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

As Toru Amuro drove, he pondered: "Gin's wait-and-see attitude, Rum's impulsive pursuit of quick success, and Vermouth's play-it-all mentality—the cracks in the distillery are being pried open wider by this ebony chess box."

Yasuharu Haneda tightened his grip around the chess box, his voice trembling amidst the gentle hum of his ventilator. "If Hiroshi knew the silver powder and code hidden in the chess box back then could now cause internal strife within the winery, he'd definitely be happy."

Shushu immediately straightened up, patted Kudo Yuki's knee with his chubby paw, and the silver powder on the tip of his tail gleamed. "I can smell the surveillance line! I practiced it last time in the lab!"

As soon as the rare black antique car stopped in front of the old Haneda house, the carved iron gate slowly opened from the inside.

Akai Tsutomu was wearing a dark gray wool suit with a worn silver cufflink on his cuff. His eyes fell on Yasuharu Haneda in the back seat of the car, and warmth instantly filled his eyes.

"Kanoharu, was the journey smooth?" He quickly stepped forward to open the car door, his fingertips touching the slightly cool back of Haneda Koharu's hand. He then turned to Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru, "Hot tea is already prepared inside. Mary and Masumi have been waiting for almost half an hour."

Kudo Yuki followed Akai Tsutomu across the courtyard, carrying an evidence bag containing silver powder.

Shushu poked his little head out of her pocket, and with his chubby little paws he scratched at the fabric, looking towards the living room.

Shiliang Zhenchun was lying on the carved wooden table, holding a yellowed old photo in his hand. When he saw the few people come in, he immediately jumped up: "Dad! Sister Xue! You are finally here!"

Akai Mary sat on the sofa and saw the ebony chess box in Kudo Yuki's arms. Her eyes narrowed slightly: "Houssi's chess box? Did you find any clues?"

"Not only did I find it, I also cracked the code." Kudo Yuki placed the chess box on the coffee table and scanned the lavender beam of the UV pen across the code inside. "2148. And there's silver powder hidden in the base of the chess box. It's the activation key for the 'ES Dark Amber' device lock."

Akai Tsutomu leaned over to examine the dark red velvet inside the chess box, his fingertips tracing the grooves for the corner pieces. "When the police investigated the scene, I felt something was amiss with this chess box, but unfortunately, we never found a breakthrough. Mary said you needed clues about 'ES Amber,' so I asked Kang Qing to bring it here."

Amuro Toru sat on the single sofa, his eyes swept across the portrait of Haneda Hiroshi hanging on the wall of the living room, and suddenly remembered the video sent by Vermouth.

"Vodka has been transferred to the laboratory as a live experimental subject, and Gin is forbidden from visiting. Now the rifts within the distillery are becoming more and more obvious."

"Gin won't sit still and wait for death." Akai Mari put down her teacup, "He's still looking for an opportunity to strike back. Vermouth is cooperating with you because she wants to use you to check and balance Rum and Karasuma Renya."

Sera Masumi suddenly came up to Kudo Yuki and pointed at the silver powder in the crack of the chess box. "Sister Xue, can this thing really open the secret door of the laboratory? Rum searched through all of Mr. Haneda's old things to find the key."

Kudo Yuki nodded, tapping the chess box lightly with her fingertips. "The artificial eye fragment in Wakasa-sensei's hand, combined with this code and the silver powder, will completely solve the mystery of ES Amber. She went to Café Poirot tonight to get more information about the fragment."

Akai Tsutomu took out a dark brown leather diary from the study.

"Inside this I found references to the ES Amber being a brainwashing device, as well as evidence of Rum tampering with experimental data."

Just as Kudo Yuki took the diary, Shushu suddenly jumped out, scratching the cover with his chubby little paw and sniffing, "It smells like rum! Like traces left during a struggle."

Akai Mumu handed the dark brown leather diary to Kudo Yuki. The old-fashioned wall clock in the living room had just struck ten.

Akai Mary reached out to smooth the hair behind Sera Masumi's ear, her eyes falling on the handwriting on the diary cover. She spoke with a touch of emotion, "When Wuwu went to the United States to investigate the Koji case, he only brought a copy of this diary. I didn't expect you to have kept the original all this time."

Akai Tsutomu sat down on the single sofa next to Haneda Yasuharu, tapping the armrest with his fingertips. "Yasuharu's body can't withstand long-distance travel. I originally planned to give this diary to Masumi when she's older, but now it seems that it will be more useful if I give it to Miss Kudo."

He turned to look at Kudo Yuki, trust in his eyes. "The details of the ES Amber brainwashing device recorded inside, as well as Rum's handwriting in tampering with the data, are all evidence that Hiroshi secretly copied back then. The originals were confiscated by the distillery after Amanda Hughes was murdered."

