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

Subaru Okiya approached slowly, carrying a cup of red tea. His gaze behind his glasses was calm and unwavering. "My mother mentioned before that MI6 intercepted internal communications of the Karasuma Group, mentioning 'the night watchmen of the Twilight Mansion.' At the time, I thought it was a metaphor, but based on the current clues, we can conclude that it refers to these trained birds and beasts."

Upon hearing this, Ai Haibara did not show any enthusiasm for her relative. Instead, she raised an eyebrow coldly, her tone as aloof as ever: "Your mother's information always comes so 'timely.' However, this technology of using biochips for security does indeed fit the early experimental style of the Karasuma Group."

Her gaze returned to the raven, her eyes sharpening: "If this raven is indeed one of the 'Night Watchers,' then its closeness to Sister Xue and Mr. Black Feather is not merely a coincidence. Perhaps its chip contains some kind of 'allowance command' that we are yet unaware of."

Conan, squatting to the side, chuckled and smoothed things over: "Haibara is right. Both MI6's intelligence and the crows' reaction point to the Golden Mansion being a huge trap. We need to be careful not to become the 'Night Watch's' prey."

Kudo Yuki stroked the "Wheel of Fortune" divination cards, the raven emblem on the back of the cards gleaming faintly under the light.

“The clearance order… is related to this card that my uncle gave me.” She turned the card over, and the roulette wheel pattern on the front perfectly matched the structure of the annex corridor recreated by Hiroki Sawada. “Look, the number of spokes on the roulette wheel is exactly the same as the number of columns in the corridor.”

Kuroba Toichi stepped forward and touched the center of the roulette wheel with his fingertip.

“Mikazuchi Kichiemon’s mechanisms often use props as keys, and this card is most likely the key to triggering the entrance. When I infiltrated the headquarters, I saw an encrypted notebook in the archives with a similar roulette pattern drawn on it, with the words ‘Star trails as the guide, crests as the proof’ written next to it.”

“Using star trails as a guide…” Kudo Yusaku pulled up the star map for the night of the full moon and overlaid it on the 3D model of the annex. “Specific star positions on the night of the full moon will be projected onto the corridor floor through the stained glass of the annex, forming light spots corresponding to the roulette wheel. Combining this with the patterns on the divination cards should be able to unlock the underground passage.”

Amuro Tooru's communicator suddenly vibrated. He quickly checked it and his expression turned serious: "Kagekawa sent a message that Jäger has left his apartment in Curaçao and is moving towards the mountains on the outskirts of the city. He seems to have sensed our movements and set off ahead of time."

The mouse lay on Amuro Toru's lap, its chubby little paws gripping his trouser leg tightly: "Jägermeister is going to the Golden Mansion? What about Curaçao?"

Kudo Yuki's telepathic message came in sync: "Curaçao has strong counter-surveillance capabilities. Since she can send out emergency signals, it means she can still control her own actions. Jäger's early departure may actually expose his whereabouts."

Amuro Tooru's communicator suddenly vibrated. After quickly checking it, his expression hardened, and he rapidly replied with a message on the screen. Then, he whispered into his earpiece in a code that only Kazami could understand:

"The hound has left its kennel; notify the scarecrow to guard the fence."

He put down the communicator, turned to look at everyone, and put on his signature hearty smile, as if he were just taking a regular takeout order.

"Kazami has received the message. Jäger, that rabbit eager to die, can't escape our encirclement."

The mouse lay on Amuro Tooru's lap, its chubby little paws covering its mouth as it chuckled: "Amuro Tooru is just pretending again. That 'scarecrow' thing he said earlier was clearly just to tell Inspector Kazami to set up surveillance around the villa."

Amuro Tooru bent down and flicked the mouse's forehead, praising it softly: "The little guy has good hearing, but unfortunately this is top secret. Even if you hear it, you'll have to keep it to yourself."

Kudo Yuki stroked the overlap between the wheel's pattern and the corridor's pillars, which made her even more determined: "Zero, I want to see Curaçao, understand her true state now, and I also want to bring this crow."

Amuro Tooru's smile vanished instantly, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes, but more so, respect for her decision.

He raised his hand and pressed the communicator, his fingertip hovering above the screen: "It's too risky to go see her now. Jäger just left the apartment, and he's likely left some lookouts along the way. If we expose our whereabouts, not only will Curaçao be in danger, but we might also be unable to take care of ourselves."

“But we can’t wait any longer.” Kudo Yuki looked up at him. “The crows can sense Curaçao’s compatible genes, and there are still activation instructions remaining in the chip. Only by letting them come into close contact can we confirm whether the trigger instructions in Curaçao’s body have loosened.”

