Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

Nakano, a new recruit from Investigation Section 4, stood outside the detention room where Bai Jiu was being held. He frowned and looked at the two people guarding the door.

"Our section chief is worried about him too!"

He specifically brought up his boss, hoping that the two unkind people in front of him would be flexible.

"You are not allowed to visit freely before the results come out. This is the rule." The one on the right said in a cold tone.

The other guarding on the left looked at Nakano with cold and defensive eyes, as if he was sizing up a potential suspect of a crime: "Please leave here as soon as possible."

Nakano looked at them, then looked at the closed door, and finally left in disappointment.

……

Since the day Kotomine Qina's body was found, Hakubato has been detained. No one except the person in charge of the investigation is allowed to see him.

Nakano knew that the situation was serious this time. The plan failed and the bait died tragically. Later it was discovered that the beneficiary of her insurance was her police officer boyfriend... This was a very serious blow to the credibility of the police.

It was normal to conduct an investigation, and the public must be given an explanation, but he always felt that there was something indescribably strange about this time...

——The police officers in charge of the investigation this time seemed to be particularly wary of the people from Investigation Section 4.

Nakano returned to the office with a lot in mind. It was lunch time and there were only a few people in the office.

He just walked to his seat and saw something on the table.

A common Japanese bobtail cat sat with its back to him, next to his phone, its paw pressed against the screen, sliding slowly up and down.

"Hey!"

Nakano shouted, trying to drive away the cat that came out of nowhere: "Where did this cat come from?!"

The colleague sitting next to him turned his seat and said: "It appeared as soon as you left. I thought it was your pet."

Nakano firmly denied: "No, I don't have a cat."

"what happened?"

The head of Investigation Section 4, Katsutoshi Teraoka, noticed their movements and stood up to look at them.

"I don't know whose cat got here."

Nakano was already in a bad mood because his visit was unsuccessful, and he waved at it impatiently.

After this drive, the cat finally went away. He quickly took back his phone and found that the chat room interface was displayed on the screen - the cat even clicked on the pictures and documents in it.

The picture was a cartoon version of a case made by a fan in the chat group. Nakano only took a quick glance at it and thought that just looking at the pictures turned it into a girls' love comic, which was too disgusting, so he didn't read the text carefully.

As for the several documents, they are all extra stories about the Police Academy written by Mr. Hojo.

The first one was a bit boring, but with the addition of an idiot classmate who was jealous of them and always against them in the next three, it became a little more interesting.

For example, they usually brag about how good they are at bomb disposal, but when they really encounter one, they are so scared that they stand still and dare not move, and have to rely on others to escape - these people exist in real life, which makes these face-slapping scenes quite satisfying to read.

Nakano sat down and found the cat still on the table, its cat eyes staring at his phone.

...Is this cat very interested in novels? He wondered in his heart, but he didn't suspect anything.

The police office will prevent strangers from coming in casually, but it is different with animals. They are only curious about where they come from and which colleague brings pets to work, and they don’t care what they see.

After all, it's just an animal. Even if you see it, what can you do?

Nakano turned off his phone and lowered his head to chew his lunch bread.

As he watched, the cat jumped off the table and left the office.

……

In the special custody room, Baijiu opened his eyes.

He asked the cat messenger he had summoned temporarily to disappear to a secluded place and took the vision of one of his eyes away from it.

After doing all this, he clenched his fists tightly on his knees.

Because of the huge hatred and unwillingness, his knuckles turned white from the exertion, a fishy smell kept rising from his stomach, almost making him vomit, and his throat was burning and painful.

The player with the ID [Jealous] stared at the system pop-up window in front of him.

Displayed above were the game rules that he had read when he first entered the game, and he focused on two of them.

He knew... no, all players with a bit of brains knew how difficult this game was.

【The game is considered complete only when all tasks are completed. 】

Players are divided into three camps, but tasks are settled together.

In other words, the red player has to be careful of the black player, and the black player has to be careful of the red player. If the red player wants to protect something, the black player cannot kill the other player; if the black player wants to destroy something, the red player cannot stop him.

——Players from opposing camps must communicate and cooperate to achieve final victory.

[Skills can be exchanged between teammates, and exchanging skills will not affect the power of the skills; tasks can be transferred between teammates or allies, and the transfer will cost skills (the effect is reduced by half) as a reward. 】

This game is unfair.

Players start from different starting points, and their identities and skills are completely random. Some skills are very powerful, while others are so weak that they are dispensable.

Players who get weak skills will be dissatisfied and want to get more powerful skills; and those with strong skills will not be content either, and they may want to get more abilities.

——Players in the same camp will have huge conflicts due to their own jealousy and greed.

Bai Jiu looked at the system rules, hatred surging in his heart.

