The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 203 The Alliance has fallen into a trap! (Three chapters combined, last day, please vote!)

In the surveillance footage from the executive level, Hattori Heiji disembarked from the plane under the escort of several soldiers.

Without the slightest hesitation, he followed his plan from the plane and walked toward the driver, or rather, the alliance member, who was already waiting nearby.

A moment later, his firm voice came through the monitoring equipment:
"Take me to the Mori Detective Agency."

For a moment, the air in the Alliance [Cycle] meeting hall seemed to freeze, and then—

An indescribable atmosphere of ease and even relaxation quietly spread.

One executive member even stood up, clapped lightly, and finally relaxed his tense expression.

"It seems this time travel will be the last one!"

"yes……"

Someone echoed in a low voice, their tone carrying a hint of ease that they themselves didn't even realize.

"This time, the operation on the operational side seems to be going incredibly smoothly."

Someone noticed the underlying worry in his voice and added a sentence for him:
"This shows that we have indeed taken all the factors that could be considered this time."

In the center of the conference hall, the simulated familiar city floated silently, and the sky gradually faded in color, even revealing for the first time a gentle green hue—

The alliance's plan was carried out with extraordinary success.

Everything seemed perfectly fine!

On the map of Beika Town, several important time points have been marked, and in the task completion column next to them, several numbers show 100%.

On the eighteenth day, everyone felt that the alliance was finally about to witness a decisive moment.

"According to reports from the operations team, the covert operations unit's operation at Star Tower has been successfully completed."

"The Time Weavers dispatched by the Department of Historical Disguise and Infiltration have also successfully completed their mission."

"They have successfully buried the communication devices of the 'Science Frontier' and the Alliance under the Star Tower."

“Traces of the ‘scientific boundary’ have been buried beneath the Star Tower as planned. All clues have been fabricated: leftover food scraps, traces of human activity, and forged lab reports…”

"Everything has been arranged."

"After being exposed to Hattori Heiji as planned, the authorities could only find out what we wanted them to know."

"The investigation will only trace back to the fact that the building was completed in secret by 'Science Frontier' several months ago and abandoned for some reason."

"very good."

Shigenobu Hitomi glanced at the summary sent from the operations level and nodded.

In this way, even if today's operation cannot be 100% successful, the alliance has already firmly grasped the direction of tomorrow.

Regardless of the outcome, the fate of the alliance has been decided.

Then, she turned her gaze back to the simulated projection of Beika Town that was suspended in the center.

In this city, where fate unfolds like a chessboard, a few points of light flicker faintly—

Those were pawns dropped by the alliance.

"If we can successfully deliver Ai Haibara to Professor Agasa's house today, then we can try to take our plan a step further."

"If the plan goes smoothly—"

With a light tap on TDD, Shigenobu Hitomi retrieved tomorrow's contingency plan from the execution layer database.

"We could try the Narrative Studies Department's plan to involve Shinichi Kudo in GSSRA, which is Hattori Heiji's first communication with the Alliance."

With a gentle wave of her hand, Shigenobu Hitomi displayed a series of data projections in the air.

She then selected the time-series simulations related to the Star Tower from those intricate timeline branches and marked them out.

"This will be a very valuable opportunity."

The Star Tower in the projection rotates slightly, and several virtual rays of light spread out from the top of the tower, extending in different directions towards the future in the long river of time.

"Whether it's extending goodwill to the 'detectives' regarding the alliance and the 'frontiers of science,' or providing new hints to [Shinichi Kudo]..."

"Or perhaps we can use this to force GSSRA, and the [real-world timeline], to reach a certain level of cooperation with the Alliance—"

"This will be of great help to our next operation."

In mid-air, another golden line extends from its original time point, and countless timelines simulated by various contingency plans spread out towards the future like branches of a giant tree.

Shigenobu Hitomi then separated the developed time branches and gathered the most core part into a clear golden beam of light.

