Tokyo Bay landfill. The smell of the tide stings the nose. In the darkness, where even streetlights are sparse, only the black outline of the Verna Warehouse looms. Edogawa Conan stopped his turbo skateboard. He holds his breath. Hiding in the shadow of rusted steel beams, he peers through the sight of his wristwatch tranquilizer gun. Two guards patrol the perimeter. Well-built men in suits. The glow of their cigarettes wavers in the dark. (*Glad I'm in a kid's body, huh—not funny.*) There's no room for that kind of ease. The first man turns his back. Now. *Thwip.* A faint firing sound. The tranquilizer needle sinks into the man's neck. The cigarette in his hand falls. He staggers, then collapses. Three seconds later, he's motionless. "[surprised]Hey, what's—" The second man turns around. A needle is already lodged in his neck too. Conan drags the fallen giant into the shadows and stuffs him out of sight. He picks the lock on the back entrance and quietly pushes the rusted door open. Air thick with the smell of cigarettes and mold spills out. —Inside. The warehouse is a maze. Collapsed steel beams, scattered pallets, dim corridors. Moonlight slips in thin lines through broken windows near the ceiling. He gets back on his skateboard. Only the low rumble of wheels rolling across the floor echoes. Quieter than footsteps, faster than footsteps. Around a corner in the passage—a flashlight beam wavers. A third guard. Conan instantly slides into the shadow of a shelf. The moment the beam of light passes overhead, he extends just his wrist from beneath the shelf and fires the tranquilizer gun. *Thud.* From the fallen guard's radio, a voice crackles with static. *"Hey, something happen?"* Conan turns the dial on his bow-tie voice changer. He traces the voice waveform in his head. He sets it to a low, muddy tone close to the voice of the man he just took down. "[cold]All clear. Just a rat." The radio cuts off. (*—Never imagined I'd use it like this.*) For a moment, the science room from that night flashes through his mind. Haibara fiddling with the voice changer, switching to an adult voice to taunt him. *"With this voice, whisper your love only to me."* Now it's a weapon to save you. That's way too ironic, Haibara. He puts a fourth man to sleep and heads for the innermost door. A rusted iron door. The hinges are dry, and it groans heavily. (*Make it in time.*) He kicks it open. —A confinement room, about six tatami mats in size. Fluorescent lights flicker. Haibara Ai is tied to a chair. Her uniform is dirty, and there are thin scratches on her arms. But she's conscious. The moment she recognizes Conan, her eyes widen slightly. Beside her stands a slender man. In his forties. White gloves. He holds a syringe. Inside is an eerie purple liquid. The leader of the remnants. "[cold]Perfect timing. Let me show you what kind of face Sherry makes." The syringe moves closer to Haibara's neck. "[cold]This completes it. An enhanced version of Apotoxin 4869. This time—come back as a corpse." Conan moved. He kicked up an iron pipe lying on the floor and activated his power-enhancing kick shoes. With a shockwave that felt like the air itself exploding, the iron pipe slammed directly into the leader's forearm. *CRACK!!* The syringe is sent flying and shatters on the floor. Purple liquid splatters. "[angry]—You bastard, don't tell me you're Kudo Shinichi!?" Clutching his arm, the leader staggers and shouts. Conan turned the dial on his bow-tie voice changer once more. This time—to Kudo Shinichi's voice. "[cold]That's right. I'm the monster you created." The walls of the abandoned warehouse echo with that voice. The color slowly drains from the leader's face. His smug smile freezes, and he steps back. Only Haibara laughed through her tears. —The moment that voice changer transformed from a tool for whispering love into a weapon to crush enemies. She alone witnessed the entirety of that reversal. Conan cut through Haibara's ropes. "[serious]Can you walk?" Wiping her tears, Haibara twists her mouth into a sardonic smile. "[sarcastic]...You idiot. I knew you'd come." "[sarcastic]Glad you're feeling well enough for that. Make our dramatic reunion a little more touching, would you?" For just a moment, laughter slipped between them. Amidst the rock-bottom tension and the terror they'd raced through, a bit of banter unique to the two of them slipped in for just a second. But there's no time. Conan scooped Haibara up and got her onto the skateboard. They race through the abandoned warehouse. Angry shouts and footsteps pursue them from behind. Slipping through rusted passageways, out the back entrance— That's when it happened. From outside the warehouse, police sirens and red flashes tear through the darkness. Multiple patrol cars pull up alongside, and squads of officers storm into the warehouse one after another. "[surprised]Wh-what, the police...!?" The pursuers panic and scatter in all directions. Conan had called it in beforehand using the voice changer. In an adult's voice, he reported an armed group and a kidnapping victim at the Verna Warehouse on Tokyo Bay. Police radio chatter fills the air, and the remnants' escape routes are completely cut off. —In the darkness beside the warehouse. Hiding in the police's blind spot, Conan gently lowered Haibara to the ground. The ambulance siren draws closer. Red lights reflect off the warehouse walls, flashing. Silence. "[crying]I... I can't stand losing you anymore." The emotions he'd been holding back until now all crumble at once. Conan hugged Haibara's small body tightly, fiercely. His true feelings, which he would never normally say. Leaving behind his feelings for Ran, his duty as a detective of justice, everything—only his raw feelings spilled out. As if pouring out everything from those five chapters of rock-bottom despair. Haibara froze for a moment. Then she buried her face in Conan's shoulder. "[crying]Finally... I got to hear your true feelings." She sobs loudly, like a child. The always cold-hearted Miyano Shiho, the cynical Haibara Ai—none of that matters tonight. Just a girl, clinging to the one she loves, crying. By the time the police finish securing the warehouse, Conan gently wipes Haibara's face. "[gentle]Want to get in the ambulance?" Still clutching Conan's sleeve, Haibara shakes her head. If their identities are revealed, their true selves will be exposed. They share that judgment without a word. Conan sends a message to Agasa Hiroshi on his smartphone. *"Found Haibara. Heading back now."* Just that. He puts Haibara on the back of the skateboard, and they slowly start down the nighttime road. The road before dawn. The eastern sky is just beginning to whiten. The wind is still cold, and the faint smell of the tide lingers. Haibara presses her forehead against Conan's back. "[whispers]...I thought you might not come looking for me." "[gentle]You're being surprisingly honest." A slight pause— "[gentle]Of course I'd come." Haibara said nothing more. But the fingertips gripping Conan's clothes tightly trembled just a little. The skateboard glides quietly. Crossing through a night they can tell no one about, the two head for Beika Town. Only the silence of this secret road home felt like it could forgive everything.