Chapter 33 (Exclusive to Jinjiang Literature City)
When Edogawa Ranpo decided to go out alone, he was met with unanimous opposition from the Armed Detective Agency. But who is Edogawa Ranpo?
That guy was extremely willful; he would do whatever he wanted, and forcibly stopping him would only make his rebellious nature worse.
"Let him be," the white-haired president said.
Once the person in charge had spoken, even those who disagreed could only keep quiet.
And so, Edogawa Ranpo left Yokohama alone.
He doesn't know the way or how to take public transportation. He used to have someone accompany him when he went out, but not anymore.
Without constraints, Edogawa Ranpo's already carefree style made him seem unlikeable.
Those who stopped him from playing with the pigeons were ruthlessly accused of embezzling public funds, and those who scolded him for being impolite were revealed to be fraudsters...
In short, before Edogawa Ranpo even arrived in Beika City, he had already incurred the resentment of a group of people. If he hadn't been so clever and always managed to resolve these crises with his own brains, he probably would have been buried in cement and drowned in Tokyo Bay long ago.
Upon arriving in Beika City, Edogawa Ranpo strolled around the streets while eating an ice cream cone, eventually stopping in front of the Kudo residence.
Because the Kudo residence had been uninhabited for a long time, the garden was overgrown with weeds, and the weather was not good today, making it look gloomy, like the place where the demon king lived in a fairy tale.
Edogawa Ranpo stared at the courtyard for a while, then took out his glasses and put them on, finally pursing his lips.
"What?!" Edogawa Ranpo couldn't help but retort. "If someone lives here, at least clean the house. Is it some lazybones living in there?"
Subaru Okiya, who happened to overhear these words: "..."
"Excuse me, are you here to see the owner of this house?" Subaru Okiya asked softly, carrying some groceries from the supermarket. The biscuits in the bag caught Edogawa Ranpo's attention.
It's his favorite kind of cookie.
Edogawa Ranpo blinked and replied, "No."
He just happened to be passing by.
Subaru Okiya didn't believe him. For people like them, skepticism of everything around them was the way to survive.
"Where did you buy these cookies?" Edogawa Ranpo suddenly felt hungry, so he pointed to the plastic bag in Okiya Subaru's hand and asked, "Can you take me there?"
At times like this, he hates himself for not knowing the way, as it really hinders his search for delicious food!
Subaru Okiya found the childish young man in front of him even more suspicious.
"You're not from Beika City?" Subaru Okiya asked.
Edogawa Ranpo said with dissatisfaction, "Lord Ranpo is from Yokohama, so it's normal that he doesn't know the way around Beika City."
Upon hearing the name Yokohama, Subaru Okiya couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
That's a gathering place for people with supernatural abilities in Japan, and...
His glasses flashed slightly due to his movement.
Subaru Okiya also knew the name Ranpo.
So, this young man in front of me is Edogawa Ranpo from the Armed Detective Agency?
Haven't they always operated within Yokohama? Why are they suddenly in Beika City? Is the supernatural community planning something new?
Perhaps he had been lost in thought for too long, because Edogawa Ranpo was getting impatient: "Fine, Ranpo-sama can find it by himself!"
The young man, fuming, prepared to leave.
"Wait a moment!"
Subaru Okiya opened his mouth to stop them, but then a black sedan slowly stopped not far from them, and an elderly man dressed as a butler got out of the car.
The old man approached the two of them and respectfully said to Edogawa Ranpo, "Mr. Ranpo, I've come to greet you."
"You're so slow," Edogawa Ranpo said, rubbing his stomach. "I'm starving."
"I'm very sorry," the old butler apologized sincerely.
Because of the old butler's appearance, Subaru Okiya was unable to extract any more information from Edogawa Ranpo and could only watch them get into the car and drive away.
To prevent his address from being tracked, the driver deliberately took a long detour and finally stopped in front of an ordinary house not too far from the Kudo residence.
Pushing open the door, Edogawa Ranpo immediately noticed a bespectacled elementary school student. He blinked and said, "You're here for a free meal too?"
Conan Edogawa: "..."
Actually, he came to Jingyuan to extract information; getting a free meal was secondary. However, the person in front of him seemed to genuinely just want a free meal.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot at the door." Jing Yuan walked over with a cup of hot water. "Come in and eat, or the food will get cold."
"Yay!" Edogawa Ranpo's interest soared instantly upon hearing that he could eat something delicious.
Unlike Edogawa Ranpo, Edogawa Conan didn't enjoy his meal.
"If the chef sees that expression on your face, he'll be angry," Jing Yuan reminded him with a smile. "Eat first, then you can ask whatever you want. Don't look so bitter and resentful. In this world, only freedom and good food are worth cherishing."
“That’s right, that’s right!” Edogawa Ranpo agreed with both hands. “Even if you want to blow up the Black Organization’s headquarters today, you have to fill your stomach first.”
"How did you know?... Never mind." Conan Edogawa had given up on figuring out why this person he was meeting for the first time knew that his enemy was the Black Organization.
