Conan: I am really a good person

Chapter 396 Earthbound Spirit

Garden?

Suzuki Sonoko?

After a little thought, Shuichi Akai realized who Conan was referring to when he exclaimed. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the surveillance screen again.

After being swallowed by a layer of lens, the surveillance is actually very distorted compared to the real person. Even so, the blonde woman on the screen is stunningly beautiful. Her appearance is actually quite gorgeous, but her cat-like eyes and lively and cheerful expression abruptly reverse this mature beauty, making her as cute as a red panda innocently stretching out its hand to ask for an apple, and particularly dazzling.

This is also the reason why Shuichi Akai was the first to target this guest. He didn't have much contact with Vermouth, but every time he did, this member of the organization would disguise herself as a gorgeous and beautiful beauty.

Maybe I am trying to emphasize to someone in a reserved but attentive way that I am a human being, a real human being, and I hope you don’t try to treat me like a toy…

But, like Suzuki Sonoko?

Thanks to the fact that he had "held out for a month in the hands of Ichijo Mirai without suffering any persecution", Shuichi Akai was very serious when he first came into contact with Conan. He not only investigated Conan carefully, but also investigated other people. Naturally, he knew clearly what the lively and lovely Miss Suzuki looked like. It cannot be said that she is exactly the same as this foreign guest, but it can only be said that she has nothing to do with him.

But after looking at them again and again, he vaguely understood: probably because they are all cute.

……Bar?

It would be difficult for someone who had not actually spent some time with Suzuki Sonoko to immediately understand the aura that overflowed from her eyebrows and expressions. Fortunately, before Akai Shuichi had thought for long, Conan took the initiative to explain: "Uh, have you found someone who looks like Vermouth, Mr. Akai? I think it will be the blonde woman who seems to be traveling with Grandpa."

He lowered his voice a little more, "She gives me a feeling that is very similar to Sonoko... maybe she knows that Mr. Future likes Sonoko..."

When he said this, he felt quite frightened: Belmode knew that Ichijo Mirai liked Suzuki Sonoko, what did this mean? It meant that she knew Ichijo Mirai's recent whereabouts very well, even if she was not 100% clear, she probably knew about 80% of it.

What does it mean that the expression and temperament of Suzuki Sonoko are imitated so lifelike?
This means that even if she has not seen Suzuki Sonoko in person, she must have seen a lot of photos and videos, and Suzuki Sonoko spends more than ten hours a day with Mouri Ran.

"She might be threatening Mr. Future," Conan said again, "'I've been watching you', that's what she meant. She was using Sonoko to silently warn Mr. Future to think carefully about whether to betray the organization, threatening 'Once you betray the organization, I will get rid of your girlfriend as well'."

Is that right?

Akai Shuichi's eyes were still on the blonde on the surveillance screen. He narrowed his eyes when he heard that. After two seconds, three seconds, and four seconds, he finally reacted, "...girlfriend?"

what?
Did some words just appear that have absolutely nothing to do with the future?
"Yes, my girlfriend, what's wrong?" Conan naturally gave a positive answer, raised his head and gave an urgent warning, "That woman walked towards Mr. Future!"

In the surveillance video, the blonde girl calmly turned around to get her luggage after settling the old man. She hurriedly passed by the crowds of people, ignoring the eyes of the people who looked at her with bright eyes. But soon, her steps stopped for a moment, and her light green eyes curved happily, "Hi."

She reached out her hand and said hello to the future. "Wow, are you from Japan? Are you from here? I'm so sorry, my grandfather and I are stuck at the airport. We don't know much about this place. Can I ask for your help?"

"please."

The camera was aimed at the blonde's front, so her mouth movements and expression were clearly displayed on the screen.

This is obviously a playful blonde sweetheart, and she is also an unsuspecting sweetheart who will boldly strike up a conversation when she sees someone who suits her taste.

There was only one back view of the future on the surveillance camera. Shuichi Akai could only see his back as he slowly raised his head, but could not see what his expression was now or what he replied.

But even if he saw it, he probably wouldn't be able to process the information immediately, and was still surprised: "Little girlfriend"? !

...It doesn't mean that humans can't fall in love, it's just...

It's just that a future is obviously not a thing?
To give him a little praise, it would be: Yitiao Future is really something.

