Chapter 378
Shuichi Akai came here because, after moving into Shinichi Kudo's house, he had been secretly observing Professor Agasa's house next door for some reason.
He noticed that Professor Agasa's house was still dark at the usual times when the lights were on, and even Ai Haibara wasn't home. So he went to check it out and found the door open. Just then, he received a call from a kidnapper who said they had abducted an old man or something...
After receiving the call from the kidnappers, Shuichi Akai, who was a top FBI investigator, immediately realized what was going on and searched for Professor Agasa's spare glasses to find the location of the detective badge.
Shuichi Akai not only knows how to use Conan Edogawa's gadgets, but he has also figured out Conan Edogawa's identity—Shinichi Kudo, who has been absent from the public eye because he is reportedly investigating some case.
Actually, he had some suspicions before, because he recognized that Ai Haibara looked a lot like Shiho Miyano, and now he can only say that he has finally confirmed it.
Although he wanted to protect his only remaining cousin after Akemi Miyano's death, he still didn't quite trust the United States when it came to the issue of rejuvenation.
Shiho Miyano was originally being controlled by the organization to research drugs. If he were to save people and then be controlled by the United States to continue his research, it would be meaningless, and even Potts would laugh at him.
Therefore, Shuichi Akai has another secret he's keeping from the FBI.
Anyway, whether he hides it from one person or two, it's all the same... He can't be worse than Potts.
Potneys has managed to fool most of the organization to this day, still believing him to be a mentally ill person with little influence but far-reaching ambitions. His acting skills and level of patience are something we should all learn from.
After obtaining the spare glasses, Shuichi Akai remained in disguise and followed the group all the way to the building. Upon entering, he saw elementary school students' backpacks at the entrance. After walking a short distance, he heard people whispering to each other.
Following the sound upstairs, he could barely hear a plaintive sob and a familiar voice. After taking two more steps, Shuichi Akai was hit in the face by the keyword "dark web".
...Didn't everyone come to Japan to investigate the organization? When did they start taking on work related to the dark web? And how can Judy be identified as someone from the dark web? What exactly happened?
Could this person's miserable state be because Judy beat him up? That's not like her at all!
It's not like he thought he was dead, which is why his personality changed drastically after the breakup... If that were the case, his boss James would have mentioned it to him, right?
Shuichi Akai paused for a moment, then stepped out from around the corner and coughed.
Judy jumped to her feet and turned around defensively. Even seeing Shuichi Akai disguised as a pink-haired, squinty-eyed college student, she didn't let her guard down: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Accomplices? They don't seem like it...
Shuichi Akai gave Jodie a deep look: "I received a call from the kidnappers, so I came to find someone. But this person on the ground... did you do this?"
There are outsiders here now, so it's not the right time to reveal your identity. Besides, Potts has warned that there may be organized people investigating his colleagues nearby, so it's best not to disclose your identity for now.
Judy glanced instinctively at the kidnapper with his dislocated limbs and quickly explained, "No, he was like this when I arrived. He must have been hurt by Han or someone else!"
Although she didn't say the name of Shinryu Sugawa, Shuichi Akai guessed what it was based on the pronunciation that was accidentally revealed.
Oh, it's not that Judy suddenly changed her personality.
He suddenly relaxed.
Shuichi Akai had also met Shinryu Samakawa. He was amazed by Samakawa's feat of hacking into someone's computer and scaring the criminal into calling the police.
Seeing the man's fate on the ground, he realized that Han Chuan Shenliu had truly shown mercy last time. Was he being so ruthless this time because a child was involved?
Judy was still trying to find an excuse: "I noticed a lot of schoolbags at the entrance when I was passing by. I was worried that the children might be in danger inside this building that was about to be demolished, so I went in to check. It turns out that this person was a kidnapper and has already been taught a lesson... Should we go upstairs and check the situation?"
