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

The hum of the laboratory instruments gradually subsided, as if a taut string had finally relaxed a little.

Kudo Yuki raised her hand and rubbed her temples. The anxiety that had been hanging over her for days finally subsided, and the coldness on her fingertips was softened by the warm light emanating from the screen.

"Could the unexpected enhancement effect be due to some kind of compatibility reaction between the antibodies in Conan's body and Aunt Mary's constitution?" She looked at Ai Haibara and inquired, "After all, both of them are victims of APTX4869, and they may have common drug tolerance characteristics in their constitutions."

Ai Haibara pulled up the genetic sequence comparison chart of the two people and drew an arc on the screen with her fingertip.

"That's possible. The unknown protein in Conan's body is actually a stress antibody produced by the antidote, and although Ms. Mary's cell metabolism was damaged, the conditioning she received before MI6 allowed her immune system to retain a certain degree of adaptability. The combination of the two produces a synergistic effect, which is why the inhibition rate exceeded expectations."

Amuro Tooru leaned against the lab bench, tapping his fingertips on the surface: "Whatever the reason, this is good news."

The light from the monitoring screens bathed the laboratory, and Mary Akai's various data all pointed to the healthy range.

As Kudo Yuki watched her heart rate curve fluctuate slightly before leveling off, she suddenly heard soft footsteps coming from the next room. Miyano Akemi pushed open the door and walked in, a long-lost relaxed smile on her face: "Aunt Mary said she feels the heat in her body has subsided, and now she wants a drink of water. She also asked me to thank everyone on her behalf."

"Have her drink a small amount of warm water first to avoid irritating her stomach," Ai Haibara instructed without looking up, her fingertips still optimizing the parameters of the treatment plan. "I will go over in three hours to do a cell activity retest to confirm that the inhibitory enzymes have not shown any signs of decay."

Time passed slowly, and the bright colors on the horizon gradually diluted the darkness of the night.

Dr. Agasa looked at the stable indicators on the monitoring screen, then peeked into the next room where Mary Akai's complexion was gradually improving. He rubbed his hands together and smiled, "Now I can finally relax. Miss Mary's fever and cough have subsided. It's almost dawn. Everyone has been up all night, so let's all wash up and rest for a while to recharge before dealing with the rest of the day."

Ai Haibara carefully saved the last set of treatment parameters, and paused slightly as she closed the tablet: "I put the emergency medicine on the first shelf of the refrigerator. Call me immediately if there are any abnormalities."

As she stood up, she caught a glimpse of Akemi Miyano helping Mary Akai slowly drink water. The two were talking in hushed tones, their voices filled with the relief of having been lifted from a heavy burden.

Kudo Yuki raised her hand to rub her slightly sore eyes. Just as her fingertips touched her eyelids, she felt a palm covering the back of her neck.

Amuro Tooru walked to her side and gently pressed his fingertips on her shoulders and neck: "Relax for a while if you're tired."

Kudo Yuki turned her head to look at him, her eyes, which were always smiling, were now filled with heartache.

Kudo Yuki leaned into Amuro Tooru's arms, her nose brushing against his shirt which smelled faintly of coffee: "You're not allowed to secretly stay up all night to catch up on intelligence, and you're not allowed to sneak off to meet with the contact person while I'm asleep."

Amuro Tooru chuckled softly, his hand stroking her back, his fingertips brushing against her shoulder blades, which were slightly tense from exhaustion: "Yes, my lady."

He lowered his head and placed a kiss on the top of Kudo Yuki's head. "But you have to promise me first that you won't forget me next time there's a dangerous deal."

Conan stood by the lab table with his arms crossed, watching the two embracing in the distance, and his lips twitched uncontrollably.

One second they were discussing Mary Akai's treatment data, and the next they switched to "sweet mode." This change of expression was faster than when he used a tranquilizer dart on Kogoro Mouri.

"Hey you two," he cleared his throat, deliberately drawing out his words, "there are other people in the lab, can't you be a little more mindful of your behavior?"

Kudo Yuki looked up from Amuro Tooru's embrace, a faint blush rising on her cheeks, but she didn't let go of his waist. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and smiled, "What's wrong, little Conan? Missing Ran?"

Amuro Tooru chuckled softly, raised his hand to ruffle Kudo Yuki's hair, and turned to Conan to tease him, "After you and Ran get together, you might go even further than us."

Conan's face flushed instantly, and he frantically waved his hands, "Who, who misses her! I was just reminding you to be mindful of the occasion!"

The mouse hopped into Kudo Yuki's pocket, poked its little head out, and rolled its eyes around: "Your face is red to the roots of your ears, but you're still being stubborn~"

Kudo Yuki chuckled and responded telepathically, "Stop teasing him. After all, he and Ran have been honest with each other for a while now, and the sweetness of their honeymoon phase still needs some polishing."