This thread of fate drew an arc above the miniaturized city, then split into two, ultimately landing at two key locations—

Professor Agasa's house, Teitan Elementary School.

"What stage has Professor Agasa's plan reached?"

Upon hearing Shigenobu Hitomi's question, the councilor immediately presented the current action sequence of the operations team.

"The timeline for today has not yet reached the scheduled time."

"Because of Shinichi Kudo's subconscious protection strategy for the school, we cannot immediately determine whether he followed Professor Agasa's advice and extended an invitation to the Junior Detective League."

"but--"

He paused for a moment, but his expression did not show any hesitation; instead, it was filled with unwavering confidence.

"Based on the simulation results from the timing department, we have a 99% chance of success this time."

……

In fact, for the alliance, this was the most crucial step in both preparing for tomorrow and rescuing Shiho Miyano today.

This heavy responsibility falls entirely on Professor Agasa's shoulders.

After all, he was the only one in the entire alliance who could directly communicate with "God".

After the alliance made a small intervention in Teitan Elementary School's schedule—Teitan Elementary School and Teitan High School are closed this afternoon for routine maintenance and safety checks.

Based on the previous retrospective results, this minor intervention will have an immediate effect on Conan.

Yes, for Conan, who received this good news first thing in the morning, his "detective spirit" was about to burst forth after just one day.

Without hesitation, he dialed Professor Agasa's phone number.

"Doctor, I'll come to see you this afternoon."

On the other end of the phone, Professor Agasa sighed helplessly. Of course, he knew Conan's personality.

He also knew that it was almost impossible for the child to stay at home as the league expected.

So, Professor Agasa deliberately lowered his voice and slowed his tone, creating an atmosphere of "secret conversation," and then—

Let's begin today's "performance" according to the plan.

"Conan, you really need to rest for a few days. You can't just be running around investigating cases all the time except for going to school."

"You don't look like a primary school student at all."

Professor Agasa coughed lightly and added, feigning seriousness:
"Conan, Ran has called me several times already. You can't keep using this as an excuse."

"Your sister Xiaolan will get suspicious sooner or later."

Conan on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, as if those words had struck a nerve.

So, what happened next was only natural.

Following Professor Agasa's advice, Conan quickly adjusted his strategy—

Since we can't openly use "case investigation" as an excuse to leave, let's find another reason.

At Professor Agasa's suggestion, Conan would invite his classmates to Professor Agasa's house.

To be precise, it was an invitation for his "juvenile detective club" to come to the professor's house this afternoon to discuss tomorrow's camping plans.

"In that case, you'll have a reason to go out and investigate."

There's only one reason why the timing department dares to claim a 99% success rate—

Today, Conan went to school on his super eye-catching "super skateboard".

Yes, that skateboard that Professor Agasa gave me.

Conan has mastered this "detective equipment" to a whole new level.

Having mastered almost all the uses, he even developed many unexpected techniques.

After all, not everyone can pilot a skateboard like a fighter jet.

God knows how complicated Professor Agasa's feelings were yesterday afternoon when he witnessed Conan's "casual" demonstration of a series of actions in his own yard.

At that moment, he saw Conan standing on the skateboard and using the three-stage propulsion. In an instant, he almost took off, and then he adjusted his posture precisely in the air and smoothly switched to gliding mode.

What's even more terrifying is that he didn't stop.

As the lenses flashed, he simultaneously used visual control to connect the small drone, which consisted of four pulleys, to his glasses.

Even more surprisingly, each of the four drones was carrying out a different mission!
Conan controlled them to track, defend, and attack in the air, while leaving one to hover high in the sky for long-range surveillance.

This elementary school detective skillfully maneuvered through the small courtyard of the professor's house, performing extreme maneuvers around a few low trees.

It even made several sharp turns in the air.

Finally, Conan made a precise turn in the air and used a dive to complete his final landing.

With a "thud," a primary school student on a skateboard landed back on the ground.

