Conan, I'm an actor

"You're not late, are you?" Shinjo crawled straight into the machine, while the other three had already entered a deep sleep.

“The trial participants for the [Cocoon] have only just begun; it’s not too late for you to join now,” Karen said with some concern. “However, is it alright if all of you enter deep sleep? What if those people cause you trouble at this time…”

“I’ve had Curaçao keep watch outside, that’s not something you need to worry about.” Shinjo relaxed his whole body, and as the hypnotic gas inside the mask began to be infused, he also entered a deep sleep.

A moment later, he found himself in a completely blank world.

The next second, upon seeing the attire of his three companions, he felt his vision go black.

Koshimizu was wearing an extremely luxurious evening gown, while Sakata Yusuke and Okakura Masaaki were wearing GUTS uniforms, holding rifles in their hands and carrying rocket launchers on their backs.

"What are you planning to do?" Xincheng asked through gritted teeth.

“Miss Karen said this is a virtual world, and we can train here in the future, with completely realistic training,” Masaaki Okakura said. “I plan to practice my marksmanship. I used to practice in the organization, but I neglected it afterward. Now that I’ve betrayed the organization, I naturally need to pick up this survival skill again.”

Yusuke Sakata shrugged. "After this guy heard that you feel pain when you die, he pulled me along to cover him. I also felt that I needed to practice a bit; I wasn't very good with that rifle from last time."

It was only then that Shinjo noticed that the assault rifle in Sakata Yusuke's hand was the same one he had taken when they rescued Sherry last time. He immediately turned to look at Karen, who was standing to the side, and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

“I’ll equip you guys a bit,” Karen said with a smile. “That little guy’s script was to clear one of the five dungeons, but I’m going to modify it a bit and have you clear all five dungeon worlds.”

"You're a devil! They're just kids!" Xincheng gasped.

If he remembered correctly, of the five worlds, the other four were almost completely wiped out, with only Conan's world being cleared. Moreover, their team was only able to win because Hiroki held back, plus Ran's self-sacrifice.

Five consecutive high-difficulty dungeons—even with their help, very few would survive.

Just then, a long knife suddenly appeared in Karen's hand, which she threw directly to Shinjo.

Shinjo subconsciously took the knife, pulled it out of its sheath, and was instantly stunned. The knife was radiating an eerie red light, like a monster ready to devour its prey.

"This is……"

“I crafted this equipment myself,” Kallen said. “I named it the Muramasa Demon Blade, but it’s just a name, don’t worry about it.”

"Hey, hey, hey, this is too much! You give them rifles, but I only get a broken knife. Is this fair? I'm reporting you, you dog planner, for discriminating against me!" Xincheng said with some dissatisfaction.

"I added lifesteal, amplification attributes, and even bleeding, poison, paralysis, and frostbite effects to it," Karen said earnestly. "I added every attribute I could think of from online games."

Shinjo looked at the knife in his hand, then at Sakata Yusuke.

"Boss, why are you looking at me like that?" Sakata's face showed fear. "I feel like the hairs on the back of my head are standing on end."

"It's nothing." Shinjo gave up on the idea of ​​testing the knife on Sakata and turned to look at Karen. "What are you planning to do? You've even brought out this kind of cheating tool."

"I modified the Roman Colosseum theme a bit. Ordinary gladiators are too boring, so I added an ancient pantheon. Don't the Japanese love the idea of ​​gods versus mortals? The idea of ​​a mortal slaying a god is just so exciting."

"Um, Ms. Karen, if I remember correctly, you said before that today's game only has one life, right?" Masaaki Okakura asked timidly.

“That’s why I gave him this knife. At least he has the ability to turn the tide, doesn’t he?” Karen coughed.

"I bet you just wrote the data and then got too lazy to change it, or maybe you didn't have time to change it." Shinjo glanced at Karen, whose face was full of embarrassment.

“If we rewrite the data now, that kid might notice.” Karen shrugged. “Don’t worry, even if they all die, the kids won’t. I can take back control.”

“That’s not what I care about. What I really care about is how much you’ve changed?” Xincheng said with a headache. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed everything.”

"It's just an increase in some attributes. Alright, the game has started, so hurry up and get in."

Before Shinjo could react, colorful lights appeared in front of him. The next second, he landed on the deck, staring at the 406mm triple-mounted cannon in front of him, feeling a bit dazed.

