Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

It wasn't until she saw the little girl frequently visiting the Tatsuno family's house that she began to observe the child more closely.

To her surprise, the little girl's appearance seemed...

"Sherry...is it really you?"

After a long silence, Vermouth picked up a lighter and a Seven Star cigarette from the table and stared intently at the photos on the computer.

"It seems necessary to investigate further."

……

A week later

At the entrance of Longye's house.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong"

Two light doorbell rings sounded, and Longye got up from the sofa, walked to the living room, and opened the door.

"Ai? Didn't you say you were going to stay with your sister today?"

Ai Haibara glanced around the room and whispered, "Where's Ran?"

"She went shopping for clothes with Sonoko~"

Why didn't you go?

"Because they want to buy underwear..."

--"boom!"

Before Ryūno could finish speaking, Ai Haibara slammed the door shut, her face slightly flushed: "Shameless! There's no need to talk about this!! More important than this, I have something important to tell you."

"Oh? What is it? Is it about your research?" Longye asked as he walked toward the sofa.

"That's right, I've already developed an antidote... Of course, it's just an 'experiment' on the first generation~"

Although Ai Haibara spoke so casually, Tatsuno still noticed the hint of pride in her eyes.

Seeing her face beaming with "Praise me!", Longye placed a hand on her head and chuckled, "As expected of my daughter! You managed to develop an antidote with just a little bit of information~ Your intelligence must have come from me!"

Haibara Ai:"……"

After a moment of silence, Ai Haibara gave a brief introduction to Tatsuno about her research findings.

After hearing about the potential side effects and instability of the antidote, a wicked smile appeared on Longye's face.

Ai Haibara paused, startled by the "terrifying" smile on Tatsuno's face: "You're not planning to..."

"It's time for our 'guinea pig' to shine! Don't worry, once he hears about the antidote, he'll be eager to volunteer for the experiment!"

The smile on Ryuno's face sent a chill down Ai Haibara's spine.

She had seen that smile many times before, and every time she saw that smile on Longye's face, someone was bound to be "unlucky".

"By the way, Ai, do you like acting?"

"Huh? Acting?"

With Ai Haibara looking puzzled, Tatsuno told her everything he and Yukiko had done.

After listening, Ai Haibara's lips curled into a slight smile: "You guys are really mean, but..."

Although Ai Haibara didn't finish her sentence, Ryuno immediately understood her choice after seeing a hint of cunning in her eyes.

Just as Longye was about to continue discussing with her how to "operate" this time, the doorbell rang again.

Upon hearing the doorbell ring, the two immediately stopped their discussion.

"Someone else is here?" Longye asked in confusion, getting up and heading towards the door again.

Xiaolan hadn't been out for long; she'd probably just arrived at the mall. Besides, given her and Sonoko's shopping pace, they wouldn't finish in less than a few hours.

While guessing the identity of the person outside the door, Longye opened the door.

"Xiao Longye~ I'm back again! Long time no see~"

As soon as the door opened, a mature female voice, tinged with a playful yet joyful tone, drifted into the room.

"Yukiko-neechan? Didn't you just go back a while ago?"

"Anyway, there's nothing to do when I get back~ Your Uncle Yuzaku is busy with his manuscript lately, so he rarely comes out of his study, let alone go out with me."

Seeing that Yukiko was talking non-stop about Yusaku Kudo, as if she were going to stand at the door and chat for hours, Tatsuno immediately prepared to change the subject.

"Yukiko-neechan, shall we go inside first?"

"Hmm, okay... Oh? This cute little girl must be Ai Haibara, right? Hello~" As soon as she entered the room, Yukiko saw Ai Haibara on the sofa.

"Hello," Ai Haibara replied curtly.

Seeing the little girl with brown hair so "reserved," Yukiko thought she was a little shy, so she immediately smiled and went over to hug her on her lap.

"Don't be shy, Ai~ You can call me Ikiko... Sister~"

Yukiko's sudden change of address caused Ai Haibara's lips to twitch unconsciously.

She had once asked Tatsuno why he always addressed Eri Kisaki as "Auntie Eri," but called Yukiko "older sister."

Aren't they about the same age?

In retrospect, Tatsuno was right; this Aunt Yukiko was simply unwilling to admit her age…

Thinking of this, Ai Haibara narrowed her eyes and thought to herself, "This auntie is actually so childish?"

A moment later, Ai Haibara struggled to get up from Yukiko's embrace: "Yukiko... sister, please don't treat me like a child."

"Look at Ryuno, she actually said that! So cute~" Yukiko's eyes sparkled when she heard this.

Ryūno glanced at Ai Haibara with a puzzled look, trying to discern her "meaning" with his eyes.

After seeing Ai Haibara nod in confirmation, Tatsuno chuckled and said, "Yukiko-neechan, actually..."

"..."

"What?! She also shrunk because of that drug? She was originally a member of that organization?" After hearing Ryūno's explanation, Yūkiko's mouth dropped open, her face full of shock.

After calming herself down, Yukiko suddenly grinned wickedly: "Shinichi probably doesn't know about this yet, right? If we handle it right, we might scare him to death this time~ Hahahaha~"

After laughing for a moment, Yukiko gave a soft hum, then her expression softened: "How about I come up with a detailed plan, and then we can all scare him together?"

Longye: "..."

Haibara Ai:"……"

Ai Haibara and Tatsuno exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion.

"Is this really Shinichi Kudo's mother? I have a feeling..."

……

Evening

Maori Detective Agency.

Conan yawned boredly while watching the TV program.

"Honestly, that uncle went to play mahjong again, he probably won't be back until the early hours of the morning... Speaking of which, it's almost dinner time, how about we go downstairs and get some ramen?"

Conan, finally free from cooking for Kogoro Mouri, is too lazy to cook for himself.

After glancing at the time on the wall, Conan turned off the TV with the remote and prepared to go downstairs.

—"Ring ring, ring ring..."

Just then, the landline on the desk rang.

Conan stepped forward and answered the phone.

A middle-aged man's unfamiliar voice came through the phone: "Hello? Is this the Mouri Detective Agency?"

"That's right, this is the Mori Detective Agency! Uncle Mori has gone out on some errands. You can tell me what you need first, and I'll pass it on when he gets back~"

Upon hearing the voice on the phone, Conan immediately assumed it was a client coming to his door and became interested.

The next second, the words coming from the phone made Conan's expression change instantly.

"It's alright, I'm not looking for Detective Mouri, I'm looking for you. Conan Edogawa... no, Shinichi Kudo!"

Chapter 237 Shinichi Kudo, you didn't want this either...

Hearing that familiar address over the phone again, Conan felt no joy at all.

Before Conan could react, the man on the phone continued, "Don't you want to know about that 'medicine'? Half an hour from now, at the entrance of Beika Park. If you don't arrive on time, or if you tell anyone else about this..."

Without waiting for Conan's reply, the man hung up the phone.

"Beep beep..."

Hearing the dial tone on the phone, Conan fell silent.

Although the other party only said a few words, the amount of information contained in them made him break out in a cold sweat.

The other party was clearly a member of the organization.

What's frightening is that the other party knew he was in the firm and even knew his real identity.

Moreover, judging from the other party's calm tone, he was clearly certain that he was Shinichi Kudo.

But how did they know? Was it that time they called the police to help solve a case using Shinichi Kudo's identity?

No... this is not the time to think about such things!

Although the office is not far from Beika Park, it takes at least 20 minutes to get there without taking a taxi.

The other party asked him to get to Mihua Park within half an hour, which clearly indicated that they had estimated the time in advance. Since they knew his location and the distance and time between the two places, it means they were very familiar with the area.

So, does that mean those guys had been watching him for a long time, or even started monitoring him?!

Damn it! No wonder I've been feeling so uneasy lately!

Thinking of this, Conan rushed into the bathroom, washed his face with cold water, and forced himself to calm down.

The man had just mentioned something about "medicine" on the phone...

Although this could be a trap, based on the organization's past practices, the consequences of not going could be even more severe!

Besides, even if there's only a one percent chance, he has to take the risk as long as he has the opportunity to get information about that "medicine"!