Chapter 231, Seventy-Third Cycle (61)

When they arrived at the recording studio, while the others were renting rooms, Conan Edogawa quietly tugged at Sera Masumi's sleeve from behind.

Sera Masumi looked down: "?"

Conan Edogawa pulled the girl a little further away before whispering, "Sera-neechan, do you remember what that man who taught you to play bass looked like? Could you describe him in detail?"

“I knew you’d be interested in him.” Sera Masumi grinned, revealing her fangs, and squatted down. “You also think that the sniper rifle was in his bass case, which was still standing upright, right? After all, someone who can work with my FBI agent, Hide, can’t be an ordinary person.”

Conan Edogawa chuckled dryly, not mentioning that the person wasn't an FBI agent, and the other person was indeed a public security police officer, but the one who happened to cross paths with you was a real member of the organization.

Moreover, they were probably carrying out an undercover mission within the organization at the time, and you were lucky to escape unscathed.

Sera Masumi recalled earnestly, "My memory isn't as good as my brother's. It's been a few years, so I don't remember very clearly. But his features were very distinct. He had a very nice voice and was very handsome. He was very fair-skinned and had a pair of gentle, upturned blue eyes. He had stubble, which made him look very calm and mature. His appearance was clearly Asian. 'Scottish' was probably his nickname?"

It was the person who called him Scotland that made Sera Masumi even more puzzled and concerned.

The person's hat was pulled low so she couldn't see their face, but their blond hair and dark skin left a deep impression on her; she always felt they looked a lot like Amuro Tooru.

It really looked like him; her intuition told her it was him. After the train incident, she became even more certain that he and Xiu-ge were related. It was just a pity that all her attempts to probe him went unanswered.

"A very pleasant voice?" Conan Edogawa received another message about Scotland, and his eyes sharpened instantly.

When it comes to pleasant voices, his first thought is to look at Hikaru Midorikawa.

And if that's the case, then Sera Masumi's unusual attention and probing after meeting Midorikawa Hikaru can be explained.

Sera Masumi once said that Midorikawa Hikaru looks a lot like his older brother friend who taught him to play bass.

In other words, Hikaru Midorikawa looks very much like Scotland.

"Does Mr. Midorikawa look a lot like that person?" Conan Edogawa asked eagerly.

Sera Masumi hesitated for a moment, then said helplessly, "Actually, I'm not sure either. I said before that I couldn't remember clearly, but it felt very similar, and the voices sounded similar too. But as for whether they look alike... I haven't even seen Mr. Midorikawa's complete appearance yet."

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Indeed, he hadn't seen the person's face completely either; it was heavily disguised. However, because the person had an eye injury and was suspected of being dangerous, he couldn't just forcefully look at them.

“Compared to Midorikawa Hikaru, I find Amuro Tooru more suspicious,” Sera Masumi continued. “I’m almost certain he’s the blond, dark-skinned man from back then, but I haven’t gotten any response from my probing. What’s going on with him?”

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Sera Masumi's eyes darted around, and she looked at him with a smile: "Conan-kun seems to be very familiar with Mr. Amuro. You must know something, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't trust him so much."

Conan Edogawa turned his head and grinned foolishly: "Because Mr. Amuro lives downstairs from my house, and he was also the first disciple that Uncle Kogoro took in. We just became familiar with each other over time."

Alright, the probing is over. What follows is no longer within her sphere of influence.

This is probably why Mr. Akai didn't tell his sister, so of course he had to help keep it a secret.

Just like he kept it a secret from Xiaolan, he didn't want the person he cared about to be involved in something dangerous that he brought upon himself. Otherwise, if something unexpected happened, it would probably destroy the will that supported him to live.

However, Sera Masumi's situation is a little different. She is a very stubborn and perceptive detective, and she has already stepped into the dangerous world with one foot in her brother's footsteps. She should talk to Mr. Akai about it.

*

Shuichi Akai was still wearing Subaru Okiya's disguise at Shinichi Kudo's house.

He was cooking dinner when Conan Edogawa sent the email.

He was stirring the curry in the pot with a spoon in one hand and opening an email on his phone with the other.

The moment he saw the email, the spoon slammed against the edge of the pot, producing a deafening metallic clang that echoed throughout the kitchen.

Shuichi Akai opened his eyes, his green pupils trembling slightly.

