Chapter 4, Chapter 4. What? You want to call the police?!
Go to bed early and get up early, and you'll be full of energy.
With a slice of toast in his mouth, Zhuge Tongzhi freed his hands to take out his ID card from his backpack and handed it to the policewoman in front of him.
"SmithMasayoshi!" The small, dark-haired girl looked up and apologized loudly, a little embarrassed. "I remembered I forgot to turn off the gas after I went to the bathroom yesterday, so I rushed home."
"It's alright." The policewoman in charge of receiving them was smart and capable but had a gentle voice. She reached out and ruffled the girl's hair. "We spoke with Mr. Midorikawa on the phone. Just remember to come today to give your statement."
Hikaru Midorikawa is the name of her guardian who has been wandering around for years.
Zhuge Tongzhi nodded silently in agreement with her words, his mind racing. So it wasn't a non-existent fake identity, but a real person after all.
She overturned her previous "navigation system identity generation theory" but suddenly felt confused. If her current identity was real, then why did she look exactly like her counterpart from another world? What had she experienced in the first seven years of her life?
Even if we take a step back and say that he leaves a sum of money and lets a little girl live alone in a studio apartment, then that Midorikawa Hikaru is just too unreliable!
It's better if she doesn't show up; she doesn't have a script.
"Come on, come in with your friends." After checking the identification and handing it back to Zhuge Tongzhi, the policewoman stood up, smiled at the two children in front of her, and turned to walk into the police station of the First Investigation Division.
"Hi----!"
Zhuge Tongzhi responded in a drawn-out tone, naturally turning his head to Conan, who had a sullen expression and arms crossed, and said, "Edogawa, let's go in together."
Conan, who had been standing right next to the girl but hadn't given her a single glance: ...
After Zhuge Tongzhi finished speaking, he stepped towards the door.
"Hey! Zhuge!" Conan couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward to grab the girl's right wrist—he knew her left arm was injured and had been trembling involuntarily even when she handed over her documents.
After a chaotic day yesterday, Conan had too many questions on his lips, but when the girl, who was full of secrets, turned to look at him, the great detective with his big blue eyes finally suppressed all his sharpness and simply asked in a cold voice.
"I came here yesterday and gave a statement for two hours," Conan said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with resentment as he looked at the girl whose eyes were darting around. "Didn't you even have time to see a doctor?"
Unexpectedly, he asked this question. Zhuge Tongzhi was stunned for a moment. Her tense expression relaxed, but after thinking about the reason in response to Conan's question, the girl's expression became indescribable again.
It's hard to say. After we broke up, I don't even know if I'll have a place to live. Zhuge Tongzhi thought to himself, "I don't even know if I have an ID card or medical insurance."
After secretly leaving the troublesome task of taking notes to Conan, she spent half a day studying how to use O-Navigation before she learned how to set her own destination and then found some historical routes she had previously navigated on the system page.
The navigation app used most often was a saved, frequently used route, with the route name labeled with "address".
With nowhere else to go, Zhuge Tongzhi didn't hesitate for long and selected a route to start navigation.
She followed the route through the alley, stepped over trash cans to climb over someone's wall, pushed aside the discarded furniture piled in the corner, crawled through a hole in the wall that had somehow appeared, and crawled out covered in dust.
Finally, relying on the one usable arm he still had, he managed to pull himself over a wall of hedges, only to find himself covered in dust and grime in what appeared to be a well-managed residential area.
Zhuge Tongzhi, who was guided around the main gate and climbed over the wall to get in: ...
Hey! Don't let the shortest route lead you astray!
Please stick to the main road, OD Navigation!
By the time she had thoroughly checked the house, it was already very late.
Moreover, she had no idea about Japan's medical insurance system and medical procedures, nor did she know what she would encounter in the talent-filled nights of Beika Town, so she simply decided not to go out.
Zhuge Tongzhi slowly stuffed the last bit of toast into her mouth, then showed Conan her phone with its screen lit up. The screen was loading a navigation page and showing that she had arrived at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, with a green completed route displayed.
She navigated from her home to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
“I just arrived in Tokyo recently, I don’t know the way, and I’ve never seen a doctor before.”
After confirming that Conan had seen clearly, the girl with black hair and black eyes withdrew her hand and began answering the medical questions.
Conan was caught off guard and stunned, not expecting this reason.
