Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 429, Section 423: What Mainland Hotel?

Thanks to the organization's incredible benefits, Lin Longma never worries about the company's profitability.

As long as Gin, this model worker, continues to diligently contribute money to the organization, these "parasites" can pocket the money themselves.

If you don't take it, I won't take it. Are we really going to put it in the organization to contribute to it?

The organization has been around for decades, and this is the only person it has produced?
To be honest, it's not just Ryoma who doesn't understand that the organization could produce someone like Gin; Rum and Vermouth are also quite surprised.

If someone like Gin were thrown into an ancient imperial court, he would probably be the kind of tragic figure who could turn the tide and save the collapsing empire.

That is destined to go down in history.

Unfortunately, Gin was born in the wrong place and at the wrong time. He went down a dead-end path in the organization and couldn't even manage to become infamous forever.

In the long river of history, he can only be considered a nobody, a nobody.

But this does not prevent Gin from becoming a pillar of the organization.

Ryoma Hayashi wasn't too worried about money to begin with, and later he met Sonoko Suzuki and Ninzaburo Shiratori.

Isshin has established a pleasant partnership with the Suzuki Group and the Shiratori Group.

Finally, the two sums of gold brought by Da Shang Zhu Shan once again turned money into just a series of dry numbers for Lin Longma.

Most of the money was distributed by Lin Longma to members of the Yixin Society.

Be careful with the money the organization gives to its members, lest it be a sugar-coated bomb with malicious intent.

But the brothers in Yixinhui can accept the money that Lin Kaka distributes with complete peace of mind.

Without Linkaka, they would probably still be risking their lives for the organization.

How can one live such an easy life?
The organization was established by capitalists, specifically the top capitalists in the island nation.

The essence of this organization is layer upon layer of exploitation, yet it still allows members who are not at the top to live a good life.

The lives of those high-paid but decadent members in the Executive Department and those high-paid but terrified low-ranking members in the Intelligence Support Department are the lives they should be living.

This is a debt of gratitude from Kaka, which can never be fully repaid. But the kindness of the organization, Sun, must be remembered forever.

In other words, money really isn't important to Lin Longma. If Taylor wanted to bribe Lin Longma with money, it would be quite difficult.

Fortunately, Taylor hadn't intended to bribe Lin Longma with money.

“This is my sincerity, Chairman Lin.” Taylor, who was standing in front of Misa Takeda’s grave, suddenly flicked out a coin.

The coin, gleaming golden in the moonlight, spun around and was caught by a white stone nearby.

After checking and confirming that there were no problems, it was handed to Lin Longma.

Lin Longma took a look and found that it was a gold coin.

This gold coin was a style that Lin Longma had never seen before, and it felt like it was newly minted.

The gold coins do not display any face value.

The obverse of the gold coin features a building that looks somewhat familiar to Ryoma Hayashi, with an incredibly neat and symmetrical structure that seems to be the work of Moriya No. 2.

However, the pattern on the back looked familiar to Lin Longma.

Because the reverse side of the gold coin features a crow.

There are countless patterns of crows in the world, but Lin Longma recognized it because not long ago, he had seen this crow, which symbolized the Karasuma family, countless times in Karasuma Renya's villa.

Did you get these gold coins from Karasuma Renya?
Lin Longma stroked the gold coins in his hand, unsure of Taylor's thoughts.

Is this because he knows about his relationship with Karasuma Renya and is using the Karasuma family's gold coins to pressure him?
Taylor is really brave. In this desolate wilderness, unless Taylor is carrying a bunch of bombs, he could be keeping his beloved Misa Takeda company today.

"The design of this gold coin is rather rare. Forgive my poor eyesight." The gold coin nimbly flipped between Lin Longma's fingers, and Baishi saw through his expression of not raising his eyebrows.

Shiraishi silently shifted his position, and together with his men, subtly blocked Taylor's escape route, then remained fully alert.

As long as Lin Longma gives the order, Bai Shi can draw his gun and leave Taylor on Luoxuan Ridge.

Taylor, however, seemed completely oblivious, and even opened his mouth to laugh.

"President Lin is usually very busy, but no matter how busy he is, he should pay attention to the development of the city."

"What do you mean? This gold coin is actually related to urban development?" Lin Longma felt that Taylor's words were becoming more and more mysterious.

