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

Chapter 289 Controlling the World—The Cocoon System (Seeking monthly votes at the end of the month!)
Perhaps everyone has had that kind of dream when they were young—

I dreamt that I followed a talking animal down a rabbit hole, through a mirror, and into the magnificent and fantastical "Alice's Land".
Or, in the quiet of the night, wait for an owl to fly to your window in the moonlight, carrying a gold-embossed envelope sealed with wax in its beak, guiding you to that mysterious station called "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters".

Or, like the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, on the way to school, one could search for the "Dragon Palace of the East Sea" in various places, find the "Ruyi Jingu Bang" (magic staff), and amidst the admiration of other children, make all the mountains and seas bow down and erase the names of all the netherworld beings.

There are always things that need to be escaped, and there are always beliefs that need to be believed.

These childhood fantasies are, before adulthood, a gentle invitation and a protective shield that the world leaves in a child's heart.

Even after adulthood, some hidden expectations may still surface from time to time.

For example, upon waking up, one might find a strange silver key with odd patterns, a black watch with six hands that cannot be explained, and a door that briefly opened but then vanished without a trace...

This kind of expectation is like always believing that fate really did come, but you just didn't see it clearly.

And all you have to do is wait quietly.

Waiting for that call from the shadows, for the choice from a dream to come true.

And now, let that pure gold clock fall to the ground.

Conan Edogawa stared at the pointers that were about to converge, their silent blackness.

The opportunity that this boy who wanted to become "Sherlock Holmes" had finally arrived.

Those coincidences and accidental mysteries, those fragments picked up one by one from the case...

All of this is not accidental, not a fantasy, and not merely a choice.

Between her hands was a simple black watch, surrounded by silver patterns engraved on its edge.

There are five pointers, each with a different shape and color.

The fifth pointer is made of a different material than the previous ones.

Under the bright light overhead, Conan saw the colors of dusk and dawn blend together, like two intertwined timelines, like two intertwined past and future.

Conan thinks—

My own memories, along with that faint "tick-tock" sound, splashed like water droplets onto the softened surface of the plate, onto the lake surface that shimmered with different lights.

His thoughts wandered along the path of light and shadow, following the marks of time, and the déjà vu that pierced the depths of his soul gradually overlapped with the almost fluid texture of the watch face.

A scene flashed through his eyes.

Conan remembered the first time he saw the design of this watch.

—Dorobi Tropical Paradise.

—The place where it all began.

Yes, that "accident," that "transformation," that pill, that rebirth.

The end point is always in the beginning point.

Then there was the letter I found on the professor's desk after I shrunk; it was lying quietly on the living room table.

Perhaps it wasn't "himself commissioning the doctor" to investigate the strange watch and its hands.

Rather, it was the watch itself that had been quietly embedded in his wheel of time from the very beginning.

This black watch shouldn't be here with its hands.

Whether it's Kaito Kid or Karasuma Renya.

All past evidence indicates that they have not found the location of the fifth pointer.

But his watch was indeed lost in their hands.

This shows that the person behind the scenes already knew the pointer's location and everything that was going to happen.

All that person wanted was to get the watch into their hands.

For Conan—he finally vaguely realized—it was all just waiting for him.

He is the chosen one.

But this identity plunged him into another kind of confusion.

"But...why me?"

Slowly closing his eyes, Conan re-examined the numerous cases that had overwhelmed him in the past.

He was momentarily dazed.

Kaito Kid flies into the night sky aboard an antique train;

Akemi Miyano entrusts her hopes to Miyano Harbor at dusk;

Asai Narumi, who gave moonlight to the burning house on Tsukikage Island;

Gin, who not long ago casually walked into death in the night breeze atop the East Tower.

And what is happening now...

Now, all of this flashed through Conan's mind like silhouettes in that instant.

He stared at the black watch. Every color reflected within it mirrored his silhouette, yet they weren't a single image; rather, they were layers upon layers of shadows.

It's as if I want to reflect a different version of myself from every angle.

Child, detective, god, judge, demon of light.

"Why does it have to be me..."

Conan whispered, just like in every story, someone caught in the vortex of fate and ultimately becomes the person depicted in the "heroic epic".

Amidst this grand atmosphere, pulsating with destiny itself, Conan removed the tranquilizer watch.

As another slight metallic coolness touched his wrist, and the clasp closed, Conan stood up—

As if slightly tipsy, he let those strange thoughts collide in his mind, yet allowed the brilliance of reason and detective to integrate them together.

In any case, if his prediction is correct, the "truth" that Dr. Agasa mentioned will be revealed.

Conan turned around, walked out of the hall, and pressed the phone button.

He then went to the last instructions left to him.

Soon, as the call connected, the aircraft began its careful descent from the helipad on the lawn behind the castle.

