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

"Gin moved quickly and didn't alert the patrol." Zhu Fujingguang's voice came from the communicator, with a hint of tension. "I'm watching the corridor surveillance. The guards on duty are handing over the registration forms. No one is going towards the back door yet."

Shushu was clinging to the screen, his chubby paw pointing at the real-time footage from inside the lab. "He went to the observation room in Area B! Vodka is still sitting in the chair, and the instrument light is still on. It looks like he hasn't been moved!"

On the screen, Gin walked quickly through the corridor, his footsteps drowned out by the hum of the ventilation ducts.

Arriving outside the observation room, he did not push the door open immediately. Instead, he put his ear to the crack of the door and listened attentively. After confirming that there was only the subtle sound of the instruments running in the room, he slowly turned the doorknob.

Vodka heard the noise, and his expression finally showed some movement. He looked up and saw Gin, and opened his mouth in surprise: "Big... Big Brother!"

Gin pushed the door open and closed it behind him without a sound. He glanced at the flashing instrument in front of Vodka, then his gaze finally fell back on his face. His tone was devoid of emotion: "Sit up straight."

Vodka subconsciously tensed his back, his expression of numbness fading, leaving only the awkwardness of surviving a disaster. He opened his mouth, but Gin raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Don't talk nonsense." Gin walked over to the instrument, his fingertips quickly running across the control panel, his eyes skimming over the flickering data. "After that adult threw you in, what else did he do besides letting you stay here 'on standby'? Draw blood? Inject reagents? Or let you touch anything?"

His questions went straight to the point, without any small talk. In the organization, warmth was the most useless burden. At this moment, he wanted only accurate information.

Karasuma Renya suddenly transferred Vodka as an "experimental subject" and temporarily shelved the injection plan. Behind this abnormal behavior, there may not only be adjustments to the "ES Dark Amber Plan", but it may also be a test against him.

Vodka's voice was a little dry. "I had blood drawn twice, and... I was injected with drugs twice. I didn't feel anything the first time, but I was unconscious for over half an hour after the second time. When I woke up, I felt heavy all over and my head was foggy, as if I was wrapped in something."

There was a hint of confusion and uncertainty in his eyes.

"But the strange thing is, every time the effect of the drug is about to be overwhelmed, there is always a force that pushes the heavy feeling back, as if... as if someone is secretly helping me.

I asked the researchers guarding here, but they all feigned ignorance. Last night, in the middle of the night, I heard two researchers muttering outside the door, "Lady Vermouth secretly adjusted the dosage of the reagent, otherwise this kid wouldn't have made it this far."

Gin's fingertips paused on the control panel, his eyes darkening. "Vermouth? She's actually getting involved in this? Is it simply out of some past friendship, or is there something else going on?"

He didn't ask any more questions, but instead pressed on, "Besides the researcher, who else has been here?"

"That gentleman came once," Vodka tried to recall, his tone becoming increasingly cautious. "He was accompanied by Fine Wine. They stood behind the instrument and talked for a while. They seemed to be discussing something like 'adaptation data' and 'brainwave synchronization rate'. I couldn't hear clearly, but I just remember that gentleman glanced at me before leaving."

"Fine wine..." Gin repeated the name in a low voice, stroking the handle of the gun with his fingertips.

He was able to find this place thanks to the text message sent by Vermouth.

A few words indicated the access control and shift schedules for the observation room. The video Jia Jiu had previously sent him accurately captured the observation room's internal layout and the locations of its instrument switches. These two individuals, one openly and one covertly, provided information, seemingly having already grasped his intentions.

Gin didn't have time to think about the two people's intentions. The most important thing at the moment was to confirm Vodka's condition.

He leaned closer to Vodka, his eyes scanning his neck and wrists. He found no obvious pinholes, only a faint bluish tinge beneath the skin. "How do you feel now? Besides feeling heavy, is there anything else wrong? Like seeing strange images or hearing unfamiliar voices?"

"No, I'm just slow-witted," Vodka answered honestly. Looking at Gin's tense face, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are you here to save me? Can we leave now?"

"What's the hurry?" Gin stood up and looked at the control panel again. His fingers moved quickly, copying all the experimental data on the screen to the micro USB drive he carried with him.

"That lord temporarily shelved the injection plan, not out of pity, but waiting for the equipment for the 'ES Amber Project' to be debugged. Leaving now would be like walking into his trap."

He unplugged the USB drive and stuffed it into the inner pocket of his windbreaker. He then fished out a small, colorless potion from his pocket and tossed it to Vodka: "Drink this. It can suppress the effects of the remaining drugs in your system. Don't be such a fool and let others use you as a test subject."

