Conan, Open Your Eyes. I'm Shinichi Kudo / Try Analyzing It with Your Scientific Mind

Watching her younger brother turn and leave without hesitation, Miyauchi Kouka couldn't help muttering under her breath.

"Seriously, he got bored after barely an hour of looking around. He could've at least talked to Megumi a little more..." Though school had only been in session for a week, Miyauchi Kouka and Kato Megumi had already become close enough to call each other by their given names.

"Guanghua, what were you just mumbling about?" Kato Megumi asked as she looked at her friend muttering to herself.

"I was talking about my little brother. He always has that look on his face, and ever since he started high school, nobody knows what he's doing all day. People in his class are practically treating him like a freak and isolating him," Miyauchi Kouka said. With her brother absent, she still dared to badmouth Miyauchi Hiyage a little.

Hearing that, Kato Megumi couldn't help finding it strange.

Though today was her first time meeting Miyauchi Hiyage, for some reason, whenever she looked at him, she felt as though a sun were standing beside her.

And how could someone whom several athletic clubs had actively invited end up becoming a freak in his class?

But after thinking about it again, she realized this sort of thing had little to do with someone as unremarkable as herself. Perhaps the hot weather today had simply given her some strange illusion.

So she quickly pushed down her curiosity. After listening to Miyauchi Kouka complain about her brother, she continued accompanying her as they picked out clubs around the school.

Meanwhile, on Miyauchi Hiyage's side, he also realized a few issues on his way home.

Looks like I can't keep drinking Celestial Joy Tea back-to-back. Keeping my Pure Yang Body in an excited state all the time does have some side effects.

Miyauchi Hiyage muttered to himself. Today, the yang energy around him must have leaked out and accidentally attracted those athletic club members.

If he only used Celestial Joy Tea every other day from now on, this problem probably wouldn't happen again.

Lost in thought, Miyauchi Hiyage returned home more than an hour later than usual. Just as he entered his doorway, he happened to run into Professor Agasa, who was returning from outside.

"Professor Agasa, did you just get back from somewhere?" Miyauchi Hiyage casually greeted him.

However, Professor Agasa seemed to have something on his mind. When he heard Miyauchi Hiyage's voice, he actually jumped in fright.

"Oh, it's Miyauchi. You're getting home so late today?" Professor Agasa awkwardly scratched his nose and gave a dry laugh.

"I accompanied my sister while she checked out the school clubs. It took quite a while," Miyauchi Hiyage briefly explained.

Yet Professor Agasa still seemed distracted. "Oh, clubs. Clubs are good. High school students should join a club. That's what makes them look like high school students."

Miyauchi Hiyage immediately saw that something was off about Professor Agasa.

But before he could ask, a commotion came from the alley behind them.

As Miyauchi Hiyage turned around, Yellow Temperance shot out ahead of him.

Through Yellow Temperance's vision, Miyauchi Hiyage saw Conan unconscious in the alley, along with a plump middle-aged woman. He immediately recalled this scene from memories of his previous life.

Wasn't this one of Conan's classic early storylines?

Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo had returned to Japan and discovered that their son had become smaller. To make Conan nervous and take their son out of Japan, they deliberately put on a show in front of him, staging a "Conan kidnapping case."

"So the Conan storyline has reached this point," Miyauchi Hiyage said as he withdrew Yellow Temperance.

Since it was a plot he knew, there was nothing to worry about...

How could there possibly be nothing to worry about!

The meal had practically been spoon-fed into his mouth. If he didn't stir things up, wouldn't that be disrespecting Conan?

Conan, Open Your Eyes. I Am Shinichi Kudo

The commotion from the alley was loud enough that Professor Agasa naturally noticed it too.

He looked even more nervous now, afraid that Miyauchi Hiyage's sudden appearance would disrupt Yusaku and the others' plan.

Little did he know that Miyauchi Hiyage had already set his sights on Conan.

Pretending to be curious, he asked Professor Agasa, "Professor Agasa, did something happen over there?"

Professor Agasa wiped his forehead. "It sounds like something happened. It's probably just some stray cat or dog. Stray animals occasionally wander around here. Don't mind them. They'll probably leave on their own soon enough."

"Then I'll go take a look too. I grew up in the countryside, after all. My family even kept a tanuki. Handling stray animals shouldn't be a problem for me," Miyauchi Hiyage said as he headed toward the alley.

Seeing this, Professor Agasa broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, Yukiko Kudo had already successfully knocked out her son in the alley.

