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

Chapter 288 Conan's Dream, A Dream of Nanke (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Let's tentatively call the universe created because of a detective's dream "Detective Conan Universe-001-2".

According to Lin Sheng's observations, there is almost no perceptible difference between this "Universe No. 2" and the "Universe No. 1" where the Alliance is located.

They are equally infinite.

It also contains everything that is exactly the same as "Universe One"—those galaxies, those stars...

Even the things and causal logic that a universe should have in the mind of [Conan Edogawa].

Of course, none of these things are abnormal RSI values, nor are there any things or people derived from them.

No, rather than saying that "Universe 2" does not contain RSI value derivative anomalies like a second [Kogoro Mouri] or [Ran Mouri].

It's more likely that he secretly used the CYZ effect to deceive everyone, and that Koizumi Akako also "lured" those important figures into her dreams—

After all, in Conan Edogawa's eyes, there is not much difference between the two universes.

Although [Conan Edogawa] recognized some of the differences that occurred because of Him.

But He keenly grasped the implication behind the Alliance's few words, and Ran Mouri's interjection conveniently ended the "thinking," prompting Him to actively "immerse" His true self in the drama presented to Him.

Just like Koizumi Akako's explanation of Kuroba Kaito.

[Detective Conan] cannot know many things.

……

And at the moment Conan was about to wake up from his dream—

Lin Sheng then "quietly" caught the universe that was about to disappear.

For Him now, maintaining a universe on the verge of stagnation is not difficult.

After all, this universe is real and authentic, and Lin Sheng doesn't need to create all matter or physical rules from scratch.

All he needed to do was preserve this universe that was about to end due to being "forgotten".

After all, as the pale sun's radiance fades, even death abandons it like trash, avoiding it at all costs.

—It will then come to a standstill, as if the pause button has been pressed.

Fortunately, Lin Sheng's current location is an excellent place to go.

The universe created by this dream naturally has another purpose.

After all, if nothing can really be changed.

Lin Sheng needed to think carefully about the "Star Tower Case," a case that shouldn't even exist, and the position of the CYZ Alliance in the Conan universe.

"But fortunately, this worst-case scenario was also within expectations."

Lin Sheng then recalled his discussion with [Edogawa Conan] and his previous "earth-shattering" verification methods.

A whisper echoed from the top of the Star Viewing Tower.

"Perfectly, we can also make use of the dual timeline structure."

……

For Conan, the sharp, stabbing pain from behind felt like someone had suddenly severed the medulla oblongata of his brainstem with a scalpel.

In just a moment, I lost all connection with reality.

Just like the detectives who collapsed at the end of their deductions... he reached the end of his own life.

Then he discovered that he could still think.

"So now... it seems I'm just unconscious?"

"Or is this a replay of my life before I die? But isn't it a bit too long ago?"

Conan wasn't even sure if what he was seeing was real darkness or a void after death.

He tried to figure out how long he had been "unconscious" and how long he had been in this silent, deathly stillness.

But he felt that he couldn't feel his heartbeat or the existence of his own body.

Without a reference point, it is impossible to keep track of time.

Conan felt as if he were walking alone in a bewildering "darkness".

At one point, he even thought that he was no longer a specific being, but had been incorporated into all things along with death.

—Until that faint, almost indistinguishable sound drifted from the “darkness”.

Conan felt that he vaguely heard a frightened woman screaming in the "darkness," as if she had seen a ghost.

This allowed his seemingly dissipating soul to re-coagulate.

The originally indifferent emotions became rich again with the emergence of "doubt," or rather, "mystery."

"And that phrase seems to be... Kaito, run—?"

Conan didn't recognize the voice and didn't know who was speaking.

Therefore, he was even more certain that he was probably really dead.

Otherwise, why would he hallucinate the screams of strangers? He doesn't remember knowing anyone named "Kaito".
And then the thought that "I am already dead" came to mind.

Conan felt a little dizzy, the kind of dizziness that makes it hard to stand up—if he still had a head and legs.

If I die, my parents will be very sad.

And there's Ran, the professor, Hattori, and that clueless old man...

Perhaps, even that cold-blooded Haibara will secretly shed a tear for him.

A faint sadness welled up somewhere in his chest.

Conan is not afraid of this eternal disappearance, because he disappears while walking on the path of light.

But he grieved for those who were still alive, and for the sorrow they would face.

And following the sadness came regret and remorse for not being able to do more.

The child felt sadness, remorse, and regret for the deaths of the detectives he had implicated.

What did they do wrong?

The little figure began to blame himself for his recklessness.

If I had done better at Kyoto Tower, perhaps none of this would have happened...

And then there's that watch, which holds the truth and everything.

"I...in the end, I still couldn't stop Karasuma Renya?"

