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

Chapter 209 Storyline: Why are you so concerned about that "character design"? It will alienate people's emotions.

The story timeline is that of a clever yet cruel beast, or rather, a criminal.

In the recurring dream sequences, it quickly adjusted its plans—

It has long since learned how to precisely calibrate the trajectory of its fate based on the behavior of its prey.

For Shiho Miyano now, hatred is the best kindling, and it can certainly burn brighter and brighter.

In several dreams, Shiho Miyano actually used this obsession to "kill" Gin.

This is another reason why the story timeline cannot allow Shiho Miyano to wake up.

It's important to know that in the original work, out of fear of the Black Organization, Ai Haibara always kept quiet and vague about information about the organization.

However, as a member of the organization with the code name "Sake Name," Shiho Miyano undoubtedly knew many secrets about the "Black Organization" before she truly betrayed them.

In fact, she was a core member of the APTX-4869 development team!

She knows too much.

She knew the true meaning of "silver bullet" and the ultimate purpose behind APTX-4869.

She knew the truth about the Koji Haneda case—she had seen the death list created due to "drug-related murders."

She even knew the legend of Karasuma Renya and that the leader of the organization was related to a "tycoon from half a century ago" (TV-219).

Needless to say, as a key trainee who was sent overseas by the organization for further studies, she is very likely to know about the institutions, channels, and even some transnational networks that have cooperative relationships with the organization.

Such undercover agents with names of alcoholic beverages are everywhere in the organization.

(as follows)
That's why, just like that classic yet reasonable joke—

"If the Red Team can just sit down and have a quiet meeting, this will all be over."

Of course, considering the original historical inertia, Ai Haibara's reasons for choosing to conceal much important information can also be explained—

She was worried about implicating innocent people, lacked trust in the early Conan, harbored fear of the organization, and even had an unspeakable self-destructive tendency...

Therefore, these concealed motives can still be understood and can be considered barely reasonable in the original "Ai Haibara".

But what about now?
Having undergone such a dramatic transformation, carrying a deep-seated hatred in her heart, and having had her value illuminated by Ms. Miyano, will Ai Haibara remain silent as before?

[Story Timeline] I have absolutely no confidence in this.

It was absolutely certain that if it allowed Shiho Miyano to develop such a mindset and transform into "Ai Haibara," she would most likely begin to take revenge on the Black Organization without any scruples.

It could almost foresee that scene—

A "Haibara Ai" who might have unhesitatingly revealed all the organization's secrets from the very beginning, or used them as bargaining chips;
Ai Haibara is an incredibly calm and collected person who would definitely try to exchange intelligence for GSSRA's protection, or even actively guide national-level forces to launch a crackdown on the organization.
Ai Haibara is a woman who no longer stops at defense, but personally ignites the flames of counterattack, launching precise sweeps and retaliations against every stronghold of the brewery.

Why would I (in the story's timeline) have such a dream?

After all, now is not the time when the [story timeline] has an absolute advantage—

Yusaku Kudo, a detective novelist, is about to step into the limelight and become, in a sense, the "President of the Earth".

There are only five days left until he officially takes office.

Our Conan has gained the ability to "Tranquilizer Needle Turret Mode," making him untouchable, as well as the very Conan-esque multi-functional skateboard.

He is undoubtedly an armed detective who can theoretically "form an army by himself".

And there's Heiji Hattori, Professor Agasa...

Even Ran Mouri, that once innocent and gentle girl who only knew karate and "trust".

But now that she knows Conan is Shinichi, she has even started to use her intuition to make judgments.

And what's even more frightening is that she has begun to actively try to get involved in the case.

Just like how she now takes the initiative to go to Professor Agasa's house.

If this stroke of luck were to spontaneously integrate into Conan's investigation, if she stopped causing trouble and instead began to cooperate with Conan's actions...

[Story Timeline] It listed out its current situation one by one, and even it was "startled" by its own actions.

When did I become so passive?!
Therefore, it could have allowed Shiho Miyano to wake up, thus completely preventing the Alliance from attempting to use dreams.

But it cannot do that.

"Ai Haibara," this character card, is one of the few remaining "stable anchors" in the story's timeline, in a situation where the entire historical process has deviated into a mess.

These "character settings" that are still on the historical trajectory can be said to be one of the most important lines of defense for the [story timeline].

If it abandons the idea of ​​"restoring" Shiho Miyano's character, it's tantamount to handing over the "hammer" of Ai Haibara to the [real timeline] and the Alliance.

