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

The crow on the top of her head flapped its wings and took flight, the air currents from its wings brushing against Kudo Yuki's hair as it flew straight to the top of the safe.

Jäger's attention was instantly drawn to the crow, and he instinctively shifted his gun slightly, hissing, "How do you know this?! This is top-secret information!"

"Confidential?" Kudo Yuki deliberately stalled for time, her gaze fixed on the chip on his neck. "You concealed the fact that Curaçao is still alive, wasn't it so that you could control her with the chip after she completely deciphered all the secret mechanisms, and then take control of the ES Dark Amber Project for yourself? Do you really think Rum would hand over the alliance documents to you?"

Jäger's face turned pale and then red, his hand holding the gun trembled even more violently, and Rum's cold eyes flashed uncontrollably through his mind, as did his years of walking on thin ice in the organization.

"You're talking nonsense! Rum promised me that as long as I got the documents, he would promote me to a core member!" he roared, unaware that his fingertips had already released the combination key on the safe.

The crow swooped down, its sharp claws slicing across Jäger's neck.

A thin trail of blood appeared as the chip was forcibly pulled off and fell to the cold floor with a "clink".

Jäger felt a sharp pain in his neck, followed by a wave of dizziness as if his brain had been struck by a heavy hammer. Countless suppressed fragments of memory flooded his mind.

He staggered back two steps, leaned against the filing cabinet, covered his head with his hands, and let out a painful whimper.

The brainwashing program's shackles shattered the moment the chip was removed from the body, and the altered perceptions, the erased conscience, and the truth of the mission all surfaced at that moment.

He didn't join the distillery voluntarily; Rum used his family as leverage.

Curaçao's memory erasure mission was originally intended to silence her, but he hesitated to report it because he had a soft heart and left himself a backup plan.

The true purpose of the ES Dark Amber Project was for Rum to use brainwashing equipment to control political figures in various countries, and Karasuma Renya had long been aware of this, but simply watched from the sidelines.

“The chip… controls memories…” Jäger murmured to himself, his eyes gradually clearing from confusion, and his gaze toward Curaçao was filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, back then… I couldn’t save you completely.”

Curaçao's pupils softened, and she gently shook her head: "You were just coerced. The real culprits are Rum and the distillery."

Amuro Tooru stepped forward, the throwing knife still in his hand, his aura still sharp, but less hostile: "Now, tell me what secrets are hidden in the alliance documents Rum asked you to find. Also, how much do you know about the core data of the ES Dark Amber Project?"

Jäger regained his senses, his eyes clear: "That document records the early cooperation agreements between the Ooka family, the Haneda family and the brewery. It involves the dirty secrets of many bigwigs in the political and business world. Rum wanted to use it to blackmail them and expand his own power."

"As for the ES Dark Amber Project, all I know is that the core equipment requires a special crystal for its energy supply, and only Rum and Karasuma Renya know where this crystal is stored."

He added, "Rum has always wanted to tamper with the ES Dark Amber program, modify the brainwashing program, and make all those controlled only obey his orders."

Kudo Yuki picked up the chip from the ground and pondered her next plan.

While munching on the last bite of popcorn, Mouse reported: "Xiaoxue! This chip contains Rum's encrypted instructions. Hiroki might be able to crack it and find more clues! Also, Shuichi Akai sent a signal that he has dealt with the monitor Rum sent. Gin's car is still parked on the west side, but he doesn't seem to be planning to come in."

Amuro Tooru's eyes flickered slightly, and he gave Kudo Yuki a look, signaling her to keep an eye on Gin's movements.

Kudo Yuki nodded, put the chip away, and looked at Jäger: "Do you know where Rum is hiding now? Also, does the distillery have any new human experimentation plans recently?"

“Rum rarely stays in one place. His communicators are encrypted, and only Karasuma Renya can contact him directly.”

Jäger recalled: "But I heard that he has recently been working with an overseas organization, seemingly to acquire more advanced brainwashing techniques."

"As for human experimentation, since Vodka was transferred to the lab, a new person in charge has taken over. I don't know the specifics, but I've heard that the sources of the test subjects are becoming increasingly secretive."

Conan walked to the safe and gently turned the gears with his fingertips: "Hiroki said that the double compartments require a specific password and key to open. Mr. Jägermeister, the key you have can only open the first lock, right?"

Jäger nodded and took a bronze key out of his pocket.

“Rum gave me this key. He said that only with it could I start the first unlocking procedure, but he didn’t tell me the subsequent passwords. He only said to contact him after I got the documents.”

