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

Wakasa Rumi's pupils shrank slightly, and her fingertips subconsciously clenched the scarf: "How did you know?"

"The shipyard is the backup laboratory for the 'Amber' project. We just received news that Rum is heading there." Kudo Yuki picked up the silk cloth and traced the outline of the fragments through the fabric with her fingertips. "Are you going there to seek revenge on Rum?"

Those words seemed to strike at Wakasa Rumi's most frayed nerves. Her breathing suddenly quickened, and years of suppressed hatred welled up in her eyes. "I've been looking for him for seventeen years. I can't let Rum use the 'Amber' project to harm more people."

Shushu suddenly came up to Kudo Yuki and whispered, "Gin's car has arrived at the shipyard! He and Rum are arguing over a lab record!"

Kudo Yuki immediately stood up and grabbed the coat draped over the back of the chair: "Toru, we'll go over now. Wakasa Rumi, you stay here and wait for our news—"

"I want to go with you." Wakasa Rumi stood up, the hem of her windbreaker swept across the bar, knocking over an empty glass.

"I'm the only one who knows the origin of Rum's prosthetic eye fragment, and... I must personally confirm whether he has paid the price for what happened that year. You promised me that you would let me settle this matter personally."

Amuro Toru looked at Kudo Yuki and pulled out a spare communicator from his pocket, handing it to Wakasa Rumi. "Take this with you. You can hear our conversation. When we get to the shipyard, you must stay behind me. You absolutely cannot act alone. Rum has gone mad. To protect the 'Amber' project, he even dared to attack Gin."

Wakasa Rumi took the communicator, held it tightly in her hand, and nodded slightly.

Conan suddenly grabbed the corner of Kudo Yuki's clothes and stuffed the detective badge into her hand: "Sister Xue, if the communicator is interfered with, use this to contact me. I will keep an eye on the locator here. Officer Date and the others are already rushing to the shipyard and will be there in about ten minutes."

He looked up at Wakasa Rumi with a serious look in his eyes, "Teacher Wakasa, Rum has a blind spot in his left eye. If you meet him, try to approach him from his left."

Wakasa Rumi was stunned for a moment, then said softly, "Thank you."

As the three of them walked out of Poirot Café, Rat suddenly jumped onto Toru Amuro's shoulder and pointed his chubby paw at the intersection in the distance: "Rum's car turned this way! He seems to have noticed that Gin is following him, and he's driving very fast!"

Toru Amuro opened the car door, and Kudo Yuki and Wakasa Rumi quickly got in.

The engine roared out of the intersection. In the rearview mirror, the warm yellow light of Poirot Cafe gradually became smaller. Conan stood at the door, holding the locator in his hand and waving vigorously.

Inside the car, Wakasa Rumi turned her head to look at Kudo Yuki. "Ms. Kudo, you and Mr. Amuro... aren't just an ordinary detective and clerk, are you? I had a fight with Amuro before at Hakubato Ranch, and his reaction, based on the information I've gathered, suggests he's the 'Bourbon' of the organization."

Kudo Yuki rested her arm on the edge of the car window. Instead of denying it directly, she asked, "Since you know he's 'Bourbon' and you dare to come here alone, aren't you afraid that this is a setup by the organization?"

There was a hint of coldness in Wakasa Rumi's voice. "A trap set by the organization? Seventeen years ago, when Rum set up the trap in Haneda Koji's room, I should have died with him."

There was lingering hatred in her eyes.

"Not only did you deduce that the code Haneda Hiroshi left before his death pointed to 'ASACA RUM', but you also said the same thing as him - 'The truth is always hidden in the unnoticed details'. No one else knows this except me. How can you be an ordinary detective?"

Kudo Yuki tapped her fingertips lightly on the car window. Moonlight filtered through the glass, casting a calm expression on her eyes. "It's true that ordinary detectives can't uncover the organization's secrets, but I have someone behind me—Manager Kuroda has asked me to keep an eye on the 'Dark Amber' project. If this thing succeeds, the public security system will be the first to suffer."

She did not reveal her undercover identity, but only briefly mentioned the official background, which both responded to Wakasa Rumi's suspicion and left room for safety.

Wakasa Rumi stared at Kudo Yuki's calm profile, her fingers stroking the edge of the communicator. After a moment's silence, she suddenly spoke, "Manager Kuroda... He was also at the scene when the Haneda case occurred seventeen years ago. I always thought he was part of the organization. It wasn't until you mentioned Haneda Hiroshi's words that I was sure you and Rum weren't in the same group."

