The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan

Where else could this be? This was Mutsumi Nishikawa's dream, symbolizing her yearning for wealth and glory. It was also her current nightmare, a nightmare that she couldn't help but recall even if she saw some dancing open flames.

This is the bedroom belonging to Mamiya's eldest daughter.

Gorgeous curtains, elegant decorations, all expensive and beautiful things that represent status, all look the same in the flames.

Nishikawa Mutsumi, who was lying on the ground, held her mouth firmly, restrained her urge to shout crazily, and stood up in embarrassment.

The flames that were burning quietly in the entire room suddenly started to flow violently as she stood up. The weird smell and high temperature made Nishikawa Mutsumi's face become unrecognizable with sweat pouring out.

Without thinking, she instinctively touched the wall lamp that was extremely hot in the fire scene and turned it twice.

In the many years she has lived here, she has already understood the intricate secret passages in the entire castle. Naturally, she knows how many entrances and exits there are in this deadly tower, and how to escape safely.

Four years ago, this was how she escaped from the fire and faked her own death.

As the mechanism on the wall turned, the wall behind her that was originally tightly closed began to rotate. Nishikawa Mutsumi didn't even have time to carefully identify what was behind the wall, and immediately staggered back into the open passage.

However, when the machine door completely rotated, Nishikawa Mutsumi felt that the light in front of her eyes was refracting repeatedly in a psychedelic dizziness, as if the whole world was spinning with the door.

When she regained her sight, there was still a blazing flame in front of her eyes.

This time, it was the servants' room in the tower, where Mutsumi Nishikawa once lived.

The Mamiya family, which has no shortage of living space, can be called generous in this regard. She has lived here for many years, sharing a room with another maid of similar age, and they get along in a harmonious and friendly manner.

Then four years ago, at that fatal moment, she was also burned to death in this tower.

It was too late to think about what was going on with the interconnected rooms that completely defied common sense. Before the fallen Pyro moved, he screamed again and opened the next passage.

When Nishikawa Mutsumi's panicked figure completely disappeared, the secret door she entered rotated again.

Karasawa, who was holding Conan in his hand, led his teammates in leisurely.

"After being scared like this, this woman must be the culprit of the arson four years ago." Conan stretched out his hand to touch the surrounding flames and said firmly, "I haven't done much in-depth research in forensic science, but what happened just now The skeleton, both in age and physical characteristics, matches that of Ms. Masuyo Mamiya. She is the real old lady of the Mamiya family.”

The seemingly terrifying flames wrapped around him softly when his fingers came into contact, as if they were dipped into hot water, without causing any harm to him.

Compared to the room he entered from the oil painting in the hall, the sea of ​​​​fire in this area looked more terrifying at first glance. However, as long as you concentrate and investigate carefully, you will soon find that this place is more like an "oil painting" than the sea of ​​​​fire.

It doesn't mean to hurt anyone, it just records the past quietly, as if it freezes time on that sad night.

"You're right. If you didn't do it intentionally, how could you kill all the people in the family who knew the old lady very well at once?" Tang Ze shrugged, and stretched out his hand to tease the flames, which were like water plants. "But it's safe for us here, but not for that woman."

Conan, who was still thinking about the dialectical questions of "The world of oil painting is a sea of ​​fire and purgatory, but the real sea of ​​fire is a flowing oil painting" was stunned: "Why, can this world still be able to tell who is the real murderer and orient her?" 's harm?"

"There is such a situation as you mentioned, but it is not the case here." Tangze said cogently, "Having a specific reaction for a specific person is a very subjective mechanism that requires 'judgment and identification', and here , everything you see from midnight is just a mirror of the real world, it only records reality truthfully and does not give much feedback.”

To give a specific response to a specific group of people, there must be a consciousness that can control and influence the space like the owner of the palace. This will not be the case in a public palace that belongs to everyone.

Although this place looks very much like the personal palace they used to tackle problems in the past, its essence is still the impression space of the Mamiya family castle. It is a group thing, but it is particularly special because of the limitations of the group.

Karasawa didn't explain much, but Conan's reaction was very quick.

