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

Chapter 275 Gin's Determination Fades, the "Detective" in Ireland, and Ran Disappears

Another night is about to end.

At the top of that towering iron tower, Gin and Vodka stood side by side.

A ray of golden light from reality is quietly rising from the horizon.

The rising sun casts dappled light, symbolizing dawn, onto the distant clouds.

It was a quiet and solemn change:

One by one, the silent streetlights went out, the sea of ​​clouds slowly rolled across the horizon, and a few early risers began to appear sporadically on the streets.

—It all seemed undeniably real.

If you hadn't witnessed it with your own eyes, who would doubt the authenticity of all this?

But they just didn't change at all.

Gin silently looked down at the city below.

He knew exactly what time the security guard on the third floor would appear at which stairwell, and which cleaner would have the elevator key hanging on their waist.

He even knew that a drunk man would stagger out of the subway entrance not far from Ridonto Tower at 3:30 a.m. sharp, and then collapse to the ground.

In fact, whenever he climbs to the top of the tower and looks down at the lights in the concrete jungle...

Gin would subconsciously check if the drunkard had arrived "on time," and then repeatedly ponder a question in his mind:
That is, how "real" you really are.

After learning the truth, he often felt that he was no different from that drunkard.

"Brother! That homeless man has disappeared!"

Vodka knew that his older brother cared a lot about the homeless man, and although he didn't know why, he also paid attention to the guy.

He put down his binoculars, his tone tinged with excitement—vodka didn't know why he was excited, perhaps just because of this sudden change.

Gin simply gave a calm "hmm," his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of melancholy.

“I know,” he said, “because I don’t want to see him again.”

His words startled Vodka, who then fell silent.

Gin paused, then made up a reason: "He would have frozen to death from a hangover this morning."

—It's summer now, which is undoubtedly a lie.

Vodka didn't say anything; he just gave a muffled "hmm" and then sat down against the edge of the rooftop at the top of the tower.

To be honest, after the new plan was launched, he understood Gin even less.

He seemed to have transformed back into the Gin boss from the Black Organization.

They became indifferent and estranged, even more so than before, as if they had become an existence standing on the edge of reality, difficult to categorize.

At this dawn, at the highest point of the East Tower, all is quiet except for the sound of the wind.

Gin straightened his trench coat and turned around.

"I'm going to check the mechanisms and the treasure chest. Maybe that detective will arrive today."

Gin knew that the homeless man would be there again "tomorrow"—after all, the drunkard wasn't a "traitor to the organization."

Gin has always disagreed with the "kindness" or anything else that others acknowledge about the detective.

In his view, the more the detective valued life, the more insignificant the word "death" seemed.

Life is a joke.

When the detective begins to value "justice," the corresponding "evil" will also grow.

In the past, Gin had never thought that much about it.

He has always just gone with the flow, whether it's a boss, an organization, an alliance, or something else—giving orders and then carrying them out.

Just like the traitors he eliminated, without hesitation or wavering.

Until Vermouth told him what he had done in this plan, and what it represented...

He suddenly became a philosopher.

He walked over to the "treasure chest" that Vodka had previously inspected.

It looks like a box just salvaged from the seabed, with its greenish patina and seaweed-green wooden planks—it looks very old, only the combination lock on top ruins the atmosphere a bit.

Gin lowered his head and typed in the number he had long memorized: 4869.

The latch clicked open.

He lifted the lid of the box, revealing a whole box of gem pointers that were all the same shape and size.

Gin scooped up a handful of pointers as if he were picking up a handful of sand.

— Each one of them is called "Fearless Courage".

The golden light caused the brilliant sunrise to refract repeatedly in the handful of pointers in his hand, gradually drawing his gaze and his consciousness into this beautiful scene.

Gin stared intently at the strange light emanating from the hand, even though it stung his eyes.

He knew he would soon be wrapped in that dark coat again, and he would soon be back in those dark corridors and corners.

Vodka walked over from the edge of the rooftop and put down his walkie-talkie.

