Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

An hour later, everyone gathered in front of Mermaid Falls, and at this moment, Miss Kimie dressed as a Shrine Maiden was already waiting there. Seeing everyone arrive, she hurriedly spoke.

”Now, I invite tonight’s three lucky guests to come forward.”

”Here we come! We’re coming!”

Kazuha, holding her number card high, ran up to Miss Kimie, jumping with excitement, followed by two others: a tourist who looked like he was from out of town, and a drunken uncle.

”Now, I invite the three of you to receive the Radiance of Elysium.”

Accompanied by Kimie’s voice, the villagers who had prepared earlier hurriedly released the fireworks. As the fireworks soared into the sky and blossomed, everyone couldn’t help but feel amazed. Regardless of whether they obtained the Dugong Arrow, experiencing the unique local customs and culture here was undoubtedly very interesting in their view.

However, at that moment, a tourist suddenly pointed behind them.

”Hey, what’s that?!!”

”What’s wrong?”

Hearing his shout, everyone looked over, and under the glow of the fireworks, they saw a large pitch black shadow plummeting down from the top of the waterfall, accompanied by a ”splash” as it fell into the lake along with the rushing waters of the waterfall.

Everyone gathered around involuntarily upon witnessing this scene. As they watched, the black shadow that had fallen into the lake gradually surfaced, revealing its true face before everyone—that was three entangled, blue-faced dead bodies!

”Ah------!!”

Beside him came the dual scream from Ran and Kazuha, while Fang Zheng looked at the three faces that were both familiar and unfamiliar with speechless silence...

With Heiji Hattori, Kogoro Mouri, and Conan, the three detectives present, the three bodies were naturally retrieved immediately. It must be said, compared to ordinary drowning victims, these three bodies before them were indeed quite terrifying. From the outside, these three bodies seemed like they were embracing each other tightly, forming a ball, and it appeared as if they were grabbing each other, desperately preventing anyone from calling for help.

In any case, the bizarre scene of the bodies caused everyone’s expressions to change, even Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow. He was sure that the three corpses were thrown separately when he killed them, and to prevent accidents, their hands and feet were bound. But now, not only had the ropes binding their feet disappeared, the stones were gone too... Hmm, this is indeed a bit strange.

Kogoro Mouri examined the bodies and quickly reached a conclusion.

”From the surface of the bodies, it seems these three people have been dead for several days, though the exact time can only be determined after the police conduct an autopsy.”

”............”

Fang Zheng indicated he was just watching, without speaking.

”The cause of death appears to be a fatal blow to the head.”

Heiji Hattori offered his thoughts.

”Judging by the wounds, it’s possible a form of heavy weapon was used, likely a stone.”

”..........”

Fang Zheng indicated he was continuing to watch, without speaking.

”No, I don’t think so.”

Conan shook his head.

”Heiji, take a closer look, these three people’s skulls were shattered, yet their exterior skin is almost completely intact, without signs of major trauma. Generally, an attack capable of shattering skulls would thoroughly crush their heads into fragments...”

”..........”

Fang Zheng indicated that even if Conan had Conanology, he had Martial Learning, both were equally matched, and neither feared the other.

”Mr. Fang Zheng, what do you think?”

Ran then turned to Fang Zheng, inquiring, and Fang Zheng shrugged.

”I don’t have any views, reasoning and autopsies aren’t my strengths; I’m not skilled at these.”

”Oh? Really? I thought you were a detective too.”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s answer, Kazuha was taken aback. She originally thought that since Heiji Hattori specially invited Fang Zheng, he must also be a detective, but Fang Zheng unexpectedly denied it himself?

”Mr. Fang Zheng is a very skilled micro-expression expert.”

Fang Zheng didn’t speak, but instead Ran hurriedly explained to Kazuha.

”Even if people don’t speak, he can read their expressions and thoughts; that’s what’s truly amazing. Plus, Mr. Fang Zheng’s skills are quite impressive; he’s even taken down armed criminals barehanded several times, including international assassins.”

”Ah, I see...”

Upon hearing this, Kazuha nodded promptly, looking at Fang Zheng with eyes filled with curiosity.

”So, Mr. Fang Zheng, can you tell what I’m thinking now?”

”Of course, no problem.”

Fang Zheng glanced at Kazuha.

”You’re thinking ’Heiji the idiot left me again to look at a case. What’s more important, me or the case? Seriously, when will he notice my feelings? But he looks really cool when he’s solving a case...’”

However, before Fang Zheng could finish his words, Kazuha blushed and covered his mouth.

”Fang, Mr. Fang Zheng, could you be using mind reading...”

”I’m just guessing blindly; after all, your thought process isn’t much different from Ran’s.”