Another high school student waved to the small figure below.

"Conan! Over here!"

……

The helicopter door opens.

Heiji Hattori leaned out and, without a word, grabbed Conan's arm, pulling him up the stairs as he struggled to climb them.

"City Hall!"

He shouted at the pilot wearing a headset, and after the helicopter turned and took off, Hattori Heiji turned his attention back to Conan.

"Hey Kudo, what happened to you? You look like you've been in a battle!"

Conan gave a wry smile.

He carefully considered in his mind the whole story of how he had acted with Hattori Heiji in the past.

Although no clues were found linking him to the person behind the scenes, he ultimately chose to remain vague.

"It must be a side effect of the antidote," he said casually. "I probably passed out while driving, and the car accidentally slid down the hillside."

Conan's explanation was brief, but Heiji Hattori still discerned the difficulty and danger involved.

He glanced at the bandages on Conan's body, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Why don't you go to the hospital first—"

"no need."

Conan interrupted him, his gaze sweeping over the watch on his wrist—the five hands were silently spinning.

He can't wait any longer.

"So what happened at the city hall?" He cut straight to the point.

Heiji Hattori immediately switched into detective mode.

"Do you remember what I mentioned before—the Cocoon System?"

……

The wind whistled through the cabin, and the outline of Beika Town gradually came into view in the distance. The morning light shone among the mountains, illuminating Conan's increasingly chaotic thoughts.

"Perhaps you should have noticed."

Hattori Heiji sighed deeply, his tone unusually heavy.

He remembered the person who, not long ago, had half-pushed and half-pulled him into this extraordinary—no, it should be said, the one who had transcended the mundane world—upon him.

"Conan, actually, GSSRA started recruiting every famous detective a while ago."

Conan was startled and turned his head to look at him.

Hattori's gaze was currently fixed on the view outside the window—

The surrounding tranquil forests and mountains pulled the earth away, allowing those drab, man-made objects to gradually approach, carrying with them a touch of refined gray.

This is the great power of humankind in transforming nature.

"And it was probably a few months ago that they contacted me."

"GSSRA's initial goal was actually to find those lost nuclear bombs."

Conan raised an eyebrow. The information revealed in Hattori Heiji's words finally made him look up, revealing a somewhat surprised expression.

"Yes, you understood correctly."

Hattori Heiji returned the look with an affirmative gaze.

"It's the kind of nuclear bomb you're thinking of, and basically... every country has 'dropped' one or two."

Conan was at a loss for words.

After all, if someone told you that the watch you have is likely related to a device or apparatus for telling time, you might be skeptical.

Even now, even if this conclusion is probably true, Conan still feels that it's all a dream and not real.

But if we mention specific examples such as "the loss of a nuclear bomb"—

While it may not be as bizarre as "manipulating time," it always feels strangely more real.

He couldn't help but mutter, "Was it the work of the scientific frontier?"

“Yes.” Hattori nodded, but then paused. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Heiji Hattori looked at Conan, his expression suddenly turning serious.

What I'm talking about is—your father.

Do you remember the explosion at Mika Bank?

"of course I remember."

“It was Mr. Yusaku who asked me to pick you up that day,” Hattori said in a deep voice.

Conan's eyes widened instantly.

"Wait—you mean... my dad was already in GSSRA back then?!"

Conan waved his hand, signaling to Heiji Hattori to give him some time to think and catch his breath.

Although he learned from Hattori Heiji's phone call before heading to the Twilight Villa that Kudo Yusaku was already a member of GSSRA.

However, considering the "I'll do as you say" order that Hattori Heiji mentioned in casual conversation back then...

Did Dad already know back then?!
"So, back then you knew that all of this was related to 'time'?"

Hattori paused, scratched his head, and looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Uh... to be honest, it wasn't because of 'time' back then."

"Do you remember what I mentioned in the harbor, about the aliens..."

"So I'm actually an alien?" Conan blurted out.

"Boom!"

Heiji Hattori finally couldn't hold back any longer. He tapped Conan on the head, somewhat speechless.

"Kudo, how come your thinking goes so far as to wander off to that point?"

Conan rubbed his aching forehead.

He certainly wouldn't tell Hattori Heiji, because he felt that if the watch and its hands were actually some kind of key to a "time machine."

Since Heiji Hattori just mentioned "aliens," it's clear that "time machines" are something that resembles the creation of some kind of "aliens."

Therefore, it is quite obvious why a watch must be worn by the wearer.

Conan had certainly read the comic about an alien guy with an "S" drawn on his chest who saved the world.

To be honest, the moment Heiji Hattori mentioned "aliens," Conan immediately imagined that he was actually a child who had fallen from the sky during a detective game, a car chase, or a trip with Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko.

And this watch and time machine.

