Chapter 108, Chapter 107: Eight Hours of Delicate Sleep

Some people are in love, some are watching the sea.

Someone heard something had happened and couldn't catch their breath.

Zhuge Tongzhi felt his heart was beating erratically, even though he hadn't taken APTX4869 or the antidote.

If Furuya Rei hadn't slept for three days, Zhuge Tongzhi wouldn't care where he was working part-time again. He would just tell Morofushi Hiromitsu or any of the other three, letting the gorillas "care" for their friend themselves.

But if it were said that it was Lag who hadn't slept for three days, Zhuge Tongzhi would be absolutely certain, with a million percent certainty, that something was wrong with her.

The reason why Rag ended up in the world of Detective Conan was that after staying up for three consecutive nights, he tripped in the lecture hall, fell and went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he was lying on a small bed in the organization's training camp with a completely bewildered expression.

At the time, Zhuge Tongzhi, who was running a low fever, was on the bed opposite hers. He cautiously huddled in the corner of the bed, observing his strange companion who was screaming silently. After listening to the other person's cursing Chinese for a long time, he hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up to remind her that there would be an ability test later.

Then, her half-sister burst into her life like a robber.

Zhuge Tongzhi grew up surrounded by the other person's unwavering commitment to eating well, sleeping well, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for over a decade. He heard painful lessons from the other person since childhood, so even after taking drug A to shrink and lose his memory, his healthy three meals a day became a "daily task," and he subconsciously resisted getting up early and staying up late.

After receiving his codename from Rum and gaining a certain degree of freedom, Rag himself has consistently maintained a healthy eight-hour sleep schedule, personally saying goodbye to staying up late.

This is the biggest anomaly at this moment.

“Noah’s Ark.” Zhuge Tongzhi’s voice was a little hoarse, but he still asked again to confirm, “Did Rag sleep during these three days? I mean, the kind of long sleep that lasts more than four hours.”

"No," Noah's Ark said objectively. "Lager only takes a short break of about fifteen minutes and sets an alarm to wake itself up at regular intervals."

"So, she hasn't entered a deep sleep in these three days, right?" Zhuge Tongzhi didn't pay attention to Noah's Ark's answer, or perhaps even if he did hear it, it was automatically pushed into the corner of his memory palace.

The black-haired girl looked at the bright and clear street in front of her and felt a sudden, blinding dizziness.

All the doubts that had been drowned out by the joy of the reunion were suddenly brought to the surface, overcoming Rag's natural avoidance of answering during their conversation, overcoming her own self-persuasion over the past three days, and bringing the most terrifying suspicions to the forefront—

If Boss's memory transfer experiment really failed completely, why did Rag gain Boss's memories after the transfer failed?

Even if we optimistically view the Boss's memories as a way to overcome the hardships, why would Rag prevent himself from entering a long sleep during these three days?

She was afraid, on guard, and rejecting any lapse in consciousness, even if it was just falling into a deep sleep; to Rag, it seemed like a dangerous surrender of sovereignty...

Zhuge Tongzhi unconsciously bit her lip. Despite her inner resistance to the answer, the O-Navigation system, which helped her automatically integrate her memories, continued to function, listing the keywords one by one in the air through a blue and white navigation box:

"Memory transfer"

"Sovereignty transfer"

"memorandum"

"Mutual learning"

...

The blue and white arrows shifted between keywords as she thought, finally settling on a final deduction:

"Mutual learning of memories and coexistence of consciousness"

The failure of the memory transfer experiment was not a simple matter of winners and losers. In his battle with the Boss, Rag, thanks to the advantage of the memo, was not erased from his original memories by the experiment and regained control of his body.

But the Boss's memories didn't become a reference book for people to consult; instead, they became a sleeping wolf, lying in wait by Ragnarok's side while he held control of the body.

Now, that idiot Rag has fallen into the same trap again. After enduring three days of stamina to the limit of his consciousness, he relinquished control of his body to another conscious mind—that old, immortal raven.

No wonder Gin was willing to believe that the Boss was in this body, and even after being targeted and tormented, he still hadn't lost his patience. The performance that Furuya Rei saw might actually be the real Boss, but Lag was still able to control himself at that time.

Now things are in trouble. Sweat beaded at Zhuge Tongzhi's temples, trickling down his cheeks in a cool stream, finally settling on the tip of his chin, where the girl casually wiped it away with a raised hand.

The whereabouts of Rei Furuya, Hiromitsu Morofushi, and Shuichi Akai were all arranged by Lag. Since the old crow threw away all electronic devices and avoided surveillance before leaving, it means that he was definitely an observer during this period.

There's no time to waste on her anymore.

As Kiel watched the black-haired girl stand there for three minutes, he suddenly took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and found a shady spot to shrink himself into the shadows. He then began to arrange emergency notifications for Noah's Ark.

