If you want to leave the forest, you first need to know the direction.
Conan proposed the idea of leaving the forest to the indigenous people of this forest, the "Zoogo Rat" with a mule nose.
Unexpectedly, this proposal was strongly opposed by Zukoshu.
"Zuge, Zuge..."
The mice here always cry "Zuko, Zuko", so they are also called Zuko rats by Conan.
Conan couldn't understand the meaning of these sounds at first, but as long as he got along with them for a while, he would naturally understand them.
He thinks this is the wonder of dreams, just like those little talking animals in Alice in Wonderland.
"Can't leave the forest!"
"Outside the forest are monsters, monsters with four legs and long tails; they have fangs and sharp claws; they are very big and ferocious!"
"They'll eat you like a rice ball!"
Wine-filled meatballs are a main food made by the Zugol tribe. They are wine made from the juice secreted by the glowing mushrooms in the forest, plus some edible weeds.
I tasted it when Conan came here last time. It tasted slightly sour and not delicious.
Zugoshu repeated the dangers outside, which made Conan, who was already in a good mood, feel a little frightened.
Are there monsters outside the forest?
Conan has entered Zugo Rat's tribe several times, but he has not found any signs of "monster" activity.
And even if there is a monster, how can it withstand him?
This is not reality. In reality, there are people like Qin Zhibo who "bully" me from time to time.
This is in a dream, can I still be bullied by things in the dream?
…
At Conan's insistence, Zukorat finally compromised and agreed to show him the way out of the forest.
A group of Zugo rats emerged from the twisting branches of the short oak tree and the pyramid-shaped hut, and sent Conan to the road leading out of the forest.
"Every ancestor, every ancestor..."
Conan looked in the direction of the collective gaze of the Zug rats. Along the quiet path were glowing mushrooms, and the faint mist was flowing in the air near the treetops, making it look particularly strange and mysterious.
Under the friendly pats of Zugoshu, Conan, who has a spirit of exploration, embarked on this road leading to the unknown without hesitation.
Unable to resist the hospitality, he also brought a pot of special wine made by Zugo Rat using glowing mushrooms. The taste was also sour, but it was not as easy to get head-sick as Lao Baigan.
Following the path, Conan found that the glowing mushrooms around him were gradually decreasing and were replaced by towering oak forests.
Thriving oaks, old oaks, and dead oaks stand in this area at the same time, which looks extremely unnatural.
Some thick branches were savagely lying across the path, forcing Conan to remember the direction and choose a slightly sparse gap to pass through.
Just as he ducked down and was about to slip under a thick oak branch, a strange noise suddenly came from the originally silent forest.
"Tough luck! Tough luck!"
"What a bad luck!"
The voice came from behind, and the voice was actually a human being.
Conan's ears twitched and he looked back, only to find a young man wearing a dark blue uniform running wildly on the path.
Behind him, countless Zucol rats were chasing after him, and the dust raised by the huge number even polluted the dense atmosphere of the forest.
Humanity?!
Conan was a little surprised that a living person could appear in his dream?
Taking a closer look, the boy was wearing clothes that were in the style of modern Japanese high school uniforms. He couldn't be said to be handsome, but rather straight-laced.
Looking up again, that body actually had a face exactly like his own!
W-what?!
Conan's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the escaping boy.
Strictly speaking, that is not his current face, but the face named "Kudo Shinichi" before he became smaller.
Myself?!
Why do I dream about myself?
Just when Conan was surprised, Kuroba Kaito, who was being chased by countless rats, also saw Conan standing in front of him and was equally shocked.
Is it that detective kid?
Kuroba Kaito quickly searched for the child's information in his mind, and immediately recognized him as the elementary school student who stayed at the home of the famous detective Mouri Kogoro.
But what's even more surprising is that he is a smaller version of the famous high school detective Kudo Shinichi who has been missing for some time.
It's him?
Zun Du Fake Du?
To be honest, Kuroba Kaito still doesn't know whether this is his normal dream or the "phantom dream" mentioned by Qin Zhibo.
Judging from Qin Zhibo's previous description, this should be a dreamland.
But when he walked through countless steps and came to this world, Qin Zhibo was not around.
Logically speaking, he came in through Koizumi Hongzi's magic props and connected to Qin Zhibo's dream. The two should have been born in the same place.
Because of this, when he was chased by countless rats, he couldn't help shouting "bad luck, bad luck".
But when he saw this Conan who should have nothing to do with the Dreamland, he couldn't help but start to doubt in his heart.
Could this all be fake?
Didn't I enter the dreamland at all?
Alas~
On the other side, Conan saw another "self" running towards him. He had no reason not to come to rescue him, so he turned around and took the initiative to meet him. He raised his little hand and shouted.
"stop!"
Kuroba Kaito stopped in time before hitting Conan, and the Zuko Rat behind also stopped after seeing an acquaintance.
"Every ancestor, every ancestor..."
"This person is my friend. He steals cats and beats chickens..."
"Every ancestor has his own?"
"..."
Conan negotiated with this group of Zurgrats.
This crazy scene made Kuroba Kaito's eyes widen in surprise.
It seems like this must be fake...
Kuroba Kaito felt a little frustrated. If he couldn't enter the dreamland with this method, he would really be a little desperate.
As a world-famous phantom thief, he didn't expect that there are things in this world that even phantom thief can't steal.
That's the dream.
While Kuroba Kaito was secretly depressed, Conan had already finished negotiating with Zurgoshu.
It turns out that some "uninvited guests" occasionally break into this forest, and the Zugol rats will expel them, or directly capture them back to the tribe and make them into charcoal-grilled meat slices.
The so-called charcoal grilled meat slices are to cut off the meat of the "dreamer" piece by piece and grill it on the stone slab. When it is sizzling and oily, it is then put into the mouth with the secret sauce.
Countless "dreamers" died at the hands of Zugoshu in this way, otherwise the dreamland would have been overpopulated.
However, Conan didn't think too much and sent the group of Zurg rats away with just a few words.
After seeing off the rats, Conan turned his head and looked at "himself" in front of him.
He has the same face and body as "myself", except that his hair style is a little bit wrong and his stupid hair is gone.
This is indeed me...
It should be that I want to change back to my original body so much that I think about it every day, so that I can dream about it at night.
Conan thinks so.
"you……"
"you……"
The two looked at each other and made doubtful sounds at the same time.
What a high synchronization rate!
Who can believe that this is not the same person?
Kuroba Kaito thought about it for a moment. In this dream, the elementary school student Conan seemed to be a "master", so let him talk first, so that he could understand the situation.
"You speak first."
Conan was not polite and asked directly: "Why... why are you here?"
It feels quite strange to ask "yourself" in this tone.
But Kuroba Kaito is the weirder person. He doesn't understand why he can't come?
Is this my dream?
"Of course I'm coming. If I don't come, where will you come from?"
Kuroba Kaito's logic here is that if he doesn't dream, Conan will certainly not appear in his dream.
This sentence reached Conan's brain, and after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that it made sense.
If Kudo Shinichi didn't become smaller, where would Edogawa Conan come from?
Nothing wrong!
"But come on, why are the uniforms of Didan High School wrong?"
Conan's words were not to complain to Kudo Shinichi, but to complain about his own dream for making such a low-level texture mistake.
Normally, the uniform color of Didan High School should be lighter, and the collar should be open to the abdomen, exposing the tie underneath.
Is it caused by not living in high school for too long?
Sigh... When can we return to campus and fall in love?
Conan sighed secretly.
But Kuroba Kaito looked down at Conan Little Potato standing in front of him, and suddenly realized something.
This guy seems to think of me as "him"...
As a well-known facial stylist in the industry, Kuroba Kaito will certainly not ignore the fact that Kudo Shinichi bumps into his face.
And Mao Lilan and Nakamori Aoko also bumped into each other...
Conan in his dream recognized himself as him?
Interesting~
Anyway, it was here, and the mischievous gene in Kuroba Kaito's nature started to kick in again, so he thought he might as well take this opportunity to have fun, just to relieve the recent stress.
He said "pooh" into the palm of his hand, rubbed it on his head a few times, and in a few seconds, he had Kudo Shinichi's stupid hair style.
"whee……"
"How's it going? Doesn't it look good now?"
