Me and countless me.

Chapter 563 The Moment of Ascension to Godhood
Li Ke hadn't paid any attention to Suzuki Sonoko's intentions. After all, there were plenty of women like her in the Conan world, so her feelings for her were meaningless. She looked at the next one, but what was going on with this situation?

Seeing the displeasure and competitive intent in Suzuki Sonoko's eyes, Li Ke was slightly surprised, but then he didn't feel anything. After all, Suzuki Sonoko didn't mean much to him now. He really didn't lack money, and if he really wanted to find a rich girl, then winning over the sisters of the next life would be the best option.

However, at this moment, Sonoko Suzuki completely ignored Motoko Aoyama and instead showed an expectant expression to Li Ke.

"Hey Li Ke, tomorrow Xiao Lan, Shinichi, and I are going out to play together. Do you want to come?"

Thinking of that detective who was practically a twisted god, Li Ke's lips twitched. Although the other party couldn't affect him, how could he say that he always encountered various murder cases when he was around the other party? He should just forget about it, after all, he really had no interest in encountering murder cases while having fun with girls.

So he waved his hand.

"No, going out with Shinichi will almost certainly lead to a case, so let's just forget about it."

Li Ke's words startled Sonoko Suzuki, who instinctively wanted to retort. However, after a moment of hesitation, she suddenly remembered Shinichi Kudo's behavior after encountering Li Ke...

Suddenly, countless memories of going out with Shinichi Kudo flashed through Sonoko Suzuki's mind. Her head throbbed with pain, and she involuntarily covered her head, instinctively taking Li Ke's arm for support.

She began to recall things she hadn't noticed before, and she remembered things that she had previously overlooked that were amiss.

"Wait...it seems that's really the case..."

Sonoko Suzuki's eyes gradually sharpened, and just then Ran Mouri walked over.

"Sonoko! Didn't you promise to cheer me on?!"

Ran Mouri stormed over, but upon seeing Sonoko Suzuki's shocked and incredulous expression, she paused, a bad feeling creeping over her. Sonoko reached out and grabbed Ran's hand, staring into her eyes, and asked, word by word.

"Ran! Do you remember how many cases Shinichi has solved these past few days?!"

Sonoko Suzuki's words startled Ran Mouri for a moment before she spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, yesterday there were four cases, the day before yesterday there were six, and the day before that there were eight... What's wrong?"

At that moment, Eri Kisaki and Kogoro Mouri also came over, both showing puzzled expressions. Eri Kisaki, in particular, looked at Sonoko Suzuki and asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Sonoko, what's wrong with that brat Shinichi?"

Eri Kisaki was also puzzled and couldn't understand it at all, while Sonoko Suzuki was stunned and didn't understand why she could think of these illogical points in the case after hearing the questions about Shinichi Kudo, but why Kogoro Mouri, Eri Kisaki, or Ran Mouri didn't react at all.

Instead, it was Motoko Aoyama who couldn't help but speak up in surprise.

"This is completely abnormal, isn't it?"

However, Kogoro Mouri waved his hand.

"For a famous detective, encountering such things is normal; after all, it's a detective's destiny."

He seemed indifferent, but Suzuki Sonoko glanced at Li Ke and remembered the figure of Li Ke killing the demon. She immediately understood something, so she pushed Ran Mouri in front of Li Ke and directly pushed Ran Mouri into Li Ke's arms.

"Sonoko, what are you doing?"

Concerned about her daughter, Eri immediately asked the question and rushed over to try and pull Ran away from Li Ke's arms.

However, the moment Eri touched Li Ke's arm, a jolt of electricity shot through her entire body. But she wasn't the only one; Ran Mouri felt the same way!
In an instant, both of them covered their heads. All sorts of illogical things they had done with Shinichi Kudo in the past quickly surfaced in their minds, and they quickly realized what had happened.

"How is this going……"

Eri Kisaki's body went limp to the ground, because she had just realized that no matter how unlucky a person is, it's impossible for a murder to happen to them every single day from childhood to adulthood! But ever since they met Shinichi Kudo, such things have been happening constantly, yet they haven't seemed to realize it at all!

