Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 286: A glimpse into Ai’s daily life, Bayonetta feeds Kudo A medicine!
"You said you would judge for yourself, didn't you, Mr. Detective?"

Teddy Bear chuckled, his tone quite mocking: "Even if I tell you that he is a completely innocent passerby, or that he is the mastermind behind everything, I'm afraid you won't believe it. Go and confirm it yourself."

Kudo Shinichi was silent. He couldn't hear anything from these words.

But that is indeed the case.

"Let me continue. Where were we just now?" Teddy Bear paused for two seconds and continued, "Vermouth and Amuro Toru, both of them have problems. Did you go to the abandoned warehouse last night?
A group of white people.

Even though we live in an international society, this proportion is too high.

I guess Toru Amuro might be an undercover agent from some European or American country. Americans are the most suspicious, and you know the reason.

Of course, he is definitely not a good person, at least not now. He is just an emotionless task machine.

As for Vermouth, she...

Forget it, go catch them. As long as you can catch them, you will know everything.

That's it, goodbye. "

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone was hung up. Kudo Shinichi tried to call for help, but it was too late.

"Could it be that the other side suddenly encountered an accident?"

Megure Jusan's eyes flickered as he stood on the edge of the balcony looking around.

Kudo Shinichi also took a few glances, shook his head, and walked to the balcony fence where he had just found the footprints.

"She might be able to see this side, but the chances of us finding out are slim. The last sentence is probably something she did on purpose."

Kudo Shinichi squatted slightly, with his eyes level with the footprints, looked at it for a few seconds, and blew at it.

There wasn't much change in the tiny dust particles on the footprints, which made him sigh softly.

"These traces were left in advance. She herself has long been gone and no one knows where she went."

After listening to the previous conversation, Megure Juzo also agreed that the person on the other end of the phone was a little girl. Judging from her voice, she was probably a lively and cute type.

He kept looking through his phone, and finally shook his head: "Nothing, alas, of course it is like this." He looked at Kudo Shinichi again, "Brother Kudo, if you put it that way, what about the clothes on the rooftop?"

Kudo Shinichi hesitated for two seconds and said, "I am sure that my reasoning is correct, but the person who lured us here with the dress on the rooftop is most likely not Kiyoko, nor the teddy bear just now, but just a passerby in this building."

"This……"

Megure Juzo felt that there was some truth in this, but the question was still the same one he had asked countless times before.

"What is the other side's purpose?"

"I'm not sure either, but..." Kudo Shinichi had a complicated look, "The note they left was obviously for me. This place is at the upper wind of the poison powder attack. It seems like they don't want me to die and witness what happened just now."

Megure Jusan was silent. The scene just now...

Will the world turn into purgatory?
He tightly grasped the phone in his right hand, almost crushing it, but when he thought it might contain clues, he quickly let go, took out an evidence bag from his pocket and put it away, preparing to hand it over to the forensic department later.

The screaming outside the window has stopped, and there is only a cold and dead silence in the air.

Humans fell to the ground, and from a high altitude, they looked no different from ants.

Through his tearful eyes, Megure Jusan saw many heroic tombstones.

"Leave here, Officer Megure. Be careful of the wind changing direction."

Kudo Shinichi turned and left, then suddenly thought of something and asked, "The dust is carried along by the wind. What about the citizens downstream? Will they be affected?"

Matsumoto Kiyonaga had thought of this matter at the first moment and had already known the answer based on the current situation.

"It may rain heavily tonight."

That's all for this.

Megure Jusan didn't understand, but he quickly told Kudo Shinichi. Kudo Shinichi suddenly realized and nodded.

"Before a heavy rain in summer, the hot air on the ground will rise with water vapor, which is an updraft. The police did not cough when they encountered the highly toxic dust, which shows that the dust particles are extremely small in diameter and will probably rise with the airflow, and the impact range will not spread too far."

At this point, he frowned again: "In this case, wouldn't the rain at night be poisonous rain?"

Megure Jusan relayed Matsumoto Kiyonaga's words: "Based on the research on the bodies of the victims in the abandoned warehouse last night, the police found that this drug loses its activity very quickly and cannot maintain its efficacy for long after being exposed to the air."

At the same time, only a tiny amount is needed to cause a miserable death.

Kudo Shinichi's eyes were cold and stern. This was simply a poison specially made for this purpose.

Whoever he is, that researcher is extremely evil!
"Ah chirp——"

At the Mori residence in Beika-cho, Haibara Ai, who was lying on the sofa watching TV, rubbed her nose.

Haha, it must be some bad guy muttering the name Shirley again.

"Ai, do you have a cold? Are you feeling unwell?"

Junerick hurried out of the room with a worried look on his face. He looked around, quickly got a cup of hot water and put it on the coffee table.