Sera Masumi moved closer to the coffee table, staring at the diary in Kudo Yuki's hand with curious blinks: "Sister Xue, is there any mention of Aunt Asaka in it? Dad said before that Miss Asaka was Amanda's bodyguard back then, and she was also there when Brother Haosi got into trouble."

Akai Mari took a sip from her teacup and added, "Asaka is now a teacher under the name Wakasa Rumi, and Koyuki has already reached a cooperation agreement with her."

She looked at Akai Tsutomu, her tone showing a hint of relief, "Now it's finally clear that she was also a victim of Haneda Hiroshi's case."

Akai Tsutomu turned his gaze to Haneda Yasuharu, seeing him stroking the edge of the ebony chess box. He slowed his voice, "Kanharu, do you remember the chess games we played in London when we were young? Koji always said you played too hastily and that you should learn the 'outflanking and trapping' strategy. Now it seems he's using that tactic to hide the clues."

Haneda Yasuharu smiled upon hearing this, and the sound of the ventilator softened a bit. "That child has been very thoughtful since he was young. Back then, he said he wanted to carry the Kakuxing Go with him as a talisman. I tried to tell him he was being childish, but I didn't expect..."

He looked down at the dark red velvet in the chess box. "Now this chess piece has become the key to uncovering the truth, and it can be said that it has fulfilled his wish."

Amuro Toru's eyes met Akai Tsutomu's.

Neither of them mentioned the hidden threads in each other's identities, simply following what Haneda Yasuharu had said: "Mr. Hiroshi's 'circumvention' is not only hidden in the chess game, but he has also unraveled the clues so meticulously, as if he had anticipated it long ago, and that it would require more hands to piece together the truth."

Mary Akai had just finished adding tea to Masumi Sera's cup, and upon hearing this, she looked at the diary in Kudo Yuki's hand.

"The copy Wuwu brought back only mentioned that 'ES Amber' could influence people's judgment, but didn't specifically say it was a brainwashing device. Now looking at the experimental data in the original document, Rum changed all the failure cases to 'successful adaptation' in order to advance the project. No wonder Karasuma Renya was kept in the dark."

Sera Masumi moved closer to Akai Mutake and gently touched the silver cufflinks on his sleeves with her fingers: "Dad, these cufflinks have worn marks."

Akai Mutake smiled and turned his cufflinks halfway, revealing the Chinese character "武" (Wu) engraved on the inside. "This was chosen for me by Koji back in London. He said, 'A member of the Akai family must have something to command attention on their cuffs.'"

Yasuharu Haneda held the ebony chess box, his breathing gradually steady, and his eyes were full of nostalgia as he looked at Tsutomu Akai.

"I remember that back then, you were searching for clues even on Christmas Eve to investigate Koji's case, and Mary was running around anxiously at home. Now, Miss Kudo has found the password and the silver powder, and Wakasa Rumi still has the fragment of the prosthetic eye. We can finally give Koji an explanation."

Kudo Yuki was flipping through the experimental records in her diary when she suddenly stopped at a certain page. In addition to Rum's handwriting, there was also half a light brown fingerprint on the paper, with very fine silver powder on the edge.

She looked up at Akai Tsutomu and said, "The pattern of this fingerprint matches the silver powder residue in the cracks of the chess box base. It must have been left by Rum when he was searching for clues."

Amuro Toru finally spoke, his tone solemn, "Rum is worried about Gin sabotaging the brewery, and Gin is wary of Karasuma Renya's surveillance. If we just push along this crack, the true nature of ES Amber will be revealed."

Kudo Yuki picked up the ultraviolet pen and shone it inside the chess box again.

"There's a faint print behind the code, but I couldn't see it clearly just now. Look, underneath the line 'Silver powder as a guide,' there's also the line 'Backup data behind the secret door.'"

Yasuharu Haneda straightened up suddenly, and the sound of the ventilator paused. "Backup data? Could it be that Haoji had a backup plan back then?"

Akai Tsutomu took the diary handed to him by Kudo Yuki and turned to the last page.

"Koushi always said, 'Important things should be hidden in plain sight.' He even had the safe in the basement made to fit the dimensions of a shogi board."

Sera Masumi immediately came over and pulled Kudo Yuki's arm: "Sister Xue, let's go to the basement now! I've always been curious about what's hidden in the basement of the old house. Dad always said he would take me in when I grow up. Now I finally have the chance!"

Akai Mary smiled and held her back: "Don't worry, let Wuwu confirm the combination of the safe first. The combination that Haoji set back then is most likely related to shogi. Maybe Kang Qing also remembers it."

