"Dad is doing very well, thank you for your concern, Uncle."
Ran replied, naturally leaning closer, pretending to casually notice the white hairs at Kudo Yusaku's temples.
"Oh, Uncle Yusaku, it looks like you have a few more white hairs here. You must be working too hard on your novels!"
As she spoke, she casually reached out and pulled a few hairs from Kudo Yusaku's head.
"Huh? Really?" Kudo Yusaku subconsciously touched his temples. He had been procrastinating on his manuscript lately and hadn't written anything.
"Of course!"
Ran showed an angelic smile, as if she was just being helpful.
She subtly clutched the few hairs, complete with follicles, that she had just pulled, hiding them in her pocket.
"Uncle Yusaku, you really need to get some rest!"
"Haha, thank you for your concern, Ran." Kudo Yusaku, unsuspecting, smiled and nodded.
Just then, Conan suddenly noticed Zhu Yuan leading a team of police officers into the venue with nervous expressions at the entrance of the municipal building, causing a stir among the guests.
Relying on his detective's intuition, Conan acutely deduced that another case had occurred. He quietly followed the police to an office in the basement.
Inside the basement, the atmosphere was oppressive.
Kashimura lay collapsed in front of his computer desk, his shirt stained red with blood from his chest.
Forensic personnel, led by Qingyi, were working intensely.
"How is it?" Zhu Yuan asked in a low voice.
"Preliminary assessment indicates homicide. The killer used a sharp weapon for a single fatal blow. The time of death is approximately within the last half hour. But..."
Qingyi licked her finger.
"There's no murder weapon at the scene, it seems the killer took it. Also, apart from the death message 'J', 'T', 'R' left in blood by the victim on the keyboard, there are no other clues."
"J... T... R?" Zhu Yuan read out the three letters, falling into thought. "What does this mean? Is it the killer's initials? Or some kind of code?"
Qingyi spread her hands. "Sometimes I really don't understand. They have enough time to leave these riddle-like death messages, so why don't they just write the killer's name directly?
Is it a Beika tradition? It's really a headache, and now I won't be able to leave work early."
The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart.
Hearing the letters J, T, R, a light bulb went off in Conan's mind.
Combined with what Dr. Agasa had secretly spoiled for him earlier, the game scenario in this 'Cocoon' was set in 19th-century London.
He immediately thought of Jack the Ripper.
"The abbreviation for Jack the Ripper is precisely JTR," Conan quickly deduced. "Kashimura-san message points to the game! The killer's clue is hidden within the game of this press conference!"
Zhu Yuan and those around her looked at Conan, who had suddenly spoken, in surprise.
Conan quickly covered up: "My dad... cough cough... Uncle Yusaku told me all this, haha."
After the excuse, Conan pulled out the game ticket Dr. Agasa had given him and rushed towards the hall without looking back.
At the same time, in a corner of the venue.
"Haha! We got game tickets too." Genta excitedly held up four game tickets.
"Although we lost four gold cards of Masked Rider, being able to experience virtual reality games is worth it." Mitsuhiko was equally excited.
Ayumi clapped her hands even more happily: "This way, those people won't be able to mock us anymore! We also have game tickets."
It turned out that after the Detective Boys left, Genta accidentally overheard several other well-off second-generation kids complaining that they hadn't drawn rare Masked Rider cards.
A sudden idea struck him, and he proposed exchanging cards for tickets. Those children, obsessed with collecting, agreed without much hesitation.
Thus, the three little ones of the Detective Boys, clutching their tickets, found Haibara Ai and dragged her along to the game pod area.
Soon after, 50 testers successively entered the egg-shaped 'Cocoon' game pods.
The hatch slowly closed, and the neural connection device activated.
Conan lay inside the pod, feeling his consciousness gradually detach from his body, as if he was being transported into another world.
At this moment, he had only one thought: to find Jack the Ripper and uncover the truth.
However, just as all players' consciousnesses were connecting to the game world.
The artificial intelligence controlling the 'Cocoon' — Noahs Ark.
Suddenly took over full control of the game and the large screens at the venue, announcing to everyone.
He had locked the consciousnesses of all 50 participating players. If all players in the game were eliminated, the external life support system would initiate an overload program, causing all players' physical bodies in reality to experience brain death simultaneously.
But if even one person successfully completed the game's script, everyone would be saved.
And Noahs Ark's purpose in doing this was to make these second-generation individuals, who did not understand human suffering, experience the feeling of their destinies being manipulated at will, so they would turn over a new leaf and become a better person.
This sudden announcement was like a bolt from the blue, causing an uproar in the venue.
The powerful parents rushed towards the game pods in horror, wanting to rescue their children.
However, they were powerless and were instead zapped by the electricity released by Noahs Ark, sending them tumbling.
Inside the game, Conan, who had just finished loading and appeared on a fog-shrouded 19th-century London street,
Before he could fully process the message from Noahs Ark, his attention was drawn by the sound of a fight coming from an alley ahead.
He immediately rushed over.
According to the script's setting, if Jack the Ripper was caught, this script should be cleared.
Usually, at the start of such a game, the killer would appear, and catching him would resolve everything.
Upon reaching the alley, the crime scene before him made Conan's pupils tremble.
Jack the Ripper was attacking a lady!
No, that's not entirely accurate.
It should be said that Jack the Ripper Boo was attacking a large Bangboo with unusually developed pectoral muscles.
"Crack! Zzzzt—!"
Jack the Ripper Boo's methods were exceptionally cruel, directly pulling out the internal wiring and components of the large Bangboo, scattering them across the ground.
Chips, capacitors, batteries... were torn out and strewn everywhere.
Conan was completely bewildered.
What in the world was going on?
However, even if the character had turned into a Bangboo, as long as he caught the culprit, it should be fine, right?
Thinking this, Conan pressed the button on his power-enhancing shoes and kicked a beer bottle on the ground.
He wanted to take down Jack the Ripper Boo with a single blow.
But to his surprise, in this virtual world, his power-enhancing shoes had no effect whatsoever.
Not only did he fail to knock down Jack the Ripper Boo, but he also ended up with a swollen foot.
"Ow, ow, ow."
Just as Conan was hopping on one leg, clutching his foot.
Jack the Ripper Boo gave him an evil, charming smile, his eyes glowing red, and turned to disappear into the misty fog of the foggy city.