Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 432, Section 426: Intelligence Exchange Among Allies

"Thank you very much, Chairman Lin!"

"You saved my life again." Hattori Heiji was still shaken and felt a little uneasy.

He was a renowned detective in the Kansai region, a figure on par with Sherlock Holmes in the Heisei era.

Yet, he was saved by Lin Longma time and time again.

Isn't this a case of being technically inferior?
However, Heiji Hattori is the kind of person who refuses to admit defeat—but refusing to admit defeat doesn't mean refusing to acknowledge defeat or being ungrateful.

He remembered and acknowledged Lin Longma's life-saving grace. He simply planned to repay it later.

But when he returned to Osaka, he had to push himself even harder in terms of reasoning.

Well, the way a detective motivates himself is simply to work hard to solve cases and investigate diligently.

It's tough on the people of Osaka Prefecture. With someone like Hattori Heiji, who has such grand ambitions, living in their area, their security level might quickly catch up with Beika Town.

"Hey, it's nothing, just a small thing." Lin Longma waved his hand, showing no intention of taking credit.

To put it simply, Ryoma Hayashi has gotten used to helping Heiji Hattori and Conan out of trouble.

To put it more complicatedly, the main reason for a life-saving favor is its rarity. If there are too many, not only does it lose its value, but constantly bringing it up can easily turn a debt of gratitude into enmity.

If I don't mention it and you don't mention it either, it's just fine if we all tacitly keep it in our hearts.

Ryoma and Heiji Hattori took the life-saving grace to heart, but Conan overheard their conversation and, for some reason, went over to Ryoma to "fish" for information.

"Uncle Lin, how did you know we were in danger? Your men arrived just in time!"

Suspicion is the most basic quality of a detective, and Conan's transformation from a high school student to an elementary school student almost truly liberated him from some kind of "talent".

For example, a flexible bottom line.

If he were still Shinichi Kudo, he would never have expressed his doubts so abruptly after being rescued.

But he is just a primary school student. Even if he makes inappropriate questions, he can easily brush it off by saying that he is just a child.

"It's just a child" became Conan's excuse for his reckless behavior.

If Ran Mouri hadn't known Conan's identity yet, she would definitely have stopped him from saying such rude things.

But Ran now understands Conan's true identity, and although she still feels that Conan's words are not quite appropriate, she doesn't immediately contradict him.

She simply observed Lin Longma's expression silently. The moment Lin Longma showed displeasure, she would immediately step in to smooth things over.

"Of course it's perfect, because I'm watching your every move." Lin Longma said confidently, and for a moment Conan even wondered if he was wrong and should apologize first.

But what the hell was he talking about?
Being watched every move you make—what's the difference between that and being monitored?!
"Hmm, your understanding is also fine."

Although the main purpose wasn't to monitor you, noticing your nighttime intrusion into the workshop was just a side effect.

Lin Longma ultimately gave them some face, saying they didn't explore the workshop at all—that was just a nice way of putting it.

Isn't this actually trespassing?

If they used their American father's castle law, it would be perfectly legal and justifiable for Shinichi Takeda to kill these brats.

Lin Longma waved his hand, and immediately his subordinates came from behind to deliver several miniature cameras.

"As a president of Beika who values ​​his life, it's reasonable for me to secretly take some security measures when I'm out, right?"
In places like the Takeda clan's residence, three people died in the same location in succession, and although all the cases were ruled suicides...
But you all know about suicides in island nations, right?

Rather than calling it suicide in the island nation, it's more accurate to say it's suicide as perceived by the island nation's police. Even Hattori Heiji, a second-generation police officer, couldn't refute this point.

Because in island nations, police do sometimes close unsolved murder cases as suicides in order to pursue higher case closure and solving rates.

This situation is not even an isolated case; it exists in big cities, but it's even more serious in smaller places. After all, the police resources in smaller places cannot compare with those in big cities.

There's no need to go through extra trouble if there's an easy way.

The area where the Takeda family was located, Ruoku Ridge, was a small, unremarkable place.

"Isn't it only natural to make extra preparations when staying overnight in such a strange place?"

But instead of any malicious thugs coming to my door, I saw you guys sneaking around trying to break into someone's warehouse.

