Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Subaru Okiya pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, carrying his signature black briefcase, and followed steadily behind an elderly man with gray hair and thick-rimmed glasses.

The old man was a leading figure in the Faculty of Engineering at Tokyo University, Professor Igarashi, who was also Subaru Okiya's mentor.

"Subaru, you'd better be on your best for this collaborative project with the Justice Group," Professor Igarashi muttered as they walked, clutching the letter of intent tightly in his hand.

Although Zheng Yi is young, his reputation in the industry is mixed.

Although Igarashi is famous, Shoichi doesn't care about that. He can kill even a prince, so why can't he kill a professor like you?

Shuichi Akai whispered, "I heard that Shoichi is a devil who exploits his employees?"

"Ahem! You silly child, why are you spreading rumors like that?" Professor Igarashi cleared his throat awkwardly. "However, I have indeed heard that his technical requirements are ridiculously high. This time we are going to assist them in developing a new generation of 'intelligent vehicle systems,' which is a matter of life and death, and we absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."

Shuichi Akai lowered his head slightly.

This is not just hearsay.

He heard it from Judy.

When Judy was so exhausted that she wanted to resign, it was he who persuaded her for a long time before she gave up the idea of ​​resigning and continued to investigate the connection between Zheng Yi and the organization within the group.

It seems Judy has been taken to Europe to film a movie.

Her workload seems to be very heavy.

There aren't many live-action films made in Japan, but Judy was sent to participate in films in the United States, South Korea, Europe, and even China.

They were saying something to boost her fame so she could become an international superstar in the future.

But no matter how you look at it, it seems like they want to exploit Judy's popularity to make money as quickly as possible, as if Judy is about to run away, like draining the pond to catch all the fish.

"In short, be careful with your words and actions once you're in the company, and don't say anything carelessly," Igarashi instructed worriedly.

He was afraid that young people wouldn't be able to endure hardship.

"Yes."

Igarashi said, "The Justice Group is a well-known large company in Japan. Although there are some bad rumors about it, it still has a promising future."

“Yes, I know,” Shuichi Akai said. “I will take it seriously.”

……

The headquarters building of the Justice Group is located in a prime location in Minato Ward, Tokyo.

When Professor Igarashi led Shuichi Akai into the lobby, the receptionist, who had clearly been notified beforehand, respectfully led the two to the private elevator.

"Ding--"

The elevator doors slowly opened on the top floor, revealing a modern open-plan office area.

However, the atmosphere here was somewhat eerie. Everyone was looking down and frantically typing on their keyboards. No one dared to breathe loudly, and the air was filled with a sense of despair known as "corporate slaves."

"Is this the legendary... wolf culture?" Professor Igarashi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Shuichi Akai squinted and gently shook his head.

Those who do not work will die.

This is much more ruthless than wolf culture.

Igarashi swallowed hard.

At his age, I wonder if he can handle this kind of workload.

As soon as he arrived, he felt that he had come to the wrong place. Even if he was not killed by Zheng Yi, he would die of exhaustion here.

"Oh, Igarashi-sensei, you've finally arrived."

Zheng Yi came out of his office and warmly greeted the professor.

“Professor Zhengyi, this is my prized student, Subaru Okiya.” Professor Igarashi quickly introduced him, “He is highly accomplished in mechanical engineering and information security.”

Shoichi's gaze passed over the professor and landed on Shuichi Akai, who was disguised as Subaru Okiya.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Zheng Yi pondered the name: "Not bad, he does look quite pleasing to my eye."

"President, you flatter me." Shuichi Akai bowed slightly, his tone humble. "I have long admired your name, President. I have heard that you are most skilled at... unlocking the potential of your employees."

“Indeed, my employees always seem to unleash tremendous potential.” Zheng Yi patted Shuichi Akai on the shoulder. “Someone as talented as you would definitely shine in our Justice Group.”

Professor Igarashi, listening from the side, broke out in a cold sweat, feeling that Zheng Yi's method of tapping into the potential of its employees was rather simplistic and crude.

He then looked at the patrolling security guards, all of whom were carrying stun guns, and his mood worsened.

Could it be that they're using stun guns to stimulate employees' potential?

