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

Amuro Toru looked at the unconscious Rum in the corner. "The surgical instruments have been sterilized according to medical-grade standards. I also asked Hiro to send the chip implantation drawings from the laboratory. The chip in Rum's body is only embedded in the subcutaneous tissue and is not connected to the nervous system. The risk of removal is controllable."

Ai Huihara's tense shoulders relaxed slightly as she closed her mother's notebook. "That's good. But we need to prepare some anti-stress medication in advance. If he wakes up suddenly during the removal, his emotional fluctuations might cause the medication to backfire."

Ida Hang stood up from the wall and pushed the badge data folder to the middle of the coffee table.

"The medicine is already in the medical kit. Matsuda just bought some at a nearby pharmacy. They're all prescription-grade medicines prescribed by doctors."

Matsuda Jinpei leaned against the sofa, twirling the pen he'd just used to buy medicine. He glanced up at the words, "The pharmacy owner was asking a lot of questions, and I made up the excuse that 'my elderly family member needs long-term medication' to hide the truth. If the dosage is too high, it might affect my subsequent questions about the ES Amber Project with Rum, which would be troublesome."

Hagiwara Kenji leaned over to Matsuda Jinpei, his fingertips poking at the pen in his hand. "You're quite adept at making up excuses, but next time, don't use 'old man' as an excuse. The way the pharmacy owner looked at you was clearly skeptical."

Matsuda Jinpei tsked, pocketing his pen. His eyes scanned the badge data on the coffee table. "It's better than that last time you bought coffee and the clerk asked if you were being followed. But then again, what else do these numbered core guards do besides escorting vodka?"

Toru Amuro tapped his fingertips on the edge of the badge data folder and scanned the numbers marked on the paper.

"According to the information Hiro found, the numbered core guards are divided into three categories—in addition to the 'Material Escort Team' that escorted the vodka, there's also the 'Regional Defense Team' responsible for guarding the laboratory, and the 'Guard Team' that directly protects Karasuma Renya. The triple guards assigned to the laboratory this time were transferred from the Defense Team."

Kudo Yuki walked out of the Beikacho Hotel, her fingertips hooked around the handle of her dessert shopping bag, and turned into the back corridor. She lifted her hand and removed the butterfly mask from her face, then neatly folded the black coat draped over her arm and stuffed it into the bag.

Judging from the reflection in the glass, she was just an ordinary customer who had just bought desserts and new clothes.

Kudo Yuki took out her phone and sent a text message to Kuroda Heibei with her location:

Thank you for sending someone to pick me up.

A car slowly slid out from the shadows at the end of the corridor.

Aoi stepped on the brakes to stop the car, lowered the window, and glanced around before raising his hand to press the warning light next to the dashboard.

Kudo Yuki walked quickly forward with the shopping bag. The moment she opened the car door, the butterfly mask hidden in the bag accidentally rubbed against the seat. She casually stuffed the mask into her coat pocket and looked up to see the encrypted communicator handed to her by Aoi.

"Manager Kuroda asked me to tell you that the safe house just confirmed that Rum is still awake. Ms. Huibara is checking the surgical equipment."

Aoi's gaze quickly fell on the corridor behind Kudo Yuki, and she stepped on the accelerator only after confirming that no one was following her.

Kudo Yuki leaned back in the passenger seat and spoke slowly, "Surgery? Whose idea was this?"

Aoi drove ahead, his eyes fixed on the road, and half-jokingly said, "It was 'your family' who suggested it. He said the chip in Rum's body might be transmitting his location in real time. Leaving it there would always be a hidden danger. It would be better to remove it while he's unconscious, and it would also prevent the chip from triggering other unknown commands."

"Mr. Aoi, please stop teasing me!" Kudo Yuki's ears flushed a light pink as she reached out to shove the butterfly mask back into her coat pocket. "He's worried about the safe house's location being exposed. After all, Rum is connected to the Karasuma Group."

Aoi chuckled softly and turned the steering wheel to avoid the surveillance camera at the intersection ahead.

"I'm not kidding. Manager Kuroda was just saying that Furuya even went through the chip drawings sent by Morufushi Kagemitsu three times to confirm the surgical plan."

Then, Shushu's voice complained, "Xiaoxue! Amuro Toru is so mean! I leaned over to try a biscuit, but he gave it to Morufushi Kagemitsu! He even said I'd shed hair on the blueprints. I comb my hair every day, so it's very clean!"

Upon hearing this, Amuro Toru sent a text message to Kudo Yuki:

Don't listen to its complaints. Just now, Shushu spilled tea stains on the badge data page. Fortunately, Yi Dahang wiped it clean with alcohol in time, otherwise the drawing would be ruined.

Shu Shu's accusations escalated even further: "He's just stingy! When I was sorting through the blueprints, I could smell the aroma of cheese crackers hidden in his pocket! He must have been deliberately not giving them to me!"