This is undoubtedly equivalent to an "alien spaceship" "buried deep beneath Antarctica" waiting for "Superman" to find it.

However, now is clearly not the time to bring up this childish and whimsical "reasoning".

……

"Ah, so what do aliens want to do on Earth?" "Well, probably for peace."

Heiji Hattori shrugged, then met Conan's "you're lying to me" expression.

He raised his hands somewhat helplessly, indicating his surrender.

"Okay, okay, don't look at me like that, like 'Do you think I'm Sonoko?' It's just that I only realized this myself, so I don't actually know much."

Immediately, Hattori dropped his somewhat casual tone, and his expression became serious.

"But just as you expected, Mr. Yusaku deduced that thing related to 'time'."

He paused, his eyes darkening slightly: "In fact, it seems this whole thing started two years ago."

"That thing called the 'Cocoon System'?"

"Hmm." Hattori Heiji nodded and stated the information he currently possessed, "Two years ago in Massachusetts, USA, a 10-year-old prodigy named Sawada Hiroki committed suicide by jumping off the roof of his apartment building."

Conan raised an eyebrow: "Ten years old? About the same age as me now?"

"Yes. But the key point is that he invented what is said to be an artificial intelligence that can grow at a rate of five years of human growth per year."

"and then?"

"And then, two years later, here we are now." Hattori let out a heavy sigh. "Just recently, the Syndora Corporation launched this virtual world experience game called 'Cocoon'."

He paused, looked at Conan who seemed to understand something, and added:

"This is a device that can release an electric current through the machine to stimulate the player's central nervous system and control the five senses."

Dominating the senses, the virtual world...

Conan nodded slightly, revealing a detective smile reminiscent of an Edogawa-style dog sniffing out its prey.

"That sounds dangerous."

Heiji Hattori nodded, a smile identical to Conan's on his lips, and uttered a sound that seemed like a sigh:

"Yes, a virtual world that is almost identical to the real world."

Then, they all voiced their judgment.

"—Then manipulating 'time' and 'the world' won't be difficult at all!"

A brief silence spread through the cabin.

Ah, so that's all there is to it.

Or is that really all there is to it?
But without a doubt, all the doubts and confusions so far can be answered in it.

A technology of unknown origin.

Its creator is a "10-year-old" child.

Moreover, the child committed suicide after completing it.

No one would believe it was true when they first heard it.

Perhaps it's more like someone dug out some kind of extraterrestrial visitor in the tundra or somewhere else.

Uh--

In short, that's how it's written in movies or scripts, isn't it?

Now, there's only one last question.

……

Conan doesn't understand why this watch is related to this matter.

"And this watch?"

"Kudo, do you remember what I said about this technology being theoretically completed two years ago?"

Conan understood immediately: "You mean, the person behind it all didn't actually master this technology?"

"As far as I know, he should have only 'created' fifty [cocoons]."

Hattori Heiji emphasized the word "created".

"And the system password that truly unlocks all commands—it was probably never made public from the beginning."

"You mean... the watch is the key?" Conan asked in a low voice.

He subconsciously touched the watch on his wrist.

Although he was happy that he wasn't an alien, he also felt a "slight" regret.

But he quickly snapped out of his emotional turmoil and realized the crux of the problem.

"GSSRA didn't have control over this company?"

Hattori Heiji turned his head to look at the pilot who was concentrating on flying the helicopter, and lowered his voice.

"I did this in private."

"Now it seems that Mr. Yusaku actually knew the truth all along, and he had been acting in secret all along."

Hattori Heiji lowered his voice and dropped his bombshell prediction.

"I suspect that the 'Black Organization' and 'Frontiers of Science' were also secretly set up by some informed organizations."

"You mean inside GSSRA?" Conan's expression turned serious.

Faced with a smaller number of people, is it a struggle against some vague and intangible concept, or a struggle against a concrete force comprised of governments and violent institutions?

It's hard to say which one is more difficult.

"Yes, it's just fortunate that this organization hasn't been officially brought into the open."

Heiji Hattori clearly remembers that GSSRA was just a hair's breadth away from actually announcing its existence to the world at the United Nations.

—If it weren't for Mr. Yusaku's involvement.

In fact, the more Hattori Heiji searched for Kudo Yusaku's trail based on those remaining clues, and the more he tried to follow the "Baron's" train of thought among those subtle clues, the more surprised he became that someone could be so shrewd.

"Conan, do you know how long it took to establish GSSRA, a world federation with real power, that doesn't have to care about the 'laws' of its subordinate countries and has a real military organization?"

Before Conan could continue answering, Heiji Hattori gave the answer.

"Less than three months."

He paused, as if he felt that time alone wasn't enough to impress Conan, and then added:

"Moreover, the whole process went surprisingly smoothly. At the crucial junctures, there were almost no dissenting voices, and everyone's attitude was unusually consistent."

