The Grammatical Investigator in Conan

No one is here?

Have you gotten up already?

Qin Zhibo looked around and did not see Kuroba Kaito in his field of vision.

He should be on the deck already, right?

But why didn't you take your luggage with you when you left?

Qin Zhibo glanced at the luggage placed next to the wooden box. These were purchased by Kuroba Kaito at Dilas-Lin Port before boarding the ship. They contained food and daily necessities for the voyage.

Considering that this place is unregulated, it is safer to carry it with you to avoid being stolen.

Qin Zhibo carried his luggage behind him and walked towards the deck.

…

Arriving on the first deck, it was still sunny and sunny outside, and many people were watching the wind as they did yesterday.

Feeling some pressure in his bladder, Qin Zhibo came to the back deck and unbuttoned his pants by the fence.

A second later, a stream of water flowed downwards against the wind, pouring on the oars protruding from the second floor.

However, this small amount of water flow did not seem to be noticed by the crew of the oar. The huge black wooden oar did not hesitate at all and was still shaking.

While this way of relieving bladder pressure is unsightly, it doesn't matter on this boat.

The only toilet in the public cabin stinks and there are always queues, so many passengers choose to go outside.

"Okay, it's time to find where my great son is..."

Qin Zhibo put on his pants, glanced around, and decided to start looking from the left.

According to the information Kaito Kuroba had heard from other passengers, the ship arrived at the Northern Continent within the past three days.

It was a day yesterday.

In other words, we will arrive on the mainland today or tomorrow.

Rather than searching for the spiritual beings who made the Immortal World Stepping Spirit Creation Ribbon on an unknown continent, it would be better to search for it on this ship.

Even if not, some information can be collected in advance from passengers to provide clear directions for actions after landing.

But when he made a large circle on the deck, he found no trace of Kuroba Kaito.

strangeness……

Apart from the huge mast, there should be nothing missing on the deck.

Qin Zhibo glanced at the passengers on the deck, and some of them moved the wooden boxes from the public cabin up and set up a temporary place for playing cards.

The other part is still watching.

Although we were watching the wind, there was no sense of traveling at all, and everything looked lifeless.

This is also normal.

After all, this ship has been sailing at sea for more than ten days, and there are no entertainment items on board. Now that I can see the sea without vomiting, it is already very impressive.

And among them, there is no Kuroba Kaito.

Not on the deck, could it be in a public cabin?

Qin Zhibo returned to the cabin below the deck and searched one by one on the hammocks in the dark cabin.

However, after searching every corner of the ship where passengers were allowed to move, including the stinking small toilet, no sign of Kaito Kuroba was found.

"There are no decks or public cabins on the first floor..."

"Did this kid get bored and run to the second floor?"

Qin Zhibo stood there, frowning and thinking.

As a young man who is extremely curious and energetic, and having stayed on this ship longer than himself, Kuroba Kaito is very likely to be curious about the cabin below.

Especially curious about where the power of this ship comes from day and night.

In fact, even Qin Zhibo himself is somewhat concerned about this issue.

But since no one on the ship dared to touch this taboo, there must be a reason.

So, did this guy do it?

Qin Zhibo stopped thinking and hurriedly ran to a corner at the end of the public cabin.

There are no gaps in the wooden boards of the entire public cabin, except for a huge square floor door of 5 meters by 5 meters at this location.

Qin Zhibo noticed this place from the first day he came on the ship.

Qin Zhibo looked down at the ground. There were two floor doors on the left and right. There was a gap in the middle that could be opened, but there was no door handle.

This is the only possible access from the public cabins to the paddle level below.

However, the floor door is completely flat and cannot be pulled up with the help of any protrusions.

Moreover, it would be extremely difficult to pull this huge door open with human height.

Unless you push it up from below...

Qin Zhibo squatted down and gently touched the gap in the middle of the floor door with his fingers.

The gap is so narrow that you can't even put your little finger in, let alone your whole palm, and open the door.