Fortunately, it still has the shell of a "Boss" and the understanding of "human nature" that comes with it (in my opinion, the storyline).

[Story Timeline] They quickly found another way.

Dreams are part of the subconscious.

Shiho Miyano can win countless times by using the hatred in her heart, but winning once in the [story timeline] is enough.

after all--

How long can a young girl's mind sustain the hatred in her heart?

Moreover, "Shiho Miyano" should always carry this sense of helplessness and despair.

Even after becoming "Ai Haibara", she should have continued that sorrowful emotion, along with the underlying self-destructive mentality.

In this Conan universe, one wants to break free from the constraints of "character designation".

Unless a powerful force intervenes, or both timelines voluntarily relinquish control—

That would be much more difficult than witnessing one's true self and understanding one's original nature in the process of cultivating immortality!

Therefore, in terms of the story's timeline, the pistol that Shiho Miyano wielded, a product of her deep-seated hatred for the organization, was both a key to resistance and a shackle that added to her constraints.

Just... just once.

If only Shiho Miyano could put down that pistol called hatred even once in her dreams.

The story timeline will directly fix this result in Shiho Miyano's subconscious, making "giving up hatred" a default option in her future choices.

It even made her fear of the organization more intense and deeper than before, than in the original work.

If only Shiho Miyano could put it down in her dream just once.

Even once.

[Story Timeline] then has the confidence to re-anchor "Ai Haibara's" fate on fear, hesitation, and obedience.

Therefore, the story timeline begins to continuously emphasize "Gin".

It attempts to make the shadow that loomed over Shiho Miyano's childhood and adolescence even deeper, the fear more thorough, and the oppression more desperate.

Unfortunately, time underestimated Shiho Miyano's determination.

She persevered until the 33rd minute of this nightmare, until the ritual, doubly effective due to the addition of a "three," was finally successfully initiated.

……

In fact, during the period when the alliance was making its second attempt to enter Shiho Miyano's dream.

Shiho Miyano grew up very quickly.

Even after dozens of times, in such a dream, Shiho Miyano began to try to fight back against the Black Organization, attempting to confront Gin and Vodka head-on in that cold alley with guns.

The sense of time in dreams is so blurry and distorted.

In this dream from which she could not wake up, Shiho Miyano did not remember how many times she had been at a disadvantage in her battles with Gin, nor how many times she had been defeated by Gin.

Countless times, with wounds and enduring the pain of being shot, I tried to escape and fight back in this narrow alleyway, surrounded by the organization's grassroots members.

Just like now.

Leaning against the wall, slightly out of breath, Shiho Miyano let the white mist from her breath dissipate in the cold rain.

Gin was a very accurate shot, and Shiho Miyano knew that both of her shoulder blades were likely shattered.

She could no longer lift her arm at all; she couldn't even feel its presence.

Even so, Shiho Miyano still held the "pistol" tightly in her hand despite the pain.

Even though the timeline of the story inflicted so much fear and torment on her, she still couldn't bring herself to give up "hatred".

Or rather, the flames of revenge within her burned ever brighter.

But at the same time, a deeper emotion, carefully designed within the story's timeline, also began to slowly spread in her heart.

Blood trickled from the bullet hole in his shoulder, dripping onto the dark blue-green floor tiles through the curtain of water onto his soaked white lab coat.

Another emotion, just as predicted by the story timeline, also began to slowly erode her heart—

Numbness and despair.

A voice kept buzzing in her ear like a fly:
"Shiho Miyano, you don't need to face an enemy you can't defeat."

"Ha—can't you defeat him?" Shiho Miyano sneered. "I just killed Gin twenty-three times."

"But what's the point of killing so many Gin? How many times can you kill him?"

“Sherry, you know how powerful the organization is—you will never be able to get revenge.”

The voice that echoed in her heart made Shiho Miyano feel irritated and even made her heart sink.

Shiho Miyano silenced the voice that was echoing in her mind.

Then, those familiar footsteps, and that deep, sinister voice, echoed once more through the rain:
"Ah~~ Sherry~"

And so, just like last time, Gin caught her again.

But unlike in the past—

This time, with a crisp gunshot, Gin knocked the gun out of Shiho Miyano's hand with a bullet.

In the end, she couldn't hold onto the gun anymore.

When her subconscious began to realize that revenge was an unattainable goal, the impulse driven by resentment slowly began to cool down.