Zhuge Tongzhi wiped the cream off her lips and continued, "Although Conan didn't ask anything else, it's better for her to take the initiative to explain than for that damned, sharp-eyed detective to discover the problem."
“We ran out of food at home yesterday, and the GPS told me that it was a shorter route to the supermarket by going through that shopping mall.”
That's why I was kidnapped along with you.
She recalled the urgent news report on the shopping mall hostage situation on TV yesterday, and subtly added the information she had learned to her half-true, half-false explanation.
"The people who arrested me told me their destination in the car. It should be the stronghold of that cult. I secretly used the GPS to navigate to that building and found out their route."
Only then will everyone know where to stop them.
"I didn't mean to stand you up. I thought I'd be back soon before I left, so I left some soup cooking in the pot."
That's why I left first, not because I didn't want to give a statement.
Zhuge Tongzhi spoke logically, then, after thinking for a moment, took out some cookies he had collected at home and stuffed them into Conan's hand as an apology.
"I don't know how long it will take to get home from there, and I don't know any neighbors, so I just wanted to get back quickly and turn off the stove." After the girl finished speaking, she took out a piece of black hard candy and stuffed it into Conan's hand. "I'm sorry, Edogawa, have some candy."
"If you eat this, you're not allowed to be angry with me."
At first glance, it seems like a simple, unexpected case, but upon closer inspection, it reveals the backstory of a primary school student's survival adventure in Tokyo. Conan was stunned. After thinking for a while, the black-haired, blue-eyed detective silently unwrapped the candy and stuffed it into his mouth.
Zhuge Tongzhi's last words indicated that he was no longer angry with her.
After flipping through the entire page, Zhuge Tongzhi, beaming with joy, pulled Conan along, and the two elementary school students walked side by side into the police station.
In the mouth, a dried plum is embedded in the center of the mellow sugar cube. The tartness of the plum breaks the cloying sweetness, making the mouth water and the taste sweet and sour.
Conan held the brown sugar plum candy in his mouth to one side, his speech a little slurred from the sour plum flavor. He casually changed the subject, "You carry candy with you? I've never tried this flavor before."
"I didn't eat breakfast, so I have low blood sugar."
Zhuge Tongzhi was also surprised to find the brown sugar plum candy he had always liked here.
Seeing that Conan found it intriguing, she reached into her backpack again and pulled out two candies, stuffing them into Conan's hand, and casually added, "I couldn't buy any ingredients yesterday, but luckily we still have some left at home."
Suddenly realizing that he was eating candy that someone else had given him to replenish his blood sugar, Conan held the candy and felt a mix of emotions. Empathy struck at his conscience at that moment.
Upon entering the police station, Sato Miwako led a somewhat reserved and shy-looking male police officer over, took the two children to a conference room, and told them that the officers from the Explosives Division had some questions for them and that they would need to wait a moment.
After saying that, she went out with the policeman who introduced himself as Takagi Wataru to get some tea.
Conan and Zhuge Tongzhi sat on the sofa, the two chibi-style elementary school students with their legs dangling off the edge of the sofa, obediently waiting for the police officers to return.
Zhuge Tongzhi put his backpack aside, dangled his left hand and pulled out another piece of toast from inside. With his right hand and teeth working together, he deftly tore open the packaging, dangling his legs as he ate the bread self-sufficiently.
Because of the accident caused by low blood sugar and staying up late, she not only went to bed early yesterday, but also packed her backpack full of snacks before leaving home today to prevent herself from getting hungry.
Aside from his left hand not being in great shape, he is at least in high spirits.
After all, we'll be venturing into Beika Town Hospital later, which is also a place where accidents frequently occur.
Zhuge Tongzhi chewed on his toast, his gaze vaguely fixed on a point in mid-air, where the blue and white navigation prompts of O-DreamSky were floating there just like yesterday.
"Daily path has been generated"
"Route point: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (Arrived)"
"Unfinished route points: Beikacho Central Hospital Outpatient Department, Beikacho Supermarket, Poirot Cafe Sandwiches"
Daily route completion rate: 25%
The newly appeared daily path looks very ordinary and overlaps with her plan to "seek medical treatment, shop, and find food" for the day. It's just unclear why she specifically mentioned sandwiches; is it some kind of specialty dish?
But why would O-D navigation be so unusual?
With a question mark over the answer, Zhuge Tongzhi looked away from the navigation page, took the tea from Officer Sato, and thanked him along with Conan.
