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

In Chapter 212, Conan came up with the idea all by himself.

For everyone at the funeral home, especially Inspector Megure, Kogoro Mouri's speed in solving this case was nothing short of "divine".

Minutes after almost three of the most likely suspects were brought to the scene, with a soft "whoosh," the tranquilizer dart reserved for Kogoro Mouri finally came in handy.

Conan hid directly behind Heiji, then quietly nudged him, signaling him to cover himself up more thoroughly.

Under Inspector Megure's expectant gaze and Heiji Hattori's astonished eyes, the dormant detective once again displayed his amazing "dance moves".

Leaning against the table where Akemi Miyano's body lay in an eerie, semi-standing posture, Kogoro Mouri revealed the truth.

"Mr. Jin Chuan, I'm afraid the one who really tried to steal Miss Yami's body is you!"

"The so-called teleportation is nothing more than a trick someone is trying to play using shadows and temperature!"

Detective Mori's confident tone drew everyone's attention to Mr. Kanakawa.

Jin Chuanqiao subconsciously took a step back.

Then, feeling somewhat guilty, he immediately retorted loudly, "But I didn't have time at all back then—"

“No, Mr. Jin Chuan, this is precisely one of the flaws you have revealed.”

"To create the illusion that you were always in the monitoring room, you deliberately altered the timestamps on the surveillance footage. While you did it perfectly, however—"

Kogoro Mouri paused, then gestured for Inspector Megure to show the evidence to everyone:
"Inspector Megure, please turn on the surveillance footage to the scene where Ms. Ayami moves out of thin air."

"In the video you just showed us, there shouldn't have been any water stains on the ground after Ms. Yami moved, right?"

Detective Mori's words drew everyone's attention back to the area near the table where the body lay—

Several small puddles of water, resembling melted ice, were clearly visible.

What do water stains indicate?

"The ice that falls when the body is moved needs time to melt."

Hattori Heiji immediately realized what was happening. He reached out and felt the temperature of the air. "The temperature in this underground morgue is very low. Logically, the ice shouldn't melt so quickly."

"Yes, Mr. Heiji is right. However, since the ice on Ms. Yami's body is still frozen, everyone thinks that this theft only happened recently."

"In reality, it's probably because the body was stolen twice."

"Stealed...twice?!"

"This is probably why Mr. Ueda was listed as a suspect. If my guess is correct, it should be because Mr. Imagawa recorded Mr. Ueda passing by the door during the first operation."

“A living person can confirm the time, so Mr. Imagawa deliberately took advantage of the gap when Mr. Ueda was away to splice the surveillance footage of the first theft that recorded his actions with the one that just happened.”

"As for the corpse moving out of thin air, it's probably just an illusion created by using shadows and editing the video..."

Then, like all the criminals Conan has ever encountered.

Jin Chuanqiao covered his face with his hands and knelt down on the ground.

He admitted that he had been working with an unnamed body trafficking organization.

"They gave me a full 100 million yen! They demanded that I take Miss Yami's body to the western outskirts of Beika Town for the transaction..."

After Inspector Megure took Mr. Kanakawa away on charges of "stealing a corpse".

As the setting sun pierced through the thick clouds, Conan, Heiji Hattori, and Kogoro Mouri walked out of the funeral home.

Miss Maria "thoughtfully" stayed at the funeral home to take care of everyone's affairs; in Hattori Heiji's words, she was—

"The only thing we can do now is try to find some clues from that so-called body trafficking organization."

The outcome of this case made Heiji Hattori sigh inwardly: "Whether it was done by that black organization or not, it seems that the hope of finding them directly is very slim now."

As the vehicle slowly drove out of the funeral home's backyard, today was finally coming to an end.

But is that really the end of it?

When the [Story Timeline] tried to "find" Shiho Miyano's whereabouts immediately after the case ended, it realized that something was wrong.

Reality continues to archive this period of history every now and then.

This means that I still cannot reverse Ai Haibara's "historical trajectory," which means—

Conan believes this case is not over yet.

The reason is simple: Miss Yamei doesn't have a mole at the corner of her eye.

Miss Yami died right in front of him; he would never be wrong about that.

"In other words, Ms. Yami's body was indeed stolen, while the body that Mr. Imagawa disposed of today was actually a 'fake body' that had been prepared in advance."

The moment he realized this, a chilling feeling plunged Conan's joy at uncovering the truth of the case into icy water.

Conan recalled what Heiji Hattori had told him on the phone: "Right now, we can only find one forged identity."

Since we can only find one fake identity right now...

Is it possible that someone in Hattori Heiji's current organization wants to give Ms. Masami a "true identity"?

