Chapter 152: The Siege of Conan—Humanity's Last Stand to the Final Soul
Obtaining such "acknowledgment" from the world was no easy feat. In the world of Detective Conan, a "case" holds metaphysical significance. A "culprit" isn't just anyone who commits a crime, and "crime" is never a casual affair.
This was an eternal stage. The plays performed upon it, no matter how absurd the plot, contained an underlying hidden logic. A wolf leaps onto the stage, baring its fangs; a hunter follows, brandishing a gun. Without a single line of dialogue, the story is already set by their archetypes. In the logic of the stage, either the wolf eats the hunter or the hunter shoots the wolf—any incredible variation of this is allowed. But if the hunter suddenly drops his gun, slaps his own face, and insists he is the wolf, the logic of the stage will reject it.
Professor Agasa's method—killing everyone and destroying everything in a fit of rage—was a failure because it lacked this narrative logic. In contrast, Kogoro Mouri's attempt was a masterpiece of success.
By joining the Distillery, Kogoro successfully defected from the "Red Faction" protagonist camp, shattering his inherent shackles and entering the "Black Faction." He then constructed a logically self-consistent motive, a meticulously planned MO, a long-premeditated timing, a grand "Movie-scale" event, and a definitive ending. He forced the death of himself and his wife to become an unshakeable "Truth" that no deduction could overturn.
(Mo Yu), observing this through his Authority, realized that Kogoro's actions weren't just a crime—they were a ritual on a theological level. The Fourteenth Target plan was a massive ceremony where every character was a sacrifice, and every sin was the fuel for the engine. The "Truth" was the fruit of the ritual, which forced Conan—and the World—to "acknowledge" the ending Kogoro had written for himself.
Kogoro had reached the absolute limit of his potential. Though he didn't defeat Conan head-on, he and Eri successfully obtained a temporary "retirement" from the eternal stage. He had blazed a trail for those who followed. If the characters had no fated end, they would have to write one with their own hands and force the stage to accept it. This ending was both their liberation and their final, all-stakes counterattack against the mad Eternal Lord, Conan.
In the following eras, a rejuvenated Ai Haibara served as the brains, paired with an increasingly insane but highly proactive Ran Mouri. They studied Kogoro's case and began to pierce the deeper truths of fate.
"Ran-neechan, you, me, Agasa... we are different from most people," Ai said, her eyes dull. "If this world is a play of detectives and criminals, and Conan is the protagonist, then we are the 'Main Cast.' Fate is exceptionally cruel to us. To tear through our chains, we need to exert more effort than anyone else in existence."
Through years of experimentation, Ai quantified their existence into "Plot Status." She turned destiny into data. The more she understood, the more she felt the cruelty of their situation.
"For you, Ran-neechan, your Plot Status is at the level of the Main Heroine. To obtain liberation, setting aside other factors, you would need to stack hundreds of cases with a 'Crime Index' of 4 or higher into a single Movie event. I... I might have miscalculated. There must be factors I haven't research yet, variables missing from my formula."
A "Crime Index 4" case was roughly equivalent to the scale of Gin personally mobilizing the Organization to snipe Conan.
Ran lowered her gaze. At some point, her eyes had become stained with a permanent, (eery) crimson. She asked with a gentle, terrifying smile: "And what about you, Ai-chan?"
Ai remained silent. According to her formula, she and Ran were in the same boat. Ai had thought she was just an "unusual" scientist; she hadn't realized that in the eyes of Fate, she was a Heroine. To leave the stage, she and Ran faced a difficulty level far higher than anyone else.
"Then... Ai-chan," Ran whispered. "To kill him... what scale of Movie would that require?"
Ai's research was extensive, but the data was anything but optimistic. "It's hard. Harder than us leaving the stage. Maybe... a lot harder."
Ran said nothing. She simply continued to smile.
Hope is the most beautiful thing in the world, especially in a world of growing despair. The path Kogoro Mouri opened with his life was dazzling and intoxicating. The nations of the world, backing the Distillery, were emboldened.
If it is possible, humanity will do it!
The world mobilized. Elites were funneled into the Distillery. For a moment, humanity's morale skyrocketed. Even a cold man like Gin felt the dawn of "God-Slaying" was near. They launched offensive after offensive, cooperating with the "Criminals" inside Beika to strike at Conan.
But like moths to a flame, they were all crushed.
After Kogoro's death, the darkness on Conan dissipated slightly. A pair of "human" eyes began to surface within the shadow—filled with confusion and contemplation. Conan became more active, but this was a nightmare for humanity. On a stage of detectives and criminals, an active Conan was a detective of peerless, terrifying power.