Can this kind of thing fall in love with humans?
Did the victim, Suzuki Sonoko, know that she was in an interspecies relationship?

While asking himself and respecting Suzuki Sonoko, the brave man who dared to become the girlfriend of the evil dragon, Shuichi Akai caught a slight change outside the confrontation scene on the surveillance camera: Gin.

Gin, who was sitting behind Future, slowly raised his head. He took a deep breath, raised the brim of his hat which had been pulled down all the time, took another deep breath, and then slowly turned his head to look at the smiling Vermouth.

Vermouth noticed it, winked at Gin playfully, then looked at Mirai with an apologetic look, "Oh my God, did that embarrass you? I'm so sorry!"

Gin looked at her steadily.

More than ten seconds later, he turned his head back. When his face was monitored again, he lowered his head again and returned to his previous state of quietly reducing his presence.

But this time, he raised his hand and tapped his forehead, shoulders and other parts in turn.

This is a prayer gesture that can be used in various situations and can also represent mourning for the dead.

"..." Akai Shuichi confirmed, "That woman is Vermouth."

Conan couldn't see Gin from his perspective. He was concentrating on observing Vermouth, trying to add some evidence to his guess. He immediately perked up after hearing this, "What's wrong? It's confirmed? Why?"

Nothing but familiarity.

As a victim of the same future, others might not understand what Gin meant, but Shuichi Akai had no difficulty understanding Gin's surprise, as if he had seen a ghost.

To be honest, Gin was actually quite calm.

If Shuichi Akai saw a guy imitating his future girlfriend and provoking her in person, after repeated confirmation, he would immediately get up and sit somewhere else to avoid being affected by the misfortune.

This is something that only victims can understand. Conan, who has been with Mirai Ichijo for a long time but has never become a victim, doesn't understand. Akai Shuichi thought about it and translated it in layman's terms, "They have learned the anti-counterfeiting code."

"Next..."

On the surveillance video, Ichijo Mirai stood up. He and Vermouth turned around together, looking like typical Japanese people who were not very enthusiastic but had to help pick up the luggage after being forced by the blonde sweetheart who couldn't read the air.

As they walked, Vermouth boldly took the arm of her future self.

The camera captured their profile as they walked and talked.

Akai Shuichi: "..."

Intellectually, he knew that Vermouth wanted to communicate organizational secrets with Ichijo Mirai but was afraid of being heard by others, so she pretended to be intimate.

Emotionally, he was in awe again.

If Judy had to choose between 'holding an arm of the future' and 'working overtime 24 hours a day for three days', she would probably choose the latter without blinking an eye. "They've gone to pick up their luggage, and they should be discussing more detailed mission details. Remember to pay more attention to your phone to see if he sends you a message," said Akai Shuichi after a brief silence, "I'll continue to pay attention to them, and you pay attention to the guy who's traveling with Vermouth."

Conan: "Okay."

"Do you think that's the leader?" He hesitated. "I don't think so."

How could the leader of a mysterious organization be an ordinary old man?

"But among the passengers getting off the plane, there doesn't seem to be anyone as eye-catching as Vermouth. Could it be..."

This is the suspicious instinct of a detective. Akai Shuichi also has this instinct, but he knows more and denies it. "No, he must be one of the passengers."

If the special mission was carried out by members of other organizations, Shuichi Akai would be like Conan, unable to be sure whether the leader would be present in person or throw out a piece of meat big enough as bait. He would also waver when there were no suspicious targets, thinking that there were no other members of the organization and the only beneficiary was Vermouth.

But the one who was going to carry out the mission was Future, and he was sure that the leader would come in person.

Because he is not a normal human being, but a successful survivor after taking medicine. Even his blood has the incredible function of promoting recovery, which makes him a special existence in the tissue.

and……

Shuichi Akai's eyes swept across the screen and he reached out to light up his hand, which showed a message forwarded by Conan.

This message is the details of a future mission. The whereabouts of that gentleman is a mystery, and there is a reason why he suddenly appeared in Neon this time: there has been a breakthrough in medicine.

The organization has been researching drugs, and it has been doing so in batches. It has established confidential laboratories all over the world and has been recruiting scientists on a large scale to serve the organization. The progress of these laboratories is not interoperable, and the research directions are different depending on the ideas of the person in charge, but they all have the same ultimate goal of reversing the flow of time.

