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

After hanging up the call, Vermouth threw the cigarette into the ashtray, took out her encrypted phone, and sent a short video to the wine.

In the video, vodka lies on the lab table, breathing steadily, his face pale only. The video ends with the caption:

The medication has been slightly adjusted; there's no immediate danger to his life. We await the right opportunity. —Vermouth: Absinthe

In the bedroom on the second floor of the Kudo family mansion, Kudo Yuki's phone vibrated slightly. She glanced down at the screen, a cold glint in her eyes, and then used her telepathy to reply to the mouse: "Tell Gin that vodka is safe for now. Vermouth has already taken action, and the drug won't go out of control."

The mouse immediately jumped up and excitedly replied, "Got it! Gin can finally breathe a sigh of relief now!"

Amuro Tooru sat in the downstairs living room, listening to this silent dialogue, a slight smile playing on his lips. He looked up at Kudo Yusaku and Okiya Subaru, his expression unchanged, but in his heart he had already grasped the whole picture.

With Vermouth's intervention, Vodka's crisis was temporarily averted, allowing Gin to continue his mission of monitoring Rum with peace of mind. Their scheme continued to progress steadily.

Subaru Okiya's gaze fell on the last direction Rum's car disappeared in on the screen. He only needed to wait for the seeds of doubt to blossom and bear fruit; Rum would dig his own grave without them even having to lift a finger.

On Hiroki Sawada's screen, a fleeting image flashed of Gin wiping out Rum's last remaining gang.

The boy quickly encrypted and archived the data, then looked up and said, "All traces at the scene have been completely erased. Gin's movements perfectly match the logic of 'executing Karasuma's orders,' and will not arouse any suspicion."

Kudo Yusaku lightly touched his chin with his fingertips: "Rum's suspicion has been ignited by the fake agreement. He will assume that the Haneda family and the Ooka family are the ally of the fine wine and gin, and will do anything to make trouble. At that time, Karasuma Renya will only think that he is ambitious and openly disobeys orders, and will completely lose his usefulness."

Upstairs in the bedroom, Conan nestled in Kudo Yuki's arms, his brows slightly furrowed, intently listening to the conversation downstairs. He looked up at Kudo Yuki and whispered, "Sis, will Rum really go directly to the Haneda family? No matter how convincing that fake agreement is, won't he notice something amiss?"

Kudo Yuki lowered her head and lightly stroked the tip of his nose with her fingertips: "No. The semi-finished APTX4869 in his body has flared up, causing severe pain in his left eye. His mind is clouded by anxiety and ambition, and his power has been gradually eroded. He has long lost his ability to make calm judgments. This agreement is his last lifeline, and he will only cling to it tightly and will never doubt it."

The mouse nuzzled against Kudo Yuki's neck: "Karasuma Renya is still watching! If Rum makes a move, Karasuma Renya will assume he's colluding with external forces to seize power, and then he'll take action to eliminate him!"

As Amuro Tooru listened to the mouse's words, the warmth in his eyes deepened. He got up and walked to the top of the stairs, looking up at the figure on the second floor with a tender, almost lingering gaze.

Now, they are proceeding cautiously, each step treading on the lifeline of the distillery, and are getting closer and closer to final victory.

At the end of the street outside the ruins, Kaito Kuroba had already removed his disguise and returned to his original appearance. He put away the last miniature camera, toying with the remote control between his fingers, a cunning glint in his blue eyes.

He completed all the arrangements as instructed by Kudo Yuki, and he understood that this fake agreement would plunge the organization into complete chaos. He only needed to continue honing his disguise skills and wait for the next instructions.

At the top of a distant high-rise building, Kuroba Touichi leaned against the railing, looking at the devastation in the direction of the ruins, a deep meaning flashing in his eyes.

In this game against the organization, Rum was merely the first prey to fall into the net.

In the research area on the third floor of the Karasuma Group, the smell of disinfectant and reagents permeated the corridor, and sunlight streamed through the frosted windows onto the floor.

The female secretary, wearing silent high heels, turned the corner, clutching the mixing sheet given to her by Vermouth. Just as she was about to push open the door, she bumped into a man carrying a stack of reagent bottles, and encountered Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was organizing the reagents.

He was dressed in a white research assistant uniform, with gentle features and meticulous movements; the two had never formally spoken before.

The female secretary suppressed her guard and stepped forward, saying, "Assistant Yingchuan, excuse me."

She glanced at the sleeping Vodka out of the corner of her eye; his breathing was steady, and the burning pain had subsided.

Zhu Fujingguang looked up and replied, "Is there something you need?"

"That sir instructed me to fine-tune the reagent, but I am unfamiliar with the reagent's reaction and precautions, so I have come to ask for your guidance." Following the instructions of the female secretary, Ibermode, she casually approached the experimental table while engaging in conversation to extract knowledge about the reagent, her words leaving no room for doubt.

