Chapter 52 (Previous Chapter 51): Swatches of Black and Red: Curaçao and...
Improper driving
Ahhhhhh
After a fruitless day, Zhuge Tongzhi was fortunate enough to hitch a ride with Hagiwara's legendary speedster, arriving at the entrance of his residential compound at breakneck speed.
"Th-thank you, Officer Hagiwara, thank you for your help." Zhuge Tongzhi, his legs weak, leaned against the car door and helped himself out. He gave Conan and Ai Haibara, who were gripping the handrail tightly inside the car, a look of blessing, and said, "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Kiri-chan." Hagiwara Kenji, gripping the steering wheel, cheerfully bid farewell to the pale-faced girl through the rolled-down car window. Matsuda Jinpei, in the passenger seat, leaned back calmly and casually waved.
"Yes, have a safe trip!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the white Mazda in front of him executed a beautiful drift and sped out of the residential area, disappearing in a flash just short of the city's top speed limit.
Before he could even watch the car leave, Zhuge Tongzhi turned around and walked towards the apartment building, rubbing his ears as he did so. It seemed as if the screams of the Junior Detective League could still be heard echoing in them.
That's terrifying. Could we please let Officer Matsuda drive next time?
Having already collected quite a few ride-sharing experiences with police officers, Zhuge Tongzhi opened the apartment door, stood on tiptoe to turn on the living room light, and silently ranked all the ride-sharing experiences in his mind.
Wataru Takagi>Jinpei Matsuda>Miwako Sato>Kenji Hagihara
Officer Takagi's car was very smooth, but too slow. Meanwhile, Date Wataru said he was waiting for his girlfriend to choose a car together, and because the police dormitory was very close to his workplace, he was currently without a car.
Despite saying that all he knows how to do is step on the gas, Matsuda Jinpei is actually quite steady when it comes to driving.
Could it be because his childhood friend's driving was too terrifying? Speaking of which, Hagiwara Chisato seems to be a speed demon too... Zhuge Tongzhi casually tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa, lost in thought, grabbed his pajamas, and went into the shower room.
The black-haired girl, who had been busy all day in Tokyo searching for clues, dried her wet hair. Taking advantage of the fact that short hair dries quickly, she lay down on the bed after drying it only halfway.
The method of finding the bomber's trail didn't work. If the death node is bound to happen, we can try to deduce the process from the result tomorrow... The short-haired girl lay on her side, letting her half-dry hair hang outside. After blinking and staring at the dark wall for a long time, she soon couldn't help but yawn.
A hot bath washes away the fatigue, leaving the body feeling warm and cozy. After the tense nerves relax, sleepiness quickly pulls one into a dream.
Perhaps because of the day's journey was too tiring, Zhuge Tongzhi slipped into a dream with a strange perspective while half-asleep. It was a bit like sitting in the back seat of a car today, nervously gripping the handrail and staring at the road ahead with his partner, but it seemed that he was a step closer to the windshield.
It was as if she were sitting in the front row, or even in the driver's seat.
Because there was a pair of slender but childlike hands on the steering wheel that was being turned rapidly in front of me, I seemed to be half-standing and half-sitting in the driver's seat in my dream, craning my neck to look ahead, with my limited vision partially blocked.
Theoretically, it constitutes dangerous driving, but it's not a serious offense.
Because she had already spotted her target. After turning a corner, Zhuge Tongzhi immediately spotted the bomber on the crosswalk and slammed on the gas, ignoring the red light.
In her dream, her vision zoomed in rapidly as she pressed the accelerator, the front of the car heading straight for the panicked man. She firmly gripped the steering wheel, but at the last moment, the car inexplicably veered off course by a tiny angle.
Although the car didn't hit him head-on, the bomber was still overturned and rolled away, where he lay on the ground a short distance away, struggling and curling up.
"I didn't manage to take it down," Zhuge Tongzhi thought regretfully in his dream, pounding the steering wheel and honking the horn several times.
And just as the horn sounded briefly, the scene around her suddenly changed, transforming into a grassy field where she had once gone on a picnic with Yoshida Ayumi and the others, bathed in sunshine and filled with the sweet aroma of jam.
The delicious sandwich made Zhuge Tongzhi smack his lips in his sleep. He turned over, pressed his now-dry hair under his cheek, and drifted off to sleep in a peaceful dream.
However, the person who made the sandwiches seems to have come back very late today as well.
…
Nighttime, inside the safe house.
Morofushi Kagemitsu changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes, took a quick shower, and then put on the old man's shirt handed to him by Furuya Rei. He then picked up a towel and dried his dripping short hair.
His hair had grown quite a bit in the two years since he faked his death, and now it was just the right amount to disguise his new identity. The long ends of his hair were dripping water, which he scooped up and rubbed with a dry towel.
