Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Inside an office building.

The dozen or so newspaper owners and editors gathered in the top-floor conference room felt no sense of spaciousness or comfort in this luxurious office space.

Instead, a suffocating oppression permeated the air, as if everyone was tightly bound by invisible chains.

"Is this what they call protection?"

The male boss sat in a leather chair, his fingers unconsciously stroking the teacup in his hand.

"They crammed all the mainstream media in Tokyo into the same building, and even our office space was meticulously planned."

This isn't protection, this is clearly... a concentration camp!

The female boss sitting opposite him was equally pale, and she looked down through the glass curtain wall.

At the entrance of the building, two rows of security personnel dressed in black suits and wearing headsets stood like statues.

They were burly men with cold eyes, and wore the iconic "Justice and Security" badge on their chests.

All vehicles and personnel entering and leaving the building must undergo strict checks.

“Look downstairs,” the female boss said in a low voice. “Those security personnel are not ordinary security guards. I heard that they are elites that Zheng Yi poached from the overseas mercenary market at high prices, and each of them is equipped with the most advanced weapons.”

They are nominally protecting us, but in reality…

“Actually, it’s to spy on us,” another newspaper editor chimed in, scratching his thinning hair in despair.

"By locking us all in the same cage, what is Shoichi trying to do? Is he trying to turn the entire Japanese media landscape into his private backyard?"

A murmur of agreement rippled through the meeting room, each face etched with helplessness and fear.

They were too close to Zheng Yi here, a distance that terrified them.

"And have you noticed?" The female boss pointed to the new communication equipment being installed in the corner of the conference room.

"Our internal network, telephone lines, and even the servers we use to publish articles have all been replaced with dedicated equipment provided by Zhengyi."

What does this mean? It means that every word we utter must be reviewed by him.

We have to say what he wants us to say. We can't utter a single word about what he doesn't want us to say.

The male boss gasped: "You mean, we've lost control of our last remaining channel of communication?"

“It’s not just about control.” A hint of despair flashed in the female boss’s eyes.

"This is a 'rectification'. Zheng Yi felt that our previous reports were too chaotic and disorganized, so he wanted to bring us together, unify our statements, and unify our management."

From now on, the sounds emanating from this building will no longer be our own, but the voice of Shoichi Sumitomo.

Everyone fell silent.

They finally understood that Zhengyi's so-called upholding of justice did not mean letting them go, but rather completely incorporating them into their ranks.

"But...why?" the male boss asked unwillingly, "We've already been very obedient."

The woman sneered.

So what if you're obedient?
Being obedient this time doesn't mean you'll be obedient in the future, and being obedient in the future doesn't mean you'll always be obedient.

Nothing is more convenient than controlling us, so that we can always be obedient.

"So what do we do now?" the man asked.

“Of course, I’ll obey,” the woman said.

What else can I do?
Do you want to rebel against Zheng Yi?
Think about all the people Zheng Yi killed; he was truly ruthless.

Moreover, he was lawless and no one could control him, or even restrict him in the slightest.

"Ugh!"

The woman sighed heavily and said, "Now that we're already in Zheng Yi's territory, why don't we take the initiative?"

The group looked at each other, not quite agreeing.

Isn't it too cheap to be so eager?

They still have some integrity.

Seeing that they didn't react, the woman said quietly, "Zhengyi's method is to kill people first and then negotiate. After making an example of them, negotiations will be easier."

"Let's go, let's go find Mr. Zhengyi!"

……

A group of newspaper owners wanted to contact Zheng Yi, but Zheng Yi was extremely busy and had no time to mess around with these guys, so he just sent a secretary over.

A young secretary in a sharp suit walked in, carrying a stack of documents, with a professional smile on his face.

"Excuse me, bosses."

The woman, chosen as a representative by the newspaper owners, smiled and said to her secretary:

"This is the 'Public Opinion Guidance Self-Discipline Convention' that we jointly signed. From today onwards, our reporting will strictly adhere to the requirements of this document."

