Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Chapter 185 Payday Tomorrow

Shoichi gently pressed Gin's hand down.

"Don't be so irritable," Zheng Yi said. "It's not my fault that Vodka got hurt. You don't need to take your anger out on me."

"It's not your fault, it's mine?" Gin asked.

Was he injured because I asked him to spy on you?
“I never said that,” Zheng Yi said.

Vermouth gently pushed Gin to sit on the sofa and whispered in his ear:

"Our current task still requires Cointreau."

You can express your emotions after you've dealt with Shuichi Akai.

Also, vodka is definitely under police surveillance now.

"If we want him to leave safely, we still need Jundu's help."

Vermouth turned around again to comfort Shoichi.

"Gin's mood is a bit unstable today, so don't take it to heart."

"I didn't expect you could mediate a fight," Zheng Yi said.

I thought you were just stirring things up.

“I was just thinking of the organization’s best interests,” Vermouth said.

……

"I have to go," Shuichi Akai said.

“No,” Sato said.

If you don't agree to cooperate with the police and provide information about the robbers, shouldn't you at least go to the hospital for a checkup?
You just experienced an explosion.

Shuichi Akai said, "I still have work to do."

“Work is not as important as health,” Sato said.

Shuichi Akai took out the phone that the robber had returned to him, and just as he was about to ask for help, a call came in.

"Hey?"

"Oh, I see."

Shuichi Akai handed the phone to Sato, saying, "This is for you to answer."

"I?"

After Sato answered the phone, he heard a familiar voice.

She said expressionlessly, "I'm sorry, you can't order a police officer around. Your employee needs to cooperate with the police."

The person on the other end of the phone didn't seem to have any intention of arguing with Sato.

After the call was disconnected.

Soon after, Sato's phone rang.

"Hello? Director?" Sato was somewhat surprised.

"Uh, yes."

Sato's expression was heavy as he hung up the phone without looking at the person.

She turned to Shuichi Akai and said, "You can go now. However, I still advise you to go to the hospital for a check-up."

"Thank you."

Shuichi Akai nodded at Sato.

With no buses running out, Shuichi Akai rented a car.

……

"Kid, I never thought you'd run into a carjacking while skiing. You're really unlucky."

Kogoro drove a rented car with Conan and Ran as passengers.

"That's really unlucky," Conan said.

Because of the robbers, Ayumi and Genta have been taken home and can't go skiing today.

Ran patted Conan's head and comforted him, "Conan, don't be afraid."

"How could this brat possibly be afraid?" Kogoro said, pursing his lips.

This kid has encountered far too many different kinds of events.

And he has always been very enthusiastic about these things.

Kogoro muttered under his breath, "Honestly, I guess I'll have to take you to the charity gala."

"A charity gala?" Conan asked in surprise.

“That’s right,” Xiaolan said. “It’s a charity gala hosted by Ms. Su Fanghongzi. Her charity often sponsors children who have lost their families in car accidents.”

“Su Fang Hongzi? I think there was a singer with that name before,” Conan said.

Xiao Lan said, "Ms. Su Fang was a very famous singer before, known as the Oriental Canary."

However, after establishing her own publicity company, Hongye, she rarely performed on stage anymore.

"Is that so?" Conan nodded.

"Screech!"

Kogoro slammed on the brakes.

"Why is there a tree in the middle of the road?!" Kogoro slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

Conan almost became a recipient of Ms. Su Fang's financial assistance.

"Dad, it looks like there's a piece of paper stuck on the tree," Xiaolan said.

"where?"

Kogoro walked up to the tree and tore the paper off.

"I advise you not to attend Su Fang Hongzi's charity gala, or you will regret it. — Cursed Masked Messenger here."

"What is all this?" Kogoro stuffed the threatening letter into his pocket.

He had seen far too many of these pretentious charlatans.

……

"Moroboshi Dai, right?"

"Yes."

"search."

Shuichi Akai was dragged over and searched after arriving at the ski resort.

The search was very thorough; they even removed the keychain that Shuichi Akai was wearing.

