Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 433, Section 247: Even the most meticulous plans can have flaws.

Investment refers to the act of putting current funds, time or other resources into an asset, project or activity in the hope of obtaining returns in the future.

The Karasuma Foundation must have had expectations of a return on its substantial investment in the organization at its inception.

Otherwise, wouldn't that be considered selfless dedication?

Would capitalists give away their wealth for free? The probability of that happening is even smaller than winning the lottery.

An organization is, after all, a criminal organization. You can't expect them to meet the standards of public order and good morals, can you?

To avoid losing their investments, Lin Longma wouldn't be as carefree as the Karasuma Group.

From another perspective, since the establishment of many large bases in the early stages of the organization was funded by the Karasuma Foundation, there must have been a representative of the Karasuma Foundation in the upper echelons.

There are currently no members with conglomerate backgrounds in the organization's upper echelons. Does that mean that the highest-ranking member is related to the Karasuma Conglomerate?
"You said our organization has a close relationship with the Karasuma Group, and that the 'admission ticket' for the Tokyo Hotel used the Karasuma family's crow emblem."

Is this a long bet?

It's a basic risk hedging operation for capitalists. Don't be fooled by how much Karasuma Renya relies on the organization now; that old codger definitely has other forces at his disposal in private.

It's just that the organization uses the one that's most convenient for him.

Perhaps this Tokyo City Hotel is another layout by Karasuma Renya?
Although Lin Longma thought so, he instinctively felt that it was somewhat unlikely.

Right now, Karasuma Renya is focused entirely on the research and development of drug A. Even if he had the energy, wouldn't it be better to urge the research department to speed up the research and improvement of drug A?

Setting up this hotel really doesn't help with research.

"I wasn't in Tokyo for a while, didn't you have someone investigate? We should have results soon, right?"

Vermouth gave up thinking, feeling a headache coming on. Although she was very good at intelligence, she was not an omniscient person after all.

Give her enough time, and there's nothing Vermouth can't investigate. But for unexpected situations like this, we'll have to rely on Lin Longma's intelligence network.

Just when Lin Longma thought that Jin Tian's investigation would take some time, Jin Tian returned in a hurry not long after he left.

"So fast? Did they find out it's one of their own people?" Reality isn't a game; you can't just click on information and it'll be delivered automatically.

However, if it's internal organization intelligence, a single click of the mouse can actually deliver the information.

“Brother, you’re right. We’ve indeed traced it back to one of our own people.” Jin Tian nodded and began to report the information he had gathered about the Tokyo City Hotel to Lin Longma.

The Tokyo City Hotel was originally the residence of architect Teiji Moriya.

After being auctioned off, it was purchased and transformed into a five-star hotel, using the original Senya Manor building as its main structure.

"The purchase of this Moriya Manor was actually led by an international intermediary company branch."

"An international intermediary company? I remember we had some of our employees at that location, didn't we?"

At that time, the establishment of the international intermediary company required the transfer of a number of people from various departments of the organization.

The Yixin Society is no exception.

"Yes, brother. It's because we have people working for the international agency that we were able to get the information about the Tokyo City Hotel so quickly."

"So, is this hotel run by Bourbon? Kiel in the Executive Department is not valued, and the Intelligence Support Department is a complete mess."

It's unlikely that Curaçao will focus its efforts on international intermediary companies.

"That stronghold must be under Bourbon's control, right?"

To be honest, my attitude towards Lin Longma, the international intermediary company, was that I'd take it one step at a time, no matter how hard I tried.

With Kiel's identity in question, Bourbon's situation is unlikely to be much better.

Throw them into a base, add a bunch of hindrances, and Curaçao, a neutral third party.

Even Lin Longma himself had no idea how this base would develop.

But that was in the past.

The intelligence support department is in a mess right now, and the execution department isn't much better. With all the competitors being worse off, Bourbon's situation is much better.

It's fair to say that it stands out among international intermediary companies.

If Lin Longma were Bourbon, he definitely wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by. What kind of representative is Yixinhui? Shouldn't he seize the chance to turn the Yixinhui's territory within the international intermediary company into his own?
There are plenty of ways to win people's hearts.

