"I travel far and wide, my journey is long and my journey is long..."

Kindaichi hummed a song and walked into the courtyard in front of the laboratory building of a pharmaceutical company with his head held high.

Is it easy?! The last part-time job was supposed to be something I didn't have to do at all. I just had to stay at the designated experimental base for three days and two nights to earn 20,000 yen. But that overseas-educated detective ruined it all!

Although Mr. Itsuki, who was introducing the job, was vague and Uncle Kenmochi kept changing the subject, everyone knew what was going on!

When Kindaichi recalled that despicable detective saying something sarcastic like "luck can't save you from bad luck, and spending money can't change your fate," he knew that it must be because he didn't want him to get a powerful card in a ten-pull and reach the top of the game, so he was interfering!

Damn it, that guy!

But what could possibly stump Hajime-chan, who inherited the brilliant mind of the famous detective Kindaichi Kosuke?

Isn't this another new opportunity?

It is said that Professor Ma Jiangtian, who wanted to carry out the experimental project last time but it was ruined, recommended that all the volunteers who signed up to participate in the experiment, except for those college students who were inexplicably taken away by the police, receive an invitation.

This job involves working as an assistant in the laboratory of some pharmaceutical company.

Kindaichi couldn't remember the specific company name, but because he went in and out of the laboratory building every day, he had a very deep impression of the sign at the entrance.

White Dove Drug Laboratory.

"This name is so strange!" Kindaichi complained to Miyuki, who was also there as an assistant, when he first arrived.

"Hajime-chan, can't you be a little more composed?!" In front of outsiders, Miyuki, as usual, took on the role of her childhood friend's etiquette correction machine. "Look at everyone else, they're all so proper, only you're looking around like this, you're so unruly!"

There were five people who came to serve as experimental assistants, and they all looked to be high school students, around 17 or 18 years old.

Besides Miyuki, there were two other girls, who were said to be seniors in high school.

A girl with black hair tied in two small buns, who looks a bit like an anime character, is named Shikiriko.

The other one had short, brown hair that reached her ears. She had a very delicate appearance, but she exuded a cold arrogance that kept people at a distance.

When introducing herself, she simply uttered "Shiho Miyano" and then fell silent.

There was also a high school sophomore boy with light-colored hair, a tall and slender build, and a plain face. His name was Siyueqisheng.

Kindaichi had tried to strike up a conversation with him, but found that he knew nothing about the new mobile games and they had nothing in common, so he had to give up.

Then all three of them were categorized as boring people.

The project was also led by a professor from Xidong Medical University, surnamed Shenshan, whose research area is said to be biopharmaceuticals.

"You're not going to make us try some kind of drug, are you?" Kindaichi asked directly after hearing the professor's self-introduction.

"Hajime-chan!" Miyuki couldn't stop him and could only stomp her foot in annoyance.

Miyuki was extremely worried about her childhood friend's complete lack of social etiquette.

Professor Fukayama smiled tolerantly.

"Of course not. Human trials of drugs require special permission; otherwise, they are illegal experiments."

"Currently, this project has only progressed to animal experiments. Because the amount of data is very large, we have to recruit some volunteers to help the laboratory raise these animals and record daily data."

"The specific tasks will be explained to everyone by my two assistants. They will also manage everyone's daily life."

After saying these words, Professor Shenshan turned around and walked away decisively.

While everyone looked on in confusion, they also saw two men walking out of the laboratory building behind them.

They were two men dressed in black suits, top hats, and sunglasses, looking like gangsters.

Only upon close inspection can one discern that he is not very old, likely in his early twenties.

"Excuse me..." After a long silence, Miyuki finally spoke cautiously, "Are you... Professor Fukayama's assistants? Are you graduate students?"

"Huh?... Ah, yes, that's right! We are graduate students, students of... Professor Fukayama."

A man in black nodded.

“My surname is Narita, and he… he is my… classmate. Yes, his surname is Nishimura.”

The other man in black had a cold expression and didn't say a word, only nodding stiffly when his companion introduced him.

"Graduate students..." Hajime-chan, who couldn't stop talking, couldn't help but mutter again, "You two don't look like graduate students at all. Dressed in all black, I thought you were from some kind of mafia..."

Before she could finish speaking, Miyuki, who could no longer bear it, grabbed her ear.

“Oh, you mean this outfit?” Narita, who seemed like a talkative person, looked down at himself and explained, “This is… um, work clothes, yes, the kind that doesn’t get dirty, and the sunglasses too…”

"Do you have to watch the sun for your work?"

A cold, sarcastic remark actually came from the mouth of the girl next to him, Shiho Miyano.

Kindaichi, whose ear was being pulled, couldn't help but laugh, while Narita looked somewhat embarrassed.

Shiho Miyano, on the other hand, remained calm and unmoved.

"Yes, sometimes we need to heat chemical reagents, so these sunglasses... are for protection against explosions..." Narita chuckled dryly twice.

But after seeing Shiho Miyano's "you must be an idiot" expression, she had no choice but to shut up.

"Follow me."

Nishimura, who had been silent all along, coldly uttered this sentence and turned to walk towards the back of the laboratory building.

Although the two people in front of them were dressed and spoke in a slightly incongruous manner, the high school students exchanged glances and decided to wait and see what happened.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!