Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

At noon, inside the restaurant.

Zheng Yi and his group had returned to Tokyo. While having lunch, Zheng Yi's private encrypted phone vibrated.

"Hey?"

Vodka's weak voice immediately came from the other end of the phone, sounding utterly miserable:
"Zheng-Zhengyi... I'm Vodka. I'm so sorry, so very sorry! I shouldn't have kidnapped your sister. I was blinded by greed. Please forgive me, I'm a magnanimous person..."

Zheng Yi listened patiently as Vodka continued to play the victim: "I'm covered in bandages now, and the doctor said I'll have to stay in bed for at least two months before I can get out of bed."

Having been blown up like this, I've learned my lesson. Please, have mercy and forgive me this time…

As Zheng Yi listened, an extremely helpless expression appeared on his face.

He sighed, interrupting Vodka's endless confession: "Stop, stop, Vodka, let me tell you two things first."

“You, you said…” Vodka immediately shut his mouth.

“First,” Shoichi said calmly, “I forgave you a long time ago. Ai also said that you helped her get out of the submarine.”

Vodka's breathing became noticeably more rapid.

Oh dear, you shouldn't say things like that directly.

If my brother is listening to our conversations, how am I supposed to face the world?

How should I face my older brother?

Zheng Yi continued, "Secondly, I never intended to blow you up. Your car exploding has nothing to do with me."

"Huh?" Vodka asked in a low voice, "If you didn't blow it up, then who did it?"

He didn't believe Zhengyi's words at all.

If it wasn't you, did Brother Gin think I was incompetent and take matters into his own hands?

My older brother isn't that kind of person.

Moreover, my elder brother is much more upright and honest.

If they wanted to teach me a lesson, they would never do it this way.

“How would I know who it was?” Zheng Yi said. “Think carefully about who you’ve offended recently, or whether it was the FBI or something.”

After saying that, Zheng Yi hung up the phone without waiting for Vodka to react.

"Did you really make the vodka?" Shiho asked.

He kidnapped me, and even if he helps me escape, you'll still bully me.

For the first time, Shiho felt that Shoichi's pettiness might not be a problem.

"It wasn't me," Zheng Yi denied.

He didn't know who it was, just bored and going to blow up vodka for fun.

What makes a vodka driver so attractive to hatred?
Zheng Yi did think about bullying him, but before he could do anything, that guy exploded on his own.

"Ugh?"

Zheng Yi suddenly widened his eyes and said, "Do you think it's possible that Vodka was afraid of my revenge, so he staged this whole thing?"

Shiho shook her head.

There's no need for that.

Did he orchestrate and stage his own accident so badly that he couldn't get out of bed?

The Vodka she knew wasn't the kind of person with that kind of charisma.

“I feel it’s still possible,” Zheng Yi said.

There's no need for the police, the FBI, or the CIA to take action against vodka right now.

If we rule out any unforeseen circumstances, then it can only be that vodka orchestrated this himself.

"Maybe Vodka just looks stupid on the surface, but he's actually quite smart?" Zheng Yi whispered.

While Zheng Yi was lost in thought, his phone started vibrating again.

Looking at the one-eyed code name on the screen, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and he answered the phone.

On the other end of the phone, Rum's voice, clearly displeased, came through immediately:

“Zhengyi, I only have Curaçao and Binga that I'm comfortable with. I've already sent Curaçao to protect you. Binga is my only confidant. You actually want to get rid of him too? Isn't that going too far?”

Zheng Yi raised an eyebrow, put down his chopsticks, and said with obvious dissatisfaction, "Rum, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just throw the pot on the ground."

How could I kill Binga? According to my recent detailed investigation, Binga's death was entirely the work of the FBI.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

Zheng Yi, seizing the opportunity, continued in an extremely reasonable tone:
"You know how chaotic things were on the submarine back then. Binga's identity had already been exposed, how could the FBI let him go?"
To put it bluntly, I'm just an ordinary businessman; I can't command the FBI.

"An ordinary merchant?"

Rum almost laughed out of anger.

If you were an ordinary businessman, what would those guys who were persecuted to death be?
Rum snorted on the other end of the phone, clearly not entirely satisfied with the explanation, but also seemingly unable to find any obvious fault with it.

After all, the FBI has no reason to cooperate with Zheng Yi.

