Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 588 Press Conference

October 8th, Sunday.

After Shiraishi returned from Gunma, although a company president died in Beika Town that very night, Mori immediately solved the case on the spot, followed by two "Christmas Eves"...

Time passed smoothly and it arrived at August 13th, Sunday... which was the day of the Sindora Group's Cocoon launch event!
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Shiraishi and Ayako entered the venue on the top floor of the Beika City Hall on time. Since it was a "press conference", it was not difficult to get an admission ticket. Ayako even asked Shiraishi to bring Ai and Mayoi along.

When Shiraishi last came here, this place was still the site of an explosion... but it has been completely renovated now.

The three little ones who were with Professor Agasa, along with Kotomi, also noticed Ai. Genta, seeing this, called out, "Ai! Over here..."

Ai: ...

Although I didn't want to play with little kids, I still went over despite my reluctance.

"Big sister, Mayoi." Sonoko walked over at that moment, wearing a red dress.

However, her hairstyle has returned to normal, presumably because she was scolded by Aunt Tomoko...

After Sonoko greeted her sister and brother-in-law, Maya was also called away—Ran and Ayano arrived at this time, and the four of them felt more comfortable together.

When Shiraishi entered the venue, he attracted considerable attention, but...

Most people, upon seeing Shiraishi, simply observed him discreetly without making any move to greet him.

After all, most of the invited guests were people of some status, including many political figures, and they all kept their distance from "Director Mihana".

There were quite a few children in the venue...

"Hmm? It feels like there are more than fifty children." Shiraishi's height allows him to survey the entire area.

“Many children who didn’t get a spot in the lottery also have parents bringing them to come and see the place,” Ayako said matter-of-factly.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to win," Ayumi said dejectedly.

Shiraishi was taken aback—you're not qualified? I seem to remember…

"Those must be the lucky ones who won the lottery?" Genta looked enviously at the group of children gathered at the qualification badge distribution area on the other side.

"The grandson of the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department, the grandson of a financial tycoon, the youngest son of a Democratic Party member... what a fair selection indeed," Kogoro remarked while gulping down a glass of red wine.

Kogoro also knew many important people, and at a glance, all those who had been selected were young masters and ladies.

"Eh? But mine was won in a draw!" Sonoko then confidently held up a badge.

"You won?" Ayako was also a little surprised.

"Using the children's spots as a favor, and the only adult spot, can be made random to make things look better," Kogoro said confidently.

After all, there is only one spot for adults, and if we were to designate someone, it would probably offend people.

"Dad, don't say that..." Xiaolan knew her father was right, but there were still children present.

As for Bai Shi...

Shiraishi doesn't even believe in the "randomness" of the garden!
Random is random, but Shiraishi estimates that it was randomized from the "important guest list," at least ensuring that it wouldn't fall into the hands of "unimportant" guests.

Moreover, Shiraishi's evidence is very convincing—if it really was drawn from among the guests, could Sonoko have drawn it better than Ran?

Meanwhile, many of the children who were still distributing badges had "Dragon King" expressions on their faces, seemingly enjoying being looked at with envy.

"It's practically a microcosm of the ugly hereditary system in the Eastern Island Country. With the hereditary system, the mistakes of human history will continue to repeat themselves," Ai commented sharply from the side.

The people around looked over in surprise, and then Conan anxiously winked at her—you could say less...a child should act like a child!

Seeing this, Ai realized that she really couldn't reveal her identity, so she said in a cute way, "That's what my brother always says: these parasites who treat public power as a family heirloom will be caught sooner or later!"

Shiraishi:……

Everyone stared at Shiraishi in astonishment—sure enough, your sister was corrupted by you… Just how often do you scold them at home that your sister remembers so much?
“I never said that. Police officers aren’t revolutionaries. I’m just arresting criminals… Hahaha…” Shiraishi chuckled dryly.

at the same time……

Noticing the commotion, a commotion arose from the young masters and ladies' side.

Several members of parliament and financial officials then decisively took action, leading their children away. As they left…

"Really... sorry, something came up, please give this opportunity to someone else... hahaha..."

While talking to the staff, they made a point of frequently glancing at Shiraishi.