After the body search was completed, Shuichi Akai asked, "What is my mission?"

"Change your clothes first."

The person opposite threw a piece of clothing at Shuichi Akai.

After receiving the clothes, Shuichi Akai gently sniffed them; they had a faint fragrance.

"Very cautious," a person dressed in black said as they approached.

"Uh, manager?"

The manager said, "Don't worry, it's just ordinary perfume. The person we're protecting this time can't stand the smell of your sweat."

"Understood." Akai Shuichi nodded.

After changing his clothes, Shuichi Akai followed the manager to the outskirts of the ski resort.

There are many company employees here, and quite a few of them are familiar faces to Shuichi Akai.

"Who are we supposed to protect?" Shuichi Akai asked.

"The boss will be here soon," the manager said.

The manager said casually, "We were really short-handed this time, and there was also that inexplicable curse and threatening letter. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to contact the boss."

"boss?"

Could it be that the person we're protecting this time is Sumitomo Shoichi?

Shuichi Akai asked in a low voice, "That guy on the bus..."

"Just some nobody who upset the boss," the manager said.
"It's just to teach him a lesson and make the people behind him behave themselves."

Shuichi Akai nodded.

If what the manager said is true, then Zheng Yi does have a connection with the organization, but the connection doesn't seem to be particularly close.

It seems that Gin and Shoichi had some disagreements, which ultimately caused Vodka to suffer the consequences.

But why would vodka become a driver?

"You don't need to worry about these things; they have nothing to do with us nobody," the manager said.
"We'll just collect our own salaries. By the way, tomorrow is payday."

Hopefully no one will die this time.

Otherwise, I would miss out on a month's salary.

Shuichi Akai asked, "What exactly do I need to do?"

"You seem to be quite skilled," the manager said.

Hideaki Akai nodded. He had also sparred with his colleagues quite a bit at the company's training grounds.

"You should just stay by the boss's side. If you perform well, you might get a promotion and a raise," the manager said.

"understood."

The manager said, "Oh, right, there are some things I haven't told you yet."

The boss received a threatening letter saying he would regret attending a charity gala.

Shuichi Akai was somewhat surprised.

Given his status in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, would anyone dare to send him threatening letters?
This is truly unexpected.

The manager continued, "This threatening letter involves a legend of a 'cursed mask'."

Legend has it that there are two hundred cursed masks, all of which are cursed, and anyone who obtains one will encounter an accident.

Some of the recorded owners of the masks died after falling off their horses while riding them, while crossing the road, or were hit by cars with malfunctioning brakes...

In short, it was all sorts of strange, accidental deaths.

Shuichi Akai nodded.

All of them were accidental deaths.

This overlaps somewhat with previous rumors.

Those who offended Zhengyi also died unexpectedly.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Yi would also encounter such a threat; this is big news.

"The boss is here."

……

Kogoro's family also drove to the villa where the charity gala was being held.

After getting off the bus, Conan looked at the person who had been taking pictures in the distance and said:
"Is this the famous photographer, Masaki Katagiri?"

Xiao Lan nodded and said, "It seems to be him. He's a photographer who has traveled all over the world and taken pictures of the scenery of various countries."

Perhaps because he spends a lot of time away from home, Katagiri's square face looks very rugged.

Soon, two more cars arrived.

Next up is Mamoru Matsudaira, a very famous baseball player in Japan.

Another is Haruka Nagara, a beautiful tarot card reader who is very popular in magazines and on television.

After getting off the bus, Changliang said, "As soon as I arrived here, I had a bad feeling."

It was as if a great disaster was about to occur here.

"This is just too unlucky," Kogoro said.

Conan has already encountered a major disaster, so why is there another one here?

Does this kid really not have any strange physical constitution?
Conan said in a low voice, "These fortune telling methods are completely unreliable. Even I, an elementary school student, know that. We should believe in science."

"No, little one."

Matsudaira ran up to Conan and said, "Miss Nagara's divination is quite accurate."

Before each competition, I would consult her divination to choose different gloves to match my lucky color for the day.