Lin Longma has always felt that Conan is actually quite pretentious.

In fact, most detectives pursue justice in terms of outcome; that is, as long as a just result is achieved, they don't care about the process.

This means that whether it's breaking and picking locks or bluffing without evidence, it's all part of the detective's arsenal.

They even found it very convenient to use.

The other detectives didn't mind being seen as someone who upheld justice, and they readily accepted the outcome.

However, Conan, while performing actions that uphold the principle of outcome justice, also pursues procedural justice verbally and in certain actions.

Is not this contradictory?

Saying one thing and doing another, or being a hypocrite, are the most distasteful things.

Ryoma Hayashi's words hit Conan's weak spot. As a native of Beika Town, Conan naturally knew how "difficult" it was for a company president to survive in Beika Town.

It's perfectly fine to be a little cautious when going out.

These are just some minor surveillance methods; their acts of breaking and picking locks are far worse.

Not to mention that this immoral and illegal act actually saved their lives.
As long as Lin Longma's illegal behavior does not cross Conan's red line regarding crime, his bottom line is still quite flexible.

Or, if he really wants to address Lin Longma's illegal behavior, he should first criticize his own criminal actions.

In Conan's view, his actions were just, so how could he be criticized so easily?
In contrast, Conan turned a blind eye to Lin Longma's behavior.

Even if Conan doesn't close that eye, it won't make a difference. No police station would fire the chairman of a medium-sized company over a few security cameras.

Moreover, this camera was installed in the Takeda family's "public area" to protect their own safety.

Eri Kisaki doesn't even need to intervene; any experienced lawyer could win the case.

Once Conan was cleared up, everyone else was cleared up too.

Lin Longma successfully reported the incident to the police.

After learning about the situation inside the Takeda family, detectives from the Tottori Prefectural Police Headquarters arrived very quickly.

When they were rushing, they practically wanted to stomp their feet into the gas tank of the police car.

Stop your car! Drive faster!
The only son of the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief, the only daughter of the Osaka Prefectural Police Criminal Investigation Chief, the chairman of a major Tokyo company, the only daughter of a famous detective and lawyer, and an independent photographer in America.
The criminals were a gang of narcotics dealers, and they had a huge amount of narcotics in their possession.

Not to mention they also had guns. Of course, it's quite normal for a drug dealer of this size to have guns.

To be in a business that involves beheadings, one must naturally have the skill to do so.

Anyway, when the Tottori Prefectural Police Headquarters received the emergency call, most of the criminal investigation team was completely bewildered.

If anything bad were to happen to them, the entire Tottori Prefectural Police Headquarters, from top to bottom, would be in deep trouble.

Fortunately, when they arrived, they found lively high school students and taciturn Americans.

"President Lin, thank you so much!" The police inspector leading the team once again grabbed Lin Longma's hand and shook it firmly to express his gratitude.

If conditions allowed, he wouldn't mind kowtowing to Lin Longma.

Lin Kaka is great, and so is the bodyguard team! This is how rich people in Tokyo should travel!
Look how much trouble it saves those criminal police officers by bringing a few more bodyguards?
He simply doesn't have the authority; otherwise, he would have awarded Lin Longma a medal for outstanding contributions to police-civilian cooperation.

This practically saved his political life, and even gave him a boost.

What a spirit! It's like a timely rain from Tokyo; he should bow down in reverence.

Unfortunately, as a representative of the Tottori Prefectural Police Headquarters, he needed to be somewhat reserved. So he could only express his unspoken excitement to Ryoma Hayashi with his eyes.

The Takeda family's drug trafficking gang was captured in one fell swoop, and what awaits them is a surprise interrogation by the Tottori Prefectural Detectives and Rum's relentless assassination attempt.

If they're smart, they'll hand over Rum now and try to get safer, more respected treatment.

Unfortunately, they weren't exactly bright; they were probably still hoping Rum would rescue them.
How is this possible?
Even using the most basic method, neither killing nor saving someone in the police station is easy.

But compared to saving lives, killing is still simpler and more convenient.

Especially with an inside agent, a tiny amount of cyanide would be enough to accomplish this difficult task.

