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

Chapter 239 [Shinichi Kudo] then beat the universe to its knees!
Lin Sheng observed very carefully how Conan gradually forced and coerced the entire universe to achieve his own intentions.

And now, He finally understands.

Lin Sheng even followed suit, imitating Shinichi Kudo's actions at a crucial moment.

And the final result... even he himself felt a sense of surprise, or perhaps shock.

……

For the Conan Universe-001, Shinichi Kudo's actions greatly disrupted the fundamental logic of its operation.

For this universe, "death" is merely a state of being, a "variable" that can be corrected by the timeline and reconciled by setting rules.

However, the situation is completely different for the new timeline that is no longer mediated by the two timelines and is directly driven by Shinichi Kudo himself.

Even for Yusaku Kudo's "persona," "death" is not a variable.

Because nothing highlights his "persona change" better than the state of "death".

Yusaku Kudo is not someone who cannot disappear.

He could disappear without a trace, or leave the story after the "Star Tower Case," and be left unmentioned due to the length of the story.

He could even be absent from the scene of all major cases due to "coincidental" power outages or signal interference, thus remaining absent from the "ritual cycle" indefinitely.

—But he cannot “die.”

Because his "persona" doesn't include the element of death, not even a mention of him being "uncertain of his fate"—

At least not yet.

As Conan Edogawa's father, he is the "wise man" behind the famous detective and the "strategist" who provides hints and help when Conan encounters setbacks.

In the complex and precise clock of the Detective Conan universe, Yusaku Kudo can be described as a gear embedded deep within the device, a gear that will never break.

After all, in this universe, people are different from one another.

Tequila and Calvados, who died in the "Mihana branch bombing," and Binga, who just met his end in the Black Organization's submarine—their characters were already defined by "death."

The story timeline simply moves their "end" forward or backward a little.

Furthermore, considering that the "cases" occurring in the "loop" cannot be determined in a "normal" chronology, perhaps their deaths simply occurred at the points in time when they should have happened.

Their deaths may have happened to fall at a point in a narrative loop.

in other words--

His death was perfectly timed and reasonable.

As for the characters in those "cases" that the Alliance saved.

For example, Yoko's ex-boyfriend who should have died, or Pisco, who was recently saved by GSSRA.

This does not contradict their "death" persona.

The "case" will eventually find them; the tail end of those historical inertias will always find them someday in the future or the past.

Therefore, in a sense, the mechanism of the Conan universe is quite flexible and intelligent.

It will carefully assess the impact of those "changes" on itself and respond appropriately according to its own mechanisms.

The universe will not wither away because of a wound that is difficult to heal, just as a person will not choose to die because of a cut on their hand.

In the Conan universe-001, which has two timelines, many of the "errors" that occur during operation have a chance to be corrected.

But Kudo Yusaku's death is clearly not something that can be made up for.

If we were to categorize the "breaking of character settings" into levels...

The death of Yusaku Kudo is undoubtedly one of the highest levels of "breaking the established persona," and no one would attempt to break their own "persona" in this way.

After all, this isn't one of those worlds filled with magic and wonder.

For worlds with institutions like the underworld, worlds with mechanisms to contain the souls of the dead, worlds where the boundary between life and death is blurred—

Death is not a big deal.

Just like Goku in Dragon Ball, who could still train in the underworld after death and even become stronger.

In such a world, using "death" to try to "break the rules" would probably only earn one the reputation of being a fool.

Even if you didn't die in your original destiny, it would be incredibly easy for the universe to pull you back from the clutches of "death."

Moreover, it's hard to say which "you" will return from death at that time.

In the Conan universe, "death" means the end, the break, and the irreversibility.

—That's how it is now, at least.

Even if it were Ms. Miyano or Akemi Miyano, they would still be considered dead in the universe's records.

They still cannot leave the Alliance's base and must use the CYZ effect to maintain their existence, just like the "souls" attached to the "light".

The moment they appear in reality, they will be truly erased from the universe.

"Resurrection," especially the "resurrection" of someone whose death was witnessed by Shinichi Kudo—

This is absolutely prohibited.

In a detective story, if death cannot be the ending, then the "truth" is meaningless.

If even death can be overturned, then what value does "who is the murderer" have?
"Resurrection" would undermine the essence of "a detective story," in other words, it would destroy the very foundation of the Conan universe.

But now, Yusaku Kudo's "persona" clashes with reality, and the deceased issues a declaration to the universe:
—I must still be alive.

If the universe itself possessed consciousness, it would surely curse Shinichi Kudo and the pale sun's actions:

This is far too extreme!

How could you (Shinichi Kudo) do this?!

So, the instant Kudo Yusaku died, Conan Universe-001 immediately tried to keep him alive.

The first step it took was to attempt to “deny” the effect of that shot hitting its mark.

It began to rewrite the rules of physics, forcibly deriving the bullet's angle of incidence and trajectory, attempting to conclude that it "did not hit the heart."

—This is completely useless.

The one who fired the shot was Shinichi Kudo, a "detective" who had received professional shooting training in Hawaii.