"Big brother, the rappelling harness is fine. If necessary, we can come down from the helicopter to support you."

Gin put the pointer back in the case, closed the lid, and nodded to Vodka.

"Okay, then we'll do it your way—use a machine gun to force him onto this rooftop."

As he spoke, he patted Vodka on the shoulder and picked up his hat, which was next to the box, and put it on.

"Let's go, let's go see that 'Black Hawk' that's bound to crash."

"Hehe, to be honest, I never thought we could actually take direct action against the East Capital Tower!"

Vodka grinned, his smile both rough and sincere.

As he watched him excitedly walk toward the door leading to the elevator, Gin's Adam's apple bobbed—he couldn't say anything for a moment.

He reached out and touched the inside pocket of his trench coat.

A cyanide pill that Vermouth had given him lay there quietly.

Why is fate so predetermined?

Why can't I linger a little longer in the sunshine?

Gin did not tell Vodka and the others the final outcome.

He knew that if they had known beforehand, they certainly wouldn't have tried to survive.

"Ha—I hope I'm enough on my own."

With shouts of vodka, Gin strode forward.

—This man, who always walks on the edge of a knife, has never lacked courage.

"Shinichi Kudo, you'd better not disappoint the name of this pointer..."

……

As for Ireland, he has finally found an opportunity to get revenge on Gin.

This poor, clueless man was consumed by anger over Gin's failure to save Pisco, whom he regarded as a father figure.

While searching for the "pointer" that was taken away by a traitor in the organization, he disguises himself as Inspector Matsumoto and, with the help of the police, discovers a huge mistake made by Gin.

Of course, this story begins with that series of murders that had stalled.

Here we must mention the special nature of being an RSI derivative anomaly—Conan's "repetition" of the entire world obviously did not affect the things he had already affected.

In other words, from the perspective of Kogoro Mouri, Ireland, and others, they had held a full week of meetings to discuss this serial murder case, which was actually "completely unimportant."

……

Just like "today," the final result of everyone's analysis of the clues was—no results at all.

"What? The victim didn't play mahjong?"

Sitting in his special advisor's seat, Kogoro Mouri exclaimed in surprise for what felt like the umpteenth time about his mistake.

—It was this same person who, not long ago, confidently asserted that the victim must have won against the murderer in a card game, which is why a mahjong tile was still placed next to him after he was killed.

To be honest, this motive sounds surprisingly reasonable in the Conan universe.

Faced with Kogoro Mouri's yet another moment of surprise, Inspector Megure, Wataru Takagi, Miwako Sato, and Ninzaburo Shiratori...

The dozens of police officers present all sighed in unison.

They finally understood why Inspector Megure had repeatedly emphasized them.

Without entering his "Sleeping Kogoro" state, Kogoro Mouri's progress in the case can't be described as miraculously helpful; it's more of a hindrance than a help.

They felt as if they were walking through a dense, sunless mountain.

This mountain called "The Case" is fraught with danger and full of traps—and what Kogoro Mouri does is lead them to every fork in the road and every trap.

Shiratori Ninzaburo also sighed, announcing to everyone that Kogoro's reasoning was wrong.

"The investigation revealed that none of the six victims played mahjong regularly."

Inspector Megure, sitting next to Matsumoto Kiyona, looked at Kogoro Mouri, who had a troubled expression, and said, "I'm sorry, but it seems that your reasoning is wrong."

Inspector Matsumoto leaned back in his seat.

Who mentioned that detective named Kogoro Mouri, who usually solves cases in a very short time?

Seeing the stalemate before him, Ireland was speechless for a moment.

He's never been very good at tracking and analysis; otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Vermouth to help him impersonate a Metropolitan Police Department inspector.

"In other words, the case has now reached a dead end."

He pretended to be calm and lowered his head to think, but inside he was somewhat agitated.

He accepted this mission after hearing that it was related to the unfinished "pointer" case.

He even knew that the "pointer" was related to Pisco's death, and that Gin had failed in the previous attempts as well.

What Ireland has to do is accomplish this impossible task.

