: "The previous generation of the Red Witch came to the East Island Country and met me just because she liked the two-dimensional world..."

really!

Before, Shiraishi felt that the inheritance of the "Red Witch" was too Western, and it didn't seem like something native to the East Island Country. And Koizumi's outfit looked very two-dimensional no matter how you looked at it!

"So... you like American superheroes, right?" Bai Shi looked at the red tights speechlessly.

Hongzi said with a straight face, "No, this is tailor-made for your situation... After you transform, even if someone sees you wearing it, no one will think it's strange."

have to say……

What Hongzi said makes sense!
The biggest problem with "magic" is that it cannot be "used in public". The basic "witch transformation", that is, changing clothes with one click, also has this problem to some extent. After all, Shiraishi is not using "magic" and cannot convince himself that "this is magic" like Kidd did.

As for tights, it is very simple to "change clothes" - you can change at any time, and it can be explained as "wearing inside", which is reasonable and very scientific. "Let's not talk about the style... Can it block normal bullets?" Shiraishi asked curiously about the function.

"No." Hongzi said simply.

Shiraishi:……

"Then... can it defend against small-caliber bullets with relatively weak power?" Bai Shi asked, taking a step back - but he was already a little disappointed... Isn't that similar to my body?
"No, it has no defensive effect on its own." Hongzi said as a matter of course.

Shiraishi:? ? ?
"Eh? When I hit that armor before, it was very resistant to blows!" Bai Shi said quickly - how come the effect is castrated? Are you good enough?
"But it's meaningless to you. Spiritual materials are too hard to find nowadays. With the ones we have now, no matter how strong the defense they provide, it's at most about the same as your body, and it can't be integrated with your body surface... For you, what's the difference between this and wearing a bulletproof vest? Now this is tailor-made for you." Hongzi said as a matter of course.

Indeed, if it only provides "defense" but cannot be completely integrated with the body to prevent internal damage, using modern materials science to complete it is actually less costly and more effective!
"Measured?" Bai Shi looked at the tights and wondered when he had been measured before.

"I'm talking about a metaphor... In terms of size, this 'Red Battle Robe' can be enlarged or reduced at will within one-third to three times its size!" Hongzi corrected unhappily.

"So what's the effect of this..." Shiraishi asked instead - if it's just a "tights", it won't be of much use.

"It is directly integrated with the skin. It has no defensive effect itself, but it will change the load-bearing structure of your skin. If you are hit by a bullet, it can pull the skin and muscles around it ten to fifteen times the area to cooperate in defense.

"There is also a power-enhancing effect, but the greater the increase, the greater the mental interference, just like the old curator was completely controlled. As the effect takes effect, a 'ghost face' pattern will appear behind him.

"While exerting this effect, there will also be a permanent Confusion Spell effect, so that witnesses will not suspect that you are 'unscientific'. After all, if it is just to enhance strength, the performance will be similar to what you have now."

As Hongzi spoke, the red tights turned, and the cape flew up, revealing a ghost-like face looming behind...

Bai Shi's eyes lit up when he heard this!
Indeed, Koizumi Hongzi is indeed more experienced...

This is much more practical than simply putting on external armor!
It seems that it does not provide additional defense, but if it can make the surrounding force-bearing area ten times larger and jointly bear the damage, Shiraishi is basically not afraid of the small-caliber bullets fired by the 3D printed pistol. If this had been available half a year ago, Shiraishi could have walked out of the parking lot unscathed.

Only large-caliber bullets, or continuous shooting and hits, can injure Shiraishi.

"Strength enhancement" does not seem to be magical enough, but compared with Bai Shi's own supernatural power of "evolution", "not magical enough" is not just a disadvantage, but also an advantage - it cannot be effectively observed!

In addition, the power increase of this thing, accompanied by the existence of "mental induction", will cause a certain amount of pressure on one's [mentality], which is equivalent to exchanging [mentality] for "power"...

However, for Bai Shi who is at Lv10【Spirit】, the shortcomings of this thing can be completely "covered".

It’s true that it’s tailor-made!
"It's just that this cloak is a bit cumbersome..." Bai Shi really couldn't appreciate this American-style superhero style.

"You don't have to bring the cloak. There's a Confusion Charm on it... Actually, if it's just for strength amplification, it's still safe without the Confusion Charm." Hongzi added.

The "Confusion Spell" is a supernatural power of the [Magic] department, a means of confusing people. For example, Hasko has a permanent "Confusion Spell" on him, so no one has ever doubted why his ears are pointed!
It's just that the ability to confuse is different. If it's just hair color, pointed ears or something like that, it's easy to confuse. But if it's some large-scale magic, it won't fool people.

Seeing Shiraishi's satisfied and even surprised expression, Hongzi also smiled proudly. This "Red Battle Robe" was also her masterpiece. After all, it was made for the next generation of "witches", so of course she had to put in a lot of effort. She didn't just modify the armor to deal with it. She also provided a lot of materials herself...

"Hehe, now you know why it's so slow?" Hongzi said proudly.

"Um... by the way, actually I'm not here to rush this. I just met a guy who tried to steal Ingram's national treasure at the Queen's place. That guy's ability is obviously in the category of 'magic'." Bai Shi just remembered it and quickly got down to business.

"Ingram's national treasure...is it some kind of gem?" Hongzi immediately became interested.

