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

Ai Haibara's fingertip swept across the screen and stopped on the structural diagram of "ES Dark Amber".

"The brainwashing module of this device releases sound waves of a specific frequency band when activated. Even people with strong willpower will be affected by long-term exposure. We must destroy all data before it is officially put into use."

Kudo Yuki's fingers tightened slightly around the teacup, the rising steam blurring the thoughts in her eyes: "Brainwashing... I remember the old senior saying that Curaçao is currently being tracked, and I suspect it's one of Rum's members codenamed Jäger."

She looked up at Amuro Tooru beside her, her expression grave: "Curaçao is currently living a low-key life at a flower shop in the suburbs under the pseudonym Harumi Yuzuki, but she was targeted by a man who resembles Jägermeister three days ago and is currently out of contact. Tooru, can you contact Kazami now to confirm her recent situation?"

Amuro Tooru's fingertips tapped rapidly on the communicator, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes, yet he remained calm: "Kazami sent back the last message last night, saying that Curaçao had cut off all regular communication methods."

"An unidentified man near her apartment has been confirmed to match Jäger's physical characteristics, but he has not taken any concrete action; it seems more like he is confirming her identity."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Governor Kuroda means that we cannot make contact with Jäger before we figure out his true purpose, otherwise we will directly expose Curaçao's location and put her in Rum's trap."

“She was originally a potential early adopter of 'ES Dark Amber'.” Ai Haibara’s voice was slightly cold. “When Rum brought her into contact with the core project, he must have used similar brainwashing methods. It’s just that she later defected, and some of her memories became disordered. If Jäger’s goal was to bring her back to the lab, then her current situation is very dangerous.”

A cold glint flashed in Conan's glasses: "Jäger is the core of Rum's screening team, skilled in close-quarters control and identity verification. His personal involvement indicates that Rum has begun to suspect that Curaçao is still alive. Once Curaçao is captured, not only will she become the perfect test subject for 'ES Dark Amber,' but Mr. Furuya's original infiltration plan will also be completely exposed."

“Kazami has already set up sentries near her apartment.” Amuro put away his communicator. “Curaçao has strong counter-surveillance capabilities. As long as she’s not under control, she can sense danger. We’ve agreed on an emergency contact code with her. If she escapes, she will send a signal.”

The mouse was lying on Amuro Toru's lap, its little paws pawing at the communicator screen.

"Jägermeister's data shows he likes to use anesthetic drugs! Curaçao's heterochromia is too easy to spot. If he corners me, I'll definitely be forcibly taken away for experiments!"

Kudo Yuki lightly traced the red plum blossom pattern on the tin tea canister with her fingertips, her gaze falling on the gradually rounding moon outside the window: "The current situation indicates that Rum urgently needs test subjects to verify the stability of the brainwashing module."

"Uncle Dao Yi, could you also check the lab's past experimental records while you're infiltrating? The brainwashing residue data from Curaçao might help us find clues to crack 'ES Dark Amber'."

Kuroba Toichi chuckled, tossing his top hat into the air and catching it cleanly. "Piece of cake. But the lab's archives have a triple combination lock; I'll need Kaito's help with my magic to open it."

He patted Kaito Kuroba on the shoulder beside him, "Perfect for this kid to practice. After all, stealing classified documents is much more interesting than stealing jewels."

Kaito Kuroba immediately straightened up, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "Leave it to me! I promise I'll bring out the experimental records that Sister Yuki wanted, intact!"

Subaru Okiya appeared at the living room doorway, holding a freshly brewed cup of black tea. His gaze behind his glasses was calm and unwavering: "Regarding the sonic interference of 'ES Dark Amber,' I might be able to offer some assistance."

He placed the teacup on the table and pulled up an audio waveform from his phone.

"This is a sound wave shielding design I improved based on the firewall frequency provided by Hiroki. It can cancel out the band influence of the brainwashing module within ten meters."

A look of surprise flashed in Ai Haibara's eyes as she took the phone and examined it carefully: "This design, combined with the metabolic fluctuation principle of APTX4869, can indeed effectively shield specific sound waves."

She looked up at Subaru Okiya. "How did you come up with this?"

“My mother’s health condition makes me particularly concerned about this type of interference.” Subaru Okiya could not hide the concern in his eyes. “After she shrunk, she became weak and was especially sensitive to abnormal sound waves. This jammer was originally prepared for her, and now it can come in handy.”

