Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Chapter 97: One thousand spectators, one thousand victims

Akemi Miyano did not choose to watch the movie with Masakazu, so Masakazu went to see her sister instead.

Unlike Akemi Miyano.

Although Ai Haibara was unwilling, Masakazu could force her to agree.

At this moment, Ai reluctantly sat next to Masakazu, watching the movie with him.

Ai's eyes darted between the movie screen and Shoichi, constantly on guard against Shoichi suddenly being frightened and hiding in her arms.

Seeing that Shoichi was about to make a move, Ai quickly grabbed Curaçao's arm, looking very scared.

Curaçao stared blankly at the movie screen, feeling that the movie wasn't scary at all.

But those watching the movie with them screamed in surprise.

After the movie ended, Masashi asked Ai, "How was the movie?"

“Very good,” Ai replied perfunctorily.

Zheng Yi tapped her on the head twice.

When you're being perfunctory, can you at least be a little more serious?
Ai covered her head, lowered her head, and moved a little further away from Masakazu.

Hideo Nakata cautiously approached Masakazu and asked, "Boss, what do you think of this movie?"

“Very good, you can take a rest now,” Zheng Yi said.

This time, the movie release didn't have the same unpleasant incidents as "The Ring".

Other cinemas were very willing to give Zhengyi a high number of screenings and a high share of revenue, so Zhengyi didn't need to use his sincerity to win them over.

"By the way, where is...Beck...Chris?" Zhengyi asked.

Hideo Nakata replied quietly, "Miss Chris said she's tired and needs to rest, so she doesn't want to participate in the film's promotional activities."

Looking at Masakazu's expression, Nakata Hideo asked, "Should I go and invite her over?"

"No need," Zheng Yi waved his hand.

You should cherish your life.

Vermouth already dislikes you, and going to see her again could easily get you drowned.

Osaka.

"Bongtae, let's go see a movie together."

"Yes, Father."

With a puzzled look on his face, Sumitomo Houta followed Sumitomo Taro to the home theater.

"Father, why do you suddenly want to watch a movie with me?" Bong-tae asked, puzzled.

Sumitomo Taro said, "Since this is a script written by Shoichi, I feel you should really take a look at it."

“If that’s the case, then I should definitely support my cousin,” Feng Tai said with a smile.

When the movie first started, Bongtae's expression was nonchalant, with a slight smile on her lips.

However, as the movie's plot unfolded, Bong-tae's smile disappeared, and her expression became somewhat serious.

The plot is very simple.

A group of colleagues who were on a business trip from Osaka to Tokyo miraculously survived the plane crash, and then death began to claim their lives.

Every time blood splattered, it terrified Bong-tae.

Perhaps no one understands the horror of this horror film better than him.

"Does the plot seem familiar?" Sumitomo Taro asked.

Feng Tai gave an awkward smile and said, "The employee from Sumitomo Bank who went from Tokyo to Osaka, it seems, died in an 'accident' like that."

It seems that Zheng Yi is based on reality.

"So tell me, which came first, the script or the real-life case?" Sumitomo Taro asked.

Bong-tae sat in the chair, speechless.

Hard to say.

It's really hard to say that this script was written after a real case.

Sumitomo Taro said, "This movie is really good. I rarely get to sit down and watch a complete movie."

“Yes, the movie is really good,” Bong Tae said with a smile.

He hadn't felt scared while watching a movie in a long time.

Bong-tae thought of the guy in the movie whose head was chopped off, and couldn't help but touch his own head.

It's still there, that's great.

Sumitomo Taro stood up from his chair and said, "I'm leaving now. You can watch this movie a few more times."

“Yes,” Bong-tae said.

He did indeed watch it several times, especially carefully observing the horrific scenes of those people dying.

The helpless struggle of being strangled with a clothesline, the blood splattering as the head is chopped off.

All of this sent chills down Bong-tae's spine.

"I just wanted to play a little joke on Jung-il," Bong-tae said softly.

He sent a few people to Tokyo just to play a little joke on Masakazu.

How could he possibly have any intention of taking over Sumitomo Bank?

Zheng Yi is really something, he can't take a joke at all, he comes up here wanting to fight and kill, what does he take me for?
He stood up, holding onto the chair.

Those people clearly died in accidents, and then Zheng Yi adapted them into a movie. I'm overthinking it.

Zheng Yi was so cute when he was little, how could he kill someone, especially his older brother?
"When is Jung-il's birthday again? What gift should we prepare for him?" Bong-tae whispered.

gold?

Too vulgar.

antique?

That's too elegant.

Company shares?
……

"Mao, how are you now? Hurry back to the company, no one at the company is discussing your showing pornographic videos anymore."

"I don't believe it!" Mao Koizumi said emotionally.