Even if Kuroba Kaito is a Phantom Thief in the real world, he has no use in this dreamland.

Could it be...

Qin Zhibo thought for a moment and suddenly thought of a possibility.

He quickly ran to the deck and found Larkin who was still watching the wind in the same position as yesterday.

"What's up?"

Larkin heard Qin Zhibo coming over and asked with a slightly sideways glance.

Qin Zhibo walked over slowly and said calmly: "I would like to ask, are there no other places for passengers on this ship to go except the deck and public cabins?"

He did not tell his problem directly, but used it to obtain information.

"Where else can we go?"

Larkin turned his head to look at Qin Zhibo, and then shook his head calmly.

"No, except for going to the cargo hold once when boarding and disembarking, you can only move around on the deck and public cabins at other times."

"Even if it's your first time on a ship, you should know the rules after staying here for such a long time, right?"

"Rules..." Qin Zhibo groaned, "But how can the rules of this place be binding?"

"There is no crew to manage here, and it is on the sea far away from the land. Even the captain is unknown. What's the use of rules?"

"It's like riding a ghost ship..."

Facing Qin Zhibo's complaining muttering, Larkin turned around and put his hand down from the railing.

"Then just think of it as riding a ghost ship..."

"In fact, this place occasionally has passengers disappearing. Passengers who were originally on the ship suddenly disappeared on a certain night."

"And these passengers, without exception, were not able to keep their place on the ship before and did things that disrupted the rules here."

"So even if there is no one managing it, it's completely like someone is managing it, isn't it?"

After saying that, Larkin turned his head and continued to look at the sea.

But his words kept thinking in Qin Zhibo's mind.

Indeed, although it seems that there is no one managing it here, there have been no vicious incidents such as murder and fighting since the ship started.

Everyone stayed on the ship in a law-abiding manner, quietly killing time and waiting for the ship to dock.

In this environment that is most likely to arouse people's inner darkness, it is impossible for humans to be so honest.

There must be some rules that constrain them.

This is what Qin Zhibo realized just now after discovering that Kuroba Kaito had completely disappeared from the deck and the public cabin.

This place is not without rules, but is bound by an invisible rule.

And last night, Kuroba Kaito just broke this rule because he stole something from the Arab.

This is exactly what Qin Zhibo is most worried about.

Because once there is a certain "rule" on this ship, the only ones who can enforce this rule are the "crew" on this ship.

…

First floor, public cabin.

Qin Zhibo stood in front of the floor door in the corner at the end, holding his chin up seriously.

If the crew is the one who maintains order on this ship, then the crew can only come from the second floor that no one has ever been to.

And this floor door leading to the second floor is designed to be unable to be opened from the top and can only be pushed open from the bottom.

This is probably to serve the "rules".

Kuroba Kaito stole something from the Arabs last night and was discovered by the "crew", so he was caught downstairs.

But how did these "crew" find out?

There are no crew members on this floor, let alone high-tech surveillance, so how could they know that it was Kuroba Kaito who stole something?

This place is very strange...

Qin Zhibo frowned and thought about the current strategy.

Although Kuroba Kaito realized that he was in danger that he could not deal with, he might exit the fantasy dreamland by himself.

But once he is in a state where he cannot exit the fantasy dreamland, it will be troublesome.

He can't go back to the real world now to check whether Kuroba Kaito has returned.

Because the premise for the progress of the dreamers who make up the team to keep synchronized must be that one party will not be stranded in the fantasy dreamland.

Once Kuroba Kaito does not return to reality, and he enters the fantasy dreamland again, Kuroba Kaito may have followed the ship to the shore and returned.

At that time, he will be completely separated from Kuroba Kaito.

Such a risk is definitely unacceptable.

The only way now is to go to the lower level and confirm the whereabouts of Kuroba Kaito in person.

It is definitely impossible to enter directly through the trapdoor.

The only item he can use in the dreamland is the [Sword of the Oath Keeper], but if he uses the Sword of the Oath Keeper to break in openly, it means that he will be an enemy of the entire crew of the ship.