No matter what, her older sister and Ms. Miyano are never coming back, and after realizing that taking revenge on the Black Organization is an impossible task—

Is Sherry finally going to give up on that endless hatred? Is she going to succumb to the schemes of the [story timeline]?

"Shiho?!"

"elder sister?!"

The voice from behind made Gin freeze for a moment: "How is this possible..."

He turned his head and saw two people standing straight at the alley entrance—it was Akemi Miyano and Ms. Miyano.

Yes, after realizing that her own strength was still insufficient to contend with the [story timeline], Ms. Miyano immediately pulled Miyano Akemi, whose face was filled with a slightly confused expression, into the magic circle as well.

This was Koizumi Akako's idea.

"I refuse to believe it can truly surpass me in dream magic!"

"Isn't it just a matter of 'character design'? I refuse to believe that even if Akemi Miyano herself appeared in Shiho Miyano's own dream, she still couldn't compete with the interference of the storyline!"

Therefore, the effect of the ritual was actually amplified many times over. After Akemi Miyano and Ms. Miyano entered the dream together, the [story timeline] immediately realized that something was wrong.

But now the situation is beyond its control.

Gin then saw that terrifying woman with the same face as Miyano Akemi reappear.

She rushed towards him like a phantom, and his attempt to delay her by immediately shooting at Miyano Akemi or Miyano Shiho completely failed.

In the dark rain, Ms. Miyano shot down every bullet that Gin fired.

Then, amidst a series of familiar dull thuds of fists colliding with flesh, Gin even felt his internal organs spasm from the heavy blows.

His body involuntarily bent forward, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and was then beaten to his knees by Ms. Miyano.

For Akemi Miyano, the moment she saw Shiho lying on the ground, severely injured, she could no longer suppress her anxiety and grief.

She rushed to Shiho: "Shiho?! How are you?!"

With this action, the historical process that had been brought to an end by the universe began to advance a small step forward.

"elder sister……"

The sisters, separated by life and death, finally reunited under the rain, and whispered to each other about their emotions and memories.

Miyano, who had just dealt with Gin, interrupted Shiho, who was trying to remember the secret Akemi had told her.

"Alright, Akemi, Shiho won't remember all of this."

"The best we can do is preserve her emotions and will during this character transformation."

Although I hate to admit it, that's the truth.

The two timelines are now working together to fight against the alliance's attempt to interfere with Shiho Miyano.

“According to the predictions of the Research Department,” Ms. Miyano squatted down, looking into Shiho’s eyes for the first time in a long time, “it’s impossible for Miyano Shiho to remember anything about the Alliance and the truth.”

Ms. Miyano's voice was very soft. She had just noticed the bullet holes on Gin's trench coat—the result of Miyano Shiho's efforts.

"You only need to remember one feeling: do you remember Yamazaki whisky?"

“That… helped me get rid of him…” “Yes, it was him. Trust him, okay? Just trust your feelings—just like you believe we’re still alive.”

After confirming that Shiho nodded and understood, Ms. Miyano slowly stood up.

Raindrops slanted down her shoulders, and Shiho Miyano's actions in her dream gave her a strange sense of peace.

"Shiho, you're really strong now..."

She didn't know how much Shiho would remember when she woke up, but now it was time for this nightmare to end.

Ms. Miyano walked up to Gin, who was kneeling in the rain, trying to support himself.

She would never end this nightmare by "killing" Shiho.

This time, it was all thanks to the foolish decision to "enhance Gin" orchestrated by the [story timeline].

Then, Gin saw the woman raise the gun to his forehead without hesitation.

"Go to hell... you pathetic doll."

——“Bang!”

As the gunshots rang out deep within their dreams, Shiho Miyano and Gin opened their eyes simultaneously.

……

"Hu-hu-"

With his chest heaving rapidly, Gin woke up from his dream.

As a professional assassin, he knew how to enter deep sleep and rarely dreamed, let alone had nightmares.

But this time he was covered in cold sweat.

He couldn't remember the sounds in his dream clearly, but he could recall the last scene before waking up—

The woman he killed reappeared before him while he was chasing Sherry, and then she...

"Big brother!"

Vodka's voice pulled him back to reality from his daze. He glanced at Gin, who was covered in sweat, and considerately handed him a towel.

Vodka wisely refrained from asking Gin, who had just fallen asleep, what he had dreamed about, and instead immediately gave a brief report on the mission status:

"Vermouth hasn't arrived yet; we've been waiting for half an hour."

