Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

"I... I only see it occasionally on TV. Some movies where foreigners appear mention this."

He looked at her and sweat almost broke out. Fortunately, Mao Lilan didn't think too much about it. She said "oh" and seemed to accept this reason.

However, before Edogawa Conan could breathe a sigh of relief, the next second, Aoyagi Akimichi's voice rang out.

"Ms. Maori, do you know where Kudo is? I waited for a long time at the door just now, but he was not at home at all. The mailbox at the door looked like it hadn't been sorted for several days..."

Edogawa Conan's body froze again.

Chapter 252: Can't come up with a title

Ran Mouri had no idea how Edogawa Conan felt.

She didn't hide anything and answered directly: "Shinichi is out investigating a case."

Kogoro Mori paid attention to this and looked suspicious when he heard the answer.

"Going out to investigate a case? Even if he's a famous detective, that guy is just a high school student, right? What kind of case would require a student to take time off to investigate? What specific day did he go?"

Mao Lilan frowned, with a hint of uneasiness on her face:

"He left after the amusement park case, and he hasn't been to school since. My phone is unreachable, so I wanted to call the police. But after Ms. Yoko's commission ended that day, he called and said he suddenly received a case and was investigating outside, so I shouldn't worry. As for what the case was... he didn't tell me."

"The call was from an unfamiliar number, probably from a public phone booth."

"So that's it..."

After hearing the whole story, Aoyagi Akimitsu sighed.

Mao Lilan saw him sighing and asked with concern: "Mr. Aoyagi, do you have something to talk to Shinichi about? If it's urgent, I'll tell him the next time he calls."

"It's not urgent." Aoyagi Akimitsu said, "One of the reasons I went to the Kudo family was because of a request from the Kudo couple. He used to call once a week to report on his current situation, but he didn't call last week, and no one answered when they called."

"They wanted to ask their next-door neighbor, but he was probably at a research meeting, so they couldn't get in touch with him. Then they learned that I was coming to Japan soon, so they asked me to come and see if anything had happened."

"........."

Originally, Edogawa Conan was gulping down a drink from a cup, trying to act as if nothing had happened, as if they were discussing an older brother they were not familiar with.

It was not until he heard Aoyagi Akimitsu mention the Kudo couple that he realized a more important issue -

In order to avoid being tracked down by the men in black, he no longer used Kudo Shinichi's mobile phone number, destroyed the card completely, and then registered a new one.

But... he probably, seemed to, completely forgot... to tell his parents about his new phone number and the fact that he was drugged and shrunk by the man in black...

Edogawa Conan gradually began to sweat profusely. The follow-up problems of becoming smaller were far more than he had imagined.

However, he quickly noticed something else:

"-One of the reasons? Are there any other reasons?" he asked curiously.

Aoyagi Akimitsu looked at Edogawa Conan, and did not despise him as an "unrelated child". He explained in a good manner: "I brought him a gift. Because it is quite expensive, I want to hand it to him personally."

Maori Kogoro's eyes lit up: "Expensive gift?"

"The second edition of A Study in Scarlet, illustrated by Mr. Conan Doyle's father."

Aoyagi Akimitsu smiled and said, "I found it with great difficulty. Kudo really likes Sherlock Holmes and I want to give it to him as a birthday present for his 18th birthday."

Kogoro Maori lost interest instantly.

Mao Lilan was not interested in reasoning, but she knew from the description that this was very valuable. She was just wanting to be happy for her childhood sweetheart, but her eyes shifted and she accidentally saw the strange expression on Edogawa Conan's face.

"Conan?" she shouted worriedly, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Could it be that drinking hot soup and then ice drink caused the stomachache?

Edogawa Conan turned his head and gave her a dry smile: "I, I'm fine, Sister Xiaolan..."

For a moment just now, he almost wanted to expose his identity and collect the books on the spot, but fortunately, the last bit of reason stopped him.

Because he didn't want to get Aoyagi Binkou into trouble.

Although Mr. Aoyagi is a regular law enforcer with higher fighting power than ordinary police officers, he is from the United States after all and is now a diplomat. If he is casually involved in a criminal organization in Japan, many problems will arise.

Edogawa Conan sighed silently, then angrily stabbed two little black men with crow heads in his heart and kicked them away with a football.

Damn the Black... Crow-like organization! It's all their fault!

……

The dinner ended peacefully.

The four of them walked out of the restaurant. Because Aoyagi Binkou was treating them this time and the rain had stopped, the Maori family felt embarrassed to let him drive them home again, so they said goodbye at the restaurant door.

After watching Aoyagi Akimichi get on the black Chevrolet, which is almost the standard FBI vehicle, Mouri Kogoro took his daughter and Edogawa Conan home.

He commented on the dishes with satisfaction: "I haven't been to this restaurant for a long time. I thought the quality would drop after the change of owner, but I didn't expect it to be so delicious."

Conan Edogawa looks at the sign of "Colombo Restaurant".

The original couple who owned this western restaurant immigrated to Ireland. After the current owner took over, they barely changed the decoration and menu and reopened it directly, using the same waiters as before.

