Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

The wait for the takeaway to be delivered was always long, and she was bored, so she browsed the news about her favorite stars. After making sure there were no recent events that needed attention, she closed all unnecessary software and opened the system.

The [Group Chat] history cannot be deleted. All previous chats between her and her two teammates are on it.

Hojo Toika dragged it up and looked at the past records, and her good mood disappeared again.

……

Teammates are very special.

For players who have just entered a different world, their teammates are the first people of their kind they come into contact with. Regardless of whether they are reliable or not, they are the first people they communicate with.

In order to save those who were unwilling to accept the fate, Hojo Toika tried more than once to persuade her teammates to help.

To this end, she wrote many long and moving articles that moved her to tears after writing them. In them, she repeatedly recounted the strengths and difficulties of those people, and sent them to them over and over again.

Since her skills didn't work, she could only try to impress them in this way.

——But they didn't appreciate it at all.

[Gluttony: Where do you get so much energy to post this every day? Wouldn’t it be better to play games or watch TV series with this time? ]

He had only watched the classic episodes that were repeatedly played on TV, and had never seen the theatrical version. He didn't even recognize Gin, let alone the various Red Team members who appeared later.

[Arrogant: Because you guys never listened to me! Watch it carefully. Once you watch it, you will definitely like them! ]

[Gluttony: I have only read the first article about Amuro Toru so far, and I have a question for you. ]

【Arrogant: What? 】

[Gluttony: If Japan is a lover, then America is his father-in-law, right? His father-in-law has so many acquaintances in Japan, and he dares to target his people like this. Isn't he afraid that his wife will suffer? ]

【Gluttony: Does he admire Uncle Hong next door more? 】

As for another lazy...

【Laziness: Why bother with other people's business? 】

【Arrogant: That's not a trivial matter at all! 】

[Arrogant: There are so many sad things in Conan, many police officers died young. Don’t you think it’s a pity that such excellent people died so early? We are not unarmed, if we have the ability, why don’t we save them? Can time travel make us throw away all our original values? ]

[Arrogant: Have you listened to the song I recommended to you? Listen carefully, it is really touching, it depicts their path! ]

[Lazy: Since you feel so sorry for the police, will you save the victims of the serial murders of female police officers in the later period? ]

[Laziness: This is the case of Chiba and Naeko, one of them was tricked by the criminal into killing him by claiming that his child was in trouble.]

[Arrogant: Are you their fan? ]

[Arrogant: If you like, I can help you save them. But before that, you have to help me save Matsuda and Jingguang, as well as the squad leader. They are more important! Don't be negligent! ]

【Lazy:……】

【Lazy: I’m not interested. 】

[Lazy: Save yourself if you want to, don’t involve me. ]

[Arrogant: Why are you like this? You are so selfish, you must be living an uncomfortable life in real life, right? ]

[Laziness: I don't owe you anything, you don't have to say bad things to me, and I don't have to obey you. The people who obey you in everything are either your parents who gave birth to you and raised you, or they have other intentions towards you. ]

After ending the memories, Hojo Toika's unhappiness surged again.

One is mean and poisonous, the other suffers from paranoia.

What sin had she committed to deserve to be in the same camp with these people?

It would be great if she could switch to the Red side, she was a die-hard fan of the Red side! And in this way, she could change their selfish consciousness and let them know the importance of saving people.

Hojo Yuika put away her phone and waited on the sofa for about five minutes before the takeaway finally arrived. She went to the door to pick up the food, grabbed a bottle of iced lemon tea, and returned to the second floor.

The computer screen was on, and Artemis had sent her a document a minute ago.

Hojo Toika didn't open the lunch box. She took a preliminary look at the document and looked at the code first.

Bamboo leaves are green.

Hojo Toika has been thinking of a code name these days and has done a lot of research on tea.

This is a kind of green tea. She remembered that there was a kind of beautiful venomous snake, which seemed to be called this name.

In addition, there is another kind of wine, also called Bamboo Leaf Green.

What a good name! Hojo Iris downloaded the document without giving it much thought.

Another small window above her was also flashing, and she clicked on it and quickly accepted a document from another fan, Caspar.

Not only Artemis, but Caspar, who had just joined that day, was also a very enthusiastic fan. He also remembered every detail of her article clearly.

——Compared to her teammates, her fans are much cuter.

Just then, Hojo Toika noticed that Artemis' window began to flicker. Perhaps the other party noticed that the file was accepted and knew that she had returned to the computer, so he sent her something.

[Artemis: Villains can be stereotyped and written as ugly as they want, but the police, as positive characters, need to be more carefully portrayed in terms of their relatives, friends, feelings, personality, experiences, and the hardships they have encountered.]

[Artemis: I'm afraid I can't give you any more advice on this... Teacher, do you know any police officers in real life who could be used as reference? ]

----

Casval, Char's real name, is set here as Akai's pseudonym (net name).

Chapter 73 No turning back

Metropolitan Police Department.

