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

Chapter 251, Part Two: The Art of Riding the White Horse Through Time (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

This is very unusual.

Leaving aside the strange behavior of Kento Oi at the Beika Town Police Station "these past few days".

Kento Oi—an ordinary fisherman from a remote port town, a marginal figure who, according to government records, did not even complete a high school diploma.

He has absolutely no reason to speak Chinese.

If a person can't even recognize a few words, how can they recite those crooked, poetic, and prophetic sentences in that vague yet profound tone?

In Professor Agasa's opinion, the person who wrote this poem... must know a lot of things.

Those four sentences were like a gradually expanding abyss, and a chilling coldness drifted down Dr. Agasa's spine along with the images flashing in his pupils.

"Everyone knows the signs of a wrongful death."

This statement explains the origins and causes of those "cases".

It undoubtedly suggests that something other than the murderer and the victim is hidden within the "case".

The person who wrote this sentence made no attempt to conceal their contemptuous attitude.

He arrived at this conclusion with a chillingly omniscient perspective and an unquestionable tone.

"Those who yearn for the truth stand on tiptoe, while those who are obsessed with riddles sink into depravity, unaware of the cycle of reincarnation."

His understanding of the mechanism of [loops] has clearly reached an extremely deep level, which can be described as a miracle.

He placed himself on a pedestal, expressing his views—despising the folly of "reasoning" and scorning the detectives' "truth."

This person even mocked those who died "unjustly" and ridiculed the absurdity of this "reincarnation" itself.

Therefore, these words were by no means the invention of Kento Oi, or even Kazuta Akimoto, the archaeologist.

Dr. Agasa doesn't believe they can suddenly uncover these truths and "summarize" them.

They had no reason to know that a detective or a child had caused all of this, and even less reason to know about the existence of the loop.

The person who actually wrote these lines of poetry not only knew of Conan Edogawa's existence, but also knew Conan's position in this cycle.

More precisely, he knows the "cyclical structure" of the universe itself and can even utilize it to some extent.

Moreover, judging from Kento Oi's performance, this person has every reason to make such a judgment.

Dr. Agasa's gaze was now fixed coldly on those images and records.

Kento Ooi's every move these days has been projected into a sprawling timeline, filling Professor Agasa's field of vision in a strange structure.

Those four sentences then appeared prominently in the most eye-catching place in every picture.

Professor Agasa stared intently at the phrase "the village of reincarnation".

In a certain moment, he suddenly felt—

The "li" in the phrase "lunhui zhi li" in the ancient text may not be the "biao li" corresponding to "wangsi zhi biao," but rather the "li" in "lidao" (reason).

Whoever wrote these sentences, how did "he" know the truth about this universe?

And how did "he" learn, or even achieve, "jumping" through timelines, and even teach such a technique to Kento Ooi?

Yes, jumping between timelines, time travel, time traversal...

Whatever you call his actions, there's no doubt that Kento Oi had truly "traveled through time" before.

Judging from the subtle traces left on those timelines, he may have truly changed history.

Even Dr. Agasa himself couldn't do this, and he felt that the current alliance would also find it difficult to do so.

Because this timeline is completely illogical.

It's important to know that before Dr. Agasa connected his consciousness to the Loop Computer, he also believed that Tuesday through Thursday were normal occurrences.

Those "lens groups" faithfully recorded some of the unnatural aspects that arose after those historical changes.

When Dr. Agasa now uses the [Loop Computer] as an intermediary to call upon these resources and trace back the historical changes of this period, he suddenly discovers—

In this set of data, both the day before and after "a certain day" are itself.

Looking back from "Monday", it is "Monday".

Looking from "Monday" onwards, it's still "Monday".

Dr. Agasa felt as if he had reached the end of some kind of rationality, and he examined the image displayed by the "lens group" once again with great care.

And so, those bizarre, nightmarish details began to swirl in his mind.

For example, the words that Miwako Sato said to Maria, those words that Maria recorded—

"At midnight on the second night, the officers who went to check on him found him huddled in a corner of the room."

"The next day, Monday morning, Hidego Uchimura found him hiding in the corner and secretly carving words on the corner."

The [Loop Computer] will highlight these dialogues in red and make notes on any particularly unusual situations.

Dr. Agasa has no idea how this terrible timeline contradiction has been maintained:
"Monday was the Harbor Case, and Kento Oi killed Tatsuya Iwata, which was the time of the incident, which was noon on Monday."

"Therefore, it was only after the matter was over that Kenjiro Oi was taken back to the police station, and it was already evening."

Thinking of this, Dr. Agasa's gaze darkened.

"But in reality, he was already in his cell on Monday morning."

This shouldn't happen; it doesn't make any sense at all.

