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

Akai Tsutomu's fingers slid across the edge of the pistol magazine, and the cold light of the metal reflected his tense jawline.

"Mary, take Kangqing and Zhenchun to the safe house through the back door. Mr. Amuro, Ms. Kudo and I will handle it here."

Amuro Toru stroked the hidden buttons on his cuffs with his fingertips, glanced sharply out the window, and nodded imperceptibly.

"I'm not leaving!" Sera Masumi's voice suddenly rose, his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white, his eyes fixed on the data disk in Kudo Yuki's palm. "Sister Yuki said that solving Hiroshi's case requires everyone's cooperation. I can help you keep an eye on the outside world!"

Akai Mari was about to open her mouth to refute, but a sudden itch in her throat made her lean forward suddenly, interrupting the argument with a cough, and her fingertips created deep wrinkles in the corner of her clothes.

Kudo Yuki quietly retreated to the corner, her fingertips curled into fists, and she silently said in her heart: "Sign in."

"Ding, congratulations to Xiaoxue for signing in successfully today. You've received +800 mall points and the Forbidden Realm Truth Lock.

Current mall points are 13,300. System space items: Healing Elixir, Distillery Status Information, Distillery Base Location Map, Forbidden Realm Truth Lock. Please continue to sign in daily.

The system announcement followed immediately: "The Forbidden Realm Truth Lock item blocks all signals within the target's range, allowing the Truth to be spoken for 5 minutes."

Shushu's chubby paw holding the new prop poked her consciousness, his bright black eyes moving rapidly: "Xiaoxue, I'm going out to do something. You and Amuro Toru should stay here for now. I'll be back in five minutes."

Before he finished speaking, the furry shadow turned into a phantom and rushed out of the window, leaving only the trace of the window frame shaking slightly.

Amuro Toru took a half step to Kudo Yuki's side and lowered his voice with caution: "Do you need me to arrange for someone to follow you?"

He knew that this rat would never do anything in vain, but in the current situation, the more variables there were, the more risks there would be.

Kudo Yuki shook her head gently, indicating that there was no need to worry.

Her eyes swept over Akai Mari who was still coughing, and thought of how she had become a middle school student after being fed APTX4869 by Vermouth: "Majun, Aunt Mari's cough... is it a cold?"

Sera Masumi's attention was instantly drawn to her mother, but just as she was about to take a step forward, Akai Mari raised her hand to stop her.

She stood up, her face still pale. She wiped the traces from the corners of her lips with her fingertips, her voice still hoarse, "It's an old problem, it's nothing serious."

Having said that, her eyes unconsciously avoided her daughter's gaze - she couldn't say that the cough was the body's rejection of APTX4869, the price of being forced to stay in the body of a middle school student.

Kudo Yuki carefully noticed the tense jaw of Akai Mary and had already made up her mind.

Amuro Toru's voice came close to his ear, with his usual caution: "Shushu said he would be back in five minutes. We need to make sure there are no spies from the winery around before then."

Kudo Yuki nodded slightly and moved her fingertips in the direction where Shushu disappeared outside the window.

Then I heard my uncle chattering, "Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue, I found the car! It's in front of the convenience store three blocks away. Those two men look like Gin's men, but they're actually Rum's men! I'm going to ask them some questions now, so just listen."

The secret button on Amuro Toru's fingertips had already been loosened. When he heard "Rum's men", his eyebrows raised slightly, and he leaned closer to Kudo Yuki. His low voice was shrouded in coldness: "If Gin knew that Rum had planted people under his nose, I'm afraid he wouldn't just treat it as a simple 'cleaning up the mess'."

He knew Gin's personality well, and he hated anyone making small moves within the distillery, let alone something like Rum's overstepping of authority: [Gin still holds the authority granted by Karasuma Renya to "monitor Rum," but he's not here right now.]

Kudo Yuki gently curled up the hands hanging by her side, her eyes swept across Akai Mari's pale profile, and her heart quickly integrated the information.

In the shadows of the convenience store's back alley, Shushu, holding the Forbidden Truth Lock, lightly landed between the shoulders and necks of the two men in black. The moment his chubby little claw pressed the switch of the prop, a light blue light film silently enveloped the two men.

It directly hit the core: "Tell me, you are openly working with Gin, but secretly spreading news for Rum?"

The man in black on the left suddenly lost focus, his lips parted uncontrollably, and he spoke in a raspy voice, "Rum told us to keep an eye on Haneda Airport and... to get the latest APTX4869 test data to the back door of the lab, bypassing Gin's spies."

