Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 419, Section 413: Ireland's "Stepping Stone"

Vermouth harbored murderous intent, Gin exuded killing intent, but Ryoma Lin treated it all as commonplace.

"What kind of organization is she investigating? She didn't happen to witness your transaction with vodka at the amusement park."

Gin is a great teammate in every way, except he's a bit too sensitive.

Do you think you can just investigate an organization like that? Haven't you seen how the Japanese public security bureau, the FBI and CIA in America all have to send undercover agents into organizations?

What can a young girl who's just started out investigate?
Even if the little girl's "spirit" is Shinichi Kudo, it doesn't matter.

Conan has been shrunk for so long, and so many people have figured out his background. Have you seen him investigate even a tiny bit about the organization?
Besides the code names for Gin and Vodka, what else do you think he knows?
Oh right, he also knows about tequila.
"Gin, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush. The reason the boss allowed me to call this meeting on short notice wasn't to send you to her house to wipe out her family."

Lin Longma's words made everyone in the conference room subconsciously look at Karasuma Renya on the screen. Hearing Lin Longma's words, Karasuma Renya's projection remained motionless.

Not moving means not denying, not denying means tacitly agreeing, and tacitly agreeing means the boss is acknowledging Lin Longma's words.

At this point, Gin's murderous intent was completely suppressed.

Lin Longma continued to introduce the situation of Mao Lilan.

"Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo are childhood friends who grew up together. Just how close are these two?"

They were in the same class since kindergarten and were very close friends.

This relationship continued until Shinichi Kudo disappeared, during their second year of high school.

"A friendship of over ten years! How many years have they lived? You could say that the two of them have spent together much longer than their parents have spent with them."

Under normal circumstances, childhood sweethearts will never spend more time together than their parents.

Unfortunately, both the Mori couple and the Kudo couple belong to the "god-like" category.

Before Kogoro Mouri and Eri Kisaki divorced, Kogoro Mouri was a detective who was so busy that he wouldn't go home.

After the divorce, Eri Kisaki moved out of the agency. These two might not actually spend more time with Ran Mouri than Shinichi Kudo.

Next up are the Kudo couple.

This couple was incredibly loving, but it was precisely because they were so in love that Shinichi Kudo became a bonus after they got married.

Once they were certain that Shinichi Kudo could live independently in Japan, the couple flew to America to live their own lives.

This action directly gave Ran Mouri an opportunity to "overtake on a curve".

Ireland replaced Curaçao to participate in Shinichi Kudo's "capture meeting" for the first time, and at this moment, he finally understood what Ryoma Hayashi meant.

"You keep emphasizing how deep the bond is between Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo."
So you think Shinichi Kudo, who's been hiding, will go see Ran Mouri after she becomes famous?

"It is possible, and there is a very high probability of it."

Although Ireland was attending the "capture conference" targeting Shinichi Kudo for the first time, it didn't mean it was the first time he had learned about Shinichi Kudo.

When he first arrived in the island nation, Ireland used its authority to gain a thorough understanding of the island nation's high-ranking officials.

As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.

Whether it's a rival or a potential friend, Ireland needs to gain a deeper understanding of itself.

The organization's top assassin made a rare mistake by failing on a high school student, who has yet to be silenced or captured. How could Ireland not be concerned about such an extremely unusual case? At the time, due to Ireland's limited authority, he was unaware of Shinichi Kudo's special abilities.

Even so, this high school detective was already special enough in Ireland's eyes.

This seems like a good opportunity to slap Gin in the face and bring him down from his pedestal.
Ireland, having just arrived on the island nation, did not harbor much hostility towards Gin, since Pisco had not died at Gin's hands.

Pisco died because the boss showed no mercy and discarded him after he had served his purpose. At least Gin had given Pisco some dignity back then.

Of course, Ireland doesn't seem to have any hostility towards Gin within the organization, but gathering dirt on members is practically an instinct for all members.

This thing may not be used often, but if you do need it, it could save your life or lead to a meteoric rise in your career.

Ireland initially viewed Shinichi Kudo merely as someone to fill its intelligence database.

Binga's surrender brought the latest developments from Ireland's intelligence support department.

Although Binga no longer receives letters from Rum in the intelligence support department, his rank and authority remain.

He might not be able to command Rum's men, but finding out what part-time jobs were easy for him.

Even the subtle signals Rum later sent to Binga to win him over were enough to prevent the members of the intelligence support department from stopping Binga from finding out what he wanted to know.

For example, what has Curaçao, who was once a close confidant of Rum, been busy with lately?

It was only then that Ireland realized that Shinichi Kudo was not a weapon that could make Gin look bad or even dethrone him.

Rather, it was a stepping stone for him to climb higher within the organization!
The problem now is that it's not just Ireland that sees "Shinichi Kudo" as a golden road; many others, including Ireland, want to take this highway.

Everyone is currently looking for the entrance.

At this moment, Lin Longma told everyone that he seemed to have found a map leading to the entrance.

Ireland was immediately intrigued.

What could be a more contrasting act than him finding people that Rum couldn't?
"In that case, how about I take charge of this surveillance mission?" Ireland offered his services without hesitation.

Although it was called a surveillance mission, Ireland had already made up its mind.

If Shinichi Kudo doesn't come out on his own, then he'll force him to—since Ran Mouri is his childhood friend, he can't just throw away his childhood friend's life, can he?

In the news, Shinichi Kudo is portrayed as a very righteous young man.

Ireland's self-recommendation surprised Lin Longma somewhat; it was originally Vermouth's turn to recommend herself.

But Ireland beat them to it.

You can't rush it.

That old Irishman's eyes are darting around; he's clearly up to no good. If he were in charge of surveillance, would it still be surveillance?

Kidnapping, coercion, hostage-taking—anything is possible, but it's unlikely they'll actually keep you under surveillance.

Lin Longma covered for Vermouth, saying, "I didn't expect you to volunteer for this surveillance mission."
"By the way, is your intelligence support department really that free?"

(End of this chapter)