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

Toru Amuro was driving past the Yoshiwarasou Apartment Building at 4-chome, Beika-cho, and his eyes inadvertently swept over the building.

This place has been the place where many stories took place, and it is also where Conan often comes to get clues.

Conan sat in the back seat, following Amuro Toru's gaze towards Yoshiwara-so Apartment. Suddenly, he remembered something and tapped his fingers on his knees twice.

"Thinking about that unexpected encounter with Agent Cameron?" Kudo Yuki's voice drifted over with a smile. "I remember you even gave him a fake name on the spur of the moment."

Conan's body stiffened, and the tips of his ears instantly turned a faint red. He hurriedly turned his head to avoid Amuro Toru's curious gaze, and said in a muffled voice, "This is an emergency! We can't just reveal our identity..."

"Is the situation so urgent that we have to call 'Anton Reiya'?" Kudo Yuki chuckled, leaning against the car window, her fingertips tapping the reflection of Yoshiwara House on the glass. "I saw it with my own eyes. Agent Cameron was stunned for a full three seconds before reacting. His expression was like that of a teacher being pranked by an elementary school student—helpless and amusing at the same time."

Amuro Toru paused his knuckles gripping the steering wheel, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "So there's such a thing? It seems our little detective occasionally makes cute little mistakes in his 'disguise'."

Conan lost his temper completely after being teased by the two men. He turned his head away and stared at the street scene passing by outside the window, his voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "At least it didn't affect the investigation in the end..."

Even so, my cheeks burned even more.

The pseudonym he used was simply an emergency plan in an emergency. Now that it was brought up and teased, even he felt guilty, and he couldn't suppress the redness on the tips of his ears.

Toru Amuro couldn't hide the smile in the corner of his eyes. He turned the steering wheel lightly in his palm and the car drove through the traffic light at the corner.

"It's true that it didn't affect the investigation, but I'm betting Agent Cameron might even laugh when he thinks of the name 'Anton Liye'."

Toru Amuro deliberately slowed down his speech, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Conan's ears in the back seat were so red that they were almost bleeding.

"You're probably the only one in Beika Town who can come up with an elementary school student's pseudonym that could make an FBI agent freeze for three seconds."

Conan tightened his grip on the hem of his clothes and simply buried his face in the shadow of the car window, leaving only half of his red chin exposed.

"They say haste breeds chaos!" he muttered, a hint of unfounded annoyance in his voice. "When Agent Cameron suddenly appeared at the apartment door, I couldn't just stand there and say, 'I'm Kudo Shinichi,' could I?"

Kudo Yuki turned sideways, poking Conan's arm lightly with her fingertips, her eyes full of mischief: "Even if you panic in a hurry, you can't be so cute.

If you had said 'Edogawa Conan', maybe Cameron wouldn't have been so surprised, but you chose to make up the serious-sounding 'Anton Reiya', and ended up clutching the corner of your clothes nervously after you said it. I couldn't help laughing standing next to you."

"You're still laughing!" Conan suddenly looked up and glared at her, but the blush on his cheeks spread down his neck to his collar, "Why didn't you remind me at the time?"

"Remind you what? Remind you to change to a name that sounds more like an elementary school student?" Kudo Yuki squinted her eyes and took out a lemon candy from her bag and handed it to him. "But seriously, when Cameron later talked to me about this, he said, 'That kid named Anton Liye has a more serious look in his eyes than an adult.' So the name wasn't in vain."

While waiting at the red light, Amuro Toru glanced in the rearview mirror at Conan, who was pinching a lemon candy and whose ears were still red. The corners of his mouth curled up: "Actually, 'Anton Reiya' is not that bad. At least it has more 'imposingness' than 'Edogawa Conan'. Next time I encounter this situation again, I might as well think of a few backup kana in advance to avoid getting my ears red with anxiety."

Conan bit into the lemon candy, the sweet and sour taste spreading on his tongue, but it didn't suppress the heat in his cheeks. He crumpled the candy wrapper into a small ball and held it in his hand, muttering softly, "Who would think of such things in advance..."

Having said that, I secretly made a note in my heart - next time I make up a pseudonym, I must never make this mistake that makes me blush for a long time.

The green light came on and the car started again.

Conan looked at the gradually shrinking shadow of Yoshiwara-so Apartment, and the redness on the tip of his ear finally faded away. However, when he thought of the teasing between the two people just now, he couldn't help but curl his lips down, but he clenched the lemon candy in his hand tighter and tighter, and even an indescribable, slightly hot warmth rose in his heart.

As the car passed the third intersection, Kudo Yuki said, "By the way, the Kanagawa incident just happened. Xiaolan and Sonoko are still under observation at the Central Hospital. Do you want to take a detour and take a look?"