Shiraishi:……

Amidst the sobs of several young masters and ladies, a few guests left the venue, and at the same time...

Just then, a staff member came over with an embarrassed smile and said, "You guys are so lucky! We just had a few extra spots... Let me see... Hmm, you six kids have been chosen!"

He then handed out badges to the six members of the Junior Detective League.

Shiraishi:……

You're making it sound like I'm bullying someone...

Even Ayumi and the others, who had just been envious of them, looked at Shiraishi with some hesitation—was this a good idea?
"Since they're from the lottery, you can keep them," Shiraishi said, waving his hand dismissively and giving Ai a fierce glare.

Ai has already said that...

If I don't accept them, it will seem as if I'm actually planning to "hunt" them, which would be too conspicuous.

The children, on the other hand, were very happy.

Under duress from the "Mihua Director," they managed to "snatch" six spots from the second and third generations.

After this scene, the kids who remained at the scene became much more well-behaved.

"Ah, Shinya, let's play soccer!" Hideki Moroboshi said to his two friends.

"Huh? With so many people, playing football will disturb everyone, won't it?" the chubby Nakano Akira said somewhat timidly.

Nakano is the grandson of the head of the Toto Central Bank. He is usually very arrogant, but he has become quiet now, as if he had just been warned by his family.

"Huh? Is that something you should be saying?" Moroboshi expressed his disdain for his rule-abiding behavior.

At this moment, Takizawa Shinya whispered a reminder: "Hideki, that guy looks fierce... like he's looking at you."

Moroboshi shuddered upon hearing this, then said, "Tch, just a superintendent? My grandfather is the deputy superintendent!"

"He started glaring at your grandfather..."

Moroboshi: ...

The kids eventually calmed down a bit, and Moroboshi just stubbornly juggled the ball in place as a form of "protest" against Shiraishi.

Shiraishi, of course, ignored him!
Just then, the atmosphere warmed up a bit as another eye-catching guest appeared. Unlike Shiraishi, this guest was not only eye-catching but also very popular. Many people came forward to greet him, and many young ladies and wives asked for autographs and photos.

That's right, the visitor is none other than the popular novelist, Yusaku Kudo!
As a bestselling author worldwide, Yusaku Kudo is not only popular among readers, but even big shots... even those who have no interest in mystery novels, are polite and even enthusiastic towards Yusaku Kudo.

After all, Yusaku Kudo had lived in the United States for a long time and knew countless politicians and businessmen. The more important the person, the more likely they would need to ask him to introduce them to their connections.

Because Conan's identity cannot be revealed, the father and son can only exchange glances at this time.

Shiraishi then walked over...

"Mr. Kudo, it's been a long time." Shiraishi took the initiative to shake hands with Yusaku Kudo.

The two had met before when they were playing pranks on Conan, but Shiraishi was more familiar with his wife—after all, they had met in the case of Atsumori, as well as at the funeral of director Sakamaki, and it was Yukiko who lent the house to Shiraishi.

"Long time no see... Chief Mikasa, can we chat sometime? I'm thinking of writing a new work based on you," Kudo said warmly.

"Of course, it's an honor." Shiraishi and the Kudo couple had a good relationship.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have stayed here before.

Although none of the three mentioned it, their relationship actually stemmed from the case of Representative Atsumori. At that time, Yukiko and Yusaku had been secretly talking on the phone, and the couple and Shiraishi were tacitly aware of each other in many places. In the end, they "tricked" Atsumori and changed the bomb in advance.

……

Soon, the lights in the venue went out, the spotlights on the stage came on, and the host began to introduce today's main attraction—a series of game pods known as "cocoons"!
Upon hearing the introduction, Shiraishi knew that the "cocoon" in this world was definitely a groundbreaking invention.

What brain-computer interfaces can't do, "Cocoon" can do with ease!
If you said it was half a century ahead, Shiraishi wouldn't be surprised.

Then Yusaku Kudo was also invited onto the stage...

