The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Haibara Ai didn't look at the computer in front of them, but just let her eyes wander back and forth between the two people's faces.

She slowly pulled off the latex gloves on her hands and asked directly in a torturous tone: "Tell me, what happened?"

She has been really busy lately, so busy that even the doctor and Kudo have time to do things behind her back.

The subsequent research and development and promotion of APTX-related drugs left her too busy to spare time after class. Just like this time with Itakura Taku, although she did not personally perform the vitreous injection on Itakura Taku, she personally prepared the injection formula after carefully studying the patient's medical history and medical records, and asked Asai Narumi, who could be considered an assistant, to handle and be responsible for it personally.

She is still continuing to develop appropriate formulas for the use of this drug in other organs, as well as more possibilities in the medical field, such as the pie she drew for Itakura Taku to treat the heart. For such a critical organ as the heart, more data and clinical trials are needed to support the dosage and usage. She is so busy that she has no time to care about the latest developments of the organization and the Phantom Thieves.

Conan glanced at the doctor, then looked at Huiyuan Ai, who looked like she had just come out of the laboratory, and spoke carefully: "Actually, it's not a big deal..."

Omitting the entanglement between Itakura Taku and the organization, and the strange situations that happened to Itakura Taku, Conan briefly explained that in a case he encountered a programmer who was forced by the organization to develop software for the organization, and that he obtained some clues related to the organization from this programmer.

He was very careful not to blur out the details about Itakura Taku's software development and the fact that he might have been coerced by code-named members of the organization while in the hotel. He just vaguely said that there were traces of people from the organization finding him in the surveillance video.

After all, he didn't need to confirm this part with Huiyuan, as he could already get clear information.

...For example, who exactly is the person who went to see Itakura Taku?

"So you got that sentence from this programmer?" Huibara Ai tilted her head.

"Well, he said that this was the answer given to him by the person who contacted him..." Conan nodded carefully. "According to the original schedule, the organization's contact person would contact him by email tonight. However, now that the organization has contacted him in advance, this information has lost its meaning."

This is the information used to coordinate the next delivery time and location. Now that Itakura Taku's software has been delivered, the organization no longer needs to take any follow-up actions.

What he didn't expect was that Haibara Ai shook her head without hesitation.

"If you ask me, the contact tonight will most likely still happen." Huibara Ai smoothed her hair and answered in a very affirmative tone.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's a very basic logic. According to what you said, Edogawa, the murderer had already attacked this person, and he could actually be considered to have been rescued by the organization. You know the organization's style. They will do anything to keep secrets. So, since this guy had already handed over the things and even considered escaping, why is he still alive?"

It was a very direct question, and Conan was stunned.

Hand over money and hand over goods, which sounds like a very reasonable transaction process.

But think about the collaborators who followed the rules honestly but were still almost blown up to the sky along with the Shinkansen by Gin. When did the organization become an honest and trustworthy party A?

Itakura Taku refused to cooperate in the early stages, and in the later stages he was sneaky and showed a tendency to run away with the money. Why did the organization spare his life?

"He didn't hand over everything?" Conan slowly opened his eyes.

"The final payment hasn't been deposited yet. It's impossible for such a seasoned outsourced engineer to not have even basic precautions." Haibara Ai shrugged, offering a very reasonable line of reasoning. "Activation codes, unlocking keys, special passwords, or function locks... They may not understand business in other areas, but when it comes to selling software, programmers are very experienced."

There is one thing to say, indeed.

Even if the software itself is handed over, engineers are not without checks and balances.

Itakura Taku is still alive and has been rescued. According to the news from the hospital, he has not yet regained consciousness, but there is no sign of his condition worsening.

The case that happened to him probably wouldn't cause much of a sensation, and might not even be reported in the newspapers. It was even more impossible for the organization to discover at this time that something had happened to Itakura Taku and he had not regained consciousness at all.

After all, when the last member of the organization who had contact with him left the hotel, Itakura Taku was obviously still alive.

