Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 308 Rumors
Previously in Aida’s video, Shiraishi saw that Renzaki Zhiguang was “using telekinesis” very seriously.

Although Shiraishi was not sure at the time whether Renzaki Zhiguang himself really believed in telekinesis, at least Shiraishi saw that his two hands were always in a "powerful" posture, facing the victim - that is to say, he himself had no chance to operate props such as remote controls!

Shiraishi guessed that the gathering point on the Beika-cho shopping street was equipped with a simple version of the device, which had no steering functions at all and was just a remote control switch.

At the same time, since there is no camera, the operator must be at the scene, and it is not Lian Qi Zhiguang...

Because of his narcissistic "estrus", Shiraishi has already identified one of the perpetrators as the "leader's wife", and after the detectives conducted a detailed investigation into the backgrounds of the cult's top leaders, they discovered that Miss Sayoko possessed relevant skills!
On the contrary, Renzaki Tomomitsu... No, this person, Ishimoto Kazuo, never went to college. After graduation, he worked as a "sales champion". Later, I don't know how he suddenly became enlightened and began to advocate a natural life. After marrying Sayoko, he quickly established the [Kuaikai] and became its leader.

In addition, the police station also found that the main source of income for the [Bitter Love Society] was the "membership fee". Ordinary believers needed to pay a one-time payment of 500,000 island dollars to join the society...

And once you believe in them, you will inevitably be constantly asked for money for various reasons. The rich, like President Yamanaka, have seen their companies go bankrupt, and there are also many people who have no money and still need to recharge their faith, and it is common for people to lose their families because of this!
The money they squeezed out of the believers also became the funds for the Fujimoto couple to squander. They even bought a villa anonymously near the "natural residence" of the Kuai Society.

Bai Shi guessed that the two of them usually didn't eat coarse food here with the believers and the leader, but went to the villa to have fun.

Anyway, the leader has to "meditate" every night...

Bai Shi then looked at the situation in the "village" and decided to call for support - there were many people who needed to be captured, and even more who needed to be brought back!
Among the top leaders, there are more than just these two main culprits who squander the believers' money.

Whether they have any connection with the murder case and whether they know the true situation of the cult leader remains to be investigated.

Leaving them behind at this time is not only a problem of escape, Bai Shi is also worried that they will be beaten to death by these believers who know that they have been deceived!

Therefore, the Beika Police Department dispatched police cars overnight and went all the way to Okutama Town, where they brought hundreds of men, women, and children back to the police station - most of them were victims, and the number of people who had been deceived was yet to be counted.

……

Seeing the rice flower department come out in full force, many people were also frightened...

After all, the last time the Mika Agency acted like this was to arrest the former Chief Justice.

"Section Chief, does our department... have a helicopter?" Suzuki asked Section Chief Kunikida in the back row in confusion.

"Helicopter? Only the main office has one. What do you want a helicopter for?" Kunikida said as a matter of course.

"No...it seems like there's a helicopter following us." Suzuki asked puzzledly.

Kunikida:……

"Don't worry about it." Kunikida said sullenly.

Kunikida could guess that it was probably someone from the head office who was worried about the large-scale mobilization of the Rice Flower Department, but because he didn't want to be involved, so... instead of contacting the Rice Flower Department, he sent a helicopter to track and monitor them!
After all, if it was like the last time, when Shiraishi was going to arrest some big shot, if we contacted Shiraishi directly at this time, once Shiraishi said what he wanted to do, would he arrest him or not?
If I don't let him catch him, he will definitely be attacked by Bai Shi later. Bai Shi will make a fuss and I will be held responsible. If I don't stop him, won't I be the one who wants to catch him?

For many things, it’s okay to ask someone for a hint, but it’s absolutely not okay to give direct orders!

Even Deputy Director Moroboshi, after hearing about this, immediately decided that "Shiraishi cannot be contacted directly" and had to pretend that he knew nothing.

then……

Just send out a helicopter to see where the traffic jam at the Mihua Police Station is going.

Many reporters also heard the news and followed them, and then found out that the Mihua Police were not going to do anything else this time, but to go directly into the mountains and "wipe out" the [Kuai Society]... No one was left alive, young or old, men or women, they were all arrested!
……

Shiraishi was also wondering why the head office sent a helicopter to support him?

But in reality, there is no need for support. There are only a few people to be arrested, and most of the others come to the police station to register and report the case...

After looking around the police station, Shiraishi went home after get off work, leaving only the police officers from the Criminal Division and the Intelligence Crime Department to work overtime - at this time, it was impossible to interrogate them, they just had to register the report.

As a result, the next morning, Shiraishi just went out and received a call from Iwata...

"I am Bai..."

"Did you lead people to wipe out the [Bitter Love Society]? There were no casualties, right?" Iwata asked impatiently.