"The fastest flight from Tottori to Tokyo takes 1 hour and 20 minutes, the Shinkansen express train takes 5 hours and 10 minutes, and the night bus takes about 10 hours. Noah's Ark monitors the flow of people on all travel routes."

"Now inform Conan, Rei Furuya, and Shuichi Akai that whether it's to capture Rum or to ambush Gin a second time, either execute the plan now or retreat immediately."

"Notify Morofushi Hiromitsu to stop the liquidation, meet Bourbon or Ray nearby, and return to the Mouri Detective Agency as soon as possible. The Boss is definitely coming to Tokyo for Conan Edogawa."

Zhuge Tongzhi spoke rapidly, then looked up at Kiel amidst Noah's Ark's repeated "confirmed," and asked, "The CIA has a private jet; you can get permission to speed, right?"

Before Kiel could answer, the girl in front of him grabbed his wrist and said, "It will take at least nine hours to fly back, and it will also take me time to get back to Beika Town from the airport."

She felt the grip on her wrist tighten, and looked down into those dark eyes, once again shrouded in shadow but burning ever more intensely, as the girl said in a deep voice:

"Help me, Kiel."

“Of course,” Kiel grabbed Zhuge Tongzhi’s wrist, picked up the short-legged little man, and strode toward the car that had been parked by the roadside when they came. He said loudly, “Of course I will help you, and I’m not the only one who will help you.”

The woman with a few strands of lightning-shaped bangs under her baseball cap wasn't wearing a seatbelt. The moment she closed the car door, she slammed on the gas and sped toward the airport. Zhuge Tongzhi in the passenger seat was shoved into his seat by the sudden push.

Just before the car was about to drift, she swiftly ripped off her seatbelt buckle, gripped the groove on the door handle tightly, and then braced her feet against the ground on either side, expertly securing herself in place.

Don't ask, the answer is I've ridden the Hagi Hagi roller coaster.

And more than once.

As they sped along, the street scenes blurred into a blur, Zhuge Tongzhi and Gil quickly boarded a small plane. The pilot was none other than Ethan Bentang, who had faked his death and returned to the CIA headquarters.

The middle-aged man, who had once been shot in the shoulder, now gripped the control stick with great strength, following the Noah's Ark's increased priority flight path, and flew towards Tokyo at top speed.

Even so, the best that can be achieved in this unexpected situation is to reduce their return journey to about eight hours.

Zhuge Tongzhi borrowed Gil's spare laptop and urgently shut down the forum that was still in an uproar. She looked at the several parallel event lines listed by Noah's Ark, explaining her deductions to Conan and the others while anxiously biting her lip.

If the Boss really did control Rag's body to do bad things, wouldn't everyone except Conan—Rei Furuya, Hiromitsu Morofushi, Shuichi Akai, and the FBI and Public Security officers—shoot her?

She only needs eight hours, but will the boss really wait for her for eight hours?

...It seems like it really might?

Zhuge Tongzhi stood bewildered on the ground of Tokyo Haneda Airport, looking at the various events on his laptop that had been successfully concluded after eight hours. For a moment, he began to wonder what the Boss's purpose was in coming to Tokyo.

Due to the inherent time difference between Tokyo and the United States, it was around 10 p.m. in Japan when she notified Furuya Rei and the others, while Rum, who was trying to maintain a facade of authenticity, was still diligently making late-night sushi at the sushi restaurant.

After quickly exchanging information, Rei Furuya, who was working overtime at the Public Security Bureau, didn't even have time to change out of his police uniform. He led Yuya Kazami and other members of Team Zero to surround Rum Sushi Restaurant. Based on the intelligence they had gathered from their covert surveillance over the past few days, they swept away all the informants in the area and stormed into the restaurant, pinning Rum to the sushi cutting board.

"What are you doing?!" Rum, who had been slammed onto the cutting board by Rei Furuya, was both shocked and angry. He shouted, half implying and half stating the truth, "You know, I'm just a sushi chef!"

The blond man took a pair of silver handcuffs from his waist, looked down at the ridiculous face covered in buck teeth, and said meaningfully, "Of course I know who you are, and I know what I'm doing."

"Police investigation!" Furuya Rei said, showing his police ID to the somewhat bewildered customers and staff at the sushi restaurant. The black card holder unfolded naturally, revealing a five-petaled cherry blossom-shaped card inside. "I am Furuya from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau."

The police officers who rushed in after Furuya Rei also showed their identical police officer IDs from the Ministry of Public Security. After a moment of commotion, the crowd in the sushi restaurant quietly sat down. Only the manager looked incredulous, but he swallowed back the words he wanted to ask after meeting Kazami Yuya's sharp gaze.

