I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 753 Identity Change: Why Am I Watson?!

The scene at 221B Baker Street in the twilight almost completely overlaps with the image Conan imagined countless times while wandering between the pages of his books.

The weathered brick walls, the iconic window frames, and the black door he longed for were all shrouded in the unique hazy glow of London, exuding a timeless and stirring historical atmosphere.

He could almost hear his heart pounding violently in his chest.

Standing beside him, Shiraishi E took in the boy's barely contained excitement, and a knowing smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.

He gently patted Conan on the shoulder and said, "It seems that this historic step should be taken by you. You can handle the doorbell."

"Okay...okay!" Conan nodded vigorously, his voice slightly tense with excitement.

He took a deep breath, as if performing a solemn ceremony, and walked with firm steps to the famous door. With utmost reverence, he pressed the doorbell that had appeared countless times in his dreams.

The crisp sound of a bell rang from inside the door, making the brief wait seem incredibly long.

The door lock clicked softly, and the door was slowly pulled open.

Standing inside the door was an elderly white woman. Although the years had etched fine lines around her eyes and her silver hair was neatly tied into a bun, her still bright eyes and elegant features spoke volumes about her youthful charm.

This is undoubtedly Mrs. Hudson.

When Conan saw that the person who opened the door was a completely new face, his last bit of worry vanished, replaced by a huge surprise.

He suppressed his barely contained excitement and said in as polite and clear a voice as possible, "Mrs. Hudson, hello! We...we are here to visit Detective Sherlock Holmes!"

Mrs. Hudson looked slightly surprised upon hearing this. She tilted her head slightly, looked at Conan, and repeated, "You're looking for... Sherlock Holmes?"

Her tone carried a hint of confusion, as if she had heard a very strange question.

Conan nodded quickly, his little face full of pure expectation, looking up at her.

However, Mrs. Hudson's subsequent reaction was completely beyond their expectations.

Suddenly, she laughed, a laugh that carried the loving and tolerant air of an elder looking at a mischievous junior. Her gaze passed over Conan and landed on Shiraishi E behind him, her tone as natural as could be: "Oh, my dear Watson, what are you talking about? Mr. Sherlock Holmes, isn't he standing right next to you?"

"—?!"

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly freezing Shiraishi E and Conan in place, their minds blank.

Conan was the first to snap out of his utter astonishment. He practically jumped around, pointing a trembling finger at Shiraishi E, who was standing beside him, equally bewildered. His voice rose in utter disbelief: "Eh—?! Mrs. Hudson! You mean…I, I'm Watson?! He…he's Sherlock Holmes?!"

Mrs. Hudson nodded with absolute certainty, her expression matter-of-fact: "Yes, my dear Watson, that's it."

"Although I don't quite understand what you two are up to today, whether you're trying to test this old lady's memory or reaction time, the facts are just as clear as they are."

She looked at Conan with a "stop messing around" expression in her eyes.

Conan opened his mouth, about to argue, when at that very moment, a clear stream of information, perceptible only to them, like a cold electronic notification, directly entered their minds:

[Identity information loading complete... Conan Edogawa, identity changed to: Dr. John H. Watson.]

[Identity information loading complete. Shiraishi E, identity changed to: Sherlock Holmes.]

The two exchanged a glance, and all their confusion and shock found their answer in that instant.

This is not part of the game's plot design at all, but rather a direct intervention by the artificial intelligence "Noah's Ark"!

It bypassed the original storyline and forcibly changed their core identities, making them no longer visitors, but directly replacing the legend itself—Shiraishi E became Sherlock Holmes, while he became the faithful recorder and partner, John Watson!
The stage for the story has been set, but the protagonists have been changed to themselves.

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221B Baker Street, second floor.

This renowned consulting detective's study is currently witnessing a "protest" that is completely out of step with the elegant style of the Victorian era.

Conan was completely sunken into that iconic sofa, flailing his arms and legs, emitting almost wailing complaints:
"Why?! Why am I Watson?! I don't want to be Watson, I want to be Sherlock Holmes! This isn't fair!!" He sat up abruptly, his little face puffed up with anger, and pointed indignantly at Shiraishi E, who was leisurely watching him with a smile, and accused, "That Shiraishi guy! His reasoning ability is clearly not as good as mine! Why is he Sherlock Holmes, while I can only be Watson?!"

"Noah's Ark!! Did you hear that? Quickly switch our identities!! There's definitely something wrong with this assignment!"

Shiraishi E seemed to have completely entered the role. He slowly picked up the classic Sherlock Holmes pipe on the desk, took a puff in a very professional manner, and then exhaled a long smoke ring, with white steam rising into the air.