Every morning at 8:00 AM, we hold a morning meeting to assign the day's reporting priorities. Every evening at 10:00 PM, we conduct a debriefing session to review everyone's work.

The woman said, "Of course, we hope that Mr. Zhengyi can attend our meeting to guide our work."

The secretary smiled slightly.

He wasn't sure what to say either.

When he arrived, Zheng Yi didn't say anything to him, and he didn't know what Zheng Yi's attitude was.

The secretary could only say, "Mr. Zhengyi certainly doesn't have time to listen to your meetings, but he might send someone to sit in."

I'm so busy with work that I don't have time for you guys.

But it seems that the owners of these newspapers want to find Mr. Zhengyi to be their father.

This is a good thing; Mr. Zhengyi should have no reason to refuse.

The female boss smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Then please convey our sincerity to Mr. Zhengyi."

"no problem."

The secretary's eyes swept over everyone present.

Everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak.

The secretary was surprised.

These guys are being a little too respectful.

"Don't worry," the secretary told them. "Mr. Zhengyi will give you an answer when he has time."

"Good good."

The secretary turned and left the conference room. The heavy wooden door slammed shut again with a dull thud, as if sentencing everyone in the building to life imprisonment.

The male boss slumped into his chair, staring at the documents in his hand, and finally couldn't hold back his tears.

“We…we have truly become his puppets.”

They requested it themselves.

The female boss looked out the window at the group of heavily armed security personnel, a bitter smile playing on her lips.

"No, we already were. It's just that now, this fig leaf has been completely torn off."

They're going to become Zhengyi's lackeys too!
……

Zheng Yi looked at the documents his secretary had brought him at home, completely bewildered.

This convention is practically proof of his loyalty.

In the future, whatever important statements or opinions they want to make, they must obtain Zheng Yi's approval. Whatever Zheng Yi wants to publish, they must unconditionally cooperate.

"I didn't do anything," Zheng Yi muttered to himself.

He looked at Ai and said, "Tell me, don't I have an aura of dominance about me? Just by trembling, I made all those guys bow down."

"You've lost all sense of shame." Ai looked at Zheng Yi with disdain. Can't you tell whether you have an aura of dominance or not when you look in the mirror?

Her delicate body trembled, and the whole world submitted.

Ha ha.

Ai snatched the document from Masakazu's hand, her lips twitched, and she said:

"Those guys must have seen that you arranged for them to be in an office building and had those fierce-looking security guards protecting them."

They assumed you were trying to control them, and since you have the kind of personality where those who oppose you perish, of course they would be afraid and surrender to you.

Ai looks down on these guys.

The only risk was being killed by Zheng Yi, but that was unbearable, so they wanted to become Zheng Yi's dog.

Bah! They have no integrity whatsoever as journalists.

But then she remembered that she herself was also "living a life of ignominy" under Zheng Yi's command, so Ai couldn't be too harsh in her disdain for them.

Zheng Yi said in a low voice, "I originally just wanted to make money off them, I really didn't have any intention of controlling them."

People these days are just too sensitive.

Those guys can guess so much from my slightest action.

Ai looked at Shoichi strangely, feeling that the world was still too kind to him.

Despite having no natural talent for business, he still managed to achieve great success.

He clearly only wanted to make a small fortune, but he ended up getting the Tokyo newspapers to defect directly.

Hey~
This must be like divine intervention.

Setting aside all those miscellaneous thoughts, Ai asked Shoichi:

"Since you've had such a great haul, how about taking me to a luxury store?"

"I'm not going," Zheng Yi said decisively.

……

The air inside the safe house seemed to freeze, with only the monotonous ticking of the wall clock.

Gin sat on the sofa, his black trench coat slightly damp.

Instead of lighting a cigarette as usual, he slowly and methodically wiped the Beretta pistol in his hand with a velvet cloth.

Vermouth sat on the single sofa opposite, elegantly crossing her legs, swirling a half-empty glass of red wine in her hand.