That pale sun clearly "illuminated" all of this; He witnessed the entire process of death firsthand.

So the universe moved on to the second step, attempting to intervene from the outside.

It uses the actions of the "distillery" as a cover, and denies that Yusaku Kudo was attacked by creating contradictions in the "story".

After all, Conan Edogawa is currently in the medical room at the Beika Town cargo transport port, so it's impossible that Shinichi Kudo is in Yusaku Kudo's office.

The universe tries to make it appear that Kaito Kuroba is attempting to fake his death so that Yusaku Kudo can escape.

—This is still useless.

The privilege of detectives is that they can always see the "truth".

Such attempts to "cover up" history are meaningless to a "detective" who can directly "deduce" the "truth".

And now, it is that pale sun that has shaped this truth, and it will never deny itself.

Finally, the Conan universe attempts the most extreme remedy, trying to create a superposition of "both dead and alive".

The universe is attempting to create the illusion that Yusaku Kudo still exists, much like the League did.

It attempts to resurrect Yusaku Kudo "at the moment of death," trying to create "eternal survival" in that one second using the logic of "being infinitely close to death but not actually dying."

—This still doesn't work.

All these attempts were like trying to catch the moon's reflection in water or seeking fire in a mirror.

That shot was fired by Shinichi Kudo himself; he truly pulled the trigger.

The radiance of that sun had already witnessed that terrible scene unfold.

Therefore, the universe began to collapse and began to deny itself.

Therefore, Shinichi Kudo used the collapse and contradictions of the universe to achieve his goal.

As He foresaw, the Conan universe could only immediately push that [ritual cycle] to occur.

The mechanism of the loop is illogical. In the loop, as long as a case is not involved, the time sequence is chaotic and causality is invalid.

It is a mechanism that rejects "linear logic," a form of inclusiveness that the universe had to provide because of Shinichi Kudo, enabling it to "exist" stably amidst extreme contradictions.

Just like the cases they were involved in, these events could happen "at any moment";
Just like Shinichi Kudo's power allows two inverted timelines to coexist without conflict;
The ritual cycle can also accommodate a state that is both "dead" and "not dead".

Now, the death of Yusaku Kudo and the life of "Yusaku Kudo" are no longer contradictory.

"However, this only applies to this [loop]."

In the void, Lin Sheng witnessed everything clearly. This silent observer spoke at the very end of this beginning. He gazed at the boyish figure hanging upside down atop the Star-Gazing Tower, and spoke to the body of a high school student in a blue suit:
"All the universe can do is use the temporal ambiguity of the [cycle] to postpone all of this."

"He will still die once this cycle ends."

“Yes,” the upside-down voice replied, “therefore the universe will have to ensure that the cycles continue to occur, so that the ‘impact’ on the new timeline will be minimized.”

What if the universe decides not to end this cycle?

This time, the voice remained silent for a long time before responding.

"The universe...cannot do that."

"Because next, [Edogawa Conan] will get the most crucial clue. He will know directly that the pointer is related to Moonshadow Island, and thus learn about his father's 'disappearance'."

Shinichi Kudo knows himself better than anyone else.

He knew he would never sit idly by and ignore this lead, much less disregard the issue of his father's life or death.

Given Conan Edogawa's current state, as long as he begins his investigation, the universe, amidst these numerous contradictions and conflicts, simply cannot intervene.

Once he discovers the "truth" about his father's death, the words spoken by Dr. Agasa will become his last hope.

And the universe will have to begin the next "ritual cycle".

It is precisely because of this that Shinichi Kudo said the ending of the third pointer case had already been written.

To prevent the universe from "flipping the table and restarting," the worst-case scenario—that pale white sun—has already been predetermined.

And now, after doing everything I could—

[Shinichi Kudo], finally I can rest for a while.

"To be honest, I thought I would just disappear like that."

Now, at the top of the Star Viewing Tower, Conan switched back to his clear, curious, and slightly disguised childlike voice, then turned to look at the CYZ effect that surrounded him like a mist, trying to penetrate his body.

Lin Sheng explained how he did it.

"I just learned it, when you just did that, to make contradictory things happen at the same time."

Now the CYZ effect has gained another characteristic.

Lin Sheng's voice rang in Conan's ears:

"In short, it's already quite good that we were able to protect even a part of you who knows the truth."

Lin Sheng interrupted Conan before he could say anything—He had already seen what was going to happen.

"Don't even think about me saving Mr. Yusaku. Preserving a piece of history that was abandoned by Shinichi Kudo and should have been forgotten is completely different from snatching him directly from you."

"Oh," Conan replied sullenly, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"We've done all we can," Lin Sheng comforted the figure hanging upside down in the air. His tone was gentle, yet it also carried a hint of self-talk. "There will be a good outcome in the end."

"I was just thinking..."

"And you did make some arrangements, didn't you?"

—Lin Sheng is right, Conan also pinned the blame for killing Yusaku Kudo on Gin and the Black Organization.

