Conan Rick's Investigator

"Figueroa Street, Red Mango Dessert Shop..."

"OK!"

……

The black driver in the car probably mistook Qin Zhibo, a mixed-race man with an Asian face, for a tourist, and kept introducing some good tourist attractions nearby along the way.

Qin Zhibo did not refuse the service. He just enjoyed the Los Angeles cityscape along the way. The taxi finally arrived at the destination after driving for 27 minutes.

Qin Zhibo knew in advance from the electronic map in his mind that the taxi had entered Figueroa Avenue, so he asked the driver to stop at the intersection and took out the US dollars he had exchanged long ago and handed them over.

"Thank you..."

The black driver in front took the fare handed to him by Qin Zhibo, and when he saw the dollars and cents in small lots, his originally enthusiastic black face immediately drooped.

Qin Zhibo was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had read the number wrong, and checked the money he took out with the money on the meter.

That's right...

Watching the black man twiddling his mercenary fingers, Qin Zhibo suddenly remembered that there is a tipping culture in the United States, and one has to spend more whether taking a taxi, eating or staying in a hotel.

"Oh!"

Qin Zhibo took out another two dollars from his wallet and put them in the black driver's hand. Only then did the black driver's face become enthusiastic again, revealing his white teeth.

“Have a nice day!”

……

After getting out of the taxi, Qin Zhibo walked towards the agreed-upon Red Mango dessert shop carrying his suitcase.

Standing in the distance, Qin Zhibo opened the telescope and looked towards the entrance of the dessert shop, where there were several large parasols and several sets of plastic tables and chairs.

There were some guests, but Qin Zhibo scanned the names above their heads and there was no such person as Mark Allen.

Not here yet?

Qin Zhibo was not in a hurry to go over, so he just wandered across the street, keeping an eye on the movements in the dessert shop.

……

Ten minutes later, a taxi stopped at the door of the dessert shop and immediately attracted Qin Zhibo's attention.

A foreign man in a white casual shirt and jeans got out of the taxi.

On his neat and clean-cut haircut with occasional white hair, Qin Zhibo saw his name, Mark Allen.

Mark Allen, 59, scientist, social credit 5900...

After getting off the car, Alan went straight to the dessert shop. After glancing at the customers at the door of the dessert shop in confusion, he immediately looked up and looked around.

Such a keen intuition...

Qin Zhibo, holding the newspaper, observed again to make sure there was no one else around him, then put away the newspaper and walked towards the dessert shop.

……

When Mark Allen arrived in front of the dessert shop, he was looking around blankly and noticed Qin Zhibo in a brown windbreaker at a glance.

In Japan, brown trench coats are a standard for a tough guy image, but on the streets of Los Angeles, they seem out of place with the surrounding street scenes.

"It's you?"

Alan asked Qin Zhibo tentatively.

Qin Zhibo didn't pay any attention immediately. He walked straight to the plastic chair and sat down. He then stretched out his hand to point to the seat opposite and looked at Allen who was a little confused.

"Please come and sit down."

Alan narrowed his eyes and sat down opposite Qin Zhibo hesitantly.

"you……"

Before Alan could ask, the waiter in the store came out with a small account book.

The two of them each ordered a glass of juice, sent the waiter away, and then the conversation officially began.

"You said you knew news about Xiaodu, what's going on?"

Allen's tone was a little urgent, but Qin Zhibo did not answer his question directly.

"Excuse me, what is your relationship with Miss Jincheng Xiaodu..."

When this was mentioned, Alan's eyes drooped for a moment, and there was some hesitation between his brows.

But after a few seconds of silence, Alan finally answered.

"She's my daughter..."

"Well, can you tell my daughter how she is?"

Looking at the old man who was over fifty years old, Qin Zhibo said in a deep voice: "Your daughter is dead..."

Hearing the death sentence from Qin Zhibo's mouth, Allen widened his eyes in disbelief, his old body stiff on the plastic chair.

After a long time, he finally came to his senses and asked, "My daughter... How did Xiaodu die?"

Allen's tone was a bit strong, but Qin Zhibo did not give in at all.

"I can tell you about your daughter, but accordingly..."

"You also need to tell me about the disease that turns her into a mermaid."

Chapter 491 Deep Dive Syndrome

After hearing Qin Zhibo's conditions, Mark Allen took a deep breath, but still chose to compromise.

"That's not called mermaid disease..."

"The scientific name for that disease is 'Deep Dive Syndrome.'"

Deep diver syndrome...

Qin Zhibo narrowed his eyes slightly, remembering that among the props in this week's mall, the introduction of [Deep Dive Potion] mentioned the Deep Diver.

This deep diver is...

Qin Zhibo did not raise his question immediately.

He could tell from Mark Allen's hesitant expression that he was still struggling with whether he should say it. There was no need for him to interrupt him at this time, and there was no need to use the "Intimidation" in his social skills to scare the old man.

After half a minute of silence, Mark Allen finally began to speak.

"Deep One syndrome refers to the hybrid offspring born from the union of humans and Deep Ones. At a certain point in time, their appearance will rapidly develop into an 'Innsmouth look', eventually becoming a frog-like appearance like the Deep Ones.

At the beginning of the transformation, the hybrid's eyes will gradually bulge, causing the eyelids to be unable to close, the skin will turn gray-green, wet and cold, and the skin on the back of the neck will become loose.

