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

Chapter 78 A World with Too Many Elements

Entering the house was a very simple process.

The invincible phantom thief Kid picked the lock in just a few seconds. If it weren't for the fact that he was holding a bent wire, Mason would have thought he had a key. This is probably what it means to specialize in one's profession. If it were him, he could only use Newton's magic to open a hole in the door or window (physical). Although he could still get in, the attention he would attract would definitely be on a completely different level.

The two entered the room one after the other. Kaito Kuroba was clearly not a first-timer; he walked into the living room with practiced ease, sat down on the sofa, and crossed his legs, saying, "It seems that Akako hasn't returned to that magician over there. If you can find any clues, please feel free to do so."

"Then let me give it a try."

Mason rolled up his sleeves and pretended to look around, but in reality he was focusing his attention on his watch.

Hey bro, give her some help! Since Koizumi Akako really does have magic, even if we don't expect her to carry us through the game, she can at least be a valuable asset in our support lineup, right?

Mason stared at the watch face, while Kaito Kuroba continued talking non-stop.

"So, what exactly is your relationship with Hongzi?" he asked. "As far as I know, she doesn't seem to have many friends; on the contrary, she probably has quite a few enemies. So, which side are you on?"

"Neither of them," Mason replied casually. "The world is in crisis, and I'm here to find her to help save it."

"Huh?" Kaito Kuroba was taken aback. "What kind of joke is this?"

"Think whatever you want, even if you think I'm actually—"

Just as Mason was about to give a casual reply, the watch face on his wrist suddenly emitted a faint glow.

A few luminous particles gathered in mid-air and were attracted to the dial. Then, a slender hand that looked like a second hand materialized on the dial and pointed in a certain direction.

"?!"

Mason's wrist twitched instinctively, and even this small movement caused the newly appeared luminous hands to shake.

He frowned and tried to move his position.

The hands of the watch immediately rotated a distance that would have taken about one or two hours.

It seems there's only one answer—the target it points to is very close by.

Mason drew his pistol from his belt and strode toward that direction.

"What is it actually?" Before Kaito Kuroba could ask further, he saw Mason suddenly move forward.

"Have you found anything?"

He sprang up from the sofa and followed Mason across the living room, kitchen, and stairwell, before entering the backyard of the house through the back door.

After walking to a spot in the southeast corner of the lawn, the clock hands started spinning much faster, rotating 180 degrees with every step—it seemed this was the destination.

But there was nothing unusual about the lawn; the soil was ordinary black soil, and the grass was ordinary rye grass. You couldn't tell anything from the surface.

"Is it down there?"

Mason made a deduction, then immediately turned to Kaito Kuroba and asked, "Did you find any mechanism that could open the lawn when you came here before?"

"Huh? There's nothing like that here." Kaito Kuroba shook his head firmly. "There's no secret room, no traps, it's just an ordinary house. There are some animal carcasses and the like preserved in jars in the storeroom, but Akako is a magician, so that's normal."

"Then it seems we have no choice but to use the brute force method."

Mason clicked his tongue. "Is there a shovel here?"

Kaito Kuroba blinked: "—Yes, I do. What do you want to do?"

"Of course, we need to dig out the clues." Mason waved his hand. "Hurry up, get the shovels over, and then we'll dig this area up together."

A dozen minutes later, a large hole appeared on the lawn.

Because digging is actually very strenuous, Kaito Kuroba was already exhausted a few dozen seconds ago and was now lying on the lawn panting heavily, while Mason was digging with great efficiency, his shovel kicking up a large swath of soil with each shovel, and soon he had dug a large pit half a person deep.

Unlike healing external injuries such as fractures, the energy consumption for breaking down lactic acid and healing ruptured muscle fibers is very small. According to Mason's estimate, he could work at this efficiency for at least three days without sleep before collapsing from exhaustion.

"I—now believe you are a magician—"

Kaito Kuroba, breathless, said, "Humans could never do something like this—"

"This is nothing!"

Mason pursed his lips and continued working at a rate of about one shovel every two seconds. From the outside, he appeared to be "sinking" at a speed visible to the naked eye, while the mound outside was rising rapidly.

A few minutes later, he had completely sunk below the horizon.

Another shovel was used, but after passing through a thin layer of damp, soft soil, the shovel suddenly struck something hard.

"?"

Mason frowned, then used a shovel to clear away the loose soil around him, revealing a large, grayish mass.

"Stone?"

Is it underground rock?

With that thought in mind, he poked the rock twice with his shovel. In the next instant, the rock, which should have chipped the shovel, collapsed. With a loud crash, the hole Mason had dug quickly experienced a "collapse," expanding considerably. Unable to escape in time, Mason fell in, soil and rocks all at once.

And less than two seconds later, it stepped onto a new "ground".