Vodka took the potion, unscrewed it and drank it without hesitation. The moment his Adam's apple rolled, Gin had already walked to the door and raised his hand to press the door handle.

Gin turned back to look at him, his tone still cold and hard: "Stay still and don't touch the instruments here. I will find a chance to get you out. Remember, no matter what happens next, don't mention Vermouth and fine wine to anyone, including those in the organization."

Vodka nodded in agreement.

Gin pushed the door open and slipped out, his footsteps quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor. In the observation room, Vodka clutched the empty potion tube, the dull look in his eyes still lingering.

At the same time, the silver car was driving steadily on the road away from the organization laboratory.

In the passenger seat, Kudo Yuki tapped the car screen with her fingertips, calling up the "safe evacuation" signal from Zhufu Jingguang, and the corners of her mouth relaxed slightly.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Toru Amuro looked straight ahead, his right hand holding the steering wheel, his left hand resting on the center console, his knuckles tapping lightly, as if he was sorting out his thoughts.

Shushu squatted on Kudo Snow's legs, rubbing his eyes with his chubby paws, and complained softly, "Gin is really fast, but that stupid big guy Vodka, if Vermouth hadn't secretly adjusted the reagents, he would have collapsed long ago, right?"

Kudo Yuki lowered her head and gently scratched Shu Shu's chin with her fingertips. Her tone was calm but with a hint of deep meaning: "Vermouth never does meaningless things. She helps Vodka, not necessarily out of favor."

She looked at Amuro Toru, "Do you think she's trying to show her loyalty to Gin? After all, Karasuma Renya's probing of Gin is becoming increasingly obvious, and Rum is watching closely from the sidelines. She needs to find a position."

Amuro Toru looked ahead, turned the steering wheel slightly to avoid the speed bump ahead, and said in a low voice: "It's possible. But what's more troublesome is Karasuma Renya's thoughts. He used vodka as a test product and shelved the plan. It's obvious that he is trying to hook Gin.

Now Gin has crushed the bugged communicator and reconnected it, clearly trying to 'cooperate'. This situation is only going to get more chaotic."

"And rum!" Shushu suddenly jumped up and patted Kudo Yuki's hand with his little chubby paws.

"He must be furious right now! Even Karasuma Renya is starting to suspect him. This old fox is going to fall sooner or later! And since we intercepted his 'supply of people' before, he might be thinking about how to get back at us!"

A cold glint flashed in Kudo Yuki's eyes. "Rum's ambition is too great, and he's long forgotten the rules of the organization. But what he hates most right now is probably that we've cut off his path to expanding his influence through the 'ES Dark Amber Project'."

Amuro Toru's eyes were sharp. "We still have to be careful of Rum getting desperate. He might use this as a tactic to sow discord between you and the organization. After all, although Karasuma Renya recognizes the identity of 'Fine Wine', Rum has always been good at stirring up trouble."

"Provoke? He doesn't have that ability yet." Kudo Yuki chuckled, her fingertips sliding across the hidden permission icon of "Fine Wine" on the car screen.

"Karasuma Renya only recognizes me as 'Fine Wine'. Even if Rum complains, he won't be able to produce evidence. Besides, Vermouth doesn't know I'm Fine Wine yet. Her cooperation with me to fight the organization is a mutual benefit. As long as our goals are the same, we can't capsize for the time being."

Shushu tilted his head and scratched his ears with his little paws. "Oh, oh, how's Conan doing? After he confessed his identity to Mao Lilan, nothing went wrong, right? Last time I heard him say that Mao Lilan calls him 'Shinichi' when no one is around, but still calls him 'Conan' when people are around. It's quite interesting."

Kudo Yuki's tone softened. "He's adapting quickly, but Ran occasionally worries about his safety. But with Subaru Okiya watching over him, and the FBI cooperating, there's no danger for now."

He already knows that the 'ES Dark Amber Project' is a brainwashing device development project, and is working with Ai to figure out how to destroy the core program. He's said to have figured out the general pattern of the device's energy supply.

Amuro Toru added, "What we need to do next is wait for news from Gin. Since he agreed to save Vodka, he will definitely find an opportunity to contact us. Then we can follow him and find the core laboratory location of the 'ES Amber Project'. The experimental data we copied now can also help Conan and Ai find a breakthrough faster."

Kudo Yuki nodded and tapped the screen again with her fingertips to call up Miyano Akemi's security location.

The red dot remained steadily in the agreed safe house area, and she felt a little relieved.

