Chapter 135: Conan Joins the Distillery
This wasn't the first time Conan had faced Gin's gun!
But the last time he faced it, Conan stood before Gin in the form of Moriarty. Buffered by that invincible criminal power, he had felt that Gin's shots—aside from the final one—were always lacking something, not quite "potent" enough.
This time, however, Conan felt the shot as a "mortal." He finally realized the true horror of Gin. The density of his killing intent had surpassed the level of mere spine-chilling; it was like a declaration of destiny, something impossible to defy.
Under the weight of this intent, the distorted, amorphous monster froze, deterred by the sheer malice.
Bang! A baseball-sized hole appeared in the center of the monster's body. Pitch-black liquid gushed out, and the creature let out a piercing shriek. Even an apparently immortal monster could be wounded, even made to bleed, by the gun that had once "slain a God."
Gin wasn't in a hurry to finish the kill. Instead, he took the time to light a cigarette. Amidst the swirling smoke, he stared at the monster and whispered coldly:
"This shot was just a greeting. My patience is limited. Tell me: where is that monster, Shinichi Kudo, hiding?"
When he mentioned the name Shinichi Kudo, Gin's tone shifted, becoming even sharper and more murderous.
Conan's heart skipped a beat. Seeing Gin's obsessive lingering on his former self, he faintly felt that choosing Gin—who just happened to be roadside—as a solution to the monster might not have been the smartest move.
Driven by logic, Conan made a choice yet again! He stayed low, quietly shuffling away. Since the monster was as good as dead and Gin was too much to handle right now, it was time to slip away!
But his "strategic retreat" failed. A hand suddenly landed on his head, pinning him in place. Conan looked up to see Gin, who had frame-skipped beside him at some unknown point.
"Kid. I have questions for you later. Stay put. Don't run."
Feeling that condescending, murderous gaze, Conan's eyes darted around, but finding no way out, he could only nod helplessly.
Gin pulled his gaze away from Conan and refocused on the monster. The creature shrieked in agony, repeating its "kill you" murmur over and over as it crawled toward them with its massive, writhing body.
Gin let out a flat snort. "Toyed with by that monster Shinichi Kudo until you've lost your mind? How pathetic."
Gin could sense the connection between the beast and Shinichi. He could never forget the scent of "Absolute Evil" on Kudo, but seeing the monster's state, he knew threats were useless. He raised his gun once more.
"This development is a bit boring..."
In a higher dimension, Mo Yu rubbed his chin as he looked down at the world.
He had intervened for two reasons. One was to maintain his villainous aesthetic; he wanted his "evil minions" to have some "pizzazz" so they could better reflect his glory as a God of Crime. Thus, he had used the "Heavenly Killing Intent" backlash to give that criminal a deep makeover. A boss with street thugs is just a gang leader; a boss with Shoggoths is a Great Demon King.
The second reason was to help Conan. The Eternal Protagonist was unique; it was nearly impossible for him to die even if he wanted to, let alone at the hands of a mere monster. Typically, the more pressure Conan faced, the more likely he was to have a "Conan-Science" explosion. Like the time he turned his suspenders into a giant slingshot to down an Apache helicopter.
Mo Yu had expected Conan to realize the function of his Power-Enhancing Kick Shoes in the crisis and deliver a "100,000 Horsepower Detective Kick" to pulverize the beast. He hadn't expected Conan to take a "side path" and seek help from Gin—and he certainly hadn't expected Gin to actually step in.
Gin was the man who carried the entire "Black Side" on his back. Once he acted, the "crisis" ceased to be a crisis.
Mo Yu glanced at the monster. It would be a waste for it to take a bento so casually on its first appearance. He saw more potential to mine.
In the next instant, the Moriarty Shard embedded in the monster glowed with an eerie light. The creature broke free from its forced command. It stopped murmuring "kill you" and entered its Phase 2 Transformation.
Its body swelled and mutated rapidly into a spider-like form. The black tentacles thickened, hardening into metallic blades. It roared insanely:
"TEAR YOU TO PIECES...!"
The tentacles whipped with such speed they left afterimages, shredding everything within a ten-meter radius.
"Interesting," Gin muttered, his cold smile widening. He grabbed Conan by the collar and stepped back, frame-skipping dozens of meters away. He found it interesting because the monster had suddenly changed on a fundamental level.
But Gin wasn't a scientist. He had no interest in "why." He simply pointed his gun at the beast again.
"You seem to have regained some reason. Last time: where is the monster Shinichi Kudo?"
"TEAR YOU TO PIECES...!"
The monster had reason, but not much. It only wanted to shred. Gin lost his patience. Behind him, the shadow of the Black Dragon flickered, and his gun barked.
With that muzzle flash, the Mandate of Slaughter arrived!
