Stay away from Conan.

"Well... I can't say there's a direct connection, but... these thoughts just suddenly came to me."

When faced with Ai's question, Gao Yuan waved his hand. This made Ai, who had been thinking a lot and whose mood had been fluctuating because of what Gao Yuan said, roll her eyes at him, as if she felt that she had been led astray by Gao Yuan.

However, if she had to say something, upon closer reflection, Ai didn't entirely think that the analysis she had just given was meaningless, since she would eventually have to confront all aspects of the organization.

But right now, isn't it more important to deal with the immediate problems?
Seeing Ai's reaction, Gao Yuan immediately continued:
"But actually, in light of what's happened so far, there's something I can't help but think about... By the way, there's a question: if you were to judge, what level within the organization would you be roughly associated with that aura you sensed at the banquet today?"

Upon hearing Gao Yuan's question about this, Xiao Ai couldn't help but ponder it deeply—

Indeed, based on his understanding of the organization and his perception of the auras of those guys, he could clearly tell that some members of the organization had terrifyingly strong auras, like Gin and the others. Even Shuichi Akai, who had once reached that level in the organization, was no ordinary guy if he deliberately revealed that aura.

Therefore, while it's impossible to accurately judge someone's position within the organization based solely on this perceived aura, it's possible to determine their level of influence within the organization and whether they've become deeply entrenched in that aura...

Therefore, I'm just making a rough assessment and recalling the situation when I felt that aura tonight. Although I've experienced quite a few of these things, so I'm gradually starting to be able to calmly face this situation, I must say that the aura tonight didn't reach the level that would frighten me.

In other words, the aura is not deep...

"If that wasn't an aura deliberately concealed, it should be... similar to those who chased me that night."

Thus, Ai gave her opinion.

Based on this analogy, Gao Yuan realized that, apart from Bourbon and Amuro Tooru, Vermouth probably didn't involve other codenamed members of the organization directly in the pursuit of Shiho Miyano that night. Therefore, the people who could be mobilized at the time were basically peripheral members of the organization, and these people...

Most of them were probably arrested by the FBI, but I wonder if they got anything out of them...

Thus, after his thoughts wandered slightly, Gao Yuan quickly brought them back to the present—

Returning to the current situation, if I'm not mistaken, what Ai sensed was the aura of an outer member of the organization, not those with codenames...

So, if the scope is narrowed down to the organization's peripheral members, Gao Yuan inevitably thinks of some other things—

For example, it seems that I have been in contact with peripheral members of these organizations for some time now.

The earliest one should be the incident at Fantasy Park. Shimizu Reiko, a key figure in the related incident, was an outer member of the organization. It was she who informed Vermouth about Shinichi Kudo and the others' appearance during the investigation of Fantasy Park. This led Vermouth to know the extent of Ai Haibara's research on the antidote "APTX4869," which in turn led to Vermouth's subsequent request for the antidote.

However, at the time, even though it was known that Shimizu Reiko was the key figure hidden at the end of the incident at the Fantasy Park, she didn't show herself, so her whereabouts couldn't be found, and the Fantasy Park incident wasn't fully understood at the time. But unexpectedly, the aftermath came quickly—the aftermath of the incident in the observation restaurant at the Beika Central Building. Vermouth directly fed Ai the antidote she obtained from Ai, causing Miyano Shiho to reappear and try to stop her escape. This led to the reappearance of peripheral members of the organization.

Among them, Shimizu Reiko was conspicuously listed.

However, unexpectedly, Shimizu Reiko ultimately died, and not only that, another person suspected of being a peripheral member of the organization was also murdered inside the Beika Central Building at the time, namely Ooba Satoru…

Given the circumstances at the time, it was clear that Vermouth herself was responsible for this situation. It can be said that her arrangements led to the deaths of two peripheral members of the organization. Furthermore, during the continued pursuit of Shiho Miyano, she dispatched a large number of peripheral members, who were then lured into the FBI's presence by her own scheme, resulting in their capture by the FBI.

Therefore, when we look at this series of events together, we can see that Vermouth's whereabouts are consistent throughout. So it is impossible to think that Vermouth, who had already brought all these events to a head, did not drive the process behind the scenes.

Therefore, combining this with the conclusions of the previous analysis—

Vermouth's actions seem to be weakening the organization, and they seem to be working in tandem.

Because, at least after experiencing this series of events, the organization's peripheral members have indeed suffered considerable losses.

Moreover, Gao Yuan's conclusions were not based solely on the details of these events, but also on another point that concerned him even more—

That is, my own settlement panel has not been used for settlement since the Fantasy Park incident.

If the settlement panel isn't stuck because I haven't claimed my previous rewards, then there's only one possibility left—

I thought all the events that have happened since the Fantasy Park incident were closed, but actually they are not. Nothing is over yet, so the settlement panel still shows no closed case.

From this perspective, if my thinking is correct, then the only possible situation is that the question of what Vermouth's true purpose is, which runs through all these events, has not yet been answered.

From this perspective, if we continue to encounter situations that might involve members outside the organization, is it possible that Vermouth is behind it all?
Furthermore, there's another matter: the organization needs to find Rena Mizunashi's whereabouts. At this point, they do indeed need these peripheral personnel to complete the final step in their search for Rena Mizunashi and pinpoint her exact location...

However, this doesn't seem to have a direct connection to the current events, so...

After much thought, Gao Yuan felt that the key to solving this problem lay with Vermouth herself. To be honest, he could contact her directly to inquire, but… (End of Chapter)