The Grammatical Investigator in Conan

On the edge of the mountain, next to an erected easel, a ghoul was standing there painting.

At its feet is a small pile of bones, stained with colorful spots by drops of scattered paint.

Qin Zhibo, Kuroba Kaito, and Terai Kinosuke slowly came forward. They did not interrupt immediately, but invariably focused their eyes on the painting on the easel.

It can be seen that the reference of this painting is the giant pile of bones under the canyon.

The painting skills of the ghoul are extremely exquisite, using colored ink stroke by stroke to outline the creepy look of the pile of bones on the canvas.

On the pile of bones, the only living thing - a huge worm - is painted vividly. Appropriate color contrast and light and dark effects are used in each dark position to show some abnormal feeling of dormant darkness, which makes people's hair stand on end.

Every line is so precise that it's hard to believe that it came from a hand as deformed and ugly as a ghoul.

Suddenly, the ghoul in front stopped painting on the tip of his pen.

"Are you... here to find me?"

This strange scene completely stunned Kuroba Kaito, and Qin Zhibo stepped forward to answer the question.

"Yes, are you Richard Upman Pickman?"

The ghoul's head paused, and he gently placed the palette in his hand on the pile of bones.

"In this world, there is really no need for such a long name. Just call me 'Pickman'."

This ghoul named "Pickman" is different from most of the ghouls in the camp. Every step he makes is slow and slow.

As a long-lived scavenger, the ghoul's body movements are the same as those of many carnivores in the wild in the real world. They are fast and violent, and once they move, they are not too slow.

But Pickman moves very slowly, even slower than Ryohei Matsumoto, who was recently transformed into a ghoul.

There are benefits to being fast, and the most intuitive benefit is that it is better for survival.

The advantage of slowness is that it is more adaptable to human activities, such as painting creation.

Kuroba Kaito came to his senses at this time, took a step forward, and asked, "Do you know Kuroba Toichi?"

"Stealing one?"

"It was my name a long time ago...well..."

Pickman picked up an ungnawed bone from the ground and put it in his mouth to taste it.

Suddenly, Qin Zhibo felt like a ghoul again.

Like, so similar.

Pickman's indifferent answer immediately made Kuroba Kaito and Terai Kinosuke excited.

"Kuroba Toichi, where is he now?!"

"Well...who knows?" Pickman replied while breaking the bones, "Maybe only the gods know the answer?"

Kuroba Kaito did not give up, "Kuroba Toichi is my father. I want to know his whereabouts and the stories about his past..."

Hearing this, Pickman looked up at Kuroba Kaito for the first time and stared at it for a while.

After a moment, it walked up to Kuroba Kaito again, holding a bone with unknown meat residue in one hand, and stroking Kuroba Kaito's cheek with the other hand.

A slightly fishy smell lingered on Kuroba Kaito's cheeks, but in order to obtain information, Kuroba Kaito could only endure it.

"Tao Yi's child?"

"It looks similar, but how do you prove it?"

Kuroba Kaito was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that this ghoul knew how to check household registration.

But the key point is that Kuroba Kaito does not carry any documents that can prove that he and Kuroba Toichi are father and son.

But Qin Zhibo suddenly thought of a way and reminded: "The best way to prove that you and Heiyu Pianyi are blood related, isn't it magic?"

"You can do some magic and see..."

After Qin Zhibo's reminder, Kuroba Kaito suddenly woke up.

Pickman had created the painting "Monster Thief" for Kuroba Toichi, so he must have known that Kuroba Toichi was a genius magician.

But it's a pity that Kuroba Kaito didn't bring any useless magic props with him on this adventure, except for the playing cards in the playing card gun.

Kuroba Kaito opened the magazine, took out the playing cards, and started playing playing cards in front of Pickman.

Once upon a time, Kuroba Toichi was a master at playing poker. Kuroba Kaito was brought to the poker table since he was a child, so he was naturally familiar with Kuroba Toichi's poker skills.

Kuroba Kaito first demonstrated the most basic pattern cutting of playing cards. Playing cards of medium and small sizes were switched back and forth between his dexterous fingers, and each fancy cutting method was displayed.

The next step is to change the cards, which is to use extremely fast fingering to create a playing card "out of thin air".

