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

Chapter 294 London in the Fog
He watched as the children disappeared one by one through the stone pillars and gates, and now only he was left.

Turning his head to glance at this narrow "game space," [Edogawa Conan] sighed and stepped through the door that emitted a blazing white light.

The white light curtain, like gentle ripples on a lake, actively surrounded and enveloped him.

The next moment, he found himself in the dead of night in London in 1888.

His feet were firmly planted on the solid stone pavement, and now he stood securely outside an old white church.

Soot and dampness mingled and dripped onto the ground, then suddenly evaporated in front of me, creating a mirage of London in the fog.

Even more remarkably, the mist seemed to have a life of its own, slowly swirling around the street corner.

Conan originally thought he would feel a swaying, disorienting sensation.

Or perhaps, because of this genuine "time travel," they feel anxious and uneasy about the dangers that Ran Mouri and the others will face...

But strangely, he felt a kind of tranquil peace.

It was a strange feeling, as if someone was whispering in his ear that he was safe and that he just needed to enjoy the trip.

Even the ticking sounds I had heard before seemed to dissolve into the smoke.

—This feels so unreal.

Conan felt that he was standing at a higher point than reality, with the entire city and even the entire "game" unfolding beneath his feet.

And his mindset seemed to have undergone some subtle change.

Just like now, when faced with Ayumi and the others' questions about the source of this fog, he still had the composure to explain to them:

"This fog was actually particulate matter formed from smoke from burning coal and cold air, coupled with the fact that 19th-century London was in the midst of the Second Industrial Revolution—"

"Simply put, it's dirty and choking air."

Ai Haibara interrupted him, translating Conan's explanation directly to the others, then looked at Conan and reminded him that there were more important things to do now.

"Conan, don't forget our most important task right now. We're still waiting for you to get me out of here."

Recalling what Noah's Ark had said before entering this game world, Conan's relaxed expression turned serious again.

He turned his head to the side, glancing at the watch Anjing wore on her wrist out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes, I understand. But the most urgent thing now is to figure out our exact location."

Conan immediately recalled the 1888 London map he had glanced at in a library during his free time in Hawaii (as shown below).

At the same time, his gaze swept around.

“Since there’s a white church nearby… I remember this place was the Whitechapel district in 1888…”

The thick fog seemed to have suddenly thinned out, but it didn't dissipate; rather, it simply lost its function of obstructing vision.

The street suddenly became bustling and noisy as Conan followed his gaze.

Pedestrians draped in black robes began to weave through the streets and alleys, and suddenly the sound of horses' hooves echoed from one end of the street to the other, as carriages rumbled along the stone-paved road.

Even the gas streetlights stopped flickering, becoming steady and peaceful, casting a warm yellow glow that reignited the Victorian London.

His subconscious fluctuations set the background of this "story" in motion.

……

This is certainly a good thing for "Sherlock Holmes" and "Moriarty".

"The 'fog' he created is no longer effective."

Karasuma Renya looked at his subordinates and tried to explain in simple terms that they could understand—after all, there are no ghosts or monsters in detective movies.

"Moreover, his actions will stabilize along with his 'thoughts.' Moran, have our people follow the plan and force him onto the right track."

Colonel Moran couldn't help but smile cruelly—he had had enough of this situation where he could only take beatings for the past few months.

"Understood!" He saluted the professor and was about to leave the tavern to make the arrangements.

"No, leave this to someone else. You need to prepare for something else."

Now that we are in a real world, it's no longer feasible to eliminate characters as described in the "historical trajectory".

Karasuma Renya doesn't want to gamble on the universe itself, but will he use this opportunity to reveal his abnormality to Conan?

Conan received a tip as soon as he appeared on the street.

In Karasuma Renya's view, Conan is now extremely perceptive and is almost one step away from revealing the "truth".

—If we were to give him any kind of provocation now, making him determined to find some "truth" that "can salvage everything," then we would truly be doomed.

Facing Colonel Moran's somewhat questioning gaze, Karasuma Renya spoke:

“You need to arrange a secret meeting for me tonight, with the finest wines.” He paused. “And whatever happens, there can be no casualties at the club.”

