The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 420 The Tragedy of Oedipus
Lin Sheng observes Shirou Emiya's actions through the sun.

From a cosmic perspective, the first things to be overturned were the sunlight that was close to Kiritsugu Emiya.

At the moment Kiritsugu fired the shot, an extremely tiny bubble appeared along with the fluctuations in spacetime.

The sunlight from the "Goodness of This World" drilled through the hole-like thing before the "Origin Bullet".

Then, the light itself was surprised to find itself in "past history," entering a past in which Matou Sakura held the upper hand.

The universe is like a dough being cut open by that bubble, but what we're talking about here is its spacetime structure.

Originally, the spacetime around Kiritsugu Emiya was being pieced together haphazardly, but that bubble brought it back into order.

Like ink dropped into a glass of clear water, it suddenly decides to naturally move towards the center, restoring everything to its distinct black and white sides.

“The projection of mental images takes time.”

Lin Sheng let the light penetrate his pupils.

His physical body now resembled a piece of dark crystal, with only some light paths, like those formed by stars in a dark universe, faintly glowing white.

Lin Sheng's physical body has now been transformed into a computer made of photons.

He is observing and thinking at the speed of light.

His thoughts moved faster than anyone imagined, even exceeding the minimum time interval required for information to be transmitted in Shirou Emiya's mind.

In the past, alchemists of the Atlas Institute possessed the abilities of "high-speed thinking" and "segmented thinking".

They can use ether to make optical fibers and use the fifth element in space to create micrometer-sized lines as their own nerves for thinking.

This is undoubtedly a remarkable technology.

For example, if you divide your thinking into four parts, then because these different independent thoughts can communicate with each other unconditionally, the user will have 4 to the power of 4, or 256 kinds of thinking.

It is said that the most outstanding dean of the Atlas Academy in the past could divide his thoughts into eight parts, which is equivalent to more than 8 million thoughts running at the same time.

But clearly, their thinking speed and methods are less than one ten-millionth of Lin Sheng's current level.

Lin Sheng still had plenty of time to think and analyze the biggest weakness that [Emiya Shirou] had just revealed.

"For those who are not 'strong,' each person possesses infinite time relative to others. And when an 'option' is chosen, everything around is essentially paused, so for 'Emiya Shirou,' time is the least important thing to consider."

Creatures born with wings usually don't think about inventing flying machines;

Creatures that are naturally good at diving do not learn to practice their swimming skills.

"Whether it's for the sake of the character design or because there's no need for it, Shirou Emiya's thinking time and way of thinking are no different from ordinary people."

In the past, this would not have been a big problem.

After all, these "strong" individuals are born with an infinite amount of time compared to others.

But precisely because of this, Shirou Emiya, who was currently projecting his mental image, was unaware that Rin was also observing him.

……

For those in this universe who have never realized this.

Perhaps they could easily reach speeds hundreds of times faster than sound thanks to abilities like [Noble Phantasms].

The fastest of them might even be able to run faster than the speed of light, exceeding the speed at which causality occurs.

However, they still need to observe everything around them.

As long as they still need to cognize in a way that ordinary people can understand, their thinking speed cannot be the speed of light.

Therefore, Shirou Emiya was unaware that he was being observed by others.

If this were a situation involving combat with others, it might not be considered a mistake.

The lack of physical information can be compensated for through mental perception.

This is similar to time-space-related skills like "Separate Manifestation," where you don't need to consider whether the air will turn into a "solid" due to the pause in time.

Currently, the environmental RSI value is above 100.

Whether it is the revealed "idealism" or the intuition provided by the so-called "soul", the so-called physical laws can be ignored.

As long as Shirou Emiya believes he can observe everything around him unharmed, and believes he should observe something, then he can sense the threat.

But he had already subconsciously dismissed the threat.

Now, the "goodness of this world" encompasses almost the entire universe, and in Shirou Emiya's perception, threats are everywhere.

How can he find the real one among countless threats?

Moreover, no one would doubt sunlight, and would naturally assume that it becomes a person's consciousness.