Amuro Tooru's eyes gleamed with a mischievous smile as he deliberately lowered his voice to "threaten" the mouse: "If you dare to make fun of Conan again, be careful he'll increase the dosage of the tranquilizer next time and make you sleep for three days and three nights, and you won't even be able to eat your favorite cookies."

The mouse froze instantly, its eyes filled with terror. It shrank into a ball of fur in a flash, burrowed into Kudo Yuki's palm, and covered its little head tightly, pretending to be dead. It didn't even dare to show the tip of its tail.

Kudo Yuki was so amused by its cowardly behavior that she couldn't straighten up, her shoulders shaking with laughter. She couldn't help but gently poke its little body and communicate with it telepathically: "Look at your guts, you're just talking big."

The mouse suddenly realized, "That's right! Only Yuki and Amuro Tooru can see me! Conan doesn't even know where I am, so how could he prick me with a tranquilizer dart? He was actually scared, how pathetic!"

It peeked out from Kudo Yuki's palm, its eyes still filled with lingering fear, but it stubbornly puffed out its little chest, pretending to be calm. Its chubby little paws slapped its forehead: "I almost got tricked by Amuro Tooru! This mouse isn't afraid of Conan!"

Amuro Tooru's smile deepened. He deliberately leaned closer and said slowly in a voice only a mouse could hear, "Oh? What if I told Conan where you were hiding and helped him adjust the tranquilizer dart to a mini version?"

The mouse's ears, which had just stood up, drooped instantly, and it shrank back, but it still stubbornly said, "You, you wouldn't! If you dare to betray me, I'll tell Snow about you secretly hiding desserts at Poirot's Cafe!"

"Oh?" Kudo Yuki raised an eyebrow at Amuro Tooru, her eyes full of mockery, and whispered, "So someone had something else up their sleeve?"

Amuro Tooru's smile faltered, and he shook his head helplessly: "I've been betrayed by the little guy. Fine, I give up, I won't scare you anymore."

The mouse proudly raised its little head: "That's more like it! Don't you dare scare me like that again, or you'll regret it!"

Conan rolled his eyes as he watched his older sister and Amuro Tooru exchange smiles every now and then: "Hey you two, can you tone it down a bit? Haven't you laughed enough?!"

Dr. Agasa chuckled as he tidied up the lab bench, putting the scattered test tubes back in their places, humming a tuneless little melody: "Now this is finally a perfect solution."

He glanced up and saw Ai Haibara syncing her tablet with the lab's main server. The data stream on the screen gradually stabilized. "Ai, are the programs saved correctly?"

“Yes, the core data has been encrypted and backed up to three independent terminals, including the preliminary analysis report of the ‘ES Dark Amber Project’.” Ai Haibara closed the tablet. “Even if the server is hacked, critical information will not be leaked.”

Her gaze inadvertently swept in the direction where Miyano Akemi had left, a gentle light shining in her eyes: [My sister has suffered so much fear all these years; finally, she can have a moment of peace.]

As Miyano Akemi walked out of the next room, she gently closed the door behind her.

"Aunt Mary drank her water and then fell asleep again. Uncle Wuwu is watching over her, saying he'll come over to thank her when she wakes up." She walked over to Ai Haibara and took her arm. "Her breathing was very steady when she was asleep, so she must have completely relaxed."

"The cell viability retest cannot be taken lightly," Ai Haibara instructed. "I'll be there at 10 a.m. If you're free, come along too."

Akemi Miyano nodded in agreement, her gaze sweeping over everyone in the laboratory before finally settling on Yuki Kudo and Tooru Amuro, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

Seeing the two of them finally let their guard down and snuggle together, they didn't disturb them too much. Instead, they talked to Dr. Agasa about the follow-up treatment plan, and then everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.

Amuro Tooru held Kudo Yuki's shoulder, walking very lightly. When he passed Conan, he deliberately raised his hand to rub his hair, causing Conan to frown and brush it away, but he couldn't hide the helplessness in his eyes.

Ai Haibara and Akemi Miyano walked side by side, whispering intimate words to each other, their figures gradually disappearing at the end of the corridor.

Dr. Agasa locked the laboratory door and staggered towards his room.

The morning light quietly seeped into the room, covering the lab bench and giving the still plates and reagent tubes a warm hue.

The tension and fatigue of the night were replaced by sleepiness at this moment, with only the residual reagent in the air flowing quietly in the silence, accumulating strength for the tough battle to come.

The underground chamber of the Karasuma Group headquarters remains perpetually dark, with only the pale light cast by cold lamps embedded in the stone walls illuminating ancient books and scattered puzzle manuscripts.

