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

Kudo Yuki stared at the screen and saved the shift roster.

Rat grumbled quietly, "Gin is following Rum? Then when is he going to rescue Vodka? We can't let him really be drugged as a test subject!"

Amuro Toru raised his hand and pressed the button on his headset, connecting to the encrypted communication with Zhufu Jingguang. His voice was so low that it almost melted into the evening breeze. "Yingchuan, confirm the number of guards in Area B of the laboratory. Keep a close eye on Vodka's location. Report any unusual movements immediately."

Zhu Fu Jingguang's calm response soon came from the other end of the communication: "It has been confirmed that there are currently six guards in Area B. Vodka is locked in the innermost laboratory, and there are two guards at the door.

In addition, I saw Gin's car parked at the back door of the laboratory three minutes ago. He didn't get close and only stayed in the car for two minutes. He should have been quickly confirming the location where Vodka was imprisoned.

He didn't stop for long and drove straight after one of Rum's men, a black car. Judging from the route, it was heading towards Beika-cho 4-chome, probably tracking Rum's men.

Kudo Yuki tapped her phone's screen with her fingertips, saving the shift roster and Morobushi Kagemitsu's message together. Her brow furrowed slightly, "Gin is on two fronts. He's trying to figure out Vodka's situation while tracking Rum's men."

Not only can we grasp the movements of Rum and Cohen's meeting, but we can also wait until their attention is focused on Wakasa Rumi, and then find a gap to rescue Vodka, just in time to avoid the spies on both sides."

Shushu grabbed Kudo Yuki's collar with his claws and shook it: "Gin's calculations are quite clever! But Rum is not a fool, right? If he finds out that Gin is staring at him, will he set a trap for Gin in return?"

Amuro Toru withdrew his hand from the headset, glanced at the vehicles passing by the hospital entrance, and lowered his voice even more: "Rum is now fully focused on getting rid of Wakasa Rumi and guarding against Karasuma Renya's surveillance, so he may not notice Gin's little move.

Gin has always been good at hiding his whereabouts. He only stayed at the back door of the laboratory for two minutes because he didn't want to leave any traces."

He pulled up a map of the area around Beika-cho 4-chome and pointed his finger at a hidden alley.

"This is the side alley where Rum and Cohen are meeting. There's a blind spot for surveillance. Gin will most likely park his car here so he can observe what's going on inside without being discovered."

Kudo Yuki leaned over to take a look at the map and nodded in agreement. "Also, according to the shift schedule Vermouth gave, there's a ten-minute break at 1 a.m. in Laboratory Area B. That's when the guards are most relaxed. Gin must have calculated this time accurately. After he's dealt with Rum's surveillance, he'll take advantage of the gap to rescue Vodka."

As they were talking, the phone in Kudo Yuki's pocket suddenly vibrated. It was an encrypted message from Subaru Okiya: "We've arrived near Beika-cho 4-chome. Gin's car is parked at the west alley. Rum and Cohen haven't arrived yet. I'll keep an eye on Gin's movements and update you if anything happens."

When Toru Amuro saw the news, a glint of understanding flashed in his eyes. "Okiya Subaru's arrival is just in time. With him keeping an eye on Gin, we can focus more on handling matters at the hospital. The surveillance frequency bands arranged by Manager Kuroda haven't been updated yet. If the people from the brewery come to cause trouble at this time, it will disrupt all our plans."

He had just finished speaking when Zhu Fushiguri's voice suddenly came through the headset, with a hint of urgency: "There's movement in the lab! A researcher in a white coat just went to Area B with Karasuma Renya's authorization documents. It seems that they want to inject Vodka with the 'enhancing drug' in advance, two hours earlier than scheduled!"

Kudo Yuki's expression changed slightly, and she immediately clicked on the shift roster. "Early injection? Is Karasuma Renya testing Gin, or is Rum deliberately trying to divert attention?"

She quickly glanced at the shift change time. "It's still three hours until one in the morning. If the injection is given early, Gin's original plan will be completely messed up!"

Amuro Toru immediately turned on the headset: "Kagekawa, can you think of a way to delay us? For example, create a small accident so that the researcher can't get in for a while?"

"I'll try." Zhu Fujingguang paused. "There's a fire alarm at the end of the corridor in Area B. I can trigger it remotely and pretend a circuit malfunction. That way, the guards will definitely check the alarm first, and the researchers won't be able to enter the lab for the time being. But it can only delay them for ten minutes at most. After ten minutes, they'll definitely realize it was a false alarm."