To transform oneself into pure matter, to become something composed of light...

This is undoubtedly something that is difficult for people in the Type-Moon universe to understand.

Everyone possesses a soul.

Therefore, it is both overly cautious and absurd to regard an enemy's unintentional "attack" as the enemy itself.

[Emiya Shirou] believes those rays of light to be some kind of device, and that the sun to be some kind of Noble Phantasm.

Even if he had some doubts about it, he considered other directions.

"Since it's about using goodwill to cover up the past and the future... perhaps that [Alliance] adopted some of the ideas of [Chaldea]."

Since it is a device, it must be observed and understood by people.

Unless the mastermind is right beside him now.

[Emiya Shirou] is absolutely confident that [Mental Image] will perfectly rewrite the world without missing any details.

At this moment, looking at the completed [option] before him, a ray of [soul materialization] light flashed in his palm.

[Emiya Shirou] waved his hand to heal his injuries and reaffirmed his idea.

Now, absolutely no entity has discovered that it ever existed.

Even Chaldea is not an option.

……

[Emiya Shirou] is standing very close to Kiritsugu.

He stood both inside the shell cradled in the chest of the black cherry blossom and before Kiritsugu—in the bonfire that was finally formed by the burning of the evil of this world.

Kiritsugu's gun was less than a centimeter away from him.

The time it takes for the light to travel from the expanding mental image to Black Cherry is negligible.

Unfortunately, as long as it's a time interval, it's not a problem for Conan Edogawa.

Unlike the Type-Moon universe, which is highly idealistic and based on individual judgments.

Thanks to Conan's understanding and protection, the unity of this universe is well preserved.

Lin Sheng manipulated one of the countless rays of light, quietly creating a space around the bubble.

As the effect size is applied in diametrically opposed ways, the environmental RSI value is approaching 100 at an extremely rapid pace in sine-scale spacetime.

It was discovered that all the "powerful beings" in the Type-Moon universe may have had this kind of oversight in their thinking.

At this moment, Lin Sheng discovered an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

"As long as [Emiya Shirou] doesn't realize that another... well, let's call this characteristic a player."

Lin Sheng is recording all the characteristics that [Emiya Shirou] has revealed.

He never touches on anything related to the "soul".

He simply lets the light reflected off the collapsed ruins, the drifting dust, and other materials record the phenomena that [Emiya Shirou] "believes will happen."

Furthermore, at this extremely rapid pace of thought, dozens of research projects comparing Weber's previous behavior were being conducted simultaneously.

Lin Sheng has now discovered some of the wonderful uses of the phenomenon.

This is indeed a very clever strategy to avoid being overwritten.

[Emiya Shirou] didn't find anything strange about the spot where the flames reflected off Kiritsugu's feet, nor did he find the dust that appeared because of the light to be unusual.

As long as you present yourself as the "phenomenon" that those "strong" people believe you should be, there won't be any problems even if you appear in front of them.

"We need to figure out how Weber manages his own soul, which causes disturbances."

Lin Sheng casually made notes on the relevant research projects.

If Lin Sheng could figure this out, he was even confident he could record the magical fluctuations of [Emiya Shirou] when he just used projection magic.

"Fortunately, even if it's just a record of pure image information, we can still analyze a lot of things."

Lin Sheng didn't even continue to control the photon that was about to touch [Emiya Shirou]'s body.

If we draw an analogy to the Type-Moon universe, this is like cutting off your hand or gouging out your eye immediately after you've finished picking up or observing something with your hand or eye.

In a universe where the soul exists, to abandon this spiritual existence is an unbelievable act.

Even Caster wouldn't choose to do that.

For Lin Sheng, who possesses "remote synchronization," this is not a problem.

The photons, having lost their spirit and soul, bombarded the arm, which was now a bloody mess from the projection magic.

Then, carrying the information from those images, they crashed into the net that other photons had already formed around them.

Although this method of observing [Emiya Shirou] is somewhat cumbersome, it is equivalent to only seeing the surface.