Amuro Toru paused on the steering wheel and glanced at Wakasa Rumi through the rearview mirror. "How much did you see at the scene? Besides attacking Haneda Hiroshi, did Rum mention the predecessor of the 'Dark Amber' project?"

"Back then, the name 'Anpo' didn't exist," Wakasa Rumi recalled, her eyes lowered. "I only overheard Amanda say, after returning from a banquet hosted by Karasuma Renya, a wealthy Japanese tycoon from Mount Fuji. She said, 'Karasuma Renya wants to turn those who disobey into puppets forever.' That must have been an early conception of a brainwashing device."

Shushu suddenly jumped down from Amuro Toru's shoulder and squatted in front of the passenger seat, scratching the seat back with his little paws: "Xiaoxue! Gin and Rum are fighting at the shipyard gate! Gin grabbed the experimental records, but Rum pointed a gun at his head, as if forcing him to hand over the records!"

Amuro Toru accelerated forward, cutting into the side road leading to the shipyard. He stared at the shrinking silhouette of Rum's car in the rearview mirror and whispered softly, "Rat, does Gin have a weapon now? How many bullets are left in Rum's gun?"

Shushu, lying on the passenger seat, looked at the system screen in front of him, nodding his head. "Gin is holding the experimental records in his hand, and he hasn't pulled out the Beretta from his waist! Rum's gun is pressed against his temple. I just saw that there are only two rounds left in the magazine. His finger is constantly on the trigger, as if hesitating!"

Kudo Yuki's gaze fell on the tense profile of Wakasa Rumi in the rearview mirror - her hand was pressing on the inner pocket of her windbreaker, where a small Browning was hidden, left over from the last confrontation at Hakuba Ranch.

"Wakasa Rumi, when we get closer, hide behind the car. Rum is so focused on grabbing the lab records right now that he won't be paying attention to his surroundings. But his left eye has a blind spot on the left side, so if we really want to make a move, go around it from the left."

Wakasa Rumi curled her fingertips, saying nothing, only nodding softly. Seventeen years of hatred weighed heavily on her heart, now burning like red-hot iron, numbing her fingertips.

As the car turned into the abandoned alley outside the shipyard, we heard the sound of breaking glass in the distance.

Shushu suddenly exploded, pointing his chubby paw forward: "Gin knocked Rum's gun away! He stuffed the lab records into his inner pocket, and now he's wrestling with Rum! Rum's prosthetic eye seems to be loose, and Gin just punched him in the left cheek, and the fragments fell to the ground!"

Toru Amuro immediately stepped on the brakes and the three of them got out of the car quickly.

Just as Kudo Yuki was about to take a step, Amuro Toru grabbed her wrist. He pointed to the shadow of a container diagonally ahead, where a figure wearing a black hoodie, observing through binoculars, could be seen. It was Subaru Okiya.

"Akai is watching over there, let's not expose ourselves yet." Amuro Toru lowered his voice, took out a miniature camera from his pocket, and stuck it on the rust on the container. "Record their confrontation first. This will be direct evidence to bring down Rum."

Kudo Yuki followed his gaze and saw a flash of silver on Okiya Subaru's cuffs. It was the FBI's special recorder.

She turned to look at Wakasa Rumi, but found that she had taken two quick steps forward, her eyes fixed on the two people fighting not far away.

"Wakasa-sensei!" Kudo Yuki growled, reaching out to grab her. "Wait a moment! Officer Date's reinforcements will arrive in five minutes. If you go up now, you'll be considered an accomplice!"

Wakasa Rumi shuddered, as if coming to her senses. The bloodshot in her eyes gradually faded. Her grip on the holster loosened, but her gaze remained fixed on the two men fighting.

Kudo Yuki followed her gaze and saw that Gin's elbow hit Rum's ribs hard. Rum groaned and staggered back. His left hand subconsciously reached for his loose prosthetic eye, but the hand hidden in his pocket quietly reached for the dropped pistol.

"Be careful!" Amuro Toru suddenly shouted, and as soon as he finished speaking, Rum grabbed the gun and pointed it at Gin's back.

Kudo Yuki almost took out the gun from his waist at the same time and aimed the scope at Rum's wrist, but before he pulled the trigger, he saw Subaru Okiya flash out from behind the container, and a silver dart flew through the air and hit Rum's butt of the gun.

The pistol deflected, and the bullet grazed the corner of Gin's clothes and hit the ground, splashing a string of sparks.

When Gin turned around and saw Subaru Okiya, his brows frowned slightly, but he didn't pause for long. He grabbed Rum's wrist with his backhand and pressed him against the iron gate.