Shiraishi:? ? ?
"What do you mean by 'eradicate'...where did this rumor come from?" Bai Shi asked back unhappily.

"It's spread all over the Metropolitan Police Department, and they say you didn't even spare the elderly and children..." Iwata didn't completely believe it, but at least he believed that Shiraishi had indeed "eliminated" the [Bitter Love Society].

Shiraishi:……

Metropolitan Police Department?
My goodness, Bai Shi thought it was just some tabloid writing nonsense.

As a result...are you guys spreading rumors from the very beginning?

"Minister Odagiri just went to the General Affairs Department. He should be discussing how to finish things for you." Iwata said affirmatively.

"For things like this, why not just call me and verify it..." Bai Shi said helplessly.

"Then you should prepare yourself as well. I guess you'll have to hold a press conference." After learning that there was no "elimination" at all, Iwata was relieved for Shiraishi.

Iwata also understood that Minister Odagiri went to the General Affairs Department at this time to contact the Publicity Department.

Although Odagiri ignored Shiraishi, he still helped him move around - Shiraishi was not Odagiri's subordinate at all now. As the director of the Criminal Department, Odagiri could have just pretended to be dead forever!
……

When Shiraishi arrived at the police station, he found that the outside was surrounded by reporters. Fortunately, Shiraishi drove directly into the underground garage and then came to the police station from the garage.

As soon as he entered the office, Shiraishi heard the landline phone on the desk ringing. He looked at the number and found it was indeed the office phone number of the Minister of Criminal Affairs!

"Hello, I'm Bai Shi..."

"The press conference will be held at 10 o'clock. Please prepare... It would be best if Kazuo Ishimoto can also attend!"

Odagiri already knew the situation by this time, but the press conference was still the top priority.

Bai Shi could understand it, as he had just read the news online - it described vividly that Bai Shi broke into the lair of the "evil cult" alone and killed people until the sky was dark and the sun and moon were dark. It was said that the smell of blood on the whole mountain did not dissipate overnight, and then the police were dispatched overnight to bury the bodies on the spot...

"They are just rumors. Our Beihua Agency has always acted in accordance with the law during investigations... Okay, I got it. I will ask Kazuo Ishimoto to attend the press conference as well." Shiraishi agreed repeatedly.

……

In fact, it’s no wonder that there are so many outrageous speculations!

After all, the big news in Dongdu yesterday was the "strange stories" of the [Kuai Society].

In particular, the existence of "live video" has greatly increased the spread of the incident.

And everyone knows that the members of the [Bitter Love Society] were still gathering outside after their leader was arrested by the Mihua Police.

If it were a normal police station, this incident would have definitely passed as everyone would have gotten used to it. Local police stations are very timid when it comes to this kind of thing and even the Metropolitan Police Department would feel wary when encountering larger cults.

But if the Rice Flower Department...

Everyone was originally wondering whether Director Shiraishi would just let the Kuai Society go.

As a result, amidst this speculation, the Beika Police Department came out in full force in the middle of the night and headed directly to the headquarters of the Kuaikai Society in Okutama Town, and captured all the high-ranking members of the cult, as well as a number of believers.

Everyone's first reaction would be that Director Shiraishi was determined to "deal with" this cult.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding did not last long. After a morning of ups and downs, the Metropolitan Police Department announced that an emergency press conference would be held at 10 a.m.!

After being notified, Shiraishi personally went to the third interrogation room and met Ishimoto Kazuo. Who would have thought that the leader of the sect would not even be able to go to the first and second interrogation rooms...

"How is it?" Shiraishi asked Suzuki, the only one still here, outside the soundproof room.

"Ah, Chief..." Suzuki was a little distracted and was startled when he heard Shiraishi's voice - if it weren't for Kunikida's rule that in addition to the two people in the soundproof room, there must be at least one detective present outside, Suzuki probably wouldn't be here.

"This Renzaki... ahem, Ishimoto Kazuo, said he knew nothing and just now tried to use Nen... um... but he did confess to some illegal and criminal activities in the [Bitter Love Society]." Suzuki hurriedly explained to Shiraishi.

Inside, Yuan was interrogating and Yamada was taking notes. It was obvious that Ishimoto still had some difficulty accepting the reality. He was a little confused at the beginning, but now he is much calmer.

Bai Shi could also understand his mental state.

After investigating their life stories, the Criminal Division discovered that after graduating from high school, Kazuo Ishimoto worked as a salesperson. Although he had little education, he quickly became a top seller because he was very friendly and good at persuading people.

But later on, he suddenly became disgusted with the world - to be more precise, he was tired of the secular world. It was not that he wanted to commit suicide, but that he began to yearn for a natural life and often engaged in "philosophical thinking"... in the words of others, "wild thoughts", and as a result, he began to distance himself from his relatives and friends.