If he can accept that GIN's true identity is an undercover agent, what else can't he accept?
So, Conan Edogawa stopped overthinking and happily joined Edogawa Ranpo, who shared the same name as his favorite detective novelist, in enjoying delicious food.
After finishing their meal, the two detectives patted their round bellies with satisfaction.
"I feel like I wouldn't have any regrets even if I died right now," Edogawa Ranpo said, squinting his eyes.
Conan Edogawa, as usual, retorted, "It is indeed delicious, but it's not to that extent, is it?"
Listening to the two little ones bickering, Jingyuan scratched Mimi's chin while replying to Fu Xuan's message with the Jade Sign.
"Why would Mr. Ranpo suddenly come to Beika City?" Conan Edogawa finally remembered the important matter.
Edogawa Ranpo didn't hide anything: "Kagemoto invited me here."
"Is it because of the Black Organization?" Conan Edogawa immediately perked up.
Edogawa Ranpo shook his head: "Ilya can handle that organization's matter by himself. I'm here for something else."
"Ilya?" Conan Edogawa rummaged through his memories but found no relevant information. However, the name... "Is he Russian?"
“It’s Gin,” Edogawa Ranpo said. “His real name is Ilya. He was an undercover agent who infiltrated the Black Organization during the Soviet era. What? Didn’t Kagemoto tell you that?”
"No," said Conan Edogawa.
Previously, Jingyuan had told him about Gin's undercover identity in order to prevent him from leading the FBI and Japanese Public Security to hunt down Gin again, and had not mentioned it any further.
"So he's a Soviet, no wonder..." He's always been at odds with Shuichi Akai.
As a learned detective, Conan Edogawa also knows about the feud between the two countries behind them.
Ah, now that I think about it, Gin's pursuit of the Black Organization's spies must have also been partly motivated by revenge for his own country. After all, when that red giant fell, the spies sent by those countries did quite a few dirty tricks.
Perhaps GIN would feel a sense of joy, thinking, "Ah, I killed another capitalist lackey today," even if he didn't kill a single undercover agent.
With a string of hellish jokes churning in his mind, Edogawa Conan wondered how he would ever be able to look Gin in the eye again.
Speaking of which, could it be that the Black Organization's boss was lenient and treated GIN well because he knew GIN's true identity?
To his speculation, Jingyuan's reply was simply: "Guess."
Rolling his eyes without any decorum, Conan Edogawa said, "Mr. Kagemoto, do you really enjoy teasing kids like that?"
"Don't you find this interesting?" Jing Yuan didn't deny that he was finding amusement in him. "Besides, you're a detective. What detective just asks the teacher for the answer? You should find out the truth little by little yourself."
“This is not the same as an exam.” Conan Edogawa did not think there was anything wrong with him asking Kagemoto for an explanation. “The Black Organization is too involved, and I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t do anything,” Jingyuan said. “That’s also what Gin meant.”
When it comes to Gin, Kagemoto is always very cautious, so he had already asked Gin himself before telling Conan Edogawa that Gin was an undercover agent.
Gin was shocked for a long time when he learned that Shinichi Kudo was Conan Edogawa. After a long silence, he finally said, "The official fact that he shrunk must not be known to the authorities."
Regardless of which official source it is.
No one can resist the temptation of rejuvenation, and even less can anyone resist the temptation of immortality. The people of the Immortal Ship in the past could not, and some of them still cannot, even if it means falling into the trap of becoming the Abundant People, becoming monsters, becoming the most despised beings in the universe, they still do not want to give up immortality.
The situation with Conan Edogawa is actually quite bad, because many people know that he is Shinichi Kudo, but fortunately, it has not yet been discovered by the official Japanese and American authorities.
Although Rei Furuya and Shuichi Akai have a terrible relationship and fight whenever they meet, they tacitly keep in mind that the higher-ups behind them know that Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo and that Ai Haibara has a drug that can make people young again.
These two have been covering for Conan Edogawa, but Kagemoto still doesn't believe that the US and Japanese officials are unaware of this.
First of all, this experiment has been going on for many years, starting with Shiho Miyano's parents' generation. Moreover, these experiments have been secretly supported by the government; otherwise, the Black Organization would not have been able to protect the results of the drug research.
A mere criminal gang could never possibly stand up to the power of the government, not to mention the considerable number of US troops stationed in Japan.
Furthermore, Jingyuan also learned from Gin that the Black Organization is actually very clear about the identities of its undercover agents, and even assigns them special code names, such as Whiskey.
Within the Black Organization, there are three individuals codenamed Whiskey: Shuichi Akai, Rei Furuya, and Hiromitsu Morofushi. All three are undercover agents.
What are the odds that all three whiskeys could be undercover agents? The answer is, of course, if they were jointly designated by the Black Organization and the US/Japan authorities.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 16:32:46 on January 16, 2024 and 18:49:56 on January 27, 2024!
Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: Shark Youser and Mountain Spirit (1 each);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Bodhi Seed 5 bottles; KITE 3 bottles; Tomorrow 2 bottles; Cat Doesn't Eat Fish 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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