Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

As night deepened, the neon lights of Beika Town flickered outside the windows, and the Mori Detective Agency looked slightly messy.

Conan sat quietly in the corner of the sofa, his legs curled up, holding a glass of juice in his hands.

His eyes were closed, his brows were slightly furrowed, and all his attention was focused on the specially made earphones by his ears.

The sound coming from the other end of the listening device was the heavy breathing of Senzu Junji after he returned to the hotel, and the crisp sound of ice cubes being thrown into a glass.

"Click."

The sound of a lighter rang out, and Senju Junji took a deep drag on his cigarette.

Immediately afterwards, a deeper, more subdued voice rang out; it was his secretary.

“Mr. Senju, are you really going to do this? Mr. Seiichi’s request… is far too much. And those artworks…”

Before the secretary could finish speaking, Senju Junji rudely interrupted her.

"Excessive? What do you know!" Senju Junji's voice became shrill with fear.

"Didn't you see those 'exhibits' in the art museum today?"

"That's not a work of art, that's a tombstone!"

"Zhengyi is warning us that if we don't listen, the next one to be turned into an 'art story' and hung on the wall will be you, or me!"

Conan's pupils contracted sharply, and his fingers gripping the juice glass turned white from the force.

That awful guy.

Zheng Yi was simply extending a warm invitation to you to visit the art museum.

There are no dark thoughts here.

You guys are all corrupt, but you think others are even more corrupt.

The ear-piercing scraping sound of a chair being moved came through the headphones, and Senzu Junji's voice lowered even further:
"Listen, write down all the political promises that Mr. Zhengyi made, not a single one can be omitted."

“Give him whatever he wants: funds, connections, policies…”

"His invitation to visit the art museum this time is definitely a sign of his dissatisfaction with my speed."

"If I keep dawdling like this, I'll end up being one of his collections too."

Qiantou rubbed his head, and it took him a long time to calm down.

"He was able to kill Tokiwa, make Tsuchimon Yasuhiro withdraw from the election, and even killed a member of the House of Representatives."

"Even after I became a member of parliament, I still felt very insecure when facing Zheng Yi."

Qiantou's tone was very tired, and there was also some fear in it.

The secretary could hear the tremor in his voice.

boom--!
These words struck Conan like a thunderbolt.

Conan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with shock and disbelief.

What is he talking about?
How could Representative Tokiwa and Representative Takada have been killed by Masakazu?

I solved all those cases, and I know who the murderer is better than anyone else.

As for Tumen Kanghui.

That was definitely the organization's doing; this Qian Tou Shun Si was absolutely framing Zheng Yi Ge in front of the secretary.

The thief cries "Stop thief!"—that's despicable.

The voice of Senzu Junji continued to come through the earphones:
“Zhengyi…he’s not human, he’s a demon.”

Do you think I want to give this art museum to him?

"Such a large art museum cannot be decided by me alone."

"I spent a lot of money to pull strings before I could give it to Zhengyi."

"But what can I do? If I don't give him this building and make him happy, I'll be the next one to die!"

Conan's pupils widened.

Was that art museum a gift from him to Brother Zhengyi?

Conan trusts Shoichi more and doesn't quite believe Chihiro's words.

Conan even suspects that the listening device he planted on Thousand Head has been discovered by him.

So that guy started giving him the wrong information, shifting some blame onto Zheng Yi Ge.

Conan continued listening.

Zheng Yi has helped him so much, he can't just doubt Brother Zheng Yi.

"But... Mr. Qiantou, what exactly is Zhengyi after?" The secretary's voice trembled.

"He's already very rich, so why would he get involved in such dangerous political struggles?"

"What's the point?" Senju Junji's voice suddenly turned eerie:

"Because he likes it."

"Just as you like collecting stamps and I like collecting power, he likes collecting 'death'."

"In his eyes, an assassination that shocked the nation was more artistically valuable than any of Van Gogh's paintings."

Senju Junji's voice lowered:
"His indiscriminate killings were not for any so-called business development."

"Do you think that guy has ever cared about his own company?"

"He just wanted to kill people, especially those of high status."

