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Half an hour later, Fina came out of the room alone. She flicked her finger on her clothes, and the clothes that had been soaked by Ai Haibara's tears instantly became clean.

Vernon sat on the sofa, his eyes following Fina as she walked toward him. He knew what Fina wanted to say, but he wouldn't agree without a valid reason.

Fina stood in front of Vernon, and the computer on her arm lit up, projecting a large amount of data in front of them.

"I just conducted a test on Ai Haibara, and the results show that her data in all aspects meet the standards for establishing an energy extraction array."

As Fina spoke, she pulled up the standard data for comparison. Although Ai Haibara's values ​​were not the best, they were all fluctuating around the good level.

"The only thing that doesn't meet the requirements is that the other party's current physical age is below the adult standard, but her current body is an abnormal rejuvenation caused by taking aptx-4869, which can be considered a special case."

"There are cases. Some teachers at the Clock Tower Psychic Academy chose to perform reverse psychic communication with their own bodies, thereby indirectly prolonging their lifespan, restoring their energy, and incidentally completing a research project."

"After successfully communicating with spirits, a small number of teachers were deemed minors by the teaching process because their physical age was below the adult standard due to improper spellcasting, and were thus deprived of their teaching rights."

"These teachers, who had gone too far in trying to rejuvenate themselves, jointly appealed and ultimately succeeded in amending some of the regulations. The amendments are as follows..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Vernon quickly called for a halt, looking at the incredibly professional data and case comparisons. He had studied Druid-related knowledge, which, although belonging to the magical side, was as different as the difference between physics and mathematics.

"I'll ask you one thing: are you sure that without her experiences, you would also consider the same person in front of you to be a suitable target?" Vernon asked seriously.

Frank, who couldn't understand the data at all, sat to one side and gave Haibara a wry smile through the crack in the door. If his daughter hadn't suffered the accident, she would be about the same age as her now.

"I swear on the honor of a mage and on the glory of the Ouroboros! I have never put my empathy above the mission!" Fina said just as seriously.

She can be overly empathetic at times, but she can still judge what's more important. If Ai Haibara didn't actually meet the criteria, she wouldn't have applied to Vernon to reveal her identity as a magician, let alone try to fulfill Ai Haibara's wish.

“Okay, then I agree.” Vernon didn’t hesitate. Why not do something that’s a win-win situation?

Fina laughed and patted Vernon; she knew the captain would agree.

Frank, standing next to her, also waved his little fist at Ai Haibara as if he were teasing a child.

"Frank, what's your opinion?" Vernon knew the outcome, but the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

"I agree." Frank sat up straight, his face returning to the cold expression he had when they first met.

"Yay!" Fina waved at Ai Haibara.

"Don't be so happy yet." Vernon glanced at the two girls with a hint of helplessness. "Do you know any soul magic? Or do you know any psychic magic? Besides, it's hard to say whether your soul has dissipated after being dead for so long."

"And even if you manage to gather the souls by sheer luck, where will you put them? The resurrection array inside the cabin has locked down our soul fluctuations, so don't even think about making any moves."

“No, I won’t touch anything in the shuttle.” Fina frowned as she pondered.

“When I took general courses before, I learned some basic principles of necromancy. The magical fluctuations in this world are gentle, and there are no places like Hell or Heaven to receive souls, nor are there any administrators of the dead like the Grim Reaper, so I think I can give it a try.”

"As for the time of death, the timeline of this world is so chaotic, with three small earthquakes a day and a big earthquake every three days. Under such circumstances, it's no problem to celebrate dozens of Valentine's Days a year. So maybe her sister has only just passed away?"

"Finally, as for where to place it, see if it can be transformed into a ghost that can exist for a long time. If that doesn't work, try a bound spirit. If that still doesn't work, set up a soul-nourishing array to buy some time. If that still doesn't work, see if there's a recently deceased corpse to borrow as a shell. If that still doesn't work, Captain, lend me a seed!"

“So many ‘what ifs’… the success rate probably won’t be high…” Vernon said, looking at Ai Haibara. He was afraid that Fina would be repaid with ingratitude, and if Ai Haibara started causing trouble, it would indeed be quite troublesome if things went according to procedure.

Ai Haibara opened the door and looked at everyone seriously. "I am willing to take all risks and responsibilities. Whether I succeed or not, the responsibility has nothing to do with Fina!"

“Alright then.” Vernon had no reason to object. He leaned back on the sofa and asked one last question, “So, who knows where her sister died?”

Fina looked at Ai Haibara, who raised her hand. "Gin and his henchman Vodka, they definitely know."

