Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 129 Azoth's Theorem Proof (Part 7)

"But there are so many alchemical materials here." Kogoro Mouri looked at the shelf beside him with some curiosity.

Xiaolan also came over curiously: "There are really a lot of beautiful minerals here."

Amuro Toru flipped through his alchemy notebooks, pointing out the corresponding mineral names on the shelf one by one: "This sea-blue crystal is a crystal of the water element. Alchemists believe that all pious essences will be absorbed by it. This cluster of green transparent crystals is 'Blue Mountain', named because its shape resembles a mountain made of gems..."

Conan asked the old guard curiously, "Did those so-called robbers really commit that crime for money? If they didn't have the formula for refining gold, they would have taken all the valuable ores on the shelves, right?"

The old guard nodded. "That's what I thought at first. Those 'robbers' are definitely not simple. The ores on these shelves are valuable in the market, but in the eyes of alchemists, they are just alchemical raw materials of different properties."

"These alchemical ingredients are insignificant; only the formula is priceless. Speaking of formulas, I remember that among the esoteric sects there's a formula that Lady Maria used to create the Philosopher's Stone. Countless people have sought to verify this formula, but no one has succeeded."

Maori Kogoro made a guess: "So, if this isn't just a common theft, then the murderer is most likely a member of the esoteric cult who doesn't want the formula for refining gold to leak out, so he killed them?"

The old guard shook his head. "There's no such group of fanatics in the esoteric cult who would kill to keep secrets."

Amuro Toru thought back to the diary he'd read the previous night. He wondered if Director Mars had faked his own death to escape, drawing attention to the gold-refining formula while he continued his research in secret. It was even possible that the faked death had been orchestrated by the Oritis Organization, to encourage the alchemists, who had already achieved success, to focus on the Philosopher's Stone.

Judging by the diary entries, Directors Mars and Philemon, who had achieved substantial results, survived and have since retired. Director Cangyue, having failed to produce any results, was replaced by his younger brother Helios. Director Arya likely escaped after learning part of the truth, and now, to complete the final research, Helios has tricked Miss Helena into coming to him via letter...

Thinking of this, Amuro Toru raised the alchemy notebook in his hand and asked the old guard, "If each alchemical symbol represents a director, then the offices of the other directors should all have such symbols. Can I go and see the offices of the remaining two directors?"

"No problem." The old guard, leaning on a cane, led everyone to Director Philemon's office.

"Director Philemon was Director Mars' designated successor, and his office was sealed after the incident."

Unlike Director Mars' office which is filled with various minerals, Director Philemon's office has many flasks and petri dishes. In one of the largest flasks, a humanoid creature is immersed in culture fluid.

The old guard pointed at the creature and explained, "Director Philemon was highly regarded at the time. It was said that he would soon be able to create the most perfect 'Homonkulus,' which is the alchemical term for artificial life forms. Director Philemon believed that this life form, with its pure properties, could become a perfect human."

"Many alchemical texts mention the idea that in order to accomplish great works, both man and matter must have a pure heart."

"Unlike Director Mars, who only hoped to complete a partial step in refining 'pure water' and transforming it into gold, Director Philemon sought the challenge of fully refining the Philosopher's Stone. To this end, he made every possible preparation and designated Director Cangyue as his successor. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the end."

"When Director Philemon was murdered, 'Homonkuluz' was stolen. I later found it from a hidden bookshelf and returned it to this office."

The old guard sighed deeply. "'Homonkuluz', born from 'pure energy', your creator passed away before he could truly make you perfect..."

While searching for clues in the office, Toru Amuro found a locked notebook. The password of the notebook seemed to be Morse code. After deciphering, the password was "Ascend in the light", which means "Ascend in the light".

After deciphering the code, Amuro Toru couldn't wait to flip through the notebook. Unlike Director Mars's somewhat casual recording habits, Director Philemon's records were precise and organized. The first half of the notebook recorded the experiments on refining "pure energy", and the second half recorded observations of "Homonkulus".

The first half of the record of the alchemy process was really obscure and difficult to understand, so Toru Amuro read out the observation records in the second half.

"'Homonkuluz' has taken shape, and is unresponsive to external sounds or light."

"'Homonkuluz' has taken on a complete humanoid form, but remains unresponsive to external stimuli."

The record stretched on for several pages, with "Homonkuluz" seemingly unresponsive to the outside world. On the penultimate page, it read: "'Homonkuluz' is a failure, but he's still slowly growing. Although he can no longer be used as raw material for refining the Philosopher's Stone, can he still survive as my friend? For months of office life, he was the only one who kept me company."

"One day, the housekeeper told me that he would secretly open his eyes and observe the world. I didn't believe it at first, but I had great expectations in my heart. When would he come back to life and talk to me? Maybe I should give him a new name."

On the last page of the notebook, in rather poor handwriting, was the name "Louis."

Xiaolan looked at the humanoid creature sleeping in the flask and asked curiously, "So, he is 'Homonkuluz'?"

Conan shook his head: "He should be called 'Louis'. Because in the end, Director Philemon wanted to give him a new name. The 'Louis' on the last page of the notebook should be his name."

When Xiaolan wasn't paying attention, the "Homonkurus" in the bottle opened one eye and stared at the bookshelf opposite him.

When Xiaolan came to her senses, she was startled by "He Mengkuluz" who opened his eyes.

"He, he clearly didn't open his eyes just now, but now he's opened his eyes!"

Maori Kogoro didn't seem to mind: "Maybe you saw it wrong. Maybe he had his eyes open from the beginning."

Conan, recalling the contents of the diary, immediately approached the flask and whispered, "Are you alive?"

However, since the office was very quiet, his question was heard by everyone.

[Mechanic: Phew, I'm dying of laughter.]

[Puppeteer: If puppets didn't have facial expressions, Louis would probably give Conan a speechless expression.]

[Prisoner: How can you ask such a direct question? Isn't it obvious that it's impossible to answer? Hahaha.]

The blind girl laughed out loud: "Conan is really cute."

Xiaolan saw that Conan actually had a childlike side, so she smiled and pulled Conan away from the flask: "Sorry, Conan, I think I really saw it wrong."