"She mentioned that her discomfort was worsening, and it's possible that the band adjustment has entered a critical stage. If we delay any longer, even if we get to the Golden Villa, we may miss the best time to lift the order."

Ai Haibara nodded in agreement: "Snow is right. Curaçao's memory disorder is related to early brainwashing, and now she is also affected by the 'ES Dark Amber' band. Her condition may deteriorate at any time."

"Only by examining her physiological data in person can we adjust the parameters of the sound shield to ensure that it can effectively protect her during operations."

Conan crouched on the floor, his fingertips tracing the 3D model projection of the annex recreated by Hiroki Sawada, the lens reflecting the faint light of the overlapping star map and roulette wheel.

He raised his hand and pressed it on the corridor area of ​​the model. When he looked up, his eyes flashed with light: "Sister, Mr. Furuya, there is actually a way to see Curaçao without revealing our whereabouts."

"Oh? Shinichi, what great idea have you come up with?" Kudo Yusaku raised an eyebrow at his son, a smile playing on his lips.

Yukiko Kudo bent down and ruffled Conan's hair, her eyes full of doting affection.

Instead of answering directly, Conan pulled up the topographical map of the Curaçao apartment area sent by Kagekawa Raku, and pointed his finger at a hidden underground parking lot marker.

“Mr. Yingchuan previously reported that there is a secret passage in the underground parking lot under the Curaçao apartment building that leads directly to the subway tunnel in the suburbs. Jäger just left, and the sentries he set up are definitely concentrated at the main entrance of the apartment and the main road, so he won’t pay attention to this kind of obscure passage.”

Kudo Yuki communicated telepathically: "Rat, do you think we'll find anything else when we get near Curaçao?"

The mouse's ears perked up, its bright, black grape-like eyes sparkled, and its chubby little paws gently stomped on Amuro Tooru's knee: "Maybe we can find Jäger's tail! He was in such a hurry to run away, he must have left something behind~ Curaçao might have secretly left us a clue!"

Amuro Tooru's lips curved slightly as he looked up at Kudo Yuki, a warmth hidden in his eyes: "Whether there are any extra gains or not, safety comes first."

Morofushi Kagemitsu's image flickered in the holographic projection, his voice calm and orderly: "The structure of the secret passage has been synchronized with you. There is a collapsed area in the middle section that you need to be careful when passing through."

Ai Haibara took the detector out of her pocket and handed it to Yuki Kudo.

"This is an improved chip sensor that can detect biochip signals within a 50-meter radius. If there are fluctuations in the command waveband within Curaçao's body, it will immediately sound an alarm. It can also confirm whether the crow's chip is compatible with hers."

As if it understood the conversation, the crow flapped its wings and landed on Kudo Yuki's shoulder, its eyes fixed on the roulette wheel pattern on the divination cards, emitting a low "caw caw".

Kudo Yuki gently stroked its feathers, sensing a faint resonance in the frequency band, which she transmitted to Amuro Tooru: "The emblem on the response card has the same frequency band as the annex mechanism that Hiroki recreated."

A glint flashed in Hiroki Sawada's eyes, and he almost immediately turned around and rushed back to his laptop, his fingertips tapping on the keyboard.

"If that raven is indeed the 'Night Watchman' and reacts to Curaçao, then its chip frequency band must retain the same frequency characteristics as the chip inside Curaçao's body!"

As Hiroki Sawada operated the system, the wavelength trajectory on the laptop screen, like a silver snake coming to life, began to frantically filter and match, eventually narrowing down the area on the map until it settled on a detached villa halfway up a mountain in the suburbs.

"Found it! Signal source locked, Curaçao is right here!" He zoomed in on the 3D map, and the layout of the villa's courtyard and the location of the windows were clearly displayed. He could even see the corner of a black trench coat hanging on the second-floor terrace.

“There were no obvious sentries around the villa, but there were three signal jammers hidden in the bushes on the west side. They were probably protective measures left by Jäger to try to cut off her contact with the outside world.”

Kudo Yusaku slid his fingertip across the 3D map, marking the location of the jammers on the west side of the villa. His eyes were deep and serious: "The three jammers are arranged in a triangle, covering the villa's communication frequency band, but their power is limited and they cannot block chip sensing at close range. Xiaoxue has the improved detector, so she should be able to locate Curaçao's position."

“But be careful,” he said, turning his attention to a fountain in the backyard of the villa.

"The terrain here is low-lying, which will create a signal superposition blind spot for the jammer, potentially causing the detector to temporarily malfunction. Hiroki, could you calculate a safe route through this blind spot based on the villa's architectural structure?"

