Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 400 Why don't you try it?
“The main problem with APTX4869 is that the average person’s body can’t handle it. Coupled with the perverted things you told me before, I think the key to breaking through the limitations of APTX4869 might lie in the recipients,” Ai said matter-of-factly.

“First of all… I meant ‘evolution’!” Shiraishi corrected.

Ai doesn't hide her interest in Shiraishi's body—inspired by Shiraishi's "supernatural power," Ai's current work on perfecting APTX4869 is divided into two parts: APTX4869 itself and the recipients of the drug.

If there is a "near-perfect receptor", then it must be Shiraishi Black!
Therefore, what Ai needs to do now is to make Shiraishi's body even more perfect.

Once APTX4869 is perfected, Ai will naturally be able to return to her original form—of course, Ai doesn't really want to go back, since she's terrified of the Black Organization discovering her. The reason she's so eager is mainly because she's worried that one day she'll explode like those guinea pigs…

"Don't worry about the details. The next step is to improve your ability to fight neurotoxins, which is your biggest 'weakness,' right?" Ai said in a strange tone. "Neurotoxins" as a weakness is a very strange way of describing a human!
Moreover, the lethal dose of various neurotoxins in Shiraishi is actually much higher than that of ordinary people, not only because of his weight, but even calculated per kilogram, Shiraishi's lethal dose is also higher...

After all, Shiraishi's nerve cells are also very strong!

However, it's difficult for him to be much stronger than the average person in this aspect. His lethal dose per kilogram is only two or three times that of an average person. In comparison, Shiraishi's resistance to cytotoxins is significantly stronger because Shiraishi's cell strength is significantly "stronger" than that of an average person.

Toxins that attack organs, such as cardiac toxins and hepatotoxins, require extremely high doses to be effective against Shiraishi. As for corrosive chemical toxins, they are directly blocked by Shiraishi's tough skin, making them even less effective...

In comparison, the "neurotoxin" really is Shiraishi's "weakness"—it only takes four or five times the dose of an ordinary person to kill him.

"Resistance to neurotoxins... can also be improved with medication?" Shiraishi asked somewhat uncertainly.

“Of course, the Black Organization has actually conducted many similar experiments before, but none of them were successful in the end,” Ai said.

"Didn't it work?" Shiraishi pressed.

"Yeah, the mortality rate of the lab mice was too high, almost none of them survived, and... afterwards they secretly conducted human experiments directly, and of course, they all either died or were maimed. After I found out, I altered some data to make them think that the experiment was going in the wrong direction and could not succeed... Now that I think about it, Gin was probably already suspicious of me back then." Ai said, shaking her head.

Shiraishi:……

The lives of others who were taken for human experimentation are lives, but mine isn't, right?

Perhaps sensing Shiraishi's resentful gaze, Ai added, "Actually, both gene serum and advanced gene serum are produced in this way, but their side effects are relatively minor."

Thinking about it this way, it's fortunate that the "Black Organization's" experiment failed, and it's fortunate that Ai Haibara gave up halfway through...

Otherwise, if the "Black Organization" were to actually create such a drug with no or low side effects and comprehensively enhance its agents, the harm would likely be far greater than it is now.

Even Shiraishi, after being injected with the gene serum, could only withstand ordinary firearms when prepared. He couldn't withstand large-caliber firearms, let alone those weapons of mass destruction. Even when Ai used the advancement gene serum, it only strengthened her bones, mainly in terms of strength...

No matter how strong one is, it can't compare to a large machine. However, if it can reach that level, it will be very difficult to kill a person. And as long as a person cannot be assassinated, he/she can be "invincible within the rules".

"Are you sure... this won't make the nerve cells weird?" Shiraishi was still a little worried—nerve cells aren't necessarily better the "thicker" they are.

"Don't worry, the mechanism of neurotoxin resistance is to make nerve cells less likely to bind with toxins," Ai explained.

In other words, Shiraishi's previous "poison resistance" was just a "healing boost" brought about by his constitution, while Ai's genetic modification was what increased the percentage of poison resistance.

Indeed, this requires individuals with very strong cellular abilities to serve as experimental subjects!

