In the Marvel Universe: I can summon items from all dimensions.

Chapter 101 When the Prize is Awarded

Despite his complaints, Mason felt that something was off.

The Conan world has elements like magic and Dragon Ball, which can be explained by the fact that they're all works by the same author. But this thing that looks like it came from a low-budget horror movie that couldn't even get in theaters and could only be released on DVD doesn't really fit the tone of this world. Even Tales of the Sword isn't this style. Dude, where did you come from?

Moreover—Mason felt that this thing looked vaguely familiar, as if he had seen something similar somewhere before.

—Oh right, it was a low-budget garbage movie, I think it was called something like "Shark Chirp vs. Squid Girl," about two prehistoric creatures clashing. Although the movie itself was like a pile of dog shit, its explosive title still tricked Mason into watching it while snacking on a holiday night. If I remember correctly, this thing in front of me looks a bit like a combination of the two monsters in that movie—of course, it could just be Mason's imagination.

After all, shark movies are generally a diverse field with many different kinds of sharks. There are deadly two-headed, three-headed, four-headed, five-headed, and six-headed sharks, nuclear-powered monster sharks, mechanical sharks, and invincible sharks battling Attack on Titan—there's nothing that can't be imagined, and no director can't make outrageous films. So Mason really couldn't figure out what this thing was.

Suddenly, he remembered something, so he lifted his eyelids and looked down at the watch that the unknown big guy had kindly given him.

Sure enough, just like encountering a cyborg produced by the distillery, a slender pointer materialized and steadily pointed to the direction of the tentacle shark lying on the coral reef.

In addition, there is a short hand below the long hand, which also points in the same direction. It looks the same as the one in the underground passage at Koizumi Akako's house last time. So, is this hand pointing to the Water God Pearl?

Hmm—what's going on here?

Could this tentacle shark also be part of that "Stinger" thing?

Come to think of it, I could handle the Thunder God Pearl without any trouble, but the ghost shark that was roaming near the Water God Pearl almost bit me to death right away—was it some kind of "trial"? Or did something go wrong?

As for the Divine Beads themselves—considering the compatibility between the Legend of the Swordsman and Detective Conan, Mason tentatively speculates that they are not bad things, but rather—assistive items for clearing levels.

Trouble—it seems I have no choice but to blame myself for not hearing what that big, unknown guy was saying to me. Otherwise, the situation would be a hundred times clearer.

But there's no time to worry about that now.

The crew on board included a world-renowned phantom thief, a genius swordsman from the late Edo period, and a magician who revealed the truth of alchemy. But when faced with a monster that looked like it had jumped out of a low-budget horror movie, they were completely at a loss for what to do.

The group huddled in front of the magic projection in silence for a while, then looked at each other, lost in thought in various ways.

"This thing needs a light cannon, right? —" the pathetic swordswoman Okita muttered. "Sigh — swordsmanship is really the most useless thing. Every time I encounter a situation like this, I can only become a comedic character. It really damages the reputation of the Shinsengumi."

"all in all----"

Mason pushed up his non-existent glasses and said in a deep voice, "Does anyone here know how to handle this thing?"

"First of all, I don't think we should regard it as an enemy directly —"

Paracelsus sighed: "But if we consider it as a hypothetical enemy, its size alone should be enough to ignore ordinary curses or magic bullets. If I had enough magic power, I might be able to give it a try, but it would be very difficult now."

"Miss Okita's sword isn't that long," Okita Souji frankly shrugged and shook her head. "If it were me in Alter form, I might be able to find a way, but it's definitely impossible now."

As for Kaito Kuroba—it's a bit of a stretch to expect him to deal with the shark. Judging from his ashen face in the corner of the room, he'd probably be trembling with fear if he weren't afraid of losing face.

But he still stubbornly insisted for a moment, muttering something like, "Quickly use your invincible magic to think of a solution," but after glancing at the giant beast underwater again, he silently walked to a corner and squatted down, pretending to be an ostrich.

To be honest, Mason's bracelet actually contained dozens of kilograms of plastic explosives. Add to that the various weapons he bought through US military bases, and the fashionable toys Paracelsus had been making with the energy of Thor's Orb these past few days, and his total output was probably enough to collapse a building. But if he were to fight a monster movie boss at sea that was obviously much stronger in terms of size, there was still a risk of him going downhill.

As everyone knows, when facing giant monsters or similar creatures, weapon-based attacks are usually destined to fail. After all, the opportunity to show off should be left to hero units or giant robots. Bombs and such can just be used for atmosphere and fireworks.

"What should we do then?"

Mason scratched his head, his expression turning serious: "Shall we find other divine orbs first, increase our damage output, and then challenge this boss?"

Although he wasn't particularly obsessed with the Divine Pearl, his wristwatch, which served as a mission indicator, did provide some guidance. Besides, it was an extremely powerful supernatural artifact, so getting his hands on it first wouldn't be a problem.