The person or organization that stole Ms. Yami's body had absolutely no reason to make such a basic mistake.

Some people want to use this case to admit that the fake corpse is actually a real one.

The person who did this may have secretly altered all of Ms. Yami's identity information in the database.

This could even be their final operation, and they need someone to acknowledge the "official" nature of the operation, such as Hattori Heiji.

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Conan looked at the funeral home that stood there eerily, with a few dark clouds still hanging over it.

in case……

If what just happened at the funeral home was actually a performance staged for me—no, for Hattori Heiji…

Conan couldn't help but shudder; this idea was truly terrifying.

But he just can't help thinking like this now.

This terrifying thought had been in his mind ever since he noticed something was wrong in the morgue, which is why Conan didn't directly point out the suspicious points he had discovered about Maria.

Yes, judging from the current situation, it is very likely that she, as the secretary, did all of this, or that she was just a part of the scheme.

But regardless, if this "infiltration force" has already placed someone by Heiji's side...

Conan discreetly turned his head and glanced at Hattori Heiji, whose expression seemed to be conflicted.

This is also why he still hasn't told Heiji his thoughts—

He is now completely unsure whether the organization he mentioned, called GSSRA, has actually been completely infiltrated.

After all, the driver in the car now should also be a member assigned to Heiji by GSSRA.

But acting rashly could endanger everyone.

More importantly, I have no reason to explain this; it is all a judgment made by my inner intuition based on the current conditions.

Conan knew he couldn't possibly be mistaken, but he was just a child, and he had no evidence to prove that Miss Yami originally looked like her.

and--

Whoever it was, why would they steal Miss Yami's body?
This is also the thing that Conan finds hardest to understand.

If the black-clad organization did this, they obviously already knew that the pointer in their possession had been replaced by Ms. Yami. In other words, they probably still believed that the pointer was likely hidden on Ms. Yami.

However, GSSRA has already undergone an autopsy, and according to Heiji, everything related should have been examined.

Even Ms. Yami's clothes were changed and she was given another one. Those clothes and her belongings should have been stored as evidence.

Therefore, there was absolutely no need for the Black Organization to go to such lengths to steal the body; it was completely pointless.

They could easily replace the evidence without alerting anyone.

Conan then allowed himself to think more deeply.

He tried to uncover what was hidden beneath this intricate surface, even beneath layer upon layer of "truth".

Conan never even knew he could do something like this—

In reality, the car is still slowly moving towards the office, but in my mind, it's going backward.

Or rather, everything I've experienced so far today, all the scenes and details, are playing back in my mind.

The black watch left at Professor Agasa's house, lying quietly in the box, had its two hands gleam almost imperceptibly.

Inspector Megure, three possible suspects...

Maria, Heiji Hattori, Uncle Mori...

All the details start from the very beginning, when Vermouth, with an anxious expression, shouted "The body has been stolen!" towards the second floor of the agency.

If everything Heiji did today was pre-arranged...

It seems like we're still missing some clues; it still doesn't make any sense.

"Hu-hu-"

Perhaps it was the warm air conditioning in the car, the slight bumps that had a sleep-inducing effect, and the lingering effects of the anesthetic injection.

As Kogoro Mori drifted into a sweet dream, a soft snore broke the silence in the car and Conan's thoughts.

Raising her hand to signal the driver to slow down, the snoring sound was undoubtedly a good opportunity for a secret conversation.

"Conan, do you know how to explain to a girl that you might not be able to keep a date you made in advance?"

"Heiji, why did you come to Beika Town today?"

Conan's eyes widened immediately.

Dating? !
"In short, this matter is very complicated. One reason is the internal transfer within GSSRA, and then the relevant information about Ms. Yami before and after her time at the bank, which was recorded by the cameras, has been compiled."

Heiji Hattori blushed slightly, a rare occurrence for him, and his voice even stammered a little.

"So originally... I was planning to tell you about the progress, and by the way, ask you what kind of gift you would like to prepare if you were to confess your feelings."

He sighed inwardly and glanced at the sky outside the window. Kazuha should be on the train to Tokyo by now.

"But it seems I have to deal with that underground corpse trafficking organization that Jin Chuan mentioned tomorrow, so Conan, I want to ask if you have any way to let me leave halfway through tomorrow."

"After all—after all, I actually planned to confess to Kazuha at the top of the Star Viewing Tower tomorrow night."

After all, once Hattori Heiji learned that Kogoro Mouri's observational and detective abilities actually came from Kudo, his idea of ​​having the advisor Mouri take his place and direct the operation the next day was shattered.

He paused, then added, "For example, could you secretly follow Mr. Mori on his investigations?"

