After dinner, everyone was passing time in the Masked Hall. The photographer and the rock singer went to play billiards, while Kogoro Mouri cornered the mysterious diviner to have her predict his fortune for the year.
Meanwhile, Fang Zheng was seated in a chair, drinking tea and reading a book. Overall, everything was very calm—yes, the calm before the storm.
"Mr. Fang Zheng."
At this moment, Ran and Conan came over and sat next to Fang Zheng.
"Isn’t it boring to read a book by yourself? Why not play chess with us?"
"Chess...it’s a bit too boring for me."
Looking at Ran cheerfully holding the chessboard up to him, Fang Zheng put down his book and thought for a moment.
"How about I tell you a story instead?"
"A story? Yes, please!"
Hearing that Fang Zheng was going to tell them a story, Ran immediately showed her interest, while Conan looked at Fang Zheng curiously, wanting to see what kind of story he would tell.
"Hmm... let me think, the protagonist of the story is a girl named Risa..."
As Fang Zheng spoke, he began to tell the story to the two of them. In brief, the story starts with a girl named Risa suffering from amnesia. Because she lost her memory, she wandered aimlessly down the street until her boyfriend found her and brought her back to his home.
Although Risa’s family took her for treatment, the doctor diagnosed her as likely having suffered some mental trauma, which caused her amnesia. After that, Risa began to have nightmares, always dreaming of a giant caterpillar crawling in through the door, trying to reach her bed. Each time, Risa awoke in fear at this point.
Hearing this, Conan also became interested and began to use his powers of deduction to try to figure out how the girl lost her memory.
"Could it be that she was scared by the caterpillar?"
Ran soon voiced her guess, but Conan shook his head.
"Sister Little Lan, that’s a bit too exaggerated. Even if someone is afraid of caterpillars, it shouldn’t lead to amnesia. I suspect she might have seen something that resembles a caterpillar..."
"But ordinary caterpillars can’t be that big."
Ran puzzledly gestured; according to Fang Zheng’s description, the caterpillar’s body was as wide as a basketball. Where could such a caterpillar be found?
Then again, if such a caterpillar existed, Ran herself would probably scream in fright.
"Could it be a python? Maybe it scared her by appearing suddenly?"
"But she shouldn’t mistake a python for a caterpillar..."
The two discussed it briefly, then continued to listen to Fang Zheng’s story. Fang Zheng then talked about how the girl named Risa was invited by her boyfriend Makita to visit his home. But Makita’s house made Risa feel uneasy and restless. Seeing how tense Risa was, Makita told her she wasn’t visiting for the first time; she’d been there before... but this only made Risa more anxious. Back at home, she felt like she was beginning to remember something. She suspected she must have seen something at the Makita house that shocked her into losing her memory.
And while Risa was feeling uneasy, Makita suddenly came to her house to tell her that his father was critically ill and dying, hoping she’d see his father one last time. When Makita opened the door, Risa finally saw the true appearance of Makita’s father.
"...It was an old man lying on the tatami mat, looking exhausted and seemed not long for this world. However, what terrified Risa more was the old man’s head, which was connected to dozens of brain shells, as if hundreds of bowls were inverted together... These brain shells belonged to the ancestors of the Makita family. Whenever a family member died, their brain shells would grow on the next descendant. Risa was originally chosen as the woman to bear the offspring of the Makita family..."
Fang Zheng’s low voice echoed in the entertainment room. At this moment, Ran’s face was ashen, gripping Conan tightly, while Conan gasped. Although he knew it was just a kaidan story, thinking about hundreds of brain shells connected together like a giant caterpillar made his skin crawl.
The story ended with Makita’s father dying, and Makita inheriting his father’s brain shells. Then, controlled by the brain shells, he lunged at Risa. Faced with Makita flying towards her, operated by numerous brain shells, Risa lost her memory again from the fright and thus fell into Makita’s grasp...
"Ugh... It’s so, so terrifying..."
After hearing the story, Ran felt she’d be too scared to sleep alone tonight, while Conan was speechless because, not only was it a kaidan story, but it ended with a Bad End...
And at this moment, the twin maids walked in, indicating it was time to rest, and hoped everyone would return to their rooms to sleep. They said that at midnight, they would seal off the Masked Hall from both the east and west side to prevent those masks from running around... Well, it’s just a legend, but it was enough to make Ran turn pale.