He put down his phone and silently called Conan Edogawa.

Several seconds passed before Conan Edogawa answered the phone, and he spoke very softly.

So Shuichi Akai changed the question: "Where are you now?"

Conan Edogawa told them the location of the recording studio, and then explained that there were too many people and they hadn't rented a room yet, so they had to wait in the lounge for other people to check out before they could go in.

Shuichi Akai took a deep breath: "You just said in the email that the new chef at Iroha Sushi next to Poirot Cafe is named Hikaru Midorikawa?"

Conan Edogawa: "Yeah, what's wrong? Do you know Mr. Akai?"

Akai Shuichi: "..."

It's more than just knowing; it's about understanding.

Shuichi Akai walked around the living room twice and finally figured out the whole story.

Scotland was among the surveillance team that Amuro Tooru was seen with last time.

He was the long-haired man in the hat, the sushi chef that Conan Edogawa mentioned along with the baker.

Scotland had already run to Bourbon's side, not only finding a job next to Bourbon's, but also becoming Bourbon's only junior apprentice under Kogoro Mouri.

That's typical of Scotland; this is exactly the kind of thing he would do.

"Mr. Akai? Is Midorikawa Hikaru Scotland?" Conan Edogawa suddenly asked.

Shuichi Akai's voice remained unchanged: "I don't know. I'll have to see him to know for sure, but I don't recommend that you continue to have contact with him."

Conan Edogawa sighed, "But his glasses and bangs cover his eyes, making it hard to see his face clearly. And if I insist on looking, it will look very unnatural and will definitely arouse suspicion."

Shuichi Akai hummed in response and hung up the phone without saying anything more.

He leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought.

Based on Conan Edogawa's reaction, Rei Furuya definitely did not show any abnormality in front of that child.

Rei Furuya doesn't want to tell Conan Edogawa about Scotland right now. Besides fearing that Scotland might discover Conan's attitude and do something bad, what other reasons could there be?

Otherwise, at least Furuya Rei would have subtly reminded Sera Masumi not to test Midorikawa Hikaru, instead of saying nothing and just watching Edogawa Conan probe and observe everywhere.

Given Scotland's keen observation and attention to Bourbon, it's impossible that he didn't notice Conan Edogawa's unusual behavior.

So, it's very possible that Conan Edogawa has been targeted by Scotland?

No, perhaps there are other reasons?

Shuichi Akai's absent-minded gaze suddenly focused on the Kudo family portrait on the cabinet.

His gaze lingered on the smiling black-haired high school student in the middle, and his expression gradually turned serious.

Not long ago, Shuichi Akai confirmed that Conan Edogawa was actually Shinichi Kudo, the high school detective who was supposedly killed by the organization.

What if—he meant what if—Scotland also began to suspect the connection between Conan Edogawa and Shinichi Kudo?

If that's the case, then Furuya Rei's reaction makes sense.

Shuichi Akai lit a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and continued to think amidst the swirling, familiar smoke.

Scotland may not have directly discovered that Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo, but he may have become suspicious of Shinichi Kudo and, through close observation and intelligence investigation, discovered Conan Edogawa's unusual behavior.

To protect Conan Edogawa's identity, Rei Furuya couldn't deliberately show any more unusual behavior that might arouse suspicion about Shinichi Kudo's identity, even if he allowed Scott to witness Conan's overly intelligent performance.

After all, Scotland is more interested in him.

This possibility is based on the premise that Rei Furuya knows that Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo.

This possibility is not small, because Shuichi Akai guessed that Jinpei Matsuda of the Matsuda family next door knew, just like Professor Agasa, that Conan Edogawa was Shinichi Kudo.

Professor Agasa provides tools for Conan Edogawa after he shrinks, and Jinpei Matsuda provides police assistance to the shrunken Conan so that the elementary school student can continue to solve cases everywhere.

Or perhaps, there is another possibility.

That means Scotland already knows Conan Edogawa's identity. Just like they used Sakura's safety to threaten Rei Furuya before, they are now using Conan Edogawa's safety to threaten Rei Furuya into obeying them.

This also explains why Rei Furuya cooperated so well with Scotland's acting.

It's also possible that half of Scotland has already been won over by Bourbon.

The previous Curaçao incident was an example, and the current one is also about keeping Furuya Rei's secrets, but with conditions.

That condition is probably why Furuya Rei refused to tell them the truth.

