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

Chapter 217 Ran Mouri and Ai Haibara's First Meeting

Ran Mouri's behavior was unexpected by everyone.

To be precise, it was the result of her choosing to do so that was unexpected by everyone.

At midday, after the sun has been blazing, a refreshing breeze blows in your face.

The warm breeze, as Xiaolan ran, blew into the gaps in the story.

In both the real-world timeline and Lin Sheng's perspective, her figure suddenly disappeared.

Was it done by the [story timeline]?

In order to prevent the Alliance and reality from exploiting Ran Mouri, it chose to erase her traces.
it's not true!

In fact, the timeline of the story also has no idea where Ran Mouri is.

It had only just begun to intervene, attempting to control her behavior with its usual "warning"—

However, the instant Ran Mouri stepped through the sunlit glass door of the Star Viewing Tower, she vanished from the timeline as if swallowed by time itself.

"My inner warning signal—has disappeared again!"

Standing in the lobby, Ran Mouri hadn't even had time to calm her breathing, which was a little rapid from running, when she felt the inexplicable throbbing in her heart recede like a tide.

This seemed to be another kind of signal, prompting her to immediately raise her head, her light blue eyes quickly scanning her surroundings with a mixture of urgency and surprise.

The sudden disappearance of warnings was nothing new to her.

That usually means that Shinichi is nearby.

She subconsciously lowered her head, her gaze searching through the somewhat bustling crowd.

Strangely, Ran Mouri didn't catch a glimpse of the small figure wearing a blue suit jacket and a red bow tie.

In fact, at this moment, Conan and Heiji Hattori were standing in the VIP elevator leading to the 25th floor. A detective from GSSRA had just reported that he had made a discovery.

Inside the closed elevator doors, their solemn expressions were reflected on the pale gold metal walls.

Conan, holding his skateboard, was discussing with Heiji Hattori whether they could find a new way to get to the observatory.

They were completely unaware of what was happening downstairs until Dr. Agasa found an opportunity to make that phone call.

For Ran Mouri, her downward gaze, as she searched for Conan, met the eyes of another child—

A pair of icy blue, cool eyes, hidden in the shadow of a white hat that looked very familiar to her, gazed at her silently.

It’s Huibara Ai.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

For Ai Haibara, she will never forget that scene—

Ran Mouri stood in the center of the Star Viewing Tower's hall, with the constellation projector behind her casting simulated starlight that outlined her navy blue tracksuit with a faint halo.

As her cascading black hair swayed slightly, the girl tilted her head slightly to look at herself.

Those aquamarine eyes were as clear as lake water, carrying a subtle doubt and surprise, as well as a hint of searching.

Ai Haibara didn't know how she spotted her in the bustling crowd at a glance.

Her instinct was to take a step back, to hide in the shadows of the crowd, but her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground by an invisible force—

But Ai Haibara knew that the girl who was looking at her might be her last chance.

In fact, thanks to the undetected "historical inertia," Ai Haibara had been secretly following behind Ran Mouri all along.

But even after Ran Mouri, Professor Agasa, and the Detective Boys left the Star Viewing Tower on their own initiative because of Conan's advice, she still didn't find a good enough opportunity to steal the VIP card.

As for trying from other tourists who also won VIP cards—

Ai Haibara's subconscious wariness made her abandon the idea of ​​getting the VIP card from them.

All the VIP cards were taken by imposters from GSSRA and the Alliance.

Therefore, when Ran looked over, Ai Haibara did not immediately turn around and run away for the first time, but instead returned Ran's gaze with a slightly sad look.

Ai Haibara had thought it through very clearly.

“She’s just a high school student, and she’s all alone right now.”

“As long as I act pitiful and find a reasonable excuse, such as accidentally getting separated from my family, it will be easy for her to take me to the 49th floor for the memorial service.”

This is absolutely Ran Mouri's good fortune.