First, select a few capable people, and then slowly cultivate your own "followers." After a while, Bourbon will no longer be a "lone wolf."

Lin Longma just couldn't quite figure out why Bourbon wanted to build the Tokyo City Hotel.

Surely he couldn't have lost to Kiel and Curaçao in the stronghold? That would be too absurd.

"Yes, brother. At present, Bourbon can be said to have an absolute advantage at that stronghold."

Even some of the reinforcements we sent were divided up by Bourbon.

Hearing this, Lin Longma wasn't surprised; it was normal for Bourbon to be able to do it. On the contrary, it would have been strange for Lin Longma if Bourbon couldn't do it.

"So he's abandoning his perfectly good real estate agency and switching to a business-oriented approach?" Lin Longma retorted.

International intermediary companies traditionally prefer online operations because they offer lower risk, higher returns, and faster results.

Now there's another hotel, which shows they're doing both online and offline well.
We can't possibly plan to completely encircle and suppress them, leaving no one behind.

In Lin Longma's memory, Bourbon shouldn't be such an impatient person. He shouldn't lack patience.

Even if Bourbon's identity is questionable, wouldn't acting so hastily make him even more suspicious?

"No, the Tokyo City Hotel wasn't Bourbon's doing. According to our guys' intelligence, the person in charge of the hotel is actually Kiel."

"Kiel?"

Lin Longma and Vermouth were both stunned. They had considered many possibilities, but they never expected that the hotel would be under Kiel's control.

After only a moment of surprise, Lin Longma and Vermouth realized that Bourbon was probably behind this.

Although Gin carried out a major purge in the executive department, the international intermediary company was not affected.

The company's executive department members naturally also had "spies" developed by the intelligence support department, but unfortunately Rum was too cowardly at the time, and Gin killed too many people.

It's impossible for members of the international intermediary company to return to the intelligence department, and it's also unrealistic for them to go to the execution department.

They won't accept it from one side, and if they go back, they'll die.

As a result, staying in the international intermediary company and following Kiergan became the only way out for these members.

The once lone commander, Kiel, now has his own loyal subordinates.

Having more men isn't enough; if Bourbon wanted, he could easily crush Kiel within the stronghold.

But if that were the case, the Ichishinkai would have a monopoly on power in the large international intermediary company sector.

Since ancient times, when birds are all gone, good bows are put away; when cunning rabbits are dead, hunting dogs are cooked.

Bourbon was also afraid that if he expanded the international intermediary company, it would be directly absorbed by the Yixin Society.

Since decentralizing power directly within the stronghold was not feasible, Kiel had no choice but to "eat outside."

Since international intermediary companies focus on online channels, let Kiel expand the offline "customer base".

Offline operations are naturally riskier than online ones, but for Kiel, it's also a rare opportunity. "It's rare to see you get tricked like this. What are your thoughts now?" Vermouth teased Lin Longma.

"Thoughts? What thoughts could I possibly have?" Lin Longma chuckled lightly. His journey hadn't been smooth sailing.

It's just that now that Isshin has become stronger, Lin Longma seems to be doing very well.

When you become powerful, you'll be surrounded by good people.

Moreover, Lin Longma didn't think he had been tricked by Bourbon.

Within an organization, the interactions between people are more about competition than cooperation, not to mention that Bourbon was "tricked" out of the intelligence support department by Ryoma Hayashi.

Isn't it reasonable for people to be cautious?
If international intermediary companies were truly turned into a "uniform" group by Bourbon, even Lin Longma himself wouldn't dare guarantee he wouldn't be tempted.

The people in the organization are best at grasping every possible bargaining chip, regardless of where they got them or whether they can be used.

I can do without it, but I can't live without it.

To be honest, Bourbon's behavior wasn't entirely unexpected by Lin Longma, but Gil's actions were truly perplexing to him.

"By the way, don't you feel that Gil's abilities are a bit too strong?" Lin Longma asked Vermouth.

"Strong abilities? Gil is a legend in the organization, isn't it normal for him to be strong?"

The legend sounds ironic coming from Vermouth's mouth—who in the organization has a more legendary experience than Vermouth?

Not everyone can maintain the same appearance and physical fitness for decades like Vermouth.

