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

A white RX7 parked in the shadows of a street corner. Amuro Toru tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips. Karasuma Renya's voice came through the speakerphone with his usual arrogance. He had just finished his meeting with Gin, and the sinister look in his eyes had not yet faded.

The conflict between rum and gin is on the verge of breaking out, and Binga's death is just the trigger.

Inside the Karasuma Group's branch in Ishikawa Prefecture, Karasuma Renya rubbed the edge of his helmet with his fingertips and patted Kudo Yuki's shoulder: "Is Jianiang interested in this?"

He glanced in the direction of the laboratory, his tone full of contempt, "It's a pity that he's just a piece of trash, unable to even maintain the most basic loyalty. But don't worry, when the project succeeds, those traitors will pay the price."

Jiajiu lowered his eyes to hide the cold light in his eyes.

There was a slight hum of electricity coming from the microphone behind his ear, and Amuro Toru lowered his voice very low: "He is testing you, just follow his words and don't show that you care about the vodka."

Shushu muttered angrily, "He actually said that about vodka! I'm going to sneak a bite out of him later!"

"Stop messing around." Kudo Yuki replied telepathically, pressing her fingertips lightly on the bottom of the perfume bottle.

There was a miniature camera hidden there, facing the load-bearing wall at the end of the corridor. She nodded slightly and met Karasuma Renya's gaze. "Boss, you always have good taste."

The laboratory door was suddenly pushed open.

Vodka had broken free at some point and was stumbling out, his eyes filled with fear: "Fire... So much fire..."

The researcher hurriedly tried to stop him, but was pushed away by him.

Karasuma Renya's face darkened and he was about to scold.

Amuro Toru's voice suddenly became urgent over the speaker: "Use perfume! The calming ingredients in it can temporarily suppress the side effects of ES Dark Amber, and the name of the gin wine can awaken his subconscious!"

Kudo Yuki immediately stepped forward and put the perfume bottle close to Vodka's nose.

"Take a deep breath." Her voice was strangely soothing, and the amber liquid swayed in the bottle. "Think about Gin's car, think about the bar you often go to."

Vodka's movements suddenly stopped, his scattered eyes gradually focusing. He stared blankly at the butterfly mask before him and muttered, "Gin... bar..."

Karasuma Renya raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Amuro Toru's voice sounded again, with a hint of relief: "There's a microphone behind the floor lamp. Blink over there three times. I need to confirm whether he has arranged additional monitoring nearby."

Kudo Yuki put away the perfume bottle, turned around and blinked at the floor lamp in the blind spot of the surveillance camera, and a soft "received" sound came from the communicator.

"It seems 'ES Amber' still needs improvement." She said in a relaxed tone, "If there's nothing else, old man, I'll be leaving now."

Karasuma Renya waved his hand, his eyes fixed on the dark patterns revealed by her skirt as it swept across the ground. He said thoughtfully, "I'll have my secretary accompany you to see places you haven't been to, from the first floor to the rooftop."

The female secretary stepped forward with a professional smile, "Fine wine, please follow me."

Kudo Yuki nodded and followed.

Shushu said angrily, "This woman smells like Vermouth! She's staring at the dark pattern on the hem of your skirt!"

Amuro Toru's voice followed closely behind, lower than the sound of electricity: "People from Vermouth? Interesting. Don't panic, let Shushu start the recording as planned, and pay attention to every corner where the female secretary stops."

The uncle hiding in Kudo Yuki's bun immediately pricked up his ears, his round eyes glanced around vigilantly, and his chubby little paws scratched the system interface twice - and started recording.

The female secretary turned sideways and introduced the Karasuma family crest hanging on the wall behind the central reception desk in the first floor lobby. "The first floor is the group's reception area. Ordinary visitors can only come here. The crest is made of pure gold, and the crow's eye on it is inlaid with a ruby."

Kudo Yuki caught a glimpse of Shushu squatting in the potted plant at the front desk. His chubby little paws were quickly operating the recorder, while he didn't forget to glance at the female secretary.

"The second floor is the administrative office area, where all the documents for each department are transferred." The female secretary stepped onto the stairs. "On the east side of the second floor is the data room, which stores the group's project records from the past ten years."

She reached out to press the combination lock, "Fine wine, do you want to go in and take a look?"

"No need." Kudo Yuki glanced at the crow pattern on the door lock, which was the emblem of the Karasuma family. "Tampering with the old man's things will easily cause trouble."

The female secretary led Kudo Yuki to the third floor. On the wall at the corner of the stairs hung several old oil paintings, all of which showed crows perched on the top of the castle.