Hiroki Sawada's fingers danced across the keyboard, instantly creating a winding red path on the screen that avoided the signal overlap areas of the three jammers.

"The calculations are complete. Moving along the east-side flower corridor close to the wall will allow us to bypass the blind spot. The dense vines of the flower corridor will perfectly conceal our figures and prevent us from being captured by surveillance cameras."

Kuroba Toichi took out a silver badge from his pocket, which had a pattern similar to a divination roulette wheel engraved on it, and handed it to Kudo Yuki.

"This is a replica of Misui Kichiemon's badge. These kinds of badges can often resonate with core items, and might be able to temporarily suppress the instructions in the Raven Chip, preventing it from being triggered by the signals from the annex."

Kudo Yuki took the badge, and the raven on her shoulder let out a short caw. She placed the badge and the divination card together, and the two lines fit together perfectly, forming a complete star trail pattern.

“Star trails as the guide, emblems as the witness… so it requires the resonance of two items.” She looked up at Kuroba Touichi, “What a generous gift.”

Kuroba Toichi chuckled softly, his fingertips tracing the magician's hat: "Mimizu Kichiemon's mechanisms are never isolated; it's his obsession. It was only when I saw your divination card that I remembered the badge I found at the former site of the Mimizu family's residence."

Amuro Tooru put the mouse into his coat pocket, zipped it up so that only a pair of round eyes were visible, and then got up to straighten his clothes.

"Time is running out. Jägermeister is driving very fast. We must see Curaçao before he arrives at the annex. Yuki and I will set off first. Mr. Yusaku and Ms. Yukiko will provide remote assistance. Shuichi Akai, Haibara, and Conan will stay here to continue analyzing the annex's mechanisms and keep us updated on the information."

Subaru Okiya picked up the black tea on the table, his gaze behind his glasses calmly sweeping over everyone before finally settling on the crow perched on Yuki Kudo's shoulder.

"MI6 and the FBI are still deciphering the core code of Karasuma Group's biochips. We will share any progress as soon as possible."

Conan gave an OK sign, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses: "Don't worry, sis! Hiroki and I have calculated the exact time. At 10:17 tonight, the stars will be perfectly aligned, and we'll send you the live feed then."

Yukiko Kudo stepped forward, gave Yuki Kudo a hug, and casually tucked the communicator behind her ear: "This is the latest anti-jamming communicator. It can maintain contact even in the event of signal interference. Be careful, my darling daughter."

Amuro Tooru took Kudo Yuki's hand, feeling the warmth on his fingertips. He whispered, "If you encounter danger, protect yourself first. We can figure out a way to deal with Curaçao later. Remember, you promised me that you would watch the distillery perish together."

Kudo Yuki took his hand, a determined smile in her eyes: "I won't break my promise. With Rascal here, we'll be able to come back safely."

The little mouse poked its head out, its chubby paws digging into the pocket: "I can still smell the mint on Curaçao! Following the scent will definitely be the right way!"

Amuro Tooru couldn't help but chuckle, raising his hand to rub his pocket: "The little guy has a good nose. But don't run around, it's safest for him to stay in my pocket."

The two turned and walked towards the door.

In a detached villa on the outskirts of Tottori Prefecture, Curaçao curled up in the corner of the sofa, her hands pressed against the back of her head.

Cold sweat slid down her cheeks, dripping onto the dark skirt and spreading into damp patches. Her heterochromatic pupils shrank to pinpoints due to the excruciating pain, and the outlines of the furniture in her vision distorted and swayed.

“Buzz—” A sharp buzzing sound suddenly rang in my mind.

Curaçao arched his back, a muffled groan escaping his throat.

The communicator in her pocket had long been confiscated by Jäger, and only the silver bracelet on her wrist was still slightly hot. It was a gift that Vermouth had secretly given her before she left, saying that it could alleviate band interference. But now it seemed to be assimilated by the frequency of "ES Dark Amber" and was burning her skin.

"Don't come any closer..." Curaçao subconsciously waved away the void, and fragments of memory flooded into her mind like shards of broken glass.

The laboratory equipment, Jägermeister's sinister smile, Karasuma Renya's cold eyes, and a blurry figure reaching out to her through the thick smoke of a traffic accident, fingertips carrying a faint scent of mint.

The scent of mint... For a fleeting moment, Curaçao's hazy consciousness cleared, and she struggled to lift her head, her gaze falling on the flower-lined corridor to the east of the window.

The vines swayed gently in the breeze, and two figures could be vaguely seen moving along the wall, their movements as light as two falling leaves.

To be continued...