No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

snort!

Gin felt a wave of disdain. The FBI had fallen so low, becoming so despicable. It seemed the only person he needed to be wary of was Shuichi Akai.

"Vermouth, didn't you find anything out?"

“Oh my, my intelligence network targets the wives of members of Congress and high-ranking public security officials. Do you really think their husbands would tell them anything about Curaçao? Even if they did, it would only be after they’ve been caught.”

"Hehe, you two have really been a great help."

"Oh, you're welcome. Just buy me a drink. Bartender, two glasses, please."

boom!

Gin slammed the gun onto the bar, and the bartender immediately ran to the warehouse, seemingly knowing that a conflict would erupt when Gin and Armagnac were together.

"Curaçao is missing. I specifically sent the two of you to meet her."

"Huh? We were only in charge of the preliminary tasks, and it was her own fault that she was discovered. By the time we got to the bridge, she had already fallen into the water. Are we supposed to jump in after her?"

Seeing Gin's expression that seemed to say, "Yeah, you should jump down now," Kitahara Masaki completely ignored him and simply took two glasses and a bottle of sweet sherry from the cabinet under the bar.

As Gin watched Kitahara Masaki nonchalantly drinking his sherry, a nameless rage surged within him. This kid dared to subtly criticize him while drinking! Gin clenched his fists and silently repeated twice, "There's no point in arguing with this bastard," before calming down. He then took out his phone and sent text messages to Bourbon and Gil, instructing them to investigate the matter concerning Curaçao.

"Hey! Gin, I'm not good at finding people. Is there anything else you need from calling the two of us over here?"

Chianti and Cohen, who were eating pizza nearby, watched Gin and Arvind's argument with indifference. Chianti, being an impatient person, asked directly, as she had no intention of taking on any task related to finding someone.

"Heh, you two have your escape route blocked by a group of unidentified people. Do I need to help you remember?"

"Gin, how dare you say that? You gave us those two sniping positions! We thought you had already figured out those two buildings, but who knew that this group of people would show up when we were almost at Curaçao?"

"They had already completely retreated by the time we arrived. Which side are they on?"

"You're asking me, an operative? You should ask those damn intelligence guys! They're even more cautious than us, dressed head-to-toe in black suits, even their helmets are stained black. Although they're well-trained, most of them are pretty bad marksmen. They managed to maintain a neat formation when they came, but when they retreated, they all ran away in a panic. If you really want me to say it—I think they're just like mercenaries! They're faster at taking money than anyone else, and they're just as fast at running away."

Gin suppressed the urge to say, "What you're saying is all nonsense." The most crucial thing at this stage was to find clues about Curaçao. However, the intelligence team hadn't been able to find any information about Curaçao online for several hours, which meant that no matter what environment Curaçao was in, she was likely unable to even access the internet right now.

Just when Gin was at his wit's end, he suddenly received a text message from Rum urging him to hurry up. Even Kitahara Masaki knew that Rum was an impatient person, and his saying "time is money" was indeed laughable.

Because one day, Kitahara Masaki will bankrupt him, and the kind of bankruptcy where he'll be penniless and can't even afford a bus ride.

Chapter 316 Rum: Am I the mole?

The matter was naturally dropped. No matter how anxious Rum was, the distillery, the police, and the FBI had all lost track of Curaçao. Apart from the fact that they had planned ahead to capture Kitahara Maki, who was in Curaçao, no one else had any chance of knowing where she would swim after falling into the water.

Kitahara Masaki originally thought Gin would ask him why Curaçao was discovered even after all the preparations were made, but after seeing Gin's annoyed expression after receiving Rum's text message, Kitahara Masaki realized that his false information had worked, and Gin was now indeed suspicious of Rum.

Rum, on the other hand, is probably very confident in his hypnosis and brainwashing methods, as he seems to never consider the possibility of Curaçao's amnesia.

After learning that the police had failed to capture Curaçao, Gin still let Kitahara Masaki leave. After all, besides finding Curaçao, Gin also needed to investigate the case of the former CIA deputy director. However, that former deputy director had died a violent death twenty years ago, engulfed in a fire while sleeping, burning him and his house to ashes. But this wasn't done by the Black Organization; rather, his son, under the influence of drugs, set fire to his house at the urging of his friends. This news spread like wildfire in the United States at the time, but that was about it, since it was just a 'former' deputy director who died.