Before he could dry his voice, Morofushi Hiromitsu found his voice changer and, taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't too late, dialed Ran Mouri's number to confirm the whereabouts of the child who was running around Tokyo that day.
"Um, um... okay, thank you for your help, Ms. Mori." Hikaru Midorikawa's voice came through the receiver. After understanding the situation, Hikaru Morofushi quickly said goodnight to Ran Mori on the other end of the phone and hung up.
"Ask about the ale?" Furuya Rei asked casually as he walked out of the bathroom after showering, after Morofushi Kagemitsu removed his voice changer.
"Yes, she's been working with the class monitor and the others on the case these past two days." Zhu Fujingguang simply let the towel soak up the water on his head, then immediately turned on his computer, glanced at today's news, and clicked on the search bar.
"Zero, have we found the person who almost killed Hagiwara?" The man with a half-dry towel on his head said as he turned on his computer and started typing in keywords. Behind him, Rei Furuya, wearing the same old man's shirt, walked over with two glasses of water.
"It seems so. Today, the highway was supposed to be under strict control with vehicle checks, all to find that criminal." The blond man simply dried his hair with a hairdryer, looking at the blond strands being blown about by the hot air, and said in the sound of the blower, "But I didn't have time to."
The two organizations' undercover agents had been working diligently to arrange the resettlement of their accomplices in Ireland, hoping to use the opportunity of the operation to trap them like fish in a barrel. However, when their meticulously planned scheme actually encountered the enemy, the highly skilled Curaçao still managed to tear open an escape route for them.
The other party silently infiltrated the place where the police were holding Ireland. Without probing or interrogating, they shot the man directly between the eyebrows. After being exposed, they escaped by themselves despite being ambushed by many police officers.
“Nobody expected Rum to send Curaçao so quickly.” Morofushi Hiromitsu browsed through the various webpage headlines for a while, found the official report and clicked on it. He said to Furuya Rei behind him, “Luckily, we prepared a Stand in advance, otherwise she would have already succeeded.”
“After all, ‘Time Is Money,’” Furuya Rei chuckled, using the hairdryer in his hand to blow a few breaths on his childhood friend’s head. Meanwhile, Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was waiting for the old official website to load, quickly pushed the laptop forward a little, narrowly preventing the water droplets blown from his hair from splashing onto the keyboard.
“…Zero, I’ll do it myself.” He reluctantly took the hairdryer and waited for the webpage to load while he dried his hair.
Rei Furuya shrugged and started shaking his phone to check the status of Yuya Kazami, who was on standby. He had Kazami provide reasonable public security assistance for the investigation of Wataru Date. The fastest way to find out the situation was to ask this capable public security deputy.
As expected, Kazami Yuya, who hadn't rested yet, quickly sent a compressed file of information. When Furuya Rei unzipped and opened the bomb culprit file, Morofushi Kagemitsu's computer simultaneously displayed the latest police wanted poster.
After reviewing the information on their respective computer screens, the two men's expressions simultaneously turned strange.
"zero" / "hiro"
"Then you go first." x 2
The two people who spoke at the same time were silent for a moment. Finally, Furuya Rei turned his computer screen and gestured to Morofushi Kagemitsu, "Kazami just sent the information, so I'll go first."
He pointed to the medical history listed on the screen and said, "I hope I'm not overthinking it, but this guy's medical history shows that he has been hospitalized multiple times due to car accidents, but was discharged without any aftereffects each time."
"The car accident that kept him hospitalized for the longest time was seven years ago. According to the information compiled by Kazami, the driver was an Asian American girl who stole her parents' car. She was a minor and the registered name was Al."
Rei Furuya's finger traced the lines of hospital records that were nothing short of medical miracles from bottom to top, finally pausing at the top line. He looked at Hiromitsu Morofushi and said, "And it was El from the superhuman 'Karl El.' That kid was eleven years old at the time, and he couldn't even keep his foot steady on the clutch."
Morofushi Kagemitsu gave Ale's age as around eighteen years old. Seven years ago, Ale was around ten years old. Ale's main area of operation was the United States, and he rarely came to Japan to handle missions.
The overwhelming sense of déjà vu caused both of them to fall silent for a moment after speaking. Furuya Rei then pulled up the police's internal video footage of the bomb planting.
"El is still tracking him down." He paused, looking at the man in the video moving nimbly up and down the stairs, and then asked, "Do they have a grudge against each other?"
Can an ordinary person survive for seven years while enduring the hatred of members of the Black Organization?
"Hmm... I don't know, after all, we didn't even have codenames seven years ago." Morofushi Hiromitsu rubbed his temples as he looked at the lines of hospital records, then changed the subject, saying, "Zero, do you remember what I told you about?"
“When Elle and I first came to Japan, she once secretly took my car keys.” He gestured as if he were holding a steering wheel. Furuya Rei quickly realized what he meant and replied, “I remember, was it the time you thought she was going to run away, but she drove the car back exactly as it was?”
"Yes, the organization had many spies in Tokyo at the time. Fortunately, she had practiced mysticism under Rum, so few people knew her identity. We returned to Japan relatively smoothly, but we didn't rush back to Tokyo."
Morofushi Kagemitsu spoke in a gentle voice, recounting the previous events and briefly mentioning the key points: "But El's memory was problematic for a long time. Sometimes he was like a child who knew nothing, and sometimes he seemed to know everything."
“For a long time, she maintained the mindset of a child, so I brought her to Tokyo more than a month ago.” Morofushi Hiromitsu paused as he spoke, “Then she took my car keys, went out, and bumped into someone.”
“He’s the one who got hit.” He pointed to the photo on the wanted poster and said in a strange tone, “But actually, Elle didn’t hit him. The car just brushed past him, and the matter was settled privately afterwards.”
This is really strange. Even if Elle was only a six-year-old child at the time, there's no reason why she couldn't control the car if she was able to drive it away right under Morofushi Kagemitsu's nose.
Since no harm was caused, there were naturally no medical records. Furuya Rei scrolled down the file and, sure enough, found the description "encountered a traffic accident, which was later resolved privately by both parties" in the latest record.
"...So she comes to bump into this person every year?" Furuya Rei looked at the almost seamless lines of hospital records on the file, his lips twitching, and said, "Does this person have some kind of magnetic field that repels ale?"
So hard to kill.
"It's definitely related to Ale, but it shouldn't be her." Morofushi Hiromitsu tapped the photo on the computer screen, shook his head to deny Furuya Rei's complaint, and said, "She mainly works in the United States, and Rum keeps a very strict eye on her, so she doesn't have the opportunity to come to Japan often."
“I wanted to ask her why she did it, but she was only briefly lucid and soon forgot everything again.” Morofushi Kagemitsu helplessly spread his hands and said, “During that time I caught a bit of the organization’s tail, so Elju stayed at home by herself, and the neighbors started to get suspicious.”
Japanese law mandates that school-aged children must attend school, and keeping a child confined at home for extended periods is not a sustainable solution…
“I arranged for her to transfer to a nearby school. I went out for a while and when I came back, she was a completely different person.” She seemed to be a combination of the previous two versions, but her behavior had an indescribable subtlety that instantly put Morofushi Kagemitsu on high alert.
I wanted to ask clearly, but I was afraid of provoking her back to her original unstable state, so I just silently kept all the abnormalities in mind and wouldn't interfere with the girl as long as she didn't cross the line.
"Hmm..." Faced with the unsolved mystery and insufficient information, the two fell into a silent silence once again.
"Well, let's leave it to the squad leader. He'll definitely find the culprit quickly." Morofushi Kagemitsu flipped through the follow-up report on the interview with Date Wataru, smiled at his unwavering and righteous words, and looked at Furuya Rei, who was propping his head up with his hand and looking at the information. "Curaçao is still missing."
"Those two guys are investigating too, so I'm not too worried." Furuya Rei glanced at the forms Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji had submitted requesting assistance in the investigation, then switched the page back to the surveillance footage from tonight's operation, zooming in on Curaçao in her business attire.
"What a formidable woman." He recalled the numbness in his arm when he was punched by Curaçao during their fight.
If you don't remove the colored contact lenses that cover the other person's eye color, then it's very likely that until the very end, they won't be able to recognize who it is by the difference in heterochromatic eyes.
“Curaçao, Rum’s confidante, but she only started to get active in the last year or two.” Rei Furuya tapped his fingers on the table, organizing his thoughts, muttering to himself, “Why would Rum say she’s a true success…”
So who were the failures before Curaçao?
Does Gin mean the two failed attempts when he mentions the two traitors?
He doesn't know the answers to these questions now. Furuya Rei ran his fingers through a head of soft, blond hair, but once he caught Curaçao, everything would surely become clear.
The two undercover agents, who were also having trouble sleeping tonight because of Curaçao, pondered their next move. After exchanging a few words in hushed tones and agreeing on their schedule for tomorrow, Morofushi Kagemitsu decided to head back.
Rum's people have been very active in Tokyo lately, so he's been keeping a close eye on ale.
Gently closing the door to Furuya Rei's safe house, Morofushi Kagemitsu saw the rows of private cars parked downstairs from the stairwell window, while Furuya Rei also saw the quiet street outside his apartment window.