The white hat that Ai Haibara wore became a marker, allowing Ran Mouri to be the first to "discover" her.

More importantly, it was because Ai Haibara actively chose to approach her instead of running away.

Just like the unease that suddenly disappeared in her heart, because Ai Haibara would "not be discovered" before the memorial service began.

Ran Mouri's historical trajectory was similarly obscured by the "historical inertia" of "fleeing to Professor Agasa."

Unlike Ai Haibara, who thought she was still disguising herself very well.

Ran Mouri's gaze faltered slightly when it fell upon the white hat of her own that was being worn on the child's head.

In that instant, she recalled the reasons why her inner warnings had disappeared several times in the past, or rather, the different scenarios in which they had disappeared—

That child is...

Ran Mouri took a step forward, walking through the crowd towards the little child who looked like he was about to cry.

Then, as Ran Mouri gently touched her knees and squatted down slightly, her gaze met Ai Haibara's.

A gentle voice rang in Ai Haibara's ear.

"What's wrong, little one? Do you need help?"

Ai Haibara's heart skipped a beat, and then she immediately realized that this was a good opportunity.

Her lowered eyelids trembled slightly, and she pressed her lips together, feigning helplessness and a tearful grievance as she spoke:
“I got separated from my mom and dad… I couldn’t get on the elevator, they’ve already… already gone to the memorial service on the 49th floor.”

"I'm also going to the 49th floor for a memorial service!" Ran Mouri stretched out her hand. "Little friend, shall I take you up with me?"

Ai Haibara then grabbed Ran Mouri's outstretched hand.

Like a scene from an epic tale, chosen by fate, a ray of sunlight refracts dazzling light between the glass curtain walls, casting two intersecting figures on the marble floor.

As the elevator doors leading to the 49th floor slowly opened, the memorial service was about to begin.

……

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor of the Star Viewing Tower, near the restaurant, is a souvenir shop.

Unlike the guests who had already gone up to the 49th floor to attend the memorial service, this curious tourist from the United States, Chris Vineyard, or rather Vermouth—

She was dressed in a low-key yet elegant black dress, now resembling a truly nonchalant tourist selecting gifts.

However, her gaze eventually settled on three boxes with tiny markings.

She discreetly put them into her hands, and after confirming that everything was correct, she immediately set off for the hidden shelf compartment that she had arranged with Gin and Vodka, as instructed by the Boss.

The moment she turned to leave the souvenir shop—

"what!"

"what!"

Two exclamations rang out at the same time, and a somewhat flustered man bumped right into Vermouth.

The other person was a delivery worker, carrying a bunch of gift boxes that were exactly the same as the ones she was holding.

A whole bunch of gift boxes, exactly the same as the ones Vermouth was holding, were scattered on the ground.

The employee looked terrified and hurriedly bent down to pick up the scattered boxes, apologizing repeatedly.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

The minor disturbance at the entrance of the souvenir shop drew the attention of those around.

Vermouth even saw someone cover their mouth in surprise—clearly recognizing her as a celebrity.

Vermouth frowned slightly, thinking to herself, "This is a bit troublesome."

She glanced down and spotted three gift boxes lying at her feet—face up, with barely perceptible markings clearly visible on the edges.

"Hey... um, you haven't mistaken me for someone else, have you...?"

The employee looked up, a hint of unease in his voice, and reached out to tidy up the boxes on the floor.

Vermouth completely ignored the guy who had bumped into her and quickly walked toward the storage rack, carefully checking the three boxes in her hands.

"Good, I didn't make a mistake." She breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, if she lingered a little longer under the gaze of the Alliance's spies, or allowed the employee to reach for the marked gift box at her feet, she would be surprised to find—

Each box has that tiny mark on it.

Yes, those carefully labeled gift boxes contained bullets that couldn't be brought in due to security checks.

In fact, this was after the alliance completed the timeline replacement disguise.

