Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

At this point in time, this is a very famous immigration hub, with tens of thousands of immigrants from as far away as Russia and Eastern Europe settling here.

Because the residents here have such meager incomes, this place has become a breeding ground for poverty and crime, with homeless thugs, thieves, and prostitutes roaming the streets... everything is perfectly simulated.

"We've arrived, Professor."

The coachman slowly brought the carriage to a stop.

As the other party waited respectfully, Lin Jiashu alighted from the carriage.

221b Baker Street

This is Sherlock Holmes' address, a house number that doesn't exist in the real world, but is now prominently displayed in front of an apartment building.

"May I ask who this is?"

After knocking on the door, an elderly woman dressed in a black dress appeared inside.

If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, you'll naturally recognize that the person in front of you is Mrs. Hudson, Holmes' landlady.

“An admirer of Mr. Holmes.”

Lin Jiashu politely inquired, "Is Mr. Holmes home?"

"Oh, unfortunately, Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson have gone out on a case, and they seem to be going to a village called Dartmore."

"...Perhaps I've remembered the time wrong. What is today's date?"

"It's September 30th."

Mrs. Hudson smiled warmly as she said this: "Perhaps Mr. Holmes will be back in a few days. Before that, would you like me to leave him a message?"

"There are some things I think are better said face to face."

Lin Jiashu politely declined Mrs. Hudson's offer and then smiled as he said goodbye.

Lin Jiashu returned to the carriage only after Mrs. Hudson closed the door.

September 30th, Dartmore—connecting this time and place leads to the case of "The Hound of the Baskervilles," meaning that Holmes is indeed not here right now.

But Lin Jiashu needs to find him.

And then he was killed.

—Finding and killing Sherlock Holmes is precisely Lin Jiashu's mission objective.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Conan and his friends have now reached the point where they discovered the scene of Jack the Ripper's crime.

Because if they get injured or caught by the police, it means they lose the game, so when the police surround them, they quickly slip away to explore other places.

"This feels so real."

"Yes, whether it's the cold wind or the smell."

"Even the pain in my feet is real..."

"So where exactly are we supposed to look for Jack the Ripper?"

“I just heard the police say to call Inspector Lestrade over.”

"So what?"

“Inspector Lestrade is a character in the Sherlock Holmes series. He is a police officer who has worked with Sherlock Holmes for a long time. If he appears in this world, it means…” Conan raised the corners of his mouth, looking somewhat excited.

"Sherlock Holmes is in this world too!?"

There was indeed no reason to hesitate, and the group quickly decided to head to 221b Baker Street.

In modern games, there's no threat of real-life death if you lose, so everyone's reaction is very relaxed.

Hiroki Sawada also managed to sneak in—after all, his appearance was widely known, so he couldn't participate openly and ended up impersonating Hideki Moroboshi to get in… As for Hideki Moroboshi himself, he was actually playing a game in another theater at the moment.

He chuckled to himself.

Yoshiki Hayashi wasn't in one of the 50 "cocoons" on stage, but logged into the game from somewhere else—he even wrote the script, though he made a lot of changes, but Hiroki Sawada couldn't let him directly participate and disturb other people's gaming experience.

The group quickly located Holmes' apartment.

Mrs. Hudson was still surprised by the large number of people who had come to see her that evening, but she mistakenly thought these children were Holmes's helpers and treated them very warmly.

In the apartment, Conan discovers portraits of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, which are strikingly similar to his father, Yusaku Kudo, and Professor Agasa.

"Jack the Ripper, who plunged London into extreme panic, is, in a sense, connected to Professor Moriarty, the mastermind of evil, given the unprecedented social unrest he caused."

Based on the research materials on Sherlock Holmes found in the apartment, the group quickly decided to go and find Professor Moriarty.

Although they didn't know Professor Moriarty's location, they could go directly to his right-hand man, Colonel Moran.

When they found them, the other person was playing cards at a bridge club.

Colonel Moran, the second most dangerous man in London, was cheating while playing cards with his men. When Conan discovered this, Hiroki Sawada, who was addicted to the game, immediately stepped forward to expose him.

Enraged, Colonel Moran was about to teach the children a lesson.

The scene eventually devolved into a chaotic brawl.

After losing several of his companions, Conan keenly noticed someone protecting a bottle of red wine on the table during the chaos. Realizing that the wine was intended for Professor Moriarty, he immediately snatched it away, forcing Colonel Moran to hesitate.

"Let's end this farce here."

A young voice came from inside.

Ai Haibara, Sonoko, and the others found the voice very familiar, but Colonel Moran, who was pointing a gun at Conan, looked terrified when he saw who it was: "T-Professor!"

"Wh-what?"

"Something's gone wrong! These kids were sent by Sherlock Holmes—"

“Holmes wouldn’t make such an arrangement that would disregard a child’s life. Come on, put down the gun, it’s too ugly.”

The tall, slender young man who walked in had an incredibly handsome face. He took off his black fedora and smiled at the astonished crowd, saying, "You all seem a little incredulous, but... nice to meet you. I am James Moriarty."