Amuro Toru's fingertips on Kudo Yuki's side sank slightly, a slight sneer escaping his throat, and he thought to himself: "As expected, they are here for the drug data."

Shushu pressed his claws against the black-clad man's neck again, asking even faster: "What does Rum want this data for? Is it related to the 'recovery plan' for his left eye?"

"It's related..." The other man in black sweated profusely, his eyes fixed on the ground. "He said the metabolites of APTX4869 can repair the optic nerve. He also asked us to keep an eye on the equipment debugging progress of the 'ES Amber Project'. He said that once he can see clearly in his left eye, he will personally modify... modify the equipment parameters."

Kudo Yuki's hands, hanging by her side, suddenly clenched tightly, and she thought to herself: "Rum is definitely tampering with the brainwashing equipment. He wants to turn the ES Amber Project into his own tool."

Shushu clearly had no intention of stopping and continued to ask, "Karamaru Renye sent Gin to monitor Rum. Are there any of you who have been spyed by Gin?"

"Two of our brothers were questioned by Gin last week, and they haven't dared to contact us since their return," the first man in black said, his voice trembling. "When Rum found out, he told us to deliberately leak a fake base map to those two, saying... that he wanted Gin to think he was still following his original plan."

The light blue color of the light film begins to fade.

Shushu knew that time was running out, so he added a crucial question: "Vodka has been transferred to the lab as a test subject. Does Rum know Karasuma Renya's true purpose?"

"I know... He said that Karasuma Renya wanted to use the pretext of 'becoming stronger' to turn Vodka into the first 'controlled entity' of the 'ES Dark Amber Project'..."

Before he finished speaking, the effect of the Forbidden Realm Truth Lock completely disappeared.

The two men in black suddenly came to their senses, their eyes full of fear. Just as they were about to draw their guns, they were hit on the wrist by a small stone thrown by Shushu, and screamed in pain.

Shushu quickly scurried back into the shadows, the prop in his mouth. His voice reached the ears of Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru with a hint of triumph: "Done! The two have been blocked by the light film. They won't be able to send any messages in five minutes. Should we have the people in the dark detain them now?"

Kudo Yuki shook her head slightly, her eyes swept across the dim light of the distant intersection, and her fingertips gently drew the word "wait" on Amuro Toru's palm.

She had to wait for the two men to return and report "as planned" before she could follow this line to find Rum's temporary contact point.

Amuro Toru immediately understood and responded softly, "Okay."

At the same time, he raised his hand and pressed the communicator hidden behind his ear, sending a "suspend action" signal to his secret assistant.

In the shadows of the alley behind the convenience store, two men in black were brought back to reality by the sharp pain in their wrists.

As if being hit hard by something hard, the hands of the two men holding the guns shook at the same time, and the black gun fell to the ground with a "clang".

"Who?!" The person on the left staggered back and looked around vigilantly, but there were only piles of cardboard boxes and weeds at the base of the wall in the alley, not even a single person in sight.

He felt a chill in his heart. Just as he was about to bend down to pick up the gun, his wrist was hit by a force from an unknown source. He grimaced in pain and said, "Oh no! An ambush?"

The person on the right was even more panicked. He frantically reached for the communicator in his pocket, and his fingertips just touched the buttons.

He cried out, subconsciously retracted his hand, and said in a trembling voice: "Something's wrong... There's obviously no one watching this place, how could it be..."

Shushu squatted on top of the cardboard box and laughed secretly. His little fat claws took out a stone and pointed it at the ankles of the two men - he didn't want to give these two guys a chance to ask for help.

Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru, who were hiding in the basement, listened to the cries of pain coming from the alley. They exchanged glances, and there was understanding in their eyes.

"It seems that Shushu can trap them until reinforcements come without us having to do anything." Amuro Toru's voice was very low, with a barely perceptible smile.

Kudo Yuki nodded slightly and quietly wrote down the address of the "laboratory back door" they had just revealed in her palm - this would be the key clue next.

The cries of pain in the alley gradually faded.

Shushu scurried back to the basement, throwing his furry body directly into Kudo Yuki's palm. His bright black eyes darted rapidly, "Xiaoxue! Those two guys were hit by the stones and are too scared to move. They're now shivering against the wall!"

Amuro Toru rubbed his chin with his fingertips, a hint of coldness flashed across his eyes: "As planned, let them go back and report the news, and we will follow this line to find Rum's contact point. However..."

