Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 283: The Ghost of the Crystal Palace (Part 3)

Conan and the gravekeeper quickly arrived at the scene, and the gravekeeper quickly began digging the soil to isolate the gunpowder from the fire source.

Meteorologists arrived shortly thereafter and began spraying fire-extinguishing chemicals everywhere.

"Fortunately, Florian is not here, otherwise the fire might really start." The meteorologist wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his few remaining weather bottles.

Seeing that the fire in the botanical garden failed to start, Conan thought about checking the other two possible fire points.

"Don't worry, Andrew and I are here to watch over it, nothing will go wrong." The meteorologist waved at Conan.

Conan nodded and ran out of the botanical garden, only to run into the Red Lady and the White Crow Duke who were confronting each other there. It seemed that they were the only two there, as everyone else had gone outside to put out the fire.

Duke White Crow apparently didn't know the fire in the botanical garden had been brought under control. He was complaining angrily, "I'm supposed to be the most special one. Why is everyone against me?"

Madam Red's expression became much calmer. "Ah, really, with so many exceptions, it will be very difficult for the general manager to handle it. After all, he has to manage all the low-ranking members by himself. It's really hard."

"That's clearly just luck! He managed to survive the game at the manor, and was noticed by a few masters. In the end, he was directly appointed as the steward of the peripheral members! Why?!"

"Of course it's because he's lucky. That's his trait, isn't it? As for you, you have neither the ambition of a photographer, nor the perseverance of an umbrella soul, nor the madness of a nightmare. You are just a jumping clown who created a farce for people to enjoy." Madame Red adjusted her skirt with a look of pride on her face.

"While destroying the Crystal Palace is indeed quite courageous, unfortunately, someone has already offered a higher price than you. You should understand what will happen to the eliminated peripheral members."

Duke White Crow shouted angrily, "This is impossible! I'm the only one trading with that master!"

"Trade? You think too highly of yourself. Didn't that Melodi guy tell you that if you could squeeze every last drop of value out of the Crystal Palace, he'd let you work for the Melodi family?"

"Obviously, he's just trying to amuse you. He just wants to see how long you, a pretentious white crow, can last in this cage of the Crystal Palace. And then he'll treat it all like an opera, yes, just like the Golden Rose Theatre."

Conan was also shocked when he heard this, but he still stepped forward to remind her: "Baroness, no, Aunt Mary, the fire in the botanical garden has been brought under control. Now the only thing left is the one in the fireworks store."

Hearing Conan's voice, Madam Red's expression relaxed a little: "I didn't expect you were willing to call me Aunt Mary. Remember to keep my secret, little detective."

Conan nodded, then asked about the content of the previous conversation: "What's going on with the peripheral members that Duke White Crow just mentioned?"

Madam Red spoke slowly, "I heard about the peripheral members from someone else. When the manor needs a large number of experimental subjects, they recruit those desperate criminals by sending out invitations. The other part is handled by that guy Nightmare, who uses various technologies to create a batch of artificial humans."

"There's no need to elaborate on the former. I remember you probably saw how the Blackjack game was played. As for the androids, Nightmare assigns them various identities. Some go straight into the experiment, while others train outside for a few years. But ultimately, they're just tools you can see everywhere in the manor."

"Some might be lucky enough to be drafted into servants, but those with less luck might be buried in the manor's experimental field. But there was one person who was very special. Without any experience, he had gone through countless manor games and always managed to escape. So, Nightmare simply made him the manager of the peripheral members."

Conan pondered: "So, Duke White Crow is an artificial human, and he is the kind that was assigned an identity and trained outside?"

Madam Red nodded. "Seeing that the manager enjoys the same treatment as the codenamed members, it's no surprise that he, who is so conceited, would have such thoughts. Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky."

Duke Bai Ya's emotions were almost broken. "No! I am different. If that talentless guy can become a member of the code name team, why can't I? That master will send someone to rescue me!"

Madam Red sighed softly. "The memories of the French Queen remain in my mind. That Desi Melodi knew this, so when I first came before him, he was respectful to me on the surface. He treated me this way because he saw hope in me that could bring his brother back to life."

"Hundreds of years of obsession, how deep is that? Do you think you, who have no value, are worth him making such a fuss?"

Conan was shocked again: "Wait, Aunt Mary, you said hundreds of years? Has Desi Melody lived for hundreds of years?"

"I only heard from Nightmare that he was a master of spiritual studies. In order to find his brother who died young, he kept changing bodies, hoping to find a way to bring his brother back to life and live forever with him."

"Nightmare is an expert in memory research. It's not surprising that he can live longer using android technology and memory transfer. However, this technology has a significant flaw. All memories require a real-world anchor. That's why the 'photographer' becomes obsessed with taking pictures, leaving anchors in reality."

"My anchor comes from a book that records all the absurd and tragic life stories of 'Mary'. So when I use this book as my anchor, there is no happy ending every time."

"The Umbrella Soul brothers have lived for a long time. Their anchor is the antique umbrella, and perhaps other media. There are actually quite a few immortals in the organization, but most of them hide behind the scenes and are reluctant to show up. Those like 'Photographer' and 'Umbrella Soul' who remain active due to their deep obsession are indeed a minority."

Conan's brain nearly shrank as he listened to this conversation: "Since the Oritis Manor has such advanced technology, why is it still obsessed with competing with the Black Organization for those technologies related to immortality?"

"Medical science is advancing, child. Besides, android technology is equivalent to directly reshaping the body and replacing the consciousness. However, in this process, memory loss occurs. People who are afraid of forgetting important things will naturally seek new methods. The Black Organization's rejuvenation drug, which directly targets the human body, can effectively solve this problem."

"Let me explain briefly. If the human body is compared to a machine, and the soul and memory are compared to data, then android technology is like stuffing the same data into a brand new machine. However, in this process, the data will be damaged. The Black Organization's technology can maintain the machine, reducing the number of machine replacements and data loss. Do you understand?"

Conan nodded. So, Desi Melodi wanted to obtain the Black Organization's technology because he was afraid of forgetting his brothers.

“Wait, but why Mr. Xie and Mr. Fan too?”