"He treated death as art."

"All I want is to live. So help me fulfill these promises, even if it means going bankrupt."

"As long as Zheng Yi is satisfied, as long as he lets me go..."

The conversation continues.

But Conan had already narrowed his eyes.

Keep making things up.

The content you fabricated is no longer true.

How could someone as warm-hearted and cheerful as Brother Zhengyi appreciate the art of death?
You don't understand Brother Zhengyi at all.

"Snapped!"

Conan patted his head.

But there's one thing I can't explain: if that art museum really was a gift from Qian Tou.

That's Brother Zheng...

The conversation on the other side of the thousand heads continued.

They said they would promote those laws for Zhengyi and fully support him.

Said a lot.

Conan slowly took off his headphones, his small body appearing particularly thin in the large sofa.

"Conan."

"what!?"

Ran pushed open the bedroom door, blinked at Conan, and asked, "What are you doing outside?"

Conan was startled. He hid the earphones behind his back and whispered:

"Uncle Maori's snoring is too loud, I can't sleep."

Ran looked at Conan and asked, "Why don't you come sleep in my room?"

Conan's face instantly turned red.

"No, no, I'll go back to Uncle's bedroom." Conan shook his head.

He whispered goodnight to Xiaolan, then went back to his room and lay down.

His mind is a complete mess right now.

Actually, people had been telling him all along that Zheng Yi Ge was not a good person.

But Zheng Yi was very good to him, and he solved all those cases himself.

He himself knew that those were just malicious speculations about Zheng Yi Ge.

I should trust Brother Zhengyi.

Can,
Could it be that my reasoning is wrong?

Conan's mind was wandering, and he eventually fell asleep without realizing it.

Early the next morning.

It was still a day off, and Conan stayed at home, his mind still preoccupied with Shoichi's affairs.

He was wearing headphones, and the other side hadn't yet discovered his bugging device.

However, it seems that Qiantou has changed his clothes and can no longer hear what he is saying.

Kogoro sat on the sofa, holding a newspaper and reading it.

Doing nothing at the detective agency, waiting for customers to come in.

"That actor, just elected as a member of parliament, is already advocating for so many bills?"

"It seems this guy really wants to make something of himself. I just wonder what these bills are like."

"bill!"

Upon hearing the name Chizu, Conan glanced at Kogoro Mouri with some sensitivity.

"Uncle Mori, let me see."

Conan snatched the newspaper away.

Kogoro looked at Conan strangely, and instead of rewarding him with his favorite treat—a fist—he asked, puzzled:
"Why would a primary school student like you care about this kind of thing?"

Conan casually made up a story: "I want to see if this gives us an extra holiday." "That's impossible," Kogoro scoffed. "You kids should all be locked up in school, so you won't come out and cause trouble."

Kogoro believes that all these troublesome kids should be locked up in school.

Especially that brat Conan.

He repeatedly caused trouble while he was solving the case.

After giving Kogoro a perfunctory reply, Conan carefully examined the contents of the newspaper.

The bill that Qian Tou was going to push through in the newspaper was exactly the same as what he had heard through the wiretap.

There are also some detailed provisions of the bill above.

These terms are all favorable to Zheng Yi Ge's companies.

Qiantou wasn't completely lying.

Conan panicked.

He thought about all the little things he had shared with Zheng Yi and really didn't want to guess that Zheng Yi was a bad person.

But these bills represent real, tangible benefits.

Could it really be that Zheng Yi and Qian Tou are collaborating?

But Zheng Yi clearly told me that he wasn't familiar with Qian Tou.

I'm going out for a bit!

Conan threw down the newspaper and left without looking back.

"That kid, really."

Kogoro looked displeased and picked up the newspaper he had dropped on the ground.

After Conan went outside...

They did not choose to confront Zheng Yi directly.

He kept thinking about the previous cases as he walked.

In many cases involving Zheng Yi Ge, he is the biggest beneficiary, which is why he is suspected.

But he solved all those cases.

Conan sought out Professor Agasa and asked him to help investigate the matter of the Museum of the Day.

This matter is not difficult to investigate.

