Chapter 148: The Berserk Unicorn on the Stage
The scarred man didn't have much of a choice, which goes without saying. If a full-scale riot truly broke out in Beika, he and his group—being the ones who sparked the incident—would never escape official accountability. At such a moment, to offend the Distillery (which sat at the apex of Beika's crime world) while already being on the bad side of the law was equivalent to cutting oneself off from the world of the living.
The scarred man wasn't like the old homeless man; he didn't possess the resolve to wage war against every Super-Hero and Super-Villain in Beika for some "Great Purpose." Thus, he dropped his cigarette butt, crushed it under his heel, and spoke with a resigned tone:
"Fine. Like you said, as long as my family stays alive, that's enough. So... what do you want us to do?"
At that moment, the members of the Legion of 666 Beasts began to recover from the shock of their leader's transformation. Under the command of a few core members, the Legion began to follow the massive monster, charging toward the heart of Beika!
Conan focused on the Blood Oath mark on his hand. Inside it, fragmented whispers echoed incessantly:
[Destroy Beika... Ignite the world... The light will eventually descend... The world will be corrected...]
The old man's final will had turned into a telepathic murmur, ringing endlessly in the ears of everyone bearing the mark. The members responded to this will, pushing forward with the riot plan.
Conan immediately issued orders: "Have your men intercept and subdue the Legion members using non-lethal means. Stop the momentum of the riot before it spreads. As for you—aren't you a heavy hitter? You're coming with me to fight the monster."
The scarred man looked helpless. "You seem to have a misunderstanding of what 'heavy hitter' means. A yakuza's opponents never included Tokusatsu Kaiju. Whatever, you're the boss."
Conan didn't forget to call on Vodka.
"Conan-kid—no, Little Brother Conan! Whatever orders you have, just leave them to your Uncle Vodka! As Gin-aniki's only partner for years, I guarantee I'll get it done perfectly..."
For some reason, Vodka had become extremely enthusiastic. Conan was surprised but didn't have time to pry.
"Big Brother Vodka, to ensure the Organization's assets aren't damaged, we need to stop that monster from destroying Beika. Is that a problem?"
Vodka wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't a fool. He sensed the reasoning was a bit forced, but after glancing at Conan, he seemed to remember something and gave a thumbs-up:
"No problem! Even though the Organization is a criminal enterprise, being a world-saving Super-Hero once in a while is fine too."
Due to the world-line shift, Vodka's memory of the Tropical Land murder was incomplete. However, he vaguely remembered the majestic sight of Big Brother Gin's back as he walked alone into the darkness that swallowed heaven and earth, raising his gun against the condensed evil of the world.
Vodka looked at the "fire of justice" in Conan's eyes as he faced the Kaiju and nodded to himself. Truly Big Brother Gin's seed. In the critical moment, he's exactly like him.
Conan was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected the Distillery's "corporate culture" to be so open-minded about members playing Super-Hero. But now wasn't the time for sociology.
Leading Vodka and the scarred man, Conan set off on his "expedition."
Conan failed to notice that on the other side of the chaotic crowd, Ran Mouri was watching his retreating back from afar.
"That child... looks just like Shinichi when he was little!"
Rewinding time a bit earlier:
After receiving the clue from Mo Yu, Ran and Conan had entered Beika Park at almost the same time. However, by "coincidence," their walking routes perfectly avoided each other. They never crossed paths.
Ran searched the entire park but found nothing. She bravely asked around, even questioning several homeless men before Conan's "Night Feast" began.
The result was predictable. In this era, almost everyone knew the name Shinichi Kudo. They could spout a dozen rumors, but Ran knew they were all fake. She found nothing, and while she should have suspected Mo Yu was tricking her, a certain intuition lingered in her mind.
Just like the original work, Ran's intuition regarding Shinichi was remarkably sharp. She could feel that Shinichi's presence had been here. So she didn't give up, wandering the park in circles.
However, "Fate" is not easily altered. She was destined to find nothing. Even when she came close to Conan's gathering twice, random obstacles kept her from getting closer.