Shuichi Akai approached the ashtray, shook off the ash, and walked into the study with a cigarette between his fingers.

He turned on his computer, but still found no new investigation results.

Sakura's intelligence is really difficult to investigate because the other party is a world-class super hacker. The traces that can be traced are all those he wants to leave for people to see, and those he doesn't want to expose are impossible to find.

Shuichi Akai put down his mouse and, without much hesitation, decided on his next step.

Go see for yourself.

He thought.

Go check out what's really going on with Rei Furuya and Scotland.

*

Subaru Okiya, carrying his instrument case, was stopped outside the recording studio.

The police said there had been a case inside and unauthorized personnel were not allowed to enter.

Okiya Subaru: "..."

He wasn't surprised at all.

The pink-haired graduate student stood outside in silence for a while, then finally grabbed the strap of her violin case and left.

Today isn't the right time; let's do it another time.

As for whether the case can be resolved...

Are you kidding me? Those people inside can't solve a simple case?

*

Inspector Megure's expression changed the moment he entered.

He looked at the familiar detectives over there with mixed feelings.

"Why are these the same people again?" After getting a better understanding of the situation, the chubby police officer couldn't help but sigh softly.

Four familiar detectives stood in the small recording studio.

Elementary school detective, female high school detective, coffee shop detective, sushi shop detective.

Three of them were related to Kogoro Mouri, which made Inspector Megure unable to resist criticizing Kogoro Mouri, who wasn't even present, and wanting to ask him where he found all the detectives to gather around him.

Takagi Wataru was also stunned, revealing his beady eyes: "There are really a lot of detectives in this place, haha."

After saying that, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Date Hang with bright eyes: "But I feel relieved to see Brother Date and the others. With them there, there will definitely be no problem, and there will absolutely be no casualties, right?"

Inspector Megure continued to sigh.

Although he was happy, he now felt that those three guys were just as strange as Kogoro Mouri and his gang.

Matsuda Jinpei leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Hagiwara Kenji, who had been talking to Date Wataru, waved happily at them as if he hadn't heard anything and began to explain the situation in detail.

*

The person who came to carry out the plan and save the victims of the case was Morofushi Kagemitsu.

He had brought his bass to this recording studio before and was well-prepared. With everyone's help, he easily completed the plan.

Although it sounds easy, it's actually not that simple.

How to turn a case that would otherwise result in death in various ways into one that allows the victim to be saved in just the right way without affecting Conan Edogawa's ability to solve the case is a huge challenge in terms of technical and thinking skills, as well as the bottom line of world consciousness.

Fortunately, the script was mainly designed by the future Shinichi Kudo.

Their mission is over; now it's up to Conan Edogawa to solve the case.

So far, there seem to be no problems, and everything is going according to plan.

However, Morofushi Kagemitsu was not in a good mood.

One thing still surprised them.

In fact, they are currently implementing a temporary modified Plan B.

Once the case was nearly resolved, Morofushi Kagemitsu acted without leaving a trace.

"Excuse me, could you tell me why your lead singer committed suicide?" Morofushi Hiromitsu walked up to one of the girls wearing glasses and asked softly.

In Plan A, the band's lead singer should be alive.

They had pretended to coincidentally prevent the girl's death, so why did she still die in the end?

"Because she accidentally injured her voice, and in despair, she ran into the road and was hit and killed by a car," the girl answered through gritted teeth.

This is exactly the same as the original plot; it's as if their changes never happened.

"No! Zhu Yin didn't commit suicide! It was just an accidental traffic accident!" the other two girls immediately retorted.

"That wasn't a simple traffic accident! Zhu Yin isn't the type to run red lights!" the girl with glasses said angrily. "She was just trying to commit suicide! Otherwise, why would she deliberately run a red light and die in a car accident?!"

"No, that's not it," the long-haired girl explained. "The one who ran the red light was a little kid playing soccer. Zhu Yin was trying to save someone..."

"Liar! Because Hagi clearly said at the funeral that Akane's death was all her fault!" The girl with glasses couldn't accept it. "Akane's voice was ruined, and Akane's lead vocalist position was taken away—it was all her fault!"

"No, it's a misunderstanding..."

Rei Furuya glanced in their direction but said nothing.

Morobuchi Kagemitsu probably knew what he was thinking.