The scene was so ordinary, yet both of them simultaneously hallucinated a car brushing past a pedestrian, and a dense list of hospitalization records began to refresh in their minds.
Separated by a door, Morofushi Kagemitsu and Furuya Rei simultaneously drifted off into thought, amidst a multitude of questions surfacing in their minds:
Ale, why is that?
…
The next day, in front of the amusement park, which was vigorously promoting its new activities.
Why did we come here in the first place?
Genta Kojima and his friends jumped off Professor Agasa's car. As he left, the entire car noticeably rose a bit. The large boy looked up at the amusement park under the blue sky and white clouds and asked, "Didn't you say we'd come to the amusement park after we caught the bomber?"
"Hmm, it was Zhuge who said she wanted to come here to investigate." Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya turned to look at Zhuge Tongzhi, who was carrying a small backpack. The girl with a small bun on her head was looking up at the most iconic Ferris wheel in the amusement park, her face with a solemn expression on her smooth forehead.
“Yeah, Kiri-chan, this is an amusement park, that bad guy definitely wouldn’t be hiding here.” Yoshida Ayumi said with the most basic reasoning skills, “If you go in from here, you have to go to the ticket booth to buy a ticket, then he’ll be exposed.”
“I can buy tickets for you, but this place is too crowded to hide in.” Ai Haibara walked over with Professor Agasa, who had just parked the car, and said leisurely, “But if you want to take revenge on society, this is a good place.”
"Crowds gather, checks are lax, and it's easy to bring dangerous items inside," the girl with short brown hair commented. The boy detectives, who hadn't thought of it at all, were stunned, their beady eyes showing confusion.
Ai Haibara briefly reviewed the amusement park's appalling security situation and concluded, "Even if the police aren't foolish enough to take the risk again, if that person plants a bomb somewhere here, then we have to act according to his demands."
"How...how scary." Yoshida Ayumi listened to Haibara Ai's calm and composed narration, rubbed her arm, and forced a smile, "But, surely no one would do that."
“Yes, that’s terrifying.” Ai Haibara smiled as she looked at the three children nodding frantically, and said calmly under Professor Agasa’s loving gaze, “I was just trying to scare you.”
"Ah, Ai is the worst." Ayumi Yoshida ran over and grabbed the coolest and most arrogant girl in the group, scolding her affectionately. Ai Haibara followed her lead and walked forward, responding casually with a smile in her voice.
Haibara, this criminal approach is really too vicious. Conan, who was lagging behind, shook his head helplessly and picked up the question that had been put aside earlier: "Zhuge, why did you come here to investigate?"
The group walked toward the ticket office. Upon hearing this, they turned back to look at the girl who was still staring at the Ferris wheel. This morning, when everyone had gathered, she had expressed her desire to come to this amusement park and had mysteriously claimed that she had discovered an important clue.
"Because I observed the celestial phenomena last night and saw something unusual here." Zhuge Tongzhi, facing Conan's speechless gaze, spoke nonsense with conviction, pointing to the Ferris wheel at the highest point and saying loudly and firmly.
"I want to sit in that one!"
"You can't sit there!"
A similarly firm male voice rang out from the left. The Junior Detective League, who were already exasperated by the stargazing theory, paused for a moment. Following the familiar voice, they saw Kenji Hagiwara walking over with Wataru Date and Jinpei Matsuda.
The man with medium-length hair, dressed in casual clothes, was pointing in the same direction as Zhuge Tongzhi when he blocked the way of his childhood friend and colleague, who were also out in plain clothes.
Matsuda Jinpei, his view blocked by two tall guys, hadn't noticed the group of little kids over there. He asked speechlessly, "Why? Didn't the news today specifically say they were going to check the Ferris wheel?"
The three of them came to this amusement park, which belongs to couples, families, and children, but not to tired office workers in their late twenties, because they received the address sent by the mysterious hacker.
"Because I asked Officer Ogawa to do a tarot reading last night, it's very, very, very unsuitable for Kojinpei to ride the Ferris wheel today." Kenji Hagiwara held his childhood friend's shoulders, his deep purple eyes filled with seriousness as he looked over.
———He was seriously rambling on.
Matsuda Jinpei, naturally, was not convinced by such a baseless reason. Confused, he waved away his childhood friend's hand and walked towards the ticket booth: "Hagi, stop messing around. That area will definitely be checked carefully."
As Matsuda Jinpei walked past his anxious childhood friend, he glanced down and saw a row of little kids next to him. He immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh, you guys came to the amusement park today?"
"Good morning, Officer Matsuda!" The Junior Detective Club, who had spent the whole day investigating cases with the adults yesterday, greeted him enthusiastically. Except for Ai Haibara and Conan, the other children ran over and started chattering about why they were there.
After listening to the children