Chapter 111 A Dilemma

“Zero, um…” Jing Guang, who was having a routine video call with his partner, suddenly saw an enormous, hairy nose on the screen that was moving around, and couldn’t help but scream in fright, “What is that?!”

The golden retriever peeked out from behind the little white rabbit who was eating celery with a grin: "Seven, come say hello to Mr. Cat!"

The lop-eared rabbit was only focused on eating celery and remained indifferent to the face on the phone screen.

The golden retriever poked the little rabbit with its finger and scolded, "How rude!"

"Zero, when did you start raising rabbits? Don't you like dogs the most?" Jingguang asked, looking at the plump rabbit with a puzzled expression.

"This isn't my rabbit! It belongs to Alice. She's been a bit busy lately, so she asked me to look after it." Zero said casually. "Tsk tsk, I even gave this rabbit to her. I didn't expect it to get so fat."

"What?!" Jing Guang exclaimed in shock. "When did you go to see Alice? Why didn't you discuss it with me beforehand?"

Zero looked at Jing Guang innocently and explained, "It wasn't me who went to her, it was her who came to me. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to take good care of herself, and the organization has been very busy lately, so she asked me for help... Jing, Conan also said that since Alice is someone close to Osiris, she should know many secrets that are unknown to others. If we start with Alice, maybe we can find Conan?"

Jingguang looked at the rabbit happily eating with mixed feelings, and sighed, "Zero, but you also said that Alice is very tight-lipped about Osiris and is extremely wary. Even if she knows many secrets, why would she share them with you?"

"Alice's tight-lipped nature regarding the organization's secrets is closely related to her upbringing. She doesn't know my identity yet, so naturally she won't reveal it..."

Before Ling could finish speaking, Jing Guang interrupted, raising his voice, "You still want to tell her your identity?! Are you out of your mind?"

Zero was a little stunned by the shout. He frowned and retorted, "Of course I won't tell her I'm a police officer. But I can slowly tell her some things and persuade her to change her stance and stand on our side."

"Zero, what makes you think this is possible?" Jing Guang made no attempt to hide his disapproval.

"Keijing, why are you so pessimistic? Alice is a kind girl. She loves cute little animals and is even a bit childlike when she talks to me. If it weren't for that fire 20 years ago, she could have lived a normal life. Serving the organization wasn't her personal choice. Keijing, don't you think her experience is similar to that of Akemi and Shiho? Since the Miyano sisters are willing to help us, why can't Alice?"

"On the contrary, I think they are two completely different types of people."

"Why?"

“The organization murdered Akemi and Shiho’s parents. Shiho was too young to understand at the time, but Akemi always knew. They were imprisoned from a young age, losing their parents and their freedom… They could have had a happy childhood, but the organization made all of that disappear,” Kagemitsu explained. “And Alice? How did her parents die? Where did her tragedy begin? Who helped her when she was abandoned by her relatives? For the Miyano sisters, the organization was their enemy. But for Alice, the organization was her savior! Zero, you say Alice is like an ordinary girl. But it is precisely because she is ordinary that she is even less likely to help us! What are the principles of ordinary people? Just live your own life well. National affairs are too distant, too grand, too complicated for them. They are unwilling to care and powerless to change anything. So—“Instead of a vague sense of justice, why not be a kind girl who repays kindness?” I bet Alice must have thought so.” Zero, what makes you think Alice would betray that man to help you?

“I know that, but…” Zero lowered her head and unconsciously rubbed the fluffy bunny, “but I feel that Alice is different from the organization. Over the years, she hasn’t picked up any of the organization’s influence.”

"It's more accurate to say that she was drawn to Osiris because she was too close to him, and thus acquired a different aura, one that was more dangerous and more deceptive."

"You mean Alice is testing me? But Seven is just an ordinary rabbit, and I can recognize it as the one I gave her. She didn't do anything wrong, did she?"

Jingguang honestly admitted, "I don't know, but I always felt that Alice wasn't as simple as she seemed. Think about it, I first met her in D-Lab, what kind of place is that? A large biological laboratory, she worked there, can you still say she's innocent and kind? What kind of person do you think Osiris will raise her into?"

Zero couldn't think of anything to say in rebuttal, and said softly in a sorrowful tone, "Jing, I used to really fantasize that Alice would help us like Sherry did. If only I could save her this time..."