Takagi Wataru was nowhere to be found, but Sato Miwako had already begun her routine questioning. Zhuge Tongzhi clearly recounted the reasons he had just explained to Conan, but omitted more personal details.
Just as they were discussing how to defuse the bomb, four tall, long-legged police officers rushed into the conference room. They were chatting amongst themselves, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
"Date-senpai, this is the place."
Takagi's slightly weak voice rang out.
"Haha, Takagi, you're already quite impressive! But I really didn't expect to run into you two here."
A gruff, middle-aged man chuckled and praised him, the latter part of his voice rising in surprise.
"Well, it's the squad leader's fault. You transferred to Tokyo without telling us." A cheerful male voice chimed in. It was the police officer we met yesterday. "Jinpei and I were helping Miss Natalie move her things when we found out you were coming."
“That’s right, class monitor.” This was a voice with more texture and magnetism.
The four of them chatted idly as they pushed open the door and entered.
The missing Officer Takagi had gone to pick someone up, and now he was being held by the neck by a burly officer who was probably more than 1.9 meters tall. He was slightly bowing to show respect to his senior, but his demeanor clearly showed his admiration and closeness to the man.
Behind them were two police officers from the Explosives Division, Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda, both of whom were smiling and talking to the short-haired officer who had turned around.
Conan looked away from the unfamiliar police officer, knowing that the main focus now would be on how Zhuge Tongzhi defused the bomb. To be honest, he was also curious: were there really any brochures on the market that taught people how to defuse bombs?
Or perhaps the other person is in the same boat as you.
Conan, who went from a 17-year-old high school student to an elementary school student overnight, knows that he is not the only one. Another person he knows is currently living in Professor Agasa's house, and they both possess knowledge, action and decision-making abilities that do not match their age.
These abilities may be related to intelligence and talent, but most of them need to be honed over time and honed into instincts that save oneself from danger through daily use, and become the 'flash of inspiration' that allows one to quickly sift through their knowledge reserves when faced with a puzzle.
So what's your situation? Conan looked at Zhuge Tongzhi. The black-haired, black-eyed girl just spat out a mouthful of tea with a "pfft" and started coughing uncontrollably. She quickly lowered her head, but then quickly looked up at the door again.
Then he quickly lowered his head again.
In that brief moment of looking up, Conan seemed to see a familiar gleam in her eyes that seemed to say, "Holy crap, there's a handsome guy here," an expression he often saw on his childhood friend Sonoko Suzuki's face.
Conan: ...
The four police officers who entered through the door looked at the girl who was coughing loudly, puzzled.
"Cough, oh, I'm sorry, cough cough, I choked a little." Zhuge Tongzhi awkwardly took the tissue from Sato Miwako and wiped the tea stains off his pants. Luckily, he had already drunk most of it, otherwise it would have been embarrassing.
But Zhuge Tongzhi, who had lowered his head, could hardly hide his shocked expression.
Is that Matsuda Jinpei?
Is that the police officer who was quickly taken offline in "The Shocking Metropolitan Police Department: 12 Million Hostages"?
Was he the fool who transferred to the First Investigation Division to avenge his friend, wore a black suit for three years to mourn, and ultimately sacrificed himself for the interests of the citizens?
The person she had only glimpsed briefly in her childhood was now standing vividly in front of her, with her childhood friend, who was half a head taller than her, and her class monitor from police academy standing beside her... Zhuge Tongzhi quickly deduced the identities of the two people.
She didn't finish watching all the thousands of episodes of Detective Conan. The complicated things in real life were gradually eroding her memories of the cartoon she watched as a child. She only remembered that in the end, all three of them died young with regrets, and there was also a public security undercover police officer named Morofushi Hiromitsu.
She recognized Matsuda Jinpei not only because of the sunglasses on his face and his unruly curly hair, but also because the fireworks that bloomed on the Ferris wheel on the television screen many years ago instantly stole away her childhood smile.
It was so heartbreaking, so regrettable, so sudden, and I've remembered it all to this day.
Were they still alive when she arrived? Zhuge Tongzhi was briefly puzzled, but soon stopped tormenting herself with her hazy memories. A joy that could rewrite tragedy filled her heart, as light as if she had plunged into a bubble bath.
The girl with black hair and black eyes quickly poured herself a cup of tea to stop coughing, then looked up at the living, breathing Matsuda Jinpei walking towards her with bright eyes, and called out loudly, "Good morning, Officer! My name is Shukatsu Toushi!"
