Detective Conan: The System Takes Me to Zero's World

It was just dawn, and the warm yellow light of the Poirot Café on the corner was already shimmering. Kudo Yuki turned the familiar corner and, while no one was around, took off her butterfly mask and stuffed it into her bag.

Amuro Toru, who was standing beside him, looked ahead, his tone filled with regret: "But the moment Vermouth admitted it herself, it still felt ironic. Bloodline is something that people can never choose."

Before he opened the door, he turned around and glanced at Kudo Yuki, his eyes soft and unnoticeable. "Like us, who can choose the path they want to take?"

Shushu suddenly popped his little head out of Kudo Yuki's pocket and patted the back of his hand with his chubby little paw. "Did she mention the secret compartment just now on purpose because she wanted us to take her to find the key?"

Toru Amuro didn't turn around, but just opened the door of the cafe for Kudo Yuki. The warm and sweet fragrance hit his face, and he whispered back, as if he was talking to the air, or as if he was talking to someone who only they could hear.

"What she wanted was never the key, but the proof of her worthiness—unfortunately, the people of the Karasuma family don't understand this the most."

The wind chimes in the Poirot Café rang softly, and the warm yellow light flooded through the door that Amuro Toru opened for Kudo Yuki, overlapping the shadows of the two people on the floor.

Zhu Fujingguang was wiping cups in an apron, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the distinct lines of his wrist bones. He looked up when he heard the sound of wind chimes, his eyes as gentle as if soaked in morning dew: "You're back earlier than expected."

"There was a little accident, but it didn't delay anything." Amuro Toru closed the door, completely isolating Chen Han outside.

Kudo Yuki walked to the bar in the warm yellow light. Shushu slipped onto the counter along her sleeve, and his chubby little paws grasped the edge of the coffee cup to look at his reflection inside.

Zhu Fujingguang put down the cup cloth, glanced across the empty countertop, and tapped his fingertips twice on the bar: "Do you need hot cocoa?"

"Two." Kudo Yuki pulled out a high stool and sat down. "Just now at the corner, Vermouth mentioned the latest developments of ES Dark Amber."

Amuro Toru took off his dew-stained jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. He glanced up at Morobushi Keimitsu, who was filling the coffee machine with beans. The sound of grinding mingled with his calm response, "Manager Kuroda reported this morning that Nagano has taken over the trading company's medicinal materials warehouse. The equipment found there matches the early blueprints of the 'ES Dark Amber' provided by Wakasa Rumi."

Shushu scurried onto the back of Amuro Toru's hand, patting his knuckles with his chubby little paws. "Is Vermouth trying to use the key to disrupt things? She was looking at Xiaoxue with a weird look just now!"

Amuro Toru curled her fingertips slightly, thinking: [She just wanted to confirm whether there was anyone in the Karasuma family who could escape the quagmire of bloodline.]

He didn't say this out loud, but just took the hot cocoa handed to him by Zhu Fujingguang and pushed it in front of Kudo Xue. The cups touched each other and the warmth came through the porcelain.

The sweet aroma of hot cocoa filled the bar.

Kudo Yuki rested her fingertips against the warm wall of the cup and looked at Morifushi Kagemitsu, who was compacting the ground coffee. "Did the rotation go smoothly in Nagano? Did it arouse any suspicion?"

Zhu Fujingguang's men worked non-stop, the steam condensing into a thin layer of mist under his eyes. "Brother Gao Ming's been very cooperative. They've sealed off the west side of the warehouse under the pretext of 'herbal medicine quarantine,' and everyone who's been moved in has a certificate from the Food and Drug Administration. It's just that the equipment inside is more sophisticated than we expected."

Kudo Yuki stirred her hot cocoa, her fingertips tracing a semicircle around the rim. "Precision equipment usually requires a dedicated maintenance team. Are there any mechanics experts among the people who were replaced in Nagano?"

"Brother Gao Ming has transferred three technicians from the forensic department to disguise them as equipment maintenance workers in the warehouse." Zhu Fujingguang put the pressed coffee powder into the extraction tank.

Steam hissed out, and he listened to the subtle sound of Shushu pulling at Amuro Toru's sleeve - although he couldn't see the furry shadow, he could always sense something unusual from Amuro Toru's slightly paused fingertips.

"A batch of medicinal herbs arrived at 3 o'clock last night. The invoice listed them as angelica and gastrodia, but when we unpacked the boxes, we discovered a microchip set hidden underneath. It matches the interface of the ES Dark Amber control module."

Kudo Yuki paused stirring, and fine ripples appeared on the surface of the hot cocoa. "Have you checked the chipset's encryption method? Is it the same source as the 'ES Dark Amber' command code that we intercepted earlier?"

"Manager Kuroda has sent it to the identification department, and the preliminary comparison results will be transmitted at noon." Zhu Fujingguang pressed the extraction button, and the dark brown coffee liquid dripped down the filter cup, forming a small vortex at the bottom of the cup.