As a single woman, watching some adult films is a perfectly normal thing.

What's infuriating is that media player—why does it have to have a memory function?!

Damn!

asshole!

I really want to live in a different world.

"Nobody's talking about you anymore. There's something more worth discussing now, so come back right away."

"Really?"

"real."

After taking a shower and tidying her clothes, Mao Koizumi arrived at the company.

Upon arriving at the conference room, she was surprised to find representatives from several other construction companies, all of whom were her competitors in the race for the Mihana Municipal Building project.

"Come and sit down quickly."

"Okay." Mao Koizumi sat down in front without any expression.

Several of them chuckled discreetly upon seeing her. Koizumi Mao suppressed the urge to draw her sword and listened to what they were up to this time.

To Koizumi Mao's surprise...

So many people from different companies gathered together just to watch a newly released movie.

Is this a multi-company team building event?

Mao Koizumi didn't understand.

Moreover, the movie is called "Final Destination," and she vaguely remembered seeing it appear in the newspaper a few days ago alongside Kaito Kid.

After the movie ended, the audience was completely silent.

Mao Koizumi thought it was pretty good after watching it; it's a great horror movie.

and then?
Even if it's a great movie, it's not worth having them all watch it together, is it?
"This is a script written by Sumitomo Shoichi himself."

Koizumi frowned and said, "This guy is quite talented, and he also likes artistic creation."

The others looked at Mao Koizumi with strange expressions.

"What's wrong?"

The person sitting opposite Mao Koizumi said, "Everyone should know about Shoichi Sumitomo's reputation, right?"

“Of course I know, he can be described as upright and honest,” said Mao Koizumi.

When he engages in business competition, he never resorts to underhanded tactics, but instead uses direct and undisguised methods to eliminate his rivals.

Killing a rival directly would also allow detectives and the Metropolitan Police Department to pin the blame on the victim's relatives, resulting in their imprisonment.

He caused his family to be ruined and his life destroyed.

He didn't hide anything when he used these methods; almost everyone knew that he was the one who killed them.

We were simply powerless to do anything about it.

Therefore, they encountered a lot of trouble during this bidding process, but none of them suspected that Zheng Yi was behind it.

If it was Zheng Yi who did it, the methods wouldn't have been so gentle, and they wouldn't be alive to continue sitting here.

This is word of mouth.

Mao Koizumi suddenly paused, startled.

What is the reputation of Zhengyi?
She tapped her head, recalling a time when a series of 'accidental deaths' had made headlines.

However, it was quickly overshadowed by new information, so it didn't attract much attention.

At that moment, someone pushed a newspaper next to Mao Koizumi.

The cases reported in the newspapers were exactly the same as those in the movies.

"Is it based on a true story?" Mao Koizumi couldn't help but whisper.

Then, seeing that the people who died in reality were all Sumitomo Bank employees who had traveled from Osaka to Tokyo on business, Mao Koizumi felt a pang of unease.

She seemed to have heard a message from somewhere that Masakazu was being pressured by Sumitomo Bank to repay his loan.

She even gossiped with her friends, saying that they could now enjoy watching the drama unfold among the wealthy.

It now appears that the so-called feud between the wealthy families has come to an end.

Those people are all dead.

How cruel!

Are all power struggles between wealthy families this cruel?
"The copy of this movie was given to us by Zheng Yi Entertainment Company, who said it was so that I could enjoy the first live-action movie to break into Hollywood."

Koizumi said softly, "He gave it to us?"

They had no connection with Zhengyi's entertainment company, so there was absolutely no reason for them to send over a copy of the movie.

They have connections with Zhengyi's construction company.

Or competitors.

Someone couldn't help but slam their hand on the table and said, "Zhengyi's purpose is obvious; he's threatening us!"

"That's right! He wants us to give up the bid, or he'll kill us! This is a blatant threat!"

Everyone was furious.

They have been in the construction industry for many years and are now big names in the Japanese construction industry. When have they ever been threatened like this?
They didn't believe that Zheng Yi could really kill them all.

Killing them all would severely damage Japan's construction industry, and the higher-ups wouldn't allow it to happen.

Mao Koizumi said with a stern face, "I also think it's impossible for Shoichi to kill us all. However, he might kill a few to intimidate his other opponents."

Mao Koizumi's words poured cold water on the previously excited group. Yes.

Since entering the business world, Zheng Yi has always been fearless and ruthless, never letting anyone get in his way.

Whether it's a junior employee or the company president, there's no one he wouldn't dare kill.

Moreover, no matter who he killed or how many people he killed, many people would come forward to defend him, so he was never punished.

Mao Koizumi touched her hair.

I feel that Zhengyi's model is not something that cannot be imitated.

Then, we can have our father bribe a few detectives and build connections with higher-ups so that we can engage in normal business competition like Zheng Yi.

"Hmph! I don't believe he dares to kill me!" The speaker was Inoue Yuto of Takenaka Construction Company.

He was the person in charge of the bidding for the Mihana Municipal Building at Takenaka Construction Company.

Takenaka Construction is one of Japan's five major construction companies, with a history of over a century, and the company itself is very strong.

Moreover, they focus on meticulous construction, rely on technology to develop the market, and have a good capital structure. They have not been integrated by conglomerates, nor do they depend on orders from conglomerates.

Therefore, he wasn't very afraid of Zheng Yi.

Moreover, Inoue firmly believes that the rules of the game still exist, and that constantly killing people is a serious violation of the rules of the game.

Inoue didn't believe he would never receive any warnings from others.

Moreover, he can hire a large number of bodyguards and has no worries about anyone being able to kill him.

“Mr. Inoue, let’s compete. Don’t talk about killing people. Mr. Shoichi has never killed anyone.”

"That's defamation, and you'll have to go to court," Ueda Kai said. "Our company, Shimizu Construction, has decided to withdraw from this bidding process."

"what!"

It's one of the top five giants, and they gave it up because of just one movie?
Ueda Kai took a sip of tea.

Shimizu Construction relies heavily on Sumitomo Realty's orders, so there's absolutely no need for them to fight tooth and nail with Sumitomo's son over a single large project.

Before, the disputes were fine, but now someone from Sumitomo Realty has come to mediate and told them to let go.

Of course, we can't be ungrateful.

Ueda Kai lowered his head and wondered in confusion. When Zheng Yi first started working in the construction industry, Sumitomo Realty did not directly provide him with orders to support his establishment. Why did they suddenly appear now?

Could it be that Zheng Yi wants to establish an independent company that doesn't rely on the help of conglomerates?
Of the five giants, one has already chosen to confront Zheng Yi head-on, to see if his blade is sharp enough.

One party chose to withdraw and abandon the bidding.

Everyone turned their attention to the other three giants.

Kajima Corporation's stance is unclear.

Dacheng Construction remained silent, but their willingness to give it a try was obvious.

Before the bidding process even began, they had already spent a considerable amount of money persuading their competitors to back down, so it was clear they weren't going to give up easily.

The Obayashi Group is allied with the Mitsubishi conglomerate, so they are not afraid of Shoichi killing people.

It shouldn't be that undignified between chaebols.

Other companies are starting to panic.

They were afraid they would become material for Zheng's next movie.

They praised the five giants, hoping that they could unite to accuse Zhengyi of unfair competition.

But their demands cannot be met.

Mao Koizumi was still thinking of emulating Shoichi's competitive behavior, so naturally she wouldn't help them file a complaint.

……

"What's the meaning of this movie?" Senator Tunkou asked the person next to him.

"A horror movie."

The man next to him glanced at Senator Tunkou. A dead man in the movie was wearing the exact same clothes as Senator Tunkou today. What an astonishing coincidence!

"I should say what it means for Zheng Yi to send this movie over," someone said.

Zheng Yi was only killing employees or on business missions before, but now he's going to start killing government personnel?
This is too outrageous!
Representative Tobuchi said, "I think Masakazu threatened Matsumoto of the Metropolitan Police Department before? He almost killed his daughter."

"Ahem, it's not a threat. It was Matsumoto's son-in-law who did it. It has nothing to do with Masakazu," someone said.

The group exchanged glances and nodded.

Everyone knows what's going on, but we can't go into too much detail.

After all, these are all baseless speculations, nothing more than guesses.

Representative Tunkou said, "In any case, everyone must remain fair and not favor Zhengyi Company out of fear."

"That's right," everyone agreed.

Everyone has been paid; you can't just take the money and not do anything, or even make things worse.
At the very least, I need to let those people see my efforts.

The group exchanged glances, speculating whether anyone had received money from Zheng Yi.

I've heard that since its inception, Zheng Yi's company has always acted with integrity and uprightness, and it seems that they have never used bribery or other such methods.

……

"This movie is insane! How could Zhengyi dare to bring something like this to the big screen?"

"Is there a problem? You mean this movie is scary? But horror movies are supposed to be scary."

"It's not a matter of whether it's scary or not, it's that these are his crime records!"

Café Poirot.

A teenage boy and girl are arguing about a movie.

"Your coffee." Amuro Tooru served them coffee, secretly listening to their conversation.

Kaito whispered, "In this movie, the guys who died weren't killed by the Grim Reaper, but by Shoichi."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Aren't those all accidental deaths?" Aoko said. "Besides, the way it's portrayed in the movie is that Death can manipulate the environment and then create accidental deaths."

“That’s right!” Kaito said. “You should know that this movie is based on a true story, right?”

Aoko nodded.

That's how the movie was advertised, and she had also heard about the events that occurred at the time.

Kaito said furtively, "In the movie, it was Death who changed the environment, causing those people's accidental deaths."

So how did they die in the real world?

“It was an accident,” Aoko said. “It was just an accidental death. The Grim Reaper who changes the environment in the movie is just artistic embellishment.”

"You idiot!" Kaito said, somewhat angrily, "In reality, it's Shoichi who changes the environment!"

"Even if they weren't from the Zhengyi sect, they were still people sent by the Zhengyi sect! Otherwise, how could so many people have died unexpectedly in such a short period of time? There's no Grim Reaper in the real world."

After cursing Aoko, Kaito said, still not satisfied, "It's because there are so many idiots like you that Shoichi dared to openly make this movie."

Because you're such an idiot, you only see that it's a movie and can't see anything else it's trying to convey.

Kaito let out a heavy sigh.

It seems it's time for this phantom thief to shoulder some social responsibility and investigate the evidence of Zheng Yi's murder.

However, once you find out what happened, you absolutely cannot report him yourself, otherwise his identity as Phantom Thief Kid will definitely be exposed by Zheng Yi.

It should be secretly handed over to someone else who is also secretly investigating Zheng Yi and is trustworthy.

"Kaito, are you calling me an idiot?"

"of course."

"You guy!"

Amuro Tooru secretly listened to their conversation, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

Zheng Yi, murder?
He had previously suspected that Zheng Yi had killed the owner of a coffee shop where he used to work.

However, Kazami said that Masaichi was the son of a large conglomerate and would not kill people indiscriminately, much less kill someone just because he wanted a coffee shop waiter, so there was no need to investigate.

Moreover, investigating others requires a lot of effort and can cause unnecessary trouble. More importantly, if others investigate, it may expose one's own identity.

After the coffee shop owner died, Zheng Yi never came to recruit him, as if he had forgotten about him.

Amuro Tooru's suspicions about Shoichi lessened.

Therefore, Amuro Tooru abandoned his investigation of Shoichi at that time.

However, after hearing some bad news about Shoichi, Amuro Tooru found it difficult to ignore this guy who was causing trouble for Japan.

"Mr. Amuro, would you like to go to the movies together after get off work?" Enomoto Azusa approached with two movie tickets.

"Movie?"

“That’s right, it’s the recently released movie ‘Final Destination,’ which also stars Hollywood actress Chrissy.” Xiao Zi said.

"Final Destination and Hollywood actress Chris?" Amuro Tooru frowned.

Isn't Chris just Vermouth?
Why would she suddenly come to Japan to act in Zheng Yi's movie?
Xiao Zi asked cautiously, "You don't want to go? That's fine too."

“Of course I’ll go, Miss Azusa,” Amuro Tooru said.

"Really? That's great!"

After finishing get off work at the coffee shop, Amuro Tooru and Azusa went to the movie theater together.

The cinema was packed with people.

"Mr. Amuro, please wait a moment, I'm going to buy popcorn," Xiao Zi said.

"it is good."

Amuro Toru watched with a smile as Azusa went to buy popcorn, then found someone who had just finished watching a movie and started chatting with them naturally.

"How was the movie?" Amuro Tooru asked.

"It's a really scary horror movie, and the thought that the script was written by Zheng Yi makes it even scarier." The man's legs trembled slightly.

It seems they were really frightened.

Fearing that Amuro Tooru wouldn't understand the horror he imagined, the man added:

"It's the kind of horror that comes true in horror movies, like death really exists in reality."

If you watch the movie once and learn a little about Zheng Yi, you'll understand the kind of horror I'm talking about.

After the man finished speaking, he felt somewhat fortunate that he belonged to a lower social class.

They will not encounter Zheng Yi, nor will they be killed by Zheng Yi as an opponent.

Death is still a long way off for him.

Amuro Tooru nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Mr. Amuro, it's our turn to enter."

"Ok."

Amuro Tooru and Azusa entered the screening room.

……

Final Destination was successfully released.

This time, Shoichi didn't pay attention to the box office figures. Although Gin said he needed to clean up some money, Shoichi left the task to Vermouth.

He's no longer interested in money.

How much money Vermouth can squeeze out of the organization depends entirely on her abilities; in any case, Zheng Yi intends to give Vermouth a share.

And this movie has already been seen by the people Zheng Yi wanted to see.

"Hey?"

"The bidding party has sent people to inspect the company's situation. Would you like to come over?"

“In the past, by the way, who was the person who came?” Zheng Yi asked.

Akemi Miyano said, "Member of the Council of Tonguchi."

(End of this chapter)