Shiraishi also told what happened in the car, and most importantly, the strange "masked man" he saw.

(Here’s a picture. I forgot to put it in that chapter. The supernatural performance is not a secondary setting. It is the original setting of the animation version. The zoo setting is a secondary setting.)
"It's them..." Hongzi said with a dark face.

"You know them?" Bai Shi's eyes lit up when he heard that - an enemy you know is always better than an unknown enemy.

"That's right, in the magic world, these guys are also notorious!" Hongzi said seriously.

Unlike the "Brewery", Hongzi knows the guys at the "Zoo"!

It seems that the latter has a much deeper connection with the so-called "magic world".

Perhaps because Shiraishi was a "candidate witch", Hongzi didn't keep it a secret, but told "them" the relevant things very straightforwardly...

"Legend has it that...more than a hundred years ago, when the Italian Empire was established, there was a young magician who was the right-hand man of the Prussian Emperor at the time..."

When Shiraishi heard that Koizumi was talking about something from such a long time ago, he immediately showed an expression that said "Where have you been?", "Even Prussia has come out".

But Hongzi continued talking as if she didn't see it.

The "ultimate goal" of the "legendary magician" was to allow "magic" to exist openly and honestly, and his foothold was to take advantage of the "scientific development" that was in full swing at the time...

At the turn of the century, in the early 20th century, an authority on physics once said, "The edifice of physics has been built, and future physicists only need to do some repair work," and then... the edifice almost collapsed.

The emergence of "relativity" and "quantum mechanics" has brought the originally seamless physics into a new and unclear environment.

As the saying goes, “When in doubt, use quantum mechanics”…

Based on this, he established the "Quantum Apostle" organization, whose purpose is to use vague scientific concepts to explain magic, and ultimately achieve the result of "Ah, this is quantum mechanics", so that the public will no longer become observers who cause magic backlash...

"Isn't this a big deal?" Bai Shi wondered when he heard this.

"If that was all, it wouldn't be a big deal, but at the time, there were huge conflicts of opinion in the magic world on this matter. Gradually... the Quantum Apostle Organization began to act in extreme ways, arresting a large number of magicians and scientists, forcing the latter to conduct experiments and forcing the former... to serve as experimental materials.

"Eventually, they became the world's public enemy. During the European War, along with the fall of the Italian Empire, they were also wiped out for a time."

Hongzi told what happened next.

"Then he did die in a worthy manner...and then what?" Bai Shi wanted to ask what the relationship was between the two.

“At the beginning of this century, a group of people who not only mastered advanced science and technology, but also had a certain magical heritage, and… an organization whose members used the code name ‘animals’ appeared, calling themselves ‘quantum apostles’!
“Although we don’t know whether it’s true or not, the magic community generally believes that they are the remnants of the ‘Quantum Apostles’ back then. However, the current ‘Quantum Apostles’ have connections with politicians in many countries and are lurking in the dark, so they are difficult to eliminate.

"And the Quantum Apostle who reappeared began to take the legendary gem [Pandora] as the target and launched a series of actions...

"Because the legendary Pandora possesses the power to grant humans immortality, some people suspect that... the magician who cannot be named is still alive and still controls the current quantum apostles."

Hongzi explained the general background of this organization.

"You can't tell me your name?" Bai Shi confirmed strangely.

"Yes, there is a curse in it." Hongzi nodded seriously.

"The leader is suspected to have lived from the mid-19th century to the present?" Shiraishi confirmed more strangely.

"Legend." Hongzi was obviously not sure, but this is what the magic world said.

"Then you went to steal gems before..." Shiraishi knew that Hongzi would sometimes become a "gem thief"!
"Gemstones are spiritual materials in themselves, but most of them have had their spirituality extracted... So unlike Kidd, the gems that the Quantum Apostles get, even if they are not Pandora, will not be spit out. They will either be sold for funds, or... if they discover spirituality, they will be used directly as materials, or the spirituality will be extracted and then converted into cash." Hongzi said.

Hongzi stole the gems for the same purpose, obviously, but he was not interested in gems without spirituality.

"Combining magic and science...so this mask is just a trick?" Shiraishi speculated at this time.

Indeed, that “spider” mask looks very technological!
Hongzi was silent for a moment, then said: "I don't know, maybe they really have mastered something, a way to combine the two..."

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi became more serious - "magic" is only magical in nature. The strongest group of people, such as Koizumi Hongzi, are no match for hot weapons in a head-on manner.

Not to mention competing with some military power, in a head-on battle, those so-called magicians combined would not be enough to defeat Ingram's Royal Guards...

However, if it is combined with technology, the threat will be greater - it is equivalent to having both "unique skills" and direct "combat power".

Of course, in the final analysis, the most terrifying thing about the "Quantum Apostles" is the same as the "Black Organization". It is not their direct combat power, but their great influence and wide distribution...

and……

Shiraishi remembered that the boss of the "Black Organization" seemed to be an old man over a hundred years old, named Crow or something.

Of course, Bai Shi was not sure. After all, in his impression, this matter should not have been revealed yet.

"Is that name that cannot be said Brother Crow?" Bai Shi asked directly.

"Huh?" Hongzi was stunned when he heard that.

"Forget it, it's nothing." Bai Shi felt that the two might be related.

After all, both bosses sound like they have a longevity maniac...

(End of this chapter)