“No, we can’t go looking for them on our own initiative, nor can we use magic to spy on them. That would violate the rules,” Fina said, shaking her head. “So, if we’re getting information from outsiders, it can only be done if they’re willing.”

Ai Haibara frantically searched for anyone who might know the location of her sister's death and would cooperate with her. Suddenly, she remembered a name, a name she had deliberately changed from missing to dead.

"Shinichi Kudo!" Ai Haibara blurted out after a moment's hesitation.

This was the person she wanted to find this time.

"Shinichi Kudo?"

While Fina was pondering, Frank had already pulled up the newspaper information about Shinichi Kudo. On the surface, Shinichi Kudo was currently missing.

"He's missing," Frank said. The current state of the internet is very poor, and information is very incomplete, so relying solely on online information, they simply cannot find this person who has disappeared in the public eye.

“It’s not that he’s missing, he’s shrunk, just like me,” Ai Haibara said. “When I checked his house, I found that all his childhood clothes had disappeared.”

Frank quickly started working, pulling up several blurry security cameras near Shinichi Kudo, and then searching through Shinichi's public network of relationships, eventually pinpointing a small child who had suddenly appeared at Professor Agasa's house.

"Edogawa Conan." Frank announced Conan's name while projecting the image, then imported Conan's image into the system. The system's answer was that the two were photos of the same person at different ages.

After finding the person, Frank activated the optical detection system on the shuttle, which, in conjunction with the smart lock function, located Conan's current location: Osaka.

Chapter 134 The Aura of Magic

On the drive to Osaka, Ai Haibara had fallen into a deep sleep due to the constant back and forth between surprise and joy. Her brown hair swayed gently in the breeze in Fina's arms, and a smile played on her lips, as if she could already see her sister.

"Captain, why did you come along? If we're just going to ask the shrunken detective, we don't need so many people. Frank and I should be enough, right? Don't you need to adjust the natural energy of this world?" Fina asked quietly from the back seat.

“It can’t be adjusted.” Vernon snapped his fingers as he spoke, and a light pollen fell onto Ai Haibara’s face. Under the influence of the pollen, she slept even more soundly.

"Although the natural energy in the space near my home seems to have a stable overall distribution and quantity, it is actually constantly changing its spatial coordinates over time. To understand it, I need to know the pattern of its coordinate transformation."

Vernon glanced back at Ai Haibara in Fina's arms. "She's one of the coordinates. If Conan Edogawa is one too, then the pattern will be easier to find."

“aptx-4869, you mean we have to find everyone who took this drug and shrunk?” Fina asked. “According to Ai Haibara, the so-called Black Organization has been using this drug for a long time, and there may be quite a few people shrunk by it, possibly scattered in every corner of this planet. How are we going to find them?”

"Try looking for it," Vernon replied, turning his head back. The matter of natural energy was more related to the establishment of the collective consciousness of this planet than to their extraction of energy. So, to be honest, if he really couldn't find it, Vernon wouldn't go to the trouble of running all over the world. At most, he would just report the matter when he returned to the Clock Tower.

Several tens of minutes later, as Frank drove his car, equipped with a clock tower-themed high-tech feature, into Osaka via a side road, Heiji Hattori and Conan's group arrived at Tsutenkaku Tower.

Throughout the journey, Heiji Hattori explained the upcoming itinerary to Conan and the others.

"Hey, Abdomen, why did you call me to Osaka?"

After spending half a day exploring Tsutenkaku Tower, Kogoro Mouri, bored, went to the side to smoke, and Conan timely pulled Heiji Hattori aside.

Just as Hattori Heiji was about to explain, he suddenly felt a gaze fixed on him. He turned to look out the window and saw Frank leaning on the railing on the other side of the rooftop.

Of course, there were other people around Frank, but Frank, who was always dressed in black, attracted too much attention.

"Hey, Kudo, that guy over there seems to be watching us the whole time," Hattori Heiji said, pointing at the other side.

"Huh? Where?" Conan stood on tiptoe and looked across, but saw nothing.

“It was right there.” Heiji Hattori turned his head back and found that Frank was no longer there. “Huh? He’s gone.”

“Fina, what’s wrong? Knowing the nature of those detectives, if I keep watching a little longer, they should come over on their own,” Frank asked Fina, who had pulled him back.

"Something's not right. I don't know if you guys noticed, but I sensed a faint scent of magic from that Conan. It was very faint, not from the caster or the victim, but more like someone who had been in close contact with the victim."

Fina was a little unsure if her perception was wrong. She had just checked the data on the shuttle again, and the magical energy was generally stable, which did not seem like a world with a caster present.