In the super-crime capital of Beika, the night is dangerous. A pair of eyes filled with slaughterous desire eventually locked onto her from the darkness. Ran didn't notice. The oscillation between hope and disappointment caused her to unconsciously clench her fists. Her knuckles began to pop and crack.
"Shinichi... don't let me find you..."
Under her anxiety, a terrifying Killing Intent—one she wasn't even aware of—gradually surfaced in her eyes. In a moment of frustration, she punched a nearby wall. CRASH! The wall shattered and collapsed.
The eyes in the darkness flinched, immediately looking away before vanishing.
Ran didn't realize what her casual punch meant. She was too immersed in her emotions to notice. After that brief vent, the killing intent she hadn't even perceived vanished, suppressed by an invisible force.
She continued her search. Soon, she heard the commotion between the homeless and the punks. A normal Beika citizen would have run away, but Ran felt drawn to it and walked toward the noise.
Conan was short and hidden by the crowd, so she didn't see him. She only saw the argument escalate into a brawl. Realizing things were going south, she left to find a phone to call the police, missing Conan's heroic intervention.
But she never made that call. Flare-fireworks lit up the sky as hundreds of punks teleported in, followed by the Legion's swarm. Chaos erupted. Ran hid, and a while later, heard the old man scream Shinichi's name.
She emerged from her hiding spot just as the Kaiju was born.
The massive, amorphous monster accidentally swiped its tentacles, knocking down several trees. These trees "happened" to fall right in front of Ran, blocking her path. By the time she circled around them, all she saw were the retreating figures of Conan and the other two.
Seeing Conan's face—a literal carbon copy of Shinichi's childhood self—Ran felt this was the lead she needed. She tried to give chase.
But a series of "coincidences" occurred. A punk and a vagrant got into a Stand battle nearby, creating a "Ghost-Wall" loop that trapped Ran for several minutes. By the time she broke free, she had lost sight of them. She rushed toward the park exit, but someone set a fire using a Stand, blocking the gate with smoke and flames.
Standing before the fire at the park gates, Ran stared blankly. She wasn't a genius, but she wasn't an idiot either. These dense "coincidences" were impossible to ignore. Her eyes turned red as she murmured:
"Why...?"
Just then, a gossamer, sacred whisper descended from the sky.
"The reason is simple. First: Ran Mouri can never find Shinichi Kudo. This is the most basic setting of this Eternal Stage. Second: You have no 'Karma' with this specific case. Therefore, you cannot enter this plot thread. This is a general setting of this World-Play..."
Ran looked around wildly. "Who are you? What do you mean by 'World-Play'?"
"I'm your best old friend, Q-Coin. I'm currently out eating people—I mean, preparing your Magical Girl Trial Card. I'm not physically here, so my voice might sound different via long-distance transmission. But skip the boring details. In a detective manga, characters for a case are fixed. You can't just have a random person who has nothing to do with the case wander in. Combined with your 'Never Find Shinichi' exclusive setting, you are facing your Fate..."
Mo Yu, looking down from above, had locked his perspective on several characters. While he was piloting the fused Magical Girl armor on a rampage, he was fully aware of the Beika Park riot.
Ran Mouri never finding Shinichi was a Law, a Setting, and a Destiny. Even if Mo Yu gave her a hint to be in the same park, the inherent Laws rejected her presence in this "Movie Plot."
This "No Trespassing for Outsiders" rule was a generic law Mo Yu had recently discovered, a byproduct of the world's OCD-like obsession with mimicking the original work's case structure.
The double stacking of these Laws created the destiny-like wall before her. Being able to see Conan's back was the absolute limit of what the world allowed. Any more was impossible.
Ran Mouri couldn't even leave the park. Even if she tried, an accident would stop her.
The voice shifted from the sinister, "definitely not a good guy" tone to a sacred choir of voices.
"I... what do I do? I just want to find Shinichi..." Ran's eyes welled with tears.
"In the Xin-Yue Fairy Tale World, as long as you top up enough money, everything is possible," Mo Yu said. "Your soul is quite valuable—worth a few thousand yen, easily. If you have the resolve to 'Pay-to-Win,' you can change your fate. I know you're hesitant to whale your entire soul at once, so why not try a 30-Yen Monthly Pass? A small amount of 'Krypton-Gold' (IAP) might just clear this impossible level for you..."