He changed the subject, his gaze landing on Kudo Yuki's clenched palms. "Rum wants APTX4869's data to repair his left eye, and he also wants to modify the equipment parameters of the 'ES Dark Amber Project'. If these two things get to Karasuma Renya's ears, it will probably intensify internal conflicts prematurely."

The phone in Kudo Yuki's pocket suddenly vibrated.

The screen flashed with an encrypted incoming call notification for "Fine Wine." Her fingertips pressed the mute button, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Akai Mari leaning against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

Sera Masumi was still whispering about her mother's health, then she gave Amuro Toru a look and turned to walk to the corner.

"Is there any new news from Gin?" The moment the call was connected, Kudo Yuki lowered her voice, with the usual coldness of "fine wine".

Vermouth's lazy laughter came from the other end of the phone, and the sound of wine glasses clinking faintly in the background: "Fine wine, you are more perceptive than Gin. He is now playing the role of 'loyalty' with that adult."

Kudo Yuki tapped her fingertips lightly on the wall, Gin's cold and hard profile flashing through her mind: "What about Vodka? Is the old man still forbidding him from visiting?"

“Of course,” Vermouth paused, her voice becoming more ambiguous. “But I and ‘that gentleman’s’ new assistant, ‘Fine Wine.’ Oh, that’s you, both sent Gin a status video of Vodka. Guess what his expression was after he saw it?”

Kudo Yuki didn't respond, but she remembered what Amuro Toru had said before, "Gin hates betrayal from within." She had already started to think, "Besides the two people at the convenience store, how many other people did Rum send to Haneda Airport?"

"Not much. After all, Gin still has the authority to monitor Rum." Vermouth chuckled. "By the way, the last time you mentioned on the phone, 'letting others clean up the mess,' it really hit Gin's head."

After hanging up the phone, Kudo Yuki turned around and met Amuro Toru's gaze.

He had clearly heard the conversation relayed by Shushu, his fingertips clasped tightly together. "Gin is deliberately cooperating with Karasuma Renya, perhaps hoping to use Karasuma to deal with Rum. We need to get the complete specifications of the 'ES Amber Project' before they start a internal conflict."

Akai Tsutomu walked over, his jawline still tense. "I know the approximate location of the lab's back door. MI6 previously tracked down Rum's whereabouts, and that area is part of Gunma Prefecture's abandoned warehouse district."

"Abandoned warehouse area?" Kudo Yuki raised his eyebrows slightly, suddenly remembering the news from Date Kou. "Yesterday Date, there should still be police sentries there."

Conan poked his head out from behind Sera Masumi and pushed up his glasses. "Sister Xue, I just contacted Kidd. He said he's already prepared a disguise template for the Karasuma Group headquarters. Once we find Rum's contact point, he'll be able to sneak in and investigate the core data of the 'ES Dark Amber Project'."

Kudo Yuki nodded and glanced at everyone: "Now we will act in two groups. The first group, Mr. Amuro and I will follow the two men in black to find the contact point; the second group, Mr. Akai will take Aunt Mary, Masumi and Conan to the Poirot Cafe - that's our safe house, and Haibara and Miyano Akemi are waiting there too."

"I want to go too!" Sera Masumi immediately raised his hands, clenching his fists even tighter. "I can help you keep an eye on them. I've solved cases with Sister Xue in Hokkaido before, so I have experience!"

Akai Mari was about to object, but Kudo Yuki spoke first, "Masumi can go, but she must stay with me and not go alone." She looked at Akai Mari and added, "I have sentries at the Poirot Cafe, and Mingmei is there too. Aunt Mary can go there with peace of mind."

Akai Mary was silent for a moment, and finally nodded slightly - she was aware of the current situation, and her physical condition was indeed not suitable for participating in the pursuit. Staying in the safe house would reduce the burden.

Before setting off, Shushu suddenly jumped onto Amuro Toru's shoulder and patted his collar with his chubby little paw: "Mr. Amuro! I just placed trackers on those two men in black. The signal won't be blocked. We just need to follow the signal!"

Amuro Toru raised his hand and rubbed Shushu's head, with a rare hint of tenderness in his eyes: "Well done."

Everyone left the basement in batches, and a faint yellow light appeared on the horizon.

Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru followed behind the two men in black, keeping a safe distance.

After crossing three streets, the two men indeed turned into an abandoned warehouse area.

A tattered sign that read "Backup Laboratory" hung at the door of the warehouse, and a seal from the police was still in the corner, which had obviously been secretly torn open by someone.

Toru Amuro leaned against the wall, tapping rapidly on his communicator, sending the location information to Kou Date in the dark: "There are at least five guards inside, all armed."

To be continued...