“Um… Mr. Zhengyi, where is our laboratory? I’d like to familiarize myself with the environment with Ang as soon as possible.” The professor tried to distance himself from Zhengyi.

"The lab? I haven't even had a welcome dinner for you guys yet." Zheng Yi waved his hand.

Shuichi Akai wasn't the only one who came with Igarashi; he also brought several students with him.

However, these students were a little scared when they saw Zheng Yi, and they were too timid to speak.

Igarashi said, "No need, it's better to get to work as soon as possible."

Seeing that the professor he had invited was still so energetic despite his advanced age, Zheng Yi felt very gratified.

It seems he is capable of being entrusted with important responsibilities.

……

The third basement level of Zhengyi Group's headquarters houses the core R&D laboratory, known as the "black box."

After arriving here, Igarashi's attitude towards Shoichi changed somewhat.

Zheng Yi entrusted him with all the affairs of this laboratory, and the equipment here is the most advanced in the world, and the funding is whatever amount is requested.

He had never seen such a good boss.

I don't understand why so many people call Zheng Yi a vampire or a serial killer when he does such a good job.

Rumors can be very harmful.

For Professor Igarashi, this place is paradise, even more comfortable than staying at the school.

But for Shuichi Akai, this place was simply too torturous.

"Subaru! What are you doing?!"

Professor Igarashi's exclamation shattered the laboratory's previously orderly rhythm.

Shuichi Akai was standing in front of an expensive server rack, holding two completely different-looking data cables, with a fine layer of cold sweat on his forehead.

“Ah, Professor Igarashi,” Subaru Okiya’s voice was still gentle, but his speech was a beat faster than usual, “I’m trying to establish a physical layer handshake between this terminal’s I/O interface and the main server. According to the manual, this blue port is the input, and this red one… is probably the output?”

"That's fiber optic audio output! You're plugging it into a gigabit Ethernet port? Are you trying to burn out the server's sound card?!"

Professor Igarashi was so angry that his beard was trembling. He rushed over and snatched the cable from Shuichi Akai's hand. The movement was so forceful that it almost knocked over the oscilloscope next to him.

Shuichi Akai quickly reached out to help, but in his haste, his elbow accidentally bumped into the soldering iron stand on the lab table.

The scorching hot soldering iron rolled twice on the table before finally stopping at the edge of a freshly soldered circuit board, emitting a burnt smell.

"Sorry, sorry." Shuichi Akai took out his signature handkerchief from his pocket and tried to wipe away non-existent dust from the table.

The more they wiped, the messier it became, knocking the originally neatly arranged resistors and capacitors all over the place. The surrounding researchers all cast strange glances at them.

In this elite laboratory, Shuichi Akai behaved like a new intern who had just arrived in the city.

As an FBI ace agent, Shuichi Akai is proficient in sniper ballistics, counter-surveillance techniques, hand-to-hand combat, intelligence analysis, and even hacking.

But here... this is real engineering, a field he has absolutely no idea about.

In order to disguise himself as Subaru Okiya, he did study these skills, but these skills cannot be learned in just a few months.

Especially in such a high-end laboratory, working with a group of elites, things become even more chaotic.

"Subaru, you..." Professor Igarashi looked at the messy lab table, his heart aching. "Didn't you sleep well last night? How come you're so rusty?"

Hideaki Akai stood up and adjusted his glasses.

“Teacher, actually…” he carefully chose his words, “I do lack a bit of… practical experience. When I’m dealing with this kind of equipment, I’m really at a loss.”

"Lack of experience?" a researcher next to Professor Igarashi said. "You're an engineering graduate student from Tokyo University! I don't think you've ever even touched these devices before."

Shuichi Akai paused for a moment, then chuckled dryly twice: "Ah... I'm a little nervous in this environment."

nervous?

"Alright, alright!" Professor Igarashi waved his hand, looking exasperated. "Go sit over there and help me organize the documents. Don't touch anything electrified or sharp!"

Shuichi Akai nodded immediately: "Yes, teacher."

He obediently walked to the desk in the corner, sat down, and picked up a thick stack of technical documents.

However, his eyes changed the moment he turned to the first page.

I can't understand it at all. Reading this stuff is like a little kid reading an adult book.

"Subaru! Stop standing there!" Professor Igarashi called out from a distance.