"Conan, Conan, shall we sleep together tonight?"
Having finished the story, Fang Zheng got up and left, leaving Ran to grow more frightened, and ultimately turned to Conan beside her for comfort. Faced with Ran’s invitation, Conan was caught in a dilemma.
Ah, do you think I should agree? Or perhaps agree?
Returning to his room, Fang Zheng didn’t go to sleep but continued setting up his project on the computer. Fang Zheng had already thought that once he dealt with the person corrupted by Chaos, the Yotsuba Galaxy would surely fall into his hands. So he needed to prepare the project in advance, especially since the world of Danganronpa now needed players from various worlds to collaborate for reconstruction.
Thus, the focus became how to entice players to top-up.
Although things like skins, outfits, and housing are old tricks, Fang Zheng knew these alone wouldn’t do. Every game update needs a new top-up point to excite players... So, since the Yotsuba Galaxy is just starting, he would guide players to build Star City there, and then top-up to buy warships.
Then, further down the line, they could customize, and eventually, factory building... Of course, these would be released step by step.
Of course, the warships players get at the start must have many defects. Oh, yes, perhaps free players could receive aircraft and shuttlecraft, while top-up players could randomly draw various types of warships? Should the probability be lowered? Or skip the fake probability and just use real ones?
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Just as Fang Zheng was enthusiastically considering how to harvest his players, he suddenly heard knocking from outside the hallway. This made Fang Zheng reluctantly put away his computer, open the door, and look into the hallway. Soon, he saw one of the twin maids hurriedly coming up from the first floor, then swiftly unlocking and opening the Masked Hall. The moment the door opened, Fang Zheng saw Kogoro Mouri and the others rush over towards the third floor.
"What’s wrong? What happened?"
At this point, the photographer and the diviner also came out to see what was going on, and seeing this, Fang Zheng merely yawned silently.
No need to ask, surely someone died, right?
Well, might as well go up and have a look.
Thinking that, Fang Zheng followed the others to the third floor.
Sure enough, the door to Madam Sofon Akako’s room on the third floor was locked. Unable to do anything else, Kogoro had to break the transom above the door and send Conan inside, who opened the door from within, but to no avail... It was surely too late.
At this point, Madam Sofon Akako was already dead, surrounded by strewn masks...
Moreover, Madam Sofon Akako had been stabbed in the neck by a knife, evidently homicidal, and the room was locked. That means...it’s a locked-room murder!
After discovering the body, Kogoro immediately reported it to the police, and Officer Megure quickly mobilized personnel to the crime scene. Based on traces on the scene, it’s deduced that Madam Sofon Akako fell asleep after taking sleeping pills, hence why she died without struggling. The entire room had no possible entrances or exits, and the knife handle covered in blood had no fingerprints or any mark from the killer, which was truly bewildering.
Furthermore, according to Kogoro’s account, they were originally asleep when suddenly, someone called to say that the masks were thirsting for blood. This prompted Kogoro to sense something was wrong and quickly check Madam Sofon Akako’s room.
In addition, Kogoro boldly speculated.
"Since Madam Sofon Akako’s room can only be reached via the stairs of the Western Manor, and the doors of the Masked Hall are both locked shut, the culprit must be one of the people residing in the Western Manor!"
However......
"Impossible."
With just one sentence, Fang Zheng shattered Kogoro’s delusion.
"Why!"
"It’s simple, because my room is right next to the stairs."
Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders, looking at Kogoro.
"And I was busy working until the incident occurred, not sleeping. I can be certain that no one passed through the stairs to the third floor."
"Ugh......
Hearing Fang Zheng’s response, Kogoro’s face turned pale.
"Maybe the culprit tiptoed, avoiding detection......
"That’s impossible. I’m very confident in my hearing. In any case, before you all came, no one from the West Manor went to the third floor, so the murderer can’t be from the West Manor."
"How can that be?!"
Hearing this, Kogoro began complaining again.
"According to your logic, the murderer is one of us living in the Eastern Manor? How then did they pass through the blocked Masked Hall to reach Madam Sofon’s room on the third floor?"
"Perhaps they didn’t go through the Masked Hall at all."
Facing Kogoro’s stubbornness, Fang Zheng shrugged.
