Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Chapter 168 Zhengyi being toyed with by Ai
"Officer Sato, please wait a moment, no need to see me off." Masakazu reached out and stopped Sato.

"I……"

“You don’t need to say anything, I can completely guess what you want to say,” Zheng Yi said.

Shoichi said in a helpless tone, "If you have any questions, you can ask Director Ochiai."

"He won't say anything."

"Then will I tell you?" Zheng Yi asked.

I won't talk about things I haven't done.

"Go ahead and get busy, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Shoichi yawned and said to Ai, "Don't you feel that Sato has become much more reasonable?"

"No." Ai shook her head.

Sato's gaze towards you remains the same.

"Brother Zhengyi, I..."

"You don't need to say anything more. Conan and Ai are just normal kids, there's nothing strange about them," Masato said to Sera Masumi, who had run over.
"The genius boy Hiroki Sawada was already a graduate student at MIT when he was 10 years old."

His DNA tracing system is incredibly powerful, allowing us to trace human ancestors through skin and blood data.

He also developed a self-growing artificial intelligence that achieves the same growth rate in one year as a human does in five years.

He lifted Xiao Ai up.

Ai made a cute, childlike gesture.

"Compared to that genius boy, aren't Ai and Conan's performances perfectly normal?"

"Uh, this..." Sera Masumi really couldn't refute it.

But Conan and Shinichi Kudo look a lot alike.

Sera Masumi glanced at Ai, and had a feeling that Masakazu was about to be completely fooled.

Being deceived by children and misunderstood by the police and the public, is Zheng Yi Ge following a tragic script?

Shoichi took out two medals and handed them to Sera Masumi.

"My game company, in collaboration with the American company Syndora, has developed a virtual reality game and is about to hold a press conference."

"If you're interested in games, you can bring your sister along," Zheng Yi said.

Sera Masumi blinked and said, "My sister probably won't go."

"Then you can go by yourself."

“Okay.” Sera Masumi nodded.

Shoichi and Sera Masumi waved goodbye, skipping over the matter of Conan and Ai.

On the way back, Ai asked, "Why did she suddenly become suspicious of me?"

She was just an ordinary gifted girl at school.

Can this really be questioned?

“Maybe you’re too ordinary,” Zheng Yi said. “If you acted a little abnormal like that Hiroki, she wouldn’t suspect anything.”

"Is that so?" Ai nodded.

She thought Zhengyi's words made some sense.

If it's too outrageous and beyond other people's understanding, they won't dare to make any guesses.

Zheng Yi said, "So, you need to work overtime during this period and get me a batch of medicine as soon as possible so I can promote and make you famous."

That way, no one will suspect you.

"You just want me to work overtime, right?" Ai asked.

"How could you think of me like that?" Zheng Yi said with dissatisfaction. "I'm doing this all for your own good."

"hehe."

Ai gave Masahiro a forced smile.

No matter the topic, you can always steer the conversation towards how hard I work to make money for him. You'll be living a life of money forever!
"Oh right, I'll ask you to take the day after tomorrow night off. Come play games with me," Zheng Yi said.

"Is it that virtual game?" Ai asked.

"Yes."

"I'm not going," Ai replied decisively.

You want me to work hard to make money for you, but you also want me to play with you. You might as well just cut me in half.

Zheng Yi said, "That's a groundbreaking game, aren't you really interested?"

I poached many software designers from within the organization, and together with many domestic and international designers I hired, we collaborated with the American company Syndora to develop it.

This game will change the world.

Ai pouted.

She had never heard of any game that could change the world.

"I'm tired and don't want to go. Besides, I know without even thinking about it that the game you developed will be boring," Ai said.

"I'll give you a raise if you play with me," Zheng Yi said.

Ai blinked, then said, "Being able to experience historical events in a game is like taking a real time trip, which I think is quite interesting."

……

Teitan Junior High School.

"Ai, I forgot to do my homework. Can I borrow yours?"

"Give."

"Thank you." Sera Masumi gave Ai a warm hug, accurately catching Ai's disdain.

"You've hidden a lot of snacks in your desk."

"Do you want some?" Ai took the snacks out of the table.

Many of these were gifts from her classmates, who thought children her age would like these kinds of things.

Moreover, her older sister and Zheng Yi also liked to treat her like a child, often stuffing snacks into her schoolbag.

"Thank you."

Sera Masumi tore open a potato chip package and asked casually, "Do you often hide here to sneak snacks?"

"Ah."

"My mom's been acting strange lately," Sera Masumi whispered.
"Even though he's an adult, he always likes to hide in his room and eat children's snacks, saying he's not feeling well..."

“That’s normal,” Ai said. “Some people never grow up.”

That guy, Zheng Yi.

Aside from exploiting his employees and committing murder, Ai doesn't consider him an adult.

I heard that Shinichi Kudo's mother has a very youthful personality.

This is all normal.

Sera Masumi stared into Ai's eyes.

Such amazing acting skills! There wasn't a single emotion in his eyes. Could he really just be an ordinary child?
"By the way, Ai, how did you and Masakazu meet? How did he adopt you?" Sera Masumi asked.

Ai didn't know either, because Shoichi had made up too many reasons.

“Yes, I met him in England,” Ai said.

This seems to be the latest version that Zheng Yi made up.

Sera Masumi narrowed her eyes, but her investigation revealed that she had encountered him in Japan.