"In other words, even before the case occurred, he was already being taken to the police station because of the outcome of the 'case' and because of his identity as the murderer."

The "lens" of the CYZ effect recording group does not lie.

Even the [Loop Computer] cannot provide a reasonable answer to this question.

Professor Agasa felt as if a heavy lead weight was pressing on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.

His body even trembled slightly, finding it hard to accept this reality—

This is during the time of the "case"!
But the murderer was caught by the police before the "case" even happened!

However, the Looping Computer presents Professor Agasa with the inconclusive facts.

It has been futilely reasoning, as if carving on a flat, linear plane, with the aim of cutting out a cube.

During the reasoning process, Dr. Agasa found one or two hidden arcs or several marks greater than 90° among those trivial "clues," which were like "acute angles" that had been cut off.

This contradictory and awkward feeling seemed to constantly remind me of this, trying to tell myself—

The results I just analyzed are all impossible illusions.

"Okay, let me start with the 'mistake' of the 'lens group'."

—【Cyclic Computer】finally presented a few absurd possibilities of achieving this without affecting the CYZ effect.

"If we consider that it wasn't Kento Oi who traveled through timelines, but rather that he directly altered time or history, rewriting 'what time is'..."

This is the most likely and also the most unbelievable outcome.

This is utterly absurd! Dr. Agasa thought that the Alliance had paid nearly half of its daily surplus, and even the price of many lives, just to anchor a faint future in the port case and guide it to the least bad outcome.

"And he simply engraved those numbers, or rather, that number..."

However, with the help of the [Loop Computer] to change Professor Agasa's approach and way of thinking, he was already able to deduce exactly what Kento Ooi had changed.

History beyond those records.

"From what we can see, the numbers carved on the wall represent the number of times and the methods he made changes."

Those distorted marks, those numbers in the corner, are more like a ritual.

Perhaps, Kento Ooi used his fingernails, teeth, or any sharp object to carve marks on the cement, soil, air, tree trunks, and even the flesh running in the wilderness or the eyes of birds in those "historical" things that exist and do not exist, in the past and future.

That number will determine Kento Oi—

Take this stream in the river of time, take that branch that symbolizes Kento Oi, and let it, like a gentle touch, intertwine and entangle along the vertical "1" and the horizontal "一", along any mark on that distorted clock, through some kind of trace it leaves behind.

Dr. Agasa then retrieved the image of the final wall and had the "Loop Computer" calculate all possible symbolic numbers.

He now increasingly felt that Kento Oi was not traveling through time.

His crude behavior reminded Professor Agasa of how the League initially used the "loop" method.

He felt he was more like embedding and adding information into the entire universe, and in a clumsy and inefficient way.

If it were Professor Agasa himself, he would never reveal those unnatural details to any outsider, not even to the past or future.

"It's like a child carrying gold through the market; he doesn't know the true meaning behind his actions."

This reaffirmed Dr. Agasa's belief that the method originated from someone other than Kento Oi himself.

"The key question now is what history he actually added."

Dr. Agasa continued to examine those details.

He wanted to know how many first days Kento Oi had spent amidst the barely discernible traces.

"The first day, the very first day, the thirtieth first day, the..."

This time, even the [Loop Computer] could only provide a rough answer.

Because those numbers overlap.

As Maria or Sato said, they are like layers of oil paint overlapping each other, creating a non-linear image structure.

For example, when two three-rotations overlap, it looks more like the number eight.

Kento Oi undoubtedly used many ways to represent these numbers, which range from one to seven, clearly representing the seven days of the week.

Those traces representing "Monday" are densely packed, spiraling into clockwork patterns, which were repeatedly drawn, erased, and drawn again by Kento Ooi.

The number representing Saturday and Sunday is pitifully small.

The later the time, the fewer those numbers there will be.

Compared to the densely packed number "one", Saturday and Sunday - Dr. Agasa would never mistake them, they only appeared once.

However, exploring the "future" under such a non-linear timeline is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous undertaking.

For once, Dr. Agasa did not personally examine the records of those two days that might be "the future".

He cautiously had the [Loop Computer] verify the records related to "Kento Ooi" several times.

Then he turned his attention to more important matters—

There is only one number eight, meaning there are only two Wednesdays, while Thursday and Friday have many more.

Within that tangled timeline, the [Loop Computer] marked the point in time where the numerical fluctuations were abnormal—

"He skipped the day when Beika Town was locked down."

At the same time, details in Miwako Sato's words were also marked to corroborate her perception of the images and her self-awareness.

This is what she said at the time—

"After all, it could just be a momentary emotional outburst. Many people with short tempers would react much more strongly than him when they come in."

The abnormal effects in Beika Town "leaked" and the lockdown occurred on the third day.