"Magic?" Frank said, looking at Ai Haibara.

"It wasn't her, nor was it the drug. This is the first time I've sensed the taste of magic. The waters of this world may be deeper than we imagine."

Fina said with some concern, because she had read similar records in ancient books. Some worlds appear to be normal on the surface, but there may be some terrible existences hidden in the shadows. If the investigators of those worlds make a mistake, the destruction of the world may be imminent.

Frank and Vernon didn't sense anything, but since Fina had spoken, they were both on high alert. As for Ai Haibara, all she wanted to do now was find Conan and find out what was going on.

On the top of the Tsutenkaku Tower, Hattori Heiji and Conan searched for a long time but couldn't find the person who had been watching them.

Conan rolled his eyes at Heiji Hattori. "Hattori, are you seeing things?"

Heiji Hattori remained adamant, “Absolutely not. That person’s clothes were very distinctive; he was dressed entirely in black in the middle of summer. How could I possibly be mistaken?”

All in black? Two people flashed through Conan's mind: Gin and Vodka, whom he had met at the amusement park not long ago.

"Where! Where!" Conan jumped up and leaned on the railing, turning around in all directions.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?!" Heiji Hattori was a little puzzled by Conan's sudden agitation.

"Conan! Don't lean on the railing! It's dangerous!" Ran came over and picked Conan up.

"I'm sorry, Ran-neechan." Conan barely maintained his persona, then whispered in Heiji Hattori's ear, "Those who shrunk me were also dressed in black."

"What?!" Hattori Heiji was jolted awake, the nightmare from a few days ago flashing through his mind.

"Sorry, sorry, Heiji-kun, I'm here." Sakata Yusuke jogged over, startling Hattori Heiji, who was still a little dazed.

Hattori Heiji roused himself and continued following the procedure, leading Sakata and the others to the next location. If the man in black was indeed a member of the Black Organization as Conan had mentioned, his current abnormal behavior was dangerous and could easily implicate others.

As Ran Mouri left Tsutenkaku, she glanced back and felt as if someone unfriendly was watching her from behind.

Inside the police car, Kogoro Mouri was completely bewildered. Who takes people out for fun in a police car? What kind of hospitality is this?

But looking left and right, Kogoro Mouri realized that he was the only one with a strong reaction, so he couldn't say anything.

Actually, Ran Mouri and Conan were also quite uncomfortable, but they were both thinking about other things so they didn't show it.

Sakata Yusuke gave Hattori Heiji a strange look. Wasn't he supposed to be entertaining close guests? Why hadn't he said a word since getting in the car? This wasn't like the usual Hattori Heiji.

Can Hattori Heiji still be his own witness in this state? If things continue like this, we might have to change our plans.

With everyone in the car preoccupied with their own thoughts, the car slowly drove toward a ramen shop that Hattori Heiji had planned to visit. Not far behind, two other cars were following them: one was Frank's car, and the other was a taxi.

In the front passenger seat of the taxi, a beautiful young woman took deep breaths to calm her surging emotions, while the taxi driver next to her, both gossipy and indignant, managed to keep up with the police car that Hattori Heiji and his companions were riding in, relying solely on his driving skills.

Chapter 135 Ran Mouri: What Does It Mean to Be the Chosen One? (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Qingheyue)

Inside the ramen shop, Ran Mouri temporarily forgot about the strange feeling she had just experienced in front of the delicious food and enjoyed the food in her bowl.

But the moment she put down the soup bowl, Ran Mouri felt that bone-chilling cold again. She looked back at the crowd behind her and saw that everyone was eating, and there was no one suspicious.

Kogoro Mouri noticed something was wrong with his daughter. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly felt a chill." Ran Mouri said, glancing towards Conan. "Any of you...?"

At this moment, Conan and Heiji Hattori were looking in another direction.

Hattori Heiji: "He wasn't just passing by; he came specifically to see us."

Conan: "That's right."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Kogoro Mouri was completely confused. This trip hadn't been a good experience for him. Being in a police car was one thing, but why were these guys all acting like riddle-solving people?

"It's nothing, Ran-neechan, Uncle Mori, Heiji-nii and I are going out for a bit. Please wait for us here."

Conan jumped off the bar stool and ran out with Heiji Hattori.

After running to the store entrance, the two began to quickly search for Frank's figure on the street, while Frank deliberately left them with his back turned as he turned into an alley.

A few minutes later, someone suddenly sat down next to Ran Mouri in the ramen shop.

"Excuse me, this seat is taken," Ran Mouri said.