Furthermore, she contacted people from M16, but there was no trace of Ai Haibara in the UK.

Instead, it was discovered that Ai's 'parents' had returned from Mexico and died upon arriving in Japan.

She was lying after all.

Sera Masumi asked softly, "By the way, have you taken your medicine?" "What medicine?" Ai asked, looking down and fiddling with her hair.

"Cold medicine," Sera Masumi said. "You sound like you have a cold."

"No, I don't have a cold," Ai said.

"Ah."

Sera Masumi copied Ai's homework from her notebook. Ai must be up to something; Ai understood what Sera Masumi said earlier.

Ai's hand reached for the snacks inside the table.

There's definitely something wrong with Sera Masumi. She might know about that drug, or even that it can turn people into children.

After school.

Ai ran into the car and asked Shoichi, "Is Sera Masumi a member of the organization?"

"Uh, really? Why are you asking that?" Zheng Yi asked.

"She seems to know about that drug," Ai said.

Ai told Shoichi about Sera Masumi's probing of him today.

Zheng Yi said nonchalantly, "You're being too sensitive. She probably wasn't testing you."

“It’s definitely not sensitive,” Ai said.

At first, when she said her mother was like a child, Ai didn't pay any attention.

But then she said "medicine," which instantly connected the dots for Ai.

Zheng Yi nodded: "She's definitely not a member of the organization here in Japan. I'll ask around and see if she's a member of the organization in Europe."

"Okay." Ai nodded.

She then asked, "Do you think it's possible that she's affiliated with another force?"

If other factions also know that this drug can shrink people, the situation will become much more complicated.

"I'll check it for you."

“But you don’t seem to care at all,” Ai said.

Are you really that eager to play games?
“Is it obvious?” Zheng Yi said.

Ai sat sullenly in her seat; it was all too obvious.

Shoichi stroked Ai's head and said, "Don't worry, in Tokyo, I can still protect you if the military isn't used."

……

"Mom, that Ai is definitely suspicious."

"Xiao Ai?"

“It’s that little girl next to Masakazu,” Sera Masumi said. “She might also have shrunk using this kind of drug.”

"Also?" Mary Akai frowned.

Isn't that a bit too much of a coincidence?

Sera Masumi said, "I suspect that she also noticed Shinichi Kudo's unusual behavior, which is why she went to Teitan High School."

I tested her today, and she acted very strangely.

However, she didn't seem to have much interest in Shinichi Kudo, and I didn't understand why she stayed by Shinichi's side all the time.

Moreover, Zheng Yi Ge had no suspicions about her whatsoever.

We must remind Zheng Yi Ge again.

Mary Akai rubbed her temples.

Another person has been suspected of being shrunk, making things feel increasingly complicated.

“Didn’t I tell you to investigate Shinichi Kudo first?” Mary Akai said.

Why did you turn around and test Ai instead?
“Because we are classmates, we have a lot of contact, so it’s easier to test the waters,” Sera Masumi said.

Sera Masumi took out a badge and said, "Don't worry, I heard that kid named Conan will also be attending this presentation."

I'll test him again in there.

"The opening of a game company is quite a grand affair," said Mary Akai.

Sera Masumi said, "After all, it's a game that transcends generations."

To be honest, she was quite interested in this game.

I've heard this game is amazing, a near-perfect simulation of the real world, and it's definitely worth looking forward to.

"Just don't forget the important matter."

"Don't worry," Sera Masumi said.

……

Sera Masumi arrives at the press conference and sees Ai constantly acting cute and charming towards Shoichi, who is completely fooled by Ai.

It seems like Ai is manipulating him.

"Can you act like a little kid?"

"Ok?"

Masakazu said, "Sera Masumi is looking over here. If you don't want her to suspect anything, then act like a child."

"Oh."

"Do you know how to act cute? Like a child acting cute," Zheng Yi said.

Ai said with a straight face, "No."

"What about the cat? Have you ever petted a cat? You can even rub against my hand like a kitten," Zheng Yi said.

"Hurry up, Sera Masumi's eyes are looking strange."

"Know it!"

Ai makes a disgusted face, like a little kid, pretending to be very excited and like the game, thanking Zheng Yi for bringing her to play.

Masakazu wiped the cat's fur with a tissue and said to Ai:

"Alright, you go find Xiaolan and the others. I need to have a chat with Chairman Sindora."

"go Go."

On the other side of the venue, besides Sera Masumi, there were two other people watching Masakazu.

"You actually managed to get this for me, not bad." Kaito said, fiddling with the medal.

“I asked my father for it,” Hakuba Saguru said.

Kaito couldn't help but want to bare his teeth.

There were only fifty beta test slots available, and you just casually took two.

What a wicked second-generation rich kid.

"You think of me when you have something this good; you're a good second-generation rich kid," Kaito said.

"What are you talking about?" Hakuba Saguru looked at Kaito, puzzled.

I brought you here not so you could play around.

Bai Ma Tan said, "Many of the software designers at Zheng Yi's game company did not come here voluntarily."

We need to investigate how they were forced into this situation.

Forcing software designers to work won't have a significant impact on Zheng Yi.

But as things piled up, they became too much for Zheng Yi to handle.

Moreover, this incident might uncover other things as well.

"Oh, I see." Kaito yawned, a little disappointed.

Another tedious and boring survey activity.

(End of this chapter)