"—Especially women and children."

"I understand. I'll do it right away."

Moran didn't ask why, knowing that the professor didn't like people talking too much.

Under Karasuma Renya's command, there were criminals dressed in black who were subordinate to him.

With bright oil lamps tucked into their belts, they wandered in groups through remote alleys, trying to find Jack the Ripper's trail.

And what about Sherlock Holmes?

He is arranging for someone to contact Lestrade, the Scotland Yard detective, to arrange patrols to the Whitechapel district.

Then, with a ticket in hand, he went to Charing Cross Station alone.

He had just met with Irene Adler, also known as Yukiko, and even hinted at the location she should avoid—a spot where a stone pillar would fall due to an explosion in the future.

As I said before—it's best if there are no casualties.

To be honest, the arrival of Professor Agasa and the others was completely unexpected by Yusaku Kudo.

Although they did "simplify" the difficulty of these arrangements—

After all, he could obviously hint at more useful information when he was facing someone he knew well.

"But... it's also more troublesome."

Yusaku Kudo sighed.

"It seems that we can only proceed according to the relatively unchanged historical inertia."

He and Karasuma Renya arrived in London at the very beginning of 1888.

In other words, during these "several months," although they fought incessantly, as representatives of the white and black sides, they had actually completely transformed the entire city of London into their own territory.

More importantly, the current situation and the sense of déjà vu made him think a lot.

After all, from the third pointer onwards, or even earlier, there have been no coincidences.

"It is both changeable and cannot be changed. It is necessary to tell the truth, yet one must be blind and foolish."

What they are doing now, and the trajectory they must take, is almost identical to the situation Shinichi is facing.

Fortunately, the vagrant eventually appeared on the train as Sherlock Holmes.

Yusaku Kudo chose to interpret that scene as "Holmes returned to Charing Cross Station on September 31st."

Karasuma Renya would arrange for people to set up buffer zones at the station in advance, and he could also take this opportunity to give Conan hints.

But to be honest, Yusaku himself had absolutely no confidence.

After all, judging from the current arrangements, all of this is based on Shinichi's own opinion.

Even His own actions can be considered part of His "contemplation".

"Everything depends on whether Shinichi can figure it out."

……

After everyone appeared on the street next to the Whitechapel, Ran Mouri looked at Conan and tried to ask for his opinion.

"So Conan, where should we begin our investigation?"

"Of course, we should check the newspaper first!"

It's Suzuki Sonoko.

She took a penny from her purse and called out to a newsboy who was standing on the street.

"Hey! Kid, bring me a newspaper!"

The child, dressed in dirty clothes covered in patches, ran over and cleverly chose the newspaper he wanted to sell based on the garden's attire.

"Which one would you like? The Times or the Daily Telegraph? I also have the Morning Post here."

Sonoko Suzuki even pulled out a one-pound note.

"I want them all!"

Conan then noticed Sonoko's attire—

She wore a corset adorned with white and gold lace, and a petticoat that appeared to have at least three layers, which supported the skirt in a slightly exaggerated "S-curve".

Conan recalled that in 1888, "back-curving" crinolines seemed to be in fashion in London.

The newsboy looked extremely reserved; he even repeatedly wiped his hands on the relatively clean parts of his body.

He didn't even dare to look up at the girl's face beneath the feathered brim of her hat.
As I cautiously handed over the newspaper, my gaze fell upon a pair of expensive-looking pure white goatskin gloves, paired with a shimmering silver gemstone bracelet.

Conan raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of uncertainty.

"Sonoko-neechan, your outfit...you wouldn't be...you're not..."

"Hahaha! That's right!"

She winked triumphantly at the children in front of her.

Even while bound by a corset made of whalebone, Sonoko tilted her head back, straightened her back, awkwardly put her hands on her hips, and let out a laugh that was anything but aristocratic.

"My identity is—the Duke's daughter!"

As she spoke, Sonoko Suzuki naturally pulled Ran close to her chest, saying, "And this is my Lady's Maid, my personal maid!"