Mo Yu was a dedicated salesman. Even if his persona was a lie, his sales tactics were ruthless. He had already "appraised" Ran's soul value.
Under his "Try-Before-You-Buy" model, Sonoko, the Miyano sisters, Agasa, and even Kogoro (whom he had snatched up on the road) had already "classed-up." The fused Magical Girl armor was now a Five-Headed, Ten-Armed monster. Mo Yu was still searching for more "Lucky Candidates" while digging through their residual First-Loop memories to piece together the truth.
From Shiho's memories (the first-loop Haibara), Mo Yu found something interesting: Ran Mouri was the first person to go insane in the First Loop. More importantly, she had done something "special" after going mad.
Ran hesitated, but only for a moment. She couldn't afford a "648" pack, but a "30-yen monthly card" seemed manageable. She was willing to use a fragment of her soul for a chance.
"I'm willing. What do I do?"
"Heh. Excellent. Distinguished Xin-Yue Member, please follow Q-Coin's Voice Navigation to the Top-Up Interface..."
A physical arrow appeared in the air, pointing toward the roaring fire at the park gate.
"Distinguished member, do not panic. It's just a low-tier arsonist's Stand ability. Listen to your heart's truest desire. To reunite with Shinichi Kudo... charge through and kill it!"
The sacred whisper shifted, its tone becoming gloomy and filled with the power of the Moriarty "Mouth" Authority.
In the next heartbeat, a terrifying killing intent flooded Ran's eyes! She dashed forward and delivered a straight karate punch at the flames. The sheer force of the air pressure extinguished the "inextinguishable" Stand-fire. Without stopping, she burst out of Beika Park.
Only after she was on the street did she "wake up," stunned by what she had done.
"Distinguished member, that is the power of Top-Up. Once you find the Interface, you'll realize Fate is as weak as a 'Mesugaki' brat before the power of Gold. Now... follow the navigation."
Ran continued. The city was in chaos. A Kaiju the size of a skyscraper was crawling through the streets, its tentacles crushing everything. The Legion members were rioting in its wake.
The Legion's progress was being hampered not just by the scarred man's men, but by other syndicates. When the Legion tried to hit the Museum, a man in medieval armor (ranked 9th) cut them down with sword-qi.
However, the Criminal Mist was spreading. Other criminals, stimulated by the chaos, were joining in or starting their own long-dormant plans.
But it was limited. If the Skeleton Reaper (the symbol of the case) were still there and had merged with the old man, the Legion would be buffed a hundredfold. They would have formed a city-wide "Super Criminal Domain." And eventually, a real "Shinichi Kudo" might have manifested.
But Conan had "murdered" that possibility with Gin's gun.
Mo Yu watched with cold eyes. He wasn't bothered by the crime, but the "Movie Plot" annoyed him. The voice whispering to the old man wasn't Shinichi, and it wasn't Mo Yu directly—it was the "Moriarty" imprint he'd left in the world's root logic. It had sensed the old man's potential and communicated via the shards.
But the communication was a failure! Mo Yu believed in "Self-Help." He had started the KOF tournament in Bleach with that philosophy.
Yet this old man, after talking to "Moriarty," chose to summon a "God" to solve his problems like a Deus Ex Machina rather than doing something "great" with his own hands. Mo Yu had no respect for such a mindset.
He wasn't happy with the imprint's communication skills or the old man's religious stubbornness. This was why he had contacted Ran. He needed a "Piece" to adjust the plot.
Ran followed the arrow to a secluded alley and found an unowned Moriarty Shard in the corner.
"This is the Top-Up Interface. Grip it. Wake it with blood. Feel the power of the Monthly Pass you bought with your soul..."
Ran hesitated, then gripped the shard hard. The sharp edges sliced her palm. Blood spilled, and a "Filth-Black" energy—the condensation of infinite sin—seeped from the shard into her skin.
End of Chapter
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium