The Grammatical Investigator in Conan

At the University of Brightchester, a black car was driving slowly on the avenue in the middle of the campus.

Qin Zhibo sat in the passenger seat, lowered the window, and looked around silently.

Although the University of Brightchester is also one of the top universities with a good reputation, when you visit it in person, it still feels different from what you imagined.

This is completely different from the young, energetic and intelligent atmosphere of traditional universities.

Deserted and weird are the key words here.

Except for a few teaching buildings in the center of the campus that are illuminated by bright lights, the surrounding areas are filled with sparse and old office buildings.

These office buildings look old and lack repair, and are mostly made of red bricks and gray walls.

The only main road on campus that can be used by external vehicles has street lights emitting a yellowish light installed on both sides.

Just looking a little deeper into both sides of the street gives people an eerie feeling of silence.

It's obviously not completely dark yet, so it's hard to see anyone on this campus.

Qin Zhibo narrowed his eyes and observed for a while, then turned to the driver next to him and asked.

"Has this place always been like this? It looks like it's abandoned..."

Obviously, a world-class university should not feel like this.

The professional driver named "John Cage" answered while looking at the "dismal yellow road" stretching directly in front of the car.

"This is my first time here, so I don't know much about it..."

"But I heard when I was in London that the students who graduated from the University of Brightchester were somewhat...weird."

The driver's tone was not very relaxed and chatty, but slightly nervous.

"Is it weird?" Qin Zhibo asked him, "In what way is it weird?"

The driver held the steering wheel with both hands and kept looking at the straight street in front of him, groaning in his throat.

"Um……"

"I should say he's a weirdo."

“I heard from a friend who once shared a house in London with two students from the University of Brightchester.”

"That house is in the Bromley district of London. Although it is a bit far from Inner London, the advantage is that the rent is very cheap."

"Less than 100 meters from the house, there is a cemetery."

"My friend once saw his two roommates walking to the cemetery in the middle of the night wearing strange clothes, seemingly performing some kind of ceremony."

"At the beginning, the ceremony was just the two of them, but gradually, more and more people participated in the ceremony, and finally it turned into a huge team of dozens of people."

"Sometimes, they would wear black robes and step on other people's graves, dancing with their teeth and claws."

"Sometimes, they would hold white candles in their hands and collectively sing hymns that no one had ever heard..."

"One day, my friend couldn't stand the behavior of these people, so he chose to knock on those two people's rooms during the day and ask them what they were doing..."

"What do you think they said?"

The driver paused for a moment and turned to look at Qin Zhibo.

"What do you say?" Qin Zhibo asked.

The driver had a horrified expression on his face, "They actually said they were conducting an experiment..."

"The experiment involves recalling the dead from the graveyard."

"After hearing this, my friend thought this was ridiculous. He wanted to call the police, but due to the large number of people on the other side, and they were all students, the most the police could do was give him a simple punishment."

"But once I offend them, life will definitely be difficult in the future. In the end, I have no choice but to move out."

"well……"

The driver sighed and continued to concentrate on driving.

Qin Zhibo, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked slightly startled. He was also a little shocked by this story.

If this story is true, then the research topics at this university are too hardcore.

This kind of university is very suitable for Koizumi Hongzi...

At this moment, the driver suddenly stepped on the brakes.

It turned out that a person came out of the dark alley next to the main road without any warning.

The man has a slightly younger face and looks like he is a student here. He has a loose canvas bag on his shoulder and a stack of heavy books in his other hand.

You obviously have a bag, but you still hold the book in your hand?

The driver lowered his window and asked in an authentic London accent: "How can I get to the Institute of Astronomy?"

This is the destination agreed between Qin Zhibo and the chauffeur, and it is a round trip.

The student stopped, slowly turned his head, thought for two seconds and then said coldly.

"Keep driving forward. When you drive about 1 kilometer, you will see a low slope, and the research institute is there."

"Thanks."

The driver thanked him and quickly raised the window, fearing that some kind of uncleanness outside the car would fly into the car.

Before Qin Zhibo closed the car window completely, he saw something twisting and making irregular bulges in the canvas bag tightly held under the student's arm.

It seems like an animal...

But Qin Zhibo had no way of knowing what kind of animals were inside, because the driver had already stepped on the accelerator, started the car and accelerated away.

…

Soon, the car reached what the student said was a short slope.

The short slope is located next to a river. According to the mark on the navigator, this place is called Severn River.

There is a white observatory on a low slope, connected to a green-gray six-sided fortress-shaped building.

"arrive……"

The driver checked the sign at the bottom of the short slope and it indeed said [Institute of Astronomy, University of Brightchester].

Qin Zhibo also glanced at the sign, and then looked at the fortress building.

Since there was no light, most of the building was shrouded in darkness, with only one window on the second floor illuminated.

Luckily, it looks like there's someone inside.

"I'll go inside and take a look. You wait here and I'll come back."

Qin Zhibo explained to the driver, opened the door and got out of the car.

He looked at the only lighted window, and he didn't expect to meet someone from the research institute who would know about the "Great Halley's Comet".

But at least you can get the contact number of the relevant researcher, and then you just need to make a phone call to consult.

As for why the other party wanted to tell a stranger about the research progress on the "Great Halley's Comet", Qin Zhibo had already thought of an excuse...

Qin Zhibo followed the stone steps and walked up the short slope.

There are many chilling graffiti painted on the gray walls outside the building.

The more obvious ones are skulls, graveyards, faceless men, zombie dogs and other patterns.

But in a corner on the left side of the wall, there are some completely different patterns.

Driven by curiosity, Qin Zhibo moved a few more steps and walked to the pattern.

It was a graffiti of blue sea and sky.

The graffiti was painted for a long time, causing many of the color patches on it to fall off and fade, making it look very mottled.

But the pattern used to be pretty good, at least better than the completely creepy graffiti next to it.

And on the line where the sea and the sky intersect on the light blue sea, a big pale face is rising.

At first, Qin Zhibo thought it was the moon.

But if you look closely, you can see that there is a huge eye on it, as well as facial features made of huge pits and mountains.

"It's so abstract..."

Qin Zhibo shook his head slightly, not knowing how to evaluate this graffiti work.

He turned back to the main entrance of the institute and pressed the doorbell next to it.

Di——

The electric bell above the head made a muffled sound, calling the people inside.

But after waiting for more than ten seconds, Qin Zhibo did not hear any sound coming from behind the dark glass.

So, Qin Zhibo pressed the doorbell again.

Di——

Di——

If the doorbell is pressed too many times, it will cause resentment to the people inside.

But as soon as Qin Zhibo pressed the button for the third time, a harsh sound came from above his head.

hiss--

This is the sound made by aluminum alloy windows that have not been lubricated for many years, sliding in the chute where sand, gravel and dust accumulate.

"who is it!"

The owner of the voice was obviously unhappy.

Qin Zhibo looked up and saw a head sticking out of the only lit window.

"Hello, I am……"

Just as Qin Zhibo was about to introduce himself, he was interrupted by the other party.

"I don't care who you are, my research is at a critical stage, don't disturb me!"

After saying that, the other party closed the window.

Forehead……

Qin Zhibo stood there and hesitated for three seconds before continuing to press the doorbell.

Although this is a bit impolite, in order to know the truth about the world as soon as possible, I must do this.

Di——

The bell made an unpleasant sound again.

The upset man upstairs quickly opened the window this time and shouted: "Sir, I told you, I don't have time now!"

Qin Zhibo ignored the other party's refusal and quickly stated the purpose of his visit.

"I'm here to find the researcher who is still conducting research on the 'Great Halley's Comet' of 1888..."

"I don't need to waste too much of your time, just tell me that person's contact information and I'll leave!"

Hearing Qin Zhibo's purpose, the man on the second floor fell silent.

Then, he asked, "I have to know first what did you do with the people who conducted this study?"

The man's answer was a disguised admission that some people are still conducting this research.

Qin Zhibo took out his wallet and revealed the metal badge inside. Without waiting for the other party to see clearly, he said: "I am from Miskatonic University, and I have seen some information from that year in the school. I’m also very interested in this research.”

"So I came here specifically to learn about the current research progress..."

Because the moonlight was behind him, the face of the man at the second-floor window was dark.

However, based on the angle of his head, Qin Zhibo judged that the other party was looking at him.

After a few seconds, he said in a deep voice: "To be honest, I am the one conducting this research..."

"Since you are from UM, let's come up and have a chat."

The man retracted his head, and soon he stuck his head out of the window again, and threw a key in front of Qin Zhibo.

Qin Zhibo took the key and used it to open the locked front door.

Entering the inside of the institute, it is more energy-saving than imagined.

The first floor was almost completely dark, with offices with different functions on the left and right sides, and the doors were all closed.

Qin Zhibo walked along the stairs opposite the door to the second floor and saw that in the dark corridor, there was only one office with the door open, and the light inside illuminated a small area.

He walked to the door of the office and saw a man wearing glasses sitting in front of the computer, staring at the screen above.

In his hand, there was a large amount of scratch paper for checking calculations.

There are also various calculation formulas and obscure data piled on the whiteboard and blackboard behind him.

The man was sitting in this huge ocean of data, swimming in an orderly manner.

The man turned his head when he heard footsteps at the door.

Qin Zhibo looked at the man's face and then glanced at the top of his head, knowing that the man's name was Miles Ingalls.

After the two sides looked at each other for a second, Ingalls said slowly: "You don't look like a student at your age..."

Qin Zhibo walked into the room and explained: "I am indeed not a student, but I did study at the University of Michigan and have graduated for many years."

"In the school library, I once saw the astronomical discovery of the University of Brightchester in 1888 - Halley's Comet."

"Although this 'discovery' was considered deviant at the time, I found it very interesting, so I came here to see if anyone else was conducting this research..."

Ingalls nodded, then turned around in his seat and continued to stare at the computer screen.

"You came at the right time. My research will soon yield results..."

"Now I am calculating the orbital impact of 'Gehros' on Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus to figure out when it will reach the range that can be directly observed on the earth."

Qin Zhibo heard a brand-new term, so he quickly asked, "I would like to ask, what is 'Gheros'?"

Ingalls didn't turn his head, just stared at the screen and responded.

"This is the new name of the planet..."

"It used to be called the 'Great Halley's Comet', but my father felt that that planet was completely different from Halley's Comet except for the fact that it was roaming in the universe..."

"So my father gave it a new name—Gheroth, the Herald of Destruction."

The pen in Ingalls' hand was making calculations rapidly on the papyrus while he said: "Although my father is only an amateur astronomer, he is very keen on things in the sky."

"He noticed the planet in the sky and published an article in the Herald called 'The Sun is being dragged away'."

"But his remarks, like the incident in 1888, were completely treated as a joke..."

"But I am about to correct all this now and prove through scientific means that 'Gehros' is real and that it is approaching the solar system."

"When humans on earth can observe it, no one will deny my father..."

Qin Zhibo looked at Ingalls's focused look, and his mind couldn't help but start thinking.

It looks like the legend within the zoo organization is true...

The so-called return of stars should be caused by the gravitational influence of the nine planets, causing their orbits to shift.

"Then roughly when can you calculate the results?" Qin Zhibo asked.

Ingalls turned to look at Qin Zhibo, and after thinking for a moment, he replied expressionlessly.

"If you don't bother me here all night, you can do it tomorrow morning..."