This woman was already lost in the Victorian aristocratic fantasy.

"What about us?" Yuan Tai leaned closer and asked curiously.

Sonoko tried hard to recall the identity settings that seemed to have been "instilled" into her mind, and said with some uncertainty:
"Looks like... one of Holmes's henchmen?"

"Ha ha……"

Conan's lips twitched as he looked down at his own clothes, which were only slightly better than the newsboy's.

—The difference is simply outrageous.

He couldn't help but complain inwardly, "I never thought there would be a distinction between different social statuses in this kind of game..."

"The organizers actually gave that guy Sonoko a noble status, but they only gave us one—"

But then, Sonoko's words echoed in his mind again, and he immediately realized that name he knew all too well.

"Sherlock Holmes?!"

"Hey! It really is!"

Ran Mouri, who was serving as the garden's guard and companion, opened a newspaper.

"Look-"

She then showed everyone one of the newspaper pages.

The front page of The Times today reads:

Scotland Yard Detective Lestrade is advising residents to avoid going out at night due to the ongoing Jack the Ripper serial crimes.

"Sherlock Holmes!" Mitsuhiko's eyes lit up with anticipation. "Aren't we going to solve cases with him?"

Genta, standing to the side, scratched his head. He vaguely remembered the name: "Isn't that the detective Conan likes?"

"Yes." Ai Haibara nodded. "There's no case he can't solve."

She added from the side, while continuing to elevate Sherlock Holmes's image to an even higher level.

"If 19th-century London was a place of undercurrents beneath the gray surface, then Sherlock Holmes was the light of the times."

Sonoko snatched the newspaper from Ran's hand and held it high like a rallying flag, making her decision decisively.

Her voice was full of enthusiasm: "Okay! Let's go find him!"

However, Conan noticed that her eyes were sparkling, and her expression was even a little... off.

"I heard Sherlock Holmes is a very handsome man!"

"..."

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Then, the next second, they all fell to the ground with a "thud," just like in an animated film.

Conan sighed silently.

—This girl is hopeless.

……

So the group embarked on their journey to Baker Street with great enthusiasm.

For the children, the initial anxiety of arriving was gradually replaced by excitement at witnessing the Victorian architecture, streets, and horse-drawn carriages that were characteristic of the era.

"Look, that's Big Ben!"

Although the surrounding buildings had changed somewhat, Mitsuhiko still recognized the famous landmark.

As if to welcome them, a loud bang came from the top of the clock tower as they walked toward it.

"Boom-"

It's the chime of the clock on the hour.

Ran Mouri also subconsciously looked up at the silent Big Ben. The clock tower appeared exceptionally tall and solemn in the fog.

But that wasn't her focus; it was on the gilded metal clock face—the minute hand pointed to 43.

"That's strange, it's not even the hour yet, so why is it chiming?"

As the minute hand moved, she shouted out in the next moment.

"Conan, look! The clock tower's hands are moving backwards!"

"what?"

Conan was looking down, trying to find some useful information in the stack of newspapers, when he suddenly looked up after hearing Ran's discovery.

The minute hand is now pointing to the "43" position.

Conan's gaze also shifted to the clock face.

The minute hand, which should have been turning clockwise, actually jumped three times in the opposite direction before finally stopping at "40".

Ai Haibara's face darkened, and she instinctively clenched her fists.

Although Dr. Agasa deliberately "delayed" their emotional reactions in extreme situations, the difficulties and world those children faced were real and authentic.

The league clearly doesn't have the extra resources to spare for them right now, because they are "certain to be eliminated."

Ai Haibara sighed inwardly, trying her best to keep her tone calm.

"This should represent the number of players who are still alive and playing in the game."

The relaxed, even pleasant atmosphere just moments ago vanished in an instant.

Ayumi blurted out instinctively, "So... that means there are already 10 people—"

Everyone around fell silent.

"It's okay! As long as one person can win the game, that's all that matters!"

Just as Conan was about to say something to boost everyone's morale...

"Um... the wine... where's the wine..."