The fact that a large number of criminals were in the police station, which is what Miwako Sato referred to as "many short-tempered people," should not have happened on "Monday."

"It seems some subtle aspects of the timeline have also been affected," Dr. Agasa frowned. "And if he wants to skip Wednesdays as much as possible..."

"This shows that Kento Oi has no ability to skip over or change the outcome of 'Beihana Town being sealed off,' so it's not hard to understand why he did those strange things." Dr. Agasa knew that GSSRA was destined not to get any useful information from Kento Oi, because all his motives stemmed from the future that had already happened.

His sensitivity to numbers and his eccentric and unusual behavior all stemmed from the logic of "skipping Wednesdays".

Everything he did was an attempt to prolong his life until GSSRA intervened, rather than dying at the police station or on the way out of Beika Town.

"But he died today."

A sense of confusion arose within him. Professor Agasa felt trapped in a kind of common human logic, as if his consciousness was locked up, and he couldn't understand it.

Even this subtle contradiction made him feel vaguely uneasy.

"There are numbers on the wall representing Saturday and Sunday, which means that Kento Oi did indeed live for two days."

Dr. Agasa had the "lens assembly" project Kento Oi's current location—which was undoubtedly a corpse.

Unless he turned himself into some kind of ghost, Dr. Agasa thought, the markings on the walls didn't make sense.

Unless those traces are unrelated to "time travel".

Verifying this only requires one attempt.

Professor Agasa projects the images he sees, attaching his arms, wrists, and fingers to the phantoms in the air.

The next moment, the projections materialized, and with a slight obstruction and thrust, Professor Agasa squatted down somewhat comically, reaching out his hand towards the rising cement wall in front of him, whose composition was exactly the same as the walls in the police station.

"Those who seek the truth stand on tiptoe, while those who are obsessed with the mystery sink into depravity. They all know the surface of a wrongful death, but do not know the essence of reincarnation."

He tried his best to make his voice and lip movements the same as Kento Oi's.

As the soft, buzzing chanting continued, the fingernails at the tips of the fingers lightly etched the number "one" into the wall.

Nothing happened.

Dr. Agasa sighed.

Is it too far-fetched to simulate sound production based solely on the light emitted by the "lens group"?

After all, Kento Oi's voice was too vague, even vague in a conceptual sense.

Furthermore, Professor Agasa also possessed some knowledge of matters related to "rituals"—

In the realm of idealism, simply copying mechanical methods is completely ineffective.

It is about emotions, determination, mindset, and even many symbols and the user's own thoughts and consciousness.

"Moreover, magic has disappeared, and even the entire magic department has disappeared."

Professor Agasa looked up at the sky obscured by the ceiling, or rather, at the position of the moon.

Then, he focused his gaze on the blank space within the "lens assembly"—the location of Moonshadow Island.

The three photos that GSSRA had obtained then appeared before him.

He sighed; clearly, it all had something to do with that island.

Dr. Agasa sighed again, withdrawing his consciousness from that vast sensory and omniscient perspective.

He spent far too much time on such trivial matters; Conan and Ai Haibara were almost home.

Reaching for the mask on the table, Professor Agasa fastened it.

It seems he has no choice but to speed up the process of Conan and Ai Haibara realizing the problem.

Yes, just as the mask feared.

The easing of the conflict between Conan and Ai Haibara, Ai Haibara's blurred but deliberately preserved memories, the changes in Ai Haibara's character...

These can undoubtedly be utilized.

The same applies to the "potential conflicts" that may arise after the situation is eased.

Professor Agasa sees it clearly: Conan and Ai Haibara are currently exchanging polite concessions.

The league's "analysis" of the two players has reached a very thorough level.

This kind of "politeness" based on calmness, this kind of analysis based on rationality, will only make the mutual trust between the two people fragile, because it is full of "calculation" about their own individual goals.

For example, Conan reveals "the effect of baijiu", and Ai Haibara reveals that she is only "one of the researchers of APTX-4869".

The upcoming Moonshadow Island mission could very well be a matter of life and death, and any hesitation or breakdown of trust cannot be allowed.

Therefore, what I need to do next is quite simple.

"Exacerbate the conflict! Exploit their emotional expressions revealed through the child's body! Their emotional release and dependence?!"

The smile revealed by the mask was uglier than a cry.

"Professor Agasa, have some self-respect!"

However, despite complaining like that, the mask still proactively deleted the information it shouldn't know and incorporated those thoughts into its subconscious.

After all, this is indeed beneficial for both children.

As the basement door opened, "Professor Agasa," smiling, walked out of the workshop carrying Conan's skateboard—

He knew Conan and the others would be back soon.