Then use this opportunity to accuse Gin of his previous incompetence to the Boss, and even find a chance to kill him!

The Inspector Megure, standing to the side, was completely unaware that his superior, Ireland, the only normal employee of the Black Organization and a man determined to avenge his "father," was inwardly complaining about the incompetence of the police force.

He was actually quite at ease with the police's current state of confusion, and was used to it. He simply sighed, "If only Kudo were here..."

Ireland frowned, realizing that things were not so simple; he seemed to recall hearing this name before.

"Inspector Megure, are you referring to the high school detective, the washing machine, who helped you solve the case back then?"

Inspector Ogino looked up: "Come to think of it, I haven't heard his name recently."

"Perhaps they've gotten tired of the so-called detective games."

"No, that's not how it is."

"Keep your mouth shut," Takagi Wataru immediately defended Kudo Shinichi, "He just helped solve a case at Teitan Junior High School."

“Takagi!” Officer Sato nudged him with her elbow, lowering her voice, “Don’t forget we promised Kudo.”

"I'm sorry!" Takagi Wataru immediately shut his mouth. "I let it slip!"

Ireland looked at Inspector Megure beside him: "So what's going on here?"

If he remembers correctly, in that list of people who died from Drug A, and in the information Gin reported, Shinichi Kudo should have been killed by Gin.

Inspector Megure came out to help Wataru Takagi cover up his tracks:

"Ah—in order to respect his wishes, we deliberately concealed the fact that he was involved in solving the case."

"I don't know why, he used to be quite high-profile, but recently he seems to have suddenly become more low-key."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Kogoro Mouri clapped his hands, and the crisp sound of the clapping drew everyone's attention.

"Speaking of which, since all the mahjong tiles are the seven of bamboo..."

Remembering Ran's complaints when she came back yesterday, Kogoro Mouri had another idea.

"Could it be related to the Tanabata Festival? The Tanabata Festival in Kyoto...maybe it's about the criminal—"

A sound of a chair being pushed back interrupted Kogoro Mouri as he continued to express his new idea; it was Inspector Matsumoto.

He glanced at the clock on the wall, stood up, and looked at Kogoro Mouri.

"Next time, Mr. Mori, please try to find some reasonable evidence when you make your reasoning."

Ireland felt he had seen through the detective's true colors, and he glanced at the officers present.

"Then let's adjourn the meeting for today. As usual, we'd appreciate it if everyone could come back tomorrow to report if they have any new insights."

……

The corridor was long, and the light of dusk slanted in from the window at the end.

"Oh, so it's Sunday today..."

Looking at the empty Teidan School, Ireland felt that God was on his side.

With the sound of footsteps, "tap, tap," Ireland gradually marched toward its destined end.

He pushed open the dressing room door after the school festival and found the information mentioned in the record he had found in the database—

"Black Knight Costume Box". Then there's Teitan Elementary School.

In the classroom after the clay sculpting class, Ireland held a flashlight and let the beam of light sweep across the room under the somewhat pale light.

Looking at the words "Edogawa Conan" written on the display board, Ireland couldn't help but smile.

"This is it."

He carefully put on gloves and then removed the dorsal fin from the clay dolphin sculpture.

Honestly, if what he thinks is true—that guy GIN might have let go of a famous detective who knows about the organization and APTX-4869.

If such a huge mistake were compounded by the fact that he would soon obtain the "pointer"...

“GIN, perhaps you should also pay the price for Pisco’s death.”

As night fell, a distinct dark figure returned to the empty offices of the Metropolitan Police Department.

He entered the two fingerprints extracted from the helmet and dorsal fin into the comparison system.

Fingerprint similarity: 98%

Looking at the final result, Ireland couldn't help but smile with victory.

He knew he had probably caught a "big fish".

“Dingle bell…Dingle bell…”

His cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket, interrupting his daydreams of a successful revenge.

"Ok?"

Ireland glanced at the screen and thought the call had come at just the right time.

"What is it, GIN?"

Looking at Ireland on the screen in front of him, Gin spoke according to the text message sent by the Boss.