To the Gin who wielded "Guaranteed Kill" power, size was irrelevant. A gaping hole appeared in the beast's chest, and its body began to wither and rot from the wound outward.
Gin's eyes flickered with surprise. The monster was somehow resisting the erosion of the lethal power. It managed to stall just long enough to sever a portion of its own body and hurl it into the distance—a "lizard tail" survival tactic.
Gin knew he just needed one more shot, but he saw Inspector Megure and Kogoro Mouri approaching in the distance. Not wanting to be seen, he threw Conan into his Porsche, slammed the gas, and frame-skipped the entire car away.
Megure and Kogoro arrived to find only a rotting husk. Megure found a spent casing nearby. Even though its mission was done, the killing intent clinging to the metal sent a shiver down his spine.
"The God-Slayer acted?" Megure mused.
Kogoro blinked. "You mean the cyborg executive from the evil organization that killed the Evil God, Shinichi Kudo?"
Megure tensed up. He checked to make sure no one was listening before sighing. "Brother Mouri, don't say that out loud. Kudo-kun was the first Super-Hero and the founder of the Stand Era. Don't call him an 'Evil God.' And 'God-Slayer' is just a police codename. Besides, I've told you: your memory of the Tropical Land murder is wrong. What you remember isn't the truth..."
"My memory is wrong? As if yours is any better!" Kogoro muttered. But even he knew better than to push it while the world was mourning a hero.
In the Porsche, Conan was trembling like a leaf in the passenger seat. This was because Gin was radiating a bone-chilling aura of slaughter.
It wasn't because the monster had escaped his final shot. It was because the sight of Megure and Kogoro had triggered Gin's "unpleasant" memories.
In a park where madness and the grotesque coexisted... a pitch-black entity laughed from above. Carrying all his 'Bonds,' Gin had fought to his limit, firing his strongest bullet...
What was the result? Whenever Gin tried to remember, his mind became a shattered mess. Not just the ending, but the entire battle felt like blurry, fragmented frames. He had to strain to keep the memory from dissolving.
Irritated, Gin lit another cigarette. His eyes grew sharper. When he had first "woken up," it was seven days after the murder. He knew nothing of the outcome, and the intervening week was a total blank.
The government had since hailed Shinichi Kudo as the greatest hero in history. Gin didn't believe it. He used Organization moles in the police to dig for info, only to be disappointed. No one remembered the ending. Even the accounts of the start of the case varied wildly and contradicted each other.
Kogoro's statement claimed the case started with a virus leak that turned Shinichi into a Magical Girl who fought a cyborg until he evolved into an Evil God and was shot by the Organization. Megure's statement claimed it started with a thief stealing a "Great Secret Treasure," leading to Shinichi being cursed by a Demon King into a Death Knight before being slain.
Everyone who was there either forgot or had "bizarre" memories. The government eventually settled on a vague story: "Shinichi Kudo was murdered by dark forces."
Gin had once wondered if his own memory was a lie, but his will was firm. He didn't believe the monster was dead. He believed Shinichi had thrown the die again, opened Steins;Gate, and fooled the world with a new timeline.
To prove it, he had been wandering Beika for weeks. Today, he finally found a trail.
Gin glanced at Conan. "Kid. Tell me the truth. What was that monster?"
Conan knew he couldn't hide everything. He adopted a "naive and cute" tone, downplaying his own role while explaining the basics. Gin smoked in silence, listening without interruption.
When Conan finished, Gin's eyes flickered. He had heard of the "strange shards" in Beika, but he hadn't realized they were a lead to Shinichi Kudo. He committed the name "Legion of 666 Beasts" to memory with a murderous smirk. He looked at Conan.
"Kid. Don't act cute with me. I'll verify everything you said. Now... if you don't want to die, tell me who you are."
Conan's acting—especially as a child—had always been a bit cringeworthy. He couldn't fool a pro like Gin.
Conan gave a helpless, bitter smile. He had to keep playing the part. "Big brother... I don't know who I am. I've been a runaway for as long as I can remember..."
Gin glanced at the old, donated coat Conan was wearing. He didn't comment. He drove in silence, leaving Conan in a state of nervous tension.
Much later, Gin pulled over. Vodka walked out of an alley carrying a black briefcase and prepared to get in.
"Big Brother, mission accomplished. Huh? What's with the kid?"
Gin spoke flatly. "Found him on the road. A stray orphan, maybe. But that's not important. What matters is... I think this brat has the potential to be an Organization executive."
Conan wasn't the only one shocked. Vodka stared in confusion. "Boss? Becoming an executive isn't that easy!"
Gin's voice was cold. "This kid... could see me while I was in 'Invisibility State.' That alone is enough."
End of Chapter
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