The Cocoon's "escort games" consist of five titles, all of which are "time-travel themed" games. Players can use these games to enter different worlds. One of the main titles is a mystery game set in 19th-century Japan, and its scriptwriting and guidance are provided by Yusaku Kudo!
Unfortunately, Shiraishi was unable to listen to Yusaku Kudo's creative ideas at this time.

because……

Just then, Shiraishi suddenly noticed that some of the staff on site were acting strangely.

Although they weren't disturbing the guests, something must have happened inside; there was some commotion, with people going in and out...

"Ayako, wait a moment," Shiraishi whispered.

After finishing his speech, Shiraishi left the venue and immediately grabbed a busy security guard, asking, "I'm a police officer, what happened?"

staff member:……

You don't need to introduce yourself, do you?

"Um... Director Mi... someone was killed in the back-end control room." The security personnel hesitated before finally speaking.

Although the Sindora Group said they wanted to minimize the impact and only allow a small number of detectives to enter, this is Chief Mikasa!

It would indeed be difficult for him to keep this a secret from "Director Mika".

Putting aside the deterrent power of "Chief Mika", even though the Sindora Group is the client, as a security officer in the capital, Shiraishi is very familiar with their president, Kawaguchi. No matter how important the client is, can it be more important than the leader?

Upon hearing that someone had died, Bai Shi immediately went to investigate.

Even at this point, Shiraishi was unsure whether the murder was part of the movie.

After all, Shiraishi couldn't even remember whether there was a murder in this movie; he only remembered that everyone ended up making dumplings with the AI...

Upon arriving at the control room, Shiraishi found it to be a cramped room filled with various computer equipment.

"Brother Shiraishi, I was right, you're here too." Inspector Megure breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Shiraishi.

"What happened? Was it someone from here who died, or someone from the Sindora Group?" Shiraishi asked, looking at the corpse in front of the control panel.

The deceased did appear to be of Asian descent, but there are also many East Islanders in the Sindora Group.

“It’s Tadaaki Murakami of the Sindora Group, and… he’s also the person in charge of the Cocoon Project!” Megure said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi's heart sank—as expected, there was a problem with "Project Cocoon".

Soon, Yusaku Kudo arrived, followed by Conan.

“The village is actually…” Yusaku couldn’t help but show his grief when he saw the dead.

"Please accept my condolences. Mr. Kudo, do you know the victim?" Shiraishi asked upon seeing this.

“Of course, it’s because of Mura that I was my roommate in college, and it was through his invitation that I was able to participate in the scriptwriting guidance work for the first game of Cocoon… I originally thought that we could have a good drink together this time,” Yusaku said regretfully.

Megure and the others had already learned through basic questioning that the village was here because he was not used to a lively environment and said he wanted to be alone. When his subordinates came to look for him, they only found his body.

As for the time of death... just now, less than an hour ago!
"Is this a death notification?" Conan had somehow climbed onto the control panel.

There were bloodstains on three keys on the keyboard – R, T, and J!

Everyone quickly crowded around.

“RTJ? TJR? RJT…” Shiratori tried to spell them out one by one.

Since I'm not an expert, I can only try using Romanized pronunciation.

Shiraishi and Yusaku immediately became serious.

"Mr. Kudo, you just said on stage that the story you designed is set in 19th-century London, right?" Shiraishi suddenly asked.

At the same time, Conan had a flash of inspiration. Hearing Shiraishi's question, he knew that Shiraishi must also be thinking of "that".

Kudo nodded solemnly.

Seeing this, Shiraishi asked, "If I may be so bold as to confirm, the content's prototype isn't that... [Jack The Ripper], is it?"

Shiraishi uttered a string of words.

Just as Megure was getting impatient, Shiratori said, "What? It's... Jack the Ripper?"

“That’s right, the game’s premise is the arrest of Jack the Ripper,” Kudo said.

"Could it be... that the killer's information is in the game? President Sindora, please stop the press conference first!" Inspector Megure was worried about alerting the culprit.

But Sindora looked at him, bewildered, and said, "Are you kidding me? Do you know what you're saying?"

"I..." Megure was choked with spit.

Conan had already rushed to the venue—the demo was about to begin!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dongdong: Today is November 10th, the 213th anniversary of Zuo Zongtang's birth.

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(End of this chapter)