Shushu suddenly said angrily, "Speaking of data, we previously spent a lot of effort to get the approximate storage area of ​​the equipment from Rum's men. Now that we have the experimental data obtained by Gin, we finally don't have to search like a headless chicken!"

Kudo Yuki couldn't help but smile. "Being able to figure out the general area where the 'ES Amber Project' equipment is stored is already a significant step forward. The rest depends on whether Gin can obtain the authorization key. That is the key to entering the core laboratory."

Amuro Toru stepped on the accelerator, and the car sped through the intersection, his tone solemn: "Gin has the information given by Vermouth and you, and he also copied Vodka's experimental data. It's only a matter of time before he gets the key.

But we must be careful. Since Karasuma Renya was able to place a bug in his communicator, he must have a backup plan. He might have guessed that we would cooperate with Gin and is waiting for us to fall into his trap."

Shushu squatted on Kudo Xue's legs, hugging his knees with his little paws, and suddenly lowered his voice: "Tell me, who is Karasuma Renya trying to control with the 'ES Amber Project'? How can those important people be brainwashed so easily?"

Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru exchanged a glance, each seeing a solemn look in the other's eyes: "Maybe it's not just about controlling external figures." Amuro Toru said in a deep voice, "Rum wants to interfere with the plan, Gin is being tested, and Vodka is being used as a test subject.

He may want to first eliminate the 'unstable factors' within the organization and turn everyone into puppets who completely obey him, so that he can use this plan to control the outside world without any scruples."

Kudo Yuki stroked the magician's divination cards in her palm with her fingertips, and the cards glowed faintly in the sunlight.

"No matter who he wants to control, this plan must be destroyed. Next, we need to keep a close eye on Rum and Gin's movements. Rum will most likely do something shady because his 'supply' was intercepted, and as for Gin, we need to ensure he can get the key without any problems. At the same time, have Conan and Ai speed up their research. As long as they can find the core vulnerability of the device, they can hit it with one strike."

The car gradually drove into the city and merged into the traffic flow.

Shushu leaned against the car window, looking at the bustling crowd outside, and suddenly sighed: "I hope this will all end soon. I still want to go back to Poirot Cafe to eat the sandwiches made by Amuro. The last time I had them was a long time ago!"

Hearing this, Amuro Toru smiled faintly and said, "Once this is over, you can have as many portions as you want, not to mention double portions."

Kudo Yuki watched the interaction between the two, and a hint of warmth flashed in her eyes.

The silver car was parked in a secluded spot on the street corner.

Kudo Yuki swiped her fingertips across the car's screen, bringing up the encrypted communication channel. A message from Conan popped up on the screen, along with a code analysis report.

"Conan and Ai disassembled some of the experimental data and discovered that the brainwashing program of the 'ES Dark Amber Project' requires a specific brainwave frequency to be effective."

Kudo Yuki quickly scanned the report, her tone solemn, "Vodka's brainwave data is right at the program's 'critical adaptation point'. Karasuma Renya is using him as a test subject, probably intending to use him as a 'living calibrator.'"

Amuro Toru raised his hand and rubbed his brow, tapping the center console with his left hand. "No wonder Karasuma Renye put the injection plan on hold. He's waiting for Vodka's body to fully adapt to the reagent. Once the calibration is complete, the subsequent brainwashing equipment can be used in large quantities."

Shushu came to the screen and pointed at the words "energy supply module" in the report with his chubby little paw.

"Conan said that the core energy source of the device is hidden in the third underground floor of the organization's headquarters, but it is guarded 24 hours a day by Rum's men. The energy source has a triple encryption lock, and you must obtain the authorization key to get close."

Kudo Yuki's phone suddenly vibrated, and a text message from an unfamiliar number popped up on the screen:

Tomorrow night at 10:00, at the dock warehouse, bring the vodka adaptation data to exchange for the key, and don't play tricks. - Gin: Gin

"Gin's pretty quick." Amuro Toru glanced at the text message, his tone a little wary. "He offered to swap, maybe to test our background."

Kudo Yuki took a screenshot of the message and saved it, rubbing her fingertips along the edge of her phone. "No matter what he's trying to test, we must get the key. I'll go to the appointment tomorrow night, and you stay outside to meet him. Also, keep an eye on Rum's movements to prevent him from sabotaging anything."

Shushu immediately raised his little paw: "I'll go with Xiaoxue! It's dark in the warehouse, and if there's an ambush, I can help scout the way!"

Kudo Yuki smiled and rubbed its head: "Okay, take you, the 'scout', with you, so we can have more protection."

To be continued...