Although Conan knew that he had done his best in the situation where he was being outmaneuvered—

He only has the size of a child, and the other detectives are unable to act due to the schemes of the person behind the scenes.

He could not and would not do so to let innocent people die, or even to "ruthlessly kill" them, all for the sake of hands and a watch.

"Fortunately, I didn't fall for their trap; I didn't tell that guy where the pointer was."

Conan then muttered to himself.

"Furthermore, I also secretly marked the playing cards."

"As long as Hattori sends someone to find me after losing contact, he will definitely be able to deduce the truth."

"That guy is probably frustrated about the pointer that he may never find..."

Some feelings that could be described as comfort and optimism came to mind.

Conan has a lot of confidence in Hattori.

However, this brief optimism lasted only a few seconds.

What follows is another, even more cruel possibility—

"But what if the person behind it all is also a detective who is equally skilled in deduction?"

"What if he deciphers the markings I left on the playing cards and uses them to obtain the fifth pointer?"

But what's the point of saying these things and worrying about them now?

He is dead after all.

Finally, all emotions turned into hope for Hattori Heiji.

"Hattori...you must find out the truth."

"must……"

—In that very instant.

Conan suddenly felt as if something was embracing his spine.

It was as if someone reached through the void and lifted him up from an endless abyss.

What followed was a violent jolt, as if one's soul was rising and falling with the bulges on one's spine.

Conan felt his soul travel up his spine and was finally roughly stuffed into his brain, which had almost been shaken apart.

……

"Om-"

It sounded like a million buzzers were ringing in my ears, or like dozens of flashbangs exploding.

Perhaps it was because I had stayed in that quiet darkness for a long time.

The moment he felt he still existed, Conan tried to close his eyes—and then he realized he had never opened them.

It felt like every part of his body was sending him warnings.

Conan felt his eyelids were heavy, but some warm and sparkling things seemed to be trying to penetrate his eyelids and enter his pupils.

He could feel a burning pain in his limbs, as if he had just been thrown into a sand and gravel blender and churned for a long time.

And he felt the same real stinging pain in his back.

The pain was exactly the same as the last feeling I had experienced in the annex restaurant not long ago.

My throat felt like it had been dried out by hot smoke.

Conan felt unbearably thirsty, but the smell of gasoline and gunpowder kept getting into his nostrils.

With tears welling in his eyes, Conan finally opened them after instinctively raising his hand to shield his eyes from the firelight.

Then he saw the burning hood of a car in front of him, emitting a pungent smell and acrid smoke.

"Cough-cough-!"

Conan bent down, and with a little effort, he rolled down the car window. Then, he leaned out of the window and, relying on gravity, let himself fall helplessly onto the lawn.

After catching his breath on the dewy grass at night, Conan crawled with some difficulty toward the burning car.

Using the last bit of strength squeezed from his survival instincts, Conan crawled about seven or eight meters across the grass.

Then, as he panted and regained his strength, he tried to figure out what had happened.

Conan looked up at the things illuminated by the burning firelight.

A Volkswagen Beetle, its front end shriveled and lifeless, lay sprawled beneath a bluestone half-embedded in the mud. On either side were two long, flat tracks of grass, testifying to the immense power of the vehicle that had recently gone out of control.

"Did I... get into a car accident?"

At that moment, an absurd yet perfectly logical deduction flashed through Conan's mind:
—What just happened might just be a hallucination he experienced while unconscious after veering off the road and being hit by a car…

It was just a dream.

Everything in front of him had given Conan enough evidence.

Even when he turned his head to look in the direction of the tire tracks, a section of broken guardrail and marks on the steep slope were clearly visible.

But the shock in his heart made Conan forget his current situation.

"But...but what happened at that villa..."

Conan felt his brain short-circuit, and even his voice trembled slightly.

"This...this can't be a dream!"

His voice gradually rose in pitch.

The detective, who had gotten into character, seemed to have recovered from that near-death experience in an instant.

Conan instinctively touched his back.

When he placed his slightly damp hand in front of him, the smell of blood brought Conan back to his senses.

This undoubtedly happened.

The pungent smell of blood made him subconsciously ignore the still brilliant starry sky above him and the darkness of the surrounding woodland.

"It must be that person..."

"He wanted to use this method to fake my accidental death."

The location and wound on his back, the same spot and location as the last sting he felt in his memory, helped Conan regain his composure after his wavering mind had been shaken.

"That person just didn't expect that I was only in a state of suspended animation, that must be it."

Conan picked up a tree branch and used it as a crutch to support himself.

Judging from the fact that he climbed out of the car window and fell onto the grass, and since he could smell gasoline on the nearby grass, it means that the fuel tank had already leaked due to damage when the fire started.