"Do you think Gin could find out anything by investigating that former deputy director who was burned to death by his son who was being mourned?"

"They won't find anything, which is why I chose him. But after that, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Gin, a die-hard member of the organization, will think."

By now, Kitahara Masaki had sown many seeds of doubt within the organization, and the 'main mission' to destroy the organization was progressing very smoothly. The two of them were laughing happily in the car as they drove slowly along the night road in the evening.

"Shinichi, are you happy?"

"Of course, it's better to destroy organizations that only offer good rewards."

"Unfortunately, someone seems to want us to be unhappy. We've already passed three intersections, and there are still cars following us, although they're all different cars, but at this time—"

"Heh, the group behind us is planning to use sheer numbers to overwhelm us until we get back to the safe house. What a luxurious way to track us."

"So what are you planning to do? I remember there should be quite a few guns in the trunk."

"Let's not go for it. Because of Curaçao today, there are many more police and public security officers conducting searches tonight. If we recklessly start a conflict, we might be targeted by helicopters, which would be very dangerous. The people following us now are either trying to find our base or—"

Kitahara Masaki suddenly thought of something, turned the steering wheel, and drove off in a certain direction.

"Could it be because of Curaçao? The two of us did the preliminary work before she infiltrated, so does that mean the BOSS or Rum suspects us?"

Even Vermouth's words betrayed a hint of nervousness.

"Don't worry, absolutely not. The person who suspects us is probably someone within the organization, but it's definitely not Rum or the BOSS. If they suspected us, they wouldn't need to do something as thankless as tracking us. They could just have Gin interrogate us directly. Besides, it's actually quite simple to identify the person tracking us."

"Very simple?"

"That's right. Oh, by the way, want some late-night snacks?"

"...What do you want to eat?"

"A Japanese specialty snack bar."

Kitahara Masaki drove very fast, and the cars following behind kept changing. It seemed that the people in charge of following them had deployed a lot of people and planned to keep a close watch on them as soon as they left the bar.

So Kitahara Masaki drove to Kabukicho. Kabukicho in Tokyo is divided into 1-chome and 2-chome. The area bounded by Meiji-dori to the east, Yasukuni-dori to the south, Seibu Shinjuku Line to the west, and Sakai-dori to the north, with the area south of Hanazono-dori being Kabukicho 1-chome and the area north of it being Kabukicho 2-chome.

Kitahara Masaki and his companion naturally went to Ichome, a place with many restaurants. The two sat inside, ordered a late-night snack, and waited for their pursuers to appear. Sure enough, two men in suits entered the same restaurant together, and Kitahara Masaki even recognized them.

The bakery he helped Nishiya Rin open was near the police station, and now many police officers buy their bread there for breakfast, since it has both beautiful female staff and delicious bread. Among the intelligence gathered through casual conversation were details about these two police officers, both from the police department. It seems that in order to track down Curaçao, the police have brought along just about anyone this time.

So it's obvious that Amuro Tooru was in charge of tracking Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth. As Bourbon, he must have known that they would be having a party at that bar, and he suspected that Curaçao had been kidnapped by Yavin, who was in charge of the preliminary work. So it's normal for him to organize this tracking operation. After all, Amuro Tooru had to recover the stolen intelligence, which contained information about spies from many other countries. If it were leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Unfortunately, Curaçao had already told Gin some of the details during her escape, so those poor undercover agents will probably be killed tomorrow.

After spending half a minute sorting things out, Kitahara Masaki felt much more at ease after learning that Amuro Tooru was the one who organized the surveillance, because the Public Security Bureau wouldn't dare to use force casually, since Kabukicho gets crowded in the early hours of the morning.

"How about cherry blossom jelly?"

"It's delicious, and the strawberry daifuku here is also good."

Vermouth is taking photos of the exquisite cherry blossom jelly. As the name suggests, the cherry blossom jelly is a cherry blossom placed inside a crystal clear jelly, which is very attractive in appearance.

The two police officers looked at Kitahara Masaki as he slowly finished his milk pudding and then went to eat Mitarashi dango. They couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances, wondering if these two were planning to spend the entire night in Kabukicho.

"Hey, you two young men, why did you only order this little bit of food when you came to the store?"

To their even greater surprise, Kitahara Masaki walked up with the dumplings in his hand and greeted them naturally.