After hearing Professor Agasa talking with another boy, she hurriedly put her skills as an actress to use.

Once she confirmed that her son was asleep, she immediately put on a panicked expression, carried Conan out of the alley, and held him in her arms.

When she saw Professor Agasa, she hurried over and anxiously said, "Professor Agasa, thank goodness you're back. My son Conan has a terrible cold. Could you drive Conan and me to the hospital?"

Though Professor Agasa was terrible at acting, he could only force himself to play along. "Oh, oh, I understand. I'll go get the car right away."

He turned to look at Miyauchi Hiyage and deliberately tried to explain.

"This is Conan's mother, Edogawa..."

Seeing that he seemed to have forgotten his lines, Yukiko Kudo quickly picked up the conversation. At the same time, she signaled for Professor Agasa to leave quickly, indicating that she could handle things here.

"I'm Edogawa Fumiyo. You must be the new neighbor who moved in nearby. Thank you for taking care of my Conan before."

She continued rapidly explaining her identity.

She worked overseas and had returned this time because she wanted to take Conan with her.

Conan had wanted to say goodbye to Professor Agasa before leaving, but his cold had turned out to be so severe that his body gave out before he even reached Professor Agasa's house.

"It's all my fault as his mother. I hardly ever took care of him, and I didn't even realize he'd gotten this sick," Yukiko Kudo said. She was gradually getting addicted to acting, already trying to portray herself before Miyauchi Hiyage, this neighbor, as a failed mother who still wanted to work hard and make a fresh start with her son.

What could Miyauchi Hiyage say while looking at the tears glimmering in her eyes?

As expected of a former powerhouse actress. If I hadn't read the script, I would've believed her.

Dealing with Yukiko Kudo did burn through quite a few of Miyauchi Hiyage's brain cells. Fortunately, Professor Agasa moved quickly enough and soon drove his Beetle out of the garage.

Seeing that Miyauchi Hiyage did not look suspicious, Yukiko Kudo left behind a line about meeting again someday, then hurriedly carried Conan into Professor Agasa's car and left.

At the same time, she took away a tiny fragment that Yellow Temperance had split off.

The portion Yellow Temperance split off could travel quite far from the main body. As long as it remained within ten kilometers, Miyauchi Hiyage could retrieve it.

However, the separated portion had no real consciousness. Without replenishing organic matter, it would quickly lose its ability to move and eventually disappear.

Still, there was no need to worry about it lacking nourishment for the time being. In order to disguise herself as a plump middle-aged woman, Yukiko Kudo had stuffed plenty of cotton and fabric into her clothes.

Yellow Temperance devoured those materials slowly. That tiny fragment only needed enough to stay alive, so there was no need to worry about Yukiko Kudo's life.

Miyauchi Hiyage had originally been worried that Professor Agasa and the others might drive too far away. If that happened, he could only call Professor Agasa and have him say his own name to figure out their location.

Fortunately, they ultimately stopped around six or seven kilometers from his house.

Afterward, several curse sensations came from that location in succession. It seemed they were discussing him, their new neighbor.

Once he had confirmed their location, Miyauchi Hiyage no longer needed to hurry.

He leisurely finished his bento, then unhurriedly completed today's diary.

There was nothing much to say about today's diary. It was merely meant to let Black Cat experience a little of what Kasumigaoka Utaha usually felt.

After all, Black Cat's literary ability...

It was nothing but a chuunibyou girl's self-indulgent writing.

Rather than trying to make money and support her family by becoming a light novel author, she would be better off getting an avatar and becoming a game streamer.

Black Cat's gaming skills were already professional-level. With Ripple assisting her now, people would probably suspect she was cheating.

Combined with her habit of always playing the weakest characters, that gimmick alone would be enough to get her streaming career off the ground. She might not strike it rich, but it would still be far more reliable than writing light novels.

After quickly finishing today's diary, Miyauchi Hiyage felt curse sensations flooding in from all directions within a short time. He made a few more preparations, and when the clock struck ten, he headed out with Jerry.

It was already very late at this hour, and there were barely any pedestrians on the streets.

Miyauchi Hiyage avoided the street cameras as he went, while using Yellow Temperance in inconspicuous spots to alter his appearance and build.

As for Jerry, this was its first time venturing so far from home. Sitting in Miyauchi Hiyage's pocket, it kept poking its head out to observe the surroundings.

When he came within a little over a hundred meters of Conan's current location, his footsteps gradually slowed.

