Chapter 181 Yukiko's Worries

Day 12 of the Highway Survival Game!

"If the organization has more people, and it's not just Sharon and Bourbon anymore, should we adjust our original plan? Especially since Gin sounded very dangerous to Shin-chan."

If he proceeds as planned, your fake death will likely be exposed. As the victim's mother, Yukiko Kudo's tone was noticeably less joking and much more serious when she mentioned Gin, who almost killed her son.

Upon hearing this, Shuichi Akai hesitated. Now that Gin and several other members of the organization were on the train, even knowing that apart from Bourbon, the others were not there for the 'princess,' he was not confident that his eyes were sharper than eagles.

Especially under the watchful eyes of Gin, who is known for his keen, suspicious, and cautious nature, they successfully deceived them, developing the situation into a state where they helped the 'princess' fake her death within the organization.

He even felt that with Gin around, it would be difficult to save the 'princess's' life without his intervention. With Conan's intelligence and resourcefulness, could he really protect the 'princess' under the watchful eyes of these organizations?

Despite feeling somewhat uncertain, Hideaki Akai remained calm and composed, replying confidently, "Let's see how things go. If the risk is too great, then we'll prioritize ensuring her safety."

"It seems that's the only way. I'll leave Sharon to me!" Kudo Yukiko knew very well that no matter how ruthless Sharon was to Shin-chan on the night of the full moon, she was actually acting out of friendship for her.

She had a good impression of Shin-chan and Ran-chan when they went to New York last year, which made her have no ill will towards the two children, Shin-chan and Ran-chan, nor any intention to kill her. Therefore, it was most appropriate for her to step in and stop Ai-chan when Sharon took action against her again.

But why does Sharon have such an obsession with Ai-chan that only Ai-chan can die? Sharon's personality is one of clear-cut gratitude and resentment, repaying kindness and avenging wrongs. Is the reason she is so hostile to Ai-chan because Ai-chan did something to hurt Sharon when she was in the organization?

Is it related to the fact that she's at least 40 years old, but looks like she's in her 20s? That's certainly possible, and Ai-chan's personality is also a bit chaotic...

With her experience and her keen sensitivity to other people's emotions, Yukiko Kudo could tell that Ai had feelings for her son, and that Shin was hostile towards Ran because she only had eyes for Ran, which made her worry that she might do something harmful to Ran.

Therefore, I specifically reminded Shin-chan when we went to the movie theater, but Shin-chan, who is only perceptive about feelings for Ran-chan and is clueless about everyone else, directly denied my reminder.

Later, during casual conversations while assisting Akai-san with his disguise, and through some discussions with Professor Agasa, I learned that Shin-chan was coerced by Sharon to appear on that full moon night, and that Ran-chan was completely unaware of the organization.

She noticed something was off just from the slight discord that Judy-san showed, and even risked her life to save Ai-chan from Sharon's gun. After that incident, Ai-chan's hostility towards Ran-chan seemed to disappear, but Kudo Yukiko was still a little worried.

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Because she heard about this from Akai-san, and discovered during her conversation with her son that Shin-chan was completely unaware that the incident on the night of the full moon had actually dragged Ran-chan into a conflict with the organization.

If Sharon hadn't shown mercy to Ran, Ran might have been killed by the organization on the night of the full moon. Shin-chan still thought he had protected Ran very well.

Yusaku deduced from the conversations he had with Akai-san, Professor Agasa, and Shin-chan that Professor Agasa was waiting in the distance to assist Shin-chan and was unaware of the situation because he was not present.

Only Akai, Jodie, Sharon, and Ai knew the truth. Jodie and Akai probably thought that Conan knew afterward that Ran had participated in the full moon night and didn't know that Shin was completely unaware of it, and they rarely saw Shin.

The last time they met, they were both busy dealing with the crisis caused by Kir, and they had no chance, or rather, it was difficult for them to recount the events of the full moon night with Conan, who was like a child.

The only person who can see Shin-chan every day and review the events of the full moon night is Ai-chan, but Ai-chan doesn't mention it at all. I don't know what Ai-chan was thinking when she kept this from Shin-chan.

Moreover, she seems to have interfered quite a bit in Shin-chan and Ran-chan's relationship. I know of at least two instances where she did so. After the incident at the movie theater, and after I mentioned it to Yusaku, Yusaku forbade me from reminding Shin-chan about it again.

Yusaku believes that Shin-chan can cooperate with Ai-chan without feeling guilty or remorseful when he doesn't know her feelings. However, once he does know, the cooperation may become unstable, so he will subconsciously distance himself from Ai-chan to show his attitude.

