Conan Rick's Investigator

"The original curator of this place was arrested by the police for being involved in a murder case. The murdered person was the owner who planned to transform this place into a hotel."

"The hotel renovation plan failed, but the art gallery will continue to operate, and I will be the one to "take care" of these artworks in the future."

As expected of someone who used to be a senior butler, he uses "care" as the keyword of his job.

However, Qin Zhibo thinks such emotions are quite dangerous.

Like the previous director Ochiai, he was too emotionally invested and treated the art museum as his own child, which led him to become obsessed.

"This is a good job, it suits you very well."

Qin Zhibo had previously investigated Matsumoto Ryohei's information and knew that Matsumoto Ryohei was quite talented and skilled in art.

In addition, the jobs of butler and curator are both management-oriented. Qin Zhibo feels from the bottom of his heart that this is the job that is most suitable for Matsumoto Ryohei besides his job as butler.

"Thank you."

"By the way, you're not just passing through here, are you?"

In response to Matsumoto Ryohei's question, Qin Zhibo should have said that he was just passing by and came to see who the new director was out of curiosity.

But Qin Zhibo suddenly remembered the painting "Heavenly Punishment" that gave him some inspiration last time.

The demon depicted in the painting gave Qin Zhibo a sense of real existence.

So at this moment Qin Zhibo suddenly had an idea and wanted to look at the painting again up close.

"Oh...that painting..."

"Unfortunately, that painting was bought a few days ago."

"Buy it?"

Qin Zhibo was somewhat confused by this statement.

"Well, you also know that this art gallery belongs to a private owner, right?"

"The owner sold the painting to an American art dealer. I heard the price was quite high. The owner of the museum used this money to solve his financial problems and keep the museum going."

An American art dealer traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to buy a tasteless painting by an unknown artist?

Qin Zhibo felt a little strange, but there was nothing he could do.

"Heavenly Punishment" could not be watched, but Matsumoto Ryohei immediately made an invitation to Qin Zhibo.

"Mr. Qin, would you be so kind as to come to my house for dinner later?"

……

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Qin Zhibo glanced at Matsumoto Ryohei who was driving in the front, and then glanced outside the car window at the mountains and forests that were becoming darker as the sky darkened.

Originally, Qin Zhibo thought that Matsumoto Ryohei's home was in Mihua Town, so he could save some money by having a simple meal there.

As a result, Matsumoto Ryohei drove directly out of Beihua Town and came to a suburb called "Toto Mountain Area" on the navigation system.

Under such circumstances, Qin Zhibo should have been anxious and might even have been thinking about how to jump out of the car and escape.

After all, Qin Zhibo knew that Matsumoto Ryohei had a cannibalism habit, and this kind of thing was enough to arouse Matsumoto Ryohei's murderous intent.

This is a desolate mountain area with no houses around. It's a perfect place to kill and rob.

But Qin Zhibo was not at all panicked. He lay leisurely in the back seat, and sometimes yawned when he felt bored.

Seeing Qin Zhibo's reaction through the rearview mirror, Matsumoto Ryohei raised a smile.

What an incredible man...

As the car engine stopped, a large villa with a simple architectural style came into Qin Zhibo's sight.

"There's actually a villa in this deep forest?"

"Yes." Matsumoto Ryohei took out a box tightly wrapped in black plastic from the trunk of the car. "In fact, there are many villas like this hidden in this mountain forest."

"It was popular among wealthy people decades ago to build villas in places like this."

Qin Zhibo captured some useful information from Matsumoto Ryohei's words.

"So you're a rich man?"

Matsumoto Ryohei thought for a moment and said, "I inherited this villa from my father, but unfortunately, apart from this villa, my father did not leave anything else of greater value."

……

Entering the villa, the decoration style is relatively classical, mainly with wooden structure and red paint.

As they walked, Matsumoto Ryohei also introduced the situation of the villa.

"Actually, I just moved back here recently. Before that, I lived in Master Shuyu's house."

"This place is quite far from the town, and it would be troublesome if we don't hire someone. Besides, this villa is on the shady side of the mountain, and the lighting is not very good even during the day."

"In contrast, there's a blue castle building over this mountain."

“Before the old owner died, I was invited to see the unique view that can only be enjoyed from that castle.”

"That is indeed a treasure..."

Ryohei Matsumoto talked freely and first invited Qin Zhibo to the living room, and then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

In the classic living room, a color TV is installed in a more humane way, and it is still usable.

Not only that, Rena Mizunashi's TV show hasn't ended yet.

……

Rena Mizunashi: "Recently, the police solved a kidnapping case of a young girl and arrested the kidnapper, Kazumasa Sakawa, who is also the suspect in the disappearance of XX three years ago."

"According to the information currently disclosed by the police, Sakawa Ichimasa and XX, who disappeared three years ago, were in a cohabiting relationship. The police have not disclosed the specific motive and details of the crime."

The male anchor said: "I'm really becoming more and more skeptical of the police's ability to handle cases. A case from three years ago took three years to catch the killer, who had to wait until he committed another crime."

"Do the police really have to rely on these self-righteous detectives to solve cases? If this continues, who will guarantee the safety of the Japanese people?"

……

After hearing what the male anchor said, Qin Zhibo raised his eyebrows.

