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

"Mr. Matsuda is waiting for someone at the Poirot Cafe. We received a message from Mr. Ida saying that you were in trouble on the basement floor, so we rushed here immediately." Conan squatted down, his eyes swept over Vodka's condition, and his brows frowned slightly.

Sera Masumi squatted down to check on Vodka, frowning, "There are needle marks on his body. He must have been injected with a sedative. Who did this to him?"

She just thought this person was an ordinary victim, and did not associate him with a member of the organization at all, nor did she ask for more details.

Subaru Okiya's eyes fell on the marks on Vodka's wrists, but he deliberately avoided the key information and turned to Kudo Yuki with a calm tone: "Have you received any new instructions?"

"Not yet, but when the guard heard 'the situation has changed', he reacted very skillfully. It's obvious that he already knew the meaning of this sentence." Kudo Yuki took out his mobile phone and called up the text message records, deliberately blurring the identity of "Vodka" and the name of "Karasuma Renya" to avoid Sera Masumi from being involved.

"The other party is after this person, not the one who confronted us earlier. The fact that someone just took action actually helped him—the person he was confronting was distracted, and he was able to 'naturally' move this person away."

At this moment, Amuro Toru pulled out his micro-communicator. A new message from Hagiwara Kenji flashed on the screen. He spoke gravely, "There's a secret laboratory under the Karasuma Group that's been purchasing large quantities of tranquilizers and lab equipment. It's located at a shipyard in Gunma Prefecture."

"It's the backup laboratory of the 'ES Dark Amber Project'." Kudo Yuki reacted immediately - she had seen this address mark in the design drawings given by Wakasa Rumi, but she deliberately omitted the key information of "using vodka for experiments" and only objectively stated the clues.

"The clues we found earlier mentioned that someone has been trying to interfere with this plan. Moving him there will not only avoid the immediate trouble, but also allow us to continue to advance the plan. It's really killing two birds with one stone."

Shushu tapped her earlobe with his chubby little paw, his voice filled with nervousness: "Xiaoxue, I think I heard a car outside! It's not from us. The engine sound is very unfamiliar, like... a black car sent by Karasuma Renya!"

Toru Amuro immediately walked behind the iron gate and looked out through the crack.

Outside the dim warehouse, two black cars were parked on the side of the road with their lights off. They were obviously lying in ambush, waiting for them to get out.

He turned to look at everyone, his eyes solemn. "That man's men came to 'pick him up'. We can't let them take him away, otherwise it will be extremely difficult to find him again."

He always referred to Vodka as "he" and did not reveal any identity information related to the organization.

Conan immediately took out a tranquilizer gun and a football belt from his backpack and quickly made a plan in his mind: "We can distract them! Sister Sera and I will go to the front to make a noise and attract their attention; Mr. Subaru and Mr. Amuro will be responsible for transferring him to a safe place; Sister Xue, you..."

"No need to do that." Kudo Yuki suddenly took over, her fingertips touching the pistol in the inner pocket of her windbreaker. "In that man's chess game, everyone is a pawn. Just hand him over to them. I'll ask Mr. Yingchuan to arrange the rest."

"Hand him over to them?" Amuro Toru's voice was a little tense. He held down Kudo Yuki's hand as it reached for the pistol. His fingertips could feel the calluses on her palm from the edges of the divination cards. "That person wants to take him to the backup laboratory for the 'ES Amber Project'. You know exactly what that means."

Kudo Yuki's fingertips rested on the gun handle. She tilted her head to look at Vodka's pale face in the green light of the emergency light. She lowered her voice, "I know, but the core data of the 'ES Dark Amber Project' is still in that person's hands. If we take him away now, we'll only force him to activate the backup plan prematurely. By then, he won't even be able to find the brainwashing device."

She pried open the fingertips of Amuro Toru pressing against the back of her hand, and the faint light of the magician's divination card on his palm just happened to reflect the tension in his eyes: "Kagekawa has already located the core computer room of 'Anbo' in the database of Karasuma Group headquarters. Once he transmits the data, it won't be too late for us to rescue him."

"But he is the only one who can testify against Rum!" Amuro Toru looked towards the stairs.

Conan and Sera Masumi were still listening vigilantly to the noise outside.

Subaru Okiya stared at Vodka's wrist thoughtfully, obviously weighing the pros and cons.

Shushu suddenly leaned close to Kudo Xue's ear, grabbing her collar with his chubby little paws: "Xiaoxue, the car outside is moving! It seems like someone is getting off!"

Kudo Yuki immediately raised her hand to hold Amuro Toru's arm, her eyes sweeping over the people present: "Conan, take Zhenchu ​​through the side door of the emergency passage and meet up with Mr. Matsuda. Mr. Subaru, please help us divert the people outside, using your usual 'accidental' method."

Subaru Okiya nodded, his fingertips groping for the spare smoke bomb in his pocket: "I will make sure they lose their way within five minutes."

Shiliang Zhenchun didn't move. She squatted beside Vodka, her brows knitted tighter. "Sister Xue, who is this person? Why don't you just take him away?"

"He's... a suspect in a case we're pursuing." Kudo Yuki avoided the core information. "Letting him be 'taken away' now will allow us to catch the bigger fish behind it."

Seeing this, Amuro Toru stopped arguing and took out a micro-locator from his pocket and stuffed it into the inner pocket of Vodka's windbreaker: "At least let us know his location."

Kudo Yuki nodded and turned to look at Okiya Subaru: "Mr. Subaru, move."

Subaru Okiya immediately pressed the smoke bomb, and white smoke instantly filled the passage.

The sound of a car door opening could be heard from outside, along with the shouts of the man in black: "What's going on in there?!"

"Hurry up!" Subaru Okiya pushed Conan and Sera Masumi, and ran towards the outside of the smoke, deliberately stepping on the gravel on the steps to create the illusion of escape.

Kudo Yuki reached out and put the butterfly mask back on, and she and Amuro Toru took the opportunity to retreat deeper into the passage with Vodka in their arms, until their backs were against a rusty iron door.

This was the backup exit she had discovered during her previous survey, leading directly to the alley behind the warehouse.

"Leave the people outside to Mr. Subaru, we'll go out from here." Kudo Yuki took out the key, inserted it into the keyhole and turned it, and the iron door made a creaking sound.

As soon as I pushed open the door, I heard the roar of the man in black outside the warehouse: "Where are the people?! There is no one in the smoke!"

Amuro Toru went out first with a bottle of vodka, turned around and reached out to grab Kudo Yuki: "Hurry!"

As soon as the two hid in the shadow of the alley, they saw two black cars whizzing past the warehouse door, obviously being led away by Subaru Okiya.

Shu Shu lay on Kudo Yuki's shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, Akai Shuichi ran fast, otherwise we would have been stuck inside."

Kudo Yuki leaned against the cold wall and took out her microphone. "Hiro, what's the situation in the headquarters computer room? Can we get the core data of 'Amber'?"

Zhu Fujingguang's low voice came from the other end of the microphone, and the crisp sound of keyboard tapping could be faintly heard in the background.

"I've bypassed three layers of the core computer room's firewall using the backup key you gave me. I'm now cracking the final layer of data encryption. The Karasuma Group's servers are syncing data in real time. I need to export the Dark Amber device schematics and experimental logs before the backup is complete. Oh, and there was some activity on the headquarters communication channel just now. It seems they're checking on Fine Wine's whereabouts. Be careful over there."

Kudo Yuki texted, her eyes glancing over Vodka's still-sleeping face. "I understand. Prioritize the experimental logs, especially the parts involving live experiments. They're the key to bringing down the Dark Amber Project. Also, Rum has been anesthetized. Have the people outside move him to a safe house first, and don't let Karasuma Renya's men find him."

"I understand." Yingchuan Luo responded.

Shushu pricked up his ears, and his chubby little paw grabbed her collar and shook it gently: "Xiaoxue, there's a car coming this way! It's not the two black cars from before, it looks like... a covert police vehicle?"

Toru Amuro immediately supported Vodka and took two steps back into the alley. At the same time, he took out the miniature flashlight from his waist, with his fingertips on the switch, ready to act at any time.

Kudo Yuki took off her butterfly mask, revealing her true appearance - this way, even if she met acquaintances, she could avoid exposing her identity as "Fine Wine".

Soon, two familiar footsteps were heard at the entrance of the alley, accompanied by Hagiwara Kenji's signature chuckle: "Amuro, Xiaoxue, don't hide. Manager Kuroda asked us to pick someone up."

Light shines in from the alley.

The figures of Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda appeared in the shadows, both wearing casual clothes and carrying black storage boxes.

Matsuda Jinpei raised his eyebrows when he saw Vodka. "Is this the 'key person' you were going to bring out? He doesn't look seriously injured, but he's overdosed on the tranquilizer."

"He's the only one who can accuse Rum of tampering with APTX4869's data, and he's also the experimental subject for Project Dark Amber." Kudo Yuki stepped forward and pushed Vodka toward the two of them. "Did Manager Kuroda say anything about the follow-up arrangements?"