"I've seen Kiel's resume. He was captured by CIA agents not long after joining the organization, but he survived the truth serum until the organization sent someone to rescue him."

After returning to the organization, he was sent undercover at Nichiri TV, eventually becoming a popular host.

Kiel's personal abilities are beyond question, but her leadership skills don't seem to have been proven.

Let alone special types of hotels like the Tokyo City Hotel, even the preparation and operation of ordinary hotels is not an easy task.

Kiel's ability to build such a large organization from scratch, with a bunch of mediocre people in the executive department, without any prior experience, goes beyond mere competence.

"And then there's Robert Taylor. He's American, and he's the one who told me he's one of the hotel's partners."

Lin Longma looked at Jin Tian: "Is there any intelligence over there saying that Kiel's hotel also has an Americana partner?"

"No," Kaneda replied simply.

"So here's the problem: it seems that our Kiel found a partner for his hotel without us even noticing."

The partners also have American backgrounds.

"Tsk tsk"

Lin Longma's last two clicks of his tongue were full of meaning.

Kiel's mysterious partner is quite a coincidence.

As a company with two famous detectives as consultants and a good working relationship with both the Suzuki Group and the Shiratori Group, Isshin is practically a product exempt from inspection in the eyes of some well-informed people.

Taylor either desperately wanted to develop a "client" for himself, or he harbored deep hatred for the Takeda family.

If Taylor were to do this himself, he would either kill a few people or hire someone to commit murder.

Ultimately, it was just a simple physical annihilation.

If you want to kill someone by destroying their spirit, you have to look at the "local gangs".

Taylor couldn't find any fault with trying to win over Lin Longma.

With the establishment of Tokyo City Hotel, if it wants to operate offline business, it must make a name for itself.

At the same time, this business model also requires a high level of customer quality.

In Beika Town, a bullet, a fishing line, or even a little cyanide can kill.

It would be difficult to entice the murderer in Beika Town to abandon his own actions and instead choose to "hire a killer."

After all, the murderers of Mikasa enjoy the feeling of doing things themselves.

Taylor's Tokyo City Hotel, which offers a range of services including intelligence and equipment, ultimately boils down to being an assassin.

Their target customers are people like Lin Longma who are not short of money and do not want to get their hands dirty.

From this perspective, Lin Longma is a top-tier customer among top-tier customers.

So at Misa Takeda's grave, Taylor first tested Ryoma Hayashi's acceptance of such a thing by using the fact that he had killed someone.

When he discovered that Lin Longma didn't seem to care much about this thing, he immediately realized that this was a rather high-quality customer.

Moreover, solving problems in a simple and crude way can be addictive.

Taylor believed that once Lin Longma tried their service, he would definitely fall in love with this simple and direct approach.

And here come the stable, high-quality major clients!

"Aren't you afraid of your identity being exposed?" Vermouth suddenly realized a blind spot:

"If Taylor and Kiel truly have a close working relationship, they will definitely communicate in the future, even if they don't say it now."

"Wouldn't your organization's identity be exposed to Taylor then?"

Perhaps Kiel wasn't very familiar with Lin Longma, but they were all from the same organization.

Investigating Lin Longma's identity is not actually difficult.

Not many people in the organization know Lin Longma's identity, but there are definitely quite a few. With a little attention and effort, it's possible to find out.

Including Rum's identity.

Despite the old man's smoke bombs and electronic voice, it wasn't difficult for Lin Longma to figure out his identity.

The difficulty lies in how well this old fellow hid.

Because he hid so well, obtaining his identity was useless. In an island nation, changing one's identity is incredibly easy.

They even have mature industrial chains.

Slippery and elusive, these are the main reasons why Rum has been able to maintain his mystique.

"Tsk tsk, that's really true." Lin Longma originally wanted to play the long game, but he accidentally forgot about the risks involved.

Lin Longma is not like Gin.

He doesn't want to publicize his identity to the world for the time being; making a fortune quietly is the best option.

Since that's the case, Taylor has no choice but to deal with it.

"Contact the guy monitoring Taylor. I need to know as soon as Taylor returns to Tokyo."

Lin Longma gave instructions to Jin Tian.

"Yes, brother." Jin Tian nodded and quickly left.

(End of this chapter)