She looked at Gin's face, which was so gloomy it seemed to drip water, yet the corner of his mouth still held that enigmatic smile.

“Vermouth,” Gin finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse, as if squeezed from his chest, “Looks like you’ve been quite free lately.”

"Oh?" Vermouth raised an eyebrow and took a sip of red wine. "What makes you say that?"

“Chianti, Cohen, and even Bourbon…” Gin stopped what he was doing, raised his eyes, and stared at her coldly.

"These past few days, the discussion about the 'women's restroom incident' within the organization seems to be even more heated than the mission briefings."

Vermouth's fingers, which were holding the wine glass, paused slightly, then she shrugged nonchalantly.

“Dear Gin, you know life in the organization is too boring. Everyone needs a little… something to spice things up. I’m just spreading some gossip that everyone’s interested in.”

"Rumors?" Gin sneered, slamming the cleaned gun heavily onto the coffee table with a dull thud.

"You told Chianti that I broke in because of 'physiological needs'? You told Cohen that Vodka was there to cover for me 'letting loose'?"

"Oh, everyone was just joking." Vermouth put down her glass, leaned forward slightly, and a hint of mockery in her eyes.

"Look at you, you always have such a stern face, like an ascetic monk who doesn't get close to women. Now that everyone has discovered that you also have a 'passionate and outgoing' side, they're actually quite happy."

This can help you get closer to your colleagues, right?

She went further and further as she spoke, and even couldn't help but laugh out loud, the laughter sounding particularly jarring in the quiet room.

Gin suddenly stood up, took a few steps to Vermouth, and looked down at her.

His murderous aura was no longer concealed, pressing down on Vermouth.

“Vermouth,” his voice was icy.

"I'm warning you one last time. Shut your mouth and don't let me hear you spouting nonsense outside again."

Despite Gin's threat, Vermouth showed no fear whatsoever.

She simply tilted her head slightly, looking into Gin's murderous eyes, and her smile became even brighter.

"Alright alright."

Vermouth raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.

She suppressed her smile and put on an expression that seemed sincere but was actually extremely perfunctory.

“Since you’re so angry, I apologize to you, Gin.”

She apologized, but there was no trace of remorse in her tone; instead, it carried a helpless air, like coaxing a child.

"It's all my fault. You were arresting Sherry. I apologize for framing you."

She reached out and gently straightened Gin's slightly disheveled collar, her fingertips lightly brushing against his neck.

"Don't be angry, okay? It's not worth getting sick over such a small thing."

Gin's anger only intensified as he looked at her utterly hypocritical demeanor.

This weak, insincere apology disgusted him more than a direct provocation.

"Humph."

Gin snorted coldly, brushed Vermouth's hand away, and turned to walk towards the door.

Mind your own business.

He stopped at the door, turned his back to Vermouth, and coldly uttered a sentence.

"If you do it again, don't blame me for not showing any mercy."

After saying that, he slammed the door shut and left.

The smile on Vermouth's face vanished instantly upon seeing the closed door.

She picked up the wine glass on the table and drank the rest of the red wine in one gulp.

"What a boring man."

She muttered something under her breath.

Gin, who had left, sat in his Porsche, reflecting on Vermouth's words.

She apologized so decisively, just like Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi apologized decisively that day, but his tone was a little more serious than Vermouth's.

“Brother, Vermouth is a complete scoundrel; her apology was utterly insincere.” Vodka said indignantly on behalf of his older brother.

"I think that guy will continue to tarnish Big Brother's reputation."

This will also continue to tarnish the reputation of his vodka.

Gin turned to Vodka and asked, "What about Shoichi?"

"what?"

Vodka said in a low voice, "Zhengyi is such a big boss, with a very high status and manages so many people. His words carry a different weight than Vermouth's."

He certainly wouldn't be as reckless as Vermouth.

"is it?"

Gin might not be so sure either. (End of Chapter)