The next second, the tranquilizer watch on his raised wrist, already in turret and radar mode, faced all the enemies in front of him.

Cold sweat trickled down his collar, and Professor Agasa stood there dumbfounded.

—At that moment, he realized that Conan at that time could take on ten Gin by himself.

This fact made Dr. Agasa look down at his hands with some doubt.

"Did I make this skateboard...?"

But for the league, this skateboard is undoubtedly a stabilizing factor.

"If Shinichi Kudo were to demonstrate even the most basic folding function of a skateboard, based on the psychological analysis of the entire 'Detective Boys,' their next move would be a foregone conclusion."

"They not only won't refuse, but they'll even ask Professor Agasa to help them ask their parents to let them stay overnight at the professor's house."

That's exactly what happened.

after all--

Who could resist a skateboard with three-stage propulsion, amphibious capabilities (land, sea, and air), solar power for charging or high-speed acceleration, the ability to fold into a glider, four transforming drones, and an automatic tracking and defense system?!

"Furthermore, based on Shinichi Kudo's behavior when he interacts with the Detective Boys, his childlike traits are even more pronounced."

"This means that after Shiho Miyano becomes Ai Haibara, she is also very likely to receive the same boost from being a child..."

This is crucial.

After all, the fact that the alliance is about to rescue Shiho Miyano is not uncommon in previous rewinds.

However, almost every time, at that point, the story timeline attempts to lead to an ending where Shiho Miyano is injured, unable to move, or even in a coma.

But it's a different story when it comes to "children".

"In the analysis of all cases based on historical inertia, we can determine that there have been no cases that explicitly describe the death of a child."

Even in cases involving children in danger, everyone ultimately escaped unharmed.

This is one of the league's breakthroughs.

This is why Professor Agasa tried to get Conan and the Detective Boys to stay at his house that night—more precisely, next door to the Kudo residence.

"The inertia of Heiji Hattori's 'love story,' Shinichi Kudo's protective effect on children, the historical inertia of the 'story timeline,' the Alliance's constant interference, Conan's own vigilance, and his current level of firepower..."

Shigenobu Hitomi listed all the available factors word by word.

Today, she declared unequivocally to the entire executive team her determination to win the next battle.

"We are determined to achieve our goal in this one battle!"

"It's not just about rescuing Ai Haibara."

"We must try to strike hard against the counterattack forces of the [story timeline], and strive to ensure that Conan Edogawa forever develops the mindset that 'the Black Organization is nothing special!'"

...As for Hattori Heiji, he certainly had no idea that so much had happened in just a few hours this morning.

As the car smoothly drove toward the Mori Detective Agency, he casually confirmed with the secretary sitting beside him:

"Have you prepared all the case collections I requested?"

—Heiji Hattori still remembered what Kudo had told him about Detective Mouri's hobbies.

The famous detective Mori loves solving puzzles, the more difficult the better!

"It's all here, Director Heiji."

As Hattori Heiji took the case file he had handed over and began to look through it with great interest.

The secretary, or rather Vermouth, silently reached out and lightly touched the transmitter hidden in her sleeve with her fingertips.

Several tiny signals were then emitted.

This is one of a series of instructions that the Boss sent her at midnight this morning.

Gin and vodka are about to make their move.

In order to lower Shiho Miyano's guard, Gin and Vodka will go to the Beika Town funeral home to steal Akemi Miyano's body.

At the very least, they needed to obtain her facial information and physical characteristics so that Vermouth could accurately replicate the last traces she left in the world, thus creating a flawless disguise.

But this is exactly what the alliance plans.

At the executive-level meeting, the different results of the three backtracking attempts were presented side by side.

"In the first development of the time when there was absolutely no interference from the alliance, if Gin and Vodka would successfully steal Akemi Miyano's body."

"In this way, Vermouth, having obtained information about Miyano Akemi, was able to perfectly impersonate Ms. Miyano under the guidance of the [story timeline] and successfully transfer Miyano Shiho by using her 'persona'."

