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

Kudo Yuki stepped over the threshold and placed her shopping bag on the entrance cabinet. The cool air from the outdoors still lingered on her fingertips, but she first glanced towards the medical kit. "Are all the surgical tools ready?"

Amuro Toru went over to her and took the coat she had taken off. His fingertips touched the stiff butterfly mask in her pocket. "Everything is ready. Hiro just turned the signal jammer to maximum power."

He changed the subject slightly and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear: "Akai Shuichi is still outside?"

"Yeah, he's standing under the streetlight." Kudo Yuki bent down to tease Shushu, who was peeking out from under Morobushi Keimitsu's shoulder. "He didn't plan to come in, though. I guess he's afraid Mingmei would be embarrassed if he saw him."

Shushu came over, tugging at her sleeves with his chubby little paws and whispering, "Amuro Toru just lied to Haibara Ai, saying it was Mr. Aoi outside!"

Amuro Toru flicked Shushu's ear helplessly: "Don't make things more complicated. You know Huibara's resistance to the FBI."

Shushu pouted, slipped back onto Zhu Fujingguang's shoulder, and buried his face in the folds of his suit, where biscuit crumbs were still hidden.

"Rum's heart rate is fluctuating a bit. He may be waking up." Zhu Fujingguang pointed at the jumping curve on the device screen and his tone became serious.

Everyone's nerves tensed instantly.

Yi Dahang immediately closed the curtains in the living room.

Kenji Hagiwara leaned against the door, observing the movements outside through the peephole.

Huiyuan Ai quickly walked to the bedside, raised her hand and gently stroked Rum's carotid artery, and flipped his eyelids: "The pupils react to light, and he will wake up in ten minutes at most."

She turned and picked up an anti-stress medication, "Mr. Amuro, prepare for surgery. This will help reduce his struggles while he's still not fully awake."

Amuro Toru nodded, put on sterile gloves, and held the scalpel under the light for a closer inspection. "Hiro, keep an eye on the equipment data. Xiaoxue, pass me the disinfectant pad. Mingmei, please hold down Rum's shoulders to prevent him from moving suddenly."

Miyano Akemi walked to the other side of the bed and gently placed her hands on Rum's shoulders, her fingertips trembling slightly. Although she hated Rum for harming her mother, she was still nervous about being so close to this high-ranking member of the organization.

Kudo Yuki handed over the cotton pad and caught a glimpse of a shadow moving slightly outside the window out of the corner of her eye.

Subaru Okiya hadn't left yet, looking into the room through the glass. She gestured out the window, "Don't worry," and turned back to focus on the operation.

Amuro Toru's knife tip gently scratched the skin on Kairam's left waist, and soon he saw a black chip the size of a fingernail. "Found it."

Carefully gripping the edge of the chip with tweezers, he asked, "Jingguang, is there anything wrong with the signal?"

"No, the shielding device is still working normally." Zhu Fujingguang stared at screen 3 and suddenly frowned. "Wait, there's a weak signal fluctuation. It seems to be coming from... Rum's collar?"

Everyone was stunned. Kudo Yuki immediately reached out to turn over Rum's collar and found a miniature communicator - hidden in the stitching on the inside of the collar, which could not be found without careful touch.

"Damn, there's actually a spare communicator!" Jinpei Matsuda walked over, pulled off the communicator and threw it into the box.

"I should have searched him a long time ago!" Hagiwara Kenji sighed. "I was so busy looking for the chip location that I forgot about it. But luckily I found it early and no news got out."

Amuro Toru took out the chip and placed it in a sterilized tray. "Alright, the chip is intact. I'll give it to Manager Kuroda for analysis later."

Just as he was about to sew up the wound, Rum suddenly opened his eyes, let out a beast-like growl from his throat, and struggled with his hands to grab something.

"Inject the anti-stress drug quickly!" Haibara Ai immediately handed over the injection.

Miyano Akemi held Rum's arm tightly.

Kudo Yuki held his knees to prevent him from moving.

Toru Amuro quickly injected the injection into Rum's vein. Within a few seconds, Rum's body went limp and he fell into coma again.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Yi Dahang leaned against the wall and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "This old guy is really capable of making trouble."

Hagiwara Kenji smiled and patted his shoulder: "Fortunately, there was no danger. If he had spread the news, our safe house would have been exposed."

Kudo Yuki walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain and looked out.

Okiya Subaru was still there, but he had a cell phone in his hand, and he seemed to be calling someone. She was about to close the curtains when she saw Okiya Subaru look up, his eyes met hers accurately, he nodded slightly at her, and turned to leave.

"He left?" Amuro Toru came over, hugged her waist from behind, and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Didn't he come in to see Mingmei?"