Lin Sheng thought with some regret, "If only I could carry my own will."

In that case, we might be able to try to copy the magic circuits that light up when the spell is activated, and even figure out how he used projection magic to overwrite them.

Fortunately, even just a few images are enough.

In a near-physical pause, the photonic computer directly reconstructed the model of [Emiya Shirou].

Pain causes sweat to appear on the forehead, the jaw to tighten involuntarily, and even the subtle movements of the muscles and skin around the eyes to tense up.

“Using Projection Magic against this [Emiya Shirou] is still not an easy task.”

Lin Sheng performed the corresponding analysis and recording in the database.

"It's unclear whether this is due to the fixed nature of the character being expected to feel difficulty and strain, or because of the act of making a choice."

Well, it was easy to discover that Shirou Emiya also has a dialogue box.

You can calculate the distance in which he is looking by examining images of his pupil contraction and related eye responses.

"There was no specific image in the place where his gaze was looking."

Lin Sheng noted: "It is still unclear whether 'projecting' the dialog box and making selections is the norm for them."

"If he sees that [options] are actually the norm, it's just that making [choices] requires tedious and difficult steps."

"Given the issue of the order in which the options appear, we need to be cautious in utilizing the current situation in the future."

Lin Sheng thought for a moment and added a sentence at the end of the text.

ZC-01 suggests naming this phenomenon "Dead File".

……

Emiya Shirou was clearly unaware that he had fallen into a dead save file.

Or rather, because they were unaware that Lin Sheng also possessed an ability called "Power of Options".

He didn't realize that his "choice" was actually made after someone else's.

It wasn't difficult for Lin Sheng to deduce Shirou Emiya's thoughts from his actions.

And just as he believed—

The solution using mental imagery overwriting is indeed simple and effective.

"As long as he doesn't realize that it's my [options] that's preventing him from moving forward."

[—Help Shirou Emiya conceal his whereabouts.]

[—Expose him to others.]

Even though its form of existence has changed, the dialog box still pops up in a way that Lin Sheng can understand, and offers two choices.

"Clearly, [Emiya Shirou] made the choice to avoid leaking his information."

A significant portion of Lin Sheng's scattered thoughts is now devoted to reflecting on this situation.

"The Oedipal tragedy, or rather, the self-realization of fate."

In Greek mythology, Oedipus was prophesied to "kill his father and marry his mother."

His parents, and even he himself, upon learning of the prophecy, struggled to escape this terrible fate.

Therefore, he was abandoned from the start and fled the kingdom.

Then, he unintentionally killed his father, whom he did not know, went to Thebes, married the queen, and married his birth mother.

"Hmm... The fate of the [Type-Moon Universe]... is indeed quite peculiar."

A small portion of their thoughts drifted to something strange: "Why does everyone in this [universe] have to hide their information? Just how many Assassins has the [Branch Wars] created?"

Some photons used for self-monitoring immediately spurred the deviating thoughts back onto the right track.

"I want to do the same thing." The photons, caught slacking off, uttered their final words.

"But to think that it is unchangeable is clearly a fallacy."

The photons immediately became serious the next moment.

"Fujimaru Ritsuka accomplished it, and now Emiya Shirou can also be seen as having completed and changed a part of it."

"And me, the fact that my file is dead is absolutely unexpected by this universe."

Lin Sheng didn't even need to look to know that the entire Type-Moon universe was currently "suspended".

"If you want to give me [options], I must know about matters related to [Emiya Shirou] and contact him."

"Judging from the [options], what he wants to achieve is to erase his own traces." This is not just a matter of time in the [universe].

This causes the [Options] to enter an infinite loop.

The prerequisite for making a choice is knowing.

If you don't know the answer, how should you make that choice?
Lin Sheng's soul, or rather his intuition, told him this.

If he chooses the first option, he will definitely forget about it completely.

This is quite similar to the situation in the original universe, which is the realization of the oracle machine.

"Because it is the effect I used, I cannot deny myself."

"But at the same time, the second [option] cannot be selected."

