Model worker and his little darling

She has the care and concern of a doctor, and kind and lovely classmates like Ayumi.

Despite experiencing many difficulties, I have survived to this day.

Her older sister, however, had always lived in the laboratory, and she knew all too well what it meant to be an experimental subject.

The two little girls looked at each other with teary eyes.

Suddenly, Hirakiyo realized he was a villain.

As soon as he appeared, the two sisters were forced to separate and cried their hearts out.

Thinking of this, Pingqing shuddered. He had absolutely no interest in this kind of annual tragic drama of sisters reuniting.

Listening to the two sisters talking quietly, Pingqing began to clear her mind.

After a long while, Pingqing came to her senses and gently tapped the table.

"Are you done talking? It won't be so easy to see each other again in the future."

Upon hearing this, the two sisters bid each other a reluctant farewell for a while.

After getting into the car with Hirai, Haibara was extremely depressed. She didn't know when she would see her sister again.

"When you get back, you know what you should and shouldn't say, right?"

Haibara gave a soft "hmm".

"Did they tamper with my clothes?"

Ping Qing raised an eyebrow. "It was tampered with, but don't worry, we've already taken care of it. If you feel anything is amiss, just tell me."

"What kind of people are they?"

"The Zoo, a transnational criminal organization. Most of their members are probably magicians, and their methods are bizarre."

Hearing this, Haibara became even more worried.

"They failed this time, so what about next time..."

Ping Qing clicked his tongue. "You should know why they arrested you, right?"

Haibara gave a soft "hmm," because of APTX-4869.

"So they will definitely strike again. But there's no need to worry too much, I have people I've arranged around you."

After a moment of silence, Haibara looked up at Hirai.

"I want to go back to the organization."

Now that she knew someone would try to harm her, she didn't want to stay by the Doctor's side any longer. The Doctor was the first person to give her warmth after she left the organization.

She didn't want to bring disaster to that kind old man, and she didn't want that dream to become reality.

Even though Pingqing had arranged for someone to help, she still wasn't at ease.

Moreover, the opponent is a mage; can the organization really handle him?

She was all alone; she couldn't run away even if she wanted to. Most importantly, her sister was still in the organization.

Therefore, returning to the organization was her only option.

His gaze fell on Haibara, and Taira Kiyoshi smiled.

He once asked Haibara if she would ever voluntarily return to the organization.

I never expected this day to come so soon.

"What reason are you going to give for leaving? And without arousing their suspicion. Do you think Conan, with his personality, would believe a regular reason? Or are you going to just tell them that you're voluntarily returning to the organization?"

"Besides, even if you leave and return to the organization, they can't do anything to you. Won't they arrest Professor Agasa, or have Ayumi and the others threaten you? What are you going to do then?"

Upon hearing what Heikichi said, Haibara's face instantly turned pale, and her fingers instinctively gripped the hem of her clothes.

It seems that no matter what she does, she has already put the doctor in danger.

"If you want to return to the organization and continue working at the research institute, I would be very happy to do so. After all, your sister is also at the research institute. However, it's best not to let anyone know about this; it's your weakness."

Haibara bit her lip, her mind a complete mess; she really didn't know what to do.

Seeing this, Pingqing shrugged and stopped provoking Haibara.

……

A Li's house.

Seeing Hirai return with Ai Haibara, Professor Agasa and Conan, who had been eagerly awaiting her return, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although Hirai said Ai was alright, they were still worried until they saw her in person.

Professor Agasa looked at Ai with concern, "Ai, are you alright?"

Seeing how worried the Doctor was about her, Haibara suppressed her distress and pretended to look at the Doctor with ease.

"Doctor, don't worry, I'm fine. It's just a minor abrasion, which has already been treated."

Dr. Agasa wiped away his tears. "It's alright, it's alright."

After being dragged into the house by Conan, Hirai collapsed onto the sofa, his exhaustion clearly visible, and he still smelled faintly of medicine.