Kudo Yuki shook her head and leaned into his arms: "He said that he doesn't want to disturb Mingmei's peace now. In fact, I know that he is afraid that his identity will bring danger to Mingmei."

Shu Shu jumped into Kudo Yuki's pocket and said, "It's finally over! My claws are almost sore from scratching. By the way, Amuro Toru, where are the cheese crackers in your pocket? You promised to give them to me!"

Amuro Toru smiled helplessly, took out a biscuit from his pocket and handed it to him: "I knew you didn't forget. But next time you spill tea stains on the drawings, you won't have any biscuits to eat."

A smile appeared in Zhu Fu Jingguang's eyes, and he lowered his head to continue sorting out the badge data.

The light brown tea stain on the paper looked like a small mark under the light, recording the rare warmth in this dark situation.

Haibara Ai and Miyano Akemi packed the medical box together, and the two sisters occasionally smiled at each other.

Yi Dahang stood up, pounded his sore waist, and swept his eyes across the warmth in the room. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "I say, you guys, don't just relax. This safe house has been used tonight, and we have to clean it up tomorrow morning to avoid leaving any traces."

Hagiwara Kenji wandered over from the door, still fiddling with the same miniature communicator. His tone was teasing, "I understand, Officer Date, but for now, let's all take a breather. Look at Haibara and Akemi. We finally have a chance to talk properly. We can't rush them into work, can we?"

Upon hearing this, Huibara Ai raised her eyes and glared at him, but she didn't stop adjusting the gauze in her hand, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Miyano Akemi touched her arm lightly and whispered, "It's okay, clean up quickly, we can make some tea later and talk about the past."

Haibara Ai nodded, her movements quickened, and the coldness in her eyes was quietly replaced by tenderness.

Matsuda Jinpei leaned against the sofa, twirling the disassembled communicator parts with his fingertips. "The frequency of this communicator is a bit strange. It doesn't seem like the band commonly used by the organization. I'll have to have the technical department investigate it. Maybe we can find other contact points behind Rum."

Zhu Fushiguri Jingguang had just finished sorting the data and looked up at the words: "I have written down the parameters of the communicator and will send them to Manager Kuroda later for priority analysis. Also, besides the chip and communicator, no other positioning devices were found on Rum, so we can rest assured for the time being."

Toru Amuro released the hand that was holding Kudo Yuki, walked to the medical box, checked the sutured wound, and stood up only after confirming that there was no problem.

Kudo Yuki first took out a pass card with some dust on the corners. It was the Rum Laboratory pass that Gin had Cohen "accidentally" drop.

"Is this... the pass to Rum Lab?" Toru Amuro looked over and was about to touch the card when he saw Kudo Yuki take out a delicate paperclip-style key from her pocket.

The needle was polished to an extremely fine point, with a tiny hole hidden at the end that was difficult to see with the naked eye. "Did you find it by yourself?"

"Yeah, it's in the wall near the abandoned gas station. I accidentally saw it." Kudo Yuki twisted the key in a circle, and finally took out a palm-sized metal box. The box was matte black and there was no visible pattern. "This was given by Vermouth. There is a micro camera hidden in it. It can only be seen under ultraviolet light."

Shushu poked his little head out, clawed at her wrist, and muttered softly, "If I had known you were so messy, I wouldn't have gotten in! I almost got hurt by this hard card!"

Amuro Toru's ears twitched slightly, and he reached out to take the metal box. His fingertips could feel the subtle lines on the box. "Vermouth is willing to give you something like this. Isn't she afraid that you will use it to stare at her?"

Kudo Yuki leaned against the entrance cabinet, watching Shushu squatting on the edge of his pocket, holding a biscuit and gnawing on it until his face was covered with crumbs.

"She was never afraid of me, but of the old man discovering her intentions."

Amuro Toru let out a low laugh. "Karasuma Renya has always turned a blind eye to her granddaughter. She controls half of the Karasuma Group's connections. If she really wants to turn against them, it won't be as simple as throwing a camera."

He changed the subject, his gaze landing on the access card in Kudo Yuki's palm. "Hide this card. The security system of the Rum Lab was set up by Gin himself. Besides him and Rum, only you, with your 'Fine Brew' clearance, can enter."

Kudo Yuki leaned over to check Rum's wound. After confirming that there was no bleeding at the stitches, she called out telepathically, "Shushu, do you still have the 5-minute healing bandage you gave Toru? It's perfect for this."

Shushu poked his head out of Kudo Yuki's pocket, his chubby little paws tugging at her sleeves. "There are still four! There weren't many left after I gave them to Amuro Toru last time, and you said you wanted to use them sparingly!"