Mason straightened up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and looked around. It was pitch black, but judging from the light coming in from above, he had probably fallen into a wide "passage".

An underground cave?

Before Mason could figure it out, Kaito Kuroba, who had been startled by the commotion, hurriedly poked his head out from outside.

"What's going on?!"

"Who knows?" Mason looked up and replied, "Maybe it's an illegal underground structure in the witch's house?"

As he spoke, he squinted and looked around, then let out a loud whistle.

Several seconds passed before the echo reached his ears.

It seems that this illegal underground structure is quite large.

The good news is that there are no fireballs or falling rocks as security features, so it shouldn't be considered dangerous.

Mason glanced down at the dial, only to find that the glowing hand had disappeared.

—What's this? Did the navigation system automatically shut down after we entered the mission area?

He scratched his head, stepped down from the mound, and onto the hard stone floor.

To explore this place, you'll need some light—but that's not a problem. If you activate the light energy within your body, you'll be able to glow. Don't ask, it's magic.

Immediately afterward, a lithe figure leaped down from the cave, landing on the mound of earth in a superhero-like fashion. Then, looking around at the vast, dark space with astonishment, the figure exclaimed, "Wow, you're really something, Hongzi! There's even something like this under your house! How did you even dig it out? The city hall wouldn't approve this kind of project, would they? Is this some kind of magic?"

As he spoke, he casually tossed something about the size of a palm to Mason.

Mason took it and saw that it was a metal flashlight with a high-powered beam. It felt very high-quality in his hand, and he figured that in addition to lighting, it would also be a good choice to use as a throwing weapon.

Looks like I don't need to rack my brains anymore.

Mason turned on the flashlight and shone it in front and behind him.

It was indeed a rock cave, but its shape was so uniform that it looked as if it had been created using a tunnel boring machine—magic, it must be magic.

Behind them—that is, away from Koizumi Akako's house—is a straight road, and you can see all the way to the end with a flashlight.

The road ahead stretched on endlessly, and no one knew where it led.

"Looks like we have to head this way—"

Mason took a breath and began to walk forward—actually, he was quite afraid that some powerful magical anti-theft measure would suddenly appear and knock him down, but considering his pride, he had to put on a nonchalant act even if it meant forcing himself to.

Anyway, there's still about five-sevenths of the light energy left, enough to use as several resurrection coins.

"So, this is how we find Hongzi?"

After taking a couple of steps, Kaito Kuroba asked Mason, "So, how did you find this place? Is it... some kind of magic?"

Whether other things are magic is hard to say, but this trick of finding a way might really count.

Of course, it was difficult to say such a thing, so Mason shrugged and gave a "whatever you want to think" look: "I just found a suspicious place. As for whether Koizumi Akako is hiding here, we'll only know after searching the whole place."

Even a fool could guess that Kaito Kuroba didn't trust him at all, and only chose to cooperate because he had no other choice. That's why he was so quiet and reserved compared to his personality. He probably spent most of his energy being on guard, so he didn't have time to be sarcastic.

However, it was obviously impossible to keep this stubborn chatterbox quiet the whole way. After a dozen seconds of silence, he couldn't help but find a way to start the conversation and said, "Speaking of which, I haven't asked your name yet."

"Mason," Mason replied, "I was wondering when you would remember this."

"Don't mind me, the following questions are just to satisfy my curiosity."

Kaito Kuroba scratched his head and said, "Magicians—they must be very rare, right? I've practically stolen from all over Japan, and I've only ever seen two magicians, Akako and you—are they intentionally avoiding human society, like in Harry Potter?"

Who would understand this?

Mason, who had only confirmed the existence of magicians in this Detective Conan world a little over an hour ago, obviously couldn't answer such a question. But saying nothing would be too awkward, so after a quick brainstorming session, he decided to use his traditional skill of making up nonsense to come up with something on the spot.

Please do not lump all magicians together.

Mason shrugged and said casually, "People like Koizumi Akako, whose family lineage is so long, are the elite in the magic world. They can do all sorts of things, from hypnosis and divination to casting fireballs. I, on the other hand, am more focused. I put all my skill points into life force, and I make up for the rest with modern technology."

As he spoke, he pulled out a gun from his waist and brandished it: "Look, magicians are just humans who know some special tricks. Generally speaking, they will die if their heads are blown off by a bullet. When they travel far, they don't ride brooms but buy plane tickets. When they are hungry, they order takeout instead of conjuring an apple out of thin air. It's not as exaggerated as most people imagine."

—At least the world should be like this—right?

Mei, who had been forced to flee across universes by the Chaos [Magic], thought to himself with a guilty conscience.

"That's not entirely unreasonable—"

Kaito Kuroba stroked his chin, accepting Mason's explanation, and then pressed on, "So, what exactly did you come to see Akako for?"

"Saving the world, didn't I just say that?" Mason said frankly.

