Chapter 97: Heaven Will Reward You

It was morning when Edogawa Conan left Kudo's house, and it was evening when he pried open the door of Kudo's house.

It’s not because it took him so long to make up his mind to confess to his parents. In fact, he had almost let it go after listening to the ghost’s description of the call.

The main reason is that there is some fresh information there. I have to say that Ghost's trick of capturing souls and searching memories with one click is really useful.

The man who assassinated Geto Suguru brought them new intelligence from nature, and now they finally understood what was going on at the winery and the zoo.

Because the previous thunder attack by Ghost made the two organizations feel a sense of crisis, they united and exchanged enemies with each other in order to catch them off guard.

This result left Ghost speechless: "What I did to them wasn't even one-tenth as excessive as what they did to others. Why are they so upset? What a hypocrite."

In any case, Edogawa Conan can no longer be upset about such a drastically changing situation. If he fails to immediately inform others of this important information about the winery-zoo exchange operation, there will inevitably be unnecessary casualties. His face is not worth mentioning in the face of the possible loss of life.

"Conan? Why are you back again?" It was Yukiko who answered the door. Yukiko's mother was quick to notice that her son wasn't in the right mood, but because she was worried someone might be watching, she didn't squat down until Conan entered the room and asked, "What's wrong?"

Edogawa Conan shook his head: "I just have something to tell you and dad."

"Well, your dad has something to tell you, too." Yukiko caressed her son's face and looked at him tenderly. "Shinichi, you can tell Mom and Dad about anything. Don't carry it all on your own."

Edogawa Conan suddenly felt his eyes getting hot, and his usually eloquent tongue seemed to be tied at this moment: "Sorry, Mom..."

Yukiko's pupils constricted. She picked up her son with one hand and ran to the study. "Husband! Our son has lost his mind! He called me mom and apologized to me sincerely!"

Kudo Yusaku almost flashed to the door of the study: "What! Call an ambulance!"

Conan Edogawa: "...That's enough, you idiot couple!!!"

All the sadness he had worked so hard to build up was gone!

"I saw you were feeling down," Yukiko said. "Shinichi, you don't know this, but you haven't acted like a spoiled child with us since you graduated from elementary school. Although mom and dad are always happy about your growth, we're still a little disappointed."

Kudo Yusaku wiped his eyes and said, "Yeah, so you little brat, do you feel sorry for leaking my schedule to the magazine editor and causing your dear dad to be chased onto the plane by a dozen editors and asked to submit his manuscript?"

"Not at all. Why don't you think about why I reported you to the editorial office? How on earth did you manage to pretend to be a member of the Black Organization and pretend to assassinate your own son?" Edogawa Conan said, "If I had a weaker heart, your son would have died young! Then I'll see how you can quickly book a crematorium to cremate an illegal child so that you don't have to explain to people at the funeral that your 17-year-old teenage son is lying in a child's coffin!"

...Was it because they'd been talking about Batman for too long this morning? The Kudos thought their son had suddenly acquired the skill [Hell Joke].

Kudo Yusaku: "Calm down, young man. Although I don't know what happened after you left the Kudo residence, I don't think you came to me to quarrel with me."

Conan Edogawa: "The three killers in the basement are members of the illegal organization composed entirely of animals that Kaito Kid is fighting against - hereafter referred to as 'Zoo'. They have teamed up with the winery and exchanged opponents. Now Kaito Kid is targeting the winery, and we are targeting the zoo."

Kudo Yusaku and his wife looked at each other. He knew that the group of people below might be in the zoo, because after seeing Kudo Yusaku's face, one of them shouted, "Your end will be the same as Kuroba Toichi."

But at that time, Kudo Yusaku couldn't be sure whether these people were targeting him because something had happened to Kuroba Toichi. After all, as Kuroba Toichi's twin brother, it was not surprising that he was targeted by this group of desperadoes. He never thought that the winery and them had directly switched opponents...

If this is true, then they must reorganize their arrangements.

Kudo Yusaku: "How did you know that?"

Edogawa Conan: "Dad, what I'm going to say next may be quite shocking, so I want to make it clear in advance - your son, I'm not crazy."

Kudo Yusaku: "So what are you going to say?"

Edogawa Conan: "A demon told me, not a description, but a species."

“…”

Kudo Yusaku fell into a long silence, his inquiring eyes almost fixed on his son. Just when Edogawa Conan couldn't help but wonder if his father was about to take out his cell phone and dial the number of the mental hospital, Kudo Yusaku spoke with complicated expectations.

"Actually, I've known about the Zoo organization for a long time. After realizing the killers came from the zoo, I went to an old friend of mine to ask for information. Guess what, he said something like 'they're about to be taken to hell by the devil.' Anyway, like you, he mentioned 'demons' in his words. I've been curious about what 'demons' actually refer to."

At that time, Kudo Yusaku thought that his brother was just playing around with art again.

"Is it possible that...the sentence your friend said was not a descriptive sentence but a statement?

After Edogawa Conan finished speaking, he asked casually.

"Is your old friend very familiar with Kaito Kidd?"

It was really just a guess. Among the people he knew now, the only one who had been involved with the zoo before and had some knowledge of it, and who also had a relationship with the ghost, was Kaito Kid.

Bai Ma Tan... He got the news almost at the same time as me, and his intelligence progress was a little further than mine, so it was unlikely to be him.

Little did he know that Edogawa Conan's casual question made his own father silent again.

The first Kaito Kid, the biological father of the second Kaito Kid... How come he is not considered very familiar with Kaito Kid?

They are so familiar with each other that they are like family.

