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

Kudo Yuki's gaze fell on the crow on Kuroba Toichi's shoulder. The bird was entirely black except for a ring of fine down around its eyes that shone with a dark gold luster. It was staring at the red light of "ES Dark Amber" on the screen with those eyes, and its appearance exuded a unique spirituality.

She stroked the edge of the tin tea canister and said in a puzzled tone, "Uncle, this crow... is quite unusual in its intelligence. It seemed to be staring at the structural diagram the whole time."

Black Feather Thief raised his hand and gently stroked the crow's back feathers. The bird obediently rubbed against his fingertips and let out a chirp.

"I found this little guy when I infiltrated Karasuma's headquarters." He spoke casually, but there was a hint of enigmatic amusement in his eyes, making it impossible to tell whether he was telling the truth or not.

"It was locked in the ventilation duct of the archives room at the time, and its wings were injured. I rescued it on a whim, and I never expected it to become a little follower."

Black Feather Thief picked up a feather that had somehow landed on his shoulder with one fingertip. “The Wuwan Group keeps many of these intelligent birds and beasts as sentries or messengers. This one probably broke free of control by accident.”

Amuro Tooru's hands, resting on his knees, tightened slightly.

The mouse muttered softly, "That crow has such bright eyes! It seemed to be looking at the brainwashing module parameters of 'ES Dark Amber' just now. Could it also understand blueprints?"

Amuro Tooru glanced at the crow and noticed that its gaze seemed to linger on key areas of the screen. A sense of unease crept into his heart: [Mr. Kuroba's words seem reasonable, but this crow's behavior is far too abnormal.]

“Since it escaped from Karasuma headquarters, it might have some clues left on it.” Kudo Yuki slowly approached the crow, observing its reaction.

The crow seemed to sense Kudo Yuki's approach. Instead of dodging, it tilted its head, the fine down around its dark gold eyes gleaming under the light, its gaze still fixed on the brainwashing module area of ​​"ES Dark Amber" on the screen.

Just as Kudo Yuki was about to touch its feathers, the crow flapped its wings and landed on the corner of the table next to the screen, gently pecking at the highlighter on the table.

"The little guy is quite clever." Kuroba Touichi chuckled, twirling the black USB drive between his fingers. "Perhaps he's been at headquarters for too long and has picked up some scattered patterns from his surroundings."

Upon hearing this, Kudo Yuki opened her phone, connected it to the printer, printed out Karasuma Renya's family crow emblem, and showed it to the crow.

The printing paper slowly slid out, and the Karasuma family crest gradually appeared on the paper.

The jet-black raven spread its wings, its claws gripping a scepter entwined with thorns, and the dark red patterns inlaid in its eye sockets inexplicably echoed the red light of "ES Dark Amber" on the screen.

Kudo Yuki handed the paper to the crow. As soon as her fingertips left the paper, the bird flapped its wings, landed in the center of the page, and gently pecked at the eye socket pattern of the badge, making a "tap-tap" sound.

Its movements were not random pecking, but rather it followed the direction of the patterns, tracing each dark red line as if it were copying or confirming some kind of mark.

“Interesting.” Ai Haibara crossed her arms, her gaze shifting between the crow and the emblem. “Its reaction to this pattern is far beyond that of ordinary birds; it’s more like it has been specially trained to recognize specific markings.”

Conan crouched down, his gaze behind his glasses fixed on the crow's movements.

"The Karasuma family crest has never been made public. The fact that this crow reacted in this way suggests that it must have frequently come into contact with such markings at headquarters. Perhaps it is not just a messenger, but has also been involved in tasks such as document delivery."

Kudo Yuki gently placed her fingertips on the back of the crow's feathers. The bird did not resist; instead, it stopped pecking and gently rubbed against her palm. She could feel the subtle tremors beneath the feathers, like some kind of faint resonance.

"Uncle, when you rescued it, besides the fluorescent powder, was there anything else in the ventilation duct?"

A fleeting look of recollection crossed Kuroba Toichi's eyes: "There were also some fine metal shavings. At the time, I thought they were from old pipes that had fallen off, but now I think they might have been left behind after something like its collar broke off."

He raised his hand, gesturing for the crow to fly to his shoulder. "This little guy is extremely wary. He'll be on guard whenever anyone else gets close, except for me and Xiaoxue. It's quite strange."

The mouse peeked out and said, "Little Snow, there seems to be something under the crow's feathers! I saw a metallic sheen when its wings moved!"

Kudo Yuki's eyes flickered slightly as she gently parted the feathers along the crow's wing and found a small bump at the base of the wing.

It was a microchip embedded in the base of a feather, encased in a thin layer of silicone, so small that it was impossible to detect without careful touch.

