Chapter 58
"Ranpo—Mr. Ranpo—someone's here to see you—"
On a lazy afternoon, enough to make even a cat content to take a nap, the warm sunlight streamed through the bright, spacious window on the fourth floor, making the sofa in the lounge area cozy and cozy. Just lying on it made you feel like all your worries, along with the winter chill, were swept into the trash can.
Edogawa Ranpo thought so too—because he was lying comfortably asleep on the sofa, his newsboy cap deliberately placed on his chest, and a magazine spread out on his face to block the light.
Even when he heard Yosano Akiko calling his name, he didn't want to open his eyes at all, only vaguely refusing in a drawn-out tone, the last syllable sticky and soft.
"Eh, at this hour? No way, let's just see Akiko off after this quick reception. We can deal with everything else once the great detective wakes up... Phew..."
The words, barely separated, grew softer and softer towards the end. Edogawa Ranpo's head, which was resting on the armrest, tilted to the side, and he almost fell asleep again.
"He specifically came to see you, Mr. Ranpo."
Yosano Akiko gently tapped Edogawa Ranpo's shoulder with a hard folder, "You'd better get up quickly, the great detective should still be working, right?"
"At work... Waaah... But this sofa is too strong, I can't get up..."
The black-haired boy with dark green eyes frowned, struggled for a moment on the sofa he had just bought, then lost his will to fight as if he had failed, and completely succumbed to the soft and warm paradise.
The address of the Armed Detective Agency was chosen by the president, who said it would be convenient for the agency to handle logistics and paperwork.
However, since the detective agency has only been established for less than a year, it has only recruited a few support staff and only Yosano Akiko is a newly added official investigator. The combination of the large office space and the small number of members has resulted in the office being empty at present, with only a few desks placed near the door.
Even the sofa that Edogawa Ranpo is lying on was something he stared at in this sunny corner of the office for a long time before suddenly saying that he needed to put a sofa here.
The president agreed after hearing this, saying that it would be good to have a place for the customers who come to make requests to sit, so that they would not have to always borrow the booths in the first-floor cafe.
In particular, Edogawa Ranpo recently solved a major case that had been troubling the police with ease, which once again made the front page of the newspaper. He also took the opportunity to promote the Armed Detective Agency, resulting in a significant increase in the number of people requesting services from them recently.
On a weekday afternoon when almost no customers would come, someone actually asked to see the famous detective Edogawa Ranpo.
The only downside was that the president didn't expect that the sofa he bought wouldn't be used by the guests, but it allowed Ranpo to sleep here and enjoy one pleasant and warm afternoon after another.
Standing by the sofa, Yosano Akiko looked down at Edogawa Ranpo, who was lying on the sofa, tossing and turning in protest, and resisted the urge to twitch her eyes.
It's hard to believe that he's a year older than me.
He's certainly incredibly intelligent, but when it comes to personality, he's a complete spoiled brat...
“No matter what, 3 PM should be working time, Mr. Ranpo,” Yosano Akiko said. “I’m going to bring the guests over now.”
After saying that, she really left to go to the door to greet the person!
If the president were here, he definitely wouldn't do this. He could handle the guests himself; he only needs to use [Super Deduction] to solve the tasks assigned to him!
Edogawa Ranpo immediately protested with "Ughhhhh," but still obediently turned over and faced the newcomer.
It only said he was going to receive guests; there was no rule specifying which posture the detective had to use. So, is there a problem with him receiving guests while lying down? Absolutely not.
When Yosano Akiko, who worked as an investigator and part-time receptionist, returned, she found Edogawa Ranpo still lying on the sofa yawning: "…………"
She sighed helplessly, then turned to the customer and explained apologetically, "This is Detective Edogawa. Don't let his current super willful appearance fool you, actually... um..."
...That's just how capricious I am.
Yosano Akiko's words swirled on her tongue several times, but she couldn't come up with a decent reason.
After all, they came specifically to see Ranpo, and it was incredibly rude to see him lounging on the sofa like this, treating them with such indifference...
"It doesn't matter,"
The guest following behind her spoke; his youthful voice was both shallow and soft, with a slight lilt when he enunciated each word, creating a unique and pleasant melody.
"I am not entirely ignorant of the personality of the world's greatest detective."
Upon hearing this, Edogawa Ranpo's eyes snapped open.