He touched his chin and nodded thoughtfully: "If you said that, then I probably understand. The previous area is the power of public opinion and words, which records voyeurism and conspiracy theories, so it is particularly aggressive. , but here, it is more like a scene of true mourning and mourning, which is naturally very peaceful.”

As he traveled from room to room and observed the manifestations of different areas, Conan was able to understand a little bit about the operating logic of this world.

Joker has always emphasized that it is a mirror of the real world, and what is reflected in the mirror is naturally the impression that exists in reality.

"The reaction speed is very fast, Detective-kun." Tang Ze highly praised the detective's flexible mind.

"Then why do you say that the situation will be different for that woman?" Conan pointed to the direction where Nishikawa Mutsumi disappeared, "As long as she is slightly touched, she will immediately react that there is no danger here."

With her brain occupied by shocking images, Nishikawa Mutsumi panicked and fled relying on her survival instinct and muscle memory.

Once she stopped, or was approached by the flames in a mistake, there was no reason why she could not discover the secret of the room.

"Because this is a mirror." Miyano Akemi, who covered the lower half of her face with a fan, laughed, "What you look like, you will see something in the mirror. She is a murderer with thirteen lives on her hands. Facing everything that records her crimes, she feels fear and escapes."

Just like with a little guidance from Karasawa, Mamiya Mitsuru, who exposed his greedy ambitions in front of the servants, caused an uproar in public opinion, the cognitive world that they were fiercely passing through in the castle would fluctuate, and then there would be an opportunity to connect with reality again, so that they could smoothly throw Conan out to see the bones, and then kick Nishikawa Mutsumi in to make barbecue.

This impression space, which is composed of a few people, is supported by the so-called curse rumors and the treasure left by the old master of the Mamiya family. The core is the special public opinion environment formed by this small group of people living in the castle. It is weak and easily affected.

When Nishikawa Mutsumi's great fear and imagination overlap with this world, it is no longer the rules of the impression space that strengthen it, but the horror of the evildoers who do bad things.

"So, for her, this is a real fire scene?" Conan opened his eyes wide in surprise.

For others, this is the past of grief, and for her, this is the source of all fear and desire.

I am afraid this is the reason why the Phantom Thieves brought this culprit to this world. She will be tortured here, experience the coercion and torture of fear, and usher in her own end.

Even if she can leave here safely, everything she has experienced is so incredible that it will only be regarded as a crazy hallucination under high pressure. No one will know what happened to her.

"Is this the essence of your change of heart..." Conan's mind briefly flashed a few faces of people crying in front of the camera because of the intervention of the Phantom Thief of Heart. For a moment, he didn't know whether to praise their clever thinking or say that their methods were radical. After thinking about it, he could only comment, "Simple and crude, but it is indeed effective. It is really a great conspiracy."

It is indeed a bit torturous, and it is indeed impeccable.

It is not the Phantom Thieves who torture the villains, but the devil in the villains' own hearts. They drink the bitter fruit they brewed, so how can they blame others for being too cruel to them?

Just like the murderer today, even if she knew the plan of the Phantom Thieves, what can she say? You have the ability to protest against others' lynching, but you have the ability not to set fires?

Tang Ze smiled, and Conan could only see that the lips under the Joker's eye mask were exaggeratedly curved.

"This is the power of cognition. Welcome to the world of cognition, little detective."

————

While the detectives and the thieves were leisurely discussing the nature of the world, Mutsumi Nishikawa, who was fleeing madly, could not laugh at all.

The strong smell of burning had already filled her breath, and all she could see was a human body that had lost its human form and was left with only a distorted silhouette.

Sometimes she entered a burning tower, sometimes a secret passage with thick smoke, which was exactly the same as her memory of that night four years ago. Sometimes she would suddenly enter an ordinary castle room, and when she had a little guess whether she had escaped, the burning firemen caught up again and set the room that was no different from her daily life on fire.

Sometimes she entered a castle in the daytime, and sometimes a dark secret passage. Her body should have been dehydrated and exhausted due to long-term intense exercise, but she was driven by the instinct of survival and ran to the next door desperately.

