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

Curaçao turned back.

Seeing Kudo Yuki and Amuro Tooru rushing towards them, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes: "Why are you back? Let's go! It's dangerous here!"

“The danger lies with the people lying in ambush here.” Amuro Tooru raised his hand and fired a tranquilizer dart, knocking down the remaining men in black. “Jäger wants to destroy the backup equipment and shut you up forever.”

A crow landed on Curaçao's shoulder, gently nuzzling her cheek and emitting a low cawing.

Curaçao shuddered, a glint of clarity flashing in her heterochromatic eyes: "This raven... it can sense my thoughts?"

“It’s from the same source as the chip inside your body, and it can control other ‘Night Watchers’.” Kudo Yuki put the USB drive into her pocket. “We’ve already obtained the core password, but destroying the backup device doesn’t require your sacrifice. Trust us, and trust it.”

The crows cawed again, and this time, the sound of gears turning came from the maintenance passage, as if some mechanism had been activated.

Curaçao glanced at the crow on her shoulder, then at Kudo Yuki's eyes. After a moment's hesitation, she finally nodded: "There's an emergency destruction switch at the end of the maintenance tunnel, but it requires chip frequency verification. My chip is already unstable, perhaps..."

The crow suddenly took flight and flew towards the depths of the maintenance tunnel, while turning back and cawing as if to point out the direction.

Kudo Yuki and Amuro Tooru exchanged a glance and immediately followed Curaçao, heading deeper into the passage.

The moonlight shone through the ventilation openings at the top of the tunnel, illuminating the road ahead.

The ravens led the way, while behind them, the birds and beasts of the "Night Watch" used their bodies to block any enemies that might pursue them, forming a temporary barrier.

Kudo Yuki held Amuro Tooru's hand, knowing that what Crow knew might be far more than just a few clues about Curaçao's plan.

The cement floor of the maintenance passage was covered with cracks, and pipe fragments were piled up in the corners. Every step was accompanied by the soft sound of gravel rolling.

The crow circled low in front, its sharp beak occasionally pecking at a mark on the wall, where a faint glow would light up, outlining a safe passage – clearly, it had already figured out the hidden traps in the passage.

Curaçao walked in the middle, her steps somewhat unsteady but much more stable than before. The chip inside her body was still faintly hot, occasionally causing a stinging pain, but the warmth left by the crow on her shoulder kept her consciousness slender.

“There are pressure-sensitive mines in the middle of the passage,” she whispered, her gaze sweeping over the inconspicuous contact points on the ground. “Jägermeister has modified the security here, turning what was originally an emergency passage into a dead end.”

Amuro Tooru immediately stopped and took out a portable detector from his backpack. Dense red dots instantly appeared on the screen. "It's a magnetic trigger. Forcibly removing it will cause a chain explosion."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a crow flapping its wings against a protruding brick on the wall. "Xiaoxue, watch its movements."

Kudo Yuki quickly stepped forward and pressed the bricks according to the rhythm indicated by the crow.

Three light presses and two pauses cause the wall to suddenly recede inward, revealing a hidden control panel with star trail patterns that are almost identical to the back of the divination cards.

She embedded the divination card into the groove, and the fluorescence spread along the pattern, instantly extinguishing the contact point on the ground and temporarily blocking the triggering device of the pressure mine.

“Mimi Kichiemon’s mechanism runs through the entire security system.” Amuro Toru breathed a sigh of relief, but then noticed a subtle vibration coming from deep within the passage. “No, there’s the sound of something heavy moving, like… the sound of a gate falling.”

Suddenly, a loud "boom" came from ahead, and the heavy alloy gate fell from the top, completely cutting off the passage.

Startled, the crows took flight, circling and cawing above the gate, their sharp beaks constantly pecking at the gaps in the gate, but leaving only futile scratches.

Curaçao's face paled. She reached out and touched the gate, and the vibration made her heart sink: "It's a hydraulic locking gate. Once it's down, it can't be opened unless it's unlocked from the inside."

Kudo Yuki attached the detector to the gate, and the signal points on the screen jumped violently, a mixture of the chip's waveband and interference waves from some kind of mechanical operation.

“There’s a backup signal for ‘ES Dark Amber’ inside, and… another chip’s frequency band, very similar to yours, but more stable.” She looked up at the crow. “Does it know something?”

The crow understood her words and flew towards the ventilation duct next to the gate, using its sharp beak to peck open the protective netting at the duct opening.

The pipe was narrow and deep, allowing only one person to crawl through at a time, and the inner walls were covered with damp moisture.

Amuro used his probe to inspect the pipe, and the beam of his flashlight illuminated the metal support deep inside: "We can go around it from here, but it's very risky; the pipe could collapse at any time."