He practically jumped up and turned to look in this direction—when he saw Ye Yihe walking towards him, he immediately waved to him happily.
"I can't believe I can still see you! That's wonderful!"
Perhaps because they had once considered each other as kindred spirits, Ranpo had a very high initial level of affection for Ye Yihe.
Ye Yihe: "…………"
Ye Yihe murmured, "This doesn't sound like a blessing."
"Wow, that's a huge compliment! It's a pleasant surprise even for me!"
Edogawa Ranpo was overjoyed and smiled even more broadly, even sharing a bag of potato chips from the coffee table with him, saying, "Congratulations—!"
Ye Yihe: ...Just how worried is this famous detective, Mr. Ranpo, that he's already been killed by Fyodor?
“Thank you,” he said, taking the bag of chips. “Actually, I’m here to ask for a favor…”
"As for me," Edogawa Ranpo said, taking a bag of potato chips and opening it himself, smoothly picking up where Ye Yihe left off, full of confidence, "Well, you specifically mentioned me, so it's only natural. After all, there's no case that I, the great detective, can't solve!"
"...the kimono-clad samurai who partnered with you."
Ye Yihe finished the second half.
Edogawa Ranpo: "…………………………"
"Potato chips! Give me back my potato chips!"
"Hey, this is clearly a congratulatory gift from you!"
"Take back the gift! How dare you bypass the famous detective in front of you and go to that president who only knows how to wield a sword for help!"
"…………"
Hiss.
"Aaaaaah, you actually dared to tear open the packaging right away!"
Edogawa Ranpo was extremely unwilling to accept defeat, and surprisingly, he stopped trying to get the potato chips back from Ye Yihe—even though they were just opened, he could easily continue eating them even if he wanted them back.
Ye Yihe revealed a slightly suppressed chuckle.
No wonder Dazai always likes to tease Chuuya until he gets angry...
"I came here to ask him if he had any connections in the government that would allow me to obtain intelligence from within the port Mafia organization."
"Having teased him enough," Ye Yihe soothed the famous detective, "it's not a special case that requires a famous detective to handle."
Edogawa Ranpo, still pouting and sulking, snorted.
"That old man wouldn't know any inside information about the port Mafia organization. If you want to know, you'll probably have to ask someone else for help."
Akiko Yosano, who was listening in: …………
When the president left in the morning, I kept calling him "President, President" and asking if he could take me on a mission. But when facing this familiar face, I suddenly became "Uncle".
"Another person?" Ye Yihe pressed.
Edogawa Ranpo remained silent.
"Please, Lord Ranpo, the most amazing detective in the world." Ye Yihe continued to soothe him with a smile, "Do you still like red bean mochi? How about I treat you to some?"
"Another person who previously formed a cooperative relationship with the president, but then broke off relations with him."
Edogawa Ranpo, whose hair was being stroked comfortably, finally adopted a "[That's more like it]" stance. "He's the final piece of the puzzle in the three-part plan, and he's in charge of the nighttime hours. The promised red bean mochi is a must, and I want more!"
"No problem, you can eat as much as you want."
Ye Yihe heard a new term again, "Three-part concept?"
"The 'Three-Hour Concept' divides a day in Yokohama into 'Daytime,' 'Dusk,' and 'Night.'"
Edogawa Ranpo laid out three potato chips on the coffee table. "This biggest one is from the daytime and belongs to the Special Abilities Department."
"The smallest one is [Twilight], which is under the management of the Armed Detective Agency."
"As for this [Night] area... the original plan was to find a powerful underworld organization to manage it, but obviously, it is quite difficult to establish or seize such an organization, so it has been delayed for a long time."
Ye Yihe pondered for a long time, then said, pointing to the three potato chips, "Let me confirm this, "So, you're dividing Yokohama's security according to real time, instead of using some metaphor [daytime represents legal, dusk represents gray areas, and nighttime represents illegal], and assigning them to the Special Abilities Department, the Armed Detective Agency, and some illegal organization respectively?"
He emphasized the words "time in reality".
"That's right, that's exactly it."
Edogawa Ranpo ate the three potato chips in one bite. "The so-called [yakuza organization] is actually the Port Mafia, but I don't know what the situation is like there. I heard that things aren't going very smoothly."