When Matsuda Jinpei was greeted so intimately by a child for the first time, he paused as he was about to sit down on the sofa. Before he could respond, his childhood friend pushed him onto the sofa and then yanked off his sunglasses.
The young man's handsome, yet menacing features were revealed. He frowned slightly, looking at his childhood friend sitting next to him, and warned in an unfriendly tone, "Hagi, give me back my sunglasses."
"Hey—no way, we don't need sunglasses indoors at all." Kenji Hagiwara stuffed his sunglasses into his pocket, and when he saw out of the corner of his eye that Zhuge Tongzhi was not afraid at all when facing the sullen face of Matsuda Jinpei, his smile widened.
"Hello! I'm Kenji Hagihara!"
The tallest man was actually the most approachable person in the room. He raised his hand high, introducing himself as if answering a teacher's question, and tilted his head to look at Zhuge Tongzhi, "We met yesterday, can I call you Tong-chan?"
hiss.
Zhuge Tongzhi looked at Kenji Hagiwara, whose eyes drooped at the corners, had classic puppy-dog eyes but showed no weakness, and whose every strand of hair was full of charm from head to toe, and leaned back slightly.
Is Matsuda Jinpei's childhood friend really that hard to handle?
"Of course!" she replied, barely managing to come to her senses.
Kiri-chan means "Little Kiri," and "chan" is a common nickname for girls in Japan. In Chinese, it can be translated as "little" or something similar.
"Alright!" Matsuda Jinpei shoved Hagiwara Kenji's face away without hesitation, interrupting the man's continued charm. He was a little fed up with his friend who was popular with men and women of all ages and had amazing interpersonal skills. "You two have only just met."
Despite his complaints, Matsuda Jinpei knew that his childhood friend was a policeman with an absolute sense of justice and moral standards. Although building good relationships was a natural and easy talent for him, he had never toyed with anyone's feelings.
On the contrary, every relationship he had ended because of his easily misunderstood temperament. Now he is almost thirty and still single. Every time he is heartbroken, he drags Matsuda Jinpei out to drink.
If there's fieldwork the next day, he'll have to cover for me, which is annoying.
"Well, Kiri-chan and I have been through thick and thin together!"
Kenji Hagiwara playfully hinted at the road chase, and Zhuge Tongzhi couldn't help but smile as he thought of the police officer's unrestrained driving skills.
"Do we all need to introduce ourselves?" The burly, crew-cut police officer scratched his head and joined the conversation with a smile. "Hello, little friend, I'm Date Wataru."
The way he looked at Zhuge Tongzhi reminded the girl of her father's good friend, the uncle who had a son but always wanted a daughter. He always looked at her with such affection and then gently patted her head.
Zhuge Tongzhi gave Date Hang a sweet smile.
"Hello, my name is Matsuda Jinpei (まつだじんぺい)."
Seeing that the girl didn't object, Matsuda Jinpei followed his childhood friend. He sat up straight behind Date Wataru and introduced himself, then went straight to the point, "You were the one who defused the bomb in the mall yesterday, right?"
Hey, you can't talk to kids like that.
The other officers present all had the same thought in their minds.
The experienced Kenji Hagiwara was fully prepared to handle the situation, but the elementary school student in front of him was not intimidated by the serious Jinpei Matsuda. Instead, he sat up straight like him and answered loudly, "Yes!"
“My dad taught me how to defuse bombs back in our hometown. The bomb wasn’t sealed properly, so I gave it a try.”
The girl facing Matsuda Jinpei had a clear, childlike voice. Her innocent pronunciation, combined with her serious expression, made her incredibly cute if you ignored what she was saying.
At least Date Wataru and Takagi Wataru felt a slight melting in their hearts, but Conan, sitting next to the girl, twitched at the corner of his mouth—what kind of explanation was that?
"Where did you live before?" Matsuda Jinpei asked Conan's question with a frown, not quite understanding the logic behind it. "How did you end up learning bomb disposal?"
Before Sato Miwako could open the file and give an answer, Zhuge Tongzhi had already shouted out, "I used to live in Texas, on the 50th planet! My dad said that where we live, bomb disposal and gun handling are things every kid has to learn!"
The police officers present: ...
Conan: ...
Suddenly, I dared not ask this little girl, whose parents had passed away, any further questions. The skills of defusing bombs and locking guns had somehow found a plausible explanation in an elementary school student.
