kingnovel Chapter 498 Nightmare (Part 1)
Chapter 498 Nightmare (Part 1)
The undertaker stopped what he was doing and brought out a plate of donuts covered in sweet chocolate sauce and icing sugar. Conan would bet that the donuts with the lethal amount of icing sugar were the work of a meteorologist.
Patched pounced on the plate and began devouring the donuts, a donut in each hand. His eating style was a bit horrifying to a normal person. Hattori Heiji could see from a distance that Patched's mouth had no tongue at all, only tentacles, yet he ate the donuts without slowing down.
Sera Masumi watched carefully. It seemed that Patch didn't rely on teeth to grind food, but instead used its tentacles to break the food into small pieces before swallowing it whole. Watching Patch stuff donuts into his mouth one after another, she even felt a little hungry.
Patch seemed to have noticed something, turned his head to look at Sera Masumi, and then walked over with the plate of donuts.
"You're...hungry...eat."
Realizing that his thoughts were understood by the other party, Sera Masumi was a little surprised: "Can you hear what I'm thinking?"
Patch nodded and handed over a donut. Sera Masumi found it a little amusing that Patch's eyes seemed to be focused on the remaining donut. The abyss creature before him, while a dangerous creature with good combat power and the ability to hear others' thoughts, was surprisingly easy to understand.
"You really like this kind of dessert." Sera Masumi took a donut with a smile, then watched as Patch went over and distributed the donuts to the operator.
The operator's way of eating was even more bizarre. She placed the donut directly in front of her, and a crack appeared at the edge of her mouth, sucking the donut into her mouth. She then made chewing and swallowing movements. Even if she ate a donut, her speed was much faster than that of the patch.
Seeing the operator eating faster than him, Patched felt a sense of crisis and stuffed his donuts into his mouth, fearing that he would miss out on one. The operator did not bother with the donuts anymore, but turned to the half-full pot of black tea brought by the photographer.
Yes, that pot of black tea was the kind that meteorologists had guzzled, with a ridiculous amount of sugar. But the operator poured herself a cup and drank it like a normal person. She then poured two more cups, one of which she handed to Patch.
"Be careful...you might choke."
Patch nodded, put the tentacle in his mouth, and then picked up the black tea and drank it all.
Hattori Heiji watched this scene and couldn't help but squat down and bumped Conan with his elbow: "I think the creatures of the abyss probably don't have a sense of taste, otherwise how could they drink that kind of tea without changing their expression."
"Maybe they can only taste sweet?"
The two chatted intermittently, completely unaware that Patch and the operator were staring at them. Neither the photographer nor the undertaker stopped them. Akai Shuichi noticed this, though. He didn't believe the abyssal creatures were pets with the intelligence of a toddler.
"Are they...studying?" Sera Masumi also saw this scene, because from the beginning, the way Patch and the operator looked at Conan and Hattori Heiji was completely wrong.
Conan and Hattori Heiji finally noticed this and turned their heads in surprise to look at Patch and the operator who were staring at them quietly.
Seeing Conan and Hattori Heiji stop, the two abyss creatures showed a thoughtful expression. Then Patch squatted down to adjust his tie, and the operator leaned close to Patch's ear, and the two were whispering, just like the conversation between Conan and Hattori Heiji just now.
"Is this possible?" Hattori Heiji looked at the scene in amazement.
The photographer, who was enjoying the fun, took the initiative to say to Patch, "These two are detectives, Patch. You're still a long way from reaching their level."
Patch's expression went from confusion to anger. "No... Detective, he... locked us up."
"Detective... black detective... bad guy." The operator hid behind Patch, seemingly accusing someone. "He's been hiding in his room... for seven years."
"Hmm?" Conan sensed something was amiss in the two's intermittent conversation. "Is there someone codenamed 'Detective' in Oletus Manor right now?"
"Of course not. There is only a detective who came here to find out the truth. Unfortunately, he has not yet been able to obtain the qualification to enter the manor from Miss Nightingale." The photographer seemed a little regretful.
"If he could really come, our manor full of outlaws would truly have a law enforcement officer."
Conan frowned. He hadn't expected the photographer to say that about Oletus Manor. But then he thought, what kind of people lived there? Most of them had committed either accidental murder or premeditated murder. Several of them had either been incarcerated or spent time in a mental institution.
With this configuration, anyone who comes here will have to say, "Oletus Manor is really full of talented people."
But this doesn't seem to explain why Patch and the operator keep using the word "detective." If they've been locked up in the lab, are the people guarding them considered detectives? Or is there really such a "detective" in Oletus Manor, but everyone has forgotten him, just like the reporter did?
Conan scratched his head but couldn't come up with the answer.
[Fool's Gold: Hee, Detective Orpheus has been trapped in the manor for seven years.]
[Air Force: Or maybe just a few hours?]
[*The Lord in Yellow pulls the detective into his mind channel*]
[novelist:?]
[reporter:?]
[Dream Witch: Haha, someone never forgets their original intention and always wants to complete their commission. I didn't expect that after seven years, they haven't even left the living room.]
[Detective: At least I made it to the hallway.]
[Little Girl: Huh? There are so many Aoifes now. Little Aoife (the phantom in the reporter's camera), Aoife (the novelist), Big Aoife (the nightmare), and Old Aoife (the detective).]
[Detective: Am I that old?]
[Fool's Gold: You do.]
[Nightmare: Campbell, are you so keen on going against every "me"?]
[Fool's Gold: I'd love to.]
[Detective: Little Alice seems to have missed an "I" just now. He is here now.]
[composer:?]
[Detective: I mean he is.]
[Ms. Farrow: Something's wrong. What's going on? Is the signal bad?]
[Detective: Okay, I give up. I guess they don't want me to say it.]
[Archer: Wait, so what is it?]
After reading the contents of the internal channel, the photographer's face darkened. Could there really be something in the manor that they didn't know about? However, neither the Yellow Lord nor the Dream Witch said anything. It couldn't be anything that would endanger the manor.
After taking a deep breath, the photographer looked at Conan. "Okay, I know what you're thinking. Mnemosyne's effects are limited. I don't think that 'non-existent detective' can replace all of our memories without anyone noticing. Remember, Miss Delos's accident was caused by a major experimental mishap. Other than that, the manor hasn't suffered any major disasters."
"Also, isn't it time for that abyss creature that has been hiding in the dark and observing us to come out? It's not a good habit to use me as an observation subject." The photographer stared intently at the dark shadow behind the undertaker.