"That's enough." Kudo Yuki immediately replied to Okiya Subaru, "Is there any movement from Gin? The lab injected Vodka with the drug in advance, and asked him to find a way to alert Gin as soon as possible!"

A few seconds later, Subaru Okiya's message came back: "Gin just received an anonymous message. He started the car immediately after reading it. He must have learned about the situation in the laboratory. He didn't go to the laboratory, but instead accelerated towards the meeting place of Rum. He probably wanted to deal with Cohen first and then rush to the laboratory!"

Shushu was so anxious that he scratched Kudo Yuki's clothes with his claws: "Gin is taking a risk! If he confronts Cohen head-on, won't he reveal his purpose?"

Amuro Toru shook his head. "Gin won't fight head-on. He sped over, probably wanting to lure Cohen away before they met. As long as Cohen isn't there, Rum won't be able to attack Wakasa Rumi for the time being, and he can find another opportunity to rescue Vodka."

He looked at his watch, then at Kudo Yuki: "We have to go to the lab to pick him up. Although Gin has a plan, Karasuma Renya's people might still be watching from the dark. If Gin gets into trouble while rescuing Vodka, we can cover for him."

Kudo Yuki nodded, put the phone in her pocket, bent down and touched Shushu's head: "It might be a little messy later, so you stay in my sleeve and don't run around."

Shushu nodded quickly and crawled back along her wrist to her sleeve, leaving only his little head exposed: "I will definitely not cause any more trouble, and I can even help you listen to what's going on around you!"

The two walked quickly towards the parking lot. The moment Amuro Toru opened the car door, he turned around and said to Kudo Yuki, "When I delivered cookies to the nurses' station just now, I specifically confirmed with the head nurse that there are two plainclothes guards at the door of Xiaolan and Sonoko's ward. They were arranged by Manager Kuroda, so there is no problem with security."

Kudo Yuki breathed a sigh of relief and sat in the passenger seat: "That's good, no need to worry about them."

The car started and drove towards the laboratory.

As the night deepens, there are fewer and fewer vehicles on the streets, with only street lights casting flowing light and shadows on the car windows.

Occasionally, Zhu Fujingguang's report came through the headset: "The fire alarm has been triggered, and the guards have gone to check. The researcher has been stopped outside the laboratory, but he seems to be calling higher-ups, probably reporting the situation."

Kudo Yuki tapped her fingertips lightly on her knees, staring at the street scene passing by outside the window. "Any news from Gin? Did Subaru Okiya say he was in contact with Cohen?"

Just as Amuro Toru was about to speak, a message from Subaru Okiya arrived: "Gin led Cohen to an apartment building three blocks away from Beika-cho 4-chome. The two did not engage in physical action. Gin seemed to have said something to Cohen, and Cohen's face turned grim. Afterwards, Gin drove towards the laboratory. Rum is still waiting for Cohen at 4-chome, and he found nothing unusual."

"Gin is using the brewery's rules to pressure Cohen." A glint of understanding flashed in Amuro Toru's eyes. "Cohen has always been under Gin's orders. Gin must have used 'Karasuma Renya's order' to get him to temporarily forgo meeting Rum and wait elsewhere. This way, he can avoid exposing his intentions without delaying the meeting."

The car quickly approached the laboratory. Amuro Toru parked the car in a hidden alley and turned off the headlights.

The two sat in the car, staring at the laboratory door through the window.

Shushu poked his head out from his sleeve and whispered, "It's so quiet in there, no movement at all. Has Gin already gone in?"

Kudo Yuki's phone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Vermouth:

Gin has entered Area B. I'll help him distract the guards at the door. Gin should be able to meet Vodka within ten minutes. Karasuma Renya's men haven't noticed anything unusual. Stay away and wait for Gin to come out. - Vermouth: Absinthe

Amuro Toru leaned back in his chair: "Vermouth really has a backup plan. With her help, Gin will be much smoother."

Not long after, a figure quickly walked out from the shadow of the back door of the laboratory. It was Gin.

He walked straight towards the Porsche 356A hidden at the entrance of the alley without stopping. His finger stopped on the door handle and he glanced back at the closed back door of the laboratory. There was no unnecessary emotion in his eyes.

Kudo Yuki could see clearly in the car that it took Gin no more than eight minutes from the time he entered the laboratory to the time he came out, and it was obvious that he did not bring vodka with him.

Zhu Fushigaku's voice soon came through the headset: "Gin only spoke to Vodka for three minutes after entering the lab and didn't touch the lock. I saw him give Vodka a small metal box, probably an antidote or something. He came out directly, and the guards didn't notice anything unusual."