“There’s a chip here.” Kudo Yuki carefully avoided the chip. “It looks like a locator, but it’s too small. It’s more like an identification chip.”

Subaru Okiya walked over with a cup of red tea, his gaze falling on the chip.

“This packaging technology is unique to the Karasuma Group. I’ve seen it in the files left by Hiroki. It’s mostly used for tracking high-level experimental subjects. If this crow really came into contact with the core area of ​​‘ES Dark Amber,’ there might be some band records left in the chip.”

"Don't remove it rashly," Ai Haibara warned. "These types of chips usually have a self-destruct program. Forcibly removing them will destroy all data and may even trigger an alarm."

She brought up the detection app on her phone. "I can try connecting via Bluetooth to see if I can read the surface data."

The crow seemed to sense everyone's intentions, tilting its head to look at Ai Haibara's phone, then at Yuki Kudo, spreading its wings and turning the side with the chip towards Ai Haibara, as if it were cooperating.

A hint of surprise flashed in Ai Haibara's eyes, and she immediately operated her phone to connect.

A string of messy code quickly appeared on the screen. She decoded it rapidly, her brows furrowing: "Most of the data is encrypted, but some band characteristics can be identified, which are completely consistent with the debugging band of 'ES Dark Amber'. Moreover... there is also a repetitive instruction code inside, which translates to 'Find the adapter, activate the instruction'."

"The 'fitter' refers to Curaçao?" Kudo Yuki downed her tea in one gulp, the steam blurring the cold glint in her eyes.

Conan nodded: "Most likely. Rum not only used fluorescent agents to track her, but he may also have used this crow to transmit signals. Once the frequency band is tuned, the crow may become the medium for activating the command."

His gaze fell on Black Feather Thief, "Uncle Thief, when you infiltrated the headquarters, did you see any similar birds being used for experiments?"

Black Feather Thief stroked the crow's beak with one fingertip, his expression serious: "There is indeed a hidden breeding room near the archives, which should be a tracking tool with an implanted chip."

He chuckled softly, "I never expected that the little guy I rescued on a whim would become such a crucial clue."

Amuro Tooru's communicator vibrated. He quickly checked the information, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes: "Kazami sent a message that Curaçao just sent an emergency signal, saying that she is temporarily safe, but the discomfort in her body is getting stronger and stronger, and she suspects it is due to the wave band."

He looked up at Kudo Yuki, "She also said that she saw a black crow circling outside her apartment window last night, but she didn't pay attention to it at the time. Maybe it was this one."

The mouse perched on Amuro Tooru's lap, its little paws patting the communicator: "So, this crow isn't just a tracking tool, it can also sense the compatible genes of Curaçao? Was it trying to send some kind of message when it stared at the brainwashing module of 'ES Dark Amber'?"

Kudo Yuki recalled a new divination card that Kuroba Toichi had given her; the back of the "Wheel of Fortune" card had a pattern resembling a raven emblem.

She took out the divination cards and placed them in front of the crow. The bird came closer, gently touched the patterns on the cards with its beak, and chirped.

"This card was a gift from my uncle. Did you design the pattern on the back?"

Kuroba Tou nodded: "I modified it based on the Karasuma family's crest. I originally wanted to make it a souvenir for you, but I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence."

Subaru Okiya suddenly spoke up: "Perhaps it's not a coincidence. The crow's reaction to the badges and divination cards indicates that it can recognize specific markings. If we use this, we can find the location of 'ES Dark Amber's' core laboratory."

"The band records in the chip show that the location where it most recently received a signal was near the mountains on the outskirts of the city, not far from where Curaçao sent the coded message."

Yusaku Kudo pulled up a map of the mountainous area on the outskirts of the city and tapped a mark with his fingertip.

"This is an abandoned mine of the Karasuma Group, which has been shut down for many years. However, according to intelligence provided by the FBI, Rum may have built the core laboratory of 'ES Dark Amber' underground in the mine."

He looked at Kudo Yuki, “On the night of the full moon, we can add another route—let this crow lead the way to find the exact entrance to the laboratory.”

Kudo Yuki raised her hand and stroked the crow's back feathers, the bird gently nuzzling her fingertips.

"It seems to understand us. We'll leave it to you, little guy."

As if in response, the crow flapped its wings again and landed on the corner of the table next to the screen. It picked up a highlighter pen in its beak and drew a simple arrow next to the badge on the printed paper, pointing towards the mountainous area on the outskirts of the city.

Hiroki Sawada took out a silver, coreless whistle from his pocket. The whistle was engraved with fine circuit patterns. He gently touched the mouthpiece and blew out a very soft sound wave.

