Chapter 83: Strategy.
In fact, there wasn't much for Morofushi Sora'aki to do. Apart from Akai Shuuichi, whom he didn't know, how many years had he known the others? Even if they weren't from the same world, it was difficult to change their personalities and habits.
"Either all black or all red." Morofushi Sora'aki stretched lazily. "What's the point of half-red and half-black?"
"Matsuda's kindness, Hagiwara's curiosity, the curiosity and concealment they harbored after meeting me... If it were truly all evil, I would be gone by now." Morofushi Sora'aki muttered, "Why not create a world where the opposing factions are directly reversed? Wouldn't it be better to be a purely evil person?"
And that's precisely why...
"I don't want to drag them into the police's scheme." Morofushi Sora'aki said to the little amulet. "They'll be really upset if they do. It's better to just stick to our current values."
"Anyway, they didn't appear in the original storyline and died before the story started, so if we just make sure they don't appear after the story starts, then there won't be a problem, right? We can just assume they don't exist."
The amulet didn't know if it had agreed or not, but Morofushi Sora'aki knew that the amulet would never refuse his request. To be precise, the amulet would never refuse a human's wish; it was just that it was prioritizing fulfilling its own wish right now.
"Then I'll take that as your agreement. Let's focus our attention on the little detective."
"If they don't do anything... how should we lure Miyano Shiho out? Or is it better if I just log in myself?"
After considering the pros and cons, Morofushi Sora'aki concluded that since he knew no less than Miyano Shiho in this world through the protective amulet (system), he could provide information for Miyano Shiho in everything except researching the antidote for the "How Wonderful It Is to Grow Bigger and Smaller" drug.
Even if it's about getting bigger... now that part of the storyline has been restored, Little Stone can help temporarily enlarge Edogawa Conan—under reasonable plot conditions, under the self-salvation of the World Will itself, and under the premise that Edogawa Conan should have been restored to Kudou Shin'ichi—the World Will will not stop Little Stone from doing so.
In other words, Morofushi Sora'aki is now roughly equivalent to a human-shaped temporary antidote.
So, is Miyano Shiho still needed? The final antidote will definitely be needed, but the world is already in such a difficult situation, so we don't need to worry too much about this little incident!
The only problem is that Akai Shuuichi can still be captured, but what about Furuya Rei? According to the plot, Edogawa Conan needs a police chief as backup.
He can replace Miyano Shiho in her scenes, but what about the police?
Morofushi Sora'aki couldn't help but say to Edogawa Conan, "You're such a pain."
Edogawa Conan: "...Did you come here just to say that?"
Edogawa Conan, leaning against the door, made a gesture as if to close it with his crescent-shaped eyes: "If nothing serious happens, goodbye."
"Oh, then I won't tell you about the half-antidote I have." said Morofushi Sora'aki.
Edogawa Conan's expression instantly changed, and he warmly greeted Nozaki, "It's been so long! We haven't played together in ages. Let's go to the room and talk!"
Mouri Ran, whose hand was still wrapped in bandages, said, "...Huh? Didn't you two just see each other a few days ago?"
However, Mouri Ran didn't think too much about it: "Well, it's rare for Conan-kun to enjoy playing with his friends so much, so I won't bother him."
After dragging the child-form Morofushi Sora'aki into the room, Edogawa Conan's expression immediately turned serious: "What do you mean by this antidote?!"
"I had someone develop a drug that can temporarily turn you back into Kudou Shin'ichi, but it won't last long."
"Great!" Having grown accustomed to Morofushi Sora'aki's cryptic way of speaking, Edogawa Conan immediately accepted the literal meaning: "So, the antidote!"
After all, if Morofushi Sora'aki really had malicious intent, he would have been thrown into the laboratory by now. Even if Morofushi Sora'aki was using him as a guinea pig, it didn't matter. If he could really turn back, he would be the one who benefited.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "What do you plan to do with the antidote?"
Edogawa Conan decisively replied, "Of course, it's with Ran—"
Edogawa Conan face instantly turned bright red: "Why should I tell you?!"
"You need to think this through. Your current state is very dangerous. Kudou Shin'ichi should already be dead." Morofushi Sora'aki handed a capsule containing glucose to Edogawa Conan. "There's only one like this right now, and I can't predict what will happen after you take it."
"Think it through yourself; I won't stop you."
If someone had tried to stop Edogawa Conan from doing this, he might have become rebellious. But when someone like Morofushi Sora'aki handed it to him without hesitation, Conan hesitated.
He wanted to know more about the medication: "How long does the temporary reversion last? An hour or ten minutes? A day or half a day?"
Morofushi Sora'aki replied, "I don't know, I'm not a researcher."
Edogawa Conan: "...Didn't you say you were a researcher before?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "You said you don't believe it, so of course I'm not."
Edogawa Conan: "What's the connection between this and the rest of this sentence?!"
The high school boy's unconventional thinking was a headache, but Edogawa Conan still accepted the capsule, though he wasn't in a hurry to take it.
Since there's only one, there's absolutely no chance to try and fail! We can only use it when it's absolutely necessary.