And once Ai-chan is alienated by Shin-chan, even Yusaku can't predict how she will react before the organization collapses, given her personality, especially after the last parent-teacher conference at Teitan Elementary School.

Ai-chan actually set fire to the flower bed at Teitan Elementary School in an extreme way to help her classmate, Makoto, prevent her mother, who suffers from back pain, from attending the parent-teacher conference.

Her parents died in a fire at the research institute. Even though she was just an infant at the time and did not experience it firsthand, most well-rounded people, upon hearing the cause of their blood relatives' deaths, would not be afraid of fire.

She wouldn't think of solving problems by setting fire to her house, which would kill her parents. Yusaku believes that Ai's actions show that no matter how she appears on the surface...

Subconsciously, when faced with real problems, she tends to adopt the style of those who organize things... Hopefully, these three children won't cause problems because of mishandling emotional matters in the future!

Just as Kudo Yukiko was thinking about Sharon and the worries she had about Ai-chan, there was a knock on their carriage door. Hearing this, the two of them realized that there were so many people from the organization on the train, and their expressions immediately tightened.

Shuichi Akai quickly put on his hat and covered his face with a mask. Yukiko Kudo then went to open the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn't the person they were worried about, but a train attendant.

At the same time, upon seeing the guests open the door, the train attendant quickly said, "Dear guests, I apologize for disturbing you. Something happened on the train just now, and the conductor sent me to ask you some questions. Did you see any suspicious people just now?"

"Suspicious people?" Upon hearing this, Shuichi Akai and Yukiko Kudo exchanged a glance, their first thought being, 'Could it be that the organization has already started causing trouble on the train? The train has only been moving for about ten minutes, hasn't it?'

While they had these thoughts in mind, they showed no outward signs of anything amiss and naturally asked the flight attendant outside the door, "Do you have any specific descriptions? For example, what would be considered suspicious?"

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"Uh!" The flight attendant was taken aback by their question, then answered somewhat awkwardly, "So, since you departed, have you seen anyone pass by here? People who walked from the rear of the train this way."

"No, I've been in my compartment since I boarded the train." Yukiko Kudo shook her head immediately after hearing the attendant's reply.

Hearing that someone was walking towards them from the rear of the train, Shuichi Akai shook his head: "I boarded the train from the front, car number 4, and walked over here. I haven't been anywhere except between cars 4 and 6. Before entering the car, I didn't see anyone coming from the rear of the train in the corridor."

He had booked the fourth carriage from the front of the train towards the back, but this carriage was the sixth. The train attendant asked them if they had seen anyone walk from the back of the train to this side.

It seems that something happened in carriages 7 and 8 at the rear of the train. The noise I heard before my bugging device automatically disintegrated indicated that everyone in the organization except Vermouth was in carriage 4.

Vermouth was determined to kill the 'princess,' and given the organization's consistently low-key and secretive nature, it was unlikely that they would cause such a commotion in the enclosed environment of a train before even killing their target. Therefore, it was probably something unrelated to the 'princess' or the organization.

The Suzuki Express train was scheduled to depart earlier this year because Sonoko's uncle wanted to hold the next showdown with Kaito Kid on this train, so he conducted a test run. Could it be that Kaito Kid came to scout the location and was discovered by Suzuki's people, who are now chasing after him?

As Shuichi Akai made this guess, on the other side, a train attendant knocked on the door of carriage number 4 and asked the same question. After Bourbon answered him with a few words, facing the questioning expressions of Hagiwara and Matsuda, and Gin's wary gaze, Bourbon also gave a similar answer to Shuichi Akai's idea.

"No, it shouldn't have anything to do with Phantom Thief Kid. I've heard some of that thief's tricks. He never uses real guns, nor does he kill or seriously injure his targets. Although the flight attendant just said that some unexpected situation had occurred,..."

In reality, his expression was very tense, as if he was deliberately concealing some dangerous information. Upon hearing Bourbon's speculation, Gin immediately stood up and said in a deep voice, his tall figure causing the top of his hat to touch the ceiling of the train cabin.

Hearing him say that, the few people in the carriage who had been looking relatively relaxed became serious. Scotland had worked with Gin before and knew that this man had very sharp intuition, a cautious personality, and extraordinary insight.

This allowed him to rarely make mistakes when directing various missions, so he trusted Gin's discovery of the anomaly and even looked at Bourbon without any hesitation, asking, "By the way, Bourbon, what activities did you have on this car today? Could it be related to your business?"

Apart from Wind Star Guardian, everyone present was intelligent. When Scotland asked the question, they understood what he meant. The game instance would only affect areas that were about to be destroyed, giving survivors the opportunity to collect various materials that should have disappeared in the past.