"Where have you been these past few hours? Looks like you went somewhere where you absolutely have to shut down your computer."

A smile crept across Ireland's face: "You want to know—"

“Never mind,” Gin said, changing the subject. “You just need to follow the organization’s plan.”

"Speaking of which, you were the one who used that drug to kill that high school student, right?"

"What high school student?"

"It is—Shinichi Kudo."

Ireland was increasingly convinced that his earlier idea was feasible.

He tentatively asked Gin, "Have you forgotten?"

Sitting in his car, Gin glared at Vodka, who was smirking beside him. He rolled down the window and turned his back to Vodka.

Then he read aloud the somewhat absurd reason from the text message his boss sent him.

"I never remember the names of the people I've killed."

After making the final decision, Gin had calmed down.

He will personally brush away the dust from his mind that has clouded his thoughts and vision.

Based on what he knew, if the detective succeeded in the end, bringing him back would be a piece of cake.

And if the detective fails...

To be honest, playing a boring "villain" did make him feel a bit bored—especially after he found out that everything he did was someone else's "design".

On his way back, Gin made a point of going to see the drunken homeless man again.

He was lying at that familiar subway entrance again.

……

However, Conan had a terrible dream yesterday.

Ai Haibara's complaints and accusations against him for reappearing in the public eye as "Shinichi Kudo" would subconsciously make him feel a little worried about his own behavior.

And Karasuma Renya will use this to give Conan a nightmare—this is a specialty of the [Story Timeline].

"what!"

With a short scream, Conan jolted awake from his bed, then immediately let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Phew—so it was just a dream."

Looking at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, Conan wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He even dreamt that Gin and his gang came to his door, and that they kidnapped Ran...

"No matter how you look at it, they should just attack me directly..."

But for some reason, during the time between his awakening and the familiar sound of the stove coming from the kitchen...

Conan never fell asleep again.

Fortunately, the familiar aroma wafting from the kitchen and Ran's familiar voice brought Conan a sense of relief.

"Conan? Dad? Is breakfast ready?"

—It seems I was just overthinking it.

When Conan sat down at the dining table after washing up, he heard Ran Mouri's worried voice.

"What's wrong? Conan, didn't you sleep well last night?"

Ran's words made Kogoro Mouri shift his gaze to Conan's face—a look of obvious weariness that anyone could see.

"It's all because Uncle Mori's snoring was too loud last night!"

Conan's words quickly drew Kogoro Mouri's attention.

"Hmph, it's all because I've been so busy with that case these past few days that I haven't been able to sleep."

Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but complain.

"Honestly, I think that reasoning related to Qixi Festival makes a lot of sense."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Conan.

"So, are you still going to Professor Agasa's house today, kid?"

"Mhm!" Conan nodded.

When yesterday's clay sculpting class ended, he had already made plans with Ai Haibara to go to Professor Agasa's house to look for clues about the new pointer—

Of course, Conan's biggest concern right now is not the location of the new pointer, but the truth about the "pointer".

He plans to use the names of the four known pointers to find clues today.

He called Hattori last night, and Hattori promised to contact several famous collectors.

"Don't worry! To prevent others from realizing what you're talking about, I'll handle it personally!"

Conan lowered his head and took a bite of the egg roll.

Hattori should be on his plane to London by now.

"Then Xiaolan and I will go out for lunch."

Kogoro Mouri plans to take Ran to a meeting at the Metropolitan Police Department today, and also have lunch there.

"Let me tell you, Ran, the Special Investigation Department's seafood donburi and steak are absolutely amazing!"

"And because of Inspector Matsumoto, there will be no limit on the number of people allowed after the meetings these next few days!"

……

Ran Mouri also woke up very early today.

Of course, unlike Conan's exhausted state, Ran Mouri felt that her energy had finally been fully restored.

It felt like finally ending a tiring "day".

In a sense, this was one of the reasons why she took the initiative to ask Kogoro to go to the Metropolitan Police Department that morning.

She just inexplicably didn't feel like cooking today.