Morofushi Kagemitsu patiently answered all the questions, appearing completely like an ordinary research assistant; no one knew his true identity.

During a break in the conversation, the female secretary quickly prepared the medication according to instructions and injected it into the IV tubing.

Vodka's anxiety dissipated, and he slept even more soundly.

The female secretary then filed the revised record sheet, her steps meticulous and seamless. After thanking him, she quickly left, her back already beaded with sweat.

Inside the research area, Zhu Fujingguang watched her retreating figure, the gentleness fading from his eyes, replaced by a cold sharpness. He had already sensed the abnormality of the drug, but he didn't expose it, only quietly watching the unconscious Vodka, awaiting instructions.

Meanwhile, in front of the monitoring screen, Karasuma Renya looked at the experimental data, his eyes filled with an even deeper gloom.

He thought he had everything under control, but little did he know that everything, from the medicine to people's hearts, had already been meticulously planned, and his chessboard was quietly collapsing.

The sunlight in the research area was still slanting down. Zhu Fujingguang lowered his eyes and arranged the reagent bottles on the edge of the experimental table. His white uniform cuffs were meticulous. The lingering scent of medicine left by the female secretary was mixed with the smell of disinfectant, so subtle that only he could distinguish it.

Her fingertips gently traced the test tube wall, and the cold sharpness in her eyes vanished in an instant, transforming her back into the most inconspicuous research assistant in the Karasuma Group, quiet as if she didn't exist.

In the monitoring room, Karasuma Renya tapped his fingertips on the armrest, while the screen showed Vodka's steady vital signs fluctuating. He let out a low sneer, his cunning eyes concealing indifference towards all his pawns.

Vodka is a scapegoat, rum is a mad dog, and even gin is nothing more than the sharpest knife in his hand, ready to be discarded at any time once it becomes dull.

The tranquility of the research area was broken by the slight vibration of a communicator.

Zhu Fujingguang paused almost imperceptibly with his hand hanging at his side. After confirming that no one was around, he brought out his private terminal hidden in his white coat.

On the screen was a brief instruction sent by Kudo Yuki through the encrypted public security channel: "Keep a close eye on the drug's subsequent reaction and wait for the final move. The ES Dark Amber Project instrument locations have been synchronized."

He lightly touched the screen to destroy the message, and when he looked up, he was once again the gentle and taciturn Yingchuan Luo. His gaze fell on the vodka breathing evenly on the experimental table, and he already knew in his heart that this pawn that Karasuma Renya had casually discarded had long become a key fulcrum to pry open the organization's internal affairs.

In the living room of the Kudo family mansion, Hiroki Sawada's fingers flew across the keyboard. In addition to Rum's driving trajectory, the laptop screen was divided into several small windows, each corresponding to a blind spot in the Karasuma Group's surveillance, Gin's surveillance location, and the scene of Kaito Kuroba's last disguise before his infiltration.

Subaru Okiya crossed his arms over his chest, taking in the entire scene. He could sense the restless atmosphere inside Rum's car, his expression a mixture of excruciating pain in his left eye and burning ambition, a desperate struggle of a cornered beast.

Kudo Yusaku picked up the black tea on the table and took a sip. His gaze swept across the screen as Gin sent back the footage of the communicator that had been re-disguised after crushing the bug. He said calmly, "Gin has thoroughly figured out Karasuma Renya's bottom line. Rum's little tricks are nothing but a clown in his eyes."

Amuro leaned against the stair railing, his gaze fixed on the direction of the bedroom on the second floor, connecting all the clues in his mind.

Karasuma Renya thought he had everything under control, but little did he know that everything from vodka's potion and Rum's fake agreement to Gin's listening device was a scheme laid by Kudo Yuki. Even Vermouth, whom he trusted most, had long been standing by Kudo Yuki's side, all in an effort to overthrow this corrupt family.

He heard voices coming from the second floor, including Conan's childish voice quietly asking about the details of the ES Dark Amber Plan. Kudo Yuki's patient and warm response penetrated the floors and reached his ears, making the smile on his lips even softer.

Upstairs, Conan sat up straight from Kudo Yuki's lap, clutching the preliminary instrument blueprints for Project Dark Amber that Wakasa Rumi had given him. He frowned slightly and said, "Sis, Professor Wakasa has already given us the core blueprints. Now we just need to wait for Rum to make his move against the Haneda family, and then we can simultaneously take down Project Dark Amber's laboratory, right?"

Kudo Yuki rubbed the top of his head, her eyes flashing with a cold, sharp light: "Not only that, the old man wants to control people from all walks of life through brainwashing, so we'll put all his plans, ambitions, and evidence of personally cultivating Rum into the open, and let him destroy everything he's built."