She seemed to be trapped in an endless purgatory, unable to find a way out or an end.

In this state where she had lost her basic judgment ability, Nishikawa Mutsumi certainly didn't realize that she had entered and exited the cognitive world several times in the operation of the Phantom Thieves.

This world is very narrow. No matter what state the room is in, it is based on the ancient castle in reality. There is a secret passage in reality in it. Even if Nishikawa Mutsumi is very familiar with it, she can no longer trust the environment she perceives.

Her hair was burned by the flames, and her clothes were tattered, and she looked extremely embarrassed.

So when Tang Ze, who saw that she was almost exhausted, put her back to reality and prepared to let Conan use the real treasure reasoning to completely break her defense, Nishikawa Mutsumi didn't realize that she had really returned to reality.

She only knew to keep her head down and keep running forward, running through the long stairs in the hall, running through the shiny marble floor, and running through the corridor wet by rain.

Standing on the lawn outside the castle, after feeling the dampness of the rain falling from the sky and instantly soaking her whole body, Nishikawa Mutsumi's chaotic mind became a little clearer.

It was a purgatory made of fire, and it was obvious that there would be no rain in a purgatory of fire.

Nishikawa Mutsumi reached out her hand blankly and caught some of the falling raindrops.

She was kicked into the cognitive world by Tang Ze around noon, and it was already past dusk when she fled in a panic.

It was dinner time, but the people in the castle were still outside searching for the missing child, so no one noticed her strange state for a while.

Nishikawa Mutsumi thought for a moment in a trance, and her eyes blurred by sweat finally began to focus. When she raised her head, she saw something that should definitely not be an illusion.

The RV carrying the outsiders, quietly resting in the heavy rain.

Have I finally escaped?

Nishikawa Mutsumi swallowed hard and wanted to collapse to the ground. Thinking of the many times she had been deceived by the surrounding environment before, and the scene where she was caught up by the fire people just as she started to relax, she couldn't help but feel doubtful.

But the scene now was outside the castle. Even if this place was still an illusion, she had no way to escape.

With a wavering heart, Nishikawa Mutsumi gritted her teeth and finally decided to drag her heavy feet towards the RV with all the lights turned off.

Maybe there would be one or two people on it. Even if there was no one, this thing that did not belong to the castle would make her feel more secure.

After running for hours in the pursuit of flames, she couldn't help but feel fear and shrink when she saw any part of the castle. She really didn't dare to turn back to the place she should know so well.

She walked to the door of the RV and pushed it tentatively. She unexpectedly found that the RV was not locked. The folding front door was pushed open with just a little force.

Nishikawa Mutsumi was as if she had been pardoned, and she crawled on the floor of the RV.

Huiyuan Ai, who secretly ran into the car to check the data, was startled and quickly shrank back, hiding in the pillow pile on the sofa seat, carefully hiding her figure.

Oops, she forgot to lock the door. She shouldn't be so careless just because she came to record the data daily...

Nishikawa Mutsumi, whose SAN value was almost zero, had no time to notice such a subtle movement.

She raised her foot and took two steps to the spacious space behind the RV, and faced the big white egg that was exposed to the outside after being briefly unwrapped by Huiyuan Ai because of checking the data.

The white eggshell emitted a faint fluorescence, lying quietly in the soft bubble wrap and fabric. This scene was a bit surreal, and Nishikawa Mutsumi could not help but be stunned.

The next second, a loud explosion and fire suddenly exploded in front of her eyes.

A charred human body fell from a high place and hit the floor in front of her heavily.

In fact, when the man fell halfway, the flames and dust from the explosion had been rolled back like a rewind. When the man really fell to the ground, he was already a young man with a handsome face and intact.

But Nishikawa Mutsumi, who had completely emptied the last bit of rationality of this frightening movement, had already knelt on the ground and let out a tragic scream.

"They are catching up, they are catching up... Don't come, don't come, don't come!!!"

At the same time, Tang Ze, who was handsomely making a knife flower in the impression space and chopped a shadow into black mud, turned his head as if he had realized something.

"What is more than the movement..."