Lin Sheng discovered that there was actually a black market selling ammunition inside the Star Tower.

Clearly, historical inertia will allow Gin to obtain his weapon in another way.

Lin Sheng even tried to reset Vermouth several times, but it was clear that it was unwise to clash with the current story timeline that possessed the [historical inertia].

Therefore, just in case, all the bullets Gin will use from now on will be replaced with reduced-load ammunition.

To ensure the success of the alliance's efforts on Vermouth, Lin Sheng's instructions to Vermouth this time were:

The instruction was for her to follow the Boss's instructions, then accidentally drop her phone after the memorial service began, and then do nothing else.

In today's story timeline, where she staked everything on the "Shigehiko Tomoguchi murder case," what if Vermouth were reset—

Lin Sheng no longer has enough redundancy.

Therefore, following the true "historical inertia" is actually safer and can avoid unnecessary trouble.

(Please see the latest chapter! Three random people bump into each other at the train station, and then there are some things in the three bags that are scattered on the ground... Beika Town, this is really dangerous...)
……

For Conan and Hattori, after heading to the 25th floor, they immediately received news of GSSRA's new discovery from Shoji Sato.

"Actually, this was discovered unintentionally by a team member when asking the bartender."

Shoji Sato handed over a stack of freshly printed documents, his tone somewhat serious, "The baijiu only suddenly appeared on the drink menu today, and the bartender specifically recommended it to him."

Heiji Hattori took the documents and tilted them at an angle so that Conan, who was standing next to him, could see them clearly.

He glanced at it briefly, then frowned. "Our team members quickly realized something was wrong."

Shoji Sato continued, "Baiji is usually a drink served at Eastern banquets and is not suitable for a bar setting at all."

"Then the team members on the third basement level discovered that some drinks prepared for the memorial service had actually been replaced with baijiu (Chinese liquor)."

“Yes, Mr. Heiji.” Sato Shoji nodded. “Considering that the code names of the organization’s members are usually names of alcoholic beverages, we suspect this is a signal for some kind of operation.”

"Nothing else was detected, or any other trace?"

Sato Shōji shook his head. "Not at the moment."

Sato's answer made Hattori Heiji frown. He looked down at the documents, his fingertips tapping lightly on the photos.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “According to the photos, the drinks were replaced in whole cases, not just a few loose bottles, which means that someone must have noticed this when the staff opened the cases to prepare the drinks.”

Even an absurd idea suddenly popped into his mind—

It's impossible that all the staff members are undercover agents of the Black Organization, right?
Conan's analytical voice broke the brief silence:

"Or, if they don't want to attract attention, someone will definitely replace the drink menu and add baijiu as an option."

Sato Shoji was taken aback and looked at Hattori Heiji in front of him. He remembered that the director had just said that this child could not speak Japanese.

But he didn't ask any further questions. Seeing Hattori Heiji nod slightly in acknowledgment, he immediately took out his communicator and gave the order in a deep voice:
"The target is most likely someone who has access to the beverage menu or the person in charge of beverages in the kitchen. Keep a close eye on them, and report any unusual situations immediately!"

Heiji Hattori withdrew his gaze and instead posed the question that he and Conan were most concerned about:
"What about the traces left by Masami Hirota? Any progress?"

Sato Shoji's expression grew increasingly serious. "We can now confirm that the route she took to the harbor was determined right here."

"The team members in charge of the monitoring room found that she had used the telescope on the westernmost side of the 25th floor in the only surveillance video that showed her."

"Moreover, she appeared out of nowhere."

"Appeared suddenly? What do you mean?"

There are surveillance cameras inside the elevators.

Sato Shoji's voice was somewhat grave. "The video footage from all four tourist elevators that day did not show any trace of her entering the elevator."

"This means she came from the service elevator or the freight elevator."