Amuro Toru held the sterile gauze and first wiped the bulge in Kudo Yuki's pocket. He knew without hesitation that it was Shushu who was looking in. "It's one thing to save it, but Rum's wound must be treated properly. If it gets infected, the plan to plant the spy will be easily exposed."

He leaned over and lifted the old gauze from Rum's waist. His eyes paused at the suture line, and his fingertips brushed the edge of the gauze. "This wound will leave a noticeable scar. Given Rum's suspicious nature, he'll definitely ask for details, which will only cause trouble and affect our plan to get him to let his guard down."

Toru Amuro gave Kudo Yuki a look, signaling Shushu to take the Band-Aid.

Shushu tucked his little head deep into Kudo Yuki's pocket, but his round ears stood up and his short legs kicked twice quickly in the fabric.

It emerged from the pocket holding a small white porcelain box, its chubby little paws tightly gripping the edge of the lid, even the tips of its paws were pink, for fear that if it relaxed, the Band-Aid inside would spill out.

"Look, it's all here!" Shushu handed the box to Amuro Toru, and with his chubby little paws he opened the box, revealing four Band-Aids.

As soon as Amuro Toru touched the box, Kudo Yuki whispered to Shushu telepathically, "Don't be stingy. If Rum's wound gets infected, it will take a lot of effort to treat it later. I'll get a new one from the system in a couple of days."

Amuro Toru's eyes lit up with a smile. He took out a Band-Aid, tore it open, and placed it on Rum's sutured wound. As he pressed the edges with his fingertips, he continued, "We really need to use it sparingly, but for now, let's focus on keeping the wound intact, lest Rum wake up and find an excuse to cause trouble."

Shushu squatted on the medical box, looking at the Band-Aid stuck to Rum's wound. His chubby paw patted the box and said, "This scar-healing Band-Aid, ten cheese crackers for one!"

Amuro Toru paused slightly as he pressed the Band-Aid, unable to hide the smile in his eyes. He teased it deliberately: "Then next time when we exchange cookies, I'll give you two more?"

Shushu's ears instantly stood up straight, and his chubby paws immediately grabbed the edge of the medical box: "Really? Don't lie to me!"

But after just two seconds of excitement, he shrank his neck dejectedly, "But...if Rum wakes up and realizes that there is no chip, will he be suspicious?"

Amuro Toru suppressed the smile in her eyes and deliberately slowed down her speech to tease Shu Shu: "I have a suspicion for sure, but he can't even remember how he was brought here. When he wakes up, he will only wonder how the chip was lost. He won't have time to think too much."

He caught a glimpse of Kudo Yuki's lips curling up slightly, and added, "Besides, we still have a backup plan. With that spare communicator, if we tamper with it a little later, we can make him think there's a mole within the organization and divert his attention."

Shushu's round ears twirled, and his chubby little paws clung to the edge of the medical box. "What if he asks about the Band-Aid? It's obvious this thing isn't ordinary!"

"They said the special gel used during preoperative disinfection can reduce scarring." Kudo Yuki reached out and rubbed Shushu's head, her fingertips rubbing against cookie crumbs at the corner of its mouth. "Rum is most concerned about his image, especially the old scar on his left eye. If you say you can make the new scar less noticeable, he'll actually be relieved."

Toru Amuro put a Band-Aid on the wound sutured by Rum and observed the changes in the wound.

In less than two minutes, the sutures that were once visible began to fade, and the red skin around them gradually returned to normal color.

As soon as five minutes were up, Toru Amuro raised his hand and lifted a corner of the Band-Aid. The wound underneath had completely disappeared, without even a scar left. Only a smooth piece of skin remained, as if the operation had never happened.

Shushu squatted on the medical kit, chewing the last bite of his biscuit, puffing his cheeks and asking, "When will I get my biscuit?"

Hearing this, Amuro Toru lowered his head to look at Shushu, who was squatting on the medical box, and gently scratched its round belly with his fingertips. "Tomorrow we'll go to Poirot and fill a bag full of cheese crackers for you. By the way, let Xiaoxue bake some extra cheese squares."

Shushu's ears instantly stood up like little radars, and he even forgot to swallow the biscuit crumbs in his mouth: "Don't hide the biscuits like last time!"

The smile in Amuro Toru's eyes spread to his eyebrows, and he tapped its little head lightly with his finger: "I won't hide it this time. I'll put it in your favorite little jar with strawberry pattern. How about that?"

After Shushu finished chewing the last bite of the biscuit, he rubbed the crumbs on the medical kit with his chubby paws and raised an OK sign.

Kudo Yuki's gaze remained on Rum, then she looked at everyone in the room and spoke carefully, "What are we going to ask when he wakes up? We can't let Rum guess our ultimate goal and identity during the interrogation."

To be continued...