"In addition, we can restart the development of another protein stabilizing agent. If successful, it will enable your own cells to produce trehalose to protect protein structures. This will have a certain effect on resisting both high temperatures and radiation." Ai looked intently at Shiraishi.

To be precise, it was looking at Shiraishi's body—if we had had this as a test subject earlier, we might have succeeded long ago!

Shiraishi felt this was still unreliable, shook his head, and asked, "Let's check the lab rats first..."

Ai glanced at the somewhat listless white mouse and calmly suggested, "At least there's no toxin that can kill immediately..."

“But he doesn’t seem as energetic as he did just now…” Shiraishi frowned.

“This is within the normal range of alcohol effects. We didn’t have any red wine on hand in the lab, so we didn’t do a comparative experiment,” Xiao Ai said matter-of-factly. She then suggested, “Why don’t you try it yourself? Can’t you feel the subtle toxic side effects in your body? That would be faster.”

Shiraishi:……

"Isn't it common sense to enter a laboratory that 'you should never taste any reagent yourself'?" Shiraishi countered.

Xiao Ai was surprised when she heard this, and then nodded seriously.

"Huh? What's with that expression? So you're using me as a guinea pig, aren't you?!" Shiraishi said irritably upon seeing this.

That's right, you can't taste it yourself...

Ai didn't taste it herself; instead, she had a "white rat" taste it!
However, after a moment's thought, Shiraishi said, "Is there any slow-acting toxin that can keep mice healthy for a while, but just one drop can be lethal to humans?"

"You could say no, at least not in a sociological sense," Ai replied.

If there were truly a large amount of foreign matter mixed in the red wine, it would have been discovered long ago...

Even if something is added to it, the concentration is extremely low. Even if it were paraquat, it would be impossible for a single drop to kill a person, let alone kill Shiraishi. Even diluted to this level, it would not be able to "break through" Shiraishi's defenses.

The phrase "not in a sociological sense" means that while the substance theoretically exists, it has never been produced in such large quantities by humans, and it is even less likely that the murderer obtained it.

Unless the murderer also possesses Ai Haibara's, or even "Ai Haibara+", research capabilities.

Hearing her say that, Bai Shi tasted a drop, closed his eyes and carefully sensed it. After a moment, Bai Shi opened his eyes, frowned and said, "There's no reaction at all?"

Ai didn't seem surprised by the result. Instead, she nodded seriously and said, "Hmm, most stalkers don't inject toxins into their targets' drinks... Can you taste the deoxyribose?"

Shiraishi:……

If this aspect hadn't been examined by the police station from the beginning, Shiraishi would have been truly disgusted by Ai!
"Are you doing this on purpose...?" Shiraishi looked at Ai speechlessly—If you really wanted to remind me, it would have been before I tasted it... No, you shouldn't have let me taste it at all!
Before Ai could argue, Shiraishi paused for a moment, then a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"They left a needle hole so people would think there was something inside... so I could taste it, they first proved there wasn't any poison that could kill me..." Shiraishi muttered to himself.

Seeing this, Ai stopped speaking, not wanting to interrupt Shiraishi's train of thought. "I see..." Shiraishi suddenly realized something.

Immediately, Shiraishi made a phone call: "This is Shiraishi. Kuroki, investigate immediately which of the three victims in the case is related to the Suzuki Hotel, even if it's a minor connection, such as a relative or friend who stayed there... Focus on investigating the second victim. If you don't have enough manpower, go to the Criminal Investigation Department to get more people. I need the results by tomorrow morning!"

Although Kuroki didn't understand why, he immediately agreed.

Who among the victims is connected to the Suzuki Hotel...?

First of all, it can be confirmed that there is no major connection between them, at least not a major connection such as having previously held a position in any of them.

As for what happened during previous stays...

Hotels in the East Island do not register identification documents; all registrations are done under the names of the individuals themselves. It is impossible to find or verify their true identities, and the search is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Fortunately, Director Shiraishi also said that such a tedious investigation could be called "support".

……

Although Shiraishi had already started work, he did not check out of the hotel and stayed at the Suzuki Hotel that night.