A quick glance revealed that the television was still broadcasting reports of the terrorist attack.

The official explanation given was that it was a chemical explosion caused by improper handling by a pharmaceutical research company. Although the public did not believe it, this was the official stance.

Despite reports of armed helicopters being spotted, officials are turning a blind eye and pretending nothing has happened.

There was also a computer on the table, which Conan was using to look up something.

"Brother Pingqing, what exactly happened?"

Conan looked at Hirakiyo, eager to know what had happened last night.

Pingqing rubbed his temples. "There are too many things to cover, and I'm not entirely sure myself. You guys need to be careful in the future. I suspect they probably already know your and Haibara's identities."

Upon realizing that his identity might be exposed, Conan took a deep breath.

How much do you know about the organization that runs the zoo?

“I don’t know much about them either. I only know that they are a large transnational criminal organization and they didn’t operate in Japan often before. I don’t know when they started targeting you.”

"So they kidnapped Ai Haibara to find out the secret of that drug?"

"That's probably it, so you're in danger right now."

After pondering for a while, Conan asked his biggest question with difficulty, "Does magic really exist in this world?"

He was a staunch materialist, but ever since Kaito Kid told him about magic, his mind had been in a state of confusion.

After searching online for a long time, I found that there are indeed many rumors about magic in the UK.

Moreover, some people claim to have seen the magician in person, while others claim to be the magician themselves.

Although he spoke eloquently and had experienced some strange things, he still felt that magic was something...

Yes, it's hard to accept.

Seeing the confusion, doubt, and disbelief in Conan's eyes, Hirai tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from turning up.

"Although it's bizarre, this thing really exists. I only found out about it recently. It's really strange; it can make people fall into an illusion without them even realizing it. They'll kill you while you're immersed in the illusion."

Upon hearing what Pingqing said, Conan subconsciously swallowed.

Thinking about my past experiences, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.

Was I targeted by them from the very beginning?

Hearing Conan begin to analyze the incident at the department store and the mysterious ghosts that later appeared at Teitan High School, Hirai nodded in agreement, occasionally adding his own insights.

He originally thought Conan would suspect him, but unexpectedly, the blame has fallen on the zoo.

All he could say was, "Well done!"

"So, could they possibly be involved in that massacre? If it was magic, it should be easy for them to get to another place."

Ping Qing pondered for a moment, then said, "That's possible."

Seeing the zoo being blamed for more and more things, Pingqing was overjoyed. It seemed that from now on, he could just shift the blame for any misdeeds onto the zoo.

After analyzing the situation himself, Conan attributed all the strange and incomprehensible things from the past to the zoo.

"Brother Pingqing, what does it feel like to be trapped in an illusion?"

Ping Qing sighed softly, "The sky was stained red with blood, and there were endless flames. You could even feel the heat. Before long, you would feel your mouth dry and your throat parched, as if your whole body was being roasted by fire."

Conan nodded. It seemed he had been under a spell on the plane, cast by the assassin known as Spider.

"Then how do we get out of this illusion?"

"Pain can bring you back to reality, and illusions are all about surprise. If you're prepared, they're not so threatening."

As he spoke, Pingqing suddenly realized that he might be misleading people. It would be funny if Conan thought that magic was only illusion.

Suddenly, Conan looked intently at Heikiri and asked, "Heikiri-nii, do you know magic?"

Pingqing showed the bandage on his arm. "What do you think?"

Conan suddenly deflated. He had thought that Hirai knew magic, which would at least allow him to have a deeper understanding of magic.

"Since magic exists in this world, then superpowers might also be real. Does that mean that organization called Academy City also exists?"

"After all, they also have special abilities, perhaps they are very low-key like the zoo, and have been hiding themselves all along."

Upon hearing this, Pingqing's eyes widened, surprised that Conan still remembered this.

What exactly did Conan imagine that night that went so far as to stray from the truth?

It must be said that Conan has an exceptionally strong ability to learn.

He then rubbed his forehead, looking very troubled.