Conan didn't hear what Hattori Heiji said next at all.

The words "Star Viewing Tower" echoed in his mind.

He stood there, stunned, his mind replaying the events from noon all the way back to this morning.

Because that's what Dr. Agasa said back then!

The doctor believes that the instruments in the Star Viewing Tower can help decipher the remaining clues from the pointer, which is why he agreed to go camping in the western suburbs of Beika Town tomorrow!
Hattori Heiji's voice echoed in his mind. "Actually, I planned to confess to Kazuha at the Star Viewing Tower..."

Dr. Agasa's voice followed immediately.

“Conan, tomorrow’s camping trip is actually a great opportunity, because wasn’t the character I found the other night the character for ‘moon’? I think the instruments in the Star Tower…”

Finally, there is the criminal's confession.

"They demand that I take Miss Yami's body to the western outskirts of Beika Town for a transaction..."

Even a second later, Hattori Heiji's phone vibrated as he answered the call.

The first words from the other end of the line made him and Conan exchange a glance, then he immediately and discreetly signaled the driver to turn around and go back—

In particular, we must not wake Kogoro Mouri.

"Chief Heiji, we found Ms. Maria unconscious at the funeral home! The Ms. Maria who was supposed to be with you was actually an imposter!"

For Vermouth, she had just given her final hint.

As expected, after Conan and the others left, she received a new mission from the Boss.

The boss asked her to delete some things before leaving.

Now, in the name of Ms. Maria, she searched for "Hirota Masami" in the database and prepared to delete the data called "Movement Track" that Lin Sheng had secretly implanted before.

—[Story Timeline] It has been discovered that all of this is related to the "Star Tower".

"We've found the real Maria! The one operating in the database is an enemy in disguise!"

But now, it seems Vermouth doesn't have enough time to complete such an operation.

Obviously, when Conan and Heiji return to the funeral home, they will soon discover that detail that everyone has overlooked.

The day before the bombing of the Beika branch of the Hirota Masami branch, the reason given on the approved leave slip was "Hoshimi Tower".

This time, the [real-world timeline] really helped the League.

The alliance's "Star Tower case" undoubtedly reflects realistic thinking.

Furthermore, this ongoing but unresolved case provides an opportunity for the [real-world timeline] to continue its stalemate with the storyline.

If the alliance follows its plan, it still has a chance to win over Ai Haibara. However, if Ai Haibara is reset, it will get nothing.

The enemy of the enemy is the friend.

……

After the vehicle returned to the funeral home, after whispering a few instructions to the driver, two figures, one tall and one short, quietly slipped out of the car with a soft opening of the door.

When Kogoro Mouri groggily woke up in the car, it had already come to a smooth stop in front of the detective agency.

Besides the driver, he was the only one left in the car.

"Mr. Heiji said he would return the child tomorrow... He said it was because Shinichi Kudo asked him to help..."

After hearing the driver relay his excuse, Kogoro Mouri said nothing.

He just sat there in silence for a while, then nodded to indicate that he understood.

Stepping out of the car, Kogoro Mouri looked up at the second floor of the office and the sky—

The lights were off, and it was already quite dark.

I climbed the stairs, opened the door, and sure enough, Xiaolan hadn't come home yet.

He still didn't turn on the living room lights, but instead used the last bit of sunlight to reach the refrigerator, open the cabinet door, and take out a bento box.

Then, as usual, he sat back down in the chair in front of the desk, opened the box, lowered his head, and began to eat without saying a word.

The cold bento box was quickly finished, but still no phone call came in.

Kogoro Mouri waited and waited until long past dinner time and it was completely dark before finally reaching out to dial Professor Agasa's phone number.

"Ah! Xiaolan said she's going camping with us tomorrow..."

On the other end of the phone, Ran Mouri, who had finally waited for the office phone to ring, answered the phone after the doctor said a few words.

"Dad! How's Conan? Is he going camping again tomorrow? All the other kids seem really keen on it—"

So Kogoro Mori relayed the reasons the driver had just given him word for word.

"That's it..."

There was a moment of silence on both ends of the telephone line, then Kogoro Mouri's somewhat hoarse voice rang out.

"Anyway, Xiaolan, please be careful if you go camping tomorrow."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Xiaolan hung up the phone on her own initiative.

Without a doubt, Shinichi is definitely not going to accompany that guy named Hattori Heiji to some so-called amusement park tomorrow.

An hour earlier, she had overheard a phone call between Professor Agasa and Shinichi.

"Shinichi, when I go camping tomorrow, I'll bring my watch along with a few possible decryption methods I wrote down. Can you come to the campsite to pick them up tomorrow?"