Hagiwara Kenji opened the storage box, which contained a location tracker and a backup communicator: "First, send him to a temporary safe house in the suburbs. Huihara has already prepared the antidote there. We can question him after he wakes up.

Manager Kuroda also told you to return to Café Poirot after you've dealt with things here. Gin just asked in the organization chat about the whereabouts of the 'fine wine,' and Karasuma Renya replied that you should report back to headquarters. You need to prepare your explanation in advance."

Amuro Toru took the locator and stuffed another into the inner pocket of Vodka's windbreaker - double insurance ensures that nothing goes wrong: "Xiaoxue and I will go back together. Someone is waiting for us at the Poirot Cafe."

Shushu lay on Kudo Yuki's shoulder and whispered to her and Amuro Toru, "Just now I thought I heard the communicator in Matsuda's pocket ringing. It seemed to be Date Kou saying that Miyano Akemi has arrived at the safe house and brought the experimental samples that Haibara Ai needs."

When Amuro Toru heard what Shu Shu said, a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes - Miyano Akemi has always been safe under the protection of Kuroda Heibei. This time she took the initiative to bring the sample here, obviously wanting to help Haibara develop a drug to fight against the "Amber" brainwashing device faster.

Kudo Yuki nodded, pulled out the magician's divination cards from her pocket, put them away, and looked at Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei: "I'll leave the vodka to you. Be careful on the road. Karasuma Renya's people may still be lingering nearby. Remember to give the vodka to them after you've finished questioning them."

"Don't worry." Matsuda Jinpei carried the vodka. "Our car is at the entrance of the alley. We'll make sure you get them there safely. Be careful on your way back, too. Gin is like a mad dog right now. Who knows if he'll suddenly show up?"

After the two men left with the vodka, only Kudo Yuki and Amuro Toru were left in the alley.

Amuro Toru reached out and tucked her scattered hair behind her ear, and gently touched her earlobe with his fingertips: "Are you tired? You haven't rested since you got the parameters until now."

"It's okay." Kudo Yuki leaned in his arms, listening to his steady heartbeat, her tense nerves finally relaxed a little. "I'm just a little worried about Hiro. If we can't get the core data, all our previous efforts will be in vain. And Gin, he now knows that the old man is plotting against him, and he might do something more extreme."

Amuro Toru patted her back gently, his voice gentle but firm: "Don't worry about Yingchuan's skills. When he was in the Public Security Academy, he was one of the masters of cracking encryption systems.

As for Gin, he seems to be angry with Karasuma Renya right now, and won't attack us for the time being - and Vermouth is still helping us, she won't let Gin ruin our plans."

Shushu curled up on Kudo Yuki's shoulder: "Xiaoxue, Amuro Toru is right. We should go back to Poirot Cafe first. I heard that Miss Sonoko sent a lot of cakes today. If we don't go now, Conan will eat them all."

Kudo Yuki was amused by Shu Shu's words. She stood up and took Amuro Toru's hand and said, "Let's go back to the cafe. I also want to see if Conan has eaten the box of chocolates I hid."

The two walked out of the alley side by side, the moonlight shining on them, and the city lights in the distance were bright. No one knew that this seemingly ordinary couple was quietly rewriting a chess game that concerned the fate of countless people.

The black car was driving in the suburban night. Vodka was still in a semi-comatose state, his head leaning against the window, and the pinholes on his arm were particularly eye-catching under the dim light inside the car.

Jinpei Matsuda was holding the steering wheel, and his eyes swept through the rearview mirror to see Kenji Hagiwara using tweezers to pinch a fiber from his hooded windbreaker, his movements as gentle as if he were defusing a bomb.

"This guy's trench coat is custom-made in Italy. It's completely different from the mass-produced ones worn by the lower-level members of the organization."

Hagiwara Kenji placed the fiber in the evidence bag and tapped Vodka's wrist with his fingertips. "The restraint marks are deep, but there are no signs of struggle. This means he didn't resist before being sedated. Either he trusted the person who did it, or he didn't have the chance to resist at all."

Matsuda Jinpei scoffed and slammed on the brakes to a stop in front of the temporary safe house. "If Rum wants to touch him, there are plenty of ways to make him obey. After all, obedience is more important than life."

The two of them walked into the safe house carrying vodka. Haibara Ai had already placed a medical box next to the sofa in the living room. Miyano Akemi stood beside them, holding an experimental sample report in her hand. The moment she saw vodka, her fingertips tightened slightly.

She had seen this man's face in the organization's internal documents. He was Gin's most trusted deputy.

To be continued...