Out-of-control players in the world of Detective Conan

“Mr. Qi Ming, I invited you here to have fun, how can it be reasonable for you to spend money?”

Kogoro Mouri said somewhat embarrassedly.

He was genuinely shocked when he saw Qi Ming pull out several stacks of money.

Do people in the entertainment industry all make this much money?

Qi Ming chuckled and casually said:

"It's alright. Money is money; the timid starve, the bold get rich."

"Um, what does this mean?"

Upon hearing Qi Ming's words, everyone began to fill in the blanks with their own imaginations.

Ai Haibara knew what Qi Ming was talking about, but she just looked at him with a helpless expression.

Kogoro Mouri was simply thinking that Qi Ming had extorted—no, he had extorted—a large bonus from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki are not so innocent.

Could it be that Mr. Qi Ming has been subjected to unspoken rules or exploitation?

……

The group chatted with the receptionist about the various activities on Shenhai Island. Kogoro Mouri sighed and complained, avoiding a passerby.

"There are just too many people here!"

After saying that, Kogoro Mouri turned his gaze to another direction.

"and……"

As Kogoro Mouri spoke, he glanced at the several burly men in front of him who were looking at the promotional blueprints.

The men had dark skin and were tall and strong.

Strangely, apart from their hands and heads, the rest of their skin doesn't appear to be very dark.

Of course, the most important thing is that they all have strong muscles, and you can tell at a glance that they are not the kind of dead muscles that are built up in the gym.

"Which gym is this? Did they all come to Shenhai Island for a vacation?"

"Not really."

Conan looked over, then shook his head and said with a smile.

"They must be treasure hunters."

"The fact that their hands and heads weren't tanned shows that they must be people who wear diving suits often, and you can also see that their hair has been stained and faded by seawater."

"With the island's treasure-hunting promotions, their identities are self-evident."

Upon hearing Conan's explanation, everyone looked at him in surprise.

Iwanaga Shiro clapped his hands with a sigh:

“The child’s reasoning is correct; many treasure hunters have indeed come to God Island recently.”

Kogoro Mouri asked, somewhat surprised.

"So, is the treasure just a gimmick? Although we did see reports before we came that people found gold and silver treasures while diving."

Iwanaga Shiro chuckled twice and nodded affirmatively.

"That's right, otherwise the propaganda department wouldn't use treasure to attract attention, and there wouldn't be so many treasure hunters here."

The three children were very excited.

"Treasure! There's treasure!"

They don't care about treasures or anything like that; what matters is the opportunity to explore.

However, Qi Ming listened with little interest.

Another treasure trove.

For some reason, he thought of his castle.

The so-called treasure in that castle was nothing more than a landscape painting.

Is the treasure here some kind of sunset seascape painting?

"Deep-sea treasures, that sounds really fun!"

Sonoko Suzuki clenched her fists excitedly.

"Xiaolan, how about we go scuba diving after we've put our things away?"

"Of course."

Ran Mouri nodded in agreement, then looked down at Conan with a sly smile on her face.

She crouched down and said to Conan in a feigned admiration:

"Conan is really amazing, he knows so much. Last time we were at the amusement park, you were able to tell what other people's professions were just by looking at them, right?"

This happened on the day Shinichi Kudo shrunk.

Before the amusement park decapitation case, Conan, who was still Shinichi Kudo, guessed a girl's profession just by touching her hand.

Of course, the real reason was because he noticed the unique calluses on the girl's thighs that had grown from practicing on the uneven bars, visible beneath her skirt as it was blown up by the wind.

I forgot to turn off auto-aim.

At this moment, Conan was completely oblivious to Ran's probing—no, perhaps it shouldn't even be called a probing.

It should be called "open card".

Conan smiled confidently and raised his head slightly.

"Of course, after all, keen eyesight and knowledge are very important for a detective, right...?"

Conan didn't realize what was happening until he'd said half a sentence, and he turned around blankly to meet Ran Mouri's squinting smile.

Behind him, Professor Agasa was completely dumbfounded.

No, what are you doing?!

Professor Agasa always thought that Shinichi lived at Ran Mouri's house, eating and playing together.

The fact that Ran Mouri didn't discover Shinichi's identity must be because Shinichi's acting and performance were so seamless and flawless.

Now that I see it, what were you doing?!

"Xiaolan, have you been to an amusement park with that kid again? When was it?"

Suzuki Sonoko asked curiously.

The two best friends often chat about their daily lives, what they did yesterday, and what they plan to do tomorrow.

But she hadn't heard Ran mention going to the amusement park with Conan.

Ran Mouri straightened up, lightly tapping her chin with her finger as if she were thinking.

"Yes, when was that?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ran Mouri looked at Conan with a strange expression.

"Conan, can you help me remember when we went to the tropical amusement park?"

"Well, this..."

Conan was sweating profusely.

Qi Ming crouched down and quietly asked Ai Haibara a question.

"So Ran Mouri knows Conan's identity after all, so what was the point of you stopping me last time?"

Ai Haibara rolled her eyes at Qi Ming.

"Given Edogawa's behavior, it's only a matter of time before his identity is exposed. I don't want you to reveal the drug."

"Tell it to others?"

Qi Ming tilted his head to the side.

"What's going on?"

Seeing Qi Ming's smug look, Ai Haibara couldn't help but reach out and tug at Qi Ming's face.

"What do you think? A drug that can shrink people's bodies—it's only a matter of chance, but do you know how huge a sensation it would cause if it were exposed!"

Qi Ming remained silent for a moment.

"What's going on?"

"..."

Qi Ming said nonchalantly:

"That's because I didn't know the setting before. Now that I know, I don't think it's a big deal. It's just a drug that can shrink people."

Ai Haibara glared fiercely at Qi Ming.

"Easy for you to say, why don't you try researching one yourself?"

"What are you doing? I don't know how air conditioners are made, but I do know whether they cool or not."

Ai Haibara withdrew her hands, crossed her arms, and turned her head away from Qi Ming with a stern face.

The more I look at it, the angrier I get.

Qi Ming clicked his tongue in disapproval upon seeing this.

“Actually, I used to think our organization was something special, a multinational corporation, but now it seems like it’s just so-so.”

"It's just a drug that can shrink the body. Do you really think only our organization is researching it? There must be other organizations, or even countries, conducting these experiments, and they're doing it better than us."

After saying that, Qi Ming shrugged again.

"Well, that's normal. After all, there are only so many characters. If the world-building is too big, it will lose its flavor."

Ai Haibara didn't speak, her brows furrowed slightly.

That makes sense.

No matter how big and powerful their organization becomes, it is impossible for them to confront a country.

There are probably many more scientists behind this person conducting research, and they may have already developed an advanced version of their drug.

Seeing Ai Haibara frowning in thought, Qi Ming suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered something.

"By the way, did you know that our organization seems to be on the verge of collapse?"

"...Huh? What did you say?"

Upon hearing this, Ai Haibara's eyes widened slightly, and she turned her head in disbelief to look directly at Qi Ming.

“Yeah, look at me, I’ve been promoted to a cadre, but I haven’t had to do anything all day.”

As Qi Ming spoke, he recounted the inside scoop from the organization to Ai Haibara.

Ai Haibara looked somewhat bewildered; it did sound like there was some truth to it.

The organization is going to collapse? Are you kidding me?