Could this gold coin be a commemorative coin for urban development?

Lin Longma had heard of commemorative coins, and was even more familiar with bond funds. But the connection between urban development and gold coins was something he really didn't understand.

“This gold coin is actually an admission ticket, an admission ticket to a hotel.” Taylor pulled out another gold coin from somewhere and showed Lin Longma the side with the building on it.

"Excuse my ignorance, but I've never heard of any hotel in Tokyo that requires gold coins as an admission ticket?"

Moreover, just from the time Lin Longma had been handling the gold coin, he had already discovered that its gold content wasn't particularly high.

But those are still gold coins. If any hotel actually uses gold coins as admission tickets...
It's hard to say where it would be in other places, but if it were in Beika Town, Hayashi Ryoma would guarantee that the place would be blown up in no time.

No matter how symmetrical his design is, it's useless.

Even if you're demanding a certain level of class, you can't treat your brothers like Japanese people, right?
“Ordinary hotels wouldn’t have such a threshold, but the hotel I’m talking about isn’t an ordinary hotel.” Taylor said, pulling out a business card.

"Tokyo City Hotel?"

The business card only has the hotel's name and address, plus a phone number, while the back features an artistic inscription of a raven and the hotel's silhouette.

"Yes, it is a newly built five-star hotel based on the former residence of internationally renowned architect Teiji Moriya."

This hotel isn't just open to ordinary guests, but also to certain special individuals!

At this moment, Taylor doesn't look like an Avenger; he looks more like a top salesman.

He was trying hard to sell Lin Longma this "special customized service" called Tokyo City Hotel.

"A gold coin like this can be used as a room fee for one night or to obtain information."

Alternatively, you could ask the hotel to help you find a suitable weapon or some other services.

"Gold coins don't have a clear value; they're more like a requirement."

"Of course, this will happen as long as these gold coins flow into the black market, and the people in the black market appreciate the services of the Tokyo City Hotel."

"Then this gold coin will appreciate greatly." Taylor was a very good salesman; at least after hearing what he said, Lin Longma became quite curious about the Tokyo City Hotel—if he didn't have the Isshin Association under his command.

The Tokyo City Hotel will be the promised land of President Hobi Hana, and also the paradise of Hobi Hana's murderers.

Most importantly, the Tokyo City Hotel provides weapons, accommodation, and even intelligence. Does it also provide assassins?
Also, how come the business scope of Tokyo City Hotel overlaps so much with the business scope of the organization "International Intermediary Company"?
To be honest, international intermediary companies haven't even made their names known in the industry yet, and here hotels are already issuing their own currencies?
Is this correct?

Most importantly, besides Karasuma Renya, are there any other members of the Karasuma family still alive?
Regardless of the circumstances, as a company with close partnerships with multiple large conglomerates, Lin Longma should be interested in this hotel both morally and personally.

And that's exactly how he acted.

"I really didn't know there was a hotel like this in Tokyo. Mr. Taylor, even though he's American, seems to know more about Tokyo than I do?"

Lin Longma was certainly interested in the hotel, but he was even more interested in Taylor's identity.

How could Taylor, an American from out of town, know about this before Lin Longma?
Taylor chuckled: "President Lin's information channels are definitely good, but I can also be considered one of the hotel's partners."

Insiders always have better information, don't you think?

Taylor didn't intend to say too much about this matter; sometimes things can't be said all at once. Taylor also didn't plan to only cooperate with Lin Longma this once.

This time he was handling his own private matters, but perhaps in the future we will have the opportunity to cooperate on "business" matters?

You always have to leave some cards up for your future self, right?
“This is my sincerity.” In addition to the gold coin and business card in Lin Longma’s hand, Taylor took out eight more gold coins from his camera bag.

Including the gold coins he already had, there were a total of nine.

Lin Longma was given ten gold coins.

According to Taylor, the ten gold coins did not have a fixed value, but represented ten requirements for the Tokyo City Hotel.

It could be ten pieces of intelligence or ten pieces of equipment; in any case, it would be quite attractive to an ordinary consulting firm president.

Lin Longma didn't hesitate any longer. Since it was a business that didn't require any investment, he simply accepted the gold coins.

