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

Curaçao raised her hand to her chest. "It's a strange feeling, like another one of our kind is sending a signal, both familiar and unfamiliar."

Amuro Tooru took out his portable communication terminal and pulled up a map of Tottori Prefecture.

“Governor Kuroda has an undercover network in Tottori Prefecture. I’m contacting them now and asking them to closely monitor any suspicious individuals around the Golden Villa.”

He tapped the screen rapidly, his tone calm: "Let's meet at the Kudo family home first, and let Haibara analyze the chip's resonant frequency, which might help locate Jägermeister's position."

Kudo Yuki nodded, put away her phone, and turned her gaze to the subway indicator light at the alley entrance.

"Rum wants to use Jäger to get leverage over the old man, but Jäger's concealment is a variable... We must find out his true purpose before he finds any leverage."

The raven's wings on its shoulder pointed towards the distant night sky.

Kudo Yuki looked up and saw a faint point of light streak across the sky.

That was a signal from Kaito Kuroba, indicating that his infiltration of the Karasuma Group headquarters had made new progress.

“Let’s go.” Kudo Yuki took the lead and started walking. “Let’s go back to the Kudo family mansion and connect these clues. Rum wants to stir things up, so let’s see where this game will ultimately lead.”

Amuro Tooru, supporting Curaçao, followed closely behind, and the three figures gradually blended into the dim yellow light of the subway entrance.

The black sedan sped through the night, its tires churning over the gravel of the country road with a dull thud.

Kazami Yuya gripped the steering wheel tightly, his gaze fixed on the black SUV driven by Jägermeister ahead, the red tracking signal dot on the dashboard flashing steadily.

This is a locator that Kuroda, the management officer, deployed in advance. It is hidden in the chassis gaps of the Jäger vehicle, without making a sound.

The car communicator's monitoring volume was turned up to the maximum. Kazami Yuya heard a buzzing sound of electricity in his headphones, followed by a mechanical, mixed sound—Rum's voice.

"Jäger, have you confirmed the road conditions in Tottori Prefecture?"

"Confirmed. There are no surveillance cameras on the rural roads, and the cell towers within three kilometers of the Golden Villa have been blocked as you instructed."

Jäger deliberately swerved the steering wheel to avoid a protruding rock by the roadside. "Have you already synchronized temporary permissions for the robot butler's identity verification process?"

"The permissions have been synchronized, and the password is 'Twilight Sacrifice'. The system left behind by the 'former owner' of that villa is not unfamiliar to me. Back then, that person intended to bind the Haneda and Ooka families through business cooperation, and as the core liaison, I naturally knew this highest-level password."

Jäger still seemed to have doubts: "But according to intelligence, after the Haneda family transferred their assets, they clearly severed all ties with that person along with the Ooka family. They used the Golden Villa to hide documents, so why didn't they change this fatal password?"

"Modify?" Rum sneered. "The Haneda and Ooka families are both very shrewd. The Twilight Mansion massacre made them see the ruthlessness of that person. After refusing to cooperate, they knew there would be consequences. This code is both a trap and a test."

"If you don't know the inside story of the recruitment back then, even if you find the villa, you won't be able to get past the robot butler's first hurdle. Anyone who dares to use this password to break in is either a former subordinate of that person or a mortal enemy. They can take advantage of the villa's mechanism to settle old scores."

Kazami Yuya's heart skipped a beat: [The Golden Villa is known to only a very few people within the First Investigation Division. It is the "shadow" of the legendary Twilight Mansion, the former residence of Karasuma Renya. While its exterior is adorned with gilded decorations, it actually conceals a secret chamber.]

Tonight, Rum's target lies deep within that secret room.

"That document...is it really in the Golden Villa?" Jäger pressed. "The transaction records of the Haneda family's asset transfers, the joint boycott agreement signed by the two families, and that investigation report accusing them of human experimentation—weren't they destroyed by them?"

“Destroy? The Haneda family never truly destroys their ‘bargaining chips.’ Back then, that lord used a trillion-dollar order as bait to lure both families, but the head of the Haneda family discovered the secret of the drug experiment during the cooperative investigation, while the head of the Ooka family saw through the ‘ES Dark Amber Project’s’ ambition to control the political world.”

"The two resolutely refused to cooperate and secretly collected evidence. This document is both their trump card for self-protection and a powerful tool to check that person. How could they possibly destroy it so easily?"

Kazami Yuya's fingers tightened slightly around the steering wheel. It turned out that the relationship between the Haneda and Ooka families was far deeper than the business competition outsiders perceived.

It was a covert confrontation that began with a refusal to cooperate and lasted for decades.