Mo Yu watched. This was the fourth special historical event of the first loop. Conan was beginning to "wake up."
In Beika, Ai's research hit a wall because Conan began seeking out the Main Cast with higher frequency, dragging them into cases. Day and night, cases hit like a tsunami. Ai became a "salted fish" again, often found lying motionless, wrapped in black tentacles and carried around by Conan like luggage while he subjected her to high-intensity, one-sided philosophical monologues.
Ran remained mad, but her care for Ai was the only thing that didn't change. She traveled with them, trying to buy Ai breathing room.
The situation worsened. As Conan "woke up," he began "trying" to leave Beika. The monumental walls built by the nations, guarded by mechanized divisions and Gin himself, meant nothing. Conan was in Beika one second and in Osaka the next. Wherever he appeared, humans who hadn't been swallowed by Beika's darkness went insane and rioted. Cases erupted by the thousands.
If there was any "good news," it was that Inspector Megure finally got a vacation. He sat in his office, staring at his colleagues who moved like walking dead. He called to them, but received only dream-like, incoherent murmurs. The Beika Police Force, under the weight of uncounted years of overtime, was the first to completely collapse.
"Vacations are boring," Megure muttered to himself. "No one to talk to. Why hasn't Brother Mouri summoned a case? Oh, wait... he's dead. How did he die again? Whatever. I wonder when that kid Conan will be back. When he returns, Beika gets lively again..."
Megure sat like a corpse in his office, waiting for the Reaper to return and call the rotting officers to duty once more—to move withered legs through endless cases and speak the same lines over and over. Megure didn't care if fate was pulling his strings; he felt that only through this endless loop did he and his team feel "alive."
This was the fifth special event: Megure gave up his last shred of resistance and embraced his fate as a living-dead puppet of the Reaper.
The hope opened by Kogoro was brief. Humanity was left with a cruel fate. But they did not surrender. Facing a god-like monster, they chose the path of their ancestors: picking up "stones," grinding them into sharp weapons, and charging.
The sixth special event: The nations collaborated to create a unique, non-reproducible Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality technology. Compared to a god, this was just a stone spear, but it carried humanity's ambition to slay a god.
After a complex deliberation, the ones chosen to wield this spear were not Gin, but Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo.
Humanity had discovered that "Red Faction" characters had a much higher "damage multiplier" against the Evil God Conan. Yusaku and Yukiko accepted the mission on behalf of all mankind. Before they entered Beika, Gin met them for a brief ceremony.
"You are heroes history must remember," Gin said, raising a glass. "In the name of humanity, I wish you victory."
Yusaku finished his drink and smiled. "A hero? You, who have stayed on the front lines for years, are the real hero. But don't worry. In terms of deduction, I am the best. In terms of acting, my wife is the best. Together, we cannot lose. When we kill the god that devoured our son, we'll drink through the night and write a new book about our story..."
Gin watched them walk away. His heart was heavy. Since Kogoro, many heroes had entered Beika with the resolve to die. None had returned.
The couple launched a Movie-scale plan: [The Phantom of Baker Street]. The story ended with their sacrifice.
Upon receiving the report, Gin raised his glass toward Beika. "If there is a next life, let's have that drink."
The war continued. Detective-heroes from across the globe threw themselves into the abyss to show the god that detectives, if they cannot bring laughter, will not allow such bitter despair.
Seventh special event: [The Private Eyes' Requiem]. Almost every detective was sacrificed.
Humanity's resolve to "fight to the last man" was magnificent. Even the President of the United States handed over his powers and entered Beika as a "mob character" to die charging the god.
Eighth event, ninth, tenth... more madness, more sacrifice, more liberation.
Gin eventually lost his composure. He tried to charge in several times, only to be held back by Vodka.
"Aniki! Anyone can die, but not you! If the strongest killer lives, hope lives!"
"Hope!?" Gin roared at Beika. "The Organization is wiped out! It's just us! The world is full of madmen and no one is left to recruit! Even if I live, do you really think there is hope!?"
Vodka whispered, "Aniki... even if it's a lie, humanity needs that sliver of hope."
Gin slumped, his strength leaving him. "If that is what they want... then so be it."
The Saint of Slaughter lived as a placebo for a dying species. But the sacrifice wasn't entirely in vain. The logic-based attacks were hitting home.
During the sixteenth special event, the darkness on Conan remained vast, but his "human" eyes became clearer. In those eyes, the mystery clouding his heart finally dissolved, replaced by a despair so thick that all the oceans in the world could not wash it away.
End of Chapter
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