"However, in the drawings provided by Wakasa Rumi, the markings for several encrypted interfaces are very vague, as if they were deliberately avoiding core parameters."

Shushu jumped from Amuro Toru's shoulder to the bar, twirling his chubby paw at the swirl in the coffee cup. "Blurry means something's hidden! Just like the mints that Xiaoxue hid in the cookie box. You have to stand on tiptoe to reach them!"

Kudo Yuki twisted the skewer between her fingers, pulling a thin, tough thread through the hot cocoa. "Is that vague location marked on the seventh floor underground?"

Zhu Fujing paused for a second as he pressed the powder, the steam forming beads on his eyelashes gently rolling down. "The seventh underground floor marked on the blueprint is the equipment control room, and the encryption interface is right at the core of the main console."

Kudo Yuki completely immersed herself in the hot cocoa. The brown liquid flowed over the fluffy sugar, creating tiny bubbles. "That place isn't accessible to everyone. There are restrictions. It just so happened that Karasuma Renya took me to that location, and I even got access."

Zhu Fujingguang poured the brewed coffee into a bone china cup. The milk foam drew neat spirals on the surface. When he raised his eyes, the mist on his eyelashes had not yet dissipated.

"Karasuma Ren'ya strictly controls access to the seventh underground floor. Even Rum needs a pass signed by him to enter. The fact that you've been granted access probably means more than just a 'visit.'"

Amuro Toru gathered the rat back into his palm, and brushed his fingertips across the rim of Kudo Yuki's cup: "Karasuma Renya's authority was never a gift, it was bait."

He looked up at Zhu Fushiguri, "Are there any signs of tampering with the equipment maintenance records at the Nagano warehouse?"

Zhu Fujingguang put down his latte art needle. The lines of milk foam on the porcelain cup still had the gentle curves of newly formed milk foam. He raised his hand to wipe the thin layer of frost on the tip of his nose, tapping his fingertips unconsciously on the bar, his eyes passing over the tense jawline of Amuro Toru.

"The Forensic Science Division checked the maintenance records for the past three months. The paper and electronic versions match, but there's a very faint trace of fluorescent agent on the edges of two pages. According to Metropolitan Police Department regulations, this marks the document for destruction."

He reached out and stacked the empty paper cups next to the grinder, his fingertips running over the wrinkles on the cups' rims. "Strangely enough, the area around the records cabinet was completely rummaged through, with document bags scattered all over the floor. I checked the surveillance footage and it coincided with your departure for Nagano Trading Co., Ltd."

Steam condenses into water droplets on the glass wall of the coffee machine, winding down along the lines.

Zhu Fushigure turned his face to the side, the morning light streaming across his thin shoulders, fading the melancholy in his voice. "Karasuma Renya's move is suspicious. It doesn't seem like he's simply trying to hide something. Maybe... he's deliberately letting us see those two pages with fluorescent material."

Amuro Toru tapped his fingertips on the rim of his cup twice, his eyes fixed on Kudo Yuki's hand stirring her hot cocoa. "A deliberately revealed flaw is often more dangerous than a hidden secret. The fluorescent-marked document might be bait to lure us to the third underground floor."

Shushu suddenly jumped up from the bar, and patted the back of Kudo Yuki's hand with his chubby little paw: "There's a hook in the bait! Just like the fish Officer Matsuda caught last time, the hook was hidden in the dough!"

Kudo Yuki chuckled and fished her out of the hot cocoa, her sugary body coated in a thick brown liquid. "The hook might be the permissions. The access permissions Karasuma Renya gave me are valid for the next two months—it's like he calculated I'd be in before the deadline."

Amuro Toru gathered the rat in his palm, the temperature rising slightly as his fingertips brushed against the wall of Kudo Yuki's cup. "Two months is enough time for him to tamper with the permission records. Is the Nagano warehouse's surveillance system connected to the Karasuma Group's main control network?

Zhu Fushigaku added a second batch of coffee grounds to the extraction tank. The hum of the grinder mixed with his clear response: "The Forensic Science Department dismantled the warehouse's surveillance host and found the core chip has the encrypted logo of the Karasuma Group. But strangely, the surveillance footage from the past week has been formatted - as if deliberately erasing any traces of our infiltration."

Kudo Yuki held the last sip of hot cocoa on her tongue, the sweetness spreading through her throat. "I saw vodka being used as a test product in the distillery on the third floor of the basement of the Karasuma Group headquarters."

The sweet aroma of hot cocoa had not yet dissipated, and her words were like an ice cube thrown into warm water, causing the air in front of the bar to suddenly freeze.

Amuro's fingertips holding Shushu suddenly tightened.

Shushu's chubby little paws dug into his fingers and poked his little head out: "Vodka? The big guy who always follows Gin? Doesn't he always accompany Gin on missions? How did he become a test subject?"

Kudo Yuki pushed the empty cup of hot cocoa forward and said, "Karasuma Renya might have used the excuse of becoming stronger to trick Vodka into becoming a test subject."