"Drink more hot water."

"..."

Haibara Ai felt like she should complain or something, but seeing Junerick's worried look, she took the cup and took a sip anyway.

"Thanks, nothing much, are you done with the seminar?"

"Well, everything went well."

Junerick sat down on the sofa next to him, looking relieved. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up with excitement again.

"I never thought that I could be respected by so many people. Even when I'm wearing a mask, even when I'm timid, they don't look at me with contempt. Ai, you know, they all call me Professor Akechi."

The recognition of personal values ​​and the unprecedented sense of accomplishment bring the purest joy.

Huihara Ai also smiled: "You have such talent, you should be respected like this. It was just the organization that was abnormal before, not your problem."

Zhunerik nodded heavily: "It was Mr. Shuiyue who gave me this opportunity. I must do my best to repay him."

He took out his cell phone and looked at Huiyuan Ai before dialing Yingsheng's number. He hesitated and said, "They are going to a social gathering, right? Would it be inappropriate for me to call now? How about later? It just so happens that Mr. Shuiyue goes to bed late."

Huiyuan Ai looked at him strangely: "If you want to call, make it now. If you call later, you might end up disturbing something badly."

"Ah? What's going on?"

Junerick looked puzzled.

"Nothing, just hit me."

Haibara Ai didn't want to talk about these things with boys, so she turned around and continued watching TV.

Junerick scratched his head in confusion, dialed the number, and the call was connected after about ten seconds.

"Hey, Akechi, is the seminar over?"

The voice coming from the receiver was Xiaolan's.

Junerick was slightly stunned, but he knew that Yingsheng and Xiaolan had a close relationship, so he nodded quickly: "The seminar has been successfully concluded. The experts and scholars from the Suzuki Foundation are urging both parties to finalize the cooperation and start research as soon as possible."

"I see. I'll give you a phone number. You can talk to her about the uniqueness of your technology. After that, all business cooperation matters will be entrusted to her." Xiaolan read out the number of Eri Kisaki. "Is there anything else?"

"Uh, no more..."

"Where's Suigetsu-kun? He's not drunk right now, is he?"

Just as Junerick was about to hang up the phone, Huihara Ai interrupted.

"He has some other things to do, come over when he's done." Xiaolan probably walked to a secluded place, and the noise and laughter became a little distant. "Sorry, Xiaoai, you have to cook for yourselves again."

"There shouldn't be anyone at the Maori house right now. I know that. The curtains are drawn and the lights aren't on."

Although it may sound a bit miserable, Haibara Ai and Generick used to not see the sun for several months at a time, but they didn't think it was a big deal.

"Is Suigetsu-kun in trouble? Does he need our help?" Huibara asked. "Probably not. I think this is all within his expectations." Xiaolan's tone was inexplicably low. "Akechi, your computer skills are pretty good, right? Can you please compile a list of the major events that happened in Tokyo today?"

"No problem." Junerick nodded quickly.

"Big event?" Huiyuan Ai's tone was also a little depressed. "Sister Xiaolan, do you mean that the situation last night might happen again?"

"I don't know either. The probability should be quite small."

After all, Suigetsu-kun is probably under police surveillance now, unless he really has arranged everything in advance.

This possibility is not impossible, but...

Shinichi isn't stupid, right?

Now that Shuiyue-kun has been suspected, he will probably be more restrained and won't commit crimes in defiance of the law.

Thinking this, Xiaolan comforted Huibara Ai, said goodbye to her, and hung up the phone.

Haibara Ai listened to the busy tone on the phone, her eyes dimmed a little, but when she felt Junerick's worried gaze, she regained her spirits and shook her head.

"Really? These two really treat me like a kid. They keep saying that even if someone dies, it's not my fault. I've already said it, you know what I mean."

She looked up at Junerick. "But how much medicine did you hide?"

"Forehead……"

Junerick scratched his head in embarrassment. "It's just one box. You know, the organization didn't pay much attention to APTX-4869 before. They used it as a poison. Gin also has it, and Curacao also has it."

"Oh, that's right too."

Huibara Ai sighed softly and touched the collar of her purple shirt, but felt nothing and sighed again.

"I also carried one with me before, ready to commit suicide when I felt hopeless..."

"Xiao Ai, please don't commit suicide! I..."

"Of course not now. Just listen to me."

Haibara Ai was interrupted by Junerick in the middle of her speech with a panicked look on her face. She interrupted back and glared at this terrible listener.

"This Friday night, when I thought my sister was dead, I thought about swallowing the A pill to end it all. But just as I made up my mind, Vodka came over and kept watching me, so I didn't have a chance. Then Xuesong Qingzi came in, and when she was humiliating me, I thought it might be more comfortable to die by taking the A pill, so I tilted my head to bite it, but she found me and took it out of my mouth, and the A pill became hers."