Ran Mouri was stunned, because she recalled even more images of Shinichi Kudo abandoning her and constantly going to various crime scenes, leaving her to go home alone; and the times when they made a promise to meet at a certain place, but Shinichi felt that a place was dangerous and went there directly instead.

And more importantly, Shinichi Kudo showed little interest in her affairs, and was even frequently late.

Ran Mouri pursed her lips and then looked at Li Ke.

Li Ke was able to dispel the illusion surrounding her, which seemed like she was possessed, so naturally he was able to figure out what was going on with Shinichi Kudo.

If Shinichi Kudo encountered something ominous and genuinely went to save someone, then she could forgive him. After all, it wasn't Shinichi's fault; it was the right choice for him to abandon him and go to save someone, and she could understand and accept that.

But if the other party feels that the case is far more important than her, and chooses to abandon her for a case that is bound to be solved...

So she turned to look at her father.

"Are the police really that useless? Dad, if there's a murder in a place, can they really just explain their suspicions and leave? Can they just leave without even doing any tests or fingerprinting?"

Her question startled Kogoro Mouri for a moment, then he paused for another moment.

"After explaining your suspicions, you can leave. As for fingerprints and tests... aren't those used to convict someone after their identity has been confirmed?"

His blank expression and answer filled Ran with despair, but she still placed her last hope on Li Ke.

"Mr. Li Ke, is there anything strange about Shinichi?"

She was practically desperate for a last straw, but Li Ke looked into her eyes and, unwilling to lie, simply raised one finger.

"To be specific, Shinichi Kudo is a god, a being who yearns for detective games and is about to ascend to godhood."

Li Ke's words made Ran Mouri's eyes widen, but Li Ke's subsequent explanation plunged her into despair.

"To be specific, he now has the ability to distort the thinking of those around him and reality..."

Li Ke explained Shinichi Kudo's abilities and situation in detail, but only told Ran Mouri and Eri Kisaki about Shinichi Kudo's current situation. She didn't embellish anything or speculate on Shinichi Kudo's inner thoughts.

Just then, Shinichi Kudo strolled over, completely unaware that the atmosphere had changed. He even made a face at Sonoko Suzuki, who was looking at him with a strange expression, and then naturally came to Ran Mouri's side, flashing a bright smile.

"Hey, Ran, I'm here to cheer you on." His look of disgust made Ran bite her lip. Hideki wanted to say something, but looking at his daughter's face, he ultimately said nothing and just looked at his daughter.

Ran Mouri looked at Shinichi Kudo's face and was surprised to find that she wasn't as angry as she had thought; in fact, she only felt a sense of calm.

"Shinichi."

"Ok?"

Shinichi Kudo sensed something was off about Ran Mouri, so he smiled and asked her about it.

"whats the matter?"

"Why are you late? Also, if I invited you on a date for my birthday, but you encountered a case that the police were already handling, what would you do?"

Shinichi Kudo instantly sensed a sense of crisis, but he didn't really feel it and spoke up instead.

"I saw a case on the way. Although the police handled it, but... to be honest, it's not that I'm saying they're incompetent, but sometimes they really do completely ignore clues. So, to clear someone's name, I will definitely solve the case. As for your birthday..."

He scratched his head, an embarrassed look on his face.

"It shouldn't take long to process the case."

"I understand."

Ran Mouri nodded, then bowed slightly to Li Ke.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Li Ke..."

After she finished speaking, she turned and left. Although Suzuki Sonoko was reluctant to part with Li Ke, she knew that Mouri Ran must be extremely heartbroken at this moment, so she could only apologize to Li Ke and chase after Mouri Ran.

Shinichi Kudo was completely bewildered and stood there wondering what was wrong with Ran Mouri, while Kogoro Mouri scoffed in dissatisfaction and then followed Ran Mouri.

In an instant, only Eri Kisaki, Li Ke, Motoko Aoyama, and Shinichi Kudo remained.

"Mr. Li Ke, I have some questions I'd like to ask you. May I ask you to come in here?"

Eri Kisaki glanced at Shinichi Kudo, said nothing, and then looked directly at Li Ke, asking sincerely.