"…………"
Even Ye Yihe, who wasn't particularly strong in terms of a sense of justice and responsibility, was somewhat shocked by the news.
Huh... delegating the law enforcement powers that the government should be responsible for to non-governmental organizations? ... Seriously? And even handing over an entire night to an organization whose actions are completely illegal?
He wanted to ask on behalf of the city's ordinary residents: what are they paying so many taxes to the government every year, entrusting it to choose a lucky illegal organization to ensure their personal safety at night?
No matter how you look at it, an illegal organization gaining the power to maintain order won't suddenly transform into a selfless and impartial defender of the law—he's saying, if the people in an illegal organization were willing to do legal things, how did they become an illegal organization in the first place?
Although he's not exactly a good person in the conventional sense, well... hopefully this is just a temporary transitional strategy in the current chaotic state of affairs.
"My goals might conflict a bit with that person's,"
After a long pause, Ye Yihe slowly spoke, "He probably won't agree to help me. Is there any other way?"
Edogawa Ranpo pondered for a moment, holding a potato chip, his brow furrowing slightly. "It's impossible that the Special Abilities Division is completely unaware of the Port Mafia's inner workings, but we'll have to ask the president for help, though..."
Ye Yihe understood what he meant.
If his goal conflicts with that of the person who intends to join the Nighttime Hour of the Three-Hour Concept, then it is highly likely that he will conflict with the Three-Hour Concept, and may even ruin the Three-Hour Concept plan.
Therefore, it's hard to say whether the president, who has already joined the "Three-Times Concept" at dusk, will agree to lend a hand.
[Aren't you going to join that person's "Three-Part Concept"?]
Fyodor, inside the palace of consciousness, let out a few indistinct chuckles, like a ripe, full fruit whose skin is pierced by a knife tip, and at the slightest touch, it overflows with sweet, tempting crimson juice.
[This doesn't conflict with my original plan; it only requires minor modifications to establish a cooperative relationship with the other party.]
As for whether the honey-like juice is poisonous, one has to risk their life to taste it themselves to find out.
“I have a general idea of the situation,” Ye Yihe stood up. “I’ll treat you to dessert at the teahouse another day.”
"It's settled then!"
Edogawa Ranpo, who was still struggling with his thoughts, immediately relaxed and gave him a bright and cute smile. "You can't go back on your word!"
Ye Yihe smiled and made a pinky promise with him, promising not to go back on her word before he let her go.
As for Fyodor's plan.
"Didn't I already say? I refused the suggestion to send Oda Sakunosuke to assassinate the leader,"
Ye Yihe emphasized this to Fedor as they walked down the street.
"I have my own ideas."
He just needs a little more information.
…………
Although Edogawa Ranpo hinted that "the president might not agree to help," a few days later, a thick package in a brown paper bag was still anonymously delivered, addressed to him.
Inside the sealed package was a stack of printed documents. Although not very detailed, they covered most of the key areas that needed attention.
Ye Yihe didn't need to guess who guessed his address and sent it, because the first page of white paper clearly had several large characters printed on it.
The Detective is Omnipotent
Just seeing those words made Ye Yihe smile – he could even imagine Ranpo saying those smug words to him in a proud tone, his beautiful dark green eyes looking lively and intelligent, like clear gems under the refraction of light.
Ranbu, you've really been a great help. I'll definitely treat you to a couple more fancy desserts another day.
Now that he has this valuable information, he can proceed with his actions with confidence and boldness.
"Wow, they really have a lot of aggressive ability users in reserve."
The gathered people sat in a circle. Dazai Osamu reached out and flipped through the stack of papers. "Including the general distribution of power... Hmm, it turns out that part of Leibo Street has also been occupied."
“That’s for sure,” Chuuya Nakahara clicked his tongue, recalling a slightly unpleasant memory. “Their smuggling route passed through there. After all, it’s the closest slum to the port, and the government is unwilling to get involved in managing it.”
"That's true."
After Dazai Osamu nodded, he raised his index finger as if he could read the other person's mind. "By the way, [Sheep] later went to steal things from other organizations' smuggling warehouses, but his base was attacked instead, several people were captured, and a large sum of money was paid to ransom them."
Back when Nakahara Chuuya was in [Sheep], Shirase Fuichiro used his power to amass a large amount of resources, becoming so wealthy that even his everyday watch was a high-end item plundered from other organizations.