Lin Sheng wrote down the question about how the "options" came about and then put it aside.

“‘Exposing him to others’ is far too broad an option.”

Who are included in this "other people"?
It only includes Black Cherry and Alaya.

Or does it refer to "others" relative to [Lin Sheng] himself, but relative to [Emiya Shirou]?
Therefore, the result does indeed occur before the cause.

The stray bullet that pierced Irisviel and Illya's hearts was actually the "Origin Bullet" fired by Kiritsugu Emiya.

In the "past" of this event.

At that moment, Lin Sheng truly did not know Emiya Shirou, nor did he know anything about the dialogue box.

He did indeed "forget" about these things.

Does this universe truly lack 'self-awareness'?

"It is possible to achieve this solely through the unspeakable power of fate."

No one would think that this didn't happen out of their own conscience or their own choice.

"I cannot choose the second [option]."

"Choosing the first [option] not only means forgetting, but also means that with [Emiya Shirou]'s 'save', my CYZ effect is fully replenished."

That is--

The dialog box appeared the first time.

……

It doesn't violate any logic.

No paradox occurs.

"Even a peaceful afternoon can arise from this."

Compared to Shirou Emiya, who is not even allowed to touch it, the analysis of the Endless Sea of ​​Resentment is much faster.

Lin Sheng can even do things that even Leonardo da Vinci would find impossible—

By utilizing the nature of "Conan" and combining it with his judgment of "the evil of this world," we can analyze and reveal completely opposite natures.

The two suns, though from different times and spaces, are actually one; they are one entity.

"That's why there was that moment when the [option] acknowledged the [goodness of this world]."

Lin Sheng had indeed been skeptical about whether the "Goodness of This World" could be effective.

However, his and Conan's analysis at the time was based on the "aftermath" of Shirou Emiya's choice.

"But if you know that [Emiya Shirou]'s present is projected as a [mental image], you will find that this is not reasonable."

"The overwriting of mental images is accomplished at least on a cosmic scale, which means that the denial of the past by the future will also take effect."

"Furthermore, the [Goodness of This World] can only be realized after 'Nine Thousand Winters' in theory. Conan's Noble Phantasm should be activated in the future, and it is only taking effect now."

And that's exactly what happened.

Lin Sheng originally thought that this debt to the "future" would be repaid a long time from now.

Although it is indeed a long time from now, it is also the present.

……

At this moment, the universe is changing at the speed of light, or even far exceeding the speed of light.

In a mere instant, Lin Sheng tried out countless technologies invented by the Alliance in this universe.

There's no need to feel wasteful about the cost of the effect.

It will be replenished immediately once this cycle ends.

"Weather controller..."

"Improve the defense measures for everyone in advance..."

The Nine-String Effect, which was once used to activate Noble Phantasms, is being extracted from the core of the [Realm Barrier].

Some golden-red light, carrying the goodness of this world, merged into the very beginning of the universe, replacing the silvery-white parts.

— 5.64 billion, 571,994 people.

Every person's spirit, soul, and even the characteristics of their mortal body are recorded.

"I'm afraid even Conan wouldn't have imagined that the reason why this universe criminal has almost disappeared is not only because of those detectives, but also because it belonged to the 'good' universe from the very beginning."

Those souls that were defeated in the struggle against evil and lost themselves will be returned at the moment this cycle ends.

One is not too much and the other is not too little.

And the resulting redundancy—

Those tiny glittering lights will transform into comics printed with cartoon images, and into towering buildings scattered all over the world.

In this process, Lin Sheng didn't even need to try to disrupt the cycle.

"The only covered mental images are those that Emiya Shirou recorded."

"No matter how things change, anything related to Black Sakura and Black Alice will lead to the outcome of that [Origin Bullet]."

Lin Sheng now understood why Emiya Shirou was sighing.

"He wasn't lamenting for Irisviel and Ilya, because he had already protected those 'missing' parts."

[Emiya Shirou] is lamenting for Kuro Sakura.

……

Fate is cruel and merciless.