Amuro Toru turned off his phone, reached into his pocket, took out the tinfoil-wrapped cookie, and gently flicked Shushu's round ears: "If you keep making trouble, I won't give it to you."

Shushu instantly drooped his chubby paws, but when Amuro Toru withdrew his hand, he picked up the biscuit crumbs that fell from his fingers, and quickly hid on Zhu Fu Jingguang's shoulder, hiding the crumbs in the folds of the other's suit's shoulder line, leaving only half of his round head exposed to stare at Amuro Toru.

Zhu Fu Jingguang only felt a very light touch on his shoulder. He subconsciously turned his head to look, but found nothing. He just thought it was an illusion that the warm wind blew the curtains across the clothes.

He gently brushed past the wrinkles of his suit, not noticing the biscuit crumbs hidden in the fibers, and returned his gaze to the badge data on the coffee table.

Next to the number "Regional Defense Group" on the paper, there was still a little light brown tea stain that had not been completely wiped off. I guess it was left there when I was organizing the information just now.

Toru Amuro took in the entire scene, trying hard to suppress his smile and turned his face away.

Shushu curled up on Zhufu Jingguang's shoulder, his chubby little paws tightly grasping the fabric, his round ears turning vigilantly. Seeing that Amuro Toru didn't pay attention to him, he secretly stuffed the crumbs into the folds, like a little thief who had hidden a treasure.

Toru Amuro's gaze seemed to be on Rum, but his peripheral vision was looking at the rat hidden very deeply on Morobushi Keimitsu's shoulder.

"Hiro, please keep an eye on the data from the medical equipment during the surgery. I'm worried that there will be signal fluctuations when the chip is removed. It would be disastrous if it triggers an alert from the Karasuma Group."

He deliberately raised his voice, but the reminder in his words was only for Shu Shu who was hiding in the dark.

Just now, when the little guy hid in with the biscuit crumbs in his mouth, the tip of his tail was still exposed. If he moved a few more times, he would probably fall off.

Shushu froze, his chubby little paws tightly gripping the biscuit crumbs, and even his breathing became lighter.

Zhu Fu Jingguang didn't notice anything unusual and just nodded seriously: "I have checked the emergency plan of the equipment. If the data is abnormal, the signal source will be cut off immediately."

Jinpei Matsuda tapped the photo of the "Regional Defense Team" badge on the coffee table with a pen.

"Isn't the guard rotation schedule too fixed? According to the information Jingguang provided, the shift changes at three in the morning every day. This is a clear opportunity for anyone trying to sneak into the laboratory."

Hagiwara Kenji leaned over and pointed his finger at the surveillance blind spot mark in the corner of the photo. "Perhaps this was intentional. The Karasuma Group always likes to use this kind of 'seemingly flawed' layout to lure out the enemy."

Ai Haibara stood up, walked to the medical box, opened it, and laid out the anti-stress drug injections one by one.

Akemi Miyano quickly handed over a disinfectant cotton pad. The sisters' actions were so consistent that Ida Ko couldn't help but soften his eyes.

At this moment, near the safe house, Subaru Okiya leaned against the car, staring at the window of the safe house.

Aoi's car was parked at the back door of the safe house.

Kudo Yuki pushed open the car door with the shopping bag in hand. Before her fingertips touched the door frame, her eyes glanced at the figure under the streetlight diagonally opposite.

The man was leaning against the vehicle, his collar turned up to cover half of his face, but the aura that could not be concealed in his posture made her pause.

Kudo Yuki held the shopping bag by the handle and swung it gently between her fingers. Then, with a curled lip, she raised her voice towards the alley entrance: "Now that you're here, stop hiding."

Subaru Okiya stood up straight, raised his hand and put out the cigarette in the trash can lid, and his eyes behind the lenses fell on Kudo Yuki through the night.

He didn't approach immediately, but raised his hand to adjust the collar of his windbreaker. "I didn't expect that Officer Kuroda would ask you to come to his safe house in person."

Kudo Yuki moved aside to open the car door behind her. "Mr. Subaru, you've been waiting here on purpose. You're not here to give me a 'welcome gift,' are you?"

Shushu pricked up his ears: "Someone is talking to Xiaoxue, and it sounds like the FBI!"

Shushu's ears perked up, and he held his breath and listened carefully for a moment, muttering, "It's the FBI! Judging from the tone, it must be an old acquaintance who has dealt with Xiaoxue before!"

Amuro Toru had just finished organizing his surgical instruments in the safe house when he looked out the window. Although he couldn't see Okiya Subaru, he could guess his identity from Shushu's words. His brows furrowed slightly: "How did Akai Shuichi find his way here?"

Subaru Okiya slowly approached, his eyes fixed on the shopping bag she was carrying. "I heard Rum is in there? Do you need help with the chip removal surgery?"