He naturally knew the significance of that document: [Governor Kuroda had vaguely mentioned that the transaction records in the document could be traced back to the enormous wealth hidden by Karasuma Renya, and the experimental data and bribery records recorded in the investigation report were the most original evidence of the "ES Dark Amber Project".]

Rum's eagerness to find the documents was clearly an attempt to cover up his guilt in the Haneda Koji case, and more importantly, to use the information within to completely control "Project ES Dark Amber."

The car drove through the black pine forest, and a majestic building came into view in the distance.

Moonlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating the gilded patterns on the villa's exterior walls, the gold-plated carvings gleaming in the night.

The villa, rumored to be covered in gold, is actually just a place where even the floor tiles are painted with gold paint. The so-called "gold" is merely a gimmick used by Karasuma Renya to attract partners. The real core lies in the secret hidden in the underground chamber.

The Jägermeister SUV stopped in front of the villa gate.

Kazami Yuya hid the car behind a ditch by the roadside and turned off the engine. He took out the communicator from his waist and reported to Manager Kuroda in a low voice: "Manager, the target has arrived at the Golden Villa. Rum has confirmed the origin of the password 'Twilight Sacrifice.' He was the liaison between Karasuma Renya and the two families and knows the inside story from back then. Jäger is verifying his identity."

"Continue listening, and remain concealed," Kuroda Hyoue instructed into the communicator. "The robot butler's temporary permissions have a vulnerability; I've already provided you with the cracking program."

"Remember, the primary task is to protect the documents. The signature on that transaction sheet and the experimental sample numbers in the investigation report are key to bringing down the Karasuma Group."

Kazami Yuya hung up the call and saw the villa's gate slowly open, Jägermeister's figure disappearing into the shadows of the entrance hall. Using the shadows of the trees as cover, he silently approached the villa.

Apart from the dim, flickering light from the corridor wall lamps, the villa was deathly silent.

The light and shadow fell precisely on "The Queen of Sheba Meeting King Solomon," and the power struggles and tests of the past in the painting, now in the swaying light and shadow, became the most silent mockery of reality.

In the study of the Kudo family home, Ai Haibara looked at the screen of the portable analyzer.

The chip's resonant frequency jumps continuously in the form of a waveform, sometimes sharp like a buzzing bee, sometimes gentle like a stream.

“The resonance source does indeed come from the direction of Tottori Prefecture, but the signal is being interfered with by multiple layers of shielding,” Ai Haibara looked up at the people gathered around the table. “It will take ten minutes to calibrate the phase before we can pinpoint the precise coordinates.”

Curaçao's hand remained pressed against her chest, and the strange light in her eyes flickered slightly with the frequency fluctuations: "That kind of signal is getting stronger and stronger, like... a cry for help."

The mouse-shaped ornament stood up and hopped along its short legs to the analyzer.

"There are three layers of signal shielding. The bottom layer is the Karasuma Group's exclusive coded interference, the middle layer is the signal tower shielding, and the top layer is actually the residual fluctuations of the 'ES Dark Amber' project's rudimentary brainwashing equipment. Is Rum using the Golden Villa as a temporary experimental site?"

Amuro Tooru stroked the edge of the communication terminal, but his expression remained calm: "Our informant in Tottori Prefecture just sent back a message that the signal within a three-kilometer radius of the Golden Villa has indeed been completely cut off, and Jägermeister's vehicle has already entered the villa area."

He looked up at Kudo Yuki, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

"Manager Kuroda said that the robot butler's temporary permissions had a loophole, but Rum was the liaison for recruiting the Haneda and Ooka families back then, so he might know a shortcut to crack the mechanism."

Kudo Yuki's gaze fell on the map of Tottori Prefecture hanging on the wall. Suddenly, the crow on her shoulder flapped its wings, its glossy black feathers sweeping across the table, a nut in its beak.

“What Rum wants is that document. The transaction records can be traced to the old man’s hidden wealth, and the experimental report is evidence of the ‘ES Dark Amber’ project. He will never destroy it easily.”

She suddenly remembered Gin's previous deal, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips.

"Gin has sent word that after Vodka was transferred to the lab as a test subject, Rum tried to access the lab's core data but was stopped by the old man's people. Now he's eager to get the documents, probably to blackmail the old man and completely control the 'ES Dark Amber' project."

“Sister,” Conan said, holding a tablet that he had just cracked, showing part of the communication records between Rum and Jäger.

“Look here, Rum mentioned ‘the old master’s system.’ Could it be related to the mechanisms in the Twilight Mansion? Dad said back then that the mechanisms Karasuma Renya set up in the Twilight Mansion were all based on ancient astrological principles.”

Yusaku Kudo nodded and drew a circle on the map with his fingertip at the location of the Golden Villa.

