Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Afternoon sunlight streamed through the villa's large French windows, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of black tea.

"Are you busy recently?"

Hongye's voice sounded weak and listless as she sank into the soft sofa.

"It's alright, I just went to the Osaka Prefectural Police to promote my products." Zheng Yi sat on a single sofa, holding a book in his hands.

On the other side of the villa, Ai wasn't wearing the nice clothes that Shoichi had bought for her; instead, she was wearing a loose-fitting cartoon-patterned T-shirt and shorts.

"You actually went yourself? I thought you would send my sister." Ai hugged her knees, her voice soft and sweet.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi's lips curled into a half-smile: "Your sister? She's too gentle, she has no intimidating presence."

Ai pouted.

She knew in her heart that Masakazu's favorite person was actually that brat named Edogawa Conan.

But Conan is still a child, so sending him would be disrespectful.

Moreover, its destructive power is too great, and it's not suitable for use in every situation.

At the other end of the sofa, Momiji's mind was filled with news of her teacher's death and the mess left by the Satsuki Association.

“Shoichi,” Momiji suddenly spoke up, “why don’t you become the president of the Satsuki-kai?”

Zheng Yi was flipping through the latest novel manuscript sent by Kudo Yusaku when he heard this. He didn't even lift his eyelids, but slowly turned a page with his fingertips, making a soft "rustling" sound.

"No." He refused decisively.

Hongye, unwilling to give up, sat up straight: "Didn't you already acquire Chairman Achiba's company?"
Since you've already swallowed it, why not take over his Satsuki-kai as well?
That's Japan's largest karuta club; sponsors line up for their annual tournaments—it's a sure-fire way to make money.

Zheng Yi finally raised his eyes: "The original president of the Satsuki-kai was Achiba's wife. If I take over it, wouldn't that be considered taking over Achiba's 'wife' in a roundabout way?"

"What kind of nonsense are you thinking about all day long!" Hongye blushed and grabbed a cushion from the side, throwing it at Zhengyi.

Zheng Yi deftly dodged the blow, then casually picked up the tilted pillow and threw it at Ai, who was sitting in the middle.

"Ow!"

Caught off guard, Ai's head was hit and tilted slightly downwards, causing her to puff up her cheeks in anger.

She glared at Zheng Yi, but in the end, she just grabbed the cushion in a huff, hugged it tightly to her chest, and turned her head to stare at the boring variety show playing on TV.

Hongye rested her chin on her hands, looking at Zhengyi's lazy appearance, and couldn't help but sigh:
"Really not interested? That's cultural heritage, it's so classy."

"Not interested." Zheng Yi shook his head.

What does cultural heritage have to do with me?
Moreover, the meager profits from the Satsuki Guild are nowhere near as lucrative and riskier as "murdering and robbing treasures."

“Besides,” Zheng Yi closed the book and shifted to a more comfortable position, “the headquarters of the Satsuki-kai is in Osaka, and I spend most of my time in Tokyo. I don’t have time to deal with those trivial matters.”

"Tsk, excuse."

Ai hummed to herself.

She knew perfectly well that Zheng spent all day idling around, either causing trouble or watching the drama unfold.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Zheng Yi picked up another pillow and lightly slammed it onto Ai's head again.

This time, Ai couldn't take it anymore.

She suddenly turned around, grabbed two large cushions next to her, and threw them at Zheng Yi like raindrops.

Zheng Yi didn't dodge. He smiled, put down the novel in his hand, and simply started "fighting" with Xiao Ai on the carpet.

The dull thud of the feather pillows colliding and Ai's occasional gasps of surprise.

Hongye watched from the side, her eyelids twitching.

While Shoichi was making his move, he was distracted and shouted to Momiji, "Actually, you could be the president of this Satsuki-kai, Momiji."

“Me?” Hongye pointed to herself and shook her head repeatedly, saying, “Forget it, I’m still in high school, how could I have time to manage such a big club?”

Besides, I'll be going to university in Tokyo in the future, so I can't stay in Osaka forever.

She looked at Masakazu and Ai fighting, and suddenly felt that the scene was a bit jarring.

She rubbed her temples and said, "Speaking of which, Zheng Yi, what exactly is your relationship with Xiao Ai?"