It was he who praised the high school detective as the savior of the Japanese police last time, and it was also he who showed some contempt for the detective in his words and deeds this time.

Are you really just a fence-sitter?

Just then, Matsumoto Ryohei came out of the kitchen and invited Qin Zhibo to the dining room for dinner.

The food on the long table was rich and exquisite, making Qin Zhibo, who had been in this world for who knows how many days, feel the warmth of home for the first time.

On one side of the long table, Matsumoto Ryohei pulled a chair out from under the table like a butler, arranged for Qin Zhibo to sit on it, and put a napkin around Qin Zhibo, but he did not immediately go to sit on the other side of the table.

Matsumoto Ryoping stood quietly behind the seat, his eyes fixed on Qin Zhibo's defenseless crown.

"Actually, ever since we first separated, I've been thinking about it..."

"Consider the advice you gave on 'eating.'"

Chapter 25 Main Quest Initiated by a Book

"To be honest, the existence of prions surprised me a little."

"It seems that from now on I can only choose to become a sophisticated 'carnivore'..."

Ever since Qin Zhibo proposed the concept of prions, Matsumoto Ryohei has been restless and searching for information everywhere, visiting medical professors from major medical schools, and finally found information about prions.

The concept of prions was proposed by an American biochemist 14 years ago, but they were first discovered in humans in a primitive tribe more than years ago.

This primitive tribe has always practiced the custom of religious cannibalism, and 80% of the tribe members at that time suffered from an incurable tremor disease.

This tremor disease, sheep pruritus, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and the "mad cow disease" that began to spread in the UK this spring are most likely caused by prions.

The virus causes astrocytic gliosis in the cerebellar region, spongiform changes in the gray matter, and progressive vacuolation of astrocytes and dendritic cells.

Finally, the medical professor showed Matsumoto Ryohei a photo of a brain slice of a prion patient with holes all over it, which made Matsumoto almost vomit.

For "meat eaters" like Ryohei Matsumoto, the existence of this disease is simply a blasphemy to "food ingredients".

In order to avoid such a situation from happening to himself, Matsumoto Ryohei, who understood the horror of prions, made up his mind.

Evolve from an ordinary "carnivore" to a sophisticated "carnivore".

I will only eat Jingpin from now on.

……

At the dining table, Qin Zhibo ate up all the sausages, eggs and vegetable salads prepared by Matsumoto Ryohei. As for those dishes that looked like they were cooked with some kind of animal meat, Qin Zhibo didn't touch a single bite.

Although Matsumoto Ryohei assured that the meat was not that kind of meat, Qin Zhibo still had no intention of making a quick move.

After dinner, Matsumoto Ryohei took Qin Zhibo to visit his study.

There are at least tens of thousands of books collected in the quaint study, some of which belong to his father and some of which are his personal collection.

Qin Zhibo had no interest in reading itself, but out of politeness he picked up a book on the desk and took a look at it.

"Gods of the Sea" by Tanaka Kazuyoshi...

Seeing Qin Zhibo pick up the book, Matsumoto Ryohei introduced it: "This is a book I'm reading recently."

"This book has a unique literary style. The author, Kazuyuki Tanaka, made his debut with it, winning the Newcomer Award that year and attracting much attention from the literary world."

"But since this book, I haven't heard of any good works from him."

"Mr. Qin?"

Qin Zhibo stared at the book in a daze, which prompted Matsumoto Ryohei next to him to ask questions.

At this time, Matsumoto Ryohei didn't know that in Qin Zhibo's vision, the system suddenly issued a new task.

……

Main Quest: Investigate "The God of the Sea"

Mission requirements: Scope: Tokyo, no time limit.

Mission Rewards: 3000 General Skill Proficiency, Skill Training Acceleration Card (7 days), 400 Mythical Knowledge Skill Proficiency

……

So sudden?

Qin Zhibo never expected that just picking up a book casually would trigger a mission, and it was a main mission.

So Qin Zhibo took the book directly and put it into his arms without any hesitation.

"Lend me this book to read for one night."

"Oh...that's no problem."

……

The next day.

Qin Zhibo stretched and walked out of the room. Matsumoto Ryohei was making breakfast in the kitchen.

Last night Qin Zhibo stayed directly in Matsumoto Ryohei's big villa. There were plenty of empty guest rooms there anyway.

Qin Zhibo spent the whole night reading "Gods of the Sea".

The book is not very thick, and the content is a fairy tale, just that kind of fairy tale.

The story goes that once there was a young fisherman who lived by the sea.

One day, the fisherman's beloved girl fell ill and died.

The fisherman was heartbroken until a strange-looking wandering monk came to the fishing village and said that there was a god in the sea and that if he prayed to her, the girl he loved would be resurrected.

So the fisherman drank the potion given by the monk, dived into the deep sea, found the mermaid palace, and asked the mermaid elder about the specific location of the sea god.

After a series of adventures, the fisherman finally got his wish and saw the god of the sea.

The fisherman knelt before the god and prayed for resurrection, and the girl whom the fisherman loved really walked towards him.

However, when the fisherman hugged the girl tightly, the cold and slippery touch suddenly woke up the fisherman's brain.

The fisherman discovered that what he was hugging was actually a ball of green tentacles.

The frightened fisherman swam upstream desperately.