"Brother Jiashu!?"

277

Chapter 277: Every Fairy Tale World Needs a Major Villain

"Judging from your expressions, you seem to know someone who looks like me?"

Before me stood a young man who called himself James Moriarty.

He was dressed in a black cloak and coat, and his figure was tall and slender.

He leaned on an exquisite walking stick, his handsome face bearing a naturally arrogant smile.

Can't go wrong.

Although pulling her hair back completely changed her appearance, it was undeniably Hayashi Yoshiki's face—

"...What's going on? Isn't this Yoshiki-nii?"

"I do not know."

Faced with the young man's cheerful inquiry, the group couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

Conan observed for a moment but found no flaws, and surprisingly accepted the premise quite easily.

"Is it because the stories here were all written by Yoshiki and the others...? Have you forgotten the photos of Professor Agasa and Uncle Yusaku that you saw in Holmes's apartment?"

He explained quietly to his companion beside him.

At the same time, Conan couldn't help but marvel at how clever they were at having fun.

His own father transformed into Sherlock Holmes, but ended up playing Moriarty using the image of Hayashi Yoshiki...

"That's right."

"Furthermore, Yoshiki-nii didn't actually participate in the 'cocoon'."

"..."

While the children were whispering amongst themselves, Xiaolan couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Although she didn't find any flaws, she simply thought that Yoshiki-san sometimes liked to play pranks on people...

"My intuition tells me that your whispers will be funny, but I'm always more tolerant of children."

With his walking stick tapping gently to the beat, Moriarty casually handed his felt hat to Colonel Moran beside him. After the latter accepted it obediently, his eyes also fell on Conan: "Especially you guys seem quite interesting."

"...Even his urging was done with such gentlemanly manners!"

Sonoko covered her mouth, instinctively feeling that Yoshiki Hayashi possessed a unique kind of sexiness at that moment.

She actually started gushing over a guy in this kind of situation, which made Xiaolan next to her both amused and exasperated.

“We have a friend who looks a lot like you, Professor,” Conan said, looking up.

"I'd really like to meet him."

"It's a pity he's not here right now."

"Let's get back to the more important topic—what do you want from me?"

Moriarty looked at him with great interest.

That indifferent gaze, as if watching some kind of entertainment program, inexplicably puts a lot of pressure on people.

He definitely doesn't seem like Hayashi Yoshiki...

Conan thought to himself, and at the same time said, "Jack the Ripper, is he the man you sent to the streets to make London a city of terror, Professor?"

You're half right.

The other person's tone carried a hint of pleasure: "Jack the Ripper was a homeless child I found in the slums... Although he was a child abandoned by his mother and left to wander the streets, he was indeed very talented—talented as a criminal. It was indeed I who trained him to be an assassin."

"But why kill innocent women?" Xiaolan couldn't help but ask.

"Everyone has to die eventually."

Moriarty stated bluntly.

The impact of his nonchalant remarks, made by that familiar face, on Xiaolan and the others was unimaginable.

But before they could react, the other person said, "--Although I always say this, Jack the Ripper has indeed gone out of control, and this series of cases is the result of that kid going crazy."

"Don't try to shirk all your responsibility! Your goal was to turn London into a city of terror, wasn't it? But what's the point of doing that?!"

"Of course it makes sense."

When confronted by Hideki Moroboshi, played by Hiroki Sawada, Moriarty smiled with pleasure.

That was a laugh that Xiaolan and the others believed Lin Jiashu would never make.

Although polite, he was actually arrogant and condescending; behind his indifferent attitude lay the cold-blooded indifference of a cold-blooded animal.

"Evil is something that naturally exists in this world, just like every fairy tale needs a classic villain."

“I’ve done a lot of sponsorships in London.”

“Those who do evil for me get a hefty sum of money—some people scoff at it, while others flock to it. Interestingly, people in similar circumstances often make drastically different choices. Why do you think that is?”

"Evil has been lured forth ever since human civilization produced numbers."

"To give a simple and easy-to-understand example, if killing ten people can save a thousand people, then there will definitely be people willing to bear this sin."

"Therefore, humans cannot live as simply and clearly as wild animals."

"—To survive, they devour others, but that is not enough."

"—In order to eat more delicious food, people continue to eat others, but that is still not enough."

"To have better clothes, to have better housing..."

"It is precisely because of comparison and logic that all of this naturally came into being."

"At least that's how it is in London, and in Europe."

He chuckled, amused. "Don't put on that serious face. I'm not some kind of demon. It's just that I've faced the dark side of this materialistic society, become an expert, and decided to observe more closely because I find the truths people are afraid to admit interesting... Hmm, maybe it's time for me to add the title of sociology professor?"

What he said was frightening.

Conan looked at him with an indescribable expression—even though he knew that what the other person was saying was all nonsense, it was impossible to refute.

Especially in the context of London at the end of the 19th century.

And this is Moriarty of this world...