Li Ke looked at Aoyama Motoko, who had heard the whole thing and was naturally willing to help. Moreover, Eri Kisaki's appearance filled her with a sense of justice, so she nodded to Li Ke and subconsciously hugged Li Ke's arm tightly.

"Then let's go."

After saying that, Eri Kisaki didn't even look at Shinichi Kudo before leading Li Ke into a coffee shop, leaving Shinichi Kudo alone watching the departing group, completely bewildered by what had happened.

In the coffee shop, Eri Kisaki looked at Li Ke with a slightly tired expression. She wanted to comfort her daughter Ran Mouri, but she had more important things to do.

"Mr. Li Ke, can the symptoms that Shinichi Kudo is experiencing be cured?"

She could tell that her daughter had a vague affection for Shinichi Kudo, and Shinichi Kudo was also the child of her and her husband's classmate. So, if possible, she didn't want Shinichi Kudo to continue in this situation and wanted her daughter to be able to be with him normally.

“I can’t do it. First, it’s actually harmless to ordinary people, because these cases would still happen even without him. His abilities have actually eliminated a lot of potential problems. Second, the power of this field comes from his passion and the power of his faith. If I break this ritual on him before he truly ascends to godhood, then Shinichi Kudo will die, because this ritual exists because it relies on his passion for detective work and deduction. If he doesn’t complete the entire ritual, then all the backlash will appear on him. He will only survive after he truly ignites the divine fire. I won’t do such a thing.”

Li Ke refused outright. After all, although he had some personal grudges with Shinichi Kudo, it wasn't to the point of wanting Shinichi Kudo to die.

The grudge between the two of them was at most enough to motivate him to steal Xiaolan away, but to be honest, he lacked even that kind of motivation. He just wanted to make the other person suffer a few times.

"That's it..."

Eri Kisaki remained silent, but just as she was about to ask more questions, Li Ke stood up.

"Alright, Ms. Eri Kisaki, it's time for me to leave."

Li Ke hadn't forgotten that he was going on a trip with Aoyama Suko today, and immediately wanted to stand up. But at that moment, the sun and moon above their heads moved rapidly, completing a rotation almost instantly in their consciousness, and then night fell.

Li Ke felt a force trying to affect the person connected to him, but it dissipated as soon as it came into contact with him.

"Has someone ascended to godhood?"

Li Ke raised an eyebrow, because he knew very well that the rotation of the sun and moon just now was not real, but an illusion, which was directly immune to by his aura.

At that moment, Eri's phone rang. She answered it instinctively and heard Ran Mouri's voice.

"Mom... I suddenly appeared at the amusement park, and a memory of a roller coaster murder case suddenly popped into my head... And, Shinichi said that after he went to investigate the case, he... he shrunk..."

Eri Kisaki's eyes widened in surprise, while Li Ke looked at the television. On the screen, a large group of police officers were talking to a child dressed in adult clothes. The child looked about 80% like Shinichi Kudo. Soon after, a chubby man in a white coat and glasses walked into the frame and took the child away.

Clearly, Shinichi Kudo no longer exists; what exists now is Conan Edogawa, the elementary school savior who is more widely known.

But at this moment, the other party was no longer the one about to ascend to godhood, but a real, existing deity.

The doubt about himself, the hesitation about no longer being able to enjoy reasoning, was replaced by joy, a joy that he could reason forever, and that he would no longer be unable to enjoy the pleasure of reasoning and the secret delight that came with it because of his authority as the 'savior of the Japanese police'.

Li Ke's lips twitched; he finally understood what the enormous illusion he had just witnessed was all about.

"So, in the end, you still don't intend to become an authoritative adult, shoulder other responsibilities and emotions, but instead choose to remain a novice in reasoning forever? You even chose to create a deceptive dream to allow everyone to continue playing together, so that you could continue reasoning without any burden... The resulting obsession is so strong that it allows you to ascend to godhood..."

Haki! You bastard!
He sighed, because Ran Mouri was already crying on the phone, as she had also realized this, while Eri Kisaki sighed helplessly and looked thoughtfully at Li Ke.

She didn't believe Li Ke was truly incapable of doing anything, so she decided to investigate Li Ke's situation, and then—

Cater to their preferences!
(End of this chapter)