Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 931 Mysterious News from the Dark Web

"But that doesn't make sense either. Why didn't they take Joel's information? Isn't he afraid of being seen by others?"

Natsukawa's muttering caught Conan's attention.

"Uncle Xia Chuan, what are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking that it wouldn't be a problem if this money wasn't taxed."

Conan immediately straightened his back. "How can that be? We must abide by the law. As a special investigator for the National Tax Service, you are even more unable to bend the law for personal gain."

He understood what Natsukawa meant: Matsunaka Yoshito would pay a certain amount of protection money, and then Natsukawa would help cover it up.

"Just kidding."

Xia Chuan shrugged. With Conan here, it would be difficult to accomplish this. Who knows, he might secretly report him later.

Forget it, the diamonds were already quite valuable last time, so let's forget about this batch of gold. Anyway, he can still get some commission from it, even if it's much less.

The next day.

The Junior Detectives return to their school life.

Anya was almost late again today, but she thought the problem was with her father because they didn't get home until almost 2 a.m.

Why do I need to take a day off when I have to get up very early in the morning?
"Of course, it's because Anya needs to develop good school habits, and frequently taking leave will cause her to fall behind in her studies."

Xia Chuan now knows that Anya wasn't very bright to begin with, and if she develops bad habits, things will probably get even worse.

In addition, the reason why I got up so early was also related to Yoshito Matsunaka.

Last night in front of Conan, he said he was going to take Matsunaka Yoshito to handle tax information today, but actually he wanted to ask him about the gardener.

Yesterday's events made it clear that Yoshito Matsunaka loves his daughter very much and probably doesn't want the father and daughter, who have just been reunited, to end up with one outside and the other inside.

Therefore, Xia Chuan decided to give the other party a chance; as long as they revealed the gardener's affair, he would forgive and forget.

The two agreed to meet at a coffee shop.

This coffee shop was chosen by Yoshito Matsunaka to put his mind at ease.

“Welcome~”

As the doorbell rang and a waiter greeted him politely, Xia Chuan suddenly realized what was happening and turned to look at the service counter.

He had just felt the voice was somewhat familiar, and now he was certain that the waiter could only be Amuro Tooru.

For some unknown reason, this "King of Hired Managers" happened to be working at the coffee shop where Yoshito Matsunaka had arranged to meet him.

Yoshito Matsunaka was already waiting in his position when he saw Natsukawa waving to him.

Xia Chuan nodded slightly and went to the front desk. "Mr. Amuro, what are you doing here? Is it something to do with the police or something to do at the brewery?"

Has Karasuma Renya appeared?

Amuro Tooru was clearly also curious about Natsukawa's arrival. He glanced at Matsunaka Yoshito in his seat, but instead of answering Natsukawa's question, he began to deduce:

"This man with sunglasses looks a bit sneaky. If it weren't for his strange demeanor, I would have thought he was a member of the organization."

Did you agree to meet him here?

"So early, could it be that there's something you're hiding?"

Both of them raised their questions, but neither of them intended to explain to the other.

Xia Chuan ordered an Americano.

"Mr. Xia Chuan."

When Matsunaka Yoshito saw Natsukawa, he immediately stood up.

When Natsukawa left the Angel's Mansion last night, he said something that kept him awake all night.

After returning to Mihua, he lay at home all night, unable to fall asleep.

All I could hear in my mind were the words "Princess Thorns" that Xia Chuan had said.

As Gozo Iseya's assistant, he is not only an assistant in stock investment, but also an assistant in the other party's role as a gardener.

In recent years, Gozo Iseya has grown increasingly old, and he has been unable to collect many things or information. He has been the one to handle these matters, while the other party only makes the final decisions.

Therefore, he actually knew quite a bit about the gardener's identity.

For example, he was quite familiar with most of the assassins that the gardener worked with.

However, it seems that Gozo Iseya deliberately prevented him from meeting the assassin, so he only knew of his name.

The mere mention of her name is terrifying enough, especially the Thorn Princess, a notorious assassin on the dark web.

He's practically a madman.

The reason he felt guilty was that he had recently used the gardener's name to assign a task to the other party.

Then, just two days after the mission ended, someone mentioned this name and contacted him.