"Then the deal is done, Mr. Taylor. You will get what you want."

After the agreement was reached, Lin Longma drove Taylor back to the Takeda family.

Heiji Hattori and Ran Mouri are investigating three “suicide” cases that occurred in the Takeda family’s warehouse.

Since Misa Takeda and her daughter died three years ago, there were no clues about what happened three years ago in the entire warehouse, so they could only investigate the murder case that occurred a week ago.

Fortunately, since the body of Akio Negishi was found in the storage room, the Takeda family probably thought it was unlucky to have a body in the storage room, and after the body was removed, they only did a simple cleaning.

Some clues in the details have not been cleared away.

Based on these clues, Hattori Heiji and Mori Ran have found evidence that Negishi Akio was murdered, not committed suicide.

The investigation also stalled at this point.

More photos and videos from the scene are in the hands of detectives at the Tottori Prefectural Police Headquarters. Unfortunately, no matter how well Hattori Heiji is doing in Osaka, he can't possibly use his status as the son of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters Chief to order the detectives in Tottori Prefecture.

Similarly, Kogoro Mouri rarely visited Tottori Prefecture.

She hadn't solved many cases in Tottori Prefecture, and it was unlikely that the Tottori Prefecture detectives would give Ran Mouri face for no reason and allow her to access classified materials of this level.

Whether it's Heiji Hattori, Ran Mouri, or Conan, they've all had it too easy in their respective cities.

But for detectives, this kind of predicament or trouble is the norm they need to deal with.

The treatment of local residents and outsiders is naturally very different.

"So, Uncle Lin, do you have any ideas?"

Upon seeing Ryoma return to Conan, Conan immediately used his flexible bottom line, attempting to persuade Ryoma to provide them with some assistance.

Conan is also cunning; he knows very well that in this kind of place, Hattori Heiji and Mouri Ran's influence is definitely not as great as Hayashi Ryoma's.

Of course, since the Tottori Prefectural Police gave Ryoma Hayashi face, how Ryoma Hayashi should repay this favor is not something Conan is concerned about.

As a detective, all he cares about is finding the truth faster, more accurately, and better.

This kid is treating Lin Longma like Doraemon.

"A solution? I don't have any solutions either~" Lin Longma simply shrugged.

He usually gets freebies from Conan because Lin Longma can recoup the cost of Conan's freebies elsewhere.

Every gift from fate comes with a price tag attached. Conan's seemingly freebie-seeking behavior is actually because someone is paying the bill for him.

But now no one is paying Conan's bills, which means that Ryoma Hayashi will no longer let Conan get things for free.

I just shrug it off and say whatever I want.

Although Lin Longma didn't get the freebies that Conan hoped for, he did provide a direction for the investigation.

"Since you can't investigate the case from a week ago, why don't you investigate Mr. Shinichi?"
"It's just a puppet workshop in the countryside, but orders keep coming in. Don't you find that strange?"

This was certainly strange. These people were already curious about Shinichi Takeda's workshop, and this reminder from Ryoma Hayashi only made things worse.

That's true, Akio Negishi was Shinichi Takeda's partner.

Logically speaking, the producer should be quite panicked by the death of such a capable partner as Shinichi Takeda.

But look at him, he doesn't seem flustered at all. He acts like his puppets are in high demand and he has no trouble selling them.

But would a puppet produced in a rural workshop really be that sought after?
-
That night, in the stillness of the night, several figures suddenly appeared outside Shinichi Takeda's workshop.

"Conan, has Heiji Hattori arrived yet?" Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama were sharing a room that night. After seeing Conan, Ran couldn't help but ask about Heiji Hattori, who was sharing the room with Conan.

"What kind of looks are those?!" Before Conan could answer, the "darkness" beside him suddenly spoke up.

Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama were instantly terrified, and then covered each other's mouths.

Conan chuckled silently; in fact, he had wanted to remind Hattori Heiji when he left the room.

His skin tone, combined with his dark clothing, made him blend in very well in the darkness.

Considering that they were originally out secretly "doing bad things," this kind of attire seems quite reasonable.

It's just that it's hard to find someone who isn't glaring or showing their teeth.

Sure enough, they had barely met when Ran Mouri subtly criticized Heiji Hattori.

(End of this chapter)