Conan paused, pinching the candy wrapper. The red on the tip of his ear hadn't completely faded, but his voice brightened immediately: "Great! Xiaolan sent a message this morning saying that Sonoko always found the ward boring, so it's a good time to bring some of Poirot's sandwiches over."

Amuro Toru glanced at Conan, who had suddenly become alert, in the rearview mirror, his lips curled slightly, and he turned the steering wheel lightly: "It's on the way. I'm going to get food at Boro. You wait for me at the door for five minutes. Remember not to worry Miss Xiaolan anymore. The doctor said she needs more rest after choking on the water this time."

Kudo Yuki smiled and nodded. Just as she pushed open the car door, she heard a slight rustling sound from her sleeves.

Shushu crawled out along her wrist, squatted on her palm and muttered quietly, "The hospital smells so strong of disinfectant, but I haven't finished the cheese biscuits that Suzuki Sonoko sent to Xiaoxue last time. I wish I could have two more packs!"

Amuro Toru's ears twitched, but he didn't poke anything. He just held Poirot's lunch bag and waved it towards the two of them. "Don't worry, I've prepared Miss Sonoko's favorite strawberry sandwich, and Miss Ran's favorite ham and egg."

As the three of them walked into the hospital's inpatient department, they heard Suzuki Sonoko's complaining voice coming from the ward: "Xiaolan! You've been lying in bed all day. Conan and Sister Xue must be here soon. Why don't we sneak out and take a walk in the garden downstairs!"

"No, the doctor said you still need observation, and Shinichi... Conan won't let you run around." Ran Mouri's voice was helpless.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Kudo Xue push the door open and come in with a lunch bag in her hand.

"It seems we arrived just in time and missed the 'escape plan'." Kudo Yuki handed over the sandwich and her eyes fell on Mao Li Ran's wrist.

There was still gauze wrapped around it, caused by scratches from underwater debris during the Kanagawa incident.

Conan leaned over and looked up and asked, "Sister Xiaolan, how are you feeling today? Did the doctor say when you can be discharged?"

Mao Lilan rubbed his hair, her eyes full of tenderness: "I'm much better now. The doctor said to check again tomorrow. If there's no problem, you can be discharged from the hospital. By the way, Xin..."

She glanced at Suzuki Sonoko next to her and lowered her voice, "I saw the message you sent yesterday. Don't worry too much. Be safe."

Conan's ears turned red and he nodded quickly: "I know, with Sister Xue and Mr. Amuro's help, nothing will happen."

Toru Amuro leaned against the door frame and glanced at the surveillance cameras in the ward.

That was arranged by Kuroda Bei to prevent the people from the winery from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.

Just as he was about to speak, the phone in his pocket vibrated. It was a message from Zhu Fu Jingguang, just a short sentence:

The lurking went smoothly.

Toru Amuro swiped his finger across the phone screen and quickly deleted the four words "lurking smoothly".

When he looked up, the sharpness in his eyes was completely hidden.

He put his phone back into his pocket, and saw Conan approach Mao Lilan, and gently touched the gauze on her wrist with his small hand: "Sister Xiaolan, does the wound still hurt? I asked the doctor yesterday, and he said that shallow wounds heal quickly, just don't touch water."

Lilan smiled and shook his head, rubbing the top of Conan's head with his fingertips, and lowered his voice: "Shinichi, I'm fine. But you, it was so dangerous underwater in Kanagawa, don't take such risks again in the future."

Conan's ears turned red again and he nodded quickly, not forgetting to wink at Kudo Yuki, fearing that Sonoko would hear the flaw.

Suzuki Sonoko didn't notice the two people's little tricks. She bit her strawberry sandwich and said vaguely, "Sister Xue, Mr. Amuro understands me too well! This strawberry jam is even sweeter than the one Poirot had last time!"

Kudo Yuki smiled and replied, "I know you like sweet things, so I asked Amuro to add two more spoonfuls of strawberry jam."

Shushu suddenly rubbed her fingertips and muttered softly, "I should have asked Xiaoxue to ask for an extra cheesecake. Sandwiches don't smell as good as biscuits..."

Amuro Toru's ears caught Shu Shu's complaints, and a smile flashed in his eyes, but he didn't point it out. He just leaned against the door frame and gently reminded: "Ms. Sonoko, eat slowly, don't choke. Miss Xiaolan's ham and egg sandwich is just the right temperature, eat it while it's hot."

Ran Mouri picked up the sandwich and took a small bite, but her eyes unconsciously fell on Conan's red ears.

She hadn't avoided mentioning "Shinichi" when she'd just said that to Suzuki Sonoko, but fortunately, she was so engrossed in her strawberry jam that she didn't even notice. She quietly touched the back of Conan's hand with her fingertips and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Don't worry about me all the time. You should also take care of yourself, although I'm not quite sure what the situation is..."

