Chapter 372

It has to be said that Usakabe Saiki's appearance successfully left a deep impression. If he were to go for an interview, the interviewer would definitely think of him last thing before going to sleep.

When it comes to a person, first impressions always play a major role.

Even someone like Yusaku Kudo, who habitually forces himself to use rational observation to summarize information instead of his instincts, couldn't help but retain the impression that he "likes to joke, has an unusual aesthetic sense, a cheerful and lively personality, and is very carefree."

After all, there's a saying that goes, "People who smile often are always lucky"—if you're under a lot of pressure, you can't smile at all. Here, "smile" refers to a genuine, heartfelt smile.

Judging from Usoba Saiki's radiant smile, his habit of joking with those around him, and the fact that even such a trivial joke could make him happy for half a day, it's clear that he must lead a very relaxed and joyful life and be good at finding pleasure in everyday things...

If you were in an illegal organization, or knew that you were being targeted by a strange organization, you would not usually have such a carefree and lighthearted demeanor.

Under high pressure, people are so easily bored that they wouldn't even feel anything watching such trivial entertainments, let alone do them themselves. Their threshold for such entertainment has long since become different from that of ordinary people.

This kind of difference is impossible to fake. It's not a matter of acting skills, but that the thought processes are completely different. If you ask Yukiko Kudo, a former Best Actress winner, to play a carefree college student who likes to joke, she wouldn't be able to think of suddenly running around wringing out the height of a passerby. The adult world can't tolerate too many interesting but useless things, let alone people in an organization!

Having been subtly influenced by his son and wife's belief that the other party wasn't a bad person for so long, Kudo Yusaku has now subconsciously relaxed a lot. He gave Usui Saiki a helpless smile, the kind you give to a playful junior: "You're always like this... isn't that a bit much?"

It's not that I'm causing trouble for others, it's just that I'm worried about getting beaten up.

After all, some men have very fragile egos, and once their defenses are breached, they can become very aggressive...

Usaku Saiki understood Kudo Yusaku's unspoken message: "Don't worry! Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm actually quite good at fighting! If I can't beat someone, I'll just run away!"

Yusaku Kudo: "..."

You sound quite experienced. Just how many people's height have you squeezed out of them?

Such a childish joke has been played more than once... Only young people are this bored.

Thinking back to his younger days, he used to laugh heartily at silly jokes with his classmates and friends... Sigh, he can't go back to that mindset.

But to be honest, he can fight...

Kudo Yusaku struggled to pull his gaze back from Usui Saiki's ear, and took a good look at the other person's figure.

Hmm... He's wearing several layers of clothes in a mess, so you can't really see his muscles, but given his height, he should definitely have an advantage when fighting someone shorter than him.

The attention-grabbing prop is less effective with people you know well, and it works best with people you meet for the first time. It also has a limited range of effectiveness. Compared to Yusaku Kudo, Yukiko Kudo was much calmer.

Yukiko Kudo remarked, "I didn't realize you were such a good fighter."

"I even practiced shooting, but unfortunately it wasn't of any use when I went to Japan..."

Yukiko Kudo understood: "Indeed, the regulations in this area are more lenient overseas."

Yusaku Kudo asked, "Which country were you in before?"

“Well, I guess I have more ties to the United States,” Usakata Saiki pondered. “There’s no need to talk about the rest… After my family members all passed away, I returned to Japan.”

That was a bit of an artsy way of putting it, but Yusaku Kudo himself was an artist, so he wasn't unfamiliar with this kind of embellishment. His brain automatically translated it to reflect his long-term residence in the United States: "That's right, you and Sharon met in the United States, right?"

Usoppei sighed, "Sigh... I don't want to talk about Sharon right now, she really is... I came to England with Chris this time."

Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo were immediately drawn to this information.

Yusaku Kudo did consider whether Saiki Usaba didn't want to talk about his time in America and was deliberately bringing up Chris Vineyard to divert their attention, but then he thought it was unnecessary.

If Usakabe Saiki were truly a member of the organization and had a past that was shameful, he would have already developed a perfect false identity, and wouldn't need such a crude way of changing the subject.

That most likely means they genuinely didn't want to mention Sharon and were reminded of Chris.

It just so happens that because they know that Chris = Sharon = Vermouth, they are willing to stop bringing up the topic of America in order to learn more about Chris.

The Kudo couple knew that their son was about to go to England. At that time, Vermouth also happened to come to England. Although they felt that she was not there for their son, they were still a little worried.

"Did you come to England with Chris? I didn't hear that she was coming to England to film any movies?" Yukiko Kudo began to probe for information.

Usakabe Saiki waved his hand: "She's not here to film a movie, she's probably here to visit a friend, I think her name is Mary."

Mary is such a common name, and it's unclear whether it's a nickname or her given name, making it impossible to investigate. So Yukiko Kudo had no choice but to continue asking, "Aren't you coming along?"

"No, I'm here for tourism." Usakabe Saiki said matter-of-factly. "I'm just hitching a ride on Chris's plane. I'm planning to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street later and take some photos of Shinichi. He'll definitely be envious that I can come... but what can I do when he doesn't have a passport right now?"

As they talked, their gloating couldn't be hidden anymore.

Although Yukiko Kudo told Saiki Usaba that Ran was coming, she didn't mention Shinichi Kudo, because she knew she couldn't tell anyone that Ai Haibara had developed a temporary antidote.

Seeing Usui Saiki's carefree attitude, Kudo Yukiko felt a little uneasy.

Yusaku Kudo coughed: "Usui-kun... doesn't seem worried about Shinichi at all."

Usaku blinked, instantly seeing through Kudo Yusaku's unspoken message.