"If the alliance takes Miyano Akemi's body away beforehand and deliberately orchestrates a confrontation between the Black Organization and GSSRA at the funeral home..."

An "obituary" for gin and vodka, or rather, their death process, was projected.

"With the Alliance investing heavily in members of the magical timeline regardless of cost, leveraging the hostility between the two timelines, and attempting to temporarily enhance the [real timeline]—"

"In the best-case scenario, we could actually kill Gin and Vodka directly."

"But it doesn't make any sense."

"The story timeline will have an extremely violent impact. Shiho Miyano will be killed directly, and even Ran Mouri and Kogoro Mouri will be affected."

So, this time, Gin and Vodka will successfully steal Akemi Miyano's body.

"Based on the previous review, we have confirmed that Shiho Miyano still remembers Akemi Miyano's true appearance."

"In this way, we only need to create a corpse that is slightly different from Miyano Akemi to achieve our goal."

"It was realized that the photo of Akemi Miyano was a forgery by the Black Organization, and she tried to delay the Black Organization's transfer of her."

"Both Yamazaki and the Red Magic Ministry will try to make Shiho Miyano understand the truth, and at the same time try to guide her to become Ai Haibara and escape the organization."

Of course, the chronological order is very important in this process.

The most crucial step can only be taken after Hattori Heiji arrives at the Mori Detective Agency and makes contact with [Kudo Shinichi].

Therefore, during this period, gin and vodka must be kept in check.

Fortunately, Gin's license plate and car model were very obvious.

The Porsche 356A, with its sleek lines and classic round headlights, stood out like a firefly in the night under the tracking system of the time display.

For the league, having GSSRA put those two in a traffic jam for hours was perfectly normal.

"Brother! The road ahead is blocked again!"

Gin had lost count of how many times he had heard this phrase today.

This kind of "daily bad luck" even made Gin feel that this was a normal day for him.

"Let's go from 4-chome. That should be the main road, and we should be able to get through today."

So Vodka skillfully turned around, and the car's tires skillfully ran over a nail that some drunkard had casually tossed aside on the roadside that morning.

Vodka and Gin, who were sitting in the car, felt the car suddenly shake, and then the car began to tilt noticeably to one side.

"Big...brother?"

Vodka didn't dare look at Gin's expression as he sat to the side; he stammered.

"The tire looks flat."

There was silence.

Gin suppressed the urge to pull out his pistol and fire a burst into the sky. He took a deep breath and coldly uttered:
"Get out of the car and change the spare tire."

"Brother, have you forgotten?"

Vodka cautiously reminded him, "When you made me speed past the police yesterday... I used up the spare tire."

silence.

A longer silence.

Vodka watched as his older brother lit a cigarette and then sat in the passenger seat, remaining silent.

"Big brother, what do we do next? We still need the mission that Vermouth gave us..."

For every word Vodka uttered, a black line would appear on Gin's forehead.

This may be the closest Gin has ever come to breaking his "cold" persona.

However, he ultimately held back.

"Get out of the car..." Gin coldly tossed Vodka a sentence, then opened the car door. "We'll walk there this time."

Gin's face was filled with a cold, murderous aura, and the hem of his black trench coat fluttered gently in the breeze as he stepped out of the car.

Well, if you ignore his disheveled state, the scene could even be described as quite dashing.

Gin didn't say a word of criticism.

After all, he had tried driving himself before, and the result was always the same—

This damn luck has never left me since that trip to the tropical park.

And when they finally arrived at the familiar funeral home sign—

What does "having to queue" mean?

Vodka stared in shock at the entrance of the funeral home, where a long line stretched as far as the eye could see before him and Gin.

His voice, even in its shock, sounded unusually loud in the solemn silence.

Many people in the long queue at the entrance looked up and stared at Gin and Vodka at the very end of the line.

Vodka shivered.