"The Golden Villa is a shadow of the Twilight Mansion, and their mechanisms must share the same origin. The coded traps left by the heads of the Haneda and Ooka families are most likely also related to astrology."

He looked at Kuroba Toichi, "When you infiltrated the Twilight Mansion back then, did you discover a similar cipher logic?"

Kuroba Toichi twirled the magician's divination cards, the very set he had given to Kudo Yuki.

"The core code of the Twilight Mansion is 'Star Orbit Sacrifice,' but the 'Twilight Sacrifice' used by Rum is just a simplified version. The real trap is not in identity verification, but in the star chart mechanism at the entrance to the secret room."

“One wrong step will trigger residual fluctuations from the brainwashing equipment, resulting in either confusion or, in severe cases, becoming a half-finished experimental subject of the 'ES Dark Amber' project.”

He placed the divination cards on the table, and the star charts on the cards inexplicably matched the waveforms on the analyzer.

"The distress signal that Harumi Yuki sensed might be the residual consciousness left behind by someone who had mistakenly entered the trap earlier."

Kaito Kuroba lay on the table, playing with a miniature tracker: "When I was infiltrating the Karasuma Group headquarters, I casually planted a bug outside Rum's office. I just discovered this strange frequency while sorting through the data."

He handed the receiver to Hiroki Sawada.

"Hiroki, could you amplify this frequency and see if you can trace it in reverse?"

Hiroki Sawada took the receiver and his fingertips flew across the keyboard, instantly displaying a dense array of code on the screen.

“This frequency is not random; it’s the activation frequency of the 'ES Dark Amber' primary instrument. If Rum activates the instrument at the Golden Villa, I can use this frequency as a 'key' to temporarily penetrate the shielding layer.”

He pulled up the simulated waveform and superimposed it on the waveform on the analyzer.

"As long as Haibara's analyzer is synchronized with this frequency, a small opening can be torn in the shielding layer to pinpoint the exact location of the sealed room."

Ai Haibara nodded and quickly adjusted the parameters of the analyzer.

"The phase calibration is halfway done. If we add this frequency... we need a three-second synchronization window."

"Leave it to me." Hiroki Sawada's hands flew across the keyboard.

"Three, two, one—synchronize!"

As soon as the analyzer screen lit up, the waveform stabilized instantly, and the red dot flashed on the map of Tottori Prefecture.

"Locked successfully! The golden villa is located on the third basement level, directly above the vault."

A crow lightly pecked at Kudo Yuki's ear, letting out a short caw.

Kaito Kuroba's eyes lit up: "Oh right, I also secretly photographed a personnel list, which contains Jägermeister's true identity. He is the son of the butler who was in charge of keeping the documents for the Haneda family. He was forced to join the brewery because his family was persecuted by the Karasuma Group."

Curaçao looked up abruptly, a strange light flickering in her eyes: "No wonder... this feeling of familiarity..."

She clutched her chest, her voice trembling slightly.

“In Jäger’s signal, besides the cry for help, there was also a strong struggle. He didn’t want to help Rum, but he was being controlled by something.”

“It’s a basic brainwashing technique of ‘ES Dark Amber’,” Ai Haibara typed rapidly on the keyboard, and a string of data popped up on the analyzer screen. “A trace amount of neuroinhibitor was detected in the signal, which is similar to the metabolites of APTX4869. Rum must have used drugs to control Jäger.”

The crow flapped its wings, circled the table twice, and then perched on Kudo Yuki's shoulder, pecking repeatedly at the air with its beak, emitting a low, mournful cry: "CARASUMA—CARASUMA—"

The call exploded in Kudo Yuki's mind. Her pupils contracted slightly, and a bold conjecture instantly formed. She raised her hand and gently stroked the crow's feathers, tentatively asking, "Are you calling for Karasuma Ren?"

As if understanding, the crow looked up, its eyes fixed on her, its cries becoming more urgent, its wings flapping uneasily, creating a gust of air that stirred the magician's divination cards on the table.

Kudo Yuki felt a chill run down her spine. This crow that had been by her side the whole time was indeed connected to the person in charge of the brewery—it was Karasuma Renya's bird.

Before she could think it through, the crow turned around and began pecking fiercely at the chip on the table, again and again, with such force that it almost shattered the chip.

Tiny dents were pecked into the metal casing on the chip's surface, causing the resonance waveform to fluctuate violently.

Curaçao pressed his hand to his chest, a strange light swirling in his eyes: "It's... resisting the chip's signal?"

“It’s not resistance, it’s a desire to break free.” Kudo Yuki stared at the crow’s persistent movements.

Each peck of the crow seemed to be a struggle against some invisible constraint; the fluctuations emitted by the chip were more like a shackle to it.

To be continued...