“Thanks to the improved suppressant, things have stabilized a lot, and the frequency of coughing is decreasing.” Subaru Okiya nodded. “My father asked me to pass on a message: if MI6’s support is needed for the operation on the night of the full moon, we can mobilize manpower at any time.”

Amuro Tooru raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Kudo Yuki.

“MI6 support is unnecessary, but we appreciate Ms. Mary’s kind intentions.”

He looked at the 3D structure diagram on the screen. "The current guard deployment in the core area has been figured out. The western patrol team left by Gin is a smokescreen. What we really need to avoid are the biometric guards personally arranged by Rum."

“Those guards all have 'ES Dark Amber' implanted in their basic sensor chips, which can identify the aura of organization members.” Hiroki Sawada pulled up a video. In the video, several guards in black were patrolling along the laboratory corridor, their badges flashing red.

"I added a breath simulation program to the virus, which can temporarily block our unfamiliar breath, and the effect lasts for half an hour."

Kuroba Toichi flipped his top hat back onto his head, twirling the black USB drive between his fingers, and succinctly recounted what he had learned during his infiltration: "The Karasuma headquarters' archives contain the 'ES Dark Amber' project initiation documents. The secret door requires a magnetic card to open, and Vermouth is investigating the files related to 'Fine Wine'."

"It includes mission logs, medical records, and contact reports with 'that person,' but the core data is encrypted with the highest level of access. Before I triggered the alarm, I found out that 'Fine Wine' is an S-rank member, directly under that person, and I have seen his true face. He is skilled in disguise, combat, and intelligence analysis."

He paused, his fingertips tracing the edge of the USB drive: "There's an encrypted folder named 'Wine' in the terminal, which seems to be related to 'ES Dark Amber,' but it was forcibly disconnected by the system before I could open it."

“Gin happened to appear in the archives, Vermouth stepped in to help and took away the project approval documents, and the female secretary tried to frame him, but I countered and escaped.”

“The organization’s internal protection of ‘fine wine’ is extremely tight. Vermouth’s search permissions are not enough to reach the core. Moreover, there seems to be an unclear balance of power between Gin and Vermouth.”

As the grandfather clock in the living room struck nine, Yusaku Kudo put down his pen, his fingertips tracing the organizational chart spread out on the table, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

He raised his hand and pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the structural diagram of "ES Dark Amber" on the screen: "The encryption level of the 'fine wine' file that my brother mentioned just confirms my previous speculation—Karasuma Renya's attitude towards this direct subordinate is by no means simple trust, but rather a 'controllable pawn'."

“Vermouth’s covert investigation is essentially a microcosm of the power reshuffling within the Karasuma Group.” He pointed his finger between the nodes of “Rum” and “Fine Brew” on the diagram. “This shows that Karasuma Renya is both wary of Rum’s cultivation of power through ‘ES Dark Amber’ and needs Gin as a ‘cleaner’ to maintain the balance. And the existence of ‘Fine Brew’ is more like a hidden piece wedged between the two.”

Conan looked up at his father, his gaze meeting Kudo Yusaku's behind his glasses: "Are you saying that Karasuma Renya had foreseen that Rum would tamper with 'ES Dark Amber'?"

“Not only that.” Yusaku Kudo nodded and pulled up a screenshot of the encrypted email. “The residual data from the Karasuma private server that Yukiko cracked shows that the initial design of ‘ES Dark Amber’ included a ‘countermeasure module’.”

Access to this module rests solely with 'Fine Wine'. This is the core reason why Rum is so eager to find Curaçao and so determined to track down 'Fine Wine'. He needs Curaçao's genetically modified equipment, but even more so, he needs to seize 'Fine Wine's' access to truly control the project.

Ai Haibara's fingertip paused next to the brainwashing module parameters on the screen: "Countermeasure module? If that's the case, then 'ES Dark Amber' is even less of a threat?"

“No, quite the opposite.” Kudo Yusaku emphasized, “Karasuma reserved this permission not to restrict Rum, but to allow him to regain control at any time through ‘Fine Brew’ after ‘ES Dark Amber’ is put into use.”

“As an early potential mate, Lasso’s memory disorder might not be a simple consequence of her defection, but rather the result of being implanted with ‘trigger commands.’ If she re-exposes herself to the core wavelength of ‘ES Dark Amber,’ those altered memories will resurface, allowing her to execute Rum’s hidden commands.”

Kudo Yuki's fingers, which were holding the teacup, paused slightly. In the rising steam, she recalled her deal with Gin, and a look of understanding flashed in her eyes.

