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

"Vermouth's information is a mix of truth and falsehood, but the fact that 'Rum wants to get involved in the ES Dark Amber Project' matches Gin's intelligence."

Kudo Yuki raised her eyes, her gaze clear and bright.

"Rum frequently contacted people in the lab and even tried to modify the chip's compatible frequency band, probably in an attempt to link the APTX4869 with the prosthetic eye chip, restoring the left eye while simultaneously gaining partial control over brainwashing."

"However, the old man had already planted spies long ago. The fact that Gin's communicator was bugged is the best proof of that—he was letting Rum do whatever he wanted, waiting for him to reveal a fatal flaw."

Suddenly, the mouse sat up straight and pointed its chubby little paws out the car window: "Look over there! Subaru Okiya is still in the same spot~ He seems to be observing the tunnel collapse!"

Kudo Yuki looked in the direction it pointed. In the shadows of the street corner in the distance, the evening breeze rustled his clothes, but there was no sign that he was about to leave.

Amuro Tooru's gaze darkened slightly, but the other party's silent observation at this moment seemed more like waiting for a signal.

“Mr. Subaru is probably confirming whether we have evacuated safely.” Kudo Yuki withdrew her gaze. “Wakasa Rumi has obtained preliminary evidence. As long as Rum’s prosthetic eye chip is exposed, she can complete her revenge.”

Upon hearing this, Curaçao's eyelashes trembled slightly: "That Wakasa-sensei... is she a survivor of the Haneda Koji case?"

She had heard the name "Asaka" within the organization before, but had never met her in person. "She's partnered with you?"

Kudo Yuki nodded: "She provided early blueprints for the ES Dark Amber Project, and I helped her identify the real culprit."

She didn't go into details, but looked at Amuro Tooru and asked, "Toru, when Gin was purging Rum's men, did you notice any other anomalies in the prosthetic eye chip?"

Amuro Tooru recalled the details of those operations and slowly began to speak: "During several operations, Rum's men suddenly went out of control and went berserk. At the time, we thought it was a chip malfunction, but now we think it was probably the forced activation function of the prosthetic eye chip."

He turned to Curaçao, “Your chip can sense the same waveband, which may help us locate Rum later.”

A resolute glint flashed in Curaçao's eyes: "I'm willing to help. The ES Dark Amber Project has destroyed too many people; I must end it all myself."

The vehicle drove into a quiet alley.

The lead guard turned off the engine and looked back at the three men: "The subway entrance is just ahead. The people who are waiting for you will take you to the safe house."

He handed the USB drive to Kudo Yuki.

"This is what Lady Vermouth asked me to pass on. It contains some backup data from the laboratory, which may help you find clues to crack the artificial eye chip."

Kudo Yuki took the USB drive: "Thank her for me."

“The master said this is nothing to worry about.” The head guard opened the carriage door. “Remember, don’t become the most conspicuous piece on the chessboard. That master’s game is far more complex than we imagine. Aurora, may you always walk in the light.”

After the three got off the car, the crow flew back to Kudo Yuki's shoulder.

The lead guard vehicle quickly disappeared at the end of the alley, its engine sound swallowed by the night, leaving only the whistling of the evening wind blowing through the cracks in the wall.

Kudo Yuki gripped the USB drive tightly in her palm, thinking: [Vermouth's gifts always come with conditions. This backup data might contain clues even more crucial than cracking the prosthetic eye chip.]

"The safe house is located in the underground transfer level of subway line 3, and it was personally deployed by Chief Administrator Kuroda." Amuro Tooru, supporting Curacao's arm, scanned the surroundings warily, the hem of his military green jacket swaying slightly with each step. "There are medical equipment and communication terminals inside, and Ai Haibara is already waiting over there."

The mouse thought to itself, "Supervisor Kuroda has brought over quite a few undercover agents this time, and even Matsuda Jinpei's bomb disposal equipment is all ready. It's perfectly safe~"

Curaçao's steps were still a little unsteady, but she insisted on walking on her own, her heterochromatic eyes shining brightly in the darkness: "Don't help me, I can manage."

She raised her hand to touch her chest. Although the burning sensation there had subsided, the faint fluctuations left by the chip were still lingering. "Just now in the car, I could feel the wavelength of the prosthetic eye chip flashing in the distance, like some kind of signal transmitter."

The crow on my shoulder suddenly cawed softly.

Kudo Yuki followed the crow's gaze and looked at Curaçao's chest.

Hidden there is a chip implanted by the organization, which is also the most dangerous link between her and Rum.