After asking a friend, Dr. Agasa easily found out the answer.

The art museum was rented to Shoichi by the government for 100 yen per year.

And the lease term is one thousand years.

This is not much different from giving it directly to Zhengyi.

“I don’t think Shoichi is a bad person,” Professor Agasa said.

Conan shook his head.

He's really annoyed right now.

Because everything he overheard was correct, it all pointed to Zheng Yi Ge having a problem.

"Let me look at the previous files first and see if there was anything wrong with my previous reasoning," Conan said.

Conan is starting to doubt himself.

Dr. Agasa shook his head: "Why don't we just go and confront Masakazu directly?"

"If he were a bad person, he wouldn't have helped you so much."

"You said he might have connections with Qiantou, but there's an organized shadow behind Qiantou's election campaign."

“If Zheng Yi had any connection with the organization, you would probably have been arrested by them long ago.”

Professor Agasa still has great faith in Shoichi's character.

Conan scratched his head in frustration: "But, this election has organized participation, and it was Zhengyi who told me about that."

"I couldn't find any trace of the organization myself, and I don't know if I'm really related to it."

If Zheng Yi is a bad person.

He could easily deceive himself.

Conan said, "Let's investigate those previous cases first."

"If we can't find anything wrong, I'll go find Brother Zhengyi again."

Shoichi knows too much about Conan.

Therefore, Conan's trust in Shoichi outweighs his suspicion.

But the information he heard this time still made Conan want to be suspicious.

He took out his phone, ready to contact Heiji.

He asked Heiji to review the previous files together to see if he had overlooked anything.

"Zizi~"

Suddenly, Conan heard a sound again through the earphones he was always wearing.

The voice sounded like a maid's.

Why is there chewing gum stuck on my clothes?

not good!

Things have taken a turn for the worst.

The maid removed the chewing gum with her hands and discovered the listening device on it.

"what is this?"

The maid didn't know what it was, but she still notified Qiantou.

Conan heard a burst of furious voice from the other end.

"Listen! No matter who you are, you won't have a good ending!"

"No matter what you hear, you must not tell anyone, or you and I will both die!"

Qiantou's voice was exceptionally angry.

Along with anger, there was also some fear.

He was wearing this outfit when he talked about Zhengyi.

Zheng Yi did so many things, but there was no actual evidence.

The methods Zheng Yi used to destroy evidence are self-evident.

Now, someone has a recording about how Zhengyi was ruthless and manipulated parliamentary elections.

this is too scary.

After hearing the furious voice, Conan heard a "buzz" sound, and the bugging device was destroyed.

Over there, at Qiantou.

After discovering that they were being wiretapped, they felt nothing but anger and fear.

He paced back and forth in the room, thinking of a solution.

He dared not tell Zheng Yi, fearing that Zheng Yi would blame him.

He also feared that if this recording were to surface in the future, it would implicate his entire family.

So, she dialed Zhengyi's number anyway, and said in a trembling voice:

"Mr. Zhengyi, I have something to tell you."

"Someone planted a listening device in my clothes and eavesdropped on some bad news about you."

"I am very sorry for my mistake, please punish me."

Zheng Yi is, as always, a nice guy.

I never get angry, even when I've made a huge mess, I never yell at anyone.

She spoke softly as always: "You don't need to worry, and you don't need to investigate this matter. I'll handle everything."

"Don't worry, I will take care of it."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Qiantou nodded repeatedly.

Although Zheng Yi spoke lightly and casually, Qian Tou could sense it.

In order to destroy the evidence, there will definitely be a bloody battle.

Qiantou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Thinking about what he should do to make up for his mistakes.

They are a family.

Ai's head was pressed tightly against Shoichi's head, and she overheard the conversation on the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Ai blinked.

"It seems Conan has discovered that you're a bad person," Ai said.

"How can you believe the words of a bad person?" Zheng Yi curled his lip.

"Qiantou is a bad person; you can't trust what he says."

Ai's eyes narrowed.

Indeed, you can't trust what bad people say.

She'd been deceived by Zheng Yi so many times; she should have realized this long ago. (End of Chapter)