The sound was barely perceptible to human ears, but the crow on the corner of the table raised its head, the fine down around its dark golden eyes tensed instantly, and its wings spread slightly. As if drawn by some signal, it fluttered down and landed in Hiroki's outstretched palm.

"The frequency of this whistle is based on the training bands used by the Karasuma Group to raise birds and animals." Hiroki Sawada stroked the smooth back feathers of the crow.

"When we cracked the laboratory's security system before, we also deciphered the sonic codes they used to control the messenger birds and beasts. This frequency can temporarily interfere with their command reception."

The crow in Hiroki Sawada's palm seemed to be soothed by the whistle's frequency. Its originally tense wings gradually relaxed, and it lowered its head to dip the tip of its beak into the ink left by the highlighter and slowly traced it across the blank space of the printed paper.

The highlighter traced an arc under the crow's claw, first outlining the spire of the Golden Villa, then marking the old house's iconic corridor structure with a few simple horizontal lines, and finally pecking out three crooked but highly recognizable characters below the pattern—the abbreviation of "Golden Villa".

Kudo Yuki's pupils contracted slightly as memories of the Golden Villa during the search of the base flashed through her mind, especially the phrase "abandon extravagance and guard your true self," which left a deep impression on her.

Yusaku Kudo's gaze fell on the pattern drawn by the crow, and his expression behind his glasses suddenly became profound.

He recalled that the report mentioned that Karasuma Renya had owned a Western-style building called Twilight Mansion in his early years, which was a residence left to him by his mother.

Designed and built by the mechanic Misui Kichiemon, the villa features custom-made doors, floors, handrails, and even chess sets and playing cards, all bearing the raven crest of the Karasuma family.

Kudo Yusaku calculated the time and said, "This villa was the core base where Karasuma Renya established the Black Organization and carried out his plans in the early days."

“The Twilight Mansion… is the old name for the Golden Villa.” Conan squatted down next to the printed paper, his fingertips tracing the lines of the corridor drawn by the crow.

"When the locked-room mystery was solved forty years later, I felt that the villa's mechanism design was too sophisticated, unlike a simple living place. Now it seems that the prototype experimental equipment of 'ES Dark Amber' was probably hidden here all along."

Amuro Tooru's hands, which were resting on his knees, tightened suddenly. He exchanged a glance with Conan, and shock flashed across their eyes. The secret of the Golden Mansion should have been known only to them and Date Wataru. Now, this crow from Karasuma headquarters could draw its outline so accurately, which meant that the mansion had never truly been "abandoned".

The mouse muttered to itself, "The Golden Villa? That house with the hidden mechanisms? Could it be the core server room of 'ES Dark Amber'?"

Amuro Toru nodded.

Kudo Yuki's telepathic message followed: "Highly likely. Misui Kichiemon's mechanisms are sufficient to conceal traces of underground facilities."

Kuroba Toichi's gaze shifted between the crows and the patterns, a hint of inquiry creeping into his smile: "I never imagined Karasuma Renya would have such a hideout. When I infiltrated the headquarters, I found an encrypted coordinate marked 'Twilight,' which I initially thought was just an unimportant old file. Now that I think about it, it might be referring to this place."

He raised his hand and stroked the crow's back feathers. "Xiaoxue asked me to keep an eye on Rum's whereabouts. Half a month ago, he secretly went to the mountainous area on the outskirts of the city and stayed for a whole night. He must have gone to check on the security of the villa."

"This 'Wheel of Fortune' that my uncle gave me has an extra curved line on the back compared to the Karasuma family crest. Perhaps it's a clue to a key to some mechanism in the annex." Kudo Yuki looked up at Sawada Hiroki. "Hiroki, could you reconstruct the approximate layout of the annex based on the outline drawn by the crow and the mechanism style of Misui Kichiemon?"

Hiroki Sawada immediately brought up his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard: "No problem. Misui Kichiemon's mechanisms mostly rely on the interaction between celestial phenomena and mechanical systems. The corridor structure marked by the crow is likely the key to triggering the core passage."

A 3D model quickly appeared on the screen. Beneath the spire, the entrance to a hidden underground passage was located in the center of the corridor. "According to the hint 'Abandon extravagance and keep your true self,' perhaps we need to shield ourselves from external interference in some way before we can activate the mechanism."

Ai Haibara's gaze fell on the chip on the crow's wing root, lost in thought: "This crow can recognize the annex markings and retains the 'ES Dark Amber' band record. It can not only lead the way but also trigger the entrance mechanism. The Karasuma Group's experimental subject tracking chips are often connected to sensors in specific areas."

To be continued...