Furiya Rei killed his girlfriend to protect himself, Hojo Toika's novel instigated his girlfriend to volunteer to be the bait (he said why she was so bold all of a sudden!), and she also wrote him as a low-level cannon fodder to serve as a foil to the five people. The doubts and contempt of others towards him... everything made his heart more twisted.

He already regretted it.

He regretted why he didn't make up his mind earlier. If he had caught Greed earlier and exchanged her skills, he wouldn't be trapped here now.

Just because he and she were from the same hometown in real life, and because she did not change her nationality in the game - she was an undercover agent from that vast and nearby land... he felt guilty and softened his heart.

However, it's useless to say all this now. Greed has blocked him since that day, and neither he nor Yuanxiang can find her.

Bai Jiu's clenched hands gradually loosened, beads of sweat appeared on his nose, and he carefully clicked on the group chat function.

He sent a flattering message to one of the people he hated most in the world, and the only person who could save him at the moment.

He has to get out of here first.

——No matter what you want to do, you must be released from this damn place first.

[Jealous: Yuanxiang, I have been suspended for investigation. ]

[Jealous: Matsuda will die in the line of duty next month. You have to help me. If I keep him locked up, I won’t be able to save him…]

The willpower value appeared silently before his eyes.

It was 80 a few weeks ago, but now it is 51.

----

Hojo Toika did not reply to Baijiu for the time being, as she was arguing with her teammates.

She was almost pissed off by the other party.

[Gluttony: I really admire your speed of reaction. This news was published several months ago, and you just saw it now? ]

[Arrogant: I don’t pay attention to real news! ]

[Bulimicking: Then you are lucky, which proves that your family, friends or neighbors were not affected by the drug case and did not develop that kind of drug addiction... or if they were affected, you didn't care at all? ]

There is a report on Hojo Toika's computer interface.

——Subtitle: If an undercover agent is forced to kill innocent people for the sake of his mission, should he be brought to justice?

[Arrogant: What do you mean you can understand? He did such a terrible thing, why can you still understand him? How did your worldview become so twisted?! ]

Hojo Tobika was extremely angry, but at the same time she was a little worried about Rei and Kagemitsu.

The undercover life is painful enough, and she has to be upset by these scum who take revenge on undercover agents... The more she thought about it, the more she felt sorry for them.

[Gluttony: In fact, I not only understand that scientist, I can also understand those undercover agents who kill innocent people for their mission. ]

[Gluttony: They are fundamentally different from those real murderers. They are heroes who live in darkness and bear filth.]

Hojo Touka's brows relaxed slightly.

But then, she saw the next sentence from this teammate.

【Gluttony: I understand and accept how many strangers they kill, and I hope they are acquitted and return to the sunshine in peace. However, if they hurt my relatives and friends, I just hope they pay with their lives.】

[Arrogant: You have double standards! They have suffered enough. We can live in the sunshine because of these people's burdens! Why don't you forgive them? ]

【Gluttony: Who said I don’t forgive? Didn’t you see the first half of my sentence? They killed strangers, I definitely don’t blame them.】

[Gluttony: Don’t call me hypocritical. What if an undercover agent kills your whole family one day? Will you choose to forgive them? ]

Chapter 107: The aftermath of the case and another unexpected event

Kotomine's house in 5-chome, Beika-cho.

This family enjoys a very good reputation among the neighbors.

Mr. Kotomine is steady and generous, never quarrels with anyone and works diligently; Mrs. Kotomine is gentle and considerate, often helping her neighbors and sharing the delicious food she learned from her hometown; under the guidance of this loving couple, the two children have never caused trouble since they were young.

They were a very harmonious, happy family, envied by everyone around them - that was how it used to be.

Now this two-story single-family house is silent, shrouded in a suffocating atmosphere, without any laughter or joy to be heard.

Mr. Kotomine saw off the relatives who came to visit him and dragged his tired steps to the bedroom to check on his wife.

Mrs. Kotomine was able to sit up today. She was holding a photo of her family of four, looking at her red-haired daughter with a sweet smile. Seeing the smiles on her family's faces, she couldn't stop crying.

"Have something to eat."

Mr. Kotomine put down his lunch and tried to pick up the coat next to him, but when he turned around, he saw the massage pillow that his daughter had bought for him out of love.

There were some moisture in the corners of his eyes, but he didn't cry. He only cried on the day he saw his daughter's body. At other times, he had been trying his best to be the pillar of support for his wife and daughter.

"Joanna..."

Mrs. Kotomine looked up with tears in her eyes, and asked with concern for her other daughter: "How is she? Did she eat anything today?"

"I had a piece of bread in the morning." Mr. Kotomine said, putting his coat on his frail wife's shoulders: "You eat first, I'll go upstairs to see her."

Their room was on the first floor, and their two daughters' rooms were on the second floor. Mr. Kotomine carried another lunch, walked up the silent stairs, and knocked on the door of one of the bedrooms.