The mouse hopped from Kudo Yuki's shoulder to Conan's head, swinging its short legs as it added, "Gin has already secretly told Karasuma Renya that Korn has given up on assassinating Wakasa Rumi. The old man now feels even more that Rum's men are becoming disloyal!"

Amuro Tooru turned and walked back to the living room, nodding slightly to Kudo Yusaku and Okiya Subaru: "The preparatory work for the operation is all in place. The Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, and MI6 personnel are all in position as planned, just waiting for Rum to take the first step."

Subaru Okiya's mind flashed the peaceful image of Akemi Miyano, Mary Akai's gradually improving health, and the sisterly bond between his mother and Elena Miyano. All the forbearance and waiting would soon come to an end.

In the shadows at the end of the alley, Kaito Kuroba had completed his disguise, and the face in the mirror had become that of an inconspicuous logistics staff member within the Karasuma Group.

He touched the access card that Kudo Yuki had given him in his pocket. This time, he was going to infiltrate the Karasuma Group's core Dark Amber Project laboratory and make a complete copy of all the core data.

In the research area's monitoring room, Karasuma Renya finally stood up, his hunched figure wrapped in a black coat, and issued instructions into the communicator: "Gin, keep a close eye on Rum. The ES Dark Amber Project is entering its final testing phase. We can ignore the vodka potion; it's just a expendable pawn."

On the other end of the communicator, Gin tightened his grip on the gun, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He responded in a low voice, hung up the call, and opened the video of vodka's recent situation sent by Vermouth and Fine Wine. His fingertips swiped across the screen as his partner slept peacefully.

His deal with the fine wine was to protect the vodka, and it was time to settle his score with this organization.

Karasuma Renya would never have imagined that the pawns, mad dogs, and sharp blades he spoke of had already joined forces to weave a net, and at the center of that net was none other than the Karasuma Group and the Dark Amber Project, which he was so proud of.

As the sunlight gradually moved across the windowsill of the Kudo family mansion, on Hiroki Sawada's screen, Rum's car finally turned around and sped towards the Haneda family mansion.

The operation to close in has officially begun.

The velvet curtains in the private room were half-drawn, and the daylight was filtered into a soft, warm gold, falling on the cigarette butt on Vermouth's fingertips. The lingering smoke dissipated and was quickly and silently swept away by the ventilation system.

She had just changed out of her trench coat and was sitting back on the sofa with her long legs crossed, her languid expression concealing her usual vigilance.

The encrypted phone on the table vibrated slightly; it was a coded message from the female secretary:

The medication was successfully administered, the target's vital signs were stable, and there was no suspicion from Assistant Yingchuan. The record has been modified and archived.

Vermouth glanced down at the screen, tapped the edge of the screen lightly with her fingertip, deleted the message, and replied with a command that only the two of them could understand:

Remain silent, stand by as planned, and do not initiate contact with anyone. —Vermouth: Absinthe

After sending the message, she turned her phone upside down on the table, picked up a glass of ice water, and took a sip, feeling a slight coolness in her throat.

Almost at the same second, the dedicated communication machine hummed.

Vermouth glanced at the caller ID, then swiped her finger to answer: "Speak."

The female secretary spoke nervously, "Ying Chuanluo... he glanced at me just now, and I'm not sure if he noticed the medicine had been altered. He's too quiet, abnormally quiet."

Vermouth spoke casually, yet every word carried a threatening edge: "Don't worry about it. His inaction means he approves. Just remember, nothing happened today, and the medicine was administered according to that person's original formula."

"Yes... I understand."

"Also, has Rum sent anyone to inquire about the test subjects' condition?"

"No, so far only Mr. Gin has secretly inquired twice, and I turned him away according to regulations."

Vermouth chuckled lightly, her tone laced with sarcasm: "Gin... that's all he's capable of now. Keep a close eye on the research area's surveillance; report any anomalies to me immediately."

"clear."

The call ended, and the room fell silent again.

She knew very well that the research assistant named Ying Chuanluo, though seemingly gentle and harmless, was by no means an ordinary person.

She knew everyone in the research area inside and out, but this person was exceptionally meticulous in his actions, exuding a composure that was beyond that of an assistant. However, she had no intention of delving into it at the moment. As long as the other party did not expose or obstruct her, they would remain allies for the time being.

The tissue communicator at my waist emitted static.

Vodka. Confirmed. —Gin: Gin

Vermouth's lips curved into a very faint smile as she lightly tapped her fingertips in reply:

Everything is stable. As planned.

If Vodka remains safe, Gin will continue to remain inactive, monitoring Rum, purging the remaining members, and pushing the internal strife even further.

Karasuma Renya thought he held the power of life and death over all his pawns, but little did he know that his most trusted secretary, his sharpest gun, and his most unpredictable absinthe had already set their sights elsewhere.

To be continued...