Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Inside the art museum, the air felt like solidified jelly, so heavy it was hard to breathe.

"I...I will pay the money."

Hondou Eisuke looked at Masakazu with trepidation, unsure of what to do.

All I could do was keep repeating, 'I'll lose money.'

But he was already starting to feel dizzy.

He simply couldn't afford to lose so many priceless works of art.

Zheng Yi's smile vanished completely.

Ai secretly rolled her eyes.

If these artworks are real, she could just eat Zheng Yi whole.

Given Shoichi's stingy and greedy nature, when Hondou Eisuke broke the first piece of art, Shoichi had already made him sign a debt that he could never repay in his lifetime.

There was no way to leisurely take him to see other artworks.

This guy is full of bad intentions.

Ai glanced at Hondo Eisuke.

Is this new classmate from a wealthy family?

Or perhaps it's a place that has a positive, righteous feeling of value.

"No need to pay compensation." Masaichi waved his hand dismissively: "It's just a mere billion yen."

Upon hearing Zheng Yi's words, everyone's faces became somewhat unnatural.

Sonoko blinked at Hondo Eisuke.

A billion yen! That's a sum she couldn't possibly come up with.

Seeing that Hondou Eisuke was already lost in thought, Masaichi smiled and said:

"It was I who insisted on dragging my classmates to continue the visit, so I should take all the blame for the losses."

The way Shoichi was trying so hard to suppress his heartache made Kogoro feel sorry for him.

An artwork worth over a billion dollars.

If it were him, he would be angry even if Hondo Eisuke lost his cigarettes.

Kogoro now looks at Shoichi with new respect.

Zheng Yi has a very broad mind.

Hondo Eisuke said in a trembling voice, "I can sign an IOU, and I will definitely pay you back in the future."

"No need."

Zheng Yi shook his head, but his gaze fell on the notebook on the table next to him.

"I'll lose money!"

Hondo Eisuke also noticed the paper and pen on the table next to him.

He gritted his teeth and tore two pages from his notebook.

He wrote an IOU in crooked handwriting and signed his name.

Because of the intense emotional fluctuations, my hand holding the pen was trembling, and the words I wrote were very different from my usual handwriting.

Hondo Eisuke took a deep breath.

He carefully bent down, picked up a shard of bottle, cut his finger, and then pressed his fingerprint onto the IOU.

He said, "Alright, here's the IOU. I'll definitely pay you back in the future."

But now he felt a chill run down his spine.

He owes so much money; he feels he'll never be able to pay it back in his lifetime.

Zheng Yi shook his head and did not reach out.

"Really, you don't need to."

But Hondo Eisuke was adamant, directly stuffing one IOU into Masakazu's hand and keeping the other one for himself.

Zheng Yi smiled helplessly.

He glanced at the IOU and said:
"Actually, it doesn't need to cost that much money."

"The price of art is inherently inflated. I spend so much money to buy it simply because I like it and think it's worth that much money."

"That's not its true value. Even if you were to repay it, it wouldn't be this much."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Hondo Eisuke's eyes.

He asked eagerly, "Then what is its true value?"

“Five hundred thousand yen will do,” Masakazu said, clapping his hands.

The hope in Hondo Eisuke's eyes vanished.

So they still don't intend to make me pay back the money.

But how could I let Mr. Zhengyi bear all the losses!

“Mr. Zhengyi, please don’t say anything more. I will compensate you according to the price,” Hondo Eisuke said.

But Zheng Yi is a good person after all.

He knew that Hondo Eisuke was a student and couldn't possibly afford to pay so much money.

They definitely don't want him to pay back the money.

Therefore,
Right in front of Hondo Eisuke and everyone else, Masakazu tore up the IOU in his hand.

"Tear~"

Zheng Yi tore the IOU into pieces, threw them on the ground, and kicked them away, making a mess of them.

Hondo Eisuke was somewhat moved.

Zheng Yi has done everything he could to avoid having to pay back the money.

However, the compensation that is due still needs to be paid.

Hondo Eisuke said, "Mr. Seiichi, please give me some more time, and I will work hard to earn money to make it up to you."

"I already told you you don't need to pay me back." Zheng Yi said somewhat helplessly.

"But even if you're going to lose money, you'll have to wait until after you graduate from university. Your main task right now is to study."