Conan had already taken a statement about what happened next, and the two elementary school students supplemented each other's accounts of the road chase, bringing the statement to a close.
The officers' questions were answered, and it was just lunchtime.
After closing the handwritten case record, Sato Miwako capped her pen and opened the conference room door. The group led the two elementary school students who had jumped off the sofa to the police station entrance. The responsible policewoman planned to drive them directly home.
“Um, Matsuda-kun.” But Zhuge Tongzhi awkwardly tugged at Matsuda Jinpei’s sleeve with his right hand.
The police officer, who was about to put on his sunglasses, stopped, put the cigarette he had taken out back into his pocket, and looked down at her questioningly.
"May I invite you to lunch? I know a restaurant that makes really good sandwiches," the girl asked him in a clear, cheerful voice.
Conan, who was walking beside her, heard this standard date invitation and turned to look at the girl in shock.
Wait, Zhuge, are you calling the police?
"And Hagiwara-kun too." Zhuge Tongzhi easily pulled Matsuda Jinpei, who seemed frozen, and turned to look at Hagiwara Kenji, who seemed to be desperately trying to suppress his laughter, and extended the invitation again.
The man with medium-length hair coughed and helped his childhood friend, who was standing upright in front of him.
"You want to invite two more?" Conan couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to say something.
"I left the detonator/tube I removed at home. I might have to trouble you officers to pick it up," Zhuge Tongzhi added naturally before he could speak. "But I haven't had breakfast yet. Can we go eat first?"
"Sorry, I just moved to Japan. Is there something wrong with what I said?" The black-haired, black-eyed elementary school student tilted his head back and stared at the relieved Matsuda Jinpei with his bright eyes again, his tone tinged with caution.
Kenji Hagiwara, who was standing next to Matsuda Jinpei, glanced at his expression and finally couldn't hold back his laughter, bursting out loudly. He was then punched hard by his childhood friend and forced to shut up.
"It's nothing... We just... don't invite people like that often." Matsuda Jinpei, who had punished his friendless friend, sighed and carefully considered his words to try to explain to the girl. After saying a few words, he automatically muted himself and decided to pass the task to Hagiwara Kenji.
He then squatted down and gently lifted Zhuge Tongzhi's limp left arm. "I remember you just said you didn't know the way to the hospital. You haven't seen this place yet, have you?"
"No need for you to treat us. Let's go to the restaurant you mentioned first, and then go to the hospital to see an orthopedic doctor."
Matsuda Jinpei and Sato Miwako exchanged a glance, and after receiving a slight nod from each other, they quickly arranged the next steps. With Sato around, many things would be much easier for the little girl.
"Officer Sato will teach you how to get medical treatment, and then we'll go get the detonator."
"May I?"
Matsuda Jinpei asked one last question, trying to soften his voice, but it had little effect.
Kenji Hagiwara made a heartbroken expression behind Kirito's back, only to be glared at fiercely by him.
"Of course! Thank you for your help, Matsuda-kun!"
Zhuge Tongzhi smiled, her eyes crinkling. Spending more time with her childhood sweetheart was her own selfish desire, but objectively speaking, she also wanted to talk more with the two bento orderers and learn about the current situation in Beika Town.
But she didn't forget the great detective. She turned around, grabbed Conan, and they went together to the Poirot Cafe downstairs from his house.
Let her see what this O-D navigation-designated sandwich is all about.
… …
Inside Poirot Cafe
The blond, dark-skinned man in an apron gripped the menu tightly, his voice unreadable but polite as he inquired about the large table of guests before him, especially the curly-haired bastard who was slumped over the table, clutching his stomach and convulsing.
"Excuse me, is there something particularly funny about it?"
The newly appointed waiter at Poirot Cafe—whose real name is Rei Furuya, but who is now working undercover as Tooru Amuro—has a handsome and gentle smile. He looks down at the three police academy classmates with strange expressions, and then, as if completing a routine, points to the sandwiches on the menu and asks a question.
"This is a new product that we haven't advertised yet. How did you all find out about Polo Sandwich?"
How did you manage to come to my door on my very first day of work?!
Stop laughing, you curly-haired bastard! Where's your basic police professionalism?
Class monitor, class monitor, please do something about this!
A note from the author:
----------------------
Has O-Drug Navigation acted unethically today?
Missing
But not Zhuge's virtue
Thank you for the sacrifice of Rei Furuya (hands clasped together)
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