Anyone would be terrified.

"Please sit down, don't be shy."

Xia Chuan looked at the other person with a smile, and at this moment he began to understand the gardener a little.

Yoshito Matsunaka wore sunglasses and had a cold demeanor, but in reality, he was just so-so.

The sunglasses concealed his fear of the unknown; clearly, he lacked the composure of a gardener and couldn't maintain his composure.

"Mr. Natsukawa, you didn't call me here because of tax matters, right?"

Yoshito Matsunaka got straight to the point.

“That’s right. Last night, I discovered a secret room in Iseikawa Gozo’s room.”

"A locked room?"

Matsunaka Yoshito was startled and lowered his voice considerably: "What secret room?"

"What secret room? You probably already know that." Xia Chuan smiled faintly. "Inside, I saw the gardener's file, which contained his mission records over the years."

"Sure enough, the master didn't tell me everything; he was holding back a trick."

Yoshito Matsunaka pursed his lips.

During this time, he discovered that many of the files he had previously created could not be found.

The master couldn't have destroyed these things; he must have hidden them.

Moreover, the other person had told me before they died that it was best not to use the identity of a gardener anymore.

Sure enough, as soon as I used this identity, people came knocking on my door.

"I want to ask you some questions about Gozo Iseya. Tell me what happened, and I'll let you go as long as you stop using the Gardener's identity and stop being active on the dark web."

Natsukawa was very direct, or rather, for someone like Matsunaka Yoshito, it would be more effective to directly state your purpose.

"What do you want to know?" Matsunaka Yoshito asked thoughtfully. "If I know, I won't hide it from you."

"Have you ever heard the gardener mention anyone he's afraid of?"

"Fear?"

Matsunaka Yoshito was clearly taken aback; he had thought Natsukawa would ask about some details of the case.

Some even believe that Xia Chuan might be one of the targets that the gardener had previously sent assassins to hunt down.

Now it seems not.

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Probably not."

"During the years I've been by the master's side, I've been taking care of him almost every day."

He sighed, somewhat wistfully, "The old man's health was already poor; he seemed to have some kind of illness and had to take medicine every day, and his condition was getting worse and worse."

"I'm the one who handles most of the client interactions for the Gardener account. I just need to tell him the situation and let him make the decision."

"As for the people he's afraid of," Matsunaka Yoshito shook his head slightly, "I haven't heard of any."

"Really not?"

"No."

Yoshito Matsunaka gave an affirmative answer, but then seemed to remember something and became somewhat conflicted.

"Just say it."

"But before he died, the master seemed to have some understanding of his current condition, and he was unwilling to see a doctor or undergo treatment."

"I feel that he can still be saved."

Yoshito Matsunaka could not understand the other party's behavior.

But at the time, he still harbored some resentment towards the old man. Since he didn't want to live, it was actually a good thing for him, so he didn't struggle with it. It was only after Xia Chuan appeared that he realized there might be another reason why the old man had said those things.

"Is that so?"

There are people in the world who don't want to continue living, but it's unlikely to be Gozo Iseya.

Unless, someone forces him to die.

He was powerless to resist.

It's already clear who it is.

"Sir, your coffee."

Amuro Tooru placed the tray down and then left gracefully.

"thank you."

Xia Chuan chuckled, picked up the tray, plucked a round patch from the bottom, crushed it, and threw it into the trash can.

"Tch, they're quite wary."

Hearing the noise, Amuro Tooru chuckled. Although he hadn't overheard the conversation, he knew that the people Natsukawa sought out were usually not simple.

We can investigate the other party's identity later.

"There's no problem now, but I need you to do me a small favor."

"what?"

Xia Chuan whispered something in his ear.

A strange emotion flashed in Matsunaka Yoshito's eyes, then he nodded.

That day, a strange bounty was posted on the dark web.

The bounty target is a thirteen-year-old girl named Mary Akai, and a photo was attached.

What's strange is that the bounty is as high as ten million US dollars, and the target is a child.

What's even stranger is that many assassins who want to take on the mission are required to find this person first before they can accept the mission.

However, the assassins searched through citizen information files in various countries but could not find this target named Mary Akai.