Previously, when Masaya casually made up a story that Ai was his father's illegitimate daughter who had been abandoned, Kouye took it as a joke.

Later, Masakazu said that Ai was someone he "picked up," and Kouye didn't think much of it, after all, this guy's behavior was absurd.

But now that Ai's older sister has appeared, and is clearly Shoichi's subordinate, all those previous lies are completely untenable.

Upon hearing Momiji's question, Ai, who was "fighting," suddenly froze, her eyes instantly turning panicked.

She subconsciously looked at Zheng Yi, but Zheng Yi took the opportunity to cover her head with a pillow.

“She’s a toy I picked up,” Zheng Yi said casually.

Hongye pouted, her gaze sweeping back and forth between Zhengyi and Xiao Ai.

Ai's older sister is an employee of your company, so you treat your employee's younger sister like a "toy"?
This is too ridiculous.

What's even stranger is that Ai could have lived with her sister, but she insisted on living with Shoichi instead.

Moreover, Shoichi takes Ai with him wherever he goes, so the chances of the sisters meeting each other are pitifully few.

Hongye felt increasingly uneasy. She looked at Zhengyi and suddenly had a wild idea. She lowered her voice and asked, "You're not bullying your sister, are you?"

There are only three people here.

Regardless of whether Hongye lowered her voice, all three people could hear what she said.

Ai hugged the pillow, rested her chin on it, and remained silent for a moment.

Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a plausible excuse to cover up the lie.

But Hongye's imagination was clearly faster than her ability to make up stories.

Kouye looked at Shoichi, then at Ai, and suddenly her expression changed: "You wouldn't happen to be... a lolicon, would you?"

"Uh-huh?"

Shoichi and Ai stopped what they were doing at the same time and looked at Momiji with strange expressions.

Hongye, however, felt that she had hit the nail on the head and began to analyze the situation seriously:

"You see, you must have some special fetish."

You're a lolicon, so you force employees with little girls at home to send their younger sisters or daughters to your home to raise, in order to satisfy your strange possessiveness.

Shoichi's eyelids twitched, and he turned to look at Ai, even blinking.

Is she right?
Do I look like that kind of person?
Ai's lips twitched violently.

Why would Hongye come up with such an outrageous story?

Although Zheng Yi is indeed not a good person, he is a bastard, a pervert, a lecher, and his methods are cruel and inhuman...

But even though Ai has been with him for so long, she has never seen him show any improper thoughts towards any little girl.

Sera Masumi's younger sister, didn't Shoichi have any interest in taking her home and raising her?
Zhengyi is a normal human male, and definitely not a lolicon in the traditional sense.

Ai can help Shoichi prove that he is not a lolicon.

"Isn't that right?" Hongye blinked, not quite believing it.

"Of course not."

This time, Masakazu and Ai surprisingly spoke in unison.

Hearing their firm denials, Hongye became even more uneasy.

"If you're not a lolicon," Kureha's gaze fell on Ai again, her eyes becoming deep, "then why did you adopt Ai?"

She stared at Masakazu and said, word by word, "Could it be... that you're doing this for Ai's sister?"

Ai: ?
Masakazu's detention of her was indeed intended to manipulate Miyano Akemi and make her completely devoted to him.

But Ai keenly sensed that what Momiji was thinking about "for her sister" at that moment was definitely not what she meant at the work level.

Zheng Yi couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It seems that Hongye was traumatized by her teacher's death and started having wild thoughts.

Shoichi took a deep breath, leaned forward slightly, and placed his hands on his knees: "Ooka Momiji, what kind of person am I in your heart?"

Hongye met his gaze without fear, shook her head slightly, and said in a light tone, "Anyway, it's not a good impression."

When I was a kid, I would pick fights with people.

Your reputation only got worse as you grew up, and you did even worse things. How can I possibly have a good impression of you?

"When Ai's older sister comes back, you can ask her yourself," Zheng Yi said.

Those who are clean will be clean by themselves.

Even without explanation, others will recognize my innocence.

He has a clear conscience.

Seeing that neither Shoichi nor Ai were paying attention to her, Kouye pouted.

Really.

Neither of them can take a joke.

Hongye said with some worry, "It's a pity about the karuta deck from the Satsuki-kai. The police took it away as evidence."

“If you want it, I’ll bring it back to you,” Zheng Yi said.