Chapter 220 Pirate-Themed Opening

At this very moment, at Syndra's press conference, the scene had completely descended into chaos.

When they heard that the artificial intelligence Noah's Ark planned to kill all the children to break down the rigid class system, everyone went mad. Some couldn't resist rushing forward and were instantly electrocuted.

Tadahiro Kenmura's expression also changed; he hadn't expected Noah's Ark to implement such a terrifying plan.

He remembered what that guy had said. That guy called "New City" must have already sensed the existence of Noah's Ark, which is why he came out to warn him.

He could already imagine what kind of blow Syndra Corporation would face in the future, but he didn't care about any of that. He realized that the artificial intelligence "Noah's Ark" was Hiroki's virtual avatar.

In other words, Hiroki is not dead. That is to say, as long as the artificial intelligence is taken away, Hiroki is taken away as well.

But soon he realized a serious problem—no one would allow him to take Noah's Ark with him.

The future of artificial intelligence is bright, and many people are researching it. However, there are also many obstacles to the development of artificial intelligence, and their reason is the "machine crisis".

What Hiroki is doing now is no different from the Omnic Crisis. Those guys will not allow the existence of the Noah's Ark, and they will do everything they can to capture and destroy it afterward.

He walked quickly to the restroom and dialed the number on the business card, but no one answered the phone.

Just then, Noah's Ark had finished explaining the game rules and the five worlds within the game. However, just as the children were about to make their choices, the five paths suddenly moved and merged into one.

"What's going on?!" Conan looked at the path that was now only one way out, his expression somewhat embarrassed.

He originally wanted to go to 19th-century London, since he was very familiar with the area and had an intelligence advantage. He believed that as long as he obtained some clues, solving the Jack the Ripper case would not be difficult.

But now, it seems the situation has changed. Does this mean the world is randomly selected?

"Let's go, Conan." Ran took a deep breath. "We can't show weakness now."

“Okay, Ran-neechan.” Conan instantly understood what Ran meant.

These are all children, and the one and a half high school students are the most likely to pass the level. With that thought in mind, he rallied his spirits and prepared to enter the portal in front of him.

There were still a dozen or so children at the scene who clearly weren't going to enter the portal; they were waiting, waiting for their parents to rescue them. In their eyes, their parents were omnipotent, so they were sure their parents would find a way to get them out.

On the big screen, the helpless looks of these children caused their parents great distress.

Someone rushed in to try and rescue their child, but ended up getting seriously electrocuted and had to be taken away by ambulance. And that guy called Noah's Ark even threatened that he wouldn't hold back next time.

"Aren't you going to choose yet? The countdown starts now. Anyone who hasn't entered the instance by now will be eliminated in 60 seconds." Noah's Ark's voice rang out again.

This time, the children dared not hesitate any longer and rushed into the portal in front of them, fearing that they would be eliminated.

Conan and Ran, who were standing in line at the entrance, were swept along by the crowd and entered the light gate. The moment they entered, they smelled a foul odor.

"What's that smell? It's so stinky!" Mitsuhiko said, covering his nose and looking uncomfortable.

"The stench of a corpse," Conan said seriously. "And it's the stench of a corpse that's been dead for many days... This is!"

They are now on a ship, on which lie dozens of corpses. These corpses have obviously been dead for some time, and many of them are giants.

"This is..." Xiao Lan felt a churning in her stomach, and then she leaned over the ship's side and vomited violently.

Conan took out a piece of burlap and examined some of the corpses. Most of the corpses were incomplete, and many of them had been pecked at by seabirds.

"Conan, what are you looking at?" Ayumi asked, a little scared, as she hid to the side and looked at Conan's serious expression.

"Why are you guys standing so far away? This is a game, not the real world. Relax," Conan said, somewhat exasperated.

"Even if it's a game, this is a bit too realistic," Genta said somewhat timidly.

“This must be the pirate theme Noah’s Ark was talking about. Looks like we’re not so lucky.” Conan picked up a chipped knife and said, “These corpses must be dead pirates. They must have just been in a naval battle, and we are the survivors.”

"Where are the others?" Xiaolan asked, somewhat puzzled. "What about the children who came in with us?"

"Look over there, they must have been teleported to another ship," Mitsuhiko said, pointing to a pirate ship in the distance.

The pirate ship was in even worse shape than the one they were standing on; flames were still burning on its hull, and its mast had fallen over, making it seem like it was about to sink at any moment.