"The third floor is the R&D support area," the secretary said, her fingertips tracing across the frame of a painting. "It houses the materials analysis room and the equipment maintenance team, providing basic support for the lab's projects. Fine wines probably wouldn't be interested in these areas, right?"

Kudo Yuki's eyes fell on the crow emblem in the corner of the painting and she replied calmly, "Not really interested."

Amuro Toru's voice came through the microphone: "Rat is in the ventilation duct on the third floor. Tell it to pay attention to the list of materials, especially the parts marked in red."

Shushu's voice was a little muffled, obviously hiding in a cramped space. "Got it! It's really dusty here. I need to wash my paws later!"

The corridor on the fourth floor is a bit colder than that downstairs.

The sound of the female secretary's high heels hitting the ground was particularly clear.

"The fourth floor is the outer perimeter of the core R&D area," she gestured to the closed doors on either side. "The labs here are responsible for the basic data simulations for ES Dark Amber. The researchers inside don't even have the guts to look me in the eye."

Kudo Yuki's eyes swept over the number on the house number.

Amuro Toru's voice was very soft over the microphone: "Ask Shushu to check Room 407. This room was mentioned in the encrypted file we intercepted last time."

The rat hiding in her hair immediately moved, its round eyes peeking through the crack in the door. "I see! The walls are covered with brain wave maps, and there's a red book with the 'Compatibility List' written on it!"

The female secretary seemed to have noticed nothing unusual and walked straight towards the stairs. "The fifth floor is the Karasuma family's collection room. The boss occasionally comes here to spend an afternoon."

The moment the door opened, a rich woody aroma hit me. In the center of the room, a display case held various antique firearms. In the corner, a glass case held a yellowed sheet of music with a crow emblem printed on the cover.

"That's the boss's music from his youth," the secretary said with awe. "It's said that it can make anyone who hears it... absolutely obedient."

Kudo Yuki tapped her fingertips lightly on the perfume bottle where the camera was hidden - that was a signal to Amuro Toru to record the location of the music score.

Shushu took the opportunity to crawl to the bottom of the display cabinet, and his fat paws quickly took a picture of the collection list.

The corridor on the sixth floor is isolated from all sounds.

The female secretary stood in front of a carved wooden door: "This is the boss's private study. Apart from him, only you can come in and take a look."

The bookshelves inside the door reached all the way to the ceiling. On the rosewood table in the middle stood a bronze crow ornament with two dark green gemstones as its eyes.

Kudo Yuki noticed the number "001" engraved on the base of the ornament, and suddenly remembered the file of the first generation test subject mentioned by Amuro Toru.

"The boss likes to handle private matters here," the secretary's gaze paused on her face for a moment, "including... monitoring certain disobedient subordinates."

Kudo Yuki pretended to admire the ancient books on the bookshelf and said to Shushu telepathically, "Record the wiring diagram of the study, especially the hidden wires in the corners."

Two guards in black were standing at the stairs on the seventh floor. They immediately stood at attention and saluted when they saw the female secretary.

"The seventh floor is the main laboratory of ES Dark Amber," the female secretary showed her iris recognition. "The boss was just here."

The laboratory was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and traces of restraints remained on the metal countertops.

Shushu sniffed and said, "We found Vodka's hair! And this instrument, the screen is flashing 'ES Amber -24%'!"

Amuro Toru's voice suddenly tightened: "Remember the model of the instrument. After Yingchuan infiltrates, you must find out its power source."

The eighth floor is a spacious terrace with a crow statue of the Karasuma family standing in the center.

The female secretary pointed to the coastline in the distance and said, "From here you can see the group's dock. All the experimental materials are shipped in from there."

She suddenly turned around, a strange smile on her face. "Jiang, what do you think would happen if someone betrayed the boss and fell from here?"

Kudo Yuki looked at the rubies in the statue's eyes and said calmly, "At least it's better than being turned into a puppet by ES Dark Amber."

Rat suddenly scurried around in her pocket.

Amuro Toru's voice followed closely: "The secretary hid something behind the statue! Let Shu Shu go and check it out!"

Shushu quickly slipped out of the sleeve and rolled back in a few seconds later: "It's a miniature bomb! It's connected to a cell phone!"

The female secretary seemed not to hear the noise and looked at her watch: "We're at the rooftop. The boss asked me to take you back to the lab."

Kudo Yuki turned around and caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of Shushu taking a picture of the bomb model.

Amuro Toru chuckled through the speaker: "The people in Vermouth are really willing to spend money. Shushu, send the recording over. We should retreat."

She followed the secretary back, and the mouse in her pocket was humming and transferring files.

In the distance, in a black sedan with a silver crow logo, Rum twirled the edge of the medicine box with his fingertips. "The side effects of this batch of medicine haven't been fully adjusted yet, but it's enough to deal with those fence-sitters."