He remembered that the reason they immigrated was...

Edogawa Conan was distracted as he thought about the case three years ago. He didn't catch up until the other two walked a distance away.

Mao Lilan was talking about her schedule for the day after tomorrow: "Dad, I'm going to take Conan out the day after tomorrow, so you can eat by yourself."

The day after tomorrow is Saturday, Maori Kogoro asked: "Where are you going? Who invited you?"

"It's Sonoko." Mao Lilan smiled. "We talked on the phone last night. She learned about Miss Yamei's case and felt sympathetic. She wanted to take me out to relax. Her sister happened to have a party, so she invited me to go with her."

Knowing that it was a girl who invited him, Maori Kogoro's guard was reduced by half. He glanced at Edogawa Conan beside his leg with dissatisfaction: "Why did you bring this brat?"

"Because his father won't take good care of him." Mao Lilan said confidently, "And Conan is a child. He saw the whole process and needs to relax. Am I right, Conan?"

Edogawa Conan, who was suddenly called, quickly responded, "Yeah."

He heard a little bit when Xiaolan called yesterday. It was said that the party was held in a villa in the mountains and most of the people coming were Sister Sonoko's college classmates... Nothing should happen.

They walked forward and quickly crossed the road.

Aoyagi Akiko's black Chevrolet happened to stop in front of the zebra crossing. Edogawa Conan subconsciously glanced towards the car window and found that he seemed to be looking at his mobile phone.

It’s not very proper to look at your phone while driving... Did you suddenly receive some important information?

Edogawa Conan thought a little confused.

……

Inside the car, Aoyagi Binguang put one hand on the steering wheel and typed casually on his phone with the other hand:

[I have arrived in Japan and will officially start work next Monday. This job is relatively easy. If you need any help with any tasks, please let me know.]

[Please arrange a safe house for him. He is still working beside me. Don't let him contact Rum's people for the time being...]

As he wrote this, the red light on the opposite side started flashing. Aoyagi Akimichi clicked send to send the email to Gin, then fixed the phone on the bracket.

He drove towards the port area. As an embassy staff member, he still lived in the same high-end tower apartment for easy commuting.

"Buzz."

Not long after driving, the phone vibrated and Gin sent a reply.

[Got it. If you have some free time, you can go and solve a target in Mihua Hospital. You will be going there soon...]

Before he finished reading the email, Qingliu Binguang felt the ring on his right hand suddenly tremble.

This time, the message came from another type of teammate.

【Gluttony: I'm in Japan. 】

----

The case in the original novel will be mentioned, but it is basically just a background board. The movie version will write about several parts.

Chapter 253 The first night of the famous writer's gluttony of rice flowers

"Yesterday in Beihua Park, the body of a man who had been killed from behind with a sharp knife was found."

"The last robber of the 10 billion yen robbery committed suicide at the Port of Beika last night. All three members have been confirmed dead, and the lost money has been recovered."

"Recently, there have been a number of home invasions and murders near Beihua 10-chome. Most of the victims are elderly people living alone. Citizens are requested to strengthen their precautions..."

On the first floor of the New Rice Flower Hotel, a brown-haired young man wearing a baseball cap who was checking in heard three pieces of rice flower news broadcast on the TV in the lobby. His hand, which was about to take the room card, stopped in mid-air and the card fell with a click.

The receptionist was stunned for a moment, picked up the card and handed it out again, with a hint of confusion on her face.

"Mr. Lu Ren, do you have any questions?"

The brown-haired young man came back to his senses, laughed dryly and reached out to take the room card: "Nothing...thank you."

The lady at the front desk showed her signature service smile again: "We will send your luggage to the room later. If you want to order dinner, you can call the room directly."

"Okay." The young man nodded.

He casually put the room card into his pocket and did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he picked up a hotel brochure and looked at the room delivery service and specific dishes while continuing to listen to the TV news.

The next guest came forward to check in. He gave the name and number he used when making the reservation and waited for the front desk to verify it. While waiting, he casually glanced at the brown-haired young man.

Then his eyes paused for a moment.

"...Sir, may I ask if I have seen you somewhere before?"

The new hotel guest, who was a publishing editor, looked at the brown-haired young man and his brows gradually furrowed.

The brown-haired young man shuddered and quickly pulled the brim of his hat down even lower. "Hey, how is that possible? You definitely got the wrong person. I've been abroad and just returned to Japan today."

Under the other person's thoughtful gaze, the brown-haired young man left the lobby at a quick pace and rushed into the elevator.

He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the elevator door closed, pressed the floor where his room was, and then turned on his cell phone.

Although he was in an elevator with no signal, a group chat interface popped up without any lag, and on it were the messages he had sent not long ago.

【Gluttony: I'm in Japan. 】

The brown-haired young man, Kazuya Miwa, who switched to the black team, was chatting with the black team in the group. He sighed deeply at his face in the elevator mirror, which was 80% similar to his face in real life.

……

Two years ago, Kazuya Miwa was in trouble with the Japanese police. In anger, he launched a counterattack and successfully sent himself from the passerby camp to the black side, and started his life of being "kept" from then on.