Hongye asked in surprise, "Is that alright?"

That's evidence.

“Of course you can,” Zheng Yi said. “Go home and cry, and your father will help you get it back.”

Hongye frowned.

If you can help me get it back, that's fine. Why do you have to mention my father?

But seeing Zheng Yi's calm demeanor, Hong Ye realized she had been overthinking things.

Zheng Yi said, "You don't not want it, do you? If you don't want it, then I'll keep it myself."

He's also an art enthusiast.

Zheng Yi still really likes those valuable works of art.

He felt he had a bit of a collecting habit.

"Then you can keep it safe," Hongye said.

She knew that Zheng Yi had collected many works of art and could properly preserve them.

Hongye looked listless.

That deck of karuta cards was used exclusively in the final rounds of the Satsuki tournament. Now, the future of the Satsuki tournament is uncertain, and it's unknown whether that deck of karuta cards will still be used in the future.

……

Conan and Heiji were both frustrated after Achiba was arrested.

They actually lost.

And it wasn't even because they lost to some great detective.

What defeated them wasn't even human.

This was a huge blow to the two detectives.

Conan sighed and said, "I won't lose again next time."

"Now that Chairman Achiba's matter is settled, it's time to continue investigating that organization," Conan said.

"Hey," Heiji said, "Why don't you tell me about the organization? Maybe I can help you."

Conan looked hesitant.

Heiji said with displeasure, "What's with that expression? Do you think I can't help you?"

"You've already gotten Zheng Yi to help you, do you think I'm inferior to Zheng Yi?"

"That's not what I meant," Conan said.

Although he believed that Heiji was indeed inferior to Masakazu.

But his hesitation just now wasn't because of that.

“The organization is a very large force. If you get involved, it could be dangerous,” Conan said.

Heiji pursed his lips and said nonchalantly, "Every time I solve a case, I offend a criminal."

Those criminals were released from prison; being a detective is inherently risky.

“The organization isn’t just any ordinary criminal organization,” Conan said.

However, Heiji still acted as if he knew the consequences and urged Conan to tell him about the organization quickly.

A detective is never afraid of danger and challenges.

Conan told Heiji about the organization and also about Toyota.

Heiji frowned when Toyota was mentioned.

Such a large conglomerate carries too much weight in Japan.

If he has connections with the organization, that would be truly terrifying.

Heiji said, "Since you went to Toyota City, you must know about Takeuchi Yuuha's death, right?"

Rumors are circulating that he was killed by members of the Zhengyi sect.

Takeuchi died due to business competition.

However, if Toyota has connections with the organization, then Shoichi may face retaliation from the organization.

Neither side is easy to deal with; who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause.

"I know," Conan nodded. "I solved his case."

"you?"

Heiji raised an eyebrow.

I recall seeing news reports that mentioned words like 'asleep'...

He thought of Kogoro Mouri.

Heiji gave Conan a strange look and nodded.

It was indeed a case you handled.

Conan said, "That was just an employee murdering their boss; it has nothing to do with the organization."

Heiji's lips twitched.

My question isn't whether his death was related to the organization, but whether it was related to Zheng Yi.

But Heiji didn't ask any further questions.

Conan is very confident in his reasoning and doesn't believe he can be wrong.

There's no need to keep asking.

Conan also remarked with a sigh, "As expected, company leaders shouldn't exploit their employees too harshly, or the employees will retaliate."

They should all learn from Brother Zhengyi; he has never been complained about or even murdered by his employees.

"That's because they don't even know what Shoichi looks like, okay?" Heiji couldn't help but shout.

Zheng Yi knew he was hated by many.

Therefore, his photos have never been leaked, and even his company employees rarely see photos of him.

Conan curled his lips.

Heiji harbors a deep prejudice against Masakazu.

Those are prejudices and contradictions that have existed since childhood, and they cannot be resolved with just a few words.

Therefore, Conan did not refute Heiji.

Heiji then asked Conan some more questions about the organization.

As Heiji listened, he sensed something was off.

Those who are associated with the organization have all had conflicts or disputes with Zheng Yi.

They all died while Conan was investigating them.

"Oh, that's normal. If Brother Zheng didn't have contact with these people, how would he have discovered their connection to the organization?" (End of Chapter)