The man who took the medicine box stroked the faint crow pattern on the box surface with his fingertips - he knew it was Rum's work, and the "gift" given to the abandoned child was always wrapped in a deadly sugar coating.

There were no pills in the medicine box, but two tubes of liquid with a light purple fluorescent light. The words "APTX4869" on the label were deliberately crossed out, leaving only the incomplete number on the edge.

"Inject this into the bomb fuse," Rum's voice came through the one-eyed reflection in the rearview mirror, with a hint of amusement. "The Metropolitan Police Department has been tightening their inspections lately. Give them a taste of 'accident'. Remember, the noise must be loud enough for the entire capital to hear."

The man knew that he had long been a discarded pawn on the chessboard. What Rum wanted was not the success of the mission, but to use him to stir up troubled waters.

The Metropolitan Police Department will naturally investigate thoroughly if it is enraged. If Gin intervenes at that time, it will give people a reason to criticize him; if Karasuma Renya sits back and does nothing, it will appear that he is showing weakness to the police.

It was all someone else's plan anyway. He clutched the medicine box tightly, turned around, got out of the car, and disappeared in the crowd.

At the Karasuma Group headquarters, Kudo Yuki followed the female secretary back to the laboratory corridor.

Karasuma Renya was standing in front of Vodka's laboratory table, holding the syringe with his fingertips. The liquid inside was a dark gray color that was completely different from the "ES Dark Amber".

"The wine has arrived just in time. Let's see if this 'improved version' can make vodka remember its place."

Vodka was fixed to the metal table with restraints, his face as pale as paper, and suppressed sobs came from his throat.

Kudo Yuki noticed that the skin on his wrist was an abnormal bluish-purple color, which was a typical symptom of the side effects of "ES Dark Amber" - continuous spasm of nerve endings.

"What does the old man want him to remember?" Kudo Yuki walked forward, gently rotating the perfume bottle at her fingertips, and the camera silently aimed at the scale on the syringe.

Karasuma Renya finally turned around, a complex look flashing in his eyes: "Remember who his master is. Gin has raised him too wild, it's time to control his temper."

Come to think of it, if you hadn't dragged me out of the burning car at the scene of the accident, I'm afraid the one standing here now would be another 'experimental subject'."

That memory seemed to be covered with a layer of gray fog.

Kudo Yuki still remembers the plot that Shushu sent her at that time - the harsh metal friction sound when the two cars collided, the encrypted files tightly grasped by the bloody knuckles of the Metropolitan Police Department undercover, and the strength with which Karasuma Renya grasped her sleeve before he fell into coma.

She pressed the bottom of the perfume bottle: "It's just a small favor, don't worry about it, old man."

"The fire was really intense that day." Karasuma Renya suddenly chuckled, tapping his fingertips on the syringe. "The thing in the undercover's arms was burning and crackling, as if it was speaking out for him." He looked up at Kudo Yuki. "What do you think he was protecting with his life?"

Kudo Yuki's heart suddenly sank.

The voice of Amuro Toru was immediately heard through the microphone: "Don't answer, he is trying to find out the whereabouts of the document."

"Who knows?" Kudo Yuki lowered her eyes, the camera on the bottom of the perfume bottle focused on the sedimentary lines of the dark gray liquid in the syringe. "Maybe it's just a family photo."

Karasuma Renya's fingers tightened around the syringe, and the dark gray liquid bubbled up into a fine foam within the glass tube. "Family portrait?" He chuckled, his gaze grazing over Vodka's twitching fingers. "People at the Metropolitan Police Department aren't that sentimental."

Karasuma Renya's fingertips paused on the syringe, the dark gray liquid swaying gently with his movements. He suddenly laughed, a hint of amusement in his voice. "A family portrait? That's possible. Those undercover agents always like to hide their weaknesses, but they don't know that the most fatal weakness is never the weakness, but the thought of betrayal."

Kudo Yuki remembered the plot that Shushu had passed on to her. The edges of the encrypted file that the undercover agent had been scorched black by the flames, but it was Shushu who used a micro scanner to send it to Kuroda Heibei overnight, which allowed the file recording the list of early experimental subjects of "ES Dark Amber" to be preserved.

"The old man is right." She tried to sound calm, and out of the corner of her eye she saw cold sweat on Vodka's eyelashes. "After all, in the organization, nostalgia is not a good thing."

"You never reminisce about the past." Karasuma Renya suddenly leaned in, his breath brushing against the butterfly mask beside her ear. "When we came out of the fire that day, you didn't even bother to look back. The undercover agent was burned and curled up in a ball, but you walked away cleanly on the broken glass."

To be continued...