The store manager looked at Rum, who was pinned to the cutting board, with a look of exasperation: "You little rascal, how come you look like a shifty-eyed thief and actually want to commit murder and robbery!"

The police officers who came in later were clearly in a subordinate position. As for who they were led by, Rum, who quickly realized Furuya Rei's true identity, revealed the answer with a ferocious expression.

"Bourbon, how dare you! Boss, she..."

"Kanezo Wakita is suspected of murder and will be taken away for investigation." Rei Furuya calmly handcuffed Rum's wrists, grabbed him by the back of his chef's uniform collar, and pulled him up without any politeness, interrupting the man's warning words.

“Rum, you should know you’re annoying,” the blond man said softly. “Even if Rag’s body is Boss, do you think she’ll feel more reverence for you than for her father… or will she want to kill you?”

Rei Furuya was not foolish enough to reveal everything to Rum. He had planted a thorn of suspicion deep in Rum's heart, and trying to pull it out would only lead to the discovery of more information.

"Take him away!" He wasted no more time and, together with Yuya Kazami, forced the panting Rum into the police car.

Only half an hour had passed, and Beika Town remained calm.

Shuichi Akai was on a mission with Gin when he heard the news, but the recent mission target was separated from Hiromitsu Morofushi's target list, so he didn't feel too much pressure.

The detective, upon receiving the news, remained calm and continued to follow the mission procedures until the mission objective was successfully completed. Only then did he naturally announce that he had to leave.

He left despite Chianti's disdainful look, as if he were a nepotism hire, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he used this mission to confirm something very important—the Boss hadn't informed Gin of anything.

Shuichi Akai knew that, without restraining his aura, just by standing there breathing, Gin's hand had touched his crotch more than once.

Boss definitely didn't tell Gin anything about rehiring him, otherwise his nemesis would never have been so stingy with a bullet.

Three hours had passed, and the residents of Beika Town were fast asleep.

Shuichi Akai withdrew from Gin's mission and headed straight for Beika Town, where he was accompanied by Kagemitsu Morofushi, who was nearby and would meet him there.

They were about halfway between Tottori and Tokyo, so when they rushed back, it was still barely dawn, and Zhuge Tongzhi's plane was about to land.

By this time, nearly eight hours had passed, and the streets were gradually becoming less crowded, but still relatively quiet.

"What's he thinking?" Zhuge Tongzhi asked, puzzled. "Is the old man on vacation along the way?"

"A vacation is definitely out of the question." Not wanting to implicate Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri, Conan left the Mouri Detective Agency. While he was at Professor Agasa's house considering where to go, the Detective Boys, who had unusually gotten up early to watch the sunrise, came to his door.

He was standing in front of the seaside fence in Tokyo Bay, wearing the same miniature earphones, watching the sunrise, and replied, "If he were interested in me, he would probably be waiting for an opportunity somewhere in Beika Town right now."

“You’ll be frequenting those places: the agency, the Kudo residence, Poirot…” There are people watching those places now. Zhuge Tongzhi turned his head to look at the street scene outside the window, which was gradually changing from the campus to the city, and finally whispered, “Be careful, Conan-kun.”

"...Please be careful too."

Hearing the two seemingly similar instructions, Conan, who was about to reassure the other person, paused slightly, quickly realizing that this was his friend's request for him not to harm the lager.

Please be careful not to hurt my sister who has no choice in the matter.

"Ah, I will." Conan put his hands behind his head, looked at the magnificent sunrise that had dyed most of the sky red, and felt a sense of relief that things had finally come to an end. "Don't worry."

"Okay." Zhuge Tongzhi replied calmly, but his hands gripping the seatbelt were already sweaty.

The sounds of the Detective Boys playing could be heard intermittently in the background. After a moment of silence on the channel, Conan suddenly asked, "Zhuge, are you alright?"

Zhuge Tongzhi was taken aback when Conan asked him the same question again. A wave of memories with the Young Detective suddenly surged, and countless lighthearted, happy, and miraculous memories were brought up by this question.

But before she could answer, a shrill voice pierced through the channel:

"Ahhhhhh! Someone's dead!!"

Zhuge Tongzhi: ...

“Edogawa.” She sighed deeply and said softly, “I’m starting to wish that Rag wasn’t hanging around you.”

Conan: ...

"Otherwise, I will be very, very bad."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Lag's maximum sleep limit is three consecutive nights.

Unfortunately, this woman, despite having learned her lesson, still refused to believe in superstition.

…

The Boss's current role is roughly as follows:

An undeletable memo file

Similar to a certain 300 series software that is extremely difficult to delete

This can be understood as a virus bug.

…

But this is a silly story!

There was no knife at all

You can rest assured

…

Mwah!