"Hmm." Gin took out his phone and glanced at it. The Boss hadn't given any new instructions, so he casually replied based on his own understanding, "Keep waiting. Vermouth is important."

But the vivid image still lingered in his mind.

"The lip movements for the last sentence were..."

Thinking this, he involuntarily moved his lips, silently repeating what Miss Miyano had said to him in his memory:
"A pathetic—doll?"

"Big brother?" Vodka turned his head and glanced at him.

For some reason, Gin subconsciously suppressed all his doubts and shook his head.

"Nothing... I was just thinking about some things."

After all, it was just a strange dream.

……

At the same time, Shiho Miyano suddenly woke up from her bed.

She clearly remembered everything that had just happened.

I remember being chased by Gin, running away, I remember my sister Akemi, and Ms. Miyano—

They appeared at the last moment of the dream, saving her from despair and even helping her kill Gin.

She still remembers that at that moment, she was entrusted with something extremely important.

But like Gin's experience, he only has images in his memory, without any sound.

This made Shiho Miyano feel inexplicably uneasy, especially about the memories of her dreams, which seemed to be disappearing as quickly as the tide was receding.

Then, the door was pushed open the next second.

—It's Yamazaki whisky.

His figure matched the lip movements of Ms. Miyano's last words in the dream.

Shiho Miyano paused, then instinctively asked, "Are you... familiar with Ms. Miyano?"

Upon hearing those words, Yamazaki let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief—she remembered some things, and that was enough.

I finally have a chance to hint to Shiho to check on Shinichi Kudo's condition.

"We've had some cooperation."

He paused, brought up the persona he had already established in the previous cycle, and then began to speak according to the pre-planned "help" of the story timeline.

"Shirley, the organization has already agreed to let you meet your sister. Don't you need to show some sincerity?"

He paused for a moment, then opportunely showed a bit of "goodwill":
“On behalf of the organization, I can offer a token of our sincerity. I have already sent a message to the organization’s branch in the United States, and I expect your sister’s recent photos taken in the United States will be sent back soon.”

"I……"

Yamazaki deliberately furrowed his brow, feigning a troubled expression:

"Here's what we'll do. You don't need to start researching APTX-4869 right away. You just need to go with the organization members to complete a mission later."

He took out a list and placed it on the table, and Shiho Miyano's gaze followed the direction his finger pointed to.

User: Shinichi Kudo;

Status: Unknown.

Shiho Miyano bit her lip, staring at the words, which seemed to possess a kind of magic.

Adding everything that happened in the dream just now, even the remaining "historical inertia" is enough.

She looked into Yamazaki's eyes, "I want to see my sister's picture first."

“Okay,” Yamazaki had been waiting for this. “Vermouth is in charge of affairs in the United States. I’ll send her a message to urge her.”

He slowly walked to Shiho Miyano's bedside, gave her that "Kuro"-like "cheerful smile," then lowered his head, tapped the ground with his toes, and spoke in a gentle but unquestionable tone:
"You understand why the organization is sending you out on this trip now, right?"

"Don't let thoughts of betrayal arise, understand?"

Having said that, he walked out of the room, leaving Shiho Miyano's gaze lingering on the spot where Yamazaki had just stood, or rather, the spot where his toes had touched—

That location is the secret compartment that Ms. Miyano always kept in the room.

……

The order in which things happen is very important.

The dual timelines' counterattack against the Alliance was very simple; they only did one thing—they moved the time of the incident forward.

The same thing is what the league needs to do now.

"We need to make one thing clear."

"Because of Ms. Miyano, the story of 'Shiho Miyano going to the Kudo residence' never actually happened in history."

"In fact, due to Ms. Miyano's guidance, Shiho Miyano is very likely to be snatched away by GSSRA and then choose to join GSSRA for cooperation."

As the league has always emphasized, timing is important, but order is even more important.

It is very difficult to place two "historical inertia" events that originally occurred at different times into the same point in time, especially in the [real timeline].

Originally, Shiho Miyano was supposed to go to the Kudo residence at night, so she secretly changed the time in the Black Organization's database to night as well.

"In this way, this [historical process] contradicts the history of Shiho Miyano shrinking after taking APTX-4869."

The reason is simple: according to the original "historical process," Shiho Miyano had to take APTX-4869 at the time she went to the Kudo residence, and even after she had modified the Black Organization's database.

"That's why we had to get Conan into the funeral home to realize that something was wrong."