He spoke in a tone deliberately mimicking Sherlock Holmes's slightly arrogant and insightful manner: "My dear friend, don't you understand? Conan... oh no, my dear Watson!"

He paused deliberately, enjoying Conan's increasingly exasperated expression, before continuing, "It's precisely because my reasoning ability isn't that great that I was able to become Sherlock Holmes. With your intelligence, you should be able to understand the deeper meaning behind that, right?"

Although Conan was furious and extremely annoyed, his intelligence remained sharp.

Upon hearing Shiraishi's pointed remark, he was startled. His mind raced, and he instantly grasped the key information, blurting out, "You mean... this was deliberately arranged by Noah's Ark? It artificially increases the game's difficulty and adds obstacles to our progress by misplacing identities?"

"Bingo! You guessed right, my clever partner." Shiraishi E nodded, confirming Conan's guess.

As he continued smoking his pipe, he casually opened a drawer in his desk, took out a stack of documents, and said in a relaxed tone, "By the way, while you were focused on throwing a tantrum and venting your frustrations, I glanced through these files that Holmes should have had... and found that there are absolutely no case records or files about Jack the Ripper in them."

Conan blushed slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but his curiosity and detective instincts quickly overwhelmed him, and he shamelessly leaned over to quickly browse the documents.

Sure enough, it contained records of various strange cases that Holmes had solved in the past, such as "The Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Red-Headed League," but it lacked the information that they needed most at this moment.

His brow furrowed tightly, and his thoughts instantly became clear:

“I understand! If we intervene as players, then according to the game settings, Holmes and Watson will provide us with initial information about Jack the Ripper, and Noah's Ark must provide clues according to the rules.”

"But now, by changing our identities, it has cleverly circumvented this rule! Holmes himself knew about the case, so there was no need to leave any written information!"

"This is tantamount to cutting off our initial intelligence source, greatly increasing the difficulty of the investigation!!!"

“That’s right.” Shiraishi E nodded, a playful smile playing on her lips. “Heh, this game is getting more and more interesting. They’ve learned to use the rules against us.”

Although Conan fully understood the sinister intentions behind Noah's Ark, his frustration remained undiminished. He muttered to himself, "Sigh... I understand the logic, but why am I Watson...? I still want to be Sherlock Holmes!!!"

Seeing his expression, Shiraishi E couldn't help but laugh, tapping him lightly with her pipe and saying, "Relax, my friend, this is just a role-playing game, why are you taking it so seriously?"

"Now, my dear Watson, the most urgent thing is to think about how to find a breakthrough and solve the puzzle before us in this unfavorable start."

Conan rolled his eyes and complained irritably, "You're completely into character!!! You keep calling me 'my dear Watson,' and you're telling me not to take it so seriously?!"

Shiraishi E chuckled, took another drag of her cigarette, and changed the subject, saying, "Alright, let's get down to business. Let's talk about how to find clues. By the way, in the original Sherlock Holmes stories, how did Holmes finally catch Jack the Ripper?"

Upon hearing this, Conan looked at Shiraishi E with a "Are you kidding me?" expression and said speechlessly, "Those two are from completely different eras!"

"Sherlock Holmes was active from the late 19th to the early 20th century, while Jack the Ripper committed a series of murders in 1888, which is a real unsolved mystery in Victorian London. How could Holmes possibly have caught him?"

"Oh, I see." Shiraishi E suddenly realized, then smiled and said, "In that case, our game journey can be considered a fan-made work."

Conan pulled his wandering thoughts back, and the sharp smile of a detective returned to his face. He said, "Even fan fiction can't avoid one key figure... that is the Napoleon of the criminal world—Professor Moriarty!"

"He is the mastermind behind London's underworld, and almost every heinous crime is connected to him. He must have information about Jack the Ripper."

At this point, his tone became somewhat impatient: "Finding the elusive Professor Moriarty himself might be difficult, but we can find his top confidant, that retired soldier—Colonel Sebastian Moran!"

"And that guy should be much easier to find. He has a well-known quirk: he's extremely passionate about playing bridge!"

Shiraishi nodded in satisfaction, gently placed her pipe on the table, stood up, straightened her non-existent collar, and said in an almost lamenting tone, "Well done, Watson. Your wisdom is as reliable as ever. Well then, without further ado, let's set off now to meet with that Colonel Moran!"

Conan looked at Shiraishi E, who was completely immersed in the role and whose every move was imitating Sherlock Holmes, and felt a pang of pain in his heart, his lips twitching a few times.

As he walked out, he kept muttering to himself, full of resentment: "I was the one who did the reasoning and analysis, and I was the one who came up with the clues... Logically speaking, I should be Sherlock Holmes!! Damn Noah's Ark!!"

(End of this chapter)