Kuroba Kaito's playful smile did not arouse Conan's suspicion.
Conan looked up at "himself" in front of him, and it turned out that he looked much better than the chicken coop haircut he had just before.
"Not bad, keep it up."
Conan gave his own affirmation and turned around calmly, "Okay, our next goal is to get out of the forest, come with me."
Conan naturally included "Kudo Shinichi" into the team. After all, it was his dream and "himself" before becoming smaller, so there was no need to discuss it.
["Kudo Shinichi" has joined the team]
On the contrary, Kuroba Kaito regards Conan as an NPC who leads the way in the game. He is very silly and mainly serves to advance the plot.
[Automatically following...]
The two of them went into the dense oak forest, one behind the other.
…
In Wusa Town, Qin Zhibo walked around in circles.
After walking around for the third time, he was sure that Kuroba Kaito had not followed him into the dreamland, and the plan to enter the dream had failed.
This is not necessarily because Koizumi Anko's magic items are not easy to use. It may simply be that Kuroba Kaito has a physical problem and is repelled by the fantasy world.
But his father, Kuroba Toichi, was a natural "dream maker", but his son was not even a "dreamer"...
Could it be that...the case has been solved?
Since Kuroba Kaito did not come in, Qin Zhibo went to the top of the mountain to ask the wise elders of Usa Town about the current progress of cat castration.
During this period, the progress of egg cutting for male cats is pretty good, and more than 2,000 male cats have been sterilized.
But this is only 40% of all tomcats.
Theoretically, if at least 10% of the cats are left to reproduce, there will still be 2,500 cats that need to be sterilized.
When Qin Zhibo heard about the progress, it was indeed a bit difficult to handle.
Anyway, tonight is still a long time, and there is nothing else to do, so I will go to the cattery to help.
…
The so-called cattery is the place where cats undergo egg cutting surgery.
This place used to be the residence of an old farmer couple who loved to abuse cats, and it is still a place where cats suffer.
Out of curiosity, Conan and Kuroba Kaito came to the door of the house and looked inside with curious eyes.
From time to time, the screams of cats could be heard coming from the bungalow, making the two of them curious about the contents inside.
Could it be that the cat is being harmed here?
After coming out of the forest and entering this area, Conan and Kuroba Kaito discovered that there were so many cats in this area that they could even be described as "overrun".
Conan also understood that the "monsters" in Zuko's mouth were actually these cats, which caused Zuko to dare not leave the forest.
On the stone bridge crossing the stream, they saw a sign that read "No one can hurt a cat in Uzzah."
It is the law here not to harm cats, which leads to the proliferation of cats.
And the people in this house actually hurt the cat in broad daylight!
Where is the law of heaven!
The two looked at each other and decided to follow their inner thoughts and break in to stop the cat abuse inside.
The two of them pushed open the dilapidated courtyard door in a tacit understanding, crept quietly in the courtyard, and came to the door of the bungalow and stood on both sides.
Although the two of them have nothing to take advantage of now, and any technology cannot be used in the dreamland, after all, this is the dreamland that the two of them think is theirs.
Can you still be bullied by others in your own dreams?
In heaven and on earth, I am the only one who is supreme!
Field, expand!
Kuroba Kaito twisted around and kicked open the door. This caused the short-legged Conan to kick the air and almost fall into the splits.
Conan: Didn't you cooperate well with "yourself" in this wave?
Kuroba Kaito entered the room and stood still, glanced at the two "cat abusers" wearing masks standing at the table, and said sternly: "Stop! You two cat abusers perverts!"
The villager who was performing the egg-cutting operation on the cat next to the operating table looked confused and asked: "Who are you?"
At this time, Conan took the initiative to stand in the C position in front and began to speak righteously.
"My name is Edogawa Conan, and I am a detective!"
Kuroba Kaito glanced at Conan below, grabbed his own C position, and started copying his lines.
"My name is Kudo Shinichi, and I am a slightly famous high school detective!"
At this time, another person at the table asked.
"Do you know who I am?"
Conan and Kuroba Kaito shook their heads at the same time.
This man took off the mask on his face, revealing the face of a mixed-race uncle.