"She should have discovered that Akemi Miyano was dead before these two incidents,"

Just like in the Maple Leaf Gold Coin case, the Alliance took advantage of Conan's attention to Ran Mouri to skip over that less important case.

“We need to first establish the historical fact that ‘Shinichi Kudo’s death was confirmed’ a month ago.”

"Then, by taking advantage of Conan's realization that something was wrong when he entered the funeral home, his subjective consciousness was forcibly transferred to the time sense of 'after Miyano Akemi's death'."

This might sound a bit convoluted, but it's actually quite easy to understand if you simply disregard the temporal connection.

This is undoubtedly a clever cause-and-effect relationship.

Because Conan deduced that Miyano Akemi's death was the cause, and after similarly deducing her sister's death, Miyano Shiho was able to find the motivation to become Ai Haibara herself.

As for the temporal connection, it is both important and unimportant.

Time is merely an illusion for mortals; the key lies in the "background."

Let's recall the background of Shiho Miyano's visit to Kudo's house to explore—

The sky was indeed very dark, but if you look closely, it never indicated the actual time, did it?

Whether it was night or a gloomy afternoon approaching night, who could know?
Now that Gin and Vodka have been transferred, it's impossible for Gin to supervise Shiho Miyano's investigation at the Kudo residence according to the original plan in the story timeline.

By subtly manipulating causality, the subsequent timeline will unfold exactly as the original story did.

Except for the very last part.

"What about Shinichi Kudo's status? His identity information in the Black Organization has always been 'unknown'."

Faced with some doubts, several members of parliament quickly stepped forward to refute the concerns of some people.

"That's not a problem at all. Conan doesn't need to worry about the Black Organization's military threat at all right now."

"As for the Black Organization being strengthened in seven days, we can also provide Conan with some technical support."

……

So, while Conan was in the restroom, Vermouth's phone vibrated again.

[Story Timeline] I tried to intercept the messages sent by Yamazaki.

Of course, the real-world timeline is happy to make things difficult for it; what the story timeline needs to do is to oppose what reality wants to oppose.

So Vermouth eventually received Yamazaki's text message as expected.

"Sherry has agreed to show some sincerity first... She has agreed to go to the Kudo residence to conduct an investigation about APTX-4869..."

Do you want to check if Shinichi Kudo is dead?

This perfectly fits Vermouth's "persona".

This is an opportunity to remove Cool Boy from the list—

After all, Vermouth already knows that Shinichi Kudo is Conan Edogawa, doesn't she?
After all, considering the BOSS's current actions of "crushing Miyano Akemi to ashes" (stealing her body), this could very well affect [Kudo Shinichi], who is Conan, right?

Therefore, it is entirely reasonable for Vermouth to "reluctantly" agree to the arrangement out of concern for Conan's safety.

"...and Sherry needs to see a picture of Akemi Miyano before taking any action."

Vermouth quickly edited the text message and replied: "Have the organizers make a new one using the photo Gin provided."

Then, she sent a message to her boss.

"Considering that Shiho Miyano might deliberately lead the research team astray due to suspicion, I agreed to her mission to conduct a search of the Kudo residence."

She even gave the [story timeline] an irresistible reason: "I will have the accompanying personnel take her away to the organization's abandoned research institute on the western outskirts of Beika Town."

In this way, the two historical inertias are cleverly linked together, coupled with the storyline's "desire" to control the matter of "becoming Ai Haibara".

[Story Timeline] It immediately agreed, or rather, it had no other choice.

From the perspective of the [story timeline], Vermouth's reaction at the funeral home just now was undoubtedly a collaboration between the Alliance and reality—

It just reset Vermouth again; there's no way she could have a problem.

After replying "agree", another text message appeared immediately.

[Story Timeline] We urgently need Vermouth to leave immediately—

If she leaves now, Gin and Vodka may still be able to catch up with Shiho Miyano's relocation.

However, just then, Conan's voice rang out from outside the door.

"Maria-neechan! Let's go find Uncle Mori!"

Vermouth "instinctively" stuffed her phone into her bag, and then "instinctively" agreed, "Okay!"

"Yay! I promise I'll behave and not bother the detectives while they're working!"

After Vermouth agreed to go to the crime scene as a "detective," it was Conan who took Maria's hand and led her outside.

The combination of two timelines is never unbreakable.

Their cooperation is based on fragile foundations, which is where the alliance comes in.

(End of this chapter)