Within the tightly locked doors, within the devices disguised as walls and hidden underground, within the memory storage devices maintained by APTX-4869—information beyond what the mask knows floats silently.
That was a larger and later plan that Dr. Agasa had temporarily "forgotten".

Without a doubt, the "mask" has been fooled again.

Appropriate honesty would obviously make "Professor Agasa" feel better and more cooperative.

Poor Dr. Agasa, who has never used the "Looping Computer," obviously has no idea how many possibilities this computer can calculate.

……

In fact, this has happened more than once.

I wonder if anyone has noticed that there are at least two things that don't quite make sense in Dr. Agasa's behavior, logic, and analysis.

The first place is—

Dr. Agasa, unusually, did not personally examine the records of those two days that might be "the future".

He felt he had confirmed it with the [Cyclic Computer], and then casually let go of any information related to the "weekend".

Perhaps he really did have the [loop computer] confirm it three times.

Or perhaps he deleted it himself.

Now, Hamster-kun looked at Shigenobu Hitomi in front of him.

And that "Management Manual" projected the results of Dr. Agasa's questioning of "Lin Sheng's pen" to the "core layer" into her mind.

"Your guess is right."

She returned that pitiful little look with an affirming look, and as the hamster jumped up, she told it the final result.

"By relying on Dr. Agasa's active use of the 'Cyclic Computer,' we can complete the analysis of the future using only one-tenth, or even less, of the CYZ effect."

This is the second illogical yet reasonable point.

After all, the difficulty of predicting [Conan Edogawa] has been emphasized many, many times.

Did things really develop that way just from a simple query about the possible results from the "loop calculator"?
—How is that possible!

"But if you add Professor Agasa's own understanding of Conan, this is indeed not difficult to do."

However, Shigenobu Hitomi didn't understand why the reverse wouldn't work.

Data shows that this phenomenon only occurs when Dr. Agasa contacts the Alliance; if the Alliance contacts Dr. Agasa, this "saving" disappears.

—The Narrative Studies Department believes that this utilizes the part of the 'persona' called 'concern'.

Hitomi Shigenobu has informed the executive team to keep an eye on the relevant research progress.

Then there's another kind of concern that Professor Agasa overlooked.

About magic.

Shigenobu Hitomi has already activated the time display device, which took a full ten strings of the CYZ effect.

And the conclusion drawn from that opportunity to contemplate "true tense" is obvious—

Koizumi Akako was not at Ekoda High School at all.

After asking Nakamori Aoko for that "long leave," she disappeared.

Her name, her image, her very existence, are like a subtitle that has been erased, a line that has been removed from the script.

Otherwise, the time display device would have been able to find her.

In order to prevent Professor Agasa's rational consciousness from trying to deduce her existence in reverse.

Shigenobu Hitomi ultimately made an extremely cautious decision:
Dr. Agasa's vague memories of "Koizumi Akako".

Now, Professor Agasa only remembers that magic once existed, and that magic has now disappeared.

……

But at the same time, outside this "completely magic-free" world, Koizumi Akako is... taking action.

Move within that fragmented outline, a space-time remnant like a dried-up epitaph.

She now knows a lot of things, so many things.

She finally understood what she had to do next.

This was extremely dangerous, for she was walking in the darkness of death.

There is nothing there, no dimensions, no beginning or boundary, and it cannot even be described by "space" or "time".

She was standing in that darkness.

She will stand in that darkness.

She once stood in that darkness.

In that eternally silent black abyss, Koizumi Akako wrote those things—traces of a certain concept, engraved on that deep-seated structure that is as constant as fate.

She then wrote:

The Seven Secret Chapters of Conan: General Outline

Firstly: The wheel of time is distorted, the order of years is not linear, and the art of tangling and knotting is like a tangled mess.

Secondly: The alternation of the sun and moon is contrary to reason, even with the magic of time.
Thirdly: The physical body is reversible, memories are unbreakable, and there is a technique to rejuvenate by drinking poison.

Fourthly: arising at the third, with an unstable form, involving the art of string manipulation and puppetry.

Fifthly: I died, and blood gushed into the sky; this was the art of killing without a trace.
Sixth: They form societies clad in black, their names indistinct and invisible, their techniques obscuring the sun with their shadows.
Seventh: Fate has only one path, destiny is determined by consciousness, and the art of sealing the heavenly way is different.

no doubt.

Kento Oi mastered the second technique, namely, the art of riding a white horse through time.

He completed the folding of time, traversed the order of years, and transformed into a lone white horseman walking in the vortex of time.

……

Attempts to "lock in victory" in advance are always extremely risky—even for Shinichi Kudo himself.
-
Let's have some interaction, everyone QAQ:

Why did Kento Oi die on a Thursday?

Why did he skip Wednesday?
Did Professor Agasa's magic succeed? If not, why?
(End of this chapter)