"Ah, Detective Mori, is this your daughter?"

"Brother Mori, why did you bring Ran along today?"

Faced with the teasing of several police officers he often met, Kogoro Mouri flashed the words "Special Advisor" pinned to his chest.

He stated that he was openly and legitimately bringing his daughter to freeload: "What, even a special advisor like me can't..."

Meanwhile, Miwako Sato had already pulled Ran aside and was whispering to her.

"Xiao Lan, what brings you here today?"

A hint of doubt crossed her face, and her gaze quickly swept over Ran Mouri and Kogoro, who was praising his daughter to Inspector Megure and the others behind her.

—She now knew why she had felt that lingering doubt.

"Where's Conan?" she asked Ran Mouri.

"Conan? He said he's going to Dr. Agasa's house today..."

Ran briefly explained Conan's whereabouts to Miwako, and then Inspector Matsumoto, with a scar on his face, walked over from the end of the corridor.

He coughed, and the lively discussion in the corridor immediately ceased.

Ireland glanced at Mauri Ran.

He took out his phone, sent a coded message to Vermouth, then switched the screen to another text message and gestured to the officers present.

"Let's get ready to start the meeting. We had news from the police officers in Kanagawa Prefecture yesterday."

Ireland was truly surprised that he would have to use the organization's intelligence network to help the police investigate this case.

Fortunately, a guy in the organization named Yamazaki helped him out.

Ireland remembered Yamazaki's kindness.

He had inquired and learned that Yamazaki had a close relationship with a woman named Miyano who was originally quite influential in the organization. It was later revealed that the woman was killed by Gin for failing to complete her mission.

"Hmph, if you don't complete the mission, you'll be dealt with..."

Ireland wasn't as cold-blooded as Gin; he planned to help Yamazaki get revenge as well.

He even had a backup plan this time—

If the Boss insists on protecting Gin...

However, considering Gin's arrogant attitude, Ireland felt that Boss would definitely agree to kill him.

A few thoughts flashed through his mind as Ireland entered the conference hall.

He then projected the contents of the text message onto the screen.

"Based on current information, the six deceased individuals who were found with mahjong tiles were among the seven sixth-floor guests who survived the fire at the Weaver Girl Hotel."

"I already confirmed this with Kanagawa Prefecture yesterday."

……

For Ran Mouri, today was just another ordinary and tedious day of waiting.

She had gotten used to waiting.

She sat quietly on a bench outside the meeting room, scrolling through her phone and mentally counting down the time—the meeting room would be over in a dozen minutes.

While she was scrolling through her phone out of boredom, a message from Sonoko made her heart skip a beat.

"Xiao Lan, did you know? Your Black Knight helmet has been stolen!"

"what?"

Xiaolan frowned. Before she could reply, another message from Yuanzi popped up.

As someone with a love-obsessed mind, Sonoko had already imagined a "battle for her lover."

"Someone must be trying to take Shinichi from you. Don't worry, I, Sonoko-sama, will definitely help you find him..."

She started gardening again.

Ran Mouri couldn't help but chuckle, but then sighed helplessly.

She closed her phone, and after a few seconds, she unlocked the screen again.

Perhaps it would be better to tell Shinichi about this.

She opened her contacts and clicked on that familiar name.

"Shinichi, did you know? The helmet you wore when you played the Black Knight last time was stolen."

"Also, Sonoko thinks—"

"Ran?" Following the direction of the voice, she looked up and saw that Sato Miwako had appeared in front of her at some point.

Looking at Angel in front of her, Vermouth smiled gently.

"Could you come here for a second? Actually, regarding that kid Conan..."

Ran Mouri nodded subconsciously and got up to follow.

With a treasure called the pointer, how could there be no princess waiting for a prince to rescue her?
Three minutes later, Vermouth helped the sleeping Ran Mouri into the Gin car, took out her phone, and sent a text message to Ai Haibara.

"Miyano, you can close the net now. Ireland has obtained the 'truth' and is just waiting for [Shinichi Kudo] to make his appearance."

(End of this chapter)