However, this seems to involve a rather awkward problem—just like how I can't bring Kuroishi Kasumi into the Detective Conan world to go on a rampage, if I don't plan to stay in the Detective Conan world for the rest of my life, then even if I collect all the Divine Orbs, there will still be the question of whether I can take them with me. This is really discouraging, and just thinking about it makes me want to give up.

And—what if we end up with the Spirit Origin Shadow stuck in the Detective Conan world and unable to be retrieved? That would be a wasted opportunity to call for reinforcements.

For him, this is the most pressing problem that needs to be solved.

"anyway----"

Paracelsus cautiously maneuvered the puppet toward the tentacle shark, saying, "It's unwise to stay in the water. Let's head ashore first. I'll send the puppet up to try and get the Water God's Pearl. If we anger this beast—no, this monster—we won't be at a disadvantage because of the terrain."

Before he finished speaking, Kaito Kuroba rushed to the helm, stepped on the gas, and steered the boat toward the shore. It was clear that this phantom thief, who suffered from a severe phobia of fish, was really unwilling to stay there.

Underwater, the puppet was slowly swimming towards the tentacle shark.

It was probably asleep, its eyes covered by nictitating membranes, its tentacles swaying slightly as it hovered over the coral reef—unlike the ghost sharks around it, it was clearly a creature with a physical form. The seabed sand stirred up by its tentacles made the nearby water seem to be shrouded in a thin layer of white mist, creating an unsettling feeling that a boss was about to appear.

"Hmm—if I'm not mistaken, it must have only recently arrived in this area."

Paracelsus stroked his chin and said, "This area is still in shallow waters. Such a huge creature couldn't have remained unknown for so long. The only explanation is that it just appeared in this area recently, and like those ghost sharks that roam around, it hasn't had a chance to be discovered yet."

It has only recently appeared in this area—or rather, it has only recently come into this world.

After all, he was a visitor from outside the world, so Mason naturally thought of this aspect.

Ultimately, he gained the opportunity to come to the Conan world by contacting the "Void." Back in the Marvel world, there had already been an incident where Homelander was beaten up by the X-Men, which fully demonstrates that creatures from different worlds can visit each other through the Void. So, it's not particularly surprising that "a super shark from a low-budget horror movie traveled to the world of Detective Conan," is it?

I understand now. My life is an infinite flow story.

But this seems to be a bit troublesome.

As we all know, the biggest advantage of a time traveler like Mei is his foresight into the plot. However, if this kind of random intervention becomes too common, the plot will naturally become chaotic, and his advantage will disappear.

—Although I had anticipated this, I didn't expect that it wouldn't just be the Marvel Universe that would suffer.

While Mason was struggling with his problem, the puppet had already reached the edge of the tentacle shark's tentacles.

I touched it a few times, but there was no response.

That makes sense. After all, this puppet is only about the size of a sea fish, while the tentacle shark is as tall as a five or six-story building just from the shark part alone. In comparison, it's like having an ant crawl on you while you're sleeping. It's normal not to notice.

That's when things started to get interesting.

At this moment, Mason and the others had already seen the coastline. Kaito Kuroba accelerated and headed towards the dock, while Paracelsus made the puppet swim upwards, slowly reaching the tip of the tentacle shark's nose and reaching out towards the Water God Pearl embedded in its skin.

Whether I can beat this guy or not is another matter, but I can definitely grab the stuff and run.

----perhaps?

The group, who had already returned to shore, found a secluded spot and huddled together to continue watching the Paracelsus broadcast. They watched as the puppet reached out and touched the Water God Orb, then tried to take it down—but it hadn't even taken it down yet.

In an instant, the Water God Pearl vanished.

Because the tentacle shark's body suddenly started moving!

The water flow became turbulent due to its movement, and the puppet was tossed more than ten meters away, spinning like toilet paper. After it stabilized, everyone saw the huge monster open its eyes and look around.

The puppet, only the size of an adult's forearm, seemed to go unnoticed. So after a while, the tentacle shark returned to the coral reef, closed its nictitating membrane again, and fell into a new period of slumber.

"Hmm, it doesn't look too optimistic."

Paracelsus shrugged and said, "It's much more perceptive than I thought."

"Looks like it's an efficiency issue?" Mason stroked his chin. "If we just move faster, we can pry the bead off and run away, right?"

"No, that won't work."

Paracelsus shook his head: "In that brief moment, I realized a slightly troublesome problem."

Okita Souji glanced at him sideways and remarked, "Keeping yourself in suspense like this will only get you beaten up."