Early in the game, Rei Furuya told them that 90% of the cases he was involved in were related to the three elements of blood ties, misunderstandings, and suicide. It was like a game setting that he couldn't escape, and even if the plot was changed later, it probably wouldn't escape these basic settings.

The same thing happened this time.

Only some details have changed, but the final outcome is still the same.

Although they saved one of the band members from being killed due to a misunderstanding, their lead singer still died.

When explaining the misunderstanding, the long-haired girl took out a group photo in which five girls were standing close together, smiling brightly at the camera.

The band members are all students from a women's university.

The band's group photo was taken at school, and the blonde girl in the middle was the only lead singer in the five-member band who died.

The blonde girl, named Akane, is the lead singer of the band. She is very beautiful and not only has a beautiful voice, but she is also proficient in playing instruments such as guitar, bass, and keyboard, so she has taught the other four people a lot.

However, she knew nothing about most of the things that were popular with girls these days.

So, the team leader and drummer, Hagiwara, taught her how to cook.

Guitarist Musen Ranka taught her makeup and dressing skills.

Keyboardist Kogure Kogai taught her knitting.

Bassist Yuiko Fuekawa originally wanted to teach her sewing and embroidery, but she wasn't interested at all and eventually gave up.

They had a very good relationship and thought they would go a long way together in life, believing they had plenty of time left. They never imagined being separated by death, let alone that their most popular lead singer would die like that, and the other members would end up like that as well. It's truly regrettable and heartbreaking.

After the case was resolved, the two newly formed bands lost all interest in training.

The atmosphere at Amuro Tooru's band was unexpectedly heavy, so much so that even Takagi Wataru, who wanted to ask them about forming a temporary band, didn't dare to approach.

The all-female band on Sonoko Suzuki's side quickly calmed down and started discussing how amazing Sera Masumi was, wondering how she had become so amazing.

Sera Masumi scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly: "Actually, I became a detective because of my brother's influence."

Ran Mouri asked curiously, "Is he the smart older brother you mentioned in the red-clothes incident?"

Sera Masumi shook her head: "No, that's my second brother. The one who influenced me to become a detective is the eldest brother, Hide."

Conan Edogawa, who was halfway there, glanced back at her and thought to himself that she had a second brother, but he quickly shifted his attention to Amuro Tooru and the others over there.

He always felt that something was off about their atmosphere.

And it wasn't just a little strange; it felt like we were facing some insurmountable, major problem.

And are they really that compatible? Although they spend time together regularly and just formed a band for temporary performances, isn't their relationship a bit too close?

Conan Edogawa's thoughts and actions were interrupted by Kogoro Mouri barging in.

Upon learning of this, Kogoro Mouri immediately drove over to pick up Ran Mouri and Conan Edogawa and take them home.

Conan Edogawa actually wanted to stay with Tooru Amuro and Hikaru Midorikawa to continue observing and testing them, but Kogoro Mouri grabbed him and threw him into the car without any room for argument.

"Honestly, you're just eager to get back to watch Ms. Yoko's show, aren't you..."

Conan Edogawa rubbed his head and got up. Through the window, he saw Hikaru Midorikawa take something that looked like a ticket out of his pocket, hand it to Tooru Amuro, say a few words, and then walk towards them.

"Master Kogoro." Hikaru Midorikawa bowed, looking like he had something to say.

So Kogoro Mouri rolled down the car window and asked, "What's wrong, Midorikawa-kun?"

Hikaru Midorikawa smiled and said in an expectant voice, "The offline mystery event for 'Running Towards the Sun' is starting the day after tomorrow. Will you be attending, Master Kogoro? If you are, why don't we go together? Senior Amuro also said he really wants to attend the mystery event with Master Kogoro. We're sure we can learn more from Master Kogoro."

Kogoro Mouri immediately puffed out his chest, his lips curling into a wild smile as he forced himself to remain calm and said in a deep voice, "Ahem, um, okay, no problem. Then let me take you two to see what's going on with that reasoning activity."

Hikaru Midorikawa's smile deepened as he took a step back and watched their car drive away.

Conan Edogawa looked away, leaned on the chair, and pestered Kogoro Mouri to get the tickets from his wallet.

He sat back down in his chair and examined the ticket closely. His gaze finally settled on the address in the lower right corner, and his expression changed slightly.

The location of this reasoning activity is an old castle deep in the mountains of Nagano.