The Shark Human NPC seemed to see through their predicament, or perhaps it was programmed that way.
She tilted her head, her shark tail swishing. "By the looks of you, are you outsiders who can't find your way? Never mind, follow me, it's on my way."
With that, she led the way, motioning for Conan and the others to follow.
Everyone was overjoyed and quickly followed.
Under the guidance of this NPC, who strongly resembled Ellen, they navigated through intricate streets and arrived in front of an apartment building.
"This is it," the Shark Human NPC pointed to the door, then yawned and slowly walked away.
With the anticipation of meeting his idol, Conan took a deep breath, stepped forward, and knocked on the door.
Creak—
The door quickly opened.
However, the Sherlock Holmes who appeared behind the door was completely beyond Conan's expectations.
The other party was not human.
Instead, it was a Bangboo wearing a detective hat, a pipe in its mouth, and a scarf with the number 01 around its neck.
Sherlock Holmes Bangboo?
Conan gasped, his heart sinking, and he became disappointed.
If even Sherlock Holmes had turned into an uncommunicative Bangboo, how were they supposed to get clues?
Just when everyone thought they would hit a wall this time.
That Sherlock Holmes Bangboo spoke.
And it wasn't the mechanical "um-hum" "um-hum" sound, but a very sweet, young female voice.
"Good evening, visitors. I am Sherlock Holmes Boo. By your expressions, it seems you've encountered a tricky problem? Why don't you come in and discuss it."
"Ah?!" everyone exclaimed in unison. A talking Bangboo, they had never seen one before.
"This Bangboo spoke!" Ayumi covered her mouth in surprise, "And its voice is so nice!"
Conan was equally shocked. While pleased that Sherlock Holmes Boo could communicate, he also felt a sense of confusion.
The timbre of this voice... why was it so familiar? It was as if he had heard it somewhere but couldn't recall where at the moment.
"Huh?" Ayumi tilted her head, listening carefully to Sherlock Holmes Boo's voice, and suddenly her eyes lit up,
"Sherlock Holmes Boo's voice sounds so much like Rin-neechan's voice! Except for the intonation, everything else is so similar."
Ayumi's casual remark reminded Conan.
Rin-neechan?!
That's right! Except for the intonation, the timbre and pronunciation habits of this Sherlock Holmes Boo's voice were almost identical to Rin-neechan's!
Then, recalling the NPC who led the way earlier, with the long shark tail, who looked exactly like Ellen... A coincidence? Once is a coincidence, but twice?
Conan had a bold hypothesis in his mind.
Perhaps Rin-neechan had a deep connection to this virtual world, and some unspeakable secret with Noahs Ark.
Otherwise, how could so many coincidences be explained?
The animal-featured NPCs he had seen on the street earlier, he could more or less see hints of Rin-neechan's friends in them.
It was hard not to be suspicious.
Just then, Sherlock Holmes Boo turned slightly and called out into the house. "Peanut, we have guests, prepare some refreshments."
"Coming, coming! Mr. Sherlock Holmes Boo!" A sweet loli voice rang out.
Accompanied by light footsteps, a figure in a maid outfit appeared beside Sherlock Holmes Boo.
When Conan clearly saw the person's appearance, his pupils shook, and he was astonished beyond words.
He nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, his brain crashing on the spot.
This figure in a maid outfit was none other than Kudo Shinichi!
This NPC, who looked exactly like Kudo Shinichi, was wearing a classic black and white maid outfit with lace trim, and a cute maid headpiece.
"H-hello, guests..."
"Maid Kudo Shinichi" Peanut bowed to everyone, shyly inviting them into the apartment.
"Refreshments will be brought to you shortly, please wait a moment."
Conan: "..."
What is going on?! It's one thing for this NPC to have the exact same model as me.
But can it please stop with the loli voice, wearing a maid outfit, and posing coquettishly?!
This virtual world is clearly targeting me, Kudo Shinichi!
When people are speechless, they are speechless.
At this moment, Conan's mind was blank.
His suspicions about Rin-neechan were thrown to the back of his mind.
Since his own image, Kudo Shinichi, had been replicated, replicating others was not so hard to accept anymore.
Ran was even more dumbfounded, her fingers trembling as she pointed at Peanut, her face flushed like a ripe apple.
"Shi-Shinichi?! Wh-why are you here?! And... and dressed like this?! It's so embarrassing."
Peanut showed a confused expression:
"Shinichi? Miss, you must have mistaken me for someone else? I am Peanut, Mr. Sherlock Holmes Boo's assistant."
After speaking, Peanut puffed out its cheeks adorably and made a 'V' sign with its fingers.
Conan was so angry he nearly coughed up blood. He quickly pulled Ran, advising.
"Ran-neechan! Calm down! He's not Shinichi-niichan. Look closely, Peanut is just an NPC!
It's a character generated by the game based on Shinichi-niichan image in the database! It's just... I don't know why it's dressed like this!"
Ran listened to Conan's words and looked closely at Peanut, realizing that the other party was indeed a completely different person from Shinichi.
Aside from the identical appearance, the personality was completely different.
Only then did she slowly believe that Peanut was truly just an NPC, but her face remained flushed, and she dared not look again.
Ignoring this "himself" in a maid outfit, constantly flitting before his eyes, Conan seriously consulted Sherlock Holmes Boo.
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes Boo, we are here about Jack the Ripper. We witnessed its crime on the street and want to catch him, but we don't know how to start..."
Conan spoke quickly, at this moment, he only wanted to finish the business and leave this place that made him feel so awkward.
Sherlock Holmes Boo's eyes flickered a few times, it took a puff from its pipe, and slowly exhaled smoke.
Conan was very puzzled by this scene, not knowing how the other party managed it, but considering it was a game world, he didn't delve deeper.
"Jack the Ripper Boo... is indeed a tricky target."
Sherlock Holmes Boo's voice was calm,
"He is very fast, highly aggressive, and knows the dark alleys of London like the back of his hand. A frontal confrontation is definitely not a wise move."
"Then what should we do?" Mitsuhiko asked eagerly.
Sherlock Holmes Boo pointed its pipe towards a certain direction outside the window.
"According to the clues I know, Jack the Ripper Boo often appears near the East End Docks.
The charging stations there are said to be hydropower, the electricity is relatively gentle, not as fierce as thermal power, nor as hard as nuclear power, and he likes it very much.
You just need to wait for him to sit on a charging station to charge, then you can make your move, that's when he is at his most vulnerable."