Yellow Temperance extended from beneath his feet. Only after confirming the surrounding situation did he continue approaching.

"Looks like Conan has already woken up and is looking for a chance to cut the ropes binding him," Miyauchi Hiyage said. He had Yellow Temperance take a distant look and saw Conan tied up and carelessly thrown onto a dust-covered floor.

Though Conan remained motionless, he was clearly awake.

It had to be said that Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo had really gone to great lengths to make their son understand the situation and leave Japan with them.

Unfortunately, because of the plot, Conan could not possibly leave the Mouri Detective Agency.

So in the manga, Conan simply said, "I'll handle my own affairs myself," before thinking that he couldn't leave Japan for Ran's sake.

That scene had seemed like nothing at the time, but after all these years, with Ran always hovering outside the main plot and her screen time nearly matching that of a passerby, it felt a little strange to look back on it.

So if you don't plan on telling Ran your identity, why exactly are you staying by her side? Is it just so you can bathe with your big sister Ran?

After silently mocking him a few times, Miyauchi Hiyage controlled Yellow Temperance and used Ripple to turn the Kudo couple, who were pretending to sleep on the sofa outside the room, into genuinely sleeping people.

Next, he transformed his appearance into Shinichi Kudo's and entered the room where Conan was being held.

Thanks to online media and Shinichi Kudo's flashy personality, there were plenty of news clips of his television interviews available with a simple online search.

Looking at Conan lying on the floor with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep, Miyauchi Hiyage crouched down and softly spoke to him in Shinichi Kudo's voice.

"Conan, open your eyes. I am Shinichi Kudo."

Analyze It With Your Scientific Thinking

When Conan heard his own voice beside his ear, having not yet experienced Kaitou Kid or Heiji Hattori impersonating him face-to-face, he was a little dumbfounded.

No matter what, he knew that the person standing before him already knew he was awake.

Left with no choice, Conan could only open his eyes.

Under the light from outside the room, Conan could clearly see a man who looked exactly like him crouching before him, watching him with an amused expression.

Conan's eyes swiftly glanced toward the outside.

The two Black Organization members who had kidnapped him were now fast asleep on the sofa outside, seemingly completely unaware of what was happening here.

Had they been sedated?

Countless possibilities flashed through Conan's oversized head.

But no matter what, at least this man had not shown any hostile attitude toward him so far. He could try communicating with him.

A serious expression appeared on his face as he looked at the "himself" before him and asked, "Who exactly are you? Are you also a member of that organization?"

"Don't be so serious," Miyauchi Hiyage said as he sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at Conan. "What if I really am Shinichi Kudo?"

Seeing disbelief appear on Conan's face, Miyauchi Hiyage casually said something that could shake Conan's convictions. "After all, compared to a pill that can turn a high school student back into an elementary school student—a drug that obviously violates the laws of science—have you never considered that the memories in your head might have been artificially implanted?"

Conan's expression immediately froze. He had wanted to refute him, but Miyauchi Hiyage continued before he could speak.

"Have you heard of Relic Technology?"

"It's a technology that can upload a person's consciousness into a data network, then transfer it from that data network into someone else's brain, allowing the soul to live forever. Using your great detective's reasoning, which do you think is more scientific: a drug that makes someone grow younger after swallowing it, or a technology like the one I described that turns souls into data?"

Under the guidance of the "himself" before him, Conan instinctively began to think.

But in an era where internet technology advanced by leaps and bounds and all kinds of artificial intelligence developed rapidly, Conan had to admit after thinking it through that the latter did indeed seem more likely to emerge in this age.

Could it be that, on the night when the Black Organization fed him that poison, someone extracted his consciousness while he was near death and transferred it into this body?

No, he looked exactly as he had as a child, and even his blood type had not changed. How could that be explained... Could it be cloning technology?

Covered in sweat, Conan began doubting his life as countless other possibilities ran through his mind.

For example, perhaps another mysterious organization had long targeted him because of his brilliant mind and secretly begun cultivating his clone. Then, because of the Black Organization's attack, that mysterious organization had been forced to urgently remove the still-incomplete clone and transfer his consciousness into it before the consciousness in his original body completely dissipated.

Then, because the Black Organization had discovered his identity, this mysterious organization had no choice but to appear before him again and reveal the truth.

Though he might have changed bodies, the great detective Conan, whose intelligence still surpassed ordinary people, believed that he might have uncovered a new truth.

It was only when he saw the "himself" before him looking at him with a teasing expression that he realized his thoughts had seemingly been completely led along by the other man.