A tall figure swayed through the fog. The man wore a faded old trench coat and carried a worn-out wine bottle. He walked out of the street corner with an unsteady gait.

At this moment, only they and this strange drunkard remained on the street.

He walked past Conan almost parallel to him, muttering indistinctly—a little poem?!

"Watch out for Jack the Ripper!"

He's waiting for you on the road at night.

If you don't want it to end

You'll have to be covered in blood too.

As everyone watched, the figure of this strange man slowly faded into the mist.

"So this must be a hint from the game, right?" Genta looked at Conan. "Just like in Squirrel Adventure! It gives me hints when I can't get through a game!"

Conan was taken aback for a moment, then agreed.

"It should...it should be, right?"

He really doesn't understand much about the mechanics and knowledge related to games.

After all, who would have thought that the mighty Conan Edogawa would be such a gaming idiot, unable to even beat Pac-Man?

As everyone jotted down this important information, they hurried toward 221B Baker Street in the already somewhat somber atmosphere.

Kogoro Mouri turned around and glanced at his daughter.

The figure had become somewhat blurred in the mist—but that was enough for the man.

Once his daughter's figure had completely disappeared into the fog, he quickly ran into a hidden alleyway nearby.

A horse-drawn carriage was already waiting for him at the street corner.

He quickly jumped into the carriage, then gulped down the bottle of cheap alcohol in one go, shouting at the coachman:

"Quick! To Victoria Harbour!"

A ship bound for Japan was already waiting for him there.

……

It was already late at night when Conan and his friends arrived at 221B Baker Street.

This old house with its deep red brick walls stands quietly on the street corner.

The brass-gleaming "221B" house number and the lacquered wooden door are exactly the same as in the TV series.

Ran Mouri stepped forward.

She hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Boom, boom, boom."

The door creaked open immediately.

A middle-aged woman stood behind the door, wearing a gray-blue dress with Juliet sleeves, looking at the strangers in front of her with some confusion.

She is Holmes' landlady and housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson.

"It's so late, who are you?"

Sonoko took a step forward and said a name she had made up on the spot.

“I am the daughter of the Duke of Beaverbrook, and I have a very important request to make to Mr. Holmes.”

Mrs. Hudson paused for a moment, then gave a polite but slightly regretful smile.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Holmes and Mr. Watson are away on business and are not home right now."

"On business trip?!"

The children standing behind her cried out in surprise and crowded in front of Mrs. Hudson.

"Yes, they've reached Temore."

"Dartmore?!" Ran Mouri suddenly realized what this location meant, and her voice carried a hint of anxiety. "Excuse me, could you tell me what the date is today?"

“September 30th,” Mrs. Hudson replied.

"Dartmore...September 30th..."

As a seasoned Sherlock Holmes fan, Conan's reaction is even slower than Ran's.

Fortunately, he finally discovered the problem.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles!"

Conan blurted out, "According to Holmes's records, this is the date he and Watson went out to investigate... In other words, we're too late."

But when Mrs. Hudson saw the group of children crowding in front of her, she had a look of sudden realization.

"Oh, so it was you children who brought Miss Furbrook here."

She bent down, looking gently at Conan standing at the front, as if confirming something, and then smiled warmly at the children.

“I heard from Mr. Holmes that you helped him a lot when you assisted him in solving the case two weeks ago.”

Mrs. Hudson then invited everyone into the house.

"Come in quickly, be careful not to catch a cold. Mr. Holmes has already instructed me, I'll go and make some hot milk tea for you now."

Yoshida Ayumi muttered under her breath, her tone full of uncertainty: "It seems like she's confused us with someone else."

“Hmm.” Conan nodded. “Mrs. Hudson must have confused us with the Baker Street Guerrillas.”

"The Baker Street Guerrilla?" Sonoko Suzuki looked at Conan.

"Ah! It's those homeless kids that Holmes hired!"

Ran Mouri immediately recalled the contents of the book, her eyes lit up, and she explained:
"Because they can specifically sneak into places that adults can't go to collect clues."