The sheep have now returned to the time when they could only rely on weapons to protect themselves, and naturally they can no longer hold onto resources far exceeding their capabilities.
"…………"
Chuuya Nakahara looked somber for a moment, then shook his head. "I have nothing to do with [the sheep] anymore."
Even if he goes back, what Shirase and the others will be happy about is not that [Nakahara Chuuya] is back, but that the powerful [gravity ability] is back.
"Oh, I was just casually mentioning the current situation of [sheep] that Chuuya doesn't really care about."
Dazai Osamu casually looked away. "The weak also have their own way of surviving. Forcing them to keep up with you will only backfire."
In their views on the nature of the world, Dazai and Fyodor were indeed very similar.
"Then that's settled."
After everyone had roughly browsed through the materials, Ye Yihe placed the stack of papers in front of Pushkin, saying, "Here you go, Pushkin."
—In Pushkin's eyes, his boss gradually revealed a devilishly elegant smile.
"Memorize it all within three days, without a single mistake. Ivan will supervise you."
Pushkin, who thought he was just there to make up the numbers, thought: "...Huh??"
“You are a key figure in our operation this time,” Ye Yihe said, patting him on the shoulder and entrusting him with a heavy responsibility that puts immense pressure on him. “I can trust you to do it, right? After all, you persevered through such a difficult weight loss journey.”
Pushkin was sweating profusely, “…………”
No, he was able to lose weight because he was exploited by this ruthless boss...
He actually felt that it didn't matter to him at all if he didn't lose weight!
"Pushkin?" Chuuya Nakahara blinked. "I thought it would be Odasaku and me going."
Avoid defensive systems whenever possible, and be able to instantly determine whether an enemy is a superhuman, their strength, and how to eliminate them without making a sound. Ultimately, storm the top-floor leader's office and take them down.
This process is incredibly smooth. If it goes well, the port mafia's influence can be completely taken over in less than a week—almost all other organizations do it this way.
The only difference is whether it's an external, violent, forced incursion or an internal self-disintegration and reorganization.
Moreover, Oda Sakunosuke's ability is very useful for avoiding danger and managing personnel, and his gravity ability can exert great power in battle and provide various unexpected routes for the enemy when sneaking around, such as the ceiling or the outer wall.
Ivan, a rock-type ability user who can both attack and defend, is responsible for staying behind to protect Ye Yihe and will not infiltrate as a combatant.
As for Pushkin... well, putting aside the virus that takes forty-eight hours to take effect, to be honest, his own offensive power is only enough to bully ordinary people...
Pushkin, receiving several strange looks: …………
I have a feeling that I'm being subtly looked down upon. Damn it, it can't be just his imagination, can it?
"Although these members who had committed too many evil deeds with the leader deserved to be killed,"
Ye Yihe looked surprised. "But if you and Oda Sakunosuke were to kill them one by one, how long would that take?"
Even if you're going to go on a rampage, you still need a stamina bar to sustain you, right?
"Huh, kill them all?" Chuuya Nakahara was taken aback. "Aren't you going to subdue the organization's forces? You're more than qualified to be the leader."
"To become a leader?"
Ye Yihe laughed, "Why would I want to be their leader?"
Even Dazai Osamu couldn't help but let out a "Hmm?".
If he hadn't been forcibly knocked unconscious and pulled back after falling into the water last time, he would probably have been rescued again and brought back to the port mafia, continuing to stay by Dr. Mori's side.
Meanwhile, the leader's personal physician was secretly plotting how to take over the organization's power without causing chaos.
Therefore, when Dazai Osamu learned that Ye Yihe was also thinking about how to deal with the port mafia, he subconsciously equated him with Dr. Mori's ultimate goal.
Who wouldn't want the power to do whatever they want?
"How can anyone take over an illegal organization full of wicked people?"
Everyone present heard Ye Yihe tap the table to seal the deal, "Besides, don't forget that the port mafia is still trying to kill Chuuya." If Chuuya weren't strong, he would have been killed by now.
"And I will send them into battle royale mode—those who survive will be sent to prison, and those who don't will be forgiven by God."
Everyone: "...?!"
Amidst the stunned silence, only Fyodor, within his palace of consciousness, chuckled softly and genuinely—as if he himself were the one willingly drinking the juice.
Behold, this is his half-body, his [punishment].
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