“There’s no time to hesitate.” Curaçao was the first to bend down and crawl into the ventilation duct. “The backup equipment’s destruction switch has a time limit. If Jäger discovers that the ambush has failed, it will remotely activate the self-destruct program, at which point the entire tunnel will be blown up.”

Amuro Tooru followed closely behind, his military green jacket rustling inside the narrow pipe. He occasionally held onto the pipe wall to avoid making too much noise.

Kudo Yuki entered last, the crow on her shoulder folding its wings and pressing tightly against her neck, its sharp beak scanning the surroundings warily.

The pipes were pitch black, with only the occasional low cawing of crows mingling with the distant sounds of machinery.

After walking for about ten minutes, a gap suddenly appeared in the pipe, below which was the secret room where the backup equipment was located.

The three jumped down through the gap, landing almost silently.

The cramped room had a huge black device standing in the center, with complex code flashing on its screen. It was the backup host of "ES Dark Amber".

Beside the main unit, a man in a white lab coat was bending over and operating the control panel; his familiar back view sent a chill down one's spine.

A cold glint flashed in Curaçao's heterochromatic eyes, and suppressed anger surged in her voice: "Are they Rum's men? No, they're Vermouth's lead guards at the American Pirate Human Lab!"

She clenched her fists. "He was in charge of overseeing the chip implantation experiments, but it was Rum himself who personally implanted the 'ES Dark Amber' chip into my body. Rum also brainwashed me, turning me into a tool for carrying out orders."

The man seemed to sense the movement and slowly turned around. When his eyes looked at the three of them, they lingered on Kudo Yuki's face for half a second, his brows furrowing slightly, as if he had some doubts.

"This person looks familiar..." he muttered to himself, his fingertips tracing the edge of the control panel. He quickly shook his head, dismissing the inexplicable sense of familiarity: [Jiajiang only obeys that master's orders, but this girl has a refined and elegant demeanor; she seems completely different from Jiajiang.]

"How could someone whom Lord Vermouth has been looking after be here?" He calmly scrutinized Kudo Yuki, showing no hostility whatsoever.

Just as Amuro Tooru was about to draw his gun, the mouse on his shoulder suddenly darted into his palm, its chubby little paws gesturing rapidly: "He's Vermouth's personal guard, and he once guided Yuki to the lab's clues in the American pirate lab!"

Amuro Tooru paused, his fingertips still resting on the gun handle, but his vigilance remained.

Kudo Yuki nodded slightly: "Let's destroy the backup host of 'ES Dark Amber' to stop Jägermeister from spreading its brainwashing spectrum."

The scrutinizing look in the lead guard's eyes faded as he stepped aside to make way for part of the control panel: "Perfect timing. My mission is to make this place disappear forever. But you'd better hurry, the explosives I've set will detonate in ten minutes."

Curaçao rushed to the control panel, her fingertip pointing directly at the red destroy button: "I'm going to destroy all of this!"

Curaçao froze in mid-air, her chest heaving violently. A sudden, burning pain shot through the chip inside her body, causing her to stagger and fall to the ground, her vision blurring instantly.

“The chip… has been remotely activated…” she gasped in pain. “In three minutes, it will explode and destroy the nervous system…”

Amuro Tooru's expression darkened as he looked at the lead guard: "Do you have a way to temporarily suppress the chip?"

“Lord Vermouth had anticipated this, but the fact that Curaçao is still alive… that is indeed beyond our plans.” He raised his hand and typed a string of code on the console. The red warning light on the screen slowed its flashing frequency, and Curaçao’s painful groans subsided.

"It can only be suppressed temporarily. To completely eliminate it, the band verification must be completed and the core destruction procedure must be initiated. The verification requires that the bands of the chip holder and the licensor be completely compatible."

"Authorizer..." Kudo Yuki's mind stirred, recalling the chip inside the crow's body, which might resonate with it.

A crow took flight from her shoulder, swooped down onto the verification panel of the control console, and gently touched the center with its sharp beak, emitting a peculiar cry.

Curaçao struggled to her feet and, with Kudo Yuki's help, placed her palm on the panel.

The green progress bar started to climb slowly, from 50% to 70%, then to 80%, but suddenly got stuck.

"No, my chip's frequency band is unstable due to brainwashing and forced activation." Curaçao's voice was choked with sobs, and sweat streamed down her forehead.

The mouse was frantic, pacing back and forth: "The crow's chip is an early version developed by Karasuma Renya, and it shares the same origin as Curaçao's chip! Make them synchronize their wavelengths!"