It is obviously not a rational behavior to be an enemy of the majority of people in the only foothold in this vast ocean.

Then there is only the second way...

...

On the first deck, two passengers wearing fur vests are playing cards.

A dozen yellowed cards are stacked on the wooden box, and the remaining cards are in the hands of the two people.

"Hey, do you want this head card?"

"Well... let me think about it first."

Just as one of them was staring at the cards in his hand and frowning, a pair of hands suddenly pressed on the wooden box in front of him that served as a card table.

Then, the entire wooden box and the cards on it were blown away.

Bang!

The wooden box rolled in the air and hit the deck heavily.

All the cards were blown away, and some were even blown over the fence by the sea breeze and fell into the sea.

Two passengers who were playing cards were stunned when they saw the mess in front of them.

One of the men ran to the fence to remedy the situation, but it was too late. He could only look at the papers floating on the sea with regret.

"Hey!"

"What are you doing?!"

The two of them looked angrily at the man who flipped the table next to them.

The man was dressed in black and wearing a black cloak, looking at them with a smile.

"Sorry, I just slipped accidentally..."

The two of them were immediately furious when they heard it.

"What foot! You clearly used your hand!"

"And you didn't do it accidentally, you did it on purpose!"

The two of them accused the strange man indignantly, attracting some onlookers nearby.

It is normal for these two people to be so angry, because this is the only entertainment tool in this sea.

But at this moment, the man in black in front of him showed no regrets at all, but instead showed a mocking smile on his lips.

"Oh, you saw it~"

"Yes, I did it on purpose~"

"I saw that your cards were too bad, so I just turned over the table, hee hee~"

Such an aboveboard provocation surprised everyone around him.

It was clear that they had been sailing on the sea for more than ten days without incident, but when they were about to arrive on the mainland, they did such a stupid thing.

Doesn't this person know the "rules" here?

Seeing the mean smile of the man in black, one of the card-playing men couldn't bear it any longer, clenched his fists and was about to swing over.

But he had just punched halfway when his companion held his shoulder and stopped him.

"Hey, this is on a boat..."

The words of his companion reminded the man. The man's pupils trembled, he quickly put down his fist and sneered several times.

"Hmph...you don't have to be too proud, because you will be punished soon."

"let's go."

The two men playing cards turned around and left without saying anything more.

As they walked, there was a secret smile on their lips.

Qin Zhibo looked at their leaving figures, and his previous suspicion became more certain in his heart.

He did not start a fight despite being so provocative, which shows that there are indeed rules and regulations in this place.

Judging from the words of the man playing cards, his unprovoked behavior should be regarded as breaking the rules and he will be "punished" soon.

In this case, let's wait until night...

…

Time passed by and soon it was night again.

As the last ray of light on the sea disappeared, people on the deck returned to the public cabin one after another.

That very unpleasant smell filled the air again, and various chaotic sounds made the entire cabin as noisy as a vegetable market.

Perhaps because the ship will arrive at its destination tomorrow, the passengers tonight are extremely excited.

Even the time to put out the candles was much longer than usual, and the food and drink were enjoyed to the fullest.

While there were relatively few people around, Qin Zhibo walked around the public cabin, but still didn't find Kuroba Kaito.

It seems that we can only proceed according to the original plan and search in the second cabin...

The active part of the evening lasted perhaps more than an hour before the candles gradually went out.

Darkness descended on the entire public cabin again.

Although Qin Zhibo was lying on the hammock, the muscles of his body did not relax at all, and his teeth were gently clenched.

What kind of "punishment" is it?

What exactly is the "crew" on this ship?

Could it be related to spiritual beings?

Qin Zhibo was thinking with his head on his arms when he suddenly felt something was wrong.

The soft hammock on the back has become cold and hard from time to time.

He quickly stood up and looked around, only to find that he was in an unfamiliar environment.

At this time, he was lying alone on the floor of a dark space.