Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

at this time--

"...If you approach a lone girl with this expression in the middle of the night, you will definitely scare her."

A helpless male voice came from the front.

The man in the knitted hat turned his head to the side. Mao Lilan was stunned. The voice seemed familiar, so she looked in the direction of the sound.

A young man in his twenties stood in front of them, holding an umbrella on his shoulder with his left hand. Under the umbrella was a handsome face, with long black hair that had a subtle curl and fell naturally.

He was wearing a light-colored windbreaker with a soft tone and a faint smile on his face, so even though he suddenly appeared in the middle of the night, he gave people the impression of being kind and harmless.

Mao Lilan looked at that highly recognizable face, her eyes slowly widened, and all the memories that were interrupted before suddenly came flooding back -

"Qing...Qingliu teacher?"

Chapter 244 is also a free chapter

One day two years ago, Mao Lilan heard the news that Zhuma had been kidnapped as soon as she returned home. She immediately put down her schoolbag and headed to Kudo's house.

Then there, she met Aoyagi Binguang.

The Minato area is where most foreign embassies are located. Many children of diplomats study in nearby schools. Many schools employ foreign teachers. Aoyagi Akitsu is one of them. He teaches music.

A music teacher could actually have a good impression of Shinichi and even take the initiative to send him home. Mao Lilan thought it was incredible at the time, so she remembered this teacher deeply.

The memory returned to the present, and Mao Lilan saw him again on a rainy night in New York.

Qingliu Binguang obviously recognized her. He walked towards her quickly and casually thrust another folding umbrella into the hand of the man in the knitted hat.

"Good night, Miss Mori, I'm glad you still remember me, but I'm not a teacher now."

His words stunned Mao Lilan. Before she could react, she heard him continue: "Kudo told me that he invited you to come to New York. Now where are the others? Are you acting together tonight?"

Mao Lilan nodded and frowned uneasily.

"I arrived here in the evening, and then went to see a show with Shinichi. As a result, a murder occurred there. Shinichi's mother took notes and asked us to go back to the hotel first... Now Shinichi helps me go up and find the handkerchief."

When he heard the word "case", the man in the knitted hat's hand holding the umbrella froze inexplicably, and that frightening sight swept over him again. Mao Lilan felt that his eyes were a little subtle.

"The case... okay, I understand where those police cars came from." Aoyagi Binguang continued to ask, "What happened to the handkerchief?"

"A star gave it to me. I didn't hold it properly when I was sitting in the car. It flew out of the window and fell nearby, so I stopped the car and came down to look for it."

The more Mao Lilan explained, the more she felt that she was being willful. It was obvious that she had failed to hold the handkerchief properly, but she had caused Shinichi to help her go to find her...

Qingliu Binguang turned his head and looked at the rolling shutter door that was pushed up next to him.

The street lamps were shrouded in drizzle, dimly illuminating the surrounding area. The dirty ground and the walls were filled with garbage cans that no one had cleaned, all indicating that this was an abandoned area.

His expression also became subtle, and his brows wrinkled slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but when he saw Mao Lilan, who lowered his head lower and had tears in his eyes, his attitude softened again:

"...Don't worry, I'm just looking for something. I'll be back soon."

Aoyagi Binguang comforted him softly, and then suddenly changed the topic: "By the way, have you seen a silver-haired man with a stubble on his face nearby? He is also of Japanese descent."

Mao Lilan thought about it carefully and shook his head in denial: "I haven't seen it."

At this time, two beams of light shone from a distance, and a black Chevrolet drove up and stopped at a streetlight not far behind them.

The driver didn't get out of the car, but just lowered the window, stuck his head out and asked in English: "Have you found him?"

The man in the knitted hat who had been silent looked at Mao Lilan, seeming to evaluate the credibility of her words, and then replied: "No, there are only two tourists here. He may not have come to this street."

Ran Mao Li, who was good at English, understood their conversation. She was a little surprised and didn't understand why Aoyagi Akimitsu, a fellow music teacher, was discussing such a topic.

However, after all, she is the daughter of a former detective, and she has a sweetheart who often interacts with the police. She quickly realized something.

"Mr. Aoyagi, are you arresting the prisoner?"

Aoyagi Binguang nodded slightly: "Yes, the suspect in the serial murder case of young women, witnesses said he fled to this area."

While they were talking, the man in the knitted hat had already returned to the car with the unopened folding umbrella.

Aoyagi Binguang glanced over there quickly, without raising his heels, and continued to say to Mao Lilan: "It's very dangerous here. You'd better leave as soon as possible... Do you need me to stay with you until Kudo comes back?"

Mao Lilan shook his head quickly: "No need to trouble you, I can do it alone."

Although she was scared, she was embarrassed to delay the police work.

Aoyagi Binguang seemed to want to say something more. The man in the knitted hat noticed that he didn't follow him and turned around to call him.

"Qingliu, close the team."

Qingliu Binguang still didn't move, he looked at Mao Lilan.

Mao Lilan didn't want the other party to think that she was still scared. She turned her face and quickly wiped away her tears. She tried her best to smile and said, "Mr. Qingliu, please go back quickly. It really doesn't matter if I am alone."

Qingliu Binguang looked at his colleagues who were staring at him by the car, and then at Mao Lilan who firmly advised him to leave quickly, and sighed.