Kudo Yuki whispered to the crow, "Concentrate your mind and match her frequency."

As if understanding, the crows suddenly raised their cries, the frequency of which gradually overlapped with the fluctuations of the chip inside Curaçao's body.

The green light on the verification panel suddenly lit up, the progress bar jumped to 100% instantly, and a mechanical voice announced: "Band verification passed, destruction procedure initiated, countdown 60 seconds."

"Hurry!" The lead guard grabbed the remote control for the explosives from the corner and ran towards the ventilation duct. "The duct leads to the subway transfer station; the people we're meeting are there."

Amuro Tooru helped Curaçao up, Kudo Yuki followed closely behind, and a crow led the way.

The sealed room began to shake violently, rubble fell from the ceiling, and the code on the screen flickered wildly before going completely black.

Walking through the narrow ventilation duct, Mouse muttered, "He seems to have noticed something. Don't worry, he hasn't connected you with the fine wine—Vermouth doesn't know your identity either, you're safe!"

Kudo Yuki nodded slightly and put her hand into her pocket.

The moment I rushed out of the passage, an explosion came from behind me, and the secret room where the backup main unit was located was turned into a sea of ​​fire.

The alloy gate was blasted open by the shockwave, and the three of them ran wildly along the maintenance passage, with the walls behind them collapsing and debris whistling in their ears.

Outside the passage, the "Night Watchers'" birds and beasts were still fighting with the scattered men in black. When they saw them rushing out, they all made way for them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kudo Yuki caught a glimpse of Okiya Subaru in the shadows in the distance. He seemed to be merely observing the situation and had no intention of moving forward.

Upon arriving at the subway transfer station, the waiting vehicle was already there.

After getting into the car, Curaçao leaned back in her seat, her face pale but with a relieved smile, the burning sensation in her body had subsided.

The lead guard, checking the detonation status of the explosives, suddenly spoke up: "Lord Vermouth asked me to pass on a message, Aurora, this is a very complicated situation. Don't let yourself become the most conspicuous piece on the chessboard."

His fingertips traced the buttons on the remote control, his gaze sweeping over Kudo Yuki's serene profile.

"The master said that half of the core code of 'ES Dark Amber' is engraved in Rum's prosthetic eye chip. The master kept him alive to make him bear all the sins, and when the time comes, someone will naturally take care of it."

Curaçao leaned back in her seat, her eyelashes fluttering slightly at the words, a complex emotion flashing in her heterochromatic pupils. The chip inside her body still bore traces of Rum's manipulation; fragments of brainwashing would occasionally surface uncontrollably. The words "prosthetic eye chip" suddenly reminded her of the eerie red light that flashed in Rum's left eye when the chip was forcibly implanted.

Amuro Tooru's fingers tightened slightly around the steering wheel, and he caught a glimpse of Kudo Yuki's hand, which was resting on her knee, curling up gently.

The mouse whispered on her shoulder, "Vermouth only tells half the story! Rum's prosthetic eye not only has code, but also contains early chip control programs from Karasuma Renya, which can remotely activate the chips of all experimental subjects!"

Kudo Yuki looked up at the lead guard: "What else did she say?"

“The master said that you saved her life, and she remembers that kindness.” The lead guard started the vehicle, the roar of the engine drowning out the lingering sound of the tunnel collapse in the distance. “As long as you are still walking in the light, she will not let you be swallowed by the darkness.”

The vehicle traveled through the night-covered streets, the engine noise dampened by the thick soundproof glass.

"Vermouth's news is always half true and half false, but the fact that Rum's prosthetic eye hides core code may not be a lie." Amuro Tooru broke the silence, the steering wheel turning smoothly in his hands, but his eyes were filled with an unyielding melancholy.

“When we were cleaning up Rum’s men before, we found traces of early chip control in some of his deployments, but we didn’t associate it with the prosthetic eye at the time.”

“Rum’s prosthetic eye chip…” Curaçao turned his head, his heterochromatic pupils gleaming in the dim light. “When the chip was implanted, I did see a red light flash in his left eye. In those brainwashing clips, there was always a voice telling me to ‘obey the guidance of my left eye.’ So that’s where it all started.”

The mouse, perched on Kudo Yuki's shoulder, muttered, "It's not just the control program; Rum's prosthetic eye can also record all the experimental data! Karasuma Renya kept him around for two reasons: first, to make him take the blame, and second, because he hadn't fully exploited the chip's value yet."

Amuro Tooru caught a glimpse of Kudo Yuki's pensive expression and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly: "When Gin was clearing out Rum's deployment, those subordinates who showed signs of early control were probably remotely controlled by the prosthetic eye chip."

To be continued...