The elderly father was somewhat displeased that his son was so unlucky while he was gloating over his misfortune, but considering there might be a misunderstanding, he gave him a chance to explain.

"Feel sorry."

Usakabe Saiki apologized readily. If Vodka saw this, he would probably glare so hard he'd jump off a building to try and wake himself up from his dream.

"Although I understand he might be in danger, he seems to be solving the case with great enthusiasm. Apart from being younger, he seems perfectly fine, so it's hard for me to have any worries... To be honest, I'm a little envious. Not everyone gets the chance to live again." Usakabe Saiki said sincerely. "He doesn't seem worried at all. He was almost discovered several times, but he didn't seem to care. Especially Mr. Mori, who didn't seem to realize what was happening, which I don't quite understand... It's like he's some kind of manga protagonist... Speaking of which, how exactly did he shrink? Did he encounter aliens? Was he bitten by a mutated spider?"

Mr. and Mrs. Kudo: "…………"

Oh, this.

Suddenly I understood why Usui Saiki had seemed so nonchalant. He didn't know that Shinichi had almost been killed by a terrifying and dangerous organization before becoming Conan; instead, he thought it would be as interesting and exciting as the manga...

This thought process is so anime-like.

But looking at Usakabe Saiki's attire, it's not surprising at all. It seems perfectly normal for him to say such things and think in this direction.

They had too high expectations of Usakabe Saiki, thinking that a smart person would be able to figure out the terrible things behind it... but he didn't even think about the case, his mind was full of manga plots, he had been thoroughly immersed in the world of anime and manga.

The Kudo couple exchanged a glance, both hesitating whether to tell Usui Saiki about the organization.

Shattering the fantasies of a delusional teenager is inexplicably stressful.

Because Yusaku Kudo's attention was always easily distracted, Yukiko Kudo took the initiative to explain the situation—coincidentally, the couple who were supposed to be sitting in this corner had left, and there was no one else around, so it was very safe.

Yukiko Kudo didn't go into too much detail, but she gave a general overview of Conan Edogawa's current situation, saying that he was being targeted by an organization that was very dangerous, without mentioning anything else.

After all, to them, Usuiba Saiki was an outsider like Hattori Heiji, or even worse, as he was also being watched by the organization. It would be best for Usuiba Saiki to get involved in these matters as little as possible, lest the organization members who had contact with him discover something was amiss.

Usakabe Saiki nodded repeatedly, sighing, "This world is really not peaceful... I didn't know Shinichi actually encountered something like this. I saw him investigating the scene so casually, acting like nothing happened. His acting was terrible. I thought he had some kind of magical encounter..."

The blame instantly fell on Shinichi Kudo himself, while Saiki Usaba, who hadn't really taken it seriously, was suddenly absolved of responsibility.

The system couldn't hold back any longer: [Your acting was pretty good, wasn't it...?]

Does it still remember when Usui Saiki said his acting was terrible?!

"Seven years have passed. Even the worst acting skills should have improved by now, right?" Usui Saiki casually offered an explanation. "If we're going to follow the character's persona, 'I' really shouldn't know that the organization Shinichi encountered is the Black Organization... 'I' don't even know what kind of drug the organization is researching. Even if the Kudo couple comes to their senses later, I'll still be completely innocent."

System: [Fine, nobody's more innocent than you.]

During this afternoon tea, the Kudo couple obtained information that Vermouth had come to England to find a person named Mary, while Usui Saiki obtained information that was not very useful, but supplemented his character's perspective on "a legendary black organization".

"You've lost out," the system stated definitively, "You wasted an entire afternoon."

"Who said that? The pastries here are quite delicious; they're French pastries," said Saiki Usaba. "And the Kudo couple gave me a very suitable reason."

System: [...? What's the reason?]

Usakabe Saiki didn't reply. He just leisurely went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, took some photos, sent them to Edogawa Conan, and whiled away the rest of the time before returning to the hotel that evening.

Vermouth is back too.

Akai Tsutomu definitely knows the code given by Akai Mary, but Vermouth doesn't. They can only investigate one by one based on guesswork. Today they have made some progress, and they will be able to confirm it in two more days.

However, Vermouth was more concerned about Usui Saiki than Akai Mary—she wanted to know if Kudo Yukiko, that carefree girl, had said something she shouldn't have to Usui Saiki, a member of the organization, again.

"You went to see Yukiko and Yusaku today?" Vermouth tore off her disguise, sat on the sofa, let out a long sigh, and casually asked, pretending to be nonchalant, "What did you talk about?"

Bo Yezhai hesitated for a few seconds.

It was rare for him to show such a serious expression, which made Vermouth tense up as well.

"Well..." Usui Saiki said slowly, "Do you still remember Shinichi?"

Vermouth's fingers curled up: "I remember, what's wrong?"

"Yukiko said that he was attacked by members of a mysterious illegal organization and has now turned into a child."

Usui sighed, "Although Yukiko told me not to tell anyone, I don't think telling you is being a stranger..."

Vermouth: "...Why am I not an outsider?"

—Has Usakabe Saiki already known that the organization that caused Shinichi to become like this is actually their organization?

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I'm home! After a bumpy and wandering journey of more than half a month, I'll update again after a couple of days of rest.

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Yusaku Kudo's impression of Usuha: Avant-garde aesthetics, quirky tastes, usually carefree, intelligent but with a very anime-like way of thinking.

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Bo Ye gloated, but the blame ultimately fell on Conan himself; it was his own fault for acting so arrogantly and without taking things seriously.

Mr. and Mrs. Kudo: You're right

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Thin Leaf: Has a strong connection with the United States

Yusaku Kudo's understanding: America

In reality: the Middle East

...Just tell me if it's the truth!