Hondo Eisuke nodded.

It really is about learning.

After all, he owes too much money; he needs to make a lot of money in the future.

Zheng Yi rubbed his face, as if trying to make it less stiff.

He continued, "Then let me take you to see other works of art."

After these words were spoken, an eerie silence fell over the room.

Hondou Eisuke said softly, "I'm not feeling well and want to go home as soon as possible."

If I stay here any longer, I don't know how much more money I'll owe.

He really didn't dare stay here anymore.

Not only here,
He had made up his mind that he would not go to other similar places again.

"Alright then," Zheng Yi said regretfully.

He looked regretful, but Xiaolan seemed relieved.

It seems that Brother Zhengyi doesn't want the remaining artworks to be damaged.

Hondo Eisuke wanted to leave the museum, but stood there without daring to move.

He looked at Kogoro and asked, "Detective Mouri, could you help me out?"

Clearly, he accidentally damaged several more artworks on his way out of the museum.

"I?"

Kogoro Mouri pointed to himself, then took a few steps back in fear.

If I'm with you, you unlucky bastard, and you break a few more works of art, am I supposed to share the cost with you?

No no no!

Hondo Eisuke looked at Kogoro pleadingly.

Mr. Kogoro, I need your luck to help me out!

Seeing the look in Hondo Eisuke's eyes, Kogoro immediately put on an exaggerated expression and said:

"Ouch! I think I twisted my ankle, it's not very convenient."

Xiaolan patted her forehead.

"How about I help you out?" Sera Masumi suggested tentatively.

She believes her skills are fairly good.

If Hondo Eisuke's bad luck were to strike again, she could control it.

"Is that alright?" Hondo Eisuke asked with a grateful expression.

"I'll do it!"

Sonoko, with an expression of heroic sacrifice, blocked Sera Masumi's path.

She said with a firm expression, "My family is quite wealthy."

"If the artwork is damaged again, my family can afford to pay for it!"

"Furthermore……"

Sonoko cupped her face in her hands and looked at Zheng Yi: "If my family is unwilling to pay compensation, then I'll marry Brother Zheng Yi, and consider it as paying for myself."

"Cough cough!"

"Cough cough!"

Kogoro Mouri looked completely bewildered, Ran had a headache, and Sera Masumi was shocked.

Hondou Eisuke's eyes lit up. Ai pouted.

Why are you taking food and drinks at the same time?

Zheng Yi covered his mouth and coughed twice.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter if we don’t lose money, since it wasn’t very valuable to begin with,” Zheng Yi said.

"We absolutely have to pay for it!" Sonoko said, grabbing Hondo Eisuke's arm.
"If I damage any more artwork, I'll just pay for it myself to Brother Zhengyi."

"go!"

Sonoko grabbed Hondo Eisuke and strode towards the entrance of the art museum.

"Sonoko-kun, could you slow down a bit? My legs are a little weak."

"Slow down, slow down, slow down when you pass by artworks."

Hondo Eisuke was dragged away.

Zheng Yi smiled and asked Xiao Lan and the others, "Shall we continue to look at these artworks?"

"what?"

Xiaolan and the others were somewhat hesitant.

Do we really want to continue the tour?

What if they also damage a few artworks? We really can't afford to pay for it.

“Let’s go, let’s go. I trust the museum’s ability to protect these artworks. The previous ones were all accidents,” Zheng Yi said.

Ran and Masumi exchanged a glance, then gritted their teeth and continued walking, with Kogoro following helplessly.

Little Ai trailed behind them.

After they left, she carefully crouched down, just as she was about to pick up the scraps of paper from the ground,
A large hand grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up.

"Come on, Ai, you don't need to clean up this trash. The art museum has professional cleaners." Masakazu looked at Ai with a smile.

Ai's leg wobbled, and realizing she couldn't put weight on it, she could only roll her eyes at Masakazu.

"When did you learn magic?" Ai asked.

"What kind of magic trick?" Zheng Yi looked puzzled.

Then he quickly smiled and said, "If you like magic, I can learn it for you."

Ai pouted.

You're always putting on an act, aren't you?

I know you so well, do you still need to put on an act in front of me?
He noticed that Ai was whispering something to him.

He lifted Ai up a little higher and put his ear close to Ai's mouth.

Ai whispered, "You must have hidden those IOUs by now, right?"