From this perspective, the risk of deflagration has been minimized.

He staggered toward the still-burning car.

If I remember correctly, there was also a regular skateboard in the trunk of the car, which was part of the camping plan.

Whether it's going down the mountain to report to the police, returning to the villa, or plotting a surprise attack on the mastermind behind the murder, one needs a means of transportation.

When Conan laboriously pried the somewhat shattered skateboard out of the trunk, which was as empty as Kogoro Mouri's wallet after a drunken night, the sharp, blood-stained tip of the skateboard, now broken, silenced him.

He suddenly looked up at the night sky above.

The night sky above this woodland was clear and clean, and the stars still shone brightly in the vast heavens.

But what if today were the same day I left the hospital...?

Is this some kind of miraculous omen, or a reflection of my own anxieties?
Or perhaps—time?
Conan felt he could no longer tell the difference.

The moment that thought flashed through my mind, an indescribable emotion welled up inside me.

He couldn't express how he felt at that moment.

Because it was not a conclusion reached through rational reasoning, but rather fate itself whispering in his ear.

It was like some kind of divine revelation.

A sacred yet cruel mission, shrouded in darkness and as the returning soul rejected the burning flame, fell into the young yet all-encompassing spirit.

He is [Conan Edogawa].

He survived.

Now, he must continue reasoning, continue searching for the truth, and continue to stop the unfinished evil.

—Until death do us part.

……

And so, in the fading moonlight, this strong little figure walked toward the castle atop the mountain.

The hardships and dangers along the way need not be elaborated upon.

When that child finally stood once again in front of the villa called "Twilight" under the light of dawn, anyone who saw him would feel a pang of sorrow for him.

He was covered in wounds, his lips were cracked, and there was congealed blood on his forehead and back.

But Conan felt that his spirit was becoming increasingly radiant.

Those eyes, those pupils that had been cleansed by the night and dreams, now burst forth with an unprecedented clarity and fervor.

Even if a villain were to meet his gaze at this moment, the lightning flashing from the fire in his eyes would surely terrify that person into unconsciousness.

At the same time, it allows righteous people to feel the hope and protection brought by the light of salvation.

And at this moment, as the gate of that silent villa standing in the mountains slowly opened to him, as if in a dream,

Conan took a deep breath, trying to suppress his rapidly beating heart and prevent it from leaping out of his chest.

Then, he turned on the detective watch on his wrist, activated the automatic shooting mode, and walked into the familiar-looking villa as if returning to a familiar place.

The walls were covered with faded bloodstains, and the red carpet underfoot was also stained.

The porch was silent, the echoes reverberating in the empty space.

Everything was exactly the same as in the dream.

Then came the same familiar corridor as in the dream.

The dim, spherical chandelier still hangs from the ceiling, and the rustic restaurant door stands quietly, waiting for someone to push it open.

Conan stared at the gilded decoration on the doorknob, a raven with outstretched wings—the emblem symbolizing Karasuma Renya.

Conan then suddenly pushed the door open!

The restaurant was empty; there wasn't a single person in sight.

No—it's not entirely empty.

There was a "person" that Conan recognized, already standing in the center of the table waiting for him.

The theoretical organizer of this "Red Tea Conference".

The puppet that symbolized "Karasuma Renya" stood there quietly in the somewhat messy restaurant.

But the next second, Conan discovered that everything in front of him was very different from the scene in his dream.

—What awaited him was not the "Baron of the Night".

What lay before me was not the tall, shadowy puppet of my dream, but a simple model mannequin with a tilted "head" that was sitting rather than standing.

Conan frowned slightly. He walked around the dining table, came to a chair, and suddenly pushed it to the ground.

"Boom."

A dull wooden sound echoed in the empty space.

Then, using the knife and fork on the table as tools, he carefully manipulated the chair back and seat to confirm its structure.

No ropes, no traps, no deadly poison needles...

This is just an ordinary, somewhat ornate mahogany chair.

Finally, the somewhat suspicious gaze fell on the only clock hanging on the restaurant wall.

Conan slowly walked into the clock, its gold-rimmed face gleaming faintly under the light of the crystal chandelier.

And on the surrounding ground.

Aside from the cloak that looked completely different from the Dark Baron's and was probably torn off the mannequin by someone, there was only a small speaker and a cassette tape.

He pushed the dummy to the ground, then moved the chair, about to step on it to confirm—

"Click."

The restaurant doors were opened.

……

"Mr. Sato? You haven't left yet?"

The familiar voice made Conan turn around abruptly, raising his wrist sharply towards the direction of the sound.

Standing at the door is Aki Ishihara.

She was clearly even more surprised than Conan by the appearance of this unfamiliar child.

But then she remembered the instructions the policeman had given her earlier.

