Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

The lights of Tokyo flowed beneath her feet. Vermouth leaned against the glass railing, toying with an employee schedule between her fingers, a slight smile playing on her red lips.
"I heard you signed Yukiko Kudo?"

Zheng Yi stood beside her, slowly sipping his coffee: "Yes, it's a rare opportunity for a legendary actress to return, so of course we should give it our full support."

“Support?” Vermouth chuckled.

She turned her head to the side, her eyes conveying a profound meaning.

Zheng Yi would never do a losing business.

He nodded slightly.

"That's right, Yukiko needs to earn money for Conan's medical treatment, so I definitely can't exploit her."

If I'm exploiting people like this, am I even human?

Vermouth's lips twitched.

Whether you are human or not, you know the answer in your heart.

“Then we should keep her busy; she can only make money if she’s busy,” Vermouth said cheerfully.

"For example, fill her schedule with morning live streams, midday interviews, evening product sales, and a weekend fan meet-up."

By the way, isn't she fluent in the Tosa dialect? She's doing a local tourism promotion job, and she's flying to Kochi next week.

She paused, then her smile deepened: "Anyway, she said she wanted to earn more money to treat Conan's illness, so let's grant her wish. Let her earn so much that she won't even have time to drink water."

Zheng Yi remained silent for a moment.

That seems to be how he arranged things for Yukiko.

But Shoichi suddenly shook his head, his expression serious: "Isn't this inappropriate? After all, Ms. Yukiko is a member of the Kudo family and Conan's mother... How can we exploit our partner like this?"

He spread his hands and said righteously, "I, Sumitomo Shoichi, have always advocated humane management and respected artists' right to rest and development."

Vermouth stared at him, then suddenly chuckled.

What are you pretending for?

Everyone knows what kind of person you are, Zheng Yi.

As your employee, I know you best.

Zheng Yi was slightly taken aback, but there was no embarrassed expression on his face.

He gave a helpless smile and said, "Ah... those activities were applied for by her, saying it was to 'maintain public interest'."

As the boss, I can't exactly dampen my employees' enthusiasm, can I?

"She talks about respect, but behind her back, she probably even programmed her biological clock into the KPI system," Vermouth shook her head.

"You really are a considerate capitalist."

Vermouth mocked Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi was not annoyed; instead, he smiled gently.

Making fun of him won't hurt you.

Zheng Yi is happy to see its employees in a good mood.

"Same here. I heard you just installed an AI emotion monitoring system on her, requiring her smile to be at least 15 degrees on the show?" Zheng Yi asked.

Vermouth smiled and looked at Zheng Yi.

The two looked at each other, understanding each other tacitly.

The night breeze ruffled Vermouth's hair. She put the cigarette back in her pocket and said softly:
"I'm doing this for her own good, to better utilize her value."

She was doing it for Yukiko's own good.

Vermouth discovered that being exploited by Zheng Yi early on wasn't without its advantages.

At least now, she can work with Zheng Yi to exploit others.

Not for making money, but for my own happiness.

Vermouth took a cigarette out of her pocket, and the smoke blew onto Zhengyi's face with the evening breeze.

Zheng nodded, frowned, and fanned himself with his hand.

Then he turned to Vermouth and said, "I'm going on a trip. Please take good care of Yukiko."

“No problem,” Vermouth said with a smile.

Zhengyi said, "Be serious, I promised Conan."

"understood."

Vermouth waved her hand dismissively.

She turned to Masakazu and asked, "You didn't tell Yukiko about my time at Justice Entertainment, did you?"

"Why would I tell her this?" Zheng Yi asked. "That's good." Vermouth nodded in satisfaction.

The fun is even greater when you're lurking in the shadows.

Zheng Yi stretched and didn't think about what bad things Vermouth was going to do.

"By the way, pay more attention to the company's recent AI virtual idol project," Zheng Yi said.

Vermouth nodded.

She looked at him meaningfully, "I heard that system can mimic anyone's voice, even replicate the timbre of a childhood voice..."

He nodded slightly.

Even the most dedicated artists need rest, and if an artist is out of control, there's a risk of their career collapsing.

But virtual idols are different.

She never gets tired, never collapses, and doesn't need to be paid—what a perfect employee!

"You want to use Yukiko's voice?" Vermouth asked.

"You're making me sound mean," Zhengyi said, pursing his lips.

Yukiko is Conan's mother.

I secretly collected her voice and then copied it; that was utterly despicable.

Vermouth asked with a cold laugh, "Isn't that so?"

“Of course not,” Zheng Yi said seriously. “It means that the voices of all artists must be copied, including yours.”

Vermouth's lips twitched.

She misunderstood Zheng Yi.

"Want me to copy yours?" Vermouth asked maliciously.

Zheng Yi touched his chin, somewhat hesitant.

Vermouth was somewhat taken aback.

Is this guy really thinking about this?
Zheng Yi suddenly clapped his hands and said, "How about creating a virtual idol using Gin's voice?"

“Gin?” Vermouth was taken aback.

“That’s right, I think Gin’s voice is very distinctive, maybe some people will like it,” Zheng Yi said.

Vermouth said, her lips twitching slightly:
"Gin will probably come knocking on our door to cause trouble."

Zheng Yi said nonchalantly, "You're overthinking it. Gin doesn't care about idols, so why would he notice that a virtual idol is using his voice?"

“You’re the boss, you make the decisions,” Vermouth said.

"You can try it."

……

Goodbye, Conan.

"Goodbye, Sister Xiaolan."

Yukiko, dressed in bulky clothes, picked up Conan from the Mouri Detective Agency.

Conan stuck his head out of the car window and waved to Ran and Kogoro behind him.

As she got into the car, Yukiko took off her ugly coat.

"Finally, we can set off." Conan breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, I can go all out without any worries.

"You still need to be careful," Yukiko said worriedly. "That organization is more terrifying than you imagine. You must be careful."

"Don't worry," Conan said confidently. "Children are the best disguise; everyone will lower their guard around children."

A child's body isn't entirely without merit.

"and."

Conan said with a smile, "Brother Zhengyi even prepared a security team for me to protect and help me."

Yukiko nodded.

Shoichi is good in this respect; he's been very helpful to Conan.

"By the way, Mom, even though Brother Zhengyi didn't say he'd take money, I can't just take advantage of him for free."

Yukiko tightened her grip on the steering wheel slightly.

"Understood!!" (End of Chapter)