Karasuma Renya sat upright in a chair, her fingers tracing the bronze box engraved with a raven emblem. The inside of the lid was inscribed with a riddle left by her mother thirty years ago before her death:

The gold is hidden in the roost of birds, neither stone nor wood, covered with unusual materials, waiting for the destined one to open it.

Thirty years.

He spent half his life searching for hidden places around the world that seemed to be "bird habitats," but he could never find the "gold" that the mystery pointed to.

Those top detectives he hired at great expense, some tried to fabricate lies to get away with it, and some tried their best but still had no clue. In the end, they all became skeletons under the raven statue in the corner of the secret room.

A surge of violence and resentment welled up in Karasuma Renya's eyes.

He raised his hand and slammed the bronze box heavily onto the stone table, scattering the manuscript all over the ground.

Karasuma Renya never imagined that "clothing made of strange materials" actually referred to wrapping ebony in stone, and that "the place where birds roost" was a homonym for Tottori Prefecture.

But at the time, he was so focused on finding the legendary golden treasure that he buried the mystery himself.

"Heh." A cold laugh escaped from his throat.

Compared to tangible gold, Karasuma Renya believed that the brainwashing equipment completed by the "ES Dark Amber Project" was the true wealth that would allow him to control the world.

In the shadows of the secret room, several crows quietly landed, their eyes fixed on Karasuma Renya, emitting low "cawing" sounds.

Karasuma Renya raised his hand, and a crow flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder, its sharp beak gently pecking at his sleeve.

"How's Rum doing?" He stroked the raven's feathers, his tone calm yet imposing.

The crow tilted its head, spread its wings, and revealed a miniature memory card strapped under its wings.

Karasuma Renya removed the memory card and inserted it into the terminal. The monitoring report sent by Gin immediately appeared on the screen.

Rum has recently been in frequent contact with Senator Saeki's faction, and APTX4869 samples from the laboratory have been secretly taken. He has even attempted to crack the core code of the "ES Dark Amber Project".

“An ambitious man.” A cold glint flashed in Karasuma Renya’s eyes. “He’s still useful. Have Gin keep an eye on him. Tell Gin that the vodka ‘enhancement experiment’ was a success and there’s no need to bring him back for now.”

In the communications room on another floor of headquarters, Gin's communicator indicator light flashed green. No one knew that the eavesdropping module inside had been tampered with after he disassembled and reassembled it, so that Karasuma Renya could hear his conversation with Rum and that he could keep track of Karasuma Renya's surveillance activities at any time.

The green light from the communicator quietly went out in my palm.

Gin held the bugging device in his hand, a cold smile playing on his lips.

He put the communicator back into the inside pocket of his trench coat, turned around and stepped into the corridor of the Karasuma Group headquarters. The lights on the stone walls overlapped his shadow with the shadows of the crow statues on both sides.

“That sir… Rum…” Gin murmured the two names, a mocking sneer playing on his lips.

He had already seen through the course of events—most of the people around Rum had been replaced, and those remaining were either opportunists or pawns secretly siding with him, but that guy was still kept in the dark, believing he was in control of the whole situation.

My steps faltered at the crossroads of the corridor, one leading to Rum's office area and the other to the underground laboratory.

The communicator vibrated again; it was Rum calling.

Gin's expression instantly vanished: "What is it?"

“Gin, that lord ordered you to monitor me, and you’ve certainly done your ‘dutiful work’.” Rum’s voice carried a deliberate teasing tone, yet it also contained a hint of probing. “I have to give you a heads-up—that fine wine only obeys that lord’s orders, and she’s completely unyielding. You’d better stay away from her. Otherwise, she might cause trouble, and you won’t even know how you died.”

Gin leaned against the stone wall, his gaze sweeping across the direction of Rum's office not far away.

"I only follow that man's orders." His tone was icy. "The fine wine is not under my jurisdiction, so there's no need to waste my time. But you, Rum, what do you plan to use to explain what you've done these past few days to that man?"

Rum's voice carried a deliberately lowered, sinister tone: "Deliver on your mission? Gin, you're far too impatient. What that lord wants is the perfect execution of the 'ES Dark Amber Project,' pawns who can control the overall situation, not a bunch of useless hindrances. That lord also needs more secure physical protection, doesn't he?"

"That's for the best." Gin sneered inwardly, hung up the phone, and put the communicator back into his trench coat pocket.

Karasuma Renya must have been listening to their conversation, and his deliberate display of aloofness and obedience was meant for Karasuma Renya.

Turning away from the underground laboratory, Gin's current task is to continue playing the role of a tool in Karasuma Renya's hands while secretly pushing forward the plan.

Rum's ambition and Karasuma Renya's ruthlessness will eventually cause this game to collapse completely.

When the time is right, he will personally end it all, rescue Vodka, and completely destroy this organization that treats everyone as pawns.