The reason Ishimoto explained to Minamoto was because he began to feel that it was immoral to sell some useless technology products to the elderly and housewives, especially during the follow-up visits, he found that the typical sales products he sold, such as physical therapy devices, were finally idle, which made him question himself. Of course, Shiraishi couldn't fully understand the direction of his self-questioning - you feel guilty about selling those useless things, shouldn't you question the trap of consumerism? How can you conclude that "human technology has become redundant"? What kind of brain circuit is this!

It was also during this period that Kazuo Ishimoto met his "wife" - Sayoko.

Sayoko used to work as a technician in a factory that produced microwave equipment, but she left the job due to an accident.

The two soon lived together as husband and wife - Ishimoto also thought that he was really married.

Afterwards, the two of them also established the [Kuaikai]. With the help of his wife, Ishimoto Kazuo's ambitions were realized, or in other words, his ideals began to be realized, and he even "awakened his telekinesis"...

It just so happened that he met the right person when he was in the most difficult time, and then his life began to rebound - this is how Ishimoto thinks his life has been over the past ten years.

But now the facts are before his eyes...

Not only is his "telekinesis" fake, the [Kuaikai] has long become a tool for the top leaders of other religious groups to make money, and even his wife is fake. She and Fujimoto are a married couple with legal status. Every night when he is meditating in the [Kuaikai]'s dojo, she is having a great time in the villa on the next hill!

After the facts were laid out before him, Ishimoto Kazuo's mentality collapsed...

Bai Shi even felt that his current state was relatively calm - he was worthy of being a person who meditated every night. His telekinesis was fake, but he still had the mentality!
Shiraishi took a look at his confession...

He had never cared about the flow of funds of the [Society of Bitter Love], but... he did know that the cult was collecting money from its believers.

But nominally, he donated all the money, or used it to build the dojo of the [Kuai Society]...

Of course, in reality the expenses of the Bitter Love Society were not as large as reported, and a large amount of funds were squandered by a few individuals.

There is no doubt that Kazuo Ishimoto is also one of the criminals in this matter!

First of all, he knew about the cult's improper money-making, and secondly, he himself admitted that he suspected that someone was profiting from it, but for the development of the cult, he turned a blind eye and left it to his wife to deal with... He just didn't know that this was the case.

Moreover, from the perspective of legal evidence, he is the controller of the cult. Even if Shiraishi and Gen believed his confession, he would still be at a disadvantage in court if the Fujimoto couple retaliated against him. In addition to the "crime of murder", he might not be able to get rid of the title of "one of the main culprits" in the charge of illegal operation of the cult!

However, it is indeed a bit unfair to say that he used the name of the sect to make money. After all, he farmed and ate by himself in his "natural residence" every day. His meals were simple and he didn't enjoy anything. He didn't spend a penny.

Regarding this…

Shiraishi had no other choice. This kind of crime was not something that the police could handle clearly. They still needed to conduct a thorough investigation and even have the prosecutor's office to conduct an investigation into the case. In short, he was most likely going to jail, it was just a matter of how much the sentence would be.

However, in the "murder case", Ishimoto Kazuo insisted that he was not aware of it and that he just used "telekinesis"...

Moreover, the Beika Police Department is very professional in this regard. Since the investigation results show that it has nothing to do with him, Shiraishi can ensure that he will not be involved in the "murder case"!

At this time, Shiraishi knocked on the door and came into the interrogation room, interrupting Yuan's interrogation, and asked Ishimoto: "Mr. Ishimoto, there will be a press conference later. I hope you can also attend."

Ishimoto nodded and said, "Well, I hope so too..." Ishimoto said with a pained look on his face, and then continued, "I hope to expose and correct the problems that the [Kuaikai] has always had, and... I also hope to take this opportunity to announce the cancellation of the registration of the [Kuaikai]."

This decision is undoubtedly painful for Ishimoto, but...

"I personally think this is the right choice." Shiraishi said as a matter of course.

……

At 2:28 a.m. on February , Shiraishi and Ishimoto arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department, where the Publicity Division had arranged a press conference...

Not only did Shiraishi answer reporters' questions about last night's actions, but... Kazuo Ishimoto, who had already been arrested, also personally admitted to the fraud and deception at the press conference.

Shiraishi discovered that Ishimoto Kazuo's mental state at this time was a little strange. It was not quite like he had completely given up, but it seemed that he was over-stimulated and became a little dazed, as if he no longer cared about anything.

After he admitted to fraud and deception and publicly announced the disbandment of the "Kuaikai", Shiraishi added a sentence for him - whether Ishimoto Kazuo knew about it before and whether he was directly involved in the crime is still under investigation. As for the "murder case", the main culprit is Fujimoto Sayoko, and Ishimoto Kazuo has not been found to be involved...

After the press conference, the misunderstanding was finally resolved.