Kaito Kuroba blinked: "—Wasn't that a joke?"

Mason asked, puzzled, "Why do you think it was a joke?"

"Are you serious?"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you," Mason replied casually, and continued on his way.

But this attitude is actually more believable than putting on a serious expression like a priest listening to confession.

Even Kaito Kid had a slight doubt in his heart: "Is what this guy is saying true?"

"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

He swallowed hard and shook his head instinctively, but didn't dare to deny it entirely.

After walking for a while, the two saw a dim, luminous green light around a bend in the road ahead.

They stopped simultaneously, exchanged a knowing glance, and after a moment, Kaito Kuroba said somewhat uneasily, "There shouldn't be any traps ahead that could turn people into frogs or mermaids, right?"

Thanks, bro. You've really scared me too. After all, those two things do sound like the kind of ruthless things a witch would do.

Even self-healing abilities wouldn't help with this kind of thing—

Considering his own safety, Mason immediately abandoned the idea of ​​taking the spot as the T, and said righteously, "Well—this is not within my scope of business, but I think it might be more appropriate for you to go and take a look."

Having deeply felt the malice hidden beneath Koizumi Akako's beautiful appearance, Kaito Kuroba broke out in a cold sweat, then frantically shook his head and waved his hands, saying, "Huh? Why? Shouldn't it be that everyone has their own expertise?"

"Doesn't that woman like you? Even if you're turned into a frog, you'll be back to normal as soon as you find her!"

"What decent person wants to be a frog?! You discovered this place! The right to explore it first is obviously yours!"

In just a few words, the two men engaged in an ugly struggle for their lives, and the conflict quickly escalated to the point where they were about to draw their guns at the slightest provocation.

"you go!"

"you go!"

After this simple, meaningless, and somewhat idiotic dialogue was repeated several times, Kaito Kuroba suddenly had a brilliant idea. He patted his chest and said, "Let's play rock-paper-scissors! Whoever loses goes!"

"How dare you, a magician, say such a thing?!"

Mason sneered, rummaged in his pocket a few times, took out the change he'd received from buying things earlier, picked out a coin, and then raised his head and said, "Heads I'll take, tails you take. Any problem?"

"How dare you, a magician, say such a thing?!"

Kaito Kuroba changed one word of Mason's previous words and returned them to him. At this point, the conflict had reached an irreconcilable point. So the two of them turned fierce and prepared to pounce on each other to determine who was better and who was worse—sorry for the mistake, anyway, after they got close enough to each other, Kaito Kuroba pulled out a large white cloth from somewhere and slapped it over their hands.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" ×2

After making his move, Kaito Kuroba ripped off the white cloth, revealing that he had thrown a punch while Mason had thrown a cloth.

"No way!!!"

"A bet's a bet, so please." Mason said, shrugging.

"whispering sound."

Kaito Kuroba tucked the white cloth around his waist, and the thing vanished without a trace. Mason also realized that it was probably a cloak or something from the Phantom Thief Kid outfit. He didn't expect it could be taken apart and used separately. This top magician in the industry is indeed skilled.

Then, with the mindset of going to a funeral, Kaito Kuroba slowly moved towards the glowing corner. For safety, Mason kept a distance of about five meters from him, watching him step by step into the area illuminated by the green light.

That said, from a scientific point of view, this color of light seems to have some radiation potential.

His mind raced, and outrageous ideas like "the witch of Ekoda is hiding dirty bombs underground in the town" came to mind.

A few seconds later, he heard Kaito Kuroba's sharp, explosive sound.

"iiiii guest guest guest guest guest, 'Hmm?'"

Mason quickly peeked out and found that Kaito Kuroba, whose body was crackling with electricity, lay stiffly on the ground, his legs twitching uncontrollably—he didn't seem to be dead, but he must have suffered terribly.

Is there really a security measure in place?

Mason swallowed hard and looked at the place where Kaito Kuroba had suffered.

It was made up of a large expanse of luminous crystals, reminiscent of the concept of an "altar".

Let's call it the Crystal Altar for now.

"Hey, is he dead yet?" He cautiously stepped forward and poked Kaito Kuroba's shoulder with his toe.

"Hongzi—you just wait and see—"

Kaito Kuroba exhaled a puff of black smoke, then shakily got to his feet, his face full of vengeance, and said, "How dare you—"

"They really put such a vicious trap here—"

"So? How exactly did you get electrocuted?" Mason asked, keeping a little distance from him.

"I touched that bead—" Kaito Kuroba pointed to the altar, "Look, it's that one."

"bead?"

Mason peered out and immediately saw something that had been blocked by a few short crystal pillars from his previous vantage point.

It was a yellow bead about half the size of a fist, placed in a groove on the altar. It was semi-transparent and had a bright "thunder" character inside.