Conan's words immediately connected this clue with the fact that the baijiu had been replaced:
"Have everyone check the service elevators—no, check the freight elevator connections first, especially the routes without surveillance cameras, and check the rooms along those routes."

Then he glanced down at his watch, exchanged a look with Conan, their eyes revealing a tacit understanding; they both knew time was running out.

"Conan and I will go to the 49th floor first. The memorial service will start in 30 minutes. These actions all indicate that there is definitely something wrong with this memorial service!"

"Understood!" Sato Shoji replied immediately. "I'll arrange it right away!"

Conan and Heiji Hattori didn't linger any longer and turned to walk towards the elevator.

……

As for Gin and Vodka, both dressed in black, they had now infiltrated the mezzanine between the 49th and 50th floors, or rather, the safest floors.

This time, they received the same "treatment" as Vermouth had before—

The phone was personally mailed by the boss, its screen flashing with unquestionable instructions.

[Story Timeline] You need to personally micromanage it.

After all, this time, it only theoretically connects with half of the "historical inertia".

In the brief gap before the memorial service officially began, in the time window where reality and Lin Sheng were desperately trying to win, the story timeline was secretly "filling in the gaps," attempting to fill the missing links.

The dream that Ai Haibara had was the prelude to "Reunion with the Black Organization," while the "Shigehiko Tonoguchi murder case" was the final chapter of this inertial narrative.

But something was always missing.

Based on historical precedent, Ai Haibara was confirmed to be present by Gin only after she accidentally left a hair in his car.

However, this has not happened at all!

This led to a fatal vulnerability—

As long as Professor Agasa doesn't meet with Ai Haibara, and unless she shows herself on her own, theoretically, she will remain invisible to the story's timeline and even to everyone else forever.

This is especially true after Ran Mouri and Ai Haibara both "disappeared".

If Ai Haibara were to run into Conan while Ran is enjoying unparalleled good luck... that would be terrible!
[Story Timeline] I am absolutely certain that if Conan, Ran Mouri, the Alliance Special Task Force members, Heiji Hattori, and the members of GSSRA were to unite and work together to protect Ai Haibara, things would instantly go off track.

The so-called "Shigehiko Tobuchi murder case" will immediately become its final episode due to the shift in the focus of [Shinichi Kudo]'s story.

The title might be "The Demise of the Black Organization".

Fortunately, Gin's bad luck is actually the good luck of the story timeline.

After all, things tilted slightly in favor of the story's timeline after Ai Haibara secretly slashed the tires of Gin's beloved Porsche 356A.

"Mr. Kuroda!" A parking attendant rushed over, his voice tinged with panic, "Your Porsche 356A has been vandalized!"

Under the cover of the hidden [story timeline], the stubborn [historical inertia], as intractable as a malignant tumor, still came into play.

Standing near the slashed tire, Gin's eyes darkened, while Vodka, standing beside him, didn't even dare to breathe.

Then, his gaze sharpened at something in the gap between the black tires. Gin picked up the thin thread and held it up to his eyes—

A single strand of coffee-colored hair, slender yet striking.

He will never admit his mistake.

“Masaka…”

He clenched the hair in his palm, slowly stood up, and the message the Boss had sent him not long ago came to mind.

"I never expected you to make the first move to approach me—"

Gin, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, revealed a sinister and mocking smile.

"I'm so...touched, Sherry~~"

……

All the actions within the Star Tower, the undercurrents, the movements of GSSRA or Alliance members—all were silently intertwined plans and countermeasures.

"Operation B-01 has failed. GSSRA's reconnaissance personnel completely ignored our guidance and are evacuating to the B2 level freight elevator..."

"Project A-03 has failed. Shinichi Kudo has not been able to decipher the information about the secret elevator..."

"Project C-01 has been successfully completed. We have implanted a connection between baijiu (a type of Chinese liquor) and the Black Organization into Shinichi Kudo's subconscious. Next, following Plan C-02, we will attempt to get Shinichi Kudo to drink baijiu..."