Conan fell silent, his expression growing increasingly profound.

He carefully considered Hattori Heiji's explanation, and then thought about Professor Agasa's sudden "amnesia".

"So you think—they started using that system to brainwash people as early as two years ago?"

Hattori nodded: "That's very possible."

It has to be said that all of this is an extreme coincidence.

Everything started to connect.

All the coincidences, all the "coincidences" and "misalignments," at this moment, are like gears silently meshing together, building a huge and secretive machine.

The actions of the Alliance, the dual timelines, GSSRA, the Black Organization, and the actions of the scientific frontier can all have a common origin.

—That makes perfect sense.

……

"Professor Agasa... he went there to test the waters beforehand, right?"

“Yes.” Heiji Hattori nodded in a deep voice. “Mr. Yusaku should have already made arrangements for this ‘Cocoon System’.”

“I found out that one of Mr. Yuzuo’s classmates joined Syndora Corporation to work in software development.”

"And Dr. Agasa is currently at the research and control center, trying to find any clues."

Looking out the window at the buildings that had already appeared and the streets that had become quiet due to the blockade, Hattori Heiji's eyes showed a sense of worry.

"The 'Cocoon System' will be on full display for the first time at the Mihana Municipal Building, with all fifty 'Cocoons' on display."

"Sindora Inc. and a game company claimed that they had developed this groundbreaking virtual game, and that they had invited the children of all the influential people in the Japanese political and business world."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Conan, his tone becoming increasingly stern:
"Kudo, do you understand? If this system is successfully promoted and enters schools, homes, and the global market..."

Conan's gaze also darkened.

He certainly understood what this meant—once the 'cocoon' became widespread, the boundary between reality and illusion would no longer be determined by people themselves.

"Can't we stop this opening ceremony?"

Hattori Heiji smiled wryly, a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "You know that my influence is most effective in Beika Town right now."

“If I forcibly prevent this opening, Sindora can simply move the exhibition to the United States, the United Kingdom, or other non-Asian countries, and we will have no way to get involved.”

Hattori Heiji paused, as if he had anticipated something, and then added:
"No, I can't just bomb the municipal building."

"Hattori, what on earth are you thinking?!"

Conan was actually taken aback by Heiji Hattori's astonishing words.

How could he possibly make such a suggestion?

In fact, he had already prepared to dissuade Hattori Heiji from taking direct action.

"I just want to ask, is it possible to sabotage their equipment?"

“It’s difficult.” Hattori Heiji shook his head. “This opening ceremony has invited many people, and even GSSRA is paying close attention. Unless you can provide direct evidence, it will be very difficult.”

Heiji Hattori's gaze fell on the black watch on Conan's wrist.

Conan instinctively pulled his arm behind his back.

"This is too risky. What if GSSRA attacks us directly?"

"Yes, so I don't plan to do that."

Heiji Hattori stared intently at Conan, just as he had been stared at back at the harbor.

"Kudo, everyone participating in the opening experience of the 'Cocoon' system this time is a child."

Conan's eyes widened suddenly.

In that instant, he understood Hattori's intention.

"You mean... you want me to infiltrate the Cocoon System!"

Before Heiji Hattori could admit it, Conan continued, his mind racing:

"That's right! If this watch is the 'key,' then the sixth hand, the 'truth of everything,' and even the unrevealed mastermind behind it all might be hidden in the system's records!"

The child's eyes lit up, and he looked up at Hattori Heiji.

"When should I leave?"

Hattori Heiji looked at the conspicuous helipad on the high-rise building in the distance.

"Three hours and thirty-three minutes later."

A long silence followed until the helicopter came to a stop on the tarmac.

The moment Conan jumped down the steps and walked towards the opening ceremony's passageway.

"Kudo."

Hattori Heiji called out to him.

That call contained so much. It wasn't a command, nor a request, but rather something... indescribable.

Conan stopped and turned around.

He could see an unusually complex expression in Hattori's eyes.

They even witnessed pain and guilt they had never seen before.

"If……"

Hattori spoke slowly, as if he had hesitated over every word that came out, "If you fail."

He did not continue.

But Conan suddenly chuckled softly.

Looking at the sun in the distance, which was about to climb to its highest point, his voice sounded very soft.

"Then do what you're supposed to do, Hattori."

"You've always had a clear idea of ​​what's right."

Hattori Heiji stood there like a stone statue, motionless for a long time.

Watching that small figure gradually disappear into the distance, he suddenly remembered that evening when he first stood shoulder to shoulder with Conan in a case—

"Heiji! Tell me, if you were still a detective!"

—This child has never changed.

Without a doubt, it's either Shinichi Kudo or Conan Edogawa.

He is the best detective in the world.

PS: The fifth pointer effect has been updated.

(End of this chapter)