"Get the boat there first and rescue them," Conan said immediately.

"Start...start the boat?" Genta was completely bewildered. "But I don't know how."

Conan had already reached the captain's position, standing on a wooden barrel, and began to steer the boat. Fortunately, the sails were already raised, so at least they didn't need to be hoisted up.

Meanwhile, the screen at the press conference was divided into fifty sections, twelve of which went black after only a few minutes of displaying images, clearly indicating that they had been phased out.

“How are you supposed to play this game?” one parent protested. “How can you encounter such a dangerous situation right from the start? What school did the game designer graduate from? The design is utter garbage.”

"That's right, your Syndra Corporation had better resolve that Noah's Ark issue quickly and return our children, or you can forget about leaving Japan." Some politicians have already started using threats.

Central control room

Syndra's forehead was already beaded with sweat; he never imagined that Noah's Ark could turn a simple press conference into such a spectacle.

After this press conference, Syndra will definitely face liquidation, at least in the Japanese market, where it will lose all its market share. In the United States, they will likely also launch an investigation.

"The Cocoon contains enormous energy, enough to destroy the brains of 50 people." After pulling up the data on his computer, Dr. Agasa's expression turned extremely serious. "It seems Noah's Ark wasn't lying."

"Damn it! Isn't there any other way?" Kogoro Mouri said with a dark face, "How about cutting off the power?"

"The Cocoon's body is equipped with a UPS system so that users can save their data in the event of a power outage," Syndra said with some pain. "What Professor Agasa is talking about is probably the power in the UPS system."

Chapter 221 The Billion-Dollar Extortion

"Hackers have infiltrated Noah's Ark's system. We don't know who it is, but they're maintaining a connection with the server." Dr. Agasa looked at the screen in front of him. "And they've even called."

"That's impossible!" one programmer exclaimed immediately. "Our server can't be hacked unless it's artificial intelligence!"

Yusaku Kudo looked at Professor Agasa and said, "Let's connect and see what they want."

Just then, a window appeared on the screen in front of Professor Agasa.

"Hi everyone, good morning. I'm Captain Jack, the captain of the Black Pearl." A face clearly drawn by AI appeared on the screen, the turban on his head signifying his pirate identity. "Syndra Corporation? Your game is good, but it's mine now. If you don't want the source code of [Cocoon] to be released, prepare $10 billion immediately."

Syndra's expression was a bit strange. Doesn't this guy read the news? With Noah's Ark causing such a commotion, the Cocoon has lost its value.

The programmers and police officers who rushed over were also stunned. These hackers were actually trying to extort money from Syndra. Who gave them the guts? And they were asking for 10 billion dollars. It was an outrageous demand.

“One billion US dollars, I’ll give you ten minutes to decide.” Jack on the other end of the line was arrogant. “Every ten minutes, I’ll execute one player and ruin your game launch event!”

The expressions of the people present changed instantly. The game difficulty shown on the screen was already high enough. If a third party were to interfere, it would only be a matter of time before all 50 children were wiped out.

“Chairwoman Syndra!” Inspector Megure looked at Syndra with a serious expression.

“I will prepare the ransom,” Syndra said with a dark expression. “But the Metropolitan Police Department should also provide us with support; we are victims as well.”

At this moment, he hated that boy named Hiroki to the core. If this matter was not handled properly, his years of hard work and dedication would be destroyed.

At the same time, Shinsei put down the microphone and cut off communication with Syndra Corporation.

"Is it really appropriate for you to scare them like that?" Yue Shui said helplessly. "Aren't you afraid they'll come after you later? Besides, Karen and you are probably planning to take over Noah's Ark, right..."

"Who told you I was bluffing? I want a billion dollars, and I want the Syndra Corporation too. We're pirates, after all. Greed is a pirate's nature." Shinjo looked at the radar in front of him, picked up the walkie-talkie, and said, "Okakura Masaaki, rotate turret number 2 53 degrees clockwise and begin calibration! Give them a little something to say."

“Understood, I’ve been wanting to cause a ruckus for a while now.” Masaaki Okakura led Yusuke Sakata to operate the turret according to the manual.

At this moment, Conan and his friends had already rescued the children who had fallen into the water. Looking at the sinking pirate ship, everyone felt uncertain. Reaching the seven sea areas on the map and completing the challenge in this wooden boat was virtually impossible.

At this point, the children also realized something else: the game did not provide them with suitable bodies.