In other words, if the email arrives on time tonight, the other party will have no way of determining whether the person on the other end is Itakura Taku himself...

Thinking of this, Conan couldn't sit still anymore.

"Doctor, let's go to Itakura Taku's villa and find that thing."

Then I turn on the computer over there and wait for the email that may or may not arrive.

Even if the email did not arrive as expected, it would be a good thing to prevent the organization from fully grasping what Itakura Taku delivered.

"Uh..." Dr. Agasa glanced at Haibara Ai's expression and didn't dare to respond for a moment.

Haibara Ai shook her head slightly, and her fluffy hair swayed a few times with her movement.

But what she said was somewhat beyond Conan's expectations.

"It seems you've made up your mind. My persuasion may not work. But, Kudo..."

Reaching out her hand, she pointed at the computer screen behind Conan.

On it, the document that was just being carefully studied has been closed, and now only the azure default desktop wallpaper of the doctor's computer can be seen.

"...You and I both know the weight of those words."

Reversing the flow of time - the phenomenon that happened to the two of them, as well as Vermouth's abnormally ageless beauty, have confirmed the truth of this statement.

Bringing the dead back to life—in the past, this was of course nonsense, but Conan, who had witnessed with his own eyes the miracles happening to the Phantom Thieves next door, knew that this was not an exaggeration.

The organization's absurd and crazy talk is by no means a fantasy; all this subversive and common-sense-defying thing has already happened.

So, what the organization wants to get from Itakura Taku for this purpose...

"Of course, Haibara, of course I know."

"I'm glad I understand." Before turning around and going downstairs, Huibara Ai reached out and patted Conan's clothes on his chest, as if she was brushing away the creases caused by the edge of the desk, or as if she was pointing to the heart beneath this layer of tissue. "You now represent what they want most. Not everyone who falls into the hands of the organization has the ability to hold on like Tang Ze and hold on until they regain their freedom. Be careful of your own safety, just as if it were for us."

This time, his risky action of inquiring and investigating the organization's information was rarely stopped by Haibara Ai, but Conan did not relax at all.

Sitting in the doctor's Beetle, he kept thinking about everything that happened today.

A strange phenomenon happened to Taku Itakura, a software whose purpose is unclear but is desired by the organization.

The organization's purpose, Huiyuan Ai's warning, and even things about Tang Ze...

The person who went to the hotel to meet Itakura Taku was most likely Kumail.

In other words, it was Goro Akechi.

If someone like Mori Kogoro can find him, it is impossible for him to avoid a sharp guy like Akechi Goro.

As for the fact that Itakura Taku was suspected to be dead but then resumed breathing, it was hard to say whether it was the result of some ability of Goro Akechi, or it might be the work of those phantom thieves who are good at creating mysteries of life and death. To exaggerate a little, it might be the reason why Itakura Taku said that his software might destroy humanity.

There was too little information available, and too many directions to speculate. He tried not to think too conspiratorially, so as not to misjudge his own abilities and current situation.

And when the so-called "purpose" of the organization coincided with what the Phantom Thieves were doing, Conan suddenly remembered again what Joker said about his ability being out of control at any time and that he needed to stare at his Sword of Damocles.

If the true ability that Joker refers to isn't some miraculous ability to see directly into other people's minds, or some strange control effect that can correct one's inner thoughts and personality, but something so taboo and against the laws of nature...

When his abilities get out of control, can an ordinary detective like me really stop the other party?

The Phantom Thieves who are not on guard against you seem to share many abilities and resources with you, and seem harmless and friendly, but it is another matter if you really stand against them.

The more he thought about it, the more headache he felt. No matter which of his reasoning and speculations were true, they seemed very troublesome...

"What Ai said may sound unkind, but it's true." Dr. Agasa, who was driving, whispered, interrupting Conan's chaotic thoughts, "You have to be careful, Shinichi. If the organization finds out that the person who contacted them is not Itakura himself, they might just rush into the villa with guns drawn..."