At night, a man dressed in black, looking hurried, strode into the distillery's headquarters.

"Mr. Kusuda."

Kusuda Rikudo remained silent, striding into the depths of the corridor amidst the envious gazes of the crowd.

"Is this the codenamed member who doesn't have a codename yet?"

"Hmm, keep your voice down, don't let Mr. Kusuda hear you, he cares a lot about this."

"By the way, why don't we have a code name yet?"

"It was supposed to be there, but the organization got busy later, and the boss seems to have forgotten about it."

"so."

Kusuda Rikudo ignored these peripheral members.

Although they don't have code names yet, they do receive benefits, and becoming a code name member means they have access to more things.

Moreover, he gradually became Gin's intelligence officer, often operating alone outside, and it didn't matter whether he had a code name or not.

I came back this time after discovering a strange message on the dark web that Gin-sama might find interesting.

"Kusuda, you were looking for me?"

Gin was already waiting inside the base.

After returning from Osaka, Gin immediately spread the word, and everyone knew about Shuichi Akai's death. With the funds brought back by Tequila, the situation stabilized.

Rum is the strange one; I haven't seen him at all lately.

To this day, he still doesn't know about the incident involving the three codenamed members, including Kiel.

After all, he rarely contacted Kiel in the first place.

Binga and Arak were Rum's men, and he had no say in where they went.

As for the police?

The ambiguous live broadcasts by the police would be held periodically, and he didn't believe they were related to any organization.

"Boss, I've discovered something strange."

Kusuda Rikudo's voice lowered: "You should still remember Akai Mary, right?"

"Akai Marie?"

Gin scratched his head, seemingly vaguely recognizing the name.

I remembered!

Shuichi Akai's surname is Akai.

So who is Mary Akai?
Seeing the change in Gin's expression, Kusuda Rikudo couldn't help but sigh.

This guy, as always, has a terrible memory.

Mary Akai, I've seen her on the list of patients taking APTX4869.

If I remember correctly, it was Vermouth who did it.

"Big brother, Mary Akai is Shuichi Akai's mother, and she was also forced to take APTX4869 by Vermouth."

"Why bring up a dead person?" Gin asked, somewhat displeased.

Brains should be used for useful purposes; a dead person takes up some brain space.

“Akai Mary may not be dead.”

Gin raised an eyebrow. "This is something you should talk to Vermouth about. It's her problem, and she should be allowed to solve it herself."

"No, no, no, it's not that simple."

Kusuda Rikudo pondered for a moment, then took out two photos from his pocket.

I looked at the photos of the gin results.

Two photos, one of an adult and one of a child.

The two have similar hair color, appearance, and face shape. The only difference is that the adult has crow's feet and nasolabial folds, while the child looks somewhat immature.

But this naiveté is strange; it carries a hint of maturity within it.

Her expression was as if someone owed her a lot of money.

"Both of them are named Akai Mary."

"One is fifty years old, and the other is thirteen years old."

Gin slowly sat up straight, his displeasure turning into confusion.

Kusuda Rikudo added fuel to the fire: "I suspect that these two people are actually the same person."

"I remember Sherry's initial purpose in developing APTX4869 was to achieve immortality, right?"

"what do you want to say in the end?"

Gin is fully energized now.

The meaning behind their words couldn't be clearer.

Even so, he still couldn't believe it, so he asked again.

"Big brother should have already guessed that I suspect that Akai Mary turned into a child after taking APTX4869."

These words struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Gin sat frozen in place for a long time, speechless.

After a long pause, he took a deep breath and asked, "Are you sure?"

Kusuda Rikudo shook his head and then nodded, "There is a certain probability, but I can't be completely sure. However, I haven't found any cases of Akai Mary and Akai Tsutomu having a daughter."

"She doesn't have a daughter, but is there anyone who looks exactly like her?"

Kusuda Rikudo nodded. "It's possible for two unrelated people to look alike, but the probability is extremely low. If it happens to Akai Mary, I suggest we investigate, since they even have the same name."

"Where did this information about the child come from?"

“The dark web.” Kusuda Rikudo was also a little confused about this, and shrugged. “It’s as if someone deliberately leaked this information.”

(End of this chapter)