On Tuesday, Shiraishi even labeled his class schedule "Public Relations"...

Today was another busy day at the Suzuki Hotel, especially the main hall, which was also rented out as a wedding venue.

Because of the previous "poisoned red wine" incident, the Mikasa Police Department has stopped pretending – at the wedding, you could see many people wearing suits and headsets, who were all plainclothes officers from the Mikasa Police Department.

Neither the hotel nor the wedding couple had any objections to this.

Throughout the wedding, at least two plainclothes officers were ensured to be near the bride and to broadcast messages continuously…

The tightness of the surveillance made many of the detectives at Miwa secretly nervous—if the murderer were more cautious, he might have been able to discover the presence of the plainclothes officers, or at least know that the security force was very strong today!

However, since this arrangement was Shiraishi's idea, no one said anything.

Although everyone was worried that this would scare the murderer away, they could understand that the chief was probably afraid that the murderer would actually succeed at the Suzuki Hotel. If that were the case, it would be terrible news for both the Suzuki Hotel and the Beika Police Station.

After all, the other party had already filed a police report, and even the Mikasa Police Station was confident in their ability to make arrangements...

The murderer did not appear until the wedding ceremony was over. However, the plainclothes officers of the Mikasa Police Department became even more nervous. Everyone understood the saying that "the last mile is the hardest," and the coordinates were very large. As long as the person did not leave the Suzuki Hotel, they would not relax. On the contrary, they would be more vigilant because it was the last moment!
Seeing that Kawai was squinting, Fuji specifically reminded him, "Cheer up, the suspect could appear from any direction."

"Yes!" Kawai immediately straightened up after being reminded.

Teng didn't blame her...

After all, Kawai had stayed up most of the night because of the search mission arranged by the chief!

Feeling a little sleepy is only natural, but the final results of the investigation left Teng baffled, and he didn't even know if it was useful at all...

It was eventually discovered that the second victim of the serial murders had stayed at the Suzuki Hotel nearly six months prior, but...

So what?
To this day, Teng still doesn't know why the chief investigated this matter; in any case, the result has been given to the chief.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't the chief be at the hotel today? Why isn't he here..." Fuji was certain that he hadn't seen Shiraishi at the wedding either—no matter how many people were there, it was impossible for them not to notice the chief!
At that moment, Teng had no time to wonder further; an alarm sounded from the walkie-talkie…

……

Just as the bride and groom had left the wedding venue and were about to go to the dressing room to change their clothes, a long-haired "woman" suddenly walked up to them.

Since this corridor only leads to the wedding hall and lounge, people who aren't involved in the wedding shouldn't pass through here, so the appearance of the long-haired "woman" seems very abrupt...

The Gao couple stopped in their tracks, and upon closer inspection, they discovered...

What kind of woman is this?
It's clearly a man dressed as a woman!
what--

Mrs. Takayama, who was already in a state of tension, couldn't help but shout, and the other party rushed towards Mr. and Mrs. Takayama!

but……

Plainclothes officers were nearby and immediately stepped forward to block him, flashing their badges and saying, "Mihana Police Station! Stop right there... wait!"

The cross-dressing "stalker" also showed a look of panic, muttering, "Why are there still police officers here... This isn't what we agreed on!"

Without a second thought, he kicked off his high heels, turned and ran...

"stop!"

One officer immediately gave chase, while another, having been instructed by Shiraishi to always have someone stay with the bride, remained to comfort the newlyweds.

And it won't be a chase or a escape...

After the warning was given over the walkie-talkie, plainclothes officers who were everywhere immediately came to surround and intercept him!

However, the hotel floor was not suitable for sprinting, and the cross-dressing "stalker" was quite muscular. Most importantly, after he ran down this floor, there were other guests below, and he actually struggled for a while.

However, given the current situation, there was no way he could escape. After a chaotic scene, Muto simply jumped over the corridor railing, took advantage of his height, and tackled him to the ground, handcuffing him.

At the same time, Zhimo, who was standing nearby, picked up a card that had fallen down. It had a string of coordinate numbers on it...

(End of this chapter)