Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

"Driving around on the streets of Tokyo and blasting a detective agency ad through such a big loudspeaker, you're even more outrageous than I thought."

Sitting in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, Conan, having finished breakfast and said goodbye to Sayoko, was pulled out of the house by Kudo. The two were going for a drive.

The car radio was playing the latest domestic news. Apparently, while the people of Dongdu were fast asleep last night, another group of Southern Self-Defense Force soldiers died on the front lines, and the number was not small.

"A colonel has died; the battle situation seems to be more complicated than it appears..."

Conan, who had just sighed softly, was immediately drawn to the sneer of old Kudo and turned his head. He frowned in confusion, waiting for his answer.

"The deceased was Masato Mihara, 36 years old. His father, Toshisuke Mihara, was a former Ground Self-Defense Force General. The current Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force should have been that guy."

Of course, the fact that the old Kudo would say this clearly indicates that something went wrong with Mihara Toshisuke, which is why the current highest-ranking officer in the Japanese Army missed out on the Mihara family position.

"Six years ago, a series of assassinations broke out in Tokyo, resulting in the deaths of five high-ranking officials, one of whom was Toshisuke Mihara."

Old Kudo took a deep drag of his cigarette and grumbled, "By the way, this guy had tanks painted with anime-style manga and openly drove them into the streets of Tokyo to recruit soldiers, so when he died, the whole of Japan was watching the spectacle."

This abstract old man is not worth mentioning; Conan is more curious about the current Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces.

"No, since Toshisuke Mihara died, the three Self-Defense Forces that are still in control in the south, the eastern part has always been controlled by Tokyo, the western part is responsible for Kyushu and Okinawa and for defending against enemies from the sea, and only the central part is controlled by various families of former World War II military officers."

The car took a detour to the Kudo family's old house. Conan, peering out the window, noticed the change in the nameplate from Professor Agasa's house to Professor Sawada's house. Although he knew that the professor had definitely gone to England with his wife to enjoy a peaceful retirement, he still felt it was a pity not to see such an elder. "Just let the professor live a few more years in peace. With his old bones and fat belly, he'll suffer if he stays in Beika any longer."

As the two got out of the car, Old Kudo casually used a rusty key to open the door of the Kudo residence. It was clear that the house had been uninhabited for a long time, and now all that remained was that it was regularly cleaned.

"Don't think I'm the only one with a key. This house isn't mine. My parents left it to Wu and then went back to America. They were worried that he would be too lonely, so they had a keysmith make a lot of keys for the front door. Almost everyone in the family has one."

Sure enough, although the Kudo mansion looked the same from the outside, it was completely different from what Conan remembered. At least he remembered that the doorway should have been covered with a high-quality velvet French carpet, not a bright red Tom and Jerry doormat.

With a hint of disdain, Conan changed into the cheap rat slippers he had bought wholesale and asked the old Kudo why he had come here.

"I'm looking for a lot of newspapers and news articles that I used to collect at home. This morning I received a request on my computer to attend the launch ceremony of a cruise ship and meet with the ship's owner to discuss the details of the request."

Old Kudo spread his hands and explained, "You can't find news from more than 20 years ago online at all; it's basically all covered up. So we had to look for real-world materials."

"Can't find anything at all?" Conan was a little incredulous. Thirty years from now, it's the age of technology, how could they not find anything related to it?

"Indeed, not at all."

Both of them noticed the problem and simultaneously became suspicious. (End of Chapter)