After socializing with many officers from the Tottori Prefectural Police Headquarters, Ryoma Hayashi returned to Tokyo with his two other dependents.

Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama returned to Osaka to find their parents, while Ran Mouri and Conan naturally fell into Ryoma Hayashi's hands.

After the three Takeda brothers were captured, Ryoma Hayashi fulfilled his promise to Taylor.

Taylor is not planning to return to Tokyo for the time being, but he also said that he will be back soon.

With the Tokyo City Hotel about to open, they need him, as a partner, to do his part.

There has been little media coverage of the Takeda family case. Firstly, the investigation into the Takeda drug trafficking network is still ongoing.

Furthermore, the high school students' "raid" on Shinichi Takeda's workshop was a failure.

If this gets reported, Ran Mouri and Heiji Hattori will both lose face. It's not like it's anything famous, so Ran Mouri and Heiji Hattori naturally don't have that particular need.

After a safe and uneventful journey back to Tokyo, Ryoma Hayashi took Ran Mouri and Conan back to the agency.

On the way back to the base from the office, a black AC Cobra 427 forcefully cut into Lin Longma's convoy.

"Big brother?" Jin Tian asked Lin Longma from the passenger seat.

Lin Longma recognized the person as soon as he saw the long, platinum-blonde hair fluttering in the convertible through the car window.

"Don't worry about her, let her come along."

With one more vehicle in the convoy, all four vehicles returned together to the Isshin-kai's stronghold.

After the cars had parked, Lin Longma got out of the back seat of the Land Rover Defender and teased the big star in the convertible:
"Why don't we continue following them? What if they receive another request?"

Vermouth, who was wearing sunglasses just now and still hasn't taken them off, flashed a charming smile:

“I might worry if it were just that boy, but I feel reassured with an angel by my side.”

Conan is a troublesome little rascal, but Ran Mouri is a good child who can reflect on her actions.

The reflection here is not ironic, but a necessary step for a detective to succeed.

Having almost been wiped out by a group of drug dealers, Ran Mouri naturally had to think carefully after returning home, in order to prevent herself from encountering such a situation again and repeating the same mistake.

When Shinichi Kudo takes the lead, Ran Mouri is willing to act as a little accessory, providing armed assistance to her childhood friend.

But now that she's the one taking the lead, Ran Mouri naturally has to have her own opinions.

Ran Mouri's three most important things: safety, safety, and fucking safety.

Conan became like this because he didn't pay enough attention to his own safety, and she almost became a victim of gunfire because of a moment of carelessness.

Ran Mouri can't expect Ryoma Hayashi to save her every time she's in danger, can she? Even if she's God's daughter, she can't expect such a thing.

Moreover, when a person places their hopes for safety on vague and uncertain luck, that person is truly not safe.

Conan might be tempted to take on another new case in this situation, but for Ran Mouri, it wouldn't be so rushed again.

This is also the main reason why Vermouth felt safe enough to sneak into Lin Longma's convoy returning to the base.

Ran is so nice, Conan is such a worrywart!

Back in his office, Lin Longma instructed Jin Tian, ​​"Have someone investigate that Tokyo City Hotel."

Let's find out where they came from.

"Okay, big brother."

After Jintian left, Lin Longma placed the gold coins on the table. Vermouth stepped forward, picked one up, and examined it closely.

After a moment, she looked at Lin Longma with a serious expression: "This raven emblem..."

"It's the emblem of the Karasuma family. I've seen the exact same emblem in one place countless times."

Lin Longma narrowed his eyes, his mind racing, and finally decided to give Vermouth a heads-up.

Vermouth may not be unaware of these circumstances, but Lin Long must let her know that, as her ally, he knows quite a bit of inside information.

"The founding of our organization is probably closely related to the Karasuma Foundation in many unknown ways; I have investigated this before."

Many of the organization's large bases received investment from the Karasuma Group when they were first established.

In other words, the Karasuma family should be our organization's angel investor, but Lin Longma grinned as he said this:
"But look at the current high-ranking members of the organization, is there anyone with the surname Karasuma?"

That was enough. Vermouth also realized that her ally knew far more than she had imagined.

Moreover, their ability to take action is exceptionally strong.

(End of this chapter)