"Should I help you get that chip out first?"

Curaçao's fingertips rested on her chest, as if confirming some kind of presence.

“No need. This chip is the only medium that can track the Rum band. If we remove it now, we will lose our most direct clue. Its fluctuations are very stable right now and it does not pose a threat to me for the time being.”

The crow cawed again, as if refuting her words.

"Do you remember the moments before you were brainwashed? More specifically, do you remember where you were and what the scene was like?"

Curaçao's fingers tightened slightly, as if someone had pulled a piece of chain from the dark river of memory. She didn't answer immediately, but instead looked at the raven on her shoulder, as if it could swallow those images for her.

“…I remember ‘white.’” she finally spoke, her voice very soft. “Not the white of light, but the white of disinfectant, the walls, the sheets, the restraints. Everything was glowing, so bright it made you want to gouge your eyes out.”

Her gaze drifted to the lights at the subway entrance in the distance, as if she could see another space through that dim light.

“It was a ‘clean’ room. There was no dust, no smell, and even the sound was sucked away. I was lying on a narrow bed with my wrists and ankles restrained. They said it was to ‘protect me’ and prevent me from struggling during the process.”

Her fingers stroked the location of the chip in her chest, as if suppressing something that wanted to surge out.

“There are one-way windows in the room. I can’t see the people outside, but I can feel many eyes watching me. Like looking at an experimental subject, or a piece of waste that is about to be destroyed.”

She paused, her breathing very soft: "Then there's Vermouth."

Curaçao seemed to be reciting a line etched into her very bones: "She said that my very existence was a mistake. Because I remember too many things that are detrimental to the organization. My abilities are unique, but if misused, they are a tremendous threat."

Her fingertips trembled slightly, but she remained composed.

“When Vermouth raised her gun, I wasn’t afraid. I just felt… it was finally going to end. That feeling was clearer than death itself.”

“But Rum stopped her,” Kudo Yuki whispered.

“Yes.” Curaçao closed her eyes, as if pressing that memory back into darkness. “His voice sounded like it was squeezed out of metal. He said I still had value. Vermouth objected, saying I knew too much and that keeping me around was a potential problem.”

She opened her eyes, and the light in them was even colder.

“Rum said, ‘Curaçao, your world has no color, only profound darkness. If this darkness causes you pain, cover it with other colors. Your special abilities can only be used by me; be my right-hand woman, Curaçao.’”

Curaçao's lips curved into a faint smile, like a wound: "From that moment on, I was no longer myself. I became a renamed container, used to hold what they wanted me to remember."

Kudo Yuki looked at her: "Then do you still remember the brainwashing process? Drugs? Equipment?"

Curaçao's eyes became vacant, as if they were looking through a layer of water.

"The feeling of having memories scraped away bit by bit... is hard to describe. It's like someone is repeatedly rubbing sandpaper into your brain until all the outlines are blurred. I can feel myself 'disappearing,' but I'm powerless to stop it."

"They retained my skills: hand-to-hand combat, infiltration, shooting, driving... everything that makes me a weapon. They implanted new instructions: obey Rum, absolute loyalty."

“As for color synesthesia…” Her gaze fell on the back of her hand, as if looking at some talent that did not belong to her, “They discovered that I could convert information into colors. So they turned the undercover agent list, transaction coordinates, assassination plans… into specific color combinations for me to remember.”

She raised her head, her eyes sharp as knives: "I became their 'living hard drive.' But a hard drive has no past, nor should it have emotions."

Kudo Yuki was silent for a moment: "Then now... can you still see those colors?"

Curaçao stood quietly, the raven on her shoulder cawing again, as if reminding her: [Some doors, once opened, can never be closed again.]

"Yes. But now, the colors I see no longer belong only to rum."

Her gaze fell on Kudo Yuki, as if she were finding a little bit of a stolen part of her life again: "Some colors are ones that I choose to remember."

Amuro Tooru kept his arm around Curaçao's elbow the whole time, and even though the other man repeatedly said that he didn't need to be helped, his cautious protection never wavered.

He lowered his gaze to Curaçao's chest, his eyes deep: "The triggering conditions for the forced activation function are still unclear. But based on the traces cleaned up at the scene, when the chip goes berserk, the holder's pupils will show a different color reflection similar to yours, and the actions will be completely out of control of their own will, more like a remotely controlled weapon."

Kudo Yuki pondered, "Currently, there are two types of prosthetic eye chips. One is the secure type, which issues commands and is used to control subordinates; the other is the berserk mode, which, once triggered, will either kill the holder or turn them into a puppet controlled by others. Harumi Yuki, have you heard of Jägermeister?"