Now that things have come to this, pretending not to have seen anything and leaving is no longer an option. The good news is that Conan Edogawa is also there. Since it was Conan Edogawa who asked her to investigate Shinryu Samikawa, he should try to cover it up for her so that it doesn't look like she was following Shinryu Samikawa.
And with another person added, her attention would be diverted, making her safer.
Shuichi Akai did not refuse, and the two left the immobile kidnapper behind and quickened their pace to go upstairs.
If you go up one floor, you can vaguely hear the children's clear voices saying something. If you go up another floor, you feel like you can hear what they are saying if you try harder.
Finally, Shuichi Akai and Jodie reached the floor where the kidnappers were holding the hostages.
Looking up, they saw a group of children surrounding Kankawa Shinryu, who was wearing a black trench coat, their faces full of admiration and gratitude. Dr. Agasa was rubbing his neck, looking helpless.
"Thank you, Brother Hanchuan!"
"Wow! You actually sensed something was wrong just by hearing the kidnappers' shouts and came in to check? That's so responsible!"
"No wonder he's a former detective!"
Judy: "…………"
Akai Shuichi: "…………"
Both of them were momentarily stunned.
Are they dreaming?! Is Hanakawa Shinryu really that popular with children?!
Conan Edogawa and Ai Haibara, the two fake kids, didn't go over. In fact, because Ai Haibara felt uncomfortable with Fukami Hashiraku's aura, she stood quite far away. After feeling Shuichi Akai's approach, she felt even more uncomfortable, which made Conan Edogawa a little nervous.
Conan Edogawa then quietly comforted her, saying, "Didn't you already know that Mr. Hanakawa didn't join the organization?"
Ai Haibara gritted her teeth: "It's not Hanchuan, it could be someone from the organization getting close!"
Conan Edogawa: "...???"
He had a moment of doubt, wondering if the organization's people were after Hanchuan Shenliu. Last time, Hanchuan Shenliu ruined the organization's plans, and he felt that the organization wouldn't let it go. Maybe the people sent by the organization saw that the abandoned building was easy to mess with, so they came in. Perhaps they weren't after him and Haibara.
Conan Edogawa wanted to remind the other elementary school students to keep their voices down, but they already knew from the Twin Towers incident that Shinryu Samikawa was a member of the police force. Although he looked dangerous, he was very smart and had saved Sonoko and Ran. Plus, Shinryu Samikawa said that he had already called the police, so they weren't too scared.
The children were initially frightened by Hanchuan Shenliu, but after learning about these things, their simple, black-and-white world immediately categorized Hanchuan Shenliu as white.
No matter how much a first-grade elementary school student thinks, they can't access as much information as adults do. There's a limit to their wild imaginations. Once they know that Han Chuan Shenliu is a good person, the "behind-the-scenes halo" effect is instantly reduced by more than half for them.
Judging from the way they called him "Brother Hanchuan," even though they still didn't dare to look at Hanchuan Shenliu's face too much, they had already realized that Hanchuan Shenliu looked very young...
Thus, the scene that presented Shuichi Akai and Jodie as "Shinryu Sakkawa surrounded by the enthusiasm of elementary school students" was presented.
Conan Edogawa breathed a sigh of relief after discovering it was Shuichi Akai, and felt that Ai Haibara's organization radar was really... unsure whether to say it was accurate or not. Shuichi Akai was clearly an FBI agent, but he was included just because he had been to the organization. But Mr. Hanakawa was only invited by the organization, and his dangerous aura was enough to make him count?
This organizational radar is less of a radar and more of a sixth sense about people like those in the organization...
Conan Edogawa breathed a sigh of relief, but Ai Haibara became even more wary after seeing Shuichi Akai. After hearing Shuichi Akai's explanation, she directly questioned, "Why did you go to check if something had happened just because you saw the lights weren't on? It's like you've been watching us to see if we've come home. That's so strange."
Shuichi Akai had already prepared an excuse: "Because I made too much curry beef, I wanted to share some with you guys, so..."