Even considering that Kuroba Toichi and I are twins, you and the current Kaito Kidd are biologically half-brothers with the same father.

"Maybe." Kudo Yusaku brought the topic back, speaking as slowly as possible, "Shinichi, why did you say your source of information was a demon?"

Relax.

Kudo Yusaku said to himself.

Maybe Touyi is just continuing his literary rhetoric, maybe Shinichi is just being fooled... maybe it could be hypnosis or something like that. Isn't there a killer in the zoo organization who uses this kind of hypnotic illusion?

Yes, it's okay, calm the child down first, just like you did when he had nightmares as a child.

Conan Edogawa took out the glass bead from his pocket: "This is what the devil gave me. The souls of the two killers who flew the plane yesterday are sealed inside."

Yusaku Kudo took the thumb-sized glass bead and went forward with Yukiko to observe the two transparent human heads in the middle of the glass bead.

The two heads had been locked up for a whole day and kept in Edogawa Conan's pocket for such a long time that they felt dizzy and numb and didn't want to move at all.

So Kudo Yusaku and Yukiko didn't see any problem.

Kudo Yusaku: "A colored crystal sculpture? It's very delicate, but it's not enough to prove it's a demon."

Edogawa Conan finally understood the tiredness of Ghost Shadow yesterday.

Mom and Dad, can you please not be so rigid in your scientific worldview?

......

"Hongzi, Hongzi-sama~ Please, I'm counting on you——"

Koizumi Hongzi tossed her hair with satisfaction. "You're quite good at asking for help. Tell me, what's the matter with asking me out that requires the help of this witch?"

Kuroba Kaito held out the Pandora's Stone with both hands: "Hey, I'd like to ask professional Hongzi to help me see what this thing is."

Koizumi Hongzi looked up and her eyes fixed on him: "Where did you get this?"

Kuroba Kaito confessed honestly: "I recovered Pandora."

"Pandora? Do you think this is the Pandora you guys are looking for?"

Koizumi Akako's unique witch's laughter echoed all around. Fortunately, there were not many people passing by the path they chose to meet, and it was broad daylight, otherwise a new urban legend might appear here soon.

After laughing enough, Koizumi Hongzi wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "Okay, tell me why you think this is Pandora."

Kuroba Kaito repeated the description of the "Demon Stone." This time, Koizumi Anko's expression became more serious. She took the stone and examined it carefully. "Based on its characteristics, it does fit the description of 'Pandora.' But this is really ridiculous. It's a creation of blue magic. Which careless wizard let it go?"

Kuroba Kaito: "How do you know it's blue magic? Something like this that absorbs life sounds like black magic, right?"

Koizumi Akako: "It's too detailed for an outsider like you to understand, so just think of it as the difference between a slotted screw and a Phillips screw. This is a damaged old version, and the more advanced new version is still circulating within the mysterious world."

"What?!" Kuroba Kaito said, "Such a dangerous thing is still in circulation? This thing could kill people if you're not careful!"

Koizumi Hongzi remained calm. "Gas cylinder explosions can kill people, but they're not banned. As I've said, this is a damaged, centuries-old product that no one uses anymore. There are countless historical examples of old products with safety hazards. You should really look into Victorian England; it was incredible. There were children's toys made of tin, reusable baby bottles, alum claimed to restore spoiled milk... So many deaths."

Kuroba Kaito: "But this thing will suck people's life force!"

Koizumi Hongzi: "So this thing has a design flaw and it's broken. Generally speaking, it can't kill people with safety restrictions, especially those with magical powers. It can only kill frogs, snails, etc. It's very convenient."

The application of this thing in reality is actually very similar to what Ghost Shadow said at the time: "Killing chickens and pigs in a slaughterhouse is its best destination."

Kuroba Kaito: "So where is this thing placed during the actual magic process? The ghost said it should be embedded somewhere after looking at it, but I'm not sure if your improved version still uses it that way."

Koizumi Hongzi: "This thing used to be embedded in the crucible for easy transportation. There would usually be some formations embedded in those places to allow the operator to control its power at any time."

...It's just as the ghost said, this thing's final destination is a soup pot!

Kuroba Kaito: "So, back then, the witches' cauldrons were like some kind of portable induction cooker, and this thing was the battery?"

Koizumi Hongzi: "What are you talking about? Of course not! The crucible can still be used without this thing. It's just a detachable accessory. Technology was not advanced back then, so this thing couldn't be hidden in the crucible. The mage might not have been so uncivilized as to throw things away. It's possible that it was knocked off during a move, and some idiot saw it and stole it."

Kuroba Kaito: "So why is this thing pressed against the pot? It's OK to put it in another container to refine the Life Essence, but it doesn't seem very hygienic..."

"Oh, hahaha—that's why I said you're a complete layman! I already mentioned that technology wasn't very advanced back then, so using it was, of course, much more complicated than it is today. It required the use of a magic circle, and it's also quite large, so only a large crucible could hold it," Koizumi Hongzi said. "And what does this have to do with hygiene? The crucible used for casting spells isn't food! Besides, even such an ancient and inconvenient product is more convenient and efficient than manually extracting the Life Essence."

"It's different now. These products come in different sizes and containers, and some are even automatic."

Kuroba Kaito: "...Something like a meat grinder? There are big ones, small ones, manual ones, automatic ones, and they even appear where there are pots?"

Koizumi Hongzi: "You can understand it that way."

Kuroba Kaito: "......"

So the Pandora's jewel that the zoo has been looking for for so long is actually just a part of an old meat grinder that is leaking electricity and is damaged?