But soon, she remembered something, and the surprise on her face turned into realization.

"Hey?! You're the kid the police asked if you'd been here before?!"

Conan was taken aback. He blinked and repeated the word that seemed out of place.

"police?"

“Yes! I think it’s a police officer named Sato.” Aki Ishihara walked closer to the dining table.

Under Conan's slightly embarrassed gaze, she righted the chair he had just pushed over and picked up the scattered tableware.

He said that after the case is over, a kid named Conan might come back.

"Let me wait here and pass on the message to him."

After confirming that the child in front of him was indeed Conan, whom General Sato was looking for.

"please wait for a moment."

She ran quickly out of the restaurant and returned in less than three minutes, this time carrying a white medical kit.

"Here, let me apply the medicine for you."

Next, Conan kept inhaling as the iodine irritated his wound.

While tending to his wounds, Aki Ishihara quietly explained to him what had happened the previous night.

"It seems that the mystery was set up by the detectives Oogami Kisuke and Senma Kazuyo in order to find the treasure in this castle!"

"However, it seems that the last detective, Kogoro, used a clever trick to fake his death and fool them."

"Then the detective named Hakuba Saguru called the police."

"Finally, four or five helicopters arrived, and then the officer named Sato told me to wait for you here."

Aki Ishihara tied the last bandage on Conan's arm.

The maid then took a telephone out of her pocket and handed it to Conan.

"He asked me to stay in this villa a little longer, wait for a kid named Conan to come over and call him, and then go to the lawn in the backyard to wait for the helicopter to pick you up."

After speaking, the maid bowed slightly and left.

According to her, an organization called GSSRA has continued to employ her here.

Now, the entire restaurant has fallen silent again.

Conan, however, felt that—

Those scenes and events that were so vividly sculpted in my dreams now seem to be shrouded in a hazy reality.

Everything became completely different, yet strangely... just as similar as before.

The feeling was like waking up from a dream, but still being in the dream.

At this moment, Conan was almost certain that it was nothing more than a bizarre, real, and absurd dream.

All the logic and reasoning, all the evidence and reality—all tell Conan the "real truth".

But suddenly, he looked up sharply and stared intently at the clock on the restaurant wall.

"What if it was all just a false dream..."

According to Aki Ishihara's description, the phantom thief who disguised himself as Uncle Mori probably did not discover the secret of the pointer.

This is really weird.

Because of this belief—

Believe that what remains after removing all the impossible factors is the truth, no matter how unwilling you are to believe it.

A detective who firmly believes that "there is only one truth".

Now we must use false, dreamlike clues to find an answer in reality.

"The two travelers, hurrying along, looked up at the celestial phenomena that night."

The demon descended upon the castle.

The king abducted the treasure and fled.

The princess wept as she poured out the Holy Grail, praying for divine mercy.
The soldier, exhausted, drew his sword and committed suicide.

The earth changed color.

He softly recited the riddle from his dream.

The two pointers were first adjusted back to zero.

Then turn 13 degrees to the left, then 12 degrees to the left, and finally 11 degrees to the right.

"Click."

The clock trembled slightly and then fell off the wall, just as had been demonstrated in the dream.

Conan stood motionless, his hands stiff and slow as he caught the clock.

His voice was barely audible.

"This... might just be a coincidence..."

He turned the heavy bell case over at an extremely slow pace.

Like a true child—both terrified that the afterimage of the dream is so real, and yet longing that the illogical miracle truly exists.

The conclusion is: he was half right.

When Conan finally saw the back of the clock, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The sheer shock was so intense that he almost collapsed to the ground, completely drained of his strength.

His chest heaved rapidly.

The air around him felt so narrow and confined that he felt the entire restaurant space was thin and suffocating.

The detective suddenly felt himself caught in an even more terrifying and incomprehensible mystery—

He opened his mouth, as if trying to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

Just as he had expected, the pointer appeared behind the golden clock.

but--

That was not an isolated pointer.

It was actually embedded in a familiar black watch!
-
Strong warning:

Given the unique nature of the Fifth Pointer and its negative effects, unless in extreme/special circumstances, it is not recommended for any being, living or non-living, organization or individual outside the Detective Conan universe to use the Fifth Pointer called "Twilight Dawn".

Equipment Name: Twilight Dawn

Equipment Category: Accessories (Pointer)

Equipment effect:

1. The Price of a Detective: See details in the work.
2. A Tragic Song of Demise: See related information for the work.
3. The Radiance of Repentance: See related information in the work for details.
Equipment requirements: See details in the game.

Usage environment: See details in the work.

"Repentance is like twilight, tempering the soul; truth is like dawn, illuminating the darkness."

——CYZ Alliance Concept Armament Manufacturing Plant
(End of this chapter)