Chapter 375

Mary Akai, wearing slightly oversized new clothes, knocked on the door.

The person who opened the door was her daughter, Sera Masumi. She looked anxious as soon as she opened the door, probably because she had been waiting for her.

Thinking it was Akai Mary finally returning, Sera Masumi was instead greeted by a familiar-looking little girl carrying shopping bags. She asked, confused, "Who is it?"

Mary Akai coughed twice helplessly: "It's me, I'm your mother Mary. I was drugged by those people and turned into this."

Sera Masumi was shocked, but upon closer inspection, she did indeed look like her mother who had shrunk, and her tone of voice was very familiar. No ordinary person could make up such a lie... So she believed her and quickly let Akai Mary into the house.

"How could this happen... Your hair is all wet, did you fall into the river? You should come back right away, why did you go shopping for clothes..."

Sera Masumi muttered to herself, torn between letting her mother take a hot shower first or just grabbing a towel and a hairdryer to get things sorted out, mainly wanting her mother to explain the current situation.

Mary Akai calmly explained, "The clothes were a gift from someone."

Sera Masumi: "...??? Mom, did you encounter a pervert?"

Who would suddenly grab a disheveled little girl on the street and offer to give her clothes?

"...No, he was just a rather strange person whom I happened to run into when I climbed out of the river."

Mary Akai frowned. Although she felt it was a bit of a coincidence, she didn't have too many doubts.

On the one hand, according to the blonde woman from the organization, giving her the drug was meant to kill her, and they probably didn't expect it to have such a rejuvenating effect—if they really had such a drug, they would keep it for themselves, how could they give it to an outsider?

On the other hand... the people in the organization didn't know where she would land. What if she landed early? Wouldn't they have waited for nothing? Besides, the person didn't follow her or report her or anything. Instead, he just put down the shopping bag he was carrying and left.

He said that if she wanted to change the things, she could leave them there, and he would consider it as him doing a good deed.

Mary Akai still had some doubts at the time, but considering that walking on the street all wet would be too conspicuous and might attract attention, she thought it would be good to change her clothes, so she checked the shopping bag.

Inside, there was a set of clothes that were slightly too big for her, and another set for a younger child. No tracking devices or anything like that were found, but a receipt was found, indicating that the purchase was made two days ago.

...Maybe I really did buy it early on as a gift, but then I ran into her and she got it for free.

Everything seemed to be a coincidence, but it didn't seem to be related to the organization. So, although Akai Mary was a little suspicious, she accepted the help and, just in case, took her clothes that she had changed out of with her in a shopping bag.

Silver hair and green eyes... if it's related to the organization... she knows one Gin, and another...

Her eldest son, Shuichi Akai, once asked her if she knew a silver-haired, green-eyed man named Saiki Usaba, and because there was no photograph, he could only describe him verbally.

...Although according to the eldest son's side, that Usakusaiki didn't seem to be particularly aligned with the organization, and was very clever and good at manipulating people, it was still too much of a coincidence that she met him and he even helped her.

Moreover, compared to the flamboyant and somewhat eccentric style described, the silver-haired youth she had just met was dressed in a black trench coat with a very formal shirt underneath. He seemed quite composed, just an ordinary, somewhat good-looking young man.

If she's really going to scheme to this extent, there's no point in hiding. Since no one's come after her yet, it's fine to ignore it for now.

Mary Akai's doubts swayed for a moment before tilting toward trust.

Putting aside the shrinking issue for now, let's talk about what to do next...

Just then, a keyword that was likely to trigger a strong reaction in the British suddenly appeared on the television.

"I will help you! Because I am Holmes' apprentice!"

Mary Akai and Masumi Sera turned their heads at the same time, their expressions showing shock as they both had excellent memories.

"Wait, this child is..."

Sera Masumi chimed in, "He looks exactly like that child we met at the beach before!"

Because it was the first time she had met her older brother, Shuichi Akai, she had a deep impression of those days. Besides, that child was someone who could make her seemingly serious older brother laugh!

Mary Akai even remembered the other person's name: "He said his name was Shinichi Kudo, right? Let's look it up!"

Soon, her friend from MI6 sent her the investigation materials.

Two pieces of information are particularly important: one is that the name "Shinichi Kudo" is indeed on the passenger list of the plane to London, and the other is that Shinichi Kudo has no siblings. The child on TV who looks exactly like Shinichi Kudo but is not Shinichi Kudo's younger brother seems very strange now that Mary Akai has also become a child.

"Maybe he also took that medicine and shrunk, but he has a way to temporarily turn back into an adult."

Mary Akai immediately made a decision: "We'll go to Japan too, find a way to get close to him, and figure out what's going on with him...etc."

At this point, Mary Akai suddenly realized something and turned to rummage through the shopping bags she had brought back.

"What's wrong?" Sera Masumi asked, puzzled. "Anyway, you can't wear it anymore, and I haven't washed it yet."

Mary Akai pulled out her soaking wet clothes and threw them aside: "That's not the problem... it's this one!"

There were two sets of clothes in the shopping bag. One set was suitable for a junior high school student. It was a little big on her, but since it wasn't bought for her, this degree of looseness was completely understandable.