Next, scales will grow on the body surface, and then webbed feet, which are only needed by aquatic animals, will grow from the connection between the five fingers, and gill structures will also grow on the back of the neck...

When the final transformation is complete, these hybrids will enter the water from the bay and other waterside areas and become deep divers forever."

Alan explained a lot in one breath, and after he finished speaking, he immediately picked up the juice on the table and moistened his throat which was dry from nervousness.

The description of "Deep Diver Syndrome" reminded Qin Zhibo of Shimabukuro Keiwa, who was exactly as Mark Allen described.

However, these explanations did not completely resolve Qin Zhibo's doubts, but instead gave rise to more problems.

First and foremost, the most important question is...

"What is a Deep One?"

When mentioning the Deep Diver, Mark Allen leaned back a little in his chair, placed his hands on the armrests of the plastic chair, and looked extremely solemn.

"..."

"The Deep Ones are a race of marine humanoids with fish-like characteristics. They possess intelligence comparable to humans, but spend most of their time immersed beneath the waves.

They do not die from aging, nor do they die without external influence, so the Deep Ones possess a nearly immortal lifespan.

Eternal immortality?

Qin Zhibo's thoughts turned, and he felt as if he had heard the proposition of eternal immortality somewhere.

It’s APTX-4869!

In actual effect, APTX-4869 seems to be able to achieve eternal immortality.

Qin Zhibo currently knows three effects of Drug A.

One, as a poison to kill. Two, to rejuvenate a few people. Three, to rapidly heal injuries while growing or shrinking.

The first two points were learned by peeking into Haibara Ai's memory, but the third point was discovered by Qin Zhibo himself.

Maybe even Conan and Haibara Ai didn't notice that the gunshot wounds on their bodies healed at an incredible speed.

Of course, it is also possible that Qin Zhibo has a problem with his own sense of time and has some misunderstanding about this "soon".

However, APTX-4869's method of achieving eternal immortality is different from that of the Deep Diver.

At the Haido Hotel, when Ai Haihara explained her "last words", she said that the principle of drug A was to induce premature aging and apoptosis of cells and promote the proliferation of new cells.

But the eternal immortality of the Deep Ones is that their cells will not age or die.

However, correspondingly, the targeted drug used to treat "Deep Diver Syndrome" can cause apoptosis of these cells...

Regardless of what the medicine is, Qin Zhibo knows the name of the creature he has to hunt in his main mission.

Deep Diver.

Although he is immortal, he can still die if affected by external forces, which means that he can still kill a Deep One.

"What do you mean by 'Innsmouth appearance'?" Qin Zhibo continued to ask.

"Innsmouth is a place name in the United States..."

Speaking of a relatively lighthearted topic, Mark Allen sat up slightly from the back of his chair. "That place is in Essex County, Massachusetts. There used to be a town called Innsmouth at the mouth of the Manuset River."

"The locals of Innsmouth intermarried and traded with the Deep Ones, resulting in the hybrid offspring all looking like that, hence the name 'Innsmouth look'."

"Originally?" Qin Zhibo caught the key point of the problem.

"Hmm..." Mark Allen swallowed. "In July of 1927, the city was reported by tourists, and the local government sent a large number of troops to arrest all the people in Innsmouth. It completely became a dead city."

"The existence of Deep Diver and Deep Diver Syndrome was only discovered at that time..."

A new clue emerged. Qin Zhibo silently memorized the name of Innsmouth and continued to ask, "Why do mixed-bloods develop the 'Innsmouth look' at different times?"

This discovery naturally came from Shimabukuro Keikazu and Taira Yoshie, the two of whom were several decades apart in age when they began their transformation.

After hearing Qin Zhibo's question, Mark Allen looked a little surprised, "You actually know this..."

"In fact, hybrids with Deep One syndrome are no different from ordinary people for a period of time after birth, but at some point they will suddenly enter a transformation phase lasting 2 to 3 months.

Different people have different transformation times, speeds, and degrees. Some people may not even notice any abnormalities in their entire lives.

This is directly related to the concentration of Deep Diver blood in the hybrid, but it is also affected by environmental factors.

For example, if a mixed-blood is under extreme psychological pressure, or comes into contact with its own kind..."

Qin Zhibo was stunned for a moment, and his mind unconsciously thought of Shimabukuro Kimie who lived with Shimabukuro Keikazu.

In the previous year, Shimabukuro Keikazu had targeted drugs to maintain his human appearance, but now the targeted drugs have run out. Doesn't that mean Shimabukuro Kimie is in contact with his own kind?

This……

Just as Qin Zhibo was pondering the urgency of the matter, Mark Allen, unable to contain his inner agitation, demanded again, "You said it! I'll tell you about Deep One Syndrome, and then you'll tell me about my daughter."

Qin Zhibo weighed it in his mind and felt that he already knew almost everything he wanted to know, so he told Mark Allen about his experience on Okinawa Island.

Upon hearing how his daughter died at the hands of the housekeeper, Mark Allen, who was devastated, looked dazed, his hands resting on his temples, tears streaming down his sagging face.

"Finally, I'd like to ask you a question. Did your daughter inherit the blood of the Deep One from you?"

Mark Allen shook his drooping head from side to side.

"It's her mother..."

"Now Kamiko and Xiaodu are dead, it's all my fault..."

"If I hadn't fallen in love with a test subject..."