"Things should always be discussed step by step," Paracelsus said, spreading his hands again. "But if you want the conclusion right away, that's fine too. In short, I planted a 'Beast Conversation' spell in the puppet, which I learned from Mr. Geronimo. The instant I made contact, I tried to peek into the monster's mind, and the result was terrible—it wasn't peacefully asleep. Its mind was filled with a raging bloodlust. Once the time is right, it will surely unleash a bloodbath on this sea."

"That's such a typical B-movie plot—"

Mason's lips twitched a few times: "So what does 'the opportune moment' mean in this 'the opportune moment'?"

"It's growing," Paracelsus replied. "It's absorbing the power of that divine orb, accumulating strength, and expanding its size—do I need to say more?"

"Huh? Then we're doomed!" Kaito Kuroba clutched his head, striking a pose reminiscent of the famous painting "The Scream." "I don't want to see this! I don't want to see this!"

"So it's not actually the guardian of the Divine Orb, right?" Mason sighed and raised this crucial question.

"That's right, logically speaking, it should be a plunderer," a classic scenario of enriching oneself by seizing the power of treasures.

"Then things become simple!"

Mason stood up, rolled up his sleeves, put his hands on his hips, and said, "Beat the hell up!"

"Um—I don't want to be too rude," Okita Souji smiled awkwardly, "Master, are you sure we're the ones initiating the conversation and not the ones being attacked?"

"While sharks that are more than ten stories tall are indeed powerful, the arsenals of US military bases are not necessarily a disadvantage."

Mason snapped his fingers: "Now that we know the boss is growing stronger, if we don't take it down now, it'll be even more troublesome later."

"Huh?" Kaito Kuroba leaned over. "Aren't you guys magicians? Why are you bringing up the US military?"

"A magician is a magician, and a country bumpkin is a country bumpkin. Don't confuse them." Mason made an "X" with his arms and continued, "Actually, we could start fighting right now, but this area isn't some deserted zone. If a monster were to cause trouble, it would inevitably lead to some unnecessary casualties."

As he was speaking, his voice suddenly paused.

Everyone else also focused their attention on the magic projection.

It wasn't that the tentacle shark had started moving again, but rather that something inexplicable had suddenly appeared next to the puppet.

A strange pink creature with a round body, its overall outline looked like a mascot that had jumped out of a cartoon, with a strangely funny aura. As soon as it appeared, it started waving its arms and legs at the puppet, as if it was trying to convey some message, but because it was too abstract, none of the people present could understand it.

"What is this thing now? — Wait a minute."

Mason had just made a comment when he noticed another striking feature of this guy.

—It has a neat "当" character on its forehead.

And this appearance—it seems a bit familiar?

After searching his memory, Mason suddenly realized something.

Among the many divine orbs in "Yahoo!", the "Dragon God Orb" is the most unique one besides the Dragon God Orb. It was transformed from an ancient sea god clam, can move freely, has intelligence equal to that of a human, and possesses a lot of information related to the Dragon God Orb—basically, it's similar to the mascot that magical girls carry around.

If I'm not mistaken, the abstract thing in front of the puppet is the so-called prize jewel.

"What is this pinkish thing?"

Kaito Kuroba scratched his head.

He has basically given up on treatment. Ever since Hongzi's incident, almost everything he has seen has challenged his cognition and values. The pride that belongs to Kaito Kid has inevitably been tainted with a sense of complaining and giving up.

I'm tired. Let it all end. There's nothing left to fear.

With this mindset, nothing can hurt him except for sharks with long tentacles.

"I think I understand what's going on."

Mason raised his head: "Hohenheim, let the puppet rise to the surface; it probably wants to tell us something."

Paracelsus calmly complied, and the next moment, he made the puppet raise its arm upwards and then made it swim towards the sea.

The prize jewel paused for a moment, then immediately followed.

A moment later, the two little things floated to the surface of the sea. Before the puppet could express anything with its body language, the prize ball rushed over again, dancing and waving its arms—this time accompanied by a melodious voice.

"Are you some kind of magician's creation? Are you here to find the Water God Pearl?" The Pearl cut to the chase. "Don't mess with this damned fish; it's terrifying! Ordinary magic is like a tickle to it! You don't want to be torn to shreds by its half-meter-long teeth, do you?"

The puppet pointed to its stone head, waved its hand and shook its head, then pointed towards the dock on the shore.

"What do you mean?"

The jewel paused for a moment, then understood: "You mean your master is over there?"

The puppet nodded.

When the jewel suddenly realized what was happening, it began to swing its tiny arms and legs, no bigger than an adult's finger, spinning it like a windmill and swimming towards the shore at an astonishing speed.

On the shore, Mason straightened up, removed his hands from his eyes, and instantly regenerated his missing left eye—doing so would cause the puppet's eyes to malfunction, but for now, that was no longer important.

As the top of the divine beads besides the Wind, Thunder, and Dragon God Beads, the prize bead is definitely more important than the Water God Bead. Since it has taken the initiative to appear, we should have a good chat with it.