”Uh......”

Hearing this, Ran watching the excitement from the side also blushed. And Kazuha turned her head, glared at Ran, then rushed over.

”Are you the same?!”

”I’m not!!”

The two girls ran away playfully, somewhat alleviating the tense atmosphere here. Meanwhile, Heiji Hattori had already invited Kimie Shima to inspect, confirming that the three corpses were indeed her missing friends. At this moment, Kimie Shima’s face was pale and terrified—well, the way the bodies appeared was indeed quite dramatic.

As for why these three corpses ended up like this, Fang Zheng was rather surprised, but after comparing satellite cloud maps and terrain through his personal terminal, he was relieved. At that time, Fang Zheng threw the bodies where the island’s undercurrents were strongest, and according to geological surveys, there’s a cavity within the island. From the current view, it’s very likely that after the bodies were thrown into the sea, they ”broke free” from the stones Fang Zheng tied them to due to the swift currents, collectively followed the undercurrent into the island, and due to their size, moved slowly, possibly getting stuck somewhere, and then floated into an inland lake as the water level rose, following a river through the forest all the way down to the waterfall.

As for why the corpses ended up looking that way... mostly a coincidence.

After all, this is the world of Conanology; when science can’t explain something, use Conanology.

And over there, Kogoro Mouri, Heiji Hattori, and Conan began arguing whether this was an accident or murder.

Kogoro Mouri thought it was likely an accident. These three girls might have gone somewhere to play together and accidentally drowned. As for why their skulls were smashed, it was probably due to impacts with objects after death, caused by the sea currents.

It must be said, Kogoro Mouri is indeed Kogoro Mouri. His deduction left Heiji Hattori and Conan speechless. Although they didn’t believe it was an accident, there was nothing on the corpses to suggest otherwise at the moment. After all, this is an island surrounded by sea, and the forest above the waterfall is dense and uninhabited. Saying that three girls went to play together and accidentally annihilated themselves seems plausible.

However......

”I think there’s more to it; didn’t we hear islanders say earlier that Miss Monshaku Saori was restless because she lost the Dugong Arrow, fearing that the mermaid might come to kill her, and she even wrote me a letter asking for help? How could she possibly be in the mood to go out and play?”

Heiji Hattori was the first to question, and Conan followed suit.

”And wasn’t Sister Kimie, who grew up with them as childhood friends, also there? If they were going, why wouldn’t they invite Sister Kimie?”

”Hmm......”

Hearing this, Kogoro Mouri frowned and thought briefly before suddenly clapping his hands.

”I understand what’s going on!”

”Hmm?”

”Here’s how it happened.”

Then Kogoro Mouri began to proudly explain his deduction to Heiji Hattori and Conan.

”Miss Monshaku Saori lost her Dugong Arrow and worried the mermaid would come find her. So she approached her two friends to discuss the situation. Although she mailed you a letter, she couldn’t be sure you’d definitely come, so she had to work it out herself. Her two friends might have offered Saori some ideas in hopes of calming the mermaid’s anger, so the three set out into the forest, encountered an accident en route, and accidentally passed away.”

Hearing this, Heiji Hattori and Conan rolled their eyes.

”Then why didn’t they invite Miss Kimie? Miss Kimie is a Shrine Maiden for heaven’s sake; in such matters, it makes sense to invite Miss Kimie.”

”Wrong. I believe they deliberately didn’t invite Miss Kimie.”

”Why?”

”Simple. Perhaps Sister Kimie, being a Shrine Maiden, would oppose this method. If so, telling her wouldn’t help them but might actually hinder them. So, they didn’t say anything to Kimie, kept it from her, and went off themselves!”

Indeed, Kogoro Mouri’s skill in fabricating stories is first-class.

Listening to his confident deduction, Fang Zheng silently gave a thumbs-up; this script was worthy of a thriller film.

Although Heiji Hattori and Conan found Kogoro Mouri’s deduction unreliable, they indeed had no evidence to refute it. After Fang Zheng killed the three women, he discarded all their belongings, smashed their phones, and threw the fragments into the sea, leaving not a trace of clue behind. There was no possible way to find evidence from it.

The only thing left to say is that Kogoro Mouri’s deduction was just that: a deduction. There’s no actual evidence to prove it. Finally, everyone decided to stick to the original plan to visit Monshaku Saori’s house to investigate further, and also examine the other two deceased.

By the way, the best method would be having police arrive, conduct autopsies to determine the cause and time of death, but after calling earlier, they were informed the waves were too rough for the police to set sail......

There was no other way for them, so they had to wait patiently.

As for Fang Zheng... he simply watched.

He’s also curious to see what these two detectives can uncover from here.