This time, a laboratory in Tokyo made a breakthrough in the experiment. The person in charge of that laboratory was a nerdy scientist who was not bound by ethics and only cared about results. After the project had been stuck for a long time and made no progress, he finally got anxious and decided to burn his boats. He used the entire laboratory as a bargaining chip to conduct several dangerous experiments.

After the experiment was successful, he immediately contacted the gentleman in ecstasy, reported all the progress, and also showed the different reactions of the experimental subjects after taking the drugs at different stages.

That gentleman was equally ecstatic.

But before they could be happy for long, a bucket of cold water was poured on them: the laboratory had lost contact.

In the final stage of the experiment, it was not enough to use the staff as test subjects, so the person in charge simply took the stage himself and tested the drug on himself. The successful test subject was not him, but a former staff member. So not long after the good news was reported, the person in charge died. The successful test subject had no authority to contact the outside world and could only activate the emergency help device.

But for the sake of confidentiality, the emergency assistance device has a function to destroy confidential information. Even if it is stopped by someone at the first moment, if that gentleman does not have the authority, it will still initiate a second self-destruction that cannot be paused after a period of time.

If the rescuers cannot arrive in time, both the successful experimental subjects and the successful drugs will be lost.

Of course that gentleman showed up urgently.

After all, he was the sneaky and cowardly man who never showed his face. Even in this critical moment, he did not fly to Neon immediately. Instead, he carefully summoned the members of the organization he trusted. He did not even apply for a private jet route, but disguised himself as a tourist and sneaked into an ordinary plane.

Moreover, he would only be in Tokyo for two hours.

Two hours later, the man would leave Tokyo with the drugs, sneak onto the cruise ship disguised as a tourist, and disappear again, only existing in the cell phone.

After these mission details were sent out, Conan believed most of them, but he was still a little skeptical because of what Future said about the organization not trusting him and his detective instinct.

However, Shuichi Akai believed it almost completely.

He actually didn't really believe what Ichijo Mirai said, 'The organization doesn't trust me so they basically don't let me carry out missions.'

Who is Yitiao Future? He is not a thing, but he has a special status. It is normal that the organization does not allow him to carry out dangerous and confidential missions, right?

He was not put in a transparent display case like a fragile item to be protected, and the gentleman was not allowed to carry him with him. This was because he was particularly worthless and the gentleman could not handle it.

It's normal not to give him any tasks, lest he be too reckless and get himself into trouble.

But this is also something that cannot be expressed in words.

Saying "Ichijo Mirai is a twin" is fine, but also saying "Ichijo Mirai is not a normal human being after taking drugs", isn't that asking for revenge to the point of having your blood pressure spike?

Ichijo Mirai just doesn't play Conan, but that doesn't mean he's really kind and generous.

As for "Yi Tiao Future is such a jerk that the organization can't handle it"...

Conan wouldn't believe it.

He is not a victim and will not understand how bad the future is.

This was fully demonstrated in his double standard behavior of saying nothing after he learned about what the "Messiah" did in Tokyo, facing up to the possibility that the future might be "Satan" after discovering it, and ignoring it again after ruling out the possibility that the future might be "Satan".

After thinking for a moment, Akai Shuichi could only say: "He will show up. Wait until everyone has picked up their luggage, and then you can observe him again."

Conan was suspicious.

He keenly noticed that Akai Shuichi seemed too sure and there might be some information he had not reported to him, but after thinking for a moment he did not say anything and just paid more attention.

Soon, he saw the passengers who had collected their luggage.

The plane almost hit the heavy rain and was trapped at the airport. Vermouth's liveliness and cheerfulness was just an exception. The normal passengers were all exhausted, with staring eyes and absent-minded. As long as there was a bed on the ground, they would drop everything and fall asleep.

Passengers with children were particularly disheartened.

However, the person who was most despaired was actually a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man had a square figure and face, and his complexion was pale, but not as pale as the eye patch on his face, nor as pale as the front teeth protruding from between his lips.

He looked a little gray, and his face was very strange, white and gray, like a dead soul that had strayed into the human world, or a confused earthbound ghost who didn't know he was dead.

This earthbound spirit opened his eyes but saw nothing. His expression was blank and his eyes were staring blankly. He walked to an empty seat, sat down, and began to wait for death.

Some are still alive, but already dead.

(End of this chapter)