However, it is still possible for Zheng Yi to eliminate Binga through the FBI.

“That would be for the best.” Rum’s tone remained icy. “If I find out it was you who was behind this…”

“Don’t worry, Rum,” Zheng Yi interrupted his threat. “We have such a good relationship, why would I think about killing your men?”

“I’m just worried that if we get too close, you’ll really treat me like a useless old man.”

"How could that be?"

Rum said, "And, that engineer..."

“Alright, the technology and organization will be shared, but ownership is mine,” Zheng Yi said unreasonably.

There was another silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a brief "humph" from Rum, and then the busy tone of the call being disconnected.

Zheng Yi put down his phone, utterly speechless.

They're blaming me for everything.

Although Binga's death was indeed related to him, Zheng Yi was still unhappy.

Why did you suspect me so immediately?
"Let's eat, let's eat." Masaichi urged Koyo and Shiho to eat, not taking Rum's phone call to heart.

If you get so angry that you can't eat because of someone else's misunderstanding, you'll starve to death.

But some people just don't want Zheng Yi to eat.

Rum's call had just ended when Gin's call came in.

Seeing the words 'White-haired Man' flashing on the screen, Zheng Yi's smile froze for a moment. He took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.

Are you trying to stop people from eating?

Without a single wasted word, Gin said directly on the other end of the phone, "Shoichi, you actually dared to tamper with my car. What, are you so eager to kill me?"

Zheng Yi frowned.

When did this happen?

Shiho also looked at Shoichi with curiosity.

Are you planning to kill Gin? You didn't even tell me about this. Are you planning to surprise me after killing Gin?

Masakazu patted Shiho's head and pushed her aside.

The adults are talking, so the kids should go somewhere cool and stay there.

Zheng Yi adopted a tone as if he had suffered a great injustice and retorted without any politeness:

"Gin, have you been out of your mind lately? Can't you use your brain before you speak? This is utterly unreasonable! Don't make things up without evidence. I didn't do anything!"

The crisp click of a lighter came from the other end of the phone, followed by the soft sound of Gin slowly exhaling a puff of smoke. Zheng Yi didn't give him a chance to continue pressuring him, and began shifting the blame at lightning speed:
"Why would I want to kill you? What good would it do me if you died? Besides, we don't have any deep-seated hatred between us. You haven't stopped me from making money, so why would I bother killing you?"

"Who knows?" Gin said coldly. "Does someone like you need a reason to kill someone? Maybe you just don't like me and want to kill me on a whim."

“That’s you,” Zheng Yi said with displeasure.

He was a good person, not a serial killer who kills indiscriminately.

Zheng Yi said, "You don't understand me at all. And that time when the vodka exploded for no reason, how many times have I explained it to you? What does that have to do with me?"
That's because your cars are of poor quality, or they've been targeted by rats. Don't try to pin all the blame on an innocent businessman like me!

Gin remained silent for a moment on the other end of the phone.

An innocent businessman?
How could this guy say that so casually?

"That would be for the best." Gin's voice remained cold. "I just hope there won't be a next time."

"So, you still think I tampered with it?" Zheng Yi said.

Judging from his tone, he's already convinced that I was the one who did it, but he just doesn't want to pursue the matter.

This guy can't understand human language.

"Hmph." Gin gave a cold snort and hung up the phone.

Zheng Yi rolled his eyes as he looked at the phone that had been hung up on.

Gin is practically a patient with severe paranoia; he sees everyone as someone who wants to harm him.

It's clearly a coincidence, yet you insist on saying I tampered with your car.

If I really did something wrong, you would have been blown to bits by now, and you wouldn't be talking to me anymore.

"Are you really going to kill Gin?" Shiho asked.

“No,” Zheng Yi said. “He’s not easy to kill, and I have no intention of doing so.”

Shiho picked up the soup and took a small sip.

This idea isn't entirely out of the question.

"Forget it, let's eat. Let's not worry about the organization's affairs." Zheng Yi muttered under his breath, "It's really too much to call while I'm eating."

Shiho rolled her eyes.

Because getting through to you on the phone is not an easy thing.

Her sister had complained to her that once her sister had something to do with Zheng Yi at work, but she couldn't get through to him on many of the phone calls.