"Vodka..." Zhu Fujingguang paused while cleaning the filter cup. Water dripped down his bony fingers, creating tiny splashes on the stainless steel countertop. "Gin couldn't have been unaware of this. Given his personality, he would never allow his partner to become a test subject."

Kudo Yuki was spinning the reversed Magician card between her fingertips. She raised her hand and pressed the card on the bar. Her fingertips rolled over the magician's crooked scepter, and a faint curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"Since I arrived at the Karasuma Group headquarters, there have been loud noises nearby." She tilted her head to look out the window at the pale sky, tapping the edge of the card with her fingertips. "Gin must have tracked them down, but his access privileges have been revoked."

Having said this, she suddenly paused, picked up the empty glass on the bar, turned it over, and gently tapped the bottom of the glass against the counter, as if she was brushing off non-existent dust.

"So, with no other options, he had no choice but to leave." The crisp sound of the cup hitting the countertop mingled with her voice, a hint of nonchalant mockery. "I wonder how Vermouth will fan the flames and cause even more chaos within the winery?"

Shushu climbed up along the wrist that was holding the cards, and his chubby little paws were grabbing the corners of the cards and shaking them: "They will definitely say that Gin wants to keep the key for himself! And then let Gin start a civil war!"

Kudo Yuki didn't turn around, but just bent her fingers and tapped Shushu's head. The card was pushed half a circle by her fingertips, and the reversed Magician was facing the direction of the door, as if silently indicating something.

Toru Amuro watched the movement of her fingertips, and a hint of understanding flashed across his eyes - she was waiting, waiting for the fire of Vermouth to burn more vigorously.

The air in front of the bar seemed to be frozen by the news that vodka had become a test product, and even the residual steam from the coffee machine condensed in mid-air.

Amuro's knuckles turned white as he held Shu Shu's hand, and the emotions surging in his eyes flickered under the warm yellow light - he thought of the big guy who always followed Gin, who seemed clumsy but always offered weapons at critical moments. He never thought that the other party would end up in such a situation.

Shushu was pinched so hard that he couldn't breathe. His chubby little claws dug into his fingers and hummed, "If Gin knew that Vodka had become a test subject, would he blow up Karasuma Renya's basement?"

Kudo Yuki twirled the reversed Magician card between her fingers, and the corner of the card scraped across the bar, making a small sound. "It would have been easier for Gin if he had blown up Karasuma Renya's basement, but it's a pity he can't even get through the door now."

She looked up at Morobushi Kagemitsu and said, "Kagekawa, among the people who were transferred in from Nagano, are there any experts in cracking biometric systems?"

Zhu Fujingguang took off his apron and said, "Brother Gao Ming has transferred two police officers who specialize in iris recognition. They said they had previously assisted the Hokkaido Police Department in cracking the lock cylinder system of a transnational theft case."

His eyes swept across Amuro Toru's tense profile, "Do you suspect there's been a change in the access control system at the Karasuma Group headquarters?"

"It's not suspicion, it's certainty." Kudo Yuki placed the Magician card back on the table, face up. "The chip in the authorization card I obtained has a hidden module labeled 'Biometric Secondary Verification.' Since Karasuma Renya can get Vodka to volunteer as a test subject, there's no reason not to add an extra layer of security to the core area's access control."

Amuro Toru suddenly loosened his grip on Shushu's hand, tapping his fingertips on the bar in a regular rhythm, as if decoding some kind of Morse code: "Secondary verification usually requires dual authorization, either an iris comparison with Karasuma himself, or..."

"Or it could be the biological characteristics of the designated test subject." Kudo Yuki replied with a hint of coldness on her lips. "I've seen Vodka's condition with my own eyes. Although his eyes were hollow, he still had a hint of lucidity."

Amuro Toru's fingertips paused on the bar, the morning light streaming through his drooping eyelashes, casting tiny shadows on his knuckles. "Vodka's biometrics are being used as a verification key. Even if Gin tries to break in, he'll be putting his partner in even greater danger."

The hum of the coffee machine gradually stopped, and Zhu Fujingguang put the empty cups on the bar into the sterilizer one by one.

He wiped his hands and turned around. The morning light was streaming over the magician card that Kudo Yuki had placed on the bar. The reversed pattern glowed with a strange luster under the warm yellow light.

Shushu suddenly emerged from Kudo Yuki's pocket, holding half a piece in his chubby paws, and hummed incoherently, "Bind it! Just like Xiaoxue hid the spare key under the flower bed bricks, and only we know how to dig it out!"

Amuro Toru tapped Shushu's little head with his fingers, thinking to himself: "This little guy's metaphor is quite accurate."

Kudo Yuki raised her eyes and met Amuro Toru's gaze. A hint of understanding flashed in both of their eyes - Vodka's biological characteristics were probably one of the most critical keys to 'ES Dark Amber'.

To be continued...