"...There are guards at the entrance and exit of this street. If there is any movement, they will hear it immediately and rush to help. When Kudo comes back, you go along this road and turn right. There is a main road. Then call a taxi. Go back to the hotel.”

"Okay." Mao Lilan responded quickly.

Aoyagi Binguang finally turned around and walked towards his colleague. When the man in the knitted hat saw him coming, he opened the back door and got in first.

Mao Lilan watched him walking there, but halfway there, he suddenly raised his head and looked towards a certain door in the abandoned apartment.

"...?"

Mao Lilan looked at him doubtfully.

From her perspective, she couldn't clearly see Qingliu Binguang's expression at this time. She could only see that his steps did not stop for this, as if he glanced casually, and then continued walking forward.

He returned to the car and put away his umbrella, opened the door and got into the car, and the car drove away.

Mao Lilan watched the car go away, first she breathed a sigh of relief, then she remembered Aoyagi Binguang's words and became nervous again.

She cast her eyes hesitantly at the apartment.

Mr. Aoyagi told them to leave as soon as possible. Her mobile phone ran out of battery in the theater and she could not contact Shinichi... Should she go directly to find him?

……

Back in the car, the Chevy quickly left the street.

Aoyagi Binguang was also sitting in the back seat. When he came up, Akai Shuichi was explaining to Robert Otto, who was in charge of driving, why he could leave her alone.

This group of people was originally responsible for the FBI's serial murder case. The murderer's death does not mean that the case is over. They have to track down the remaining clues. Since Aaron and the murderer of another female serial murder case went to the same bar, Akai Shuichi decided to assist the team next door in the pursuit.

This evening, the police station received a call that someone saw the silver-haired murderer near Broadway, and they immediately drove there.

Shuichi Akai met him head-on and shot him.

The murderer was injured in the abdomen, but managed to escape, so the FBI sealed off the area and sent a large number of personnel to search.

Aoyagi Binguang, who had just finished a search, put the umbrella at his feet. Before he could raise the car window, he immediately took out his mobile phone. When Otto saw it, he said: "No, I have already reported it."

"Not calling Foster." Aoyagi Binguang said helplessly, "I want to persuade Kudo to take his friends out of there quickly."

Otto was stuck. He naturally knew the surname Kudo. He had heard it several times in the past few days.

"It's this kid again." His eyes became as subtle as Akai Shuichi's just now, "Speaking of which, a case also happened at the theater, right..."

Akai Shuichi, who knew the answer, did not answer. He and Aoyagi Binguang waited for the phone to be connected.

"Beep...beep..."

The call from the other side was not picked up for a long time.

Rain drifted in through the window that was not completely closed, gradually getting wet the light-colored windbreaker worn by Qingliu Binguang.

……

The rain is still falling.

A Japanese man with hair dyed silver and a stubble on his face came to the first floor of an abandoned apartment.

His abdomen was stained with blood, but his movements were not hindered. He looked like a wild beast caught in a trap. He held a gun in one hand, and his fierce and vigilant eyes kept scanning the surroundings, paying attention to all disturbances.

Da da……

A sound of footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

This slight but undisguised sound was like thunder exploding in this environment. His pupils suddenly shrank and he pointed the muzzle of the gun backward.

However, the other party reacted faster and grabbed the hand holding the gun. The five fingers of his left hand were like iron bands to tightly control his movements. The muzzle of the gun was pressed and pointed at a place where no one could be hit.

The visitor was wearing a black raincoat, with the hood pulled up covering most of his face. He stood there like a ghost that could disappear at any moment.

"I came here to help you out of kindness, you shouldn't treat me like this, right?"

The silver-haired man recognized the voice instantly.

He watched as the other person used his free hand to pull down the hood, and his long, slightly curly black hair instantly fell out.

——It was Aoyagi Akimitsu who had left not long ago.

Chapter 244 His purpose?

The house was filled with a faint smell of blood. The two men stood in a corner where the light from a street lamp dimly shone through, and could barely see each other's faces.

Aoyagi Hikari used his left hand to pull out the gun from the other person's hand. The silver-haired "man" in front of him, who was actually Vermouth, did not stop him.

He looked at her abdomen: "How is it?"

Belmode covered his wound and spoke in a feminine voice beneath his rough masculine appearance: "It's not serious. The thing has been dug out."

She raised her hand, and a bullet with the blood stains already washed off gently landed on Qingliu Binguang's gloved palm.

Thinking of her encounter with the FBI when she left the theater in the evening and their original plan, a hint of sadness appeared on her face.

……

Due to his special background and status, Goldwasser was basically responsible for the organization of operations in the United States and Canada. A month ago, he issued two tasks.

First, deal with Snake Venom Beer, the traitor who has been on the run for twelve years.

Second, deal with Rye Whiskey, the FBI undercover agent.

The ones who accepted these two tasks were Aoyagi Akimitsu and Vermouth.

Vermouth was not surprised that Goldwasser asked her to take action instead of choosing Aoyagi Akimitsu who was in the FBI - once the undercover agent was killed, all those who came into contact with him would inevitably undergo multiple rounds of investigation. Goldwasser did not want Aoyagi Akimitsu to be exposed for this, it was not worth it.