—Those gazes were cold, lifeless, desperate, and filled with hatred…

Vodka even had an immediate illusion that the funeral home in front of him had suddenly transformed into a dangerous and dangerous burial ground.

Vodka was certain that if they dared to try to cut in line.

So these people in line might, for various reasons, pull out guns, knives, or even bombs from their pockets without hesitation, and then, filled with boundless resentment, fall into hell with them.

Just then, an old gatekeeper, walking unsteadily and leaning on a cane, came over.

Before he could speak, three squads of fully armed soldiers patrolled past them from behind.

This sense of déjà vu made Vodka gasp.

"Because so many people are dying!"

The old gatekeeper sighed and shook his head.

"I advise you to line up. Everyone in line here has a bit of a temper. After the last fight broke out, even the army had to come and deal with the aftermath."

The old gatekeeper pointed to the row of soldiers who had just run past and added in a low voice:
"They have been stationed here ever since."

—The old man was half right.

The other reason is that GSSRA has long maintained an investigation team here due to its need for precise monitoring of "death figures".

Since Yusaku Kudo revealed the shocking information about mind-modification weapons, GSSRA has had to intensify its surveillance of the area to ensure that "every death" is accurately recorded and analyzed for cause of death.

And the result was exactly the same as what Yusaku Kudo had said.

Vodka and Gin then realized that the mission had stalled from the very beginning—the queues were for hours, making it impossible to move forward.

At that very moment, Vermouth, who had just stepped out of the car with Heiji Hattori, looked up at the signboard for "Mouri Detective Agency" hanging on the second floor.

Then, following the Boss's instructions, she sent a second message to Gin.

A few seconds later——

Gin's phone rang.

He picked up his phone and glanced at the screen. His eyes suddenly turned deep, and a familiar, sinister smile slowly crept onto his lips.

“Let’s go, Vodka, let’s go get something first before we ‘queue up’.”

Vodka paused for a moment, "Huh?"

Gin, too lazy to explain further, simply lifted his foot and walked outside.

The text message was very simple, containing only a nearby address and a sentence:

"The equipment inside the house will allow you to infiltrate—Vermouth."

……

In short, whether for the dual timelines or for the league, the time ahead is crucial in determining the outcome.

This is especially true for dual-time systems.

However, even now, they have not chosen to intervene directly.

Instead, they displayed an almost "patient" attitude, quietly watching the alliance's actions and even giving it a push.

—Just like how the alliance's actions went smoothly today.

[Story Timeline] "Just happened" to advance some aspects of "Heiji Hattori's" character development, making his every move more reasonable.

[Real-world timeline] "Just in time" delayed Gin and Vodka's arrival at the funeral home, giving the Alliance more room to maneuver.

All of this is because, after receiving a reminder from the universe at midnight on the second day, they knew they only had one chance to act.

The dual timelines are very clear—

Once they exhibit any anomalies that demonstrate "discovering they have been backtracked," the alliance will immediately rewind to today and replan based on that.

At the same time, they will never be given another chance.

Therefore, starting this morning, the two timelines have only jointly revised one fact—

Something that would absolutely not attract the attention of the alliance.

By using the "disappearance" of the [story timeline] and the [real-world timeline], they actively reveal their identity and conceal the truth.

Vermouth appeared where she shouldn't have been.

—"Heiji Hattori's secretary".

That secretary shouldn't have been Vermouth in disguise.

After all, if Vermouth wasn't at the pharmaceutical company where Shiho Miyano worked after Gin and Vodka stole the body, and even disguised herself as Heiji Hattori's secretary and followed him around...

So who will impersonate Akemi Miyano to gain Shiho Miyano's trust?

But she didn't go.

Because of the dual timelines, we are confident that we can do something even more ruthless and completely reverse the situation in one fell swoop.

Most importantly, judging from their observations of the alliance's actions so far—

The league was completely unaware of this.

(End of this chapter)