Of course, the most taboo thing about this little magic trick is someone standing behind the magician.

Kuroba Kaito conjured playing cards one after another from his seemingly empty hand, which made Pickman's eyes light up.

"OK OK……"

"I haven't seen magic like this for a long time."

"Actually, I already knew that you were Pirate One's son. I just wanted to see the magic that I haven't seen in so many years."

Kuroba Kaito was speechless, what kind of bad taste is this.

However, it is also understandable that for a primitive human who has lived in the Tombs of Xin for a long time, there are always some human activities that he does not want to give up.

At this time Qin Zhibo asked: "Since you know that he is the son of Pirates, has he ever told you these things?"

"Yes." Pickman put down the bone in his hand and picked up another bone with meat residue from the ground. "Robinson is my good friend. He often talks to me in dreams."

"He told me a lot of things that happened in real life and performed magic tricks. We got along very well during that time."

"Enter a dream? Is Black Feather Pirates a dreamer?" Qin Zhibo asked.

"No, he is the dreamer."

Pickman's answer stunned Qin Zhibo, and Kuroba Kaito next to him quickly asked, "What is a Dream Maker?"

Qin Zhibo told Kuroba Kaito and Terai Huangnosuke about the concept of Dream Maker.

Dreamers and dreamers are the two most mainstream ways to enter the dreamland, and both are non-entity entrances.

But the difference is that dreamers have a kind of destined ability. Not only are they born with the ability to enter fantasy dreams, but they can also create real objects, palaces, treasures, etc. in dreams.

Dreamers can undergo acquired training without any physical requirements.

"That is to say, your father was born with the ability to enter the dreamland."

Kuroba Kaito and Terai Kinosuke showed incredulous expressions.

Over the years, Kuroba Tuoyi has never told anyone else about this secret, including those closest to him.

But who can believe that there really is a world in dreams unless they see it with their own eyes?

"Kuroba Toichi, is he dead?"

Qin Zhibo asked Pickman this most critical question.

Pickman nodded and said in a leisurely tone: "You guessed right, Black Feather Thief is indeed dead."

Black Feather Thief... is dead?

When Pickman said this, Kuroba Kaito and Terai Kinosuke's brains felt like they were struck by lightning.

Is dad really dead?

Since they found Pandora's Stone last time, both of them thought that Black Feather Thieves was still alive in a corner of the world, but could not show up for some reasons.

But now that I got a definite answer from Pickman, I felt a huge gap in my heart that outsiders couldn't understand.

Shock, loss, sadness, all kinds of complex emotions made the two of them stunned for a moment and stopped in place.

Qin Zhibo did not notice the expressions of the other two people, but continued to ask: "If I remember correctly, after the dreamer's physical body dies in reality, will he be reborn in the dreamland?"

Pickman nodded, "That's right..."

"After Thief died, he was reborn in the dreamland."

"He should still be wandering in the dreamland, looking for the legendary secret land of Kadath."

Secret Kadath?

Qin Zhibo felt that the name sounded familiar, and then he remembered that he had heard of this place from a wise man in Usa Town.

Now, my main mission is also a mission called "Dream Search for the Secret Land of Kadath".

The secret realm of Kadath is located in the north of Dreamland, in an unknown place on the Cold Plateau.

What is Black Feather Bandit doing in Kadasi?

Qin Zhibo was about to think about the answer when he found Kuroba Kaito standing there with a look of loss and sadness on his face.

Terai Huangnosuke comforted Kuroba Kaito's head like an elder.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"We..." Terai Kinosuke was stunned for a moment, "Am I comforting the young master?"

"Black Feather Thieves should still be alive, why are you so anxious and sad?"

"Huh? Still alive?!"

Kuroba Kaito suddenly woke up from a dream.

…

After Pickman's explanation, several people finally understood what was going on.

It turns out that eight years ago, the Beast Brotherhood did kill Kuroba Toichi by causing a performance accident.

However, for that assassination, the Black Feather Thief had been mentally prepared early in the morning.

At that time, the Beast Brotherhood had already grasped the true identity of the first-generation Kaitou Kidd, and had called and threatened Kuroba Toichi.