Shushu peeked through the car window and muttered quietly, "He didn't get rescued? Is Gin still waiting for the right opportunity? But he just went in, why didn't he take this opportunity to bring Vodka out?"

Amuro Toru lowered his voice, "It's too risky to leave now. Vermouth only has ten minutes to distract the guards. If Gin forces the lock and takes Vodka away, we'll both be trapped if we're caught by the corridor's surveillance cameras or encounter a returning researcher. Unsure of a rescue will only drag us in."

Subaru Okiya sent another message:

Rum, unable to wait for Cohen at Beika-cho 4-chome, had already started calling to inquire about him, his tone quite impatient. Gin's car had driven east of the lab, avoiding the main road, presumably to avoid possible spies.

Kudo Yuki clicked on the message, her brows furrowed slightly. "Is Gin dragging his feet on purpose? He's neither saving Vodka immediately nor completely breaking off relations with Rum."

Amuro Toru tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel, his eyes still fixed on the back door of the laboratory. His voice was as deep as if it was soaked in the night: "It's not delaying, it's waiting for a 'foolproof' opportunity.

Gin knew better than anyone that taking Vodka away now would put them both on the spot. When Rum discovered Cohen had been transferred, his first reaction was to find the traitor, and with Vodka gone, all clues would point to him.

Kudo Yuki slid her fingertips across the screen of her mobile phone repeatedly, watching the real-time information about Rum's movements from Subaru Okiya, and looked up at Toru Amuro.

"Look, Rum has already sent his men to check the lab. He didn't find Cohen, so he suspected something was wrong with Vodka. I'm afraid what Gin just gave Vodka wasn't just an antidote, right?"

Kudo Yuki rubbed the edge of her phone with her fingertips, reflecting on what Amuro Toru had said. "Besides, Karasuma Renya suddenly arranged the injection ahead of time, perhaps he was waiting for Gin to 'fall into his trap.' If he really managed to force his way out with Vodka, he'd fall right into the trap of 'tampering with the experimental subject.' Then Karasuma Renya could use him to establish his authority and naturally take over Vodka, killing two birds with one stone."

Rat in the cuff shrank his little head and muttered softly, "This distillery is too complicated! Gin gave Vodka the antidote, intending to let him withstand the drug injected in advance? But what if the drug is too strong and the antidote doesn't work?"

Amuro Toru's eyes swept across the window on the second floor of the laboratory, where a figure in a white coat was vaguely swaying, and his voice became even deeper: "Gin won't do anything without confidence.

What he stuffed into Vodka was most likely not just an antidote, but possibly an inhibitor that could temporarily block the drug's side effects, at least until rescue was truly possible."

Toru Amuro tapped out a rhythm with his fingertips on his knees.

"Now that Rum can't wait for Cohen at Beika-cho 4-chome, he's bound to become suspicious. Given his personality, he'll either go find Cohen himself or dispatch personnel to investigate the cause of Cohen's disappearance, which will distract the lab's attention—which is exactly what Gin wants."

Just as the voice fell, Kudo Yuki's phone vibrated again, and Okiya Subaru's message brought new developments:

Rum, unable to find Cohen, had already sent someone to the lab to retrieve surveillance footage from Area B, claiming they were "verifying the progress of the experiment." He likely suspected Cohen of having connections to the lab. Furthermore, Gin's car was parked in an abandoned warehouse south of the lab, the engine running, as if he were ready to move at any moment.

"Checking the surveillance?" Kudo Yuki's brows furrowed even tighter. "Are you really going to check the progress of the experiment, or are you trying to take this opportunity to see if Gin has tampered with anything in the lab?"

"Both." Amuro Toru immediately pressed the microphone. "Kagekawa, Rum's people are going to check the surveillance footage of Area B. Can you think of a way to tamper with the surveillance data? No need to delete it. Just replace the few minutes of footage of Gin entering and leaving with the archived footage from the same time yesterday. Don't leave any traces."

Zhu Fujingguang's response came quickly: "No problem, I have cracked the backend permissions of the monitoring system before, and it will be done in three minutes. However, if Rum's people bring professional technicians, they may discover the data anomaly, and it can be concealed for at most half an hour."

"Half an hour is enough." Kudo Yuki immediately took over and quickly replied to Okiya Subaru, "Let Gin keep an eye on the movement near the warehouse. Rum adjusting the surveillance is just a test. Maybe they will send someone to the warehouse to check."

Remind him that there's an inspection hatch in the ventilation duct on the west side of Lab B, which Vermouth had previously marked in the shift roster. It leads directly to the lab where Vodka is being held, and is more discreet than going through the main entrance.

To be continued...