"The skateboard has GPS, Doctor. The campsite is near the Star Viewing Tower. You can put your things in the skateboard and hide it nearby, or I can call you to tell you my location..."

She didn't interrupt them, but silently noted down their words and the location.

Meanwhile, at the firm, the moment the call ended, the entire space fell silent once more.

In the darkness, only Kogoro Mouri remained.

"Ah—a blissful life! Tonight, finally no one will bother me while I drink!"

He spoke loudly in the office, his tone anything but happy.

Soon, the drunken detective, mumbling incoherently, collapsed heavily onto the sofa in the office.

Tonight will be a very peaceful night.

……

Kazuha Toyama is currently on her way to Tokyo with a strange sense of anticipation.

Then, she received an apologetic phone call from Heiji Hattori.

In any case, Hattori Heiji would never allow Kazuha to go to the Star Viewing Tower.

Conan has just told himself that the next target of both the Black Organization and the Science Frontier is very likely to be the Star Viewing Tower.

If it weren't for the fear of alerting the enemy, Hattori Heiji would have already ordered GSSRA's department to seal off Hoshimi Tower and the surrounding area for several kilometers.

"Kazuha, I've received word that the Tonse Star Viewing Tower may be temporarily closed due to construction..."

At Conan's suggestion, Heiji Hattori considered the route, time, and distance in his mind.

If we arrange to meet Kazuha elsewhere, we should be able to buy enough time.

"How about this, we meet at the central fountain in Dorobiga Park tomorrow night? How about 7 pm?"

“I’ve already made a reservation at a restaurant in the park, so we can have a good meal.”

Using Conan's previous strategy and carefully considering his words at an "operational level," Heiji Hattori finally succeeded in persuading Kazuha to change course.

After hanging up the phone, he and Conan, who were waiting in the car, exchanged a glance.

He and Conan had just gone into the Star Viewing Tower to scout it out, and at least figured out a bit about the structure of a few floors that might be related to the "pointer".

They found nothing unusual.

This scene seems strangely familiar—

Just like last time, they broke free from GSSRA's orders and investigated on their own. Today, they decided to stake out the area for the night.

"You take the first half of the night watch, and I'll take the second half."

Heiji Hattori wasn't worried about encountering firepower he couldn't handle tomorrow.

He had already used the pretext of investigating the so-called body trafficking organization to have GSSRA guard every intersection leading to the Star Viewing Tower, or rather, every possible road leading to the Star Viewing Tower.

Although there is no visible blockade, no amount of heavy firepower can get even a step closer to the Star Tower.

As for the handgun or something similar that might be carried, Conan just told him that he is absolutely confident in dealing with those threats tomorrow.

As for Ai Haibara, she soon noticed that there were many more plainclothes officers on the way to the Star Viewing Tower.

In fact, it wasn't just plainclothes officers; sometimes she would even see people dressed in black cautiously scanning something at several intersections.

Both the real-world timeline and the story timeline have dispatched many people to try to find her.

Even several alliance task forces began joining the search under the pretext of retrieving the laboratory buried beneath the Star Tower.

Because Ai Haibara did not arrive at Professor Agasa's house.

Her current "historical inertia" is still stuck on that journey "to Professor Agasa's house".

Her exact location is not visible in either timeline at this moment.

Even the Alliance's time display device, and even Lin Sheng himself, couldn't see it at this moment.

"The story timeline clearly knows what we want to do, so it also strengthens the historical inertia in our connection."

Neither the [story timeline] nor the [real-world timeline] has been able to track her movements.

This resulted in no one being able to see it.

According to the results shown by the "historical inertia," Ai Haibara has now "teleported" to Professor Agasa's doorstep.

The specific "story" about how she ran to Professor Agasa's house does not exist in the context of "historical inertia".

This leads to a strange fact, and creates a peculiar void.

Ai Haibara's existence is like a frame that has been cut out—

But the story of "running to Professor Agasa's house" never happened.

Her existence has now vanished into the gaps where the story remains untold.

Soon after, on the side of the road not far from the western outskirts of Beika Town.

A child slowly squatted down, opened his backpack, and gripped a folding knife he had secretly taken from a convenience store.

Ai Haibara stared down at the map; this road shouldn't normally be this crowded.

But now, the closer we get to our location on the map, the more suspicious glances we see.

"The only way is to go around through the forest behind the Star Viewing Tower..."

She muttered to herself, biting her lip slightly, "There shouldn't be any bears in that forest."

With a rustling sound from the bushes, she took advantage of the darkness to quietly climb over the roadside railing and run into the forest behind it.

The small figure quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest in the night.
(End of this chapter)