"Um... well... it's possible that it's like you said, but after all, we haven't found any evidence. Although it appeared in Itakura Taku's diary disk back then, it hasn't appeared again since, and we haven't learned about this organization from anywhere else."

Conan nodded; there was indeed no evidence to prove whether this organization existed or not.

Seeing Conan begin to lower his head in thought, Pingqing blinked. He wondered if he could find a few people to let Academy City in Japan take a stroll in front of Conan.

Science and superpowers sound really cool.

If that's the case, Touko is probably going to have a heart attack. Why does it always feel like there are so many ill-intentioned people causing trouble in Japan?

"The Ekoda explosion?"

As for the official explanation, just take it with a grain of salt.

"All I knew was that it was a base for the zoo. When I got there, the explosion had already happened. Our people noticed something unusual about their behavior during surveillance, so they guessed that Ai Haibara might be there."

"I managed to sneak in during the chaos and did find Haibara. At the time, Haibara was unconscious, so I couldn't pay too much attention to her and could only bring her out first."

"According to intelligence, the organization also took action this time, but we don't know what happened between them. I think it's possible that there's a conflict of interest between the two organizations. This time, the organization helped us out; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to rescue Haibara."

After hearing Hirai's description, Conan sighed.

Unexpectedly, the organization they feared most actually helped them at this crucial moment.

The matter is over now, so there's no point in him rushing over.

After a moment of silence, Conan suddenly spoke up, "What I want to know most right now is who that person who appeared at the department store was. He seemed to know a lot of things."

Pingqing slowly took a sip of water. "Compared to that, I'm more curious about why he would tell you all this. At that time, you had only recently become Conan, and the only person who should have known your identity was Dr. Agasa."

"Unless he's been watching you ever since you were Shinichi Kudo. Did you notice anything back then?"

Conan shook his head. At that time, he was at the height of his fame and was hailed as the savior of the Japanese police.

At that time, he was so engrossed in solving the case that he didn't notice anything amiss.

Heiji stared at Conan until Conan felt uneasy.

"Brother Pingqing, why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm wondering what secret you have that made that person keep an eye on you and do those things."

Conan was speechless. He was just an ordinary person; what secrets could he possibly have?

If he hadn't met the organization at the tropical park, he would have become Conan.

He was just an ordinary high school student, living a normal life, going to class every day, and solving cases in his spare time.

"I think you're overthinking it. What secrets could an ordinary person have?"

Ping Qing leaned back on the sofa. "Then why is he paying attention to you? Is it like in the novels, that you're some important person who wants to protect you? Or kill you?"

Upon hearing this, Conan rolled his eyes at Pingqing, thinking of all the different kinds of novels in Pingqing's house.

"Brother Pingqing, you should read fewer novels."

Under Taira no Seishin's earnest persuasion, Conan began to recall what unusual things had happened around him when he was still Shinichi Kudo.

Ping Qing lay sprawled on the sofa with his eyes closed. Before this, magic and science seemed to exist in two different dimensions, without interfering with each other.

Now, thanks to his meddling, Conan has come into contact with magic.

He has made a mess of this world. This absurd world has gone down a different path, and no one knows what will happen next, whether it will be good or bad.

Thinking about the current situation, Pingqing glanced at Conan, who was still deep in thought, and thought to himself, "This is really frustrating."

……

Izakaya.

Pingqing slowly walked in; there was never a moment of peace.

"Officer, sir, what brings you here for a drink today?"

Sitting next to Uncle Mori, Heishi pretended to look around, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the bartender.

Touko is here too. Is she trying to get information from him?

Inspector Megure looked distressed and downed the drink in his glass in one gulp.

Tokyo was attacked again, but the Metropolitan Police Department did not receive the news immediately. Instead, it was the Self-Defense Forces and the Public Security Bureau that notified them.

Moreover, they were not allowed to participate in the operation.

Now, those in power can't resolve this incident and are just giving the public a lame excuse.