Before he could finish speaking, the three actual elementary school students cheered, "Wow! I love curry the most!"
Judy sighed softly, "A man who can cook..."
Shuichi Akai's cooking skills are just passable; a single man can get by with that. After all, America has all kinds of frozen and ready-made meals, even rice is available in ready-made form, and egg liquid is sold in case someone doesn't know how to crack an egg...
And so, if no one interfered, Shuichi Akai could survive on energy bars alone.
I doubt Shuichi Akai could make curry stew; he'd have to learn.
In fact, Shuichi Akai learned this dish from Yukiko Kudo a while ago. After learning it, he discovered its benefits and planned to use the excuse of cooking too much food to visit Professor Agasa and Ai Haibara next door more often.
Judy's exclamation finally drew the attention of the elementary school students.
"Speaking of which, why is Ms. Judy here?"
Judy gave a dry laugh and brought up her earlier explanation: "I saw the backpack when I passed by... and then I heard a scream..."
"Oh! It's the criminal that Han Chuan-gege took care of!" The elementary school students all said they understood.
Conan Edogawa knew that Jodie must have come with Shinryu Samikawa, since he had asked her to investigate him... However, seeing the two FBI agents walking together, he gave Shuichi Akai a wink and asked if Akai had confronted Jodie.
Shuichi Akai implied that there was no such thing.
...You FBI guys really know how to play games, but Mr. Akai probably has his own ideas. He doesn't know much, so he won't get involved.
Just then, police sirens suddenly sounded outside the window, and the police finally arrived at the scene.
Conan Edogawa quickly shook the kidnapper, who had been knocked unconscious by his tranquilizer dart, to wake him up, otherwise it would be troublesome if the police associated it with the sleeping Kogoro.
A short while later, the sound of footsteps came upstairs.
It was Date Wataru who appeared. He casually handcuffed the kidnappers and then called everyone downstairs.
Conan Edogawa asked, "Where's Inspector Hagiwara?"
He remembered that Officer Hagiwara and Officer Date were partners, and generally Officer Hagiwara should be the one to contact Mr. Kankawa, right?
Date Wataru coughed: "Uh... Hagiwara is downstairs dealing with another kidnapper..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance helplessly at Han Chuan Shenliu.
Conan Edogawa: "...???"
Does the kidnapper who was dealt with by Mr. Hanchuan really need to be described as "dealt with"?
Somewhat puzzled, he ran over and asked, "Mr. Hanchuan, what did you do to that kidnapper?"
Hanchuan Shenliu answered honestly, "I was afraid he would run away, so I dislocated his limbs."
Conan Edogawa: "…………"
No way! There are many ways to control prisoners; it doesn't have to come to this!
Judy guessed what it was and interjected, "It's probably because that person... uh, said some unpleasant things, involving child protection laws and such... I got angry just listening to it."
Date Wataru remained calm: "Don't worry, Hagiwara can handle it."
Conan Edogawa's lips twitched.
Sigh, Officer Hagiwara has it so tough. I wonder what kind of life Officer Hagiwara was living before Mr. Kankawa resigned...
Just then, Hanchuan Shenliu's phone vibrated. He took it out and looked at it, then slowed his pace and fell to the back of the group.
Conan Edogawa didn't pay attention at first, but then he heard Shinryu Samurai typing away, probably editing an email.
Then, he heard a melody he would never forget in his life.
In that instant, Conan Edogawa felt his hands and feet turn ice cold.
This melody is... Seven Children...
—Mr. Hanchuan is actually sending an email to the organization's boss?!
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It's almost the end of the month, could you please give me some nutrient solution?
iOS users who update to the latest version can now enable paragraph comments!
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Thin Leaf: Reply to email
Conan: Aa ...
P.S.: This melody plays when Vermouth sends an email to the boss in the Full Moon arc.
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Akai used to eat energy bars, as mentioned in an interview with Aoyama; now, she's taught cooking by Yukiko.
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