Curaçao's heterochromatic pupils suddenly contracted, her memory sluggish as if being forcibly retrieved: "The organization's codename... I have a vague impression. It's an executor who never appears in the open, supposedly only absolutely obedient to Rum, and even Gin has never seen his true face."

[System triggered: Congratulations Xiaoxue for finding a hidden clue. Reward: View the profile of a random member of the winery.]

Her eyes flickered slightly as she turned her head to meet the gaze of the crow perched on her shoulder.

Its glossy black wings trembled in the night, as if in silent agreement.

The little mouse couldn't contain itself any longer, waving its chubby paws wildly in the air: "Choose Jägermeister! That executor hiding in the shadows must be hiding a lot of secrets~"

Amuro Tooru glanced down at the mouse's movements, adjusted the grip on Curaçao, and whispered a reminder: "We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's move towards the subway entrance first. We can look at the information on the way."

Kudo Yuki nodded, continuing her steps as she made her selections according to the mouse's instructions.

The information on the system panel was copied to her phone as a scanned copy of a paper document; the lines of black text stood out prominently in the dim light.

Codename: Jägermeister

[Identity: A covert executor directly under the distillery's rum division. No publicly available records of his appearance. His preferred weapons are a modified silenced sniper rifle and a neurotoxin injection needle.]

[Background: Selected by Rum from the human experimentation base ten years ago, she was originally an early test subject of the "ES Dark Amber Project". Due to her 98% compatibility with brainwashing commands, she was individually trained by Rum, her original memories were erased, and only her instinct to execute commands was retained.]

[Special Permissions: Can access one-third of Rum's underground resources and directly connect to the secondary control system of the prosthetic eye chip, triggering low-level berserk commands without Rum's authorization.]

[Recent Actions: Assisted Rum in modifying the wavelength of the prosthetic eye chip and participated in laboratory data encryption work. Disguised as a passerby, noticed Curaçao and followed her without reporting to Rum. Currently en route to Karasuma Renya's Golden Villa in Tottori Prefecture to carry out Rum's orders to find incriminating evidence against Karasuma Renya from years ago.]

[Hidden Connection: The implanted chip belongs to the same batch of prototypes as the Curaçao.]

Kudo Yuki quickly glanced at the information, her brows furrowing slightly.

Turning the phone screen towards Amuro Tooru, he tapped the line "following Curaçao without reporting" and lowered his voice: "Jäger has long since discovered Harumi Yuzuki's whereabouts, but deliberately concealed it from Rum. This doesn't fit the logic of the distillery's executives. Either he has his own plans, or... Rum deliberately condoned it."

Curaçao struggled to take half a step forward, leaning closer to look at the screen. A hint of confusion flashed in her heterochromatic eyes, and the chip on her chest felt slightly warm, as if it resonated with the words "prototype from the same batch" in the data.

“Following me but not reporting back…” she murmured to herself, her fingertips pressing against her burning chest. “Could it be that he also harbors some resentment towards Rum? Or is this just Rum testing me?”

“More importantly, there’s the Golden Villa in Tottori Prefecture.” Amuro Tooru’s gaze fell on the last entry in the operation log.

"One of Karasuma Renya's strongholds is said to contain dirt on his early rise to power, as well as some of the original data from the 'ES Dark Amber Project.' Rum sent Jäger to find incriminating evidence, clearly intending to use it to blackmail Karasuma Renya and consolidate his own position."

He added, "Gin mentioned before that Karasuma Renya was becoming increasingly suspicious of Rum, and now it seems that the power struggle between the two sides has come to the forefront."

The mouse perched on Kudo Yuki's shoulder, its little paws gripping the edge of the phone.

"The same batch of prototypes! Does that mean Curaçao's chip can sense him? Tottori Prefecture is so big, finding the Golden Villa could lead to Jägermeister, and maybe even intercept the incriminating evidence Rum is looking for!"

Kudo Yuki turned to the side, her gaze falling on the area of ​​Curaçao's chest that was half-hidden by the night: "Can you feel the chip's unusual movement now?"

Curaçao closed her eyes, focusing all her attention on the chip in her chest.

Time stretched out for a few seconds, and fingertips rose and fell slightly with each breath.

When she opened her eyes, a flicker of emotion flashed in her heterochromatic pupils: "There is a faint resonance coming from the northwest, very far away... It should be the direction of Tottori Prefecture."

To be continued...