Although a press conference was being held, other police officers who were not scheduled to attend continued to do their duties as planned.

It was lunchtime, and in the corridor of the Criminal Division office, Katsutoshi Teraoka, the head of the Fourth Investigation Section, was talking on the phone with someone.

"...Those reporters are really too much. They just talk nonsense! Senior, please don't take it to heart!"

Kogoro Mori sounded indignant on the other end of the line.

Katsutoshi Teraoka heard the noise coming from the TV opposite and guessed that the other party was watching the live press conference. He was annoyed by the reporter's questions and called himself.

Maori Kogoro was his junior in college, two grades younger than him. Because of this friendship, after Maori Kogoro became a criminal policeman, he took good care of him, and even though the other party had resigned, they were still in contact over the years.

"I'm used to it." Katsutoshi Teraoka said helplessly, "Kidnapping is the most difficult type of case."

For criminal police, theft, injury and even murder are not actually "scary" because they have already happened and they just need to catch the criminals.

Kidnapping is different. It is an "ongoing" case. Every move of the police, a successful prediction or a mistake, is related to the life and death of the hostages.

Once a hostage dies or is injured, no matter how many external factors are at play, they must publicly apologize and accept all kinds of criticism and accusations from the outside world.

Kogoro Mouri had never taken on a kidnapping case before leaving his job, but he had encountered a hostage-taking case - the victim was his own wife - and he had a deep resonance with the case.

Katsutoshi Teraoka naturally thought of the case from a few years ago: "How are you doing recently? Are you still separating from your wife?"

"This... is of course the same old thing."

Maori Kogoro laughed dryly and admitted the terrible family situation: "Has the criminal been caught?"

"The victim's stepmother has been arrested. The forensic department has restored her previous emails and confirmed that she had contacted the killer twice. She is also a major suspect this time."

Katsutoshi Teraoka sighed: "However, she always insisted that she was innocent."

"All criminals are like this. Even if hard evidence is placed in front of them, they will stubbornly refuse to admit it!" Kogoro Mori said with great experience.

"Yeah." Katsutoshi Teraoka smiled, "It seems that after resigning from the police, you have solved many cases as a detective."

"What I investigated were all external... ahem." Maori Kogoro awkwardly changed the subject, "Since the criminal has been caught, I think the case will be closed soon, right? Then those reporters will shut up!"

"That may not be the case." Katsutoshi Teraoka's tone was even more helpless. "Mrs. Kawajiri is the wife of a corrupt congressman. Too many people are involved. The subsequent investigation may not be under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Division."

Kogoro Mori on the opposite side fell silent.

He was criticized as a confused detective, but after all, he had been a policeman for several years and knew the procedures clearly. Some cases were prone to "emergencies" - important people were involved, and public security police swooped in from the sky to snatch the case.

"Then the fourth lesson is now..."

"We are still investigating," said Katsutoshi Teraoka. "One of the killers is from a violent organization, and he is the subject of my past investigations. So I will visit the restaurant he frequented this afternoon."

Maori Kogoro immediately said with concern: "Senior, you must be more careful!"

"Of course."

Katsutoshi Teraoka smiled and looked up at the time. "I'm about to leave. I won't talk to you any more. Say hello to Xiaolan for me. By the way, if you are free this weekend, would you like to come to my house for barbecue? My wife said that my skills are better than hers."

"Of course there is time. Sorry to bother you then!"

After finishing the greetings with his junior, Katsutoshi Teraoka hung up the phone and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

He looked up at the glass window beside him. A cold and gloomy face was reflected on the clean and transparent window surface.

He is not going for an ordinary visit later, but to kill someone.

——He was going to kill the gangster who had been bribing him for a long time.

……

It was seven years ago that Katsutoshi Teraoka first accepted bribes from the underworld and leaked internal police information to them.

In Japan, being a police officer has a well-paid job. In addition to salary, there are annual bonuses, and special allowances for housing and child-rearing are also generous.

As for why they would accept bribes despite such good treatment, the reason is quite simple.

They gave too much.

As long as you disclose information once, even if it is very trivial information, the reward you get can match the total income of a year of hard work.

Sometimes it is so simple to fall into depravity. A little temptation can make people voluntarily step into the abyss of crime. It is true that greed is the origin of sin.

Katsutoshi Teraoka has seen too many criminals who took risks out of greed, and he himself became one of them early on.

Over the years, he has provided a lot of information to the other party, but now, he wants to end this cooperation and completely cut off ties with them.

It wasn't that he suddenly came to his senses and began to repent his mistakes, but that someone appeared who was willing to give him more.

The only trouble now is that the "former employer" Matsuyama is suspected of being involved in the kidnapping case in Haido Town, and the police have listed him as a key target for investigation.

It would be disastrous if he was caught and gave himself away, so Katsutoshi Teraoka decided to strike first and kill the other party as soon as possible.

Katsutoshi Teraoka entered the office of Investigation Section 4 and sat down behind his desk.