Curaçao walked to the safe, her pupils turning a pale purple as she carefully examined the groove on the side.

"This groove is a magnetic field induction lock, which requires a specific frequency to open. Back then, I had a backup method for emergency unlocking, which was to align a specific pattern of a magician's tarot card with the groove."

Kudo Yuki's heart skipped a beat. She took out the divination cards that Kuroba Toichi had given her from her pocket, selected one of the Kings of Clubs, and aligned it with the groove as Curaçao had instructed.

With a soft "click," the hidden compartment on the side of the safe slowly opened, revealing a sealed document bag inside.

Suddenly, the roar of a car engine came from outside the villa, and Gin's black Porsche 356A slowly drove away from the villa area.

Kudo Yuki heard Okiya Subaru's report through her earpiece: "Gin has left. It seems he only came to check the situation and didn't intend to take action."

Amuro Tooru sneered: "He must have received orders from Karasuma Renya to avoid a direct confrontation with us for the time being. He's still waiting to rescue Vodka and complete the previous deal."

Kudo Yuki opened the file bag, and inside were indeed the cooperation agreements between the Ooka family, the Haneda family, and the brewery. The signatures and dates on them were clearly legible, enough to serve as evidence to bring down these corrupt officials in the political and business world.

In addition to some design drawings of the ES Dark Amber Project, there is also a communication record between Rum and overseas organizations.

“This evidence is enough for the police to take action.” Kudo Yuki put the documents away. “Jäger, you now have two choices: either come with us, cooperate with the police to testify against Rum and the distillery, and try to get leniency; or stay in the organization and wait to be silenced by Rum.”

Jäger looked at the bronze key in his hand, and then at the eyes of Kudo Yuki and the others, and finally made a decision: "I'll go with you. I want to personally expose Rum's true colors, to avenge my coerced family, and to avenge those innocent test subjects."

Kudo Yuki nodded in satisfaction and said to Amuro Toru, "Notify Mr. Kazami and have him arrange a vehicle so we can leave here as soon as possible to avoid Rum sending others to silence us."

Amuro Tooru took out his phone, quickly dialed Yuya Fumimi's number, and concisely conveyed his instructions.

After hanging up the phone, he walked to Kudo Yuki's side and gently took her hand: "Everything went smoothly. Now we just have to wait for Hiroki to find the clues to crack the chip."

Kudo Yuki looked up at him, a warm feeling flashing in her eyes.

The crow let out a gentle cawing.

Subaru Okiya glanced in the direction of the villa, a faint smile playing on his lips, then turned and quietly left, reporting the situation to the FBI.

Conan looked up at the crow atop Kudo Yuki's hair, his eyes behind his glasses full of inquiry: "Do you know any other clues about the Golden Mansion?"

The crow tilted its head, flapped its wings, and flew up. After circling once in the secret room, it swooped down towards the filing cabinet in the corner.

It pecked at the brass pull ring on the cabinet door with its beak, and a mark appeared below the pull ring, the shape of which matched the King of Clubs in Kudo Yuki's hand.

“This is… a replacement keyhole?” Curaçao’s pupils contracted slightly as he quickly stepped forward to examine it closely. “Back then, to prevent core secrets from being stolen by a single key, a backup hidden compartment was specially added to the filing cabinet. It requires both divination cards and a safe for verification to open.”

Jäger leaned closer and his expression changed again: "Rum never told me there was a backup compartment! He only let me get the alliance documents from the safe. Could there be something more important hidden inside?"

Kudo Yuki raised her hand to signal the crow to land, her fingertips tracing the engravings on the filing cabinet, her eyes calm: "The old man asked me to destroy the secret of the Golden Villa, which probably refers to more than just the documents in the safe."

She aligned the King of Clubs divination card with the engraving, gently turned it, and the filing cabinet made a "click-clack" sound as the gears turned. The side panel slowly popped open, revealing a metal box.

Conan tiptoed and peered inside. He saw a metal box lined with black velvet, inside which lay a translucent blue crystal and a yellowed old photograph.

"Is this the special crystal needed for the ES Dark Amber Project?"

He reached out to touch it, but was stopped in time by Ai Haibara's voice coming through his earpiece.

"Don't touch it! This crystal contains strong energy radiation. Direct contact will stimulate the central nervous system. Hiroki detected that its energy fluctuations are a perfect match for the core equipment that was previously marked. There are miniature sensors on the surface of the crystal. Once it is removed from the shielding magnetic field of the metal box, it may trigger a remote alarm."