Conan tightened his grip on the candy wrapper and nodded quickly: "I'll be more careful next time."

Suzuki Sonoko finished the last bite of her sandwich and suddenly clapped her hands. "Oh, by the way, Sister Xue! I told my dad yesterday that I wanted to add Poirot's strawberry sandwiches to the Suzuki Group's afternoon tea menu, and he actually agreed! From now on, I can eat them every day!"

"Thank you, Miss Sonoko, for taking care of our business." Kudo Yuki replied with a smile.

As soon as the laughter in the ward died down, the phone in Kudo Yuki's pocket suddenly vibrated twice.

She pressed her fingertip on the screen and glanced at it. It was an encrypted message from Vermouth, just a short sentence:

Rum is meeting Cohen tonight at Beikacho 4-chome.

Toru Amuro leaned against the door frame, and saw her fingertips pause slightly out of the corner of his eye, and immediately understood - this was the movement from the winery.

He coughed lightly and spoke naturally to Conan and Mao Lilan: "I'm going downstairs to confirm the follow-up security arrangements. Manager Kuroda just said that the monitoring frequency band needs to be updated."

Kudo Yuki crumpled the lemon candy wrapper into a ball and stuffed it into her pocket. She bent down and stroked Shushu's little head. "I'll go with you. I'll also bring some Poirot cookies to the nurses' station. The nurses were very helpful just now."

The two walked out of the ward, and the smell of disinfectant in the corridor became lighter.

Shushu crawled out from Kudo Yuki's sleeve, squatted on her shoulder and whispered, "Did Vermouth send another message? Is Rum going to cause trouble again? I heard your phone vibrate in the ward just now, and it was quieter than the sound of Suzuki Sonoko chewing a sandwich!"

Amuro Toru's ears caught Shu Shu's words, and without stopping, he lowered his voice very low: "Rum is looking for Cohen, probably because of Wakasa Rumi. Last time, Gin changed the assassination to observation, Rum must not give up."

Kudo Yuki nodded, and quickly replied to Vermouth on the phone screen with her fingertips:

Got it, I'll keep an eye on it. - Vintage Wine: Fine Wine

Just as he reached the elevator, an anonymous message suddenly popped up on Amuro Toru's phone. It was from Zhu Fushi Jingguang:

There was some movement in the distillery laboratory tonight. Vodka was taken to Area B and the guard said that they were going to conduct an "enhancement experiment."

Kudo Yuki paused, frowning slightly: "What about Gin?"

Amuro Toru's fingertips rubbed the edge of the phone, a sharp glint in his eyes: "He knows what to do better than us. Didn't Vermouth give him a video of Vodka's condition? Gin won't let anything really happen to his own people. At most, he's taking this opportunity to see what Karasuma Renya is holding."

The elevator door opened and the two walked in.

Shushu lay on Kudo Yuki's shoulder, its little paws clawing at her collar. "Isn't the 'ES Amber Project' equipment in Lab Area B? Last time I heard the people at the winery talking about using that equipment to 'control the big guys.' It's even sneakier than me stealing cookies!"

Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru looked at each other - Shu Shu's words confirmed their guess.

The core equipment of the "ES Dark Amber Project" was indeed in the laboratory, and Vodka was taken to Area B, perhaps to test the "effect" of the equipment.

The elevator number slowly dropped. Kudo Yuki tapped quickly on the screen of her mobile phone, encrypting the message "The core equipment of the ES Dark Amber Project is in Area B, and vodka is being used as a test subject" and sending it to Kuroda Heibei.

Shushu lay on her shoulder, digging into her collar with his little paws and shaking it: "I wonder if that old man, Karasuma Renya, will overturn the car?"

The elevator door slowly opened, and the smell of disinfectant was diluted a little by the evening breeze outside the corridor.

Shushu was still muttering, "If the equipment in the 'ES Amber Project' can really brainwash people, won't Vodka's brain be made even dumber? The last time he chased us, he couldn't even tell left from right!"

Amuro Toru paused, quickly tapping out the message "Laboratory Area B, Increase Security" on his phone screen and sending it to Zhufu Jingguang. The sharpness in his eyes deepened a bit, "If Vodka really becomes a test subject, Gin will definitely not sit idly by. But now that his authority is restricted, he has to find another opportunity."

Kudo Yuki lowered her voice very low: "Since Vermouth is willing to send the message, she may have already made a backup plan. She knows the guard layout of the laboratory better than us."

The phone in her pocket vibrated again. Vermouth sent her the patrol roster for Laboratory Area B, with a note at the end: "Gin should follow Rum tonight. Don't get too close."

To be continued...