"In any case, that’s all I can say."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Conan fell into thought. He could be sure that Fang Zheng wouldn’t say something unless he was confident. Since he said that no one from the West Manor passed through the stairs to the third floor, it means he is very sure of this. However, as Kogoro Mori wondered, if the culprit isn’t from the West Manor, how would they pass through the blocked Masked Hall to get to Sofon Akako’s bedroom on the third floor?
While Conan pondered this, he saw Ran looking at the police officers with a complex expression as they put away the masks, seeming somewhat fearful.
"What’s wrong, Sister Little Lan?"
Seeing this, Conan asked in puzzlement, and upon hearing Conan’s question, Ran smiled sheepishly.
"No, nothing, Conan. I just remembered the story Mr. Fang Zheng told earlier when I saw all those masks piled up......"
"Ah, that story......ah!"
Hearing Ran’s answer, Conan nodded, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration!
Looking again at those masks, combined with the story Fang Zheng told before, Conan expressed......I know the truth now!!
After this, Conan quickly announced his deduction through Kogoro Mouri, pointing out that the murderer is the rock singer, Fuyutai Aogawa. The locked-room crime method he used was also deciphered by Conan. Simply put, Fuyutai Aogawa tied an elastic band to the bottom of a dagger, then passed masks one by one through the elastic band, sending them through a grille to Madam Sofon Akako’s bedroom, and then pulled hard.
Under the action of the elastic band, those masks scattered on the floor would be pulled up, forming a firm support point. Then, by pushing the mask on the other side of the air vent, the dagger at the top could easily stab forward, effortlessly killing Sofon Akako.
Next, all he needed to do was cut the elastic band to retrieve it, forming a perfect locked room.
Since Sofon Akako had taken sleeping pills and was asleep, no matter how much you stabbed her, she wouldn’t react. Otherwise, the possibility of someone throwing so many masks through the vent without being noticed would be virtually zero.
So, you see, it’s very much like Conanology.
Seeing the "mask arm" being pulled up, Fang Zheng was speechless.
If in reality, something like this should at least get tangled up, right? But with Conan, it’s as smooth as silk, with more than two hundred masks strung on an elastic band, irregularly scattered all over the floor. A hard pull, and if one got stuck, wouldn’t it ruin the plan?
Yet not a single one got stuck......
Could it be?
Is it scientific?
Never mind, talking science with Conan is meaningless.
Let’s just discuss Conanology.
In any case, the case was solved. After Conan exposed Fuyutai Aogawa’s lie about his alibi, he straightforwardly revealed his motive—just as Fang Zheng suspected, twenty years ago, Fuyutai Aogawa’s mother took the blame for Sofon Akako and then committed suicide. Learning the truth of this matter, Fuyutai Aogawa decided to take revenge.
So, young man, you’ve tread a narrow path, why not vent on Hell Correspondence? If you had asked me to step in, it wouldn’t have turned out like this......
Looking at Fuyutai Aogawa being taken away in a police car, Fang Zheng felt a mix of emotions, and not far behind him, Conan looked at Fang Zheng with a complex expression.
Honestly, Conan could tell that today’s deduction went suspiciously smoothly. First, Fang Zheng immediately eliminated suspicion from anyone in the West Manor. Trusting Fang Zheng, Conan quickly narrowed the range of suspects. If the culprit really was in the Eastern Manor, then it would be one of the people outside the three of them, Fuyutai Aogawa or Miss Shimokasa, so Conan focused on observing the two, and indeed found a clue in Fuyutai Aogawa’s alibi.
As for the technique used by the culprit, once Conan heard Ran talk about the story, he immediately thought of it. Indeed, stacking two hundred masks is reminiscent of the story’s hundreds of skulls stacked together......
But, is this all just a coincidence?
No matter how Conan thought about it, he felt it didn’t sit right, because the story Fang Zheng told prior was just too fitting with the crime technique, like he somehow knew the culprit would use such a method for murder, and thus told them a story ahead of time.
But that doesn’t fit logic, almost making it seem like Fang Zheng can predict the future.
"......Hey, Brother Zheng."
Just as Conan made up his mind to ask, he saw Fang Zheng turn his head, glance at him, and sighed helplessly.
"See, I was right, every time I encounter you outside, people die; fortunately, this time only one did."
At this moment, Conan expressed that he absolutely didn’t want to talk to you anymore.

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