But she took out the other set and glanced at it, then put it back because she felt she couldn't fit into it. After realizing that Shinichi Kudo had probably shrunk as well, she felt inexplicably uneasy. Now that she suddenly remembered the reason, she quickly came to check.

Soon, Mary Akai picked up the remaining T-shirt and shorts, frowning as she examined them.

Sera Masumi couldn't understand what she was struggling with, so she simply commented, "You can't fit into this outfit. It's more suitable for a first-grader."

“…Yes, first grade of elementary school,” Mary Akai said slowly. “It’s just what that kid on TV was wearing.”

Sera Masumi was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "Mom, you're overthinking it. How could you possibly meet just anyone and predict that you'll turn into a middle school student, and then happen to buy clothes for you and Shinichi Kudo, who's turned into an elementary school student?"

Hearing this, even Mary Akai herself found it absurd.

But the inexplicable unease in her heart prevented her from smiling: "This T-shirt even has a silhouette of Sherlock Holmes printed on it."

Thinking about the words "I am Sherlock Holmes' apprentice" on TV and Shinichi Kudo's childhood admiration for Sherlock Holmes, Sera Masumi's smile faded slightly: "Uh... but this is London, Sherlock Holmes' hometown. It would be abnormal to come to London for tourism and not buy some Sherlock Holmes souvenirs, wouldn't it?"

Mary Akai knew that Sera Masumi was right, but the coincidences were too many, making it truly agonizing.

In particular, her eldest son, Shuichi Akai, was so wary of that Saiki Usui that she considered it to be PTSD. What if those events weren't just Shuichi Akai overthinking and making things up, but were actually true...

...How could anyone have predicted that she would shrink and happen to land there?

Mary Akai's rationality wavered, and she thought sadly that if her eldest son were still alive, she could make a phone call to ask him about it. After all, among the people she knew, only her eldest son had direct contact with that Saiki Usakuba.

As for the MI6 mole sent to the organization, after hearing MI6's warning that he was being targeted by Potness, he ran away immediately and didn't even get a chance to see Usakata Saiki. Asking him was pointless.

Unfortunately, the FBI had already sent word of her death, and she was never able to get through to her eldest son on the phone again…

In the end, Mary Akai still felt that "it's not that serious, really not that serious," but she also felt that "what if," so she asked Sera Masumi to pack up the clothes and take them with her to Japan.

Meanwhile, Usaku Saiki had already met up with Ran Mouri and the others and were having dinner together.

System: [You just turned on "Universal Navigation" and delivered a piece of clothing, and Akai Mary keeps giving you suspicion points... Secret agents are definitely better; they're paranoid.]

Usakabe Saiki commented: [Detectives exist too, but unfortunately Conan has lost that wonderful quality.]

He was wearing a black trench coat, and Conan Edogawa didn't give him a single hint of suspicion today, which left Saiki Usaku speechless.

System: [It's all because you kept pushing Conan Edogawa's suspicion level up, you got him numb. Reflect on that.]

Usoba Saiki refused to reflect: "After several failed suspicions, he stopped suspecting anything altogether. What kind of detective is that! Completely unprofessional! It's clearly his fault, not mine!"

System: [...It was my fault. I actually wanted you to reflect on your actions.]

"You should have reflected on this." Usui sighed. "If you were a 'fright points' system, I probably would have already posted it... I really wanted to introduce myself to Akai Mary just now, 'I'm Akai Shuichi,' but unfortunately, if I had said it, I wouldn't have earned any 'suspicion points.'"

That would definitively confirm that it was Potness from the organization. He's still on British soil, so it's best to keep a low profile.

The system chuckled: "What a pity, I can only let you increase your suspicion level. But if you want something different, you can look forward to the undercover system returning from maintenance."

Bo Yezhai raised an eyebrow: [What, the undercover system is back from maintenance, and I can switch systems?]

Well... generally speaking, that won't work.

After all, it's not easy to find a contractor who can give you a share of the profits, and most systems are unwilling to give it to other colleagues, plus they have to consider things like compatibility...

...But the skepticism system is willing to give up Usui Saiki to any colleague!!!

Seven years have passed, and Bo Yezhaiji is as stingy as a miser! Asking him to exchange anything is like asking for his life! Whoever wants it can take it; he doesn't want it anymore.

Bo Yezhai asked thoughtfully: "Generally speaking, it's not allowed, but does that mean it's allowed in certain situations?"

The doubt system paused for a moment: [If it's you, then it should be possible.]

Because this is something the undercover system owes it! What kind of garbage did the undercover system pick up and then throw at it!

Conan Edogawa suddenly shuddered, looked up in confusion at Usaku Saiki, who was inexplicably laughing.

Bo Ye is really carefree. I don't know what makes him laugh so happily. People like him are actually very easy to infect people around him. They are happy together and he is a really nice person to be around.

—If Brother Bo Ye could stop having such a perverse sense of humor, especially if he stopped pretending to be someone from the organization and scaring him, he would be a better person.

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Mary from before: My eldest son might have a bit of PTSD from Potts.

Mary now: She starts to become suspicious at the sight of anyone with silver hair and green eyes.

.

Conan: Usopp-san, stop pretending to be part of the organization! Nobody will believe you!