"As long as Conan Edogawa obtains the third pointer without uncovering the 'truth,' it will be the Black Organization that kills Yusaku Kudo."

"This contradictory 'truth' leaves some room for maneuver."

Conan remained silent in response to Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng sighed; he knew Conan still couldn't get over this hurdle.

"Would you like me to show you some of the footage?"

As he spoke, he waved his hand and conjured a "television set" woven from the CYZ effect, hanging it upside down in front of Conan as if to comfort a wounded child.

(Because of a problem with the universe, Lin Sheng now has more CYZ effects at his disposal.)
Conan glanced sideways at Lin Sheng, who appeared on the "screen," and said with a hint of helplessness in his voice, "Can't you just put me down?"

"No, you were part of maintaining the 'Star Viewing Tower Case,' and you were hanging upside down in the final moments."

So, one or so of these holy people who were imprisoned began to "watch television".

The television broadcast began with Gin leading everyone in their retreat.

His expression remained normal, but a rare hint of hesitation lingered in his eyes—

That shot was so decisive, so real, that even he himself couldn't be sure what had actually happened in that instant.

Moreover, Gin always felt that there was some unclear shadow floating in the depths of his eyes.

Then, Conan switched the camera to the dark, cave-like room where Karasuma Renya was.

The moment Karasuma Renya received the message from Gin.

The first reaction of this shadowy figure, who has been hidden in the depths of the shadows for years, is to deny this reality.

He immediately realized he had gone too far.

"This is impossible!"

"This shouldn't have happened!!"

The dark figure roared in the cave-like room, its voice filled with fear and terror, echoing back and forth in the cavernous space.

As someone within the story's timeline, he knew all too well what Kudo Yusaku's death meant.

The reason Karasuma Renya dared to issue that order was because he was certain that the reality that still secretly controlled GSSRA, and even the universe itself, would never allow "Kudo Yusaku" to truly die!
"How could GSSRA really let him die?! How could reality dare to actually kill him?!"

The dark shadow twisted and trembled wildly, and the room was filled with resentment and hatred.

Many indistinct faces emerged from the darkness, and some of them even began to wail and sob.

"I (the story's timeline) cannot allow him to die! He's Shinichi Kudo's father! How could he?!"

**A roar like that of a wild beast and a cry like that of a kitten.**
"I can no longer negotiate with Shinichi Kudo... I killed His father!"

**A roar of anger at oneself**
"I've truly broken ties with Shinichi Kudo! Completely broken ties!"

**A wave of panic and incredulous wails**
"That detective will come after me, I'll become a criminal! I'm finished! Everything is over!"

Immediately afterwards, another part of Karasuma Renya began to shout with ecstasy, bursting into a chilling laugh.

“He is truly free! He has truly and utterly bound himself! As long as I try to guide Him, or even just as long as I convince Him that His power originates from those pointers themselves…”

**A burst of manic, irrational laughter**
"Once I obtain all the pointers, the authority over the new timeline... everything in the new timeline, no, everything in the entire universe, will belong to me (the story timeline)!"

**Increasingly shrill and manic laughter, crying, roaring, and howling.**
The frenzied roar from the television made Conan, hanging upside down in the air, slowly curl a smile at the corners of his mouth—as if he were listening to an exceptionally entertaining farce.

"Uh..." Lin Sheng's expression froze when he saw Conan's lips inexplicably curl into a smile. He cautiously poked him with the tentacles that appeared from the CYZ effect.

"Conan? Would you like to... take a different look?"

"Ah! I'll change right away!"

Conan immediately switched the scene to the harbor and tried to suppress the increasingly obvious smile on his face.

He added a sentence to justify himself.

"As you know, my killing of [Yusaku Kudo] is itself a flawed premise."

“Now my ‘source’ has sensed this happening, and… His connection with [Edogawa Conan] is also closer than mine.”

A hint of worry rose in Lin Sheng's eyes.

“Conan… this is no longer just a matter of you being ‘more closely’ connected with [Edogawa Conan].

Whether it's Shinichi Kudo or Conan Edogawa, this hatred, even despair, towards criminals...

Lin Sheng fully understood the reason for Conan's current transformation.

He recalled that during the "Star Viewing Tower Case," Shinichi Kudo told him about several meanings of "ritual" for his shift in beliefs.

"Condensing countless historical inertias into six cases is already the limit; otherwise, I would have a hard time handling it. Moreover, according to my reasoning, these cases..."

Shinichi Kudo, after all, is just a "high school student".

Now, Lin Sheng begins to subtly guide "Conan" to tune the TV to Ran Mouri's channel.

But in his heart, he couldn't help but sigh:
"Sigh, it seems I can't 'send' the CYZ effect I just built up to the Alliance again."

"I can only hope that Professor Agasa, Ai Haibara, and Ran Mouri can lend a hand..."

Immediately afterwards, Lin Sheng silently intensified the CYZ effect behind "Conan" and began transferring more CYZ effects into the body of [Shinichi Kudo].

after all--

This anchor point must be preserved.

(End of this chapter)