"No need for help." Kudo Yuki stepped aside to make way, but her eyes never left the other person: "Aren't you planning on meeting her?"

Okiya Subaru was silent for a few seconds, and there was a bitterness in his voice that he didn't even realize. "What can I say if I meet her? What she needs now is not me as a 'cousin', but stability."

Kudo Yuki raised her eyebrows slightly, hooked the shopping bag with her fingertips, turned and walked towards the back door of the safe house. Her nonchalant look concealed real warmth.

"You're more perceptive than I thought. I have good news for you: your parents have reunited, and your family is finally reunited. As for your survival, it's best for you to explain these heartfelt words to them yourself."

Subaru Okiya's fingers tightened around the cigarette butt, and the lighter slipped from his palm. As he bent down to pick it up, his eyes behind his glasses suddenly lost focus.

The news of his parents' reunion was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, causing ripples in his heart and even making his breathing pause for a beat.

"Reunion..." Subaru Okiya repeated these two words in a low voice, and the bitterness in the ending tone was made even stronger by the night wind.

The past endurance of being undercover in the organization, the anxiety of losing contact with family, and the regret of not being able to protect Miyano Akemi, all came to his mind at this moment.

He raised his hand and pressed it between his eyebrows, trying to suppress his surging emotions, but when he looked up, he met the warmth in Kudo Yuki's eyes. The words that came to his lips were swallowed back and turned into a sigh.

"Thank you." Subaru Okiya stood up straight, put the lighter back into his pocket, and his eyes unconsciously drifted towards the window of the safe house.

He knew Miyano Akemi was inside, that the sisters had finally reunited, but he didn't have the courage to take another step forward. He adjusted his collar, half hiding his face in the shadows again. "Give her my regards..."

Kudo Yuki looked at his deliberately distant attitude and didn't ask any more questions. She just shook the shopping bag in her hand and said, "If you figure it out, go back early and don't keep the elders waiting too long."

After saying that, he turned around and pushed open the back door of the safe house.

Subaru Okiya stayed where he was until the door was completely closed, then he slowly leaned back into the car.

He fished his phone from his pocket. The wallpaper was a photo of him and his family from years ago. His fingertips traversed the screen for a moment, but he didn't dial the number. Instead, he clicked on "Mary" in his address book and stared at the number for a long time.

Inside the safe house, Toru Amuro had already heard the conversation outside through Shu Shu's "live broadcast".

He placed the sterilized surgical forceps into the tray, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Zhu Fu Jingguang checking the equipment parameters with a slight smile on his face.

Shuichi Akai's look of being clearly concerned yet pretending to be distant was no different from the awkward FBI agent in his memory.

"Mr. Amuro, the equipment has been debugged." Haibara Ai's voice interrupted his thoughts. She handed him the dosage form of anti-stress drugs. "Is everything okay outside?"

Amuro Toru's fingertips rested lightly on the edge of the tray, and he withdrew his gaze from the window to the dosage form handed to him by Haibara Ai. His tone was so steady that no one could hear anything unusual: "There's nothing wrong outside. Aoi should be checking the surrounding environment."

He deliberately ignored Shushu's words, fearing that they would arouse Haibara Ai's suspicions about the FBI. After all, Akai Shuichi's identity had always been a thorn in her side, having once been in the organization.

Shushu, however, refused to buy it. His chubby little claws dug into the collar of Zhufu Jingguang's suit and he whispered, "It's obviously that FBI agent! He's still hanging around the safe house. Amuro Toru, you didn't tell anyone!"

Amuro Toru's ears twitched slightly, and he glanced at the little guy on his shoulder with his peripheral vision. His fingertips tapped lightly on the surgical forceps, and the force seemed to be a warning.

Shushu immediately drooped his ears and buried his face in Zhufu Jingguang's clothes to pretend to be good.

Zhu Fujingguang had just finished checking the equipment parameters when he looked up and saw Amuro Toru's small movements. A trace of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just folded the parameter sheet and placed it on the coffee table: "The device's signal shielding function has been activated. Even if there is an abnormality in the chip, no information will be transmitted."

Haibara Ai took the dosage form, ran her fingertips over the words "anti-stress medication," and looked up at Amuro Toru: "By the way, you said before that the chip in Rum's body was only embedded under the skin. Are you sure you read the diagram correctly?"

The caution in her tone made Date Kou and Matsuda Jinpei stop what they were doing, and they all looked at Amuro Toru.

"I've gone through the blueprints three times and confirmed it with Hiro." Amuro Toru picked up the sterilized scalpel. "The chip is located five centimeters from the left side of the waist. It's not connected to any nerve pathways. As long as we avoid the blood vessels when removing it, it will be fine."

The back door of the safe house was suddenly pushed open, and Kudo Yuki walked in carrying a shopping bag, with the corner of her butterfly mask still sticking out of her pocket.

To be continued...