This holiday villa in the middle of nowhere, deep in the mountains, staying here late at night to contact people from the organization, makes me feel creepy no matter how I think about it.

Combined with what Itakura Taku mentioned in his diary, that his life was constantly monitored and invaded by people from the organization, it is hard to believe that there were no organized people watching at the villa at all.

If these two were discovered, based on their fighting ability, they would really be sent to the battlefield.

"I know." Conan nodded, "I'll pay attention."

His fingers gripped the phone in his pocket, and he felt a little relieved when he felt the watch sticking to his wrist as always.

Since Conan obtained some kind of permission from the Phantom Thieves and obtained a way to contact them actively, this is the first time he has actively used this method of communication to ask them for help.

The one who responded to him was not Joker, who had always kept in touch with him, but the young man who called himself Shade, who gave him the impression of being a somewhat gloomy man.

The other party was even more frugal with words than the last time Conan saw him. It seemed that when Joker was not around, the other party was too lazy to even give him a perfunctory response. He just replied briefly with two sentences: "I know" and "Wear your watch."

Never mind. No matter what, since the Phantom Thieves have revealed their knowledge of his movements, he is no longer isolated and helpless, right?

With this reassurance in mind, Conan walked out of the parking space where the doctor had hidden under the shade of a tree.

The temperature in the mountains of Gunma was already quite low, and it had already started snowing when we drove to this location. A thin layer of snow had accumulated in front of the villa, making the pitch-black villa look particularly eerie.

"It's really remote." Dr. Agasa shrank his neck and followed Conan to the back door and climbed the stairs. "Shinichi, it's not easy for you to find this place."

"It was the clients who said that. They told Uncle Maori that Itakura Taku is usually either in the studio or in the villa, and they couldn't find him either place. I remembered the address they provided." Conan sighed, bent down and groped for a while on the snow-covered wooden board.

Soon, he felt something even colder from the crack in the floor and pulled it out.

"How did you know there was a key here..." Dr. Agasa was very surprised to see Conan directly insert the key, turn it and enter the door.

Conan looked back at it curiously: "Isn't it what Itakura Taku wrote in his diary? The part where he mentioned that he found signs of intrusion in his studio. The white part is this content, and the black part says, 'A friend I haven't seen for five years called directly from my villa without even saying hello. How rude'... That means his villa key is nearby, otherwise his friend wouldn't be able to come and go as he pleases."

"You paid attention to the black text, didn't you?" Dr. Agasa, who hadn't paid any attention to what was written in the diary, laughed. "But this is too unsafe. The location is already very remote."

If someone was out to get money and kill someone, they would have skipped even the step of breaking through the door and would have walked right in.

"Maybe that's why he put the things in this villa." Conan speculated about Itakura Taku's mentality, "The most dangerous place is the safest place. This place is so undefended, the organization would not think that the most important things are stored here."

"He just wants the organization to find this place?" Dr. Agasa watched Conan use the flashlight on his watch to grope his way to the computer on the first floor, and thought, "According to his plan, he will definitely not see this email."

If it weren't for Ryusuke Soma's killer move that trapped Taku Itakura in the Shin-Mika Hotel, it is very likely that Taku Itakura would have changed hotels long ago. What's more, he might have bought a flight ticket and flew out of the border. He would definitely not have seen the email tonight.

"Yes, once they find that no one has read the emails they sent, they will follow the signal and find this villa. Itakura said that he plans to leave his unfinished software and checks here. When the time comes, they will find these things, and Itakura will no longer need to meet with them to express his rejection..."

As Conan said this, he could clearly see the check placed next to the keyboard in the dim light of the lit screen.

Itakura Taku is quite naive. At least he should exchange the check for cash.

Wouldn't that be like telling the organization that I'm still alive, my account is still active, and I can even cash checks? I'll definitely be hunted down to the ends of the earth.

Sighing inwardly, he put his things together with the box beside him and turned on the computer.

Next, it’s all about waiting.