He was a little annoyed.

What do you mean by "I asked you to organize the literature, and you just sit there holding a book without moving"?
"Ah, okay."

"What's wrong with you today?" Igarashi asked, walking up to Shuichi Akai.

His fellow disciples also looked at him strangely.

Subaru Okiya is the most outstanding among them, and Igarashi-sensei values ​​him highly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the first person she sought out for help after being invited by the Justice Group.

He didn't want to come at first, but Igarashi-sensei persuaded him so earnestly that he was dragged along.

Shuichi Akai took a deep breath and said, "Teacher, I'm not feeling well today and I'd like to go back and rest first."

"Going back to rest on the first day?" Igarashi frowned.

He's not the kind of teacher who doesn't care about his students, but this is the Justice Group.

Not only do you receive a salary from the Justice Group, but you also receive subsidies. Taking leave on your first day of work will leave a very bad impression on your superiors.

In particular, Zheng Yi is rumored to be a rather magnanimous person.

Are you really feeling unwell?

“Yes.” Shuichi Akai nodded.

"Alright," Igarashi said helplessly, "then you should go back and rest for a day."

He still agreed to Shuichi Akai's request for leave.

Shuichi Akai's performance today was so terrible; he would never have done this if he weren't having health problems.

Furthermore, Shoichi's friendliness, his respect for him, and his deference to the technical staff made Igarashi believe that the rumors about Shoichi were not all true.

At least, Zheng Yi is still very good to technical personnel.

However, Igarashi still said to Shuichi Akai, "You still need to be careful. The lab has performance evaluations. If you don't meet the standards, there will be penalties. If you don't meet the standards for a long time, you will be laid off."

As he spoke, Igarashi looked worried, and the other researchers remained silent.

Because of Zhengyi's reputation, the punishments they impose are already frightening enough, and everyone probably has an idea of ​​what optimization entails.

Immediately, someone came over to advise Shuichi Akai: "Why don't you not take leave? If you're not feeling well, just do less work. There are doctors available outside. Go see a doctor and come back to work."

Shuichi Akai's lips twitched.

He finally understood why Judy wanted to resign.

Life here is even more grueling than working for the FBI.

"Ahem." Shuichi Akai coughed. "It would be best to go back and rest for a day."

Seeing that he was really insistent, Igarashi stopped trying to persuade him, and the other researchers stopped trying to persuade him either.

With him at the bottom, the others are safer.

……

In Zheng Yi's office, Hong Ye sat in Zheng Yi's chair, watching the company's surveillance cameras.

Those employees worked tirelessly, afraid of falling behind.

Hongye asked, puzzled, "How do you get all these employees to work so hard?"

"It's probably because I respect my employees and pay them higher salaries than other companies," Zheng Yi said.

Hongye frowned.

Is this alone enough to motivate employees to work so hard?
Zheng Yi nodded as he looked at the footage on the monitor.

He always governed the company with benevolence and virtue, and the employees were deeply inspired and worked hard to repay him. How can this not be considered a beautiful story of a ruler and his ministers?

Hongye then asked, "What are the penalties for failing the assessment?"

"It's just a deduction from my bonus," Zheng Yi said.

"The punishment is so lenient?" Hongye asked incredulously.

This isn't like you.

Zheng Yi pointed at Hongye and said, "Look, the young lady has no sympathy for these ordinary employees. Deducting bonuses is already a very serious punishment."

Therefore, the performance appraisals I set were not very strict, and the vast majority of employees were able to pass them.

Hongye looked at Zhengyi, wondering why he didn't believe her at all.

She felt she was being punished, and the deduction of her bonus was just a side effect; there might actually be a more severe punishment.

"So what is the optimization?"

"Dismiss him," Zheng Yi said. "Since my performance evaluation requirements are so low, and he has been failing for so long, he must not be working hard enough. He must be dismissed as a warning to others!"

Hongye felt a surge of anger.

It must be murder, right?

Hongye continued watching the monitor, where the employees were frantically typing on their keyboards, as if they were being whipped from behind.

Their cautious, trembling demeanor stemmed from their fear of Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi didn't perceive any fear in these people; he only felt that they were all diligent little bees, making honey for him. (End of Chapter)