Conan and Gin are both my brothers, what's wrong with meeting them once?

After having lunch at Sapporo Station, the group boarded a train bound for Hokkaido.

Before dinner, they finally arrived at the farm where the young couple, Hatomoto Natsue and his wife, lived.

Over the next two days, they had a wonderful time, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Hatsue Hiramoto.

During the conversation, Kazuma Kudo mentioned his plans to launch a skincare brand and asked Natsue Hiromoto if she wanted to collaborate. Natsue Hiromoto replied that she rarely interfered in the family business at the moment, but she could introduce Kazuma Kudo to Ms. Kinoshita, the president of the fashion brand Fusa.

This is exactly what I wanted.

Kazuma Kudo immediately added Natsue Hatomoto as a friend on Bond, saying that he would contact her once he had a preliminary product.

Since he started coughing after playing with Conan for two days, Kazuma Kudo decided not to travel with the three from the agency anymore and took another train home.

Upon returning to Beika, Kudo Kazuma immediately went to the Kudo residence.

Sure enough, Shuichi Akai had already moved in, but he was staying in the same guest room as last time, which was currently being tidied up.

"Oh, tenants are here!" Kudo Kazuma poked his head in from outside, smiling broadly. "I'm here to collect the rent."

Shuichi Akai was speechless: "You actually dared to come..."

"What are you talking about? You dare to come and stay at my house? Do you think I, as a landlord, wouldn't dare to come and collect rent?" Kudo Kazuma spread his hands and said confidently, "It's agreed that it's 100,000 yen a day. You know my account. If you plan to stay long-term, pay one month's rent first!"

Shuichi Akai's face darkened: "Who said we agreed?"

Kudo Kazuma feigned surprise, saying dramatically, "You! We agreed on this last time. You, an FBI ace investigator, are trying to renege on your promise?"

He sighed deeply: "It seems you think I'm young and easy to bully... Oh well, luckily I recently recruited an older and more experienced employee, so I'll have him help me collect debts."

He then started making a phone call: "Hello, is your Bourbon home? Someone's bullying me, shouldn't he be at work by now?"

On the other end of the phone, Morofushi Kagemitsu was completely bewildered: "You, uh, do you have a fever? Is there no one taking care of you?"

Kazuma Kudo: "..."

Ask him tactfully if he hasn't taken his medication.

Hero has really followed Amuro's bad example!

Having achieved his goal, Kudo Kazuma simply hung up the phone and looked up at Akai Shuichi: "So, tell me, are you going to pay the rent or not? If not, Bourbon will be coming to the door next time."

Now it was Shuichi Akai's turn to be speechless.

What left him speechless was that Kazuma Kudo then added, "Of course, if you don't like Bourbon, I can see if Gin has time."

Even though he knew that Kazuma Kudo wouldn't let Gin come to the Kudo residence, Shuichi Akai still sighed, "You win..."

Just because Kazuma Kudo wouldn't send Gin to the Kudo residence to "collect a debt" doesn't mean he wouldn't send Bourbon...

After receiving the three million yen, Kudo Kazuma waved and left.

As for what Shuichi Akai is doing in Japan, he doesn't care.

In any case, Shuichi Akai will definitely come to him when he needs his help; and if the organization has any relevant intelligence related to Shuichi Akai, they will definitely notify him.

No sooner had Kudo Kazuma left the Kudo residence than he received a call from Morofushi Kagemitsu.

The phone number belonged to Morofushi Kagemitsu, but it was Amuro Tooru who called.

"Danpo, what's the matter with your call?"

After learning more from Morofushi Kagemitsu, Amuro Tooru gradually understood that since Tanpo specifically called him "Bourbon" on the phone, it must be something related to the organization.

"Oh, it's nothing," Kudo Kazuma asked casually. "How's your work going? Have you roughly defined the area for Rum's base?"

Amuro Tooru hung up the phone with a "click".

Only three days? That's too much of a demand for Danpo! Is he trying to kill me?

Kudo Kazuma pursed his lips. It's been three days already, and Touko's work efficiency is just too low! Is this a joke?

Thinking of this, Kudo Kazuma turned and went to the Agasa residence next door.

When it comes to work efficiency, you have to look to Ai Haibara.

After listening to a bunch of things that Ai Haibara barely understood, Kazuma Kudo coughed and said, "I'll transfer another three million to your account for research funding. Let me know if you need more money later, and let me know even more when you make progress. Then we can contact partners and establish a brand."

Ai Haibara was taken aback: "You really want to create a brand?"

Kazuma Kudo shrugged: "What else? It can't be a joke, can it?"

"You put in the effort and I'll spend the money, of course, so we can make a lot of money together in the future. Don't worry, once the brand is established, we'll give you shares and dividends directly."

At this point, Kudo Kazuma suddenly lowered his voice and asked softly, "Did you sense the organization's presence today?"

Ai Haibara shook her head: "I've been busy in the underground research lab all day, and I just came out..."

At this point, her face suddenly turned pale, and even her voice trembled slightly: "You, you mean... there are organized groups nearby?"

Kazuma Kudo looked around and, seeing that Haruka Haibara wasn't there, immediately explained Shuichi Akai's situation to her.

Upon hearing this, Ai Haibara's face immediately turned from pale to calm, and her tone became several degrees colder than before: "What is he doing here?"

Kazuma Kudo shook his head: "I don't know either. Anyway, you should tell your sister to be careful. She's still a middle school student. If Shuichi Akai targets her, tsk tsk... wait, in that case, we can just call the police, right? Shuichi Akai will definitely be the one who suffers!"

Ai Haibara was silent for a moment, then finally made up her mind and said, "Hmph, if that guy dares to mess with my sister, I'll make him pay!"

Kudo Kazuma gave a thumbs-up: "That's ambitious! That kind of scumbag should be kept away from your sister."

Thinking of this, he asked again, "Speaking of which, do you need a research assistant? A top student from the Department of Medicine at Tokyo University has solid theoretical knowledge, is patient, and has a good personality. He should be a good assistant."

Ai Haibara remembered her sister mentioning a rabbit named Asano Minami—so, she was talking about him?

She thought for a moment and said, "It's worth a try, but a rabbit obviously can't be a research assistant; it can only be a research tool at most, so you'll have to turn it back into human form first."

"Okay, I'll go back and talk to Chengshi."

After Kudo Kazuma left, Haibara Haruka, who was helping to clean the basement research lab, came out of the basement and asked curiously, "Edogawa-kun came by? What did he say?"

"It's nothing." Ai Haibara put her hands into the pockets of her child-sized white lab coat, smiled slightly, and said, "He seems to have found a business partner and came to let me know. Sister, I want to do more data comparisons recently, so I'll have to trouble you to take care of me."

It would be best if my sister stayed home all the time, so that he wouldn't see her!