The mouse's little tail twitched nervously: "Trigger-based commands? If Curaçao is found by Jäger, won't she become 'ES Dark Amber's' puppet?"

Amuro Tooru noticed the change in Kudo Yuki's expression and added, "The laboratory perimeter monitoring data sent back by Kazami shows frequent band adjustments recently, which highly match the band characteristics when Curaçao first contacted the project."

“That makes sense.” Kudo Yusaku’s fingertips traced the fake identity file of Curaçao, “Harumi Yuzuki.”

“Curaçao cutting off all communication methods may not be due to being controlled by Jäger, but more likely because she sensed that the trigger commands within her body were about to be activated. Perhaps she has realized that Jäger’s surveillance is just a cover, and the real threat comes from the frequency band adjustments in the laboratory.”

He turned to Kuroba Toichi, his gaze probing: "Brother, when you infiltrated headquarters, did you notice any fine fluorescent powder on the inner walls of the ventilation ducts in the archives?"

Kuroba Tou raised an eyebrow, recalled for a moment, and then nodded: "There were indeed some. I thought they were traces of the security system at the time, so I didn't pay much attention to them."

“That’s a ‘tracking fluorescent agent,’ which only reacts to the compatible genes in Curaçao,” Yusaku Kudo explained.

"On the surface, Rum had Jäger confirm his identity, but in reality, he had already laid out a fluorescent tracking network near the apartment in Curaçao through the pipeline system."

“He did not act rashly, but waited for the ‘ES Dark Amber’ to complete its band tuning. If the command was triggered, even if Curaçao wanted to escape, the fluorescent agent would lock his location.”

Subaru Okiya paused in his act of holding the black tea: "So, for the operation on the night of the full moon, we not only have to destroy the data of 'ES Dark Amber,' but also find a way to deactivate the trigger command within Curaçao's body?"

“That’s right.” Kudo Yusaku pulled up a star chart. “According to the clues left behind in the Haneda Koji case, the astrological code left by Amanda Hughes before her death points to a specific star position on the night of the full moon.”

"This coincides perfectly with the peak time of 'ES Dark Amber'. Rum chose to act at this time both to activate Curaçao's instructions and to use the lunar phase to enhance the penetrating power of the brainwashing band."

He looked at his daughter, his eyes full of trust: "Xiaoxue, your cooperation with Sharon might be a trump card. As Karasuma Renya's granddaughter, she must know some of the core secrets of 'ES Dark Amber,' especially about how to deactivate the trigger command."

“Gin’s deal with you is essentially using you to stop Rum—he knows very well that if Rum takes control of ‘ES Dark Amber,’ the next one to be sacrificed will be Vodka, or even himself.”

Conan stood up and transmitted an encrypted file to everyone's devices.

"Based on Dad's deduction, I have located the location of the laboratory's band transmission tower. On the night of the full moon, we split into three groups: Ai Haibara and I will be responsible for cracking the countermeasure module, Mr. Furuya and Mr. Kazami will be responsible for restraining Jägermeister, and Uncle Toichi and Kaito will be responsible for destroying the core data."

Kudo Yuki looked out the window. The full moon was almost full, and the cool moonlight shone on the red plum blossom pattern on the tin tea canister.

She recalled the record of the truth about the Haneda Koji case that Wakasa Rumi had submitted, and the tone of Vermouth's voice when she called her "Aurora" on the phone. She said softly, "There is a fourth way—Wakasa Rumi will be waiting outside the laboratory. She owes Haneda Koji, and she should repay him in person."

Amuro Tooru grasped her hand, feeling a warm pressure on her fingertips: "I've already had Kagekawa connect with Administrator Kuroda, and the Public Security Bureau's support will arrive at 3 a.m. on the night of the full moon. As for Gin, you should fulfill the deal you promised him earlier."

Looking at the perfectly coordinated group before him, Kudo Yusaku's eyes flashed with satisfaction: "Remember, the most terrifying thing about Karasuma Renya's game is that everyone thinks they are the one making the moves, but in reality, they are all just pieces. What we need to do is not to break the game, but to find the weaknesses of the players."

Under the living room lights, everyone's eyes were focused on the "ES Dark Amber" structural diagram on the screen, and a contest centered around the night of the full moon had begun.

Subaru Okiya quietly retreated to the doorway, his fingertips sending an encrypted message on his phone. In the distance, a red dot of light flickered briefly in the shadows before going out.

The crow flew back to Black Feather Thief's shoulder, its obsidian-like eyes reflecting the red light of "ES Dark Amber" on the screen.

To be continued...