After the fire, Zero took Jingguang to see the ruins. The young boy reached out, but could only grasp the dust floating in mid-air.

And so, 20 years passed between them, a distance between heaven and hell.

“Jing, if she remains obstinate and unwilling to repent, does that mean I will personally send a girl who has ruined her life to prison?” Ling asked bitterly.

"Zero, you didn't ruin her life. Think about it another way, isn't everything we've done to prevent another Alice from happening? Your work is meaningful."

Zero nodded slowly and solemnly: "Yes, I understand. I will be careful."

"Zero, what are you doing?!" Jing Guang couldn't help but tense up.

“I will no longer target Alice for recruitment. But she is still an important source of intelligence, isn’t she? The difficulty of our current situation cannot be more obvious: we finally found that gentleman, but with Conan’s disappearance, all the clues have been cut off, and we are back to square one. In order not to let our previous efforts go to waste, we should find a new breakthrough!”

“I understand, but this is too dangerous… Zero, Alice is likely closer to that man than Vermouth, do you know what that means?”

This means that Osiris may have full knowledge of their communications. If anything goes wrong, Bourbon's true intentions will be exposed.

"Of course I know. But we can't just sit here and wait, can we? I'm the undercover agent, I can't expect Conan to solve everything, can I? We have to take the initiative!"

"But I can't lose my companions!" Jingguang shouted uncontrollably. The rabbit, which had been burying its head in eating celery, finally looked up at him, its face blank.

"Jing, I'm discussing the action plan with you, why are you making it sound like I'm going to my death?" Zero couldn't help but get angry, her face turning bright red. "I promised I would take care of myself and stay with you. I'm not Conan, I won't just abandon you without a word, and I won't do anything dangerous on impulse. You won't let me do this, you won't let me do that... Do you have to have a fight with me today to feel better?!"

"I'm sorry, I was too selfish and didn't consider your feelings..." Jingguang lowered his head in shame.

Zero softened, and her tone became gentler: "Jing, I know that Conan's matter has hit you hard. But please believe me, okay? I'm Zero, your best partner."

"Zero, it's precisely because you're so important and irreplaceable to me that I'm even more afraid of losing you! I think fate is fair, and the last barrier between us has disappeared."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Jingguang gave a weary, exhausted smile: "Ling, to be honest, I've been having nightmares lately. I think I finally understand how you felt back then. Death is truly terrifying..."

"Jing, what did you dream about?" Ling asked worriedly.

“It’s a chaotic dream, but it always starts the same way and ends the same way. At first, everyone is there, all happy and harmonious, like a party. Then, everything comes so suddenly. One, two, three… swept away by a storm, drowned by a flood, consumed by flames. In the end, you all leave me, leaving me all alone to live on… Zero, I hate this dream.” Jing Guang’s eyes reddened as he spoke. “It’s so real, it hurts so much.”

"Dreams and reality are always opposites! Don't overthink it, everyone will be fine." Zero tried her best to reassure them, even joking, "Hey, Jing is all grown up now, you shouldn't need me to coax you to sleep like you did when you were little, right?"

"Nonsense! When have you ever lied to me?" Jingguang stammered in protest. As a child, still haunted by the loss of his parents, little Jingguang often had nightmares, and his caring friend, Xiaoling, was always there for him.

“Jing, don’t be shy about admitting it! I won’t laugh at you—” Ling teased.

Jingguang neither confirmed nor denied it, simply moving on from the matter. He internally told himself: Yes, dreams and reality are opposites; everyone will be fine!

For no apparent reason, an untimely thought popped into his mind: What about me?

“Jing, I think the best reason to get close to Alice is through Seven.” Zero resumed his usual work mode.

"Hmm, that makes sense. We can study the rabbit's diet carefully and gradually gain her trust and dependence."

"Great, let's do it that way!"

"Oh right, there's one more important thing I haven't told you."

"What happened?"

“It has already happened, and you know that.” Kagemitsu’s expression turned serious. “In fact, Hagiwara and Matsuda have already gotten involved.”

"Wait a minute, you mean the police academy student who hit the superintendent?"

“That’s right. I’ve done a rough investigation, and combined with the information from Manager Kuroda, this incident might be related to the big fish we’re trying to catch.”

"A mole within the Ministry of Public Security?!"