Rumors like "a well-known cult offended the King of Rice Flower during the day and was raided by the police at night" are completely false!

……

After get off work, Shiraishi complained about this to Ayako...

"Even though you say that, Xiao Hei, you seem quite happy." Ayako found that Shiraishi was complaining, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.

"Hahaha, you discovered it... The appearance of this 'rumor' also shows that everyone recognizes my work!" Shiraishi said excitedly.

Ayako rolled her eyes at him and said, "You should be careful too. This kind of thing is prone to illogical accidents."

Shiraishi knew that Ayako was reminding him that believers of this kind of cult were prone to extreme behavior, which was, to some extent, just like the violent organizations ten years ago, or even more unscrupulous.

When violent militia organizations were rampant, there were really police officers who dared to be "ignorant" during the day and let your family members enter Dongduwan at night.

But this time, Shiraishi was indeed very proud of this "rumor". After all, even in the Metropolitan Police Department, this "rumor" appeared, which first showed that...

The dozens of police officers who were dispatched last night, plus the administrative staff who learned the news, a total of hundreds of people, did not go to the Metropolitan Police Department to report it!

It would certainly be an exaggeration to say that these hundreds of police officers who worked overtime could withstand the pressure and never betray Shiraishi when people from the Metropolitan Police Department came to question him.

However, even though the police station dispatched so many police officers, the Metropolitan Police Department was still unaware of the cause and effect without direct questioning from higher-ups. This shows that the level of "unity" in Beika Town is already very high.

If it had happened half a year ago, I'm afraid that as soon as Bai Shi made any move, someone in the office would have reported him.

After all, it is the Metropolitan Police Department that employs you, not the Beika Police Station. You may be transferred to another police station tomorrow if you are in the Beika Police Station today. Even promotion is just a matter of a word from the Metropolitan Police Department...

Although everyone calls it "head office" normally, there is still some distance between them in their hearts, but when there is a real opportunity to "please the head office", many people want to show their faces.

But Shiraishi made such a big fuss last night, and the senior officials of the Metropolitan Police Department were afraid of getting into trouble and did not ask directly, so it turned out that they really knew nothing. The meaning of this can be imagined.

This is also the "basis for the rumors to arise". If it were any other police station, the superiors would not have asked about this kind of mistake.

Secondly, the content of this "rumor"...

Although Shiraishi has always emphasized that this is a complete slander against him, he also understands that the emergence of such "rumors" shows that many people believe that "this situation may happen."

The rumor that Shiraishi went straight to the Wushuang and killed a lot of people was purely curiosity. However, if you say that Shiraishi uprooted the "Kuai Society" and arrested everyone, there would be many people who would believe it.

Apart from anything else, for a long time, there shouldn't be any weird organizations coming to Beika Town to settle down. There's no need to worry that after the disbandment of the "Bitter Love Society", there will be another Sweetheart Society or Sour Liver Society...

……

Afterwards, Shiraishi and Ayako agreed to meet tomorrow - tomorrow afternoon, Shiraishi was invited to attend Mantiantang's spring launch conference.

It is said that the other party is interested in developing a game based on Shiraishi...

Shiraishi was not optimistic about this, and even suspected that Mantang was doing this to take the opportunity to establish a relationship with the Suzuki Group - after all, the Mantang in this world, although also a major game company, was not on the same scale as its relative Nintendo in another world.

But since the other party has issued an invitation, Bai Shi will of course accept the invitation!

Whether or not to play the game is another matter, but Shiraishi knows that there are people inside "Mantiantang" who are in contact with the "Black Organization", and there might be some discoveries at this press conference.

Because of Shiraishi, Ayako also accepted the invitation and will also go to the press conference tomorrow.

……

The next day, Shiraishi and Ayako arrived at the press conference and found that there were quite a few people, a small half of whom were employees of Mantang, and the rest were invited guests, including colleagues, players, and reporters.

As a result, Bai Shi unexpectedly saw several familiar faces at the scene...

"Director Shiraishi? You're also at the Mantangtian press conference?" Xiaolan looked at Shiraishi in surprise, and at the same time hurriedly grabbed Conan who was running around.

"Well, the president and I have something to discuss, and you guys are..." Shiraishi saw that Kogoro was also there, but Sonoko was not there - it can be seen that the reason for their appearance here should not be "Miss Sonoko's invitation."

"Ahem, it's like this. They are very visionary. They want to create a detective game based on me. Even though I'm a famous detective, in order not to disappoint my fans, they just came to take a look... Hahaha!" Maori looked very proud.

Shiraishi:……

Bai Shi suddenly felt that Mantiantang might not be as "licking" as he thought, it was just that his vision was not good enough!
Compared with the cooperation with Shiraishi, Maori has already established the project and the folder has been created. The project will be announced today...

(End of this chapter)