"No." Masakazu ruffled Ai's hair.

You know me so well, yet you still misunderstand me.

“I said I wouldn’t let Bentang Eisuke return it, so I won’t let Bentang Eisuke return it,” Zhengyi said.

Xiao Ai looked at Zheng Yidao suspiciously: "Does he also have an older sister?"

Zheng Yi has a criminal record.

Using the younger sister to control the older sister.

It's not impossible for another sibling to use their younger brother to control their older sister or brother.

"Why do you think so much?" Zheng Yi tapped Ai's forehead.

Am I that kind of person?
Xiao Ai rubbed her forehead in dissatisfaction.

You're absolutely right.

It's likely that those damaged artworks were also fake.

Ai reached out and held up Shoichi's eyelids.

There wasn't a single bloodshot in your eyes. If those artworks were real, you would have gone crazy by now.

Shoichi angrily slapped Ai's hand away and pinched her nose.

Inside the art museum.

When Xiaolan and her group visited other artworks, they were very careful, afraid of damaging anything.

Zheng Yi seemed to notice their restraint, so he simply took them to the lounge to rest.

Everyone was relieved.

Safe.

Zheng Yi took out several magazines and handed them to the group; they were all introductions to artworks in the art museum.

Since you don't want to see the real thing, you can only look at it here.

After flipping through a few pages, Xiaolan suddenly realized a big problem.

"Why hasn't Conan come back yet?" Ran asked.

Kogoro was also taken aback.

Will this little rascal run around and damage the artwork, getting caught by the museum staff?

Kogoro was thinking about how to distance himself from this brat.

He would absolutely not pay for that brat's money.

Sera Masumi's eyes flickered.

After pressing Ai down on the sofa, he said, "I'll go look for him. Maybe he's just lost."

Zhengyi glanced at his watch.

More than an hour has passed since Conan left, and so far there has been no alarming noise or police presence.

It seems the art museum won't have a successful opening today.

Conan was quite sensible and didn't cause any trouble for Shoichi.

Masakazu went out to find Conan.

They quickly found the sneaky little devil.

Conan, wearing headphones, was carefully hiding behind a vase display stand.

Fortunately, Conan doesn't have the bad luck of Eisuke Hondo, otherwise he would have been hit on the head by a vase.

"Conan, what are you doing here?"

Conan looked up, then breathed a sigh of relief and muttered:
"It's Brother Zhengyi. I was eavesdropping on what Sentou Shunji was saying."

"Oh." Zheng Yi nodded.

"You've been out for too long. Go back first. Xiaolan is already sensing something's wrong."

"Okay." Conan hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Anyway, a bugging device has already been installed on Senju Junji, so we can monitor him in real time.

If he has connections with the organization, he'll be exposed sooner or later.

Conan stood up.

Zheng Yi glanced at the booth behind him and shook his head regretfully.

Conan can only kill people, not works of art.

"Let's go, I'll treat everyone to lunch," Zheng Yi said.

I made a lot of money today, and I'm thinking of spending it.

"it is good."

Conan followed behind Shoichi towards the lounge.

……

The nights in Tokyo always carry a damp chill.

Rena Mizunashi dragged her tired body back to her apartment in Beika Town.

As the lead anchorwoman for Nichiri TV, she had just finished a three-hour late-night news recording.

She wanted to take a hot shower to wash away the fatigue of being Kir and Rena Mizunashi all day.

However, as a seasoned CIA agent, her sensitivity to her environment was ingrained in her very being.

wrong.

Her pupils contracted slightly in an instant.

Although it was extremely subtle, she was certain that the cushions of the beige fabric sofa were not as dented as they had been when she left the house that morning.

Someone has been here.

Someone touched her things.

Rena Mizunashi didn't turn on the main lights, but instead quietly entered the living room using the dim light from the entryway.

She went around to the back of the sofa and scanned the surroundings.

Finally, my gaze settled on the coffee table.

There should have been nothing there originally.

And now, right in the center of the coffee table, under the remote control, is a torn-off notebook.

She cautiously looked around, and only after confirming that there were no ambushes did she slowly pick up the paper.

She unfolded the paper.

What she saw was not the threatening letter, coded message, or instructions from the organization that she had expected.

The top line is a crooked, illegible line of text.

Is this an IOU? (End of Chapter)