For the safety of his family, Black Feather Toiichi had no choice but to resort to tricks and die alone.

Because once the Beast Brotherhood finds that it cannot steal Kuroba, it will inevitably turn the target of the attack on Kuroba Chikage and Kuroba Kaito.

Therefore, during the performance accident eight years ago, Kuroba Toichi knew that there was a bomb on the roller coaster used for the performance, but he still got on it.

However, Black Feather Pirates has the physique of a dreamer. Even if he is killed in the real world, he will be reborn in the dreamland.

And before the incident, Black Feather Pirates left a series of clues.

The first is the secret base in Kuroba Kaito's bedroom, the mural of "The Phantom Thief Under the Moon" behind the wall of the full-length mirror.

This mural, including the "Ghoul under the Moon" below, was commissioned by Black Feather Thief and Pickman.

Kuroba Toichi cannot complete such a difficult self-portrait for himself, so that Kuroba Kaito will know that there are others who know Kuroba Toichi's true identity.

Pickman is a slightly famous horror painter in history and the only ghoul painter in the world. As long as Kuroba Kaito wants to look it up, he can always find it.

Before Pickman disappeared, he left a message about Van Gogh's sunflower bush, which just led to the dreamland.

In other words, the series of clues left by Kuroba Thiouichi are not only to guide Kuroba Kaito, but also a test.

"It seems that you passed Pirate One's test and did not let him down."

"congratulations."

Pickman put down the bones in his hand and congratulated Kuroba Kaito, just like the NPC that appeared after defeating the boss at the end of the game.

Hearing this, Kuroba Kaito felt a little ashamed.

In fact, Qin Zhibo was the key figure in solving this series of mysteries along the way.

If it weren't for Qin Zhibo, he wouldn't even have discovered the self-portrait of "The Phantom Thief Under the Moon". It was definitely written by a person that no one had ever heard of.

Thinking of this, Kuroba Kaito looked at Qin Zhibo with eyes filled with gratitude.

"Then where is my father now?"

Knowing that Kuroba Toichi was still alive, Kuroba Kaito's tone became much calmer.

"I don't know either. I've been separated from him for a long time. I don't know exactly how long it was..." Pickman shook his head.

"But before we parted, he told me that he decided to go to the secret realm of Kadasi, where he would meet the gods of dreams and find the 'way' back to the real world."

"Dream Gods?" Kuroba Kaito asked.

"Yes, the gods of dreams." The ghoul put down the bones in his hands and said solemnly: "The gods of dreams are the gods who rule the earth's dreamland, but in fact they are just a group of gods in the earth."

"They don't have much divine power and can only rule the Dreamland weakly; if they leave the Dreamland, they have neither a place to live nor power."

"They will occasionally listen to the prayers of mortals when they are in a good mood, but mortals should never set out to find their residence in the cold wilderness - the onyx castle that stands on the peak of Kadath..."

"I have already told Pirate One all this, but he insists that the dream gods can provide him with a 'way' back."

The so-called "way" back is naturally the way to return to the waking world.

Although Kuroba Toichi gained immortality in the dreamland, he missed his wife and children in the waking world, so he wanted to go back, no matter what form.

This persistence made Qin Zhibo feel a little moved. He had to sacrifice himself for the sake of his family, and for the sake of his family, he had to face challenges that ordinary people could never face.

Although dreamers can live forever in the dreamland, they are not invincible.

Once the dreamer dies in the dreamland, those who have a physical body in reality will lose the dreamer's ability from then on.

If there is no physical body in reality, there will be complete death.

"Then how do I find him! How do I get to Kadath?"

Kuroba Kaito suddenly asked excitedly.

Pickman shook his head, "Sorry, I only know that Kadasi is located in the north of Dreamland."

Hearing this, Kuroba Kaito couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

In this huge dream world, how can we find Black Feather Thieves?

But at this moment, Qin Zhibo had an idea and thought of a way.

"If it's a Night Dire, can it take us to Kadath?"

"Since it is a castle in the wilderness, it should be easy to spot from a high altitude, right?"

Qin Zhibo saw the flying ability of Nightmare. If such a creature is used as a means of transportation, the efficiency of traveling to the secret realm of Kadath will be greatly improved.