Mitsuhiko tugged at his own clothes, which were also somewhat dirty and disheveled.

So this is what we were planted as!

"So that means..." Genta pointed to himself, then to Conan, his voice tinged with excitement, "we're now Holmes's secret agents!"

"Yeah—" Conan thought to himself, "No wonder we look like this."

"This way, both children and adults will have a reason to come here."

……

After Mrs. Hudson led the children into the apartment, Yuan Tai was the first to exclaim, "Wow—it really looks exactly like the one on TV!"

"Mmm!" Mitsuhiko looked up at the mahogany furniture and the experimental equipment displayed on the table. "We've really entered the world of Sherlock Holmes!"

"Yeah, Shinichi would be so happy if he saw this."

At this point, Ran Mouri's gaze involuntarily fell on a figure already sitting in a soft chair.

Conan had already settled into the soft chair that Holmes was entitled to.

He sat cross-legged on a purple woolen cushion, his hands clasped together, fingertips gently touching his chin, his gaze focused and distant.

It was a quiet and contemplative posture, like a sculpture, exuding an unapproachable sense of focus.

In Ran Mouri's eyes, Conan no longer seemed like a child at this moment—

His way of thinking overlapped with that of Shinichi Kudo.

Ran Mouri watched Conan without making a sound, a look of certainty appearing in her eyes.

"As expected... you are Shinichi." She thought to herself.

She instinctively walked closer to Conan, only to be gently stopped by Mrs. Hudson, who was walking behind her.

“Miss Lan, Mr. Holmes said that if the children find anything, he wants me to write it down on the last page of the notebook in the drawer.”

"But I need to go to the kitchen to make tea now, so could you please help me write this down?"

She glanced at Ran Mouri, then looked at the ornately decorated garden.

"Of course, Your Grace, Mr. Holmes would be honored if you would also like to write it yourself."

“No problem!” Sonoko readily agreed.

So everyone began searching the house for clues.

When Mitsuhiko and Genta arrived in front of the bookshelf, Mitsuhiko exclaimed, "Conan! Come quick—it's Sherlock Holmes and Watson!"

Sonoko immediately followed, and then a look of suspicion flashed in her eyes.

"Holmes, Watson... why do they look so familiar?"

Conan looked over.

"Professor Agasa, and Dad... they really are—"

The look of surprise on his face immediately turned into a mixture of helplessness and speechlessness, and he couldn't help but complain in his heart:
"Doctor, if you have the energy to try changing the characters, you should just bring Sherlock Holmes to our side."

Ran Mouri stands in front of the desk and opens the iconic drawer.

With a soft "click," an old-fashioned revolver lay quietly on the top shelf of the drawer.

Ran Mouri froze instinctively, then gently moved the pistol aside, revealing a stack of papers and a notebook with a black leather cover.

She carefully took out the notebook and turned to the last page.

It was a few lines of somewhat messy, shorthand-like text.

If time refuses to move straight ahead,

Then follow its reflection to find your way.

Because sometimes,
In order to truly understand the future,

You must go back to where you started.

—SH.

As Ran Mouri read it aloud, the children, including Conan, came closer.

She handed the notebook to Conan. "Conan, do you know what this means?"

Sonoko Suzuki frowned and thought for a moment, "Wasn't the very beginning the Whitechapel district?"

"Hmm, it seems that Jack the Ripper's identity is related to the place where we started."

Ai Haibara nodded in agreement.

"After all, a game shouldn't include irrelevant content."

Conan always felt that this sentence contained more than just these meanings.

"Sherlock Holmes wouldn't leave such a cryptic message."

He looked down at the page of text, a strange solemnity appearing in his eyes.

"In other words, this should be a hint from the system regarding the pointer and the case."

But the next moment, those contents were replaced by another page.

Genta Kojima ran over carrying a thick notebook.

He snapped one of the pages open and laid it on the notebook.

"Look! This page contains information about Jack the Ripper!"

P.S.: Fortunately, the time span of "The Phantom of Baker Street" is not too long. It seems that there are about three or four more chapters left before it ends.

(End of this chapter)