Kudo Yuki carefully removed the crystal with tweezers, put it into the anti-radiation storage box she carried with her, and then picked up the old photograph.

The photo shows a group of people in white lab coats posing for a group photo in front of a laboratory. The elderly man at the head of the group is wearing a black top hat, and his face is deliberately blurred, but his figure inexplicably reminds Kudo Yuki of Karasuma Renya's silhouette.

There is a blurry line of text in the lower right corner of the photo, which can be identified by magnification as "Dark Amber First Experimental Subject".

“The laboratory in this photo looks like a secret overseas base of the Karasuma Group in its early years.” Amuro Tooru leaned over to take a look, his fingertips lightly tracing the edge of the photo. “I saw similar architectural drawings when I was undercover before, and they were later classified as top secret by Rum.”

The crow suddenly chirped urgently, its wings pointing towards the bottom of the metal box, where a note was stuck.

Kudo Yuki used tweezers to pick up the strip of paper and unfold it. On it was a string of encrypted numbers and letters, with a raven totem drawn at the end.

“It’s a clue left by Uncle Toichi.” Kudo Yuki sent the password to Sawada Hiroki. “Hiroki, crack this password immediately, and while you’re at it, find out the location of the laboratory in the photo.”

Hiroki Sawada quickly replied: "Sister Xue, the password has been cracked. The laboratory in the photo is located on a remote island overseas. It was burned down by a man-made fire ten years ago. According to relevant files, the perpetrator of that fire was identified as an 'unidentified magician'."

"A magician?" Conan and Yuki Kudo exchanged a glance, both thinking of Toichi Kuroba.

Looking at the photo, Jäger suddenly said, "I remember now! Rum once mentioned that a special crystal contains a key that can destroy the core data of the ES Dark Amber Project."

His fingertips traced the edge of the photo, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

“He said this crystal is the ‘heart’ of the plan, providing core energy and also containing the reverse decryption key, but no one knows exactly how to activate it. Back then, Curaçao added multiple layers of protection, and Rum never found a way to crack it. He never expected it to be hidden in a place like this.”

Kudo Yuki gripped the crystal storage box tightly, feeling a faint vibration emanating from the box's walls through her fingertips.

The mouse muttered softly, "So this is the real treasure! Karasuma Renya probably made Yuki destroy the secret because he was afraid the crystal would fall into Rum's hands. After all, it's a trump card that could ruin his plans~"

Amuro Tooru heard this and his eyes darkened. He stepped aside to block Kudo Yuki and looked towards the door of the secret room.

The emergency lights cast a flickering shadow at the end of the corridor, as if someone was approaching.

"Hiroki, three unfamiliar vehicles have been detected approaching the villa at high speed, less than a kilometer away!" Ai Haibara's voice came through the earpiece. "The license plates are fake, and the tracking data indicates they are reinforcements sent by Rum!"

Conan immediately pulled out his skateboard, his eyes sharp: "Rum knows Jäger has betrayed us and wants to destroy us along with the evidence!"

He quickly scanned the secret room, his gaze landing on the ventilation duct in the corner. "The ventilation duct leads to the woods at the back of the villa? We'll evacuate from there!"

Curaçao's pupils turned a deep purple, and her magnetic field sense made her frown: "There are metal barriers in the pipes, which should be a trap set by Rum in advance. Moreover, the vehicles on the outside have blocked the exits on the west and north sides, leaving only the cliff path on the east side as a way to go."

"A cliffside path?" Jäger's expression changed. "Below it is a rocky beach with no railings. Rum's men must have set up an ambush there!"

"Don't worry." Kudo Yuki raised her hand to stroke the crow on the top of her head. It flapped its wings and flew towards the vent, pecking open the latch on the duct grille with its beak. "Uncle Toichi left more clues than these. Hiroki, did the deciphered code mention 'the magician's escape route'?"

Hiroki Sawada responded: "Yes! The coordinates corresponding to the password are a hidden cave in the middle of the cliff. There are spare escape equipment inside, and the other end of the cave connects to the coastal highway. Officer Kazami is already waiting there!"

Amuro Tooru drew his pistol from his waist and cocked it, his eyes sharp as knives: "I'll cover the rear. Yuki, you take Jäger and Conan and go first. Curaçao will guide the way."

He looked at Kudo Yuki and gently squeezed her palm with his fingertips. "Don't worry, I'll be there soon."

To be continued...