After completing Miyano Shiho's storyline, Morofushi Sora'aki recalled what he should do next.
Oh, Akai Shuuichi faked his death, then Bourbon or Furuya Rei appeared, revealing Furuya's true identity as a member of the Red Team, and the Black Annihilation Squad was officially formed.
So the next step is still Akai Shuuichi.
"...I hate the FBI," Morofushi Sora'aki suddenly said. "They're such a pain."
Edogawa Conan: "Huh? What happened?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "How can we allow an FBI agent to die in a socially significant sense?"
Edogawa Conan: "...Calm down! Nozaki, calm down! What do you want to do?!"
Morofushi Sora'aki was a little dissatisfied. After all, according to the original setting, wasn't it you who orchestrated the FBI's faked death? Why are you stopping me?
Originally, Morofushi Sora'aki planned to make Akai Shuuichi disappear in the explosion, and then make the organization believe that Akai Shuuichi died in the fire.
However, this operation is not very convenient, and there is little point in faking death when Shuuichi Akai has not made contact with anyone (Edogawa Conan).
But then again, so Akai really is an undercover agent? If he weren't, the operation wouldn't be going so smoothly.
Morofushi Sora'aki nodded: "I'm starting to like him a little."
Edogawa Conan has already learned to automatically ignore Morofushi Sora'aki's remarks: "Is that so? That's good."
"You're so impulsive, do you think you're a female high school student (Sonoko)?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "I can be."
Edogawa Conan: "...I said it out loud? Wait? What do you mean by that?!"
Having enjoyed chatting with Edogawa Conan, Morofushi Sora'aki decided to continue working.
The previous actions brought the storyline back by 30%, and aside from the details, the overall situation is back on track.
Alright, while Edogawa Conan and Akai Shuuichi are getting to know each other, let's go and win over Furuya Rei?
"Rei-nii, do you like Japan?" Morofushi Sora'aki asked Furuya Rei, who was visiting him on his day off, while sitting on the sofa with a game console in his hand.
Furuya Rei was taken aback: "Why are you suddenly asking this? Of course I like it."
"So, did you like them from the very beginning?" Morofushi Sora'aki shifted his attention from the game console, looking up to meet Furuya Rei's eyes. "Would you say something like, 'My lover is this country'?"
"Ah... well, it shouldn't be that bad, right?" Furuya Rei thought for a moment, "If someone's pressuring me to get married, I'll probably say something like this?"
Morofushi Sora'aki seemed to be deep in thought: "So, what was Rei-nii's initial reason for choosing the police academy...?"
Furuya Rei hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't give the official reason. Instead, he honestly said, "At that time... it was just to keep Hiro company."
Furuya Rei also made a point of checking to make sure that Morofushi Sora'aki didn't show any dissatisfaction.
Honestly, everyone around him is obsessed with their older sister, younger sister, older brother, and younger brother, and he happens to have a good relationship with all those older brothers and sisters, which makes those younger brothers and sisters always feel uncomfortable with him—he's almost traumatized by it.
"If you weren't a policeman, what would you want to do, Rei-nii?"
"Hmm... I don't really have any particular goal. Maybe being a detective? Hiro once said it would suit me well."
"Will Rei-nii turn bad?"
"...What kind of question is this?" Furuya Rei lowered his eyes in exasperation. "I wonder if Sora'aki remembers... that I was actually quite rebellious when I was little? If it weren't for Elena-sensei and Hiro, I might really have become a bad kid?"
"To be more precise, at that time, apart from Elena-sensei and your family, everyone else, including the teachers at the school, probably thought I was a bad student."
If he hadn't met these two important people, Furuya Rei might have really turned into a bad person due to the criticism from others. But none of that happened, so there's no need to imagine it.
Morofushi Sora'aki understood: "So, Rei-nii is a criminal reserve, right?"
Furuya Rei: "..."
Furuya Rei: "..."
Furuya Rei: "Don't misinterpret things! Which sentence did I mean that?!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu came over with tea, watched the two of them being so close, and said with a smile, "Sigh, Sora'aki and Zero have become so close, I'm getting a little jealous."
"Don't talk like Hagiwara, Hiro!" Furuya Rei turned around and retorted.
"That's totally Hagiwara's tone." Morofushi Sora'aki thought to himself, then said, "If my brother and Hagiwara were childhood friends, it might get really interesting."
Morofushi Hiromitsu imagined it for a moment, then chuckled softly, "I think so too."
Furuya Rei's expression instantly became quite wary: "Are you and Hagiwara close? Sora'aki."
Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment and said, "Hmm, I really like his face."
Suddenly, Morofushi Hiromitsu's eyes sharpened.
The two adults exchanged a glance, and Morofushi Hiromitsu said, "It seems like it's been quite a while since we last saw Hagiwara?"
Furuya Rei nodded: "That's right. We happen to have some free time these next couple of days, so let's just talk to him."
Morofushi Sora'aki picked up the game console again, pretending he hadn't said anything.
In other words, Furuya Rei's stance is largely influenced by the people around him. With this in mind, Morofushi Sora'aki had a general idea of what to do.