"The E-01 bullet replacement operation was successful. Chris Vineyard is on her way to the VIP elevator. Her surveillance has been handed over to Team Three."

"The D-series contingency plan has completely failed. The [real-world timeline] has prevented us from attempting to guide Shigehiko Tobuchi and Kenzo Masuyama. We've run into a group of GSSRA members disguised as tourists and are now caught in a pre-meeting conversation..."

……

"The F-series contingency plan has failed. The 49th floor has been sealed off by the [story timeline] due to the memorial service that started ahead of schedule, so we cannot infiltrate the observatory..."

"Plan A-03 is successful. We have contacted the Tower Light Laboratory under 'Science Frontier' and the password has been remotely reset to 4869..."

A series of reports flowed like cold water in Lin Sheng's ears.

Standing at the very center of the [Loop], his gaze pierced through the small, strange point in time where the [Reality Timeline] and the [Story Timeline] were close together in the void, staring intently at every move within the Star Tower.

The cycle that supported the alliance outside the pale sun was already very small, like a lone lamp flickering in a storm.

For Lin Sheng, he was exerting his power almost at the minimum CYZ effect required to maintain the cycle.

As the memorial service approaches, the historical momentum of the "Shigehiko Tomoguchi murder case" surges like a torrent, unstoppable.

The CYZ effects specifically reserved for last-minute emergencies must never be used; they are there to deal with any unforeseen circumstances after the "case" has concluded.

For example, a sudden falling out in the real-life storyline, or a desperate act by someone in the plot.

The remaining redundancy has been exhausted.

Many plans are just one step away—

Perhaps it's an action, a line of dialogue...

Even the most inconspicuous and minute hints can lead Conan or Heiji onto a predetermined path.

Lin Sheng closed his eyes. He stood both in the middle of that pale sun and at the core of the [Alliance Cycle]. His hand, which held the [Cycle], trembled slightly at the fingertips.

As long as he is willing to give up the alliance's "cycle," Lin Sheng is almost certain that all actions will be 100% successful.

Victory is within reach; all he needs to do is loosen the thin thread that holds the cycle together.

But he didn't.

After all, the situation is not yet at its most critical point.

The future you see in your own eyes tells you that your chances of winning are still over 80%, right?
Lin Sheng ultimately did not give up on his attempt to preserve the alliance's "cycle".

He could hear the whispers in the hearts of everyone in the executive meeting room of the lunar base, and he could hear Shigenobu Hitomi's silent prayers...

The voices of everyone in the alliance surged forth like a tide.

Lin Sheng could see the tears streaming down their faces, and he could see them pausing before the Gate of Cycles, bidding each other a reluctant farewell.

Even for those children born within the [Alliance Cycle], the dual timelines of the outside world are nothing short of hell!

They will be trapped for life in a protective device using APTX-4869. For them, a single logic of reality or story is a deadly poison.

The hand that held the [Alliance Cycle] tightly still had the faint light of the [Cycle] still flickering in its palm, though weak, it had not been extinguished.

Lin Sheng's whisper echoed in the void:
"We can't give up yet...at least, not now."

The memorial service is just around the corner.

Conan, Heiji Hattori, Vermouth, Ran Mouri, Ai Haibara, Gin, Vodka...

As the faint chimes of the Star Tower sounded at 4:00 PM, Naomichi Muikura, acting as the emcee, stood on the brightly lit stage and welcomed all the guests.

[Story Timeline] Like a crazy gambler.

It staked all its possibilities, all its "history" that was already impossible, on the gambling table.

The grand hall on the forty-ninth floor was resplendent in gold, with chandeliers reflecting dazzling light.

The magnificent golden door slowly closed as it was pushed shut by two waiters.

The "Shigehiko Tomoguchi Murder Case," or rather, the "Hoshimi Tower Case," is beginning to come to an end.

(End of this chapter)