That's why I hit so many home runs.

Conan's lips twitched. So you're still a fan of that woman.

“We can’t just stand here; let’s go inside first,” Mr. Katagiri said.

"Welcome, distinguished guests."

The east and west doors of the villa were opened.

"Please have Mr. Mori and his family enter from the east side, and the rest of you from the west side," the twin maids said in unison.

"Why do we have to divide this?" Kogoro asked, puzzled.

The two maids squinted and said:

"Because this villa is divided into east and west sections, people resting in each section must enter through the door of that section, otherwise they will encounter bad things."

Conan's lips twitched.

This place is really eerie.

As a guest, one should naturally follow the woman's arrangements.

The two groups of people each followed a maid and entered through different doors.

After entering the house, Conan and his friends discovered that the owner of the place had a great passion for collecting various masks.

"Please wait in the masquerade room, Mr. Mori."

"Masquerade Hall?"

The maid said, "It's the passageway connecting the east and west wing rooms."

"Oh."

Upon entering the masquerade hall, one is immediately struck by hundreds of identical masks.

"This is?"

"This is the Xiaobuer mask, also known as the Cursed Mask," Su Fanghongzi said as she walked in.

"Those who obtain these masks all meet tragic ends; everyone says they are cursed masks that can suck blood."

Xiao Lan asked, "But Ms. Su Fang, aren't you worried about problems arising from collecting so many masks?"

“I have hired a powerful medium to seal these cursed masks,” Su Fang Hongzi said.

Conan looked at the masks on the wall and his lips twitched.

He didn't believe in accidents at all; they were just strange coincidences.

Moreover, this mask suits Zheng Yi Ge very well.

If this is true, then Zheng Yi Ge is also cursed.

"Then, Ms. Su Fang, why are there so many people dressed in black here? Are they all bodyguards?" Kogoro asked, puzzled.

“He was just a guest’s bodyguard,” Su Fang said. “That guest was very worried that the curse would kill him.”

Therefore, they sent a lot of bodyguards over in advance.

Conan curiously looked at the bodyguards in the room.

That guest was really afraid of death, and he was so bored that he believed in such a ridiculous curse.

Su Fang said with a smile, "Speaking of which, Mr. Kogoro also knows this guest."

"I know him?" Kogoro scratched his head.

Before he could think about it further, Kogoro took out a piece of paper and said, "The evil thoughts in people's hearts are far more terrifying than this kind of curse."

This is a threatening letter I found on the street; we'd better call the police.

Su Fang said nonchalantly, "Don't worry about it. Ever since I started my charity work, I've been receiving threatening letters all the time."

“Mr. Mori, I have a request that I need to discuss with you privately.”

"no problem."

Kogoro followed Ms. Su Fang into a room.

After pouring Kogoro a glass of red wine, Su Fang said, "Mr. Mori, I need you to investigate the accident involving Mr. Katagiri's wife."

"Mrs. Katagiri?" Kogoro looked at Su Fang with a puzzled expression.

What is her relationship with Ms. Su Fang?
"Why did you..."

"I'll give you two million after it's done, how about that?"

"Two million!" Kogoro said excitedly to Su Fang, "I would go through fire and water, even die, without hesitation!"

After Kogoro was called away, Conan and Ran stayed at the masquerade room.

The bodyguards in black suits inside the room made them all feel a little uncomfortable.

"I wonder which guy has such a grand plan," Matsudaira said with dissatisfaction.

“Isn’t it great to have so many people protecting us?” Changliang said.

"They won't protect us."

Su Fang's adopted daughter and her agent said, "They have already said that they will only protect their boss's safety."

The lives and deaths of other people are none of their business.

That's really cold-hearted.

Conan sized up the bodyguards dressed in black.

Ok?
He seemed to see a familiar figure and followed it.

But after turning a corner, the figure disappeared.

"Conan, what are you doing here?"

"Sister Xiaolan."

Ran said to Conan with concern, "This villa looks very strange. You'd better not wander around."

(End of this chapter)