Even if it hesitates because of the power of [Emiya Shirou] or [Lin Sheng], it might even try to offer a condition that satisfies both parties.

However, this does not include those who do not have their protection.

Of course, this does not include those entities that are not protected by historical inertia.

The historical inertia of the community center is nearing its end, no matter how much Matou Sakura tries to salvage it.

When Kiritsugu Emiya fired that fatal bullet, standing on the final, desolate ruins, facing his adopted son.

It's all over now.

Just as Lin Sheng said in the past—

There is no decisive conflict between the [Alliance] and [Emiya Shirou].

When they decided to work together to push forward, and even complete the fourth battle, they tried to put the decisive moment in the fifth battle.

What power could possibly prevent two beings with the "power of dialogue boxes" from making the same decision?

Black Alice is dead.

For Black Sakura, there is no longer any room for pretending that a [Black Grail] still exists.

Perhaps the Great Sea Demon will still appear.

But Caster and Ryunosuke should be able to do a great job with the performance.

"Are you kidding..."

That endless resentment is now attempting to shake the fate of the entire universe.

Sakura Matou would never accept this.

She definitely found it before!

I have found a destiny where I am not bullied or raped!
She could have avoided the filthy, insect-infested Matou family home and instead gone somewhere else to be adopted by distant relatives in the Tohsaka family.

But at this moment, whether it is happiness or tragedy, beauty or pain.

Sakura Matou's memories are scattered into fragments.

It's not just Black Cherry.

To be precise, the character design of [Matou Sakura] is now trying to compete with [the universe].

What is it that she truly resents?
Those insects...

Disgusting, ugly insects that are inextricably linked to the character of [Matou Sakura].

In Lin Sheng's previous life, he had heard in some discussions what the most destructive thing for a character was.

That was definitely not death.

People may view some deaths as tragedies.

But sometimes it doesn't destroy a character's "persona," but rather elevates them to a higher level.

Furthermore, for some world systems with abilities such as "resurrection," what does death even matter?

Sometimes, it can even be treated as an amusing anecdote or casual conversation.

Therefore, many people conclude that—

A character being humiliated.

The Oedipus tragedy is about to happen.

But it won't happen to Kiritsugu Emiya, nor to Irisviel or Illya.

This tragedy chose the character who was most powerless against fate, even though she could now be considered a "strong person".

Sakura Matou hates all of this.

She hated fate, hated the choices her predecessors made, hated her father, her sister...

She hates herself.

The more Black Sakura loathes this fate, the stronger she becomes.

No one could have predicted that Matou Sakura would put up such a resolute fight.

She had to give up many things and face terrible pain again.

Leveraging historical inertia—

The evil of this world struggles and grows relentlessly amidst all goodness.

Perhaps in some unknown world-building system called "Bandashishen", Ahura Mazda will eventually subdue Angolan Manu.

In the Type-Moon Universe-001, this evil far outweighs the good.

……

The [option] is working.

This is a necessary risk.

This was the choice Lin Sheng once made.

He and Shirou Emiya worked together seamlessly to avoid all possible risks.

They suppressed evil in hell, forever binding the evil known as Matou Sakura within this cycle that the two of them acknowledged.

but--

Where does the "risk" in the [options] come from?

[Matou Sakura] is undoubtedly trapped.

The hole has been closed, leaving only a sliver of blackness floating in boundless goodwill.

Jealousy, greed, anger...

Many negative emotions become blurred as memories fade.

But Black Sakura refused to give up; she couldn't accept this fate.

It stems from that indelible hatred, from that hatred bestowed upon us by fate.

Black Sakura had no choice but to try the most extreme method—

Along the cycle of countless years and months.

That hatred touched everything that Matou Sakura could reach, prompting her to take any revenge she could.

The most extreme act of "breaking the rules" is about to occur.

An indelible patch of black mud began to stir.

Heading toward the universe that binds them.

In recognition of Irisviel's remains.

Sakura Matou, who mistakenly believes herself to be Irisviel, opens her enormous mouth.

—Irisviel is going out.

(End of this chapter)