When I called in the morning, Zheng Yi was sleeping and couldn't hear the ringtone.

When I called in the afternoon, Zheng Yi was taking a nap.

In the evening, Zheng Yi was playing games and watching TV, and the phone was no longer ringing.

When Zheng Yi isn't sleeping or playing games, it's very likely that he's out having fun.

Why do I need to answer the phone when I'm out having fun?

Zheng Yi is most likely to answer the phone only when he is eating.

Zheng Yi held his water glass, shaking his head impatiently as he prepared to take a sip to moisten his throat.

But after taking just one sip, whether from being too distracted or from the water flowing too fast, he choked and started coughing violently.

"Cough-cough-!"

Having finally stopped coughing, he slammed his glass on the table and roared in fury, "This is outrageous! It's absolutely malicious! Gin and Rum, those two bastards, actually conspired to assassinate me!"

Hongye, who was about to pick up some food, hovered in mid-air with her chopsticks, blinked elegantly, and looked at him with a blank expression.

Shiho put down her soup spoon and glanced at her with an expression as if she were an idiot.

How did Rum and Gin try to harm you?

Hongye stared blankly at the food on the table, her voice trembling as she asked, "Could it be that the food is poisoned?"

She had already assumed a vomiting posture, trying to vomit up what she had eaten.

Zheng Yi, however, pointed to the ordinary glass of plain water and indignantly accused:

"Look! There's definitely something wrong with this water! Gin just threatened me, and Rum also called to put pressure on me. Now I can't even choke on a sip of water!"

This is clearly because they used some kind of long-range sonic weapon, or put some kind of 'choking toxin' in the water, trying to choke me to death without me knowing!

What a vicious tactic! They actually tried to murder me with a glass of water!

A deathly silence fell over the restaurant.

Seeing Zheng Yi's furious expression, Hong Ye couldn't help but twitch her lips a few times.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Can you not be so cute?"

Shiho didn't even have the desire to complain anymore. She expressionlessly picked up the soup and coldly uttered:
“Zhengyi, if you choke, go to the side and pat your back to help you catch your breath. Don’t act crazy here. Also, if your paranoia can’t be cured, I don’t mind prescribing some sedatives for you.”

"What's with your reaction? They really are plotting against me," Zheng Yi said.

Momiji and Shiho ate in silence, ignoring the erratic Shoichi.

Zheng Yi gave a disgruntled snort.

These two women didn't react at all to someone posing such a serious threat to their lives.

Are they really that cold-blooded?
Zheng Yi, holding his chopsticks, said, "You have no idea how brutal the internal strife in the organization has become, otherwise you wouldn't think I'm crazy."

Xiao Ai shrugged.

I know how brutal the internal strife within the organization has become.

Binga was blown up in the sea by you, and now not even a bone can be found.

You blew Vodka into the hospital, and now he's too scared to even get out of his bed.

You planted explosives in Gin's car. Luckily, Gin was careful and wasn't killed by the explosion, but he won't drive again easily.

You've taken one of Rum's trusted men and killed another, leaving you with few capable people around you. The likelihood of you killing Rum is increasing.

You wouldn't realize it unless you thought about it carefully. But once you do, you realize that Zheng Yi has already taken the internal strife to this level.

Shiho asked in a low voice, "When are you going to make your move on the boss?"

They've already started purging the core figures of these organizations. How can they remain indifferent to the boss?
"Why would I attack the boss?" Shoichi looked at Shiho strangely. "I feel like your thinking is a bit too far off."

Shiho gave a soft hum.

The associations are just normal, not divergent.

“However, the boss has indeed run into some problems,” Zheng Yi said.

"Huh?" Shiho's eyes widened.

Zheng Yi said, "Just yesterday, Rum said he couldn't get in touch with the boss. He wants this cross-age recognition system because he wants to find the boss."

Shiho stared at Masakazu in shock.

Where is the boss?
This is big news!

No wonder the internal strife within the organization is so frequent and intense now; it turns out the boss is missing, and everyone wants to be the new leader.

"Boss, were you really not the one who did it?" Shiho asked in a low voice.

No, it's really not.

"I do not believe."

"you!"

Masakazu angrily grabbed Shiho's cheek and pinched it hard.

If you don't believe me, then don't ask so many questions. (End of Chapter)