Haibara Ai finished speaking in one breath, looked at Generick who had a dazed look on his face, and snorted.

"I know it's a good thing I didn't take it, otherwise I wouldn't have any chance of survival. I mean, when did you find out that APTX-4869 only works on the Miyano family bloodline? Even I didn't realize it."

"Ah, well, maybe it's just that you're not putting your heart into it, Ai. After all, it's the organization that's been forcing you."

Junerick came back to his senses and thought for a moment: "When you took drug A, if the drug didn't take effect immediately, Xue Songqingzi might have thought you were dead. If you leave there, you can still survive and nothing will happen to you."

"hehe…"

Huiyuan Ai spread her hands: "If that's what you mean, if I had taken drug A and become smaller before Vodka came to guard me, wouldn't I be able to escape from the ventilation duct when no one was around, without having to wait for anyone to rescue me."

Junerick nodded in agreement. "Oh, yes, there is such a road. The research institute was built a long time ago, and it seems that there are no cameras in the confinement room."

"..."

Haibara Ai thinks that although this guy is usually very timid, is he actually an optimist?

How is it possible to do that?

Junerick asked with some interest: "If you escaped in that way, where would you go?"

Where will you go?
Haibara Ai was suddenly stunned, thought for a long time, and finally shook her head.

"I don't know. I'll probably go to my sister's safe house first. What happens next..." She picked up the remote control and turned up the volume of the TV. "Don't talk about these things anymore. Life is actually pretty good now."

It would be even better if my sister was here too.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Junerick stood up and walked towards the kitchen, with a determined look on his face: "As an apology, please let me cook!"

Huihara Ai rolled her eyes at him and said, "What are you trying to do with that expression as if you were about to be executed? Sister Xiaolan prepared a lunch box for lunch, so just eat that."

"Eh? What about tomorrow?"

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. It's not like I can't cook. Besides, there are sandwiches."

"Uh...that's right."

Junerick turned around and said, "When I saw you being engulfed by flames outside the incinerator, I was already disheartened and had completely lost confidence. When Mr. Shuiyue pointed out that drug A might be able to save you, I shouted out in a panic.

If Xuesong Qingzi was hiding nearby at the time, she would very likely have heard this sentence.

She may not know that you have become smaller now, but after all that has happened, she will probably know that you are still alive.

Tell me, with you as a case, what will she think of Drug A? "

Huiyuan Ai's eyes lit up: "You mean, Xuesong Qingzi will think APTX-4869 is a life-saving drug? If so, the person she wants to save will die because of her...

Then it's..."

Although she knew that her current thoughts were somewhat evil, Haibara Ai still felt a little malicious excitement in her heart.

Anyway, the person that Xuesong Qingzi wants to save must be a bad guy, so wouldn’t it be good if that person died in pain?

Her mood inexplicably improved, and Haibara Ai suddenly felt a certain anticipation for this kind of thing.

However, out of good manners, the phrase "That's great" was not uttered after all.

Moreover, she actually had some concerns about this matter.

Huiyuan Ai said frustratedly: "Xuesong Qingzi saw me trying to take drug A. She should have guessed that there was something wrong with it."

Junerick thought for a moment and said, "Not necessarily. She didn't know you were trying to commit suicide. She might have thought you were trying to kill yourself by taking drugs. Combined with the subsequent situation, she might have thought it was a drug that could unleash your life potential."

"Makes sense."

Ai Huiyuan saw a little hope and asked, "Are you sure APTX-4869 can only work on the bloodline of the Miyano family? I don't want another case of rejuvenation to happen. If that happens, my risk of being exposed will increase."

"That's true."

Junerick nodded, pondered for a few seconds, and then shook his head: "That doesn't seem to be accurate."

"What do you mean?"

"Your parents developed Drug A using their own genes as a template, but Drug A works for you, which means they didn't use a completely unique gene pair, but rather genes that are more or less universal."

Haibara Ai is also a genius scientist, and she immediately understood what she heard.

"You mean, if drug A works for me, it will also work for my sister and the relatives of the Miyano family, and the closer the bloodline, the greater the possibility?"

"That's it."

"Relatives of the Miyano family..."

Upon hearing this, Haibara Ai pondered. She had never seen her parents since she could remember. Do they have any brothers and sisters?

After a long while, Huihara Ai found nothing and shook her head.

"Even if there is, the probability of running into Xuesong Qingzi is not high. Help me get a bag of potato chips."

"OK, what flavor?"

Daily life goes on here, and on the other side, Tsuburaya Town.

Looking at Kudo Shinichi lying in a pool of blood, Vermouth's right hand trembled slightly as she took out a capsule from her chest.

Red and white, APTX-4869!

(End of this chapter)