Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 27 25. A little bit of the truth revealed

"Last time." Shirley suddenly hesitated, because the first time she saw the empty box, she thought of a very outrageous experiment.

In a previous biological experiment using drug A on mice, the mice did not die quietly like other mice that were given the drug, but suddenly degenerated into the appearance of baby mice.

At that time, Shirley thought that something went wrong in the experiment, but she was still cautious and did not record the results of the experiment.

Who would have thought that this “failed” experiment would have a sequel?

The last time she came to investigate, the box was certainly not empty. It was filled with children's clothes!

The connection between the degenerating mice and the disappearing children's clothing made Shirley feel even more chilling.

So the question is, should she answer Lin Longma's questions truthfully?

The scenes of today, from the first meeting to the "heart-opening" just now, kept replaying in Shirley's mind. Finally, she made a bold decision.

One shot to Oh no, she is going to answer Lin Longma’s question!

"This box was full of clothes when Gin and I came here to investigate last time," Shirley replied softly.

"Full?" Lin Longma felt a little strange, because the disappearance of these children's clothes really didn't make sense.

If there were thieves who broke into the house, the children's clothes would not have been lost. And Lin Longma did not see any signs of external intrusion along the way.

As expected, the most recent external invaders should be Gin and Shirley from last time.

Or someone from the Kudo family came back and disposed of Kudo Shinichi's children's clothes, which doesn't make sense. If someone from the Kudo family disposed of the children's clothes, they should have disposed of the boxes as well.

What's more, these children's clothes were packed in boxes and preserved with the words "Shinichi's Childhood" written on them. Isn't it just for keeping as a commemoration?

Such a sudden handling makes no sense at all. It's impossible that Kudo Yusaku suddenly discovered that Kudo Shinichi is not his biological son.

Lin Longma looked at Shirley, wanting to hear her opinion. In daily life, Lin Longma was still very happy to listen to the advice of people around him.

"APTX-4869, this is the code name of the new drug I am responsible for developing." Shirley looked up and looked at Lin Longma for a long time, then suddenly spoke.

“The original intention of developing this drug is to use a certain toxin to manipulate the programmed cell death in order to achieve the purpose of prolonging life, extending life, and reversing growth.

But I didn’t have a very good time developing this drug.”

Lin Longma quietly looked at Shirley who was speaking calmly in front of him. He had a hunch that he might be able to find out the meaning of some of the organization's existence from Shirley.

“APTX-4869 was not developed by me alone. In other words, it was developed based on the existing research data of the organization.

Unfortunately, I originally thought that the path I was trying was wrong because its performance in clinical trials basically did not achieve the above-mentioned expected goals.

On the contrary, because the toxin in it is so potent, it becomes a perfect poison."

"It's even more perfect than the poison described in the information the organization gave me."

Lin Longma still didn't say anything. He knew that at this moment he just needed to listen quietly. Noisy comfort was the last thing he needed right now.

"But in a biological experiment on mice, I found that my research did not seem to be a complete failure. In that experiment, the mice that were supposed to die naturally in a short period of time degenerated into young mice. This is perfectly consistent with the anti-aging effect of APTX-4869."

"So you actually succeeded?" Lin Longma was quite shocked at this moment. He didn't understand any of the professional terms that Shirley said.

But judging from its effects of prolonging life, extending life, and reversing aging, this thing developed by the organization sounds like some kind of health product.

But when Shirley mentioned that the development concept of Drug A must be met only when the mice degenerate from adult mice to young mice, Lin Longma realized that the organization's waters were much deeper than he thought.

Lin Longma was not sure how many years the organization had existed, but judging from the strict hierarchy and complete regulations of the organization, it was definitely not as simple as ten or twenty years.

You know, the organization started providing "free assistance" to Lin Longma when he was in junior high school. Now he is almost thirty years old. How many years has it been?

Generation after generation of scientific researchers have come forward one after another, and generation after generation of people around them have devoted their energy to scientific research.
If any organization could take more upright actions and do less illegal things in daily life, this would be a very inspiring and touching story. What a selfless spirit of dedication to science and world progress!
But it is precisely because of the existence of gin and rum that the ultimate goal of the organization is shrouded in mystery.

"It can't be considered a success." Shirley had been holding this matter in her heart for a long time, and now that she said it out loud, she even felt a lot more relieved.

As for what effect her speaking out about this would have on herself, Shirley laughed at herself in her heart. Living under such high pressure every day, could her life be any worse?

Sometimes the suffering from the outside world does not knock people down, but the depression and pressure in the heart will become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

“Any experiment that cannot be repeated or verified cannot be considered a success. So far, APTX-4869, which I developed, is still a failure.

But Gin seemed very satisfied with the failed product. After all, in his opinion, I helped the organization develop a poison that cannot be studied, right?"

Lin Longma nodded slightly. According to Gin's personality, life extension and longevity were all nonsense. But the poison that could not be discovered was the real deal.

He turned his gaze back to the empty box: "So, you don't suspect that this Kudo Shinichi is the lucky one who triggered the minority possibility?"

Speaking of this, Shirley couldn't help but feel conflicted. If someone could survive drug A, it would indeed be a great comfort to her.

But is Kudo Shinichi dead or alive?
"I don't know either, although there is a high possibility that this is the case, but..."

"But no one can guarantee it without seeing the real person, right? After all, the idea of reverse aging or rejuvenation is really too horrifying."

Lin Longma kindly added something to Shirley.

"Yes, that's it." In Shirley's opinion, she really didn't dare to make such a judgment easily without "seeing is believing".

What if it was just a false alarm?

Lin Longma gave Shirley a great shock today, and Shirley also gave him an equally great shock.

In this ordinary storage room of the western-style mansion, Shirley revealed part of the truth about the organization to Lin Longma, a part of the truth that was horrifying.

Lin Longma and Shirley walked out of the utility room. He took a deep look at the boxes in the utility room and then closed the door.

Then he turned to look at Shirley: "How are you going to report this to the organization?"

(End of this chapter)