Yasuharu Haneda nodded slightly, tapping the chess box three times with his fingertips. "Houssi used to like to use the positions of 'corner,' 'rook,' and 'check' as his password. The safe in the basement is designed according to a 9x9 chessboard. The password should be the initial position of the corner, '8-2,' plus the '2-8' for the rook, and finally the '5-5' for the check. That's it."

The hands of the wall clock jumped two more times.

Kudo Yukigo wrote down the password on a piece of paper, put away the chess box and diary, and followed Akai Tsutomu to the basement entrance.

Toru Amuro stayed in the living room, pretending to tidy up the tea set on the coffee table.

Shushu then jumped out of Kudo Yuki's pocket and squatted on her shoulder, pointing his chubby paw in the direction of the basement. "It smells like silver powder in there! As strong as the one in the chess box!"

Yasuharu Haneda sat on the sofa, looking at the backs of several people, a long-lost smile on his lips.

What Haneda Hiroshi put in the chess box was not a clue, but hope waiting to be lit up.

Akai Wuwu had just fastened the brass lock on the basement entrance again when he turned around and saw Akai Mary running her fingertips across the old photo album on the coffee table.

Sera Masumi came close to her and pointed at the boy in school uniform in the photo.

"This was taken the year you first joined MI6, Wuwu," Akai Mari pulled out a yellowed photo from an album. There were still faint coffee stains on the edges. "At the time, you said you were going to London for training, and Kang Qing specially ordered a cake from Poirot, but you missed the early flight."

Akai Tsutomu took the photo and rubbed the corners of Haneda Yasuharu's smiling eyes with his fingertips, his eyes filled with warmth. "Later, Yasuharu froze the cake in the freezer. When I came back three months later, the cream was so hard that I couldn't cut it."

He turned to look at Yasuharu Haneda, who was sitting on the single sofa, and said jokingly, "You said at the time that it was 'the patience to wait for the truth.' Now it seems that the truth we have been waiting for is finally coming."

Yasuharu Haneda chuckled as he hugged the ebony chess box: "If Haoji knew that your family was reunited and found the clues he hid, he would definitely drag you to play another game of chess."

Sera Masumi immediately scrambled over to Akai Tsutomu and shook his arm. "Dad, how do you actually play that 'circumventing the enemy' move you told Sister Xue about? Sister Xue just said that Brother Hao used it to hide clues, and I still don't understand it."

Akai Mary put down the photo album, picked up a strawberry from the fruit bowl and handed it to her.

"When your father played chess with Haoji, he always wanted to win quickly, but Haoji always won by using the 'corner-to-back' strategy. Later, Haoji even drew a chessboard and marked it with the words 'haste leads to loss of advantage, slowness leads to opportunity.' Now that I think about it, that kid was already using the chess game to teach us lessons."

Akai Tsutomu took out a worn silver cufflink from the inside pocket of his suit and placed it on the coffee table.

"This was chosen for me by Hiroshi in London. He said, 'A member of the Akai family needs something to impress on their cuffs.' When I was investigating his case, this cufflink accidentally scraped against a filing cabinet at the brewery. It seemed like Hiroshi had secretly left a mark for me."

Yasuharu Haneda's eyes shone with nostalgia. "Houssi said that important things should be 'hidden in plain sight.' Just like how he hid the silver powder in the base of the chess box and carved the code on the inside of the lid. It was the most easily overlooked place, but it became the key to uncovering the truth."

He lowered his head and touched the wood grain on the chess box. "Now that you three can sit here and talk about this, it can be considered as fulfilling the wish of Haosi and me."

Mary Akai picked up her teacup and glanced at the portrait of Haneda Hiroshi hanging on the living room wall. "Back then, when Wuwu went to the United States to pursue clues, I was waiting for news in Japan with the children. Every time I received a letter from him, I would read it over and over again. But now we have a clue, and it won't be long before this matter is concluded."

Sera Masumi pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to Akai Mutake. "Dad, Sister Xue just gave this to me. She said it was a simplified chart of experimental data from Hiroshi's diary. Look, the 'silver powder reaction threshold' marked here matches the silver powder Sister Xue found in the chess box."

Akai Tsutomu took the diagram, his eyes growing increasingly serious. "Rum tampered with the data to conceal the side effects of the ES Amber brainwashing device. Now with this diagram, plus the vodka experiment video sent by Gin, we can completely expose the true face of the ES Amber. All these years of waiting have finally paid off."

Yasuharu Haneda held the chess box and listened to the Akai family talking about trivial things in the past, with a faint smile on his lips.

Those memories that have been covered by the dust of time, those waits that have spanned many years, finally have a warm echo on this sunny morning.

To be continued...