"Do you think that master will believe you if you send vodka into the lab?" Gin's voice was cold, and his other hand grasped Rum's artificial eye. "APTX4869's metabolites won't cure your eyes, they'll only make you the next experimental subject."

Rum struggled and roared, "What do you know! As long as I control the 'Dark Amber' device, that master will have to rely on me!"

He suddenly struggled to break free and pulled out a miniature bomb from his pocket. "Since we can't leave today, we might as well die together!"

Kudo Yuki stepped forward quickly and said to Shushu with telepathy, "Check the bomb's detonation method. Is there a backup switch?"

Shushu jumped onto the nearby iron box, his chubby paws swiping rapidly across the system screen. "It's a fingerprint trigger! Only Rum's right thumb can detonate it, and there's no countdown. He's just bluffing!"

When Toru Amuro heard Shushu's words, he immediately slowed down his pace. "Rum, do you think blowing this place up can cover up everything? Someone has already obtained the recording of you tampering with the APTX4869 data, as well as the record of your application to use Vodka as a test subject. Even if you die, the evidence of the 'Amber' project will be sent to the Metropolitan Police Department."

Rum's eyes suddenly became panicked, and his hand holding the bomb tightened, but he was hesitant to press his fingerprint.

"Evidence? You think this little thing can bring me down? If I press this button, everyone here will be buried with me. Including your precious vodka, which is still waiting for the second transformation of the 'Amber' equipment!"

Gin's eyes suddenly turned cold and he tightened his grip on Rum's wrist, his knuckles crackling against his wrist bones. "Just try and touch him."

He caught a glimpse of Subaru Okiya's clothes hidden behind the container, then quickly glanced at the gun in Kudo Yuki's hand. A low laugh escaped his throat, "That gentleman asked me to keep an eye on you, not to let you use the bomb as a lifeline. Do you think he really believes you can control the 'Amber'?"

He had already installed a bug in the ventilation duct of your laboratory. He knew better than anyone that you had tampered with APTX4869 data and wanted to use the police as experimental subjects.

These words were like ice water poured on Rum's head, and his hand holding the bomb trembled violently.

Rum's hand holding the bomb was still shaking, but Gin didn't give him more time to hesitate. He suddenly pressed his knee against his lower abdomen and took the moment when he bent over in pain to snatch the miniature bomb away.

The miniature bomb rolled to Kudo Yuki's feet. She immediately hooked it with her toes into the shadow of the container, and tapped her fingertips twice on the communicator, sending a signal to Date Hang that the "explosive has been controlled."

Rum was pressed against the iron gate by Gin and could not move, but his eyes were fixed on the bulging experimental records in Gin's pocket, and he let out an unwilling growl in his throat.

Kudo Yuki quietly walked around to the side of the container, her fingertips clasping the handle of the gun, her eyes scanning the ground.

The fragments of Rum's dropped prosthetic eye were still reflecting light, and the residual APTX4869 reagent on it was glowing faintly in the moonlight.

"Do you really think that master will let you control Amber?" Gin's fingertips rolled over Rum's wrist. "That master asked me to keep an eye on you, not to fill the hole in your left eye with a test subject. If Vodka loses even a hair, your life won't be enough to pay for it."

Rum suddenly burst into laughter, his voice hoarse as a broken bellows. "Resist? Gin, you and I are both pawns of that master! He transferred Vodka to the lab just to test whether you would rebel! Do you think that if you crush the bug and reconnect it, he won't know you're playing tricks?"

These words made Gin pause for half a second.

Kudo Yuki's heart sank as well - she didn't expect that Rum would see through Gin's modification of the bug.

Amuro Toru quietly approached her and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Ida and the others will be here in three minutes. Hold on."

Subaru Okiya walked out from behind the container, holding a recorder in his right hand and his left hand in his pocket. His tone was calm but oppressive. "Rum, we have the code for the Haneda Hiroshi case, the recording of the tampered APTX4869 data, and the experimental log of the 'Amber' project. Your struggle now is a waste of energy."

The moment Rum saw Okiya Subaru, his pupils suddenly contracted and he struggled even more fiercely: "FBI? Why are you here! Gin, how dare you collude with the FBI?"

Gin sneered and elbowed Rum in the ribs again, causing him to groan in pain. "Collusion? I'm just cleaning out the infestations in the organization."

He glanced in the direction of Kudo Yuki, and a hint of help flashed in his eyes - that was a signal for her not to act rashly.

Kudo Yuki loosened her grip on the gun.

Shushu jumped to her feet. "Xiaoxue! Karasuma Renya's personal guards are coming this way! They'll be here in five minutes! They're armed with heavy weapons, and it looks like they're here to silence us!"

To be continued...