Realizing they had been exposed, the police officers tried to leave immediately, but as soon as they stood up, Kitahara Masaki pressed them down, his grip on their shoulders making a cracking sound, and their expressions all contorted in pain.

"It is said that dango originally came in strings of four to five, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi invented a string of three for cherry blossom viewing. It's a pity that it's not cherry blossom season now, otherwise we could eat dango under the cherry blossom trees."

"These two gentlemen seem to have lost track of your hints. Why not be a little more forceful?"

Ten seconds later, a group of police officers rushed into the store and found only two unconscious officers with their mouths stuffed with dumplings.

The important target had long since disappeared.

Chapter 317 Taking Curaçao on Vacation

"Curaçao has recently been able to take care of herself."

"Why are you making her sound like a little kid? She's an adult."

"Amnesiac adults are more troublesome than children. Okay? Anyway, she has now learned to buy things online, and she knows to wear a mask and sunglasses when she goes out. Her hair color has also been completely dyed black."

"Why is it acting like we're raising a daughter?"

"A daughter who's about your age? Don't you find that absurd?"

Kitahara Masaki was silent for a moment, then changed the subject, saying:

"Why don't you take her out for some fun? I recently saw an event that's supposed to be a mystery-solving competition held in a villa in Hokkaido. Well, that's what they say, but you can also see the snow there."

Aren't you coming with us?

"No, I'm afraid the higher-ups in the police force are getting worried about my continuous absences, especially considering the multi-vehicle collision that happened in Curaçao a few weeks ago."

"Yes, no problem. But in my experience, your seemingly thoughtful gesture is just an attempt to make amends."

"Ahem, I see through it but won't say it out loud. You understand. The thing I'm about to do requires that woman's expertise and talent."

Explain clearly.

"We have recorded all the hypnosis and brainwashing audio about the organization, but it is not enough for Ai to make anti-brainwashing audio by herself alone, so I found a female singer who happens to have musical talent and the talent of perfect pitch."

------------------

"Sister, don't you have to work? Is it okay for you to take me out to play?"

"It's alright, anyway, it's your brother-in-law who wanted us to go out and relax together."

Is that so?

Curaçao sat in the passenger seat playing on her tablet. The online world was fascinating to her, who had lost her memory. However, she was a little concerned about who her family's enemy was. She had initially wondered if she had been kidnapped, but given that they were taking her out to play, it seemed like there shouldn't be any problems.

"Sister, are we going to a mystery-solving competition being held in a villa?"

"Yes, I heard that the villa owner and his friends will set questions for the participants."

The two traveled light and quickly arrived at the villa at the agreed time. Just as Vermouth was about to get out of the car, she saw Mr. Tianda, who was in charge of receiving everyone. The person next to him should also be a participant in this event, but why did he look so familiar?

After Vermouth and Curaçao got out of the car, they both recognized the other participants as the Mori family. Curaçao, in particular, took two steps back and hid behind Vermouth after seeing the child that her brother-in-law had called the Grim Reaper.

"Hello! Are you two also participants in the mystery-solving competition?"

"Yes."

"Then you two must be Miss Kitahara and—"

“This is my sister Elaine, she just returned from abroad not long ago.”

"Okay, I'm Tianda, a friend of the villa owner. I'm a teacher at a nearby university and one of the question setters for this game. Please feel free to give me your guidance. And these three are the Mori family."

After everyone got to know each other, Conan recognized Curaçao as the woman who had acted strangely that night. However, they left without giving a statement. He had initially suspected that the three people might be related to the case, but now it seemed that he had been worrying too much.

Vermouth and Curaçao remembered what Kitahara Masaki had once said: wherever this Death Boy goes, people die. After weighing their options, they decided to stay away from the Mori family.

"Look, everyone, the walls here are covered with ivy, so it's also called the House of Ivy."

However, Conan didn't pay attention to the ivy on the villa wall, but he did notice another plant near the entrance—oleander. The 'twin sisters' noticed Conan's gaze and also saw the oleander by the door.

As we approached the entrance, a man completely covered up came out carrying a shovel and greeted Tianda, who was acting as our guide.

"Tian Da, are these the guests attending the reasoning competition?"

"Yes! Tachibana Taka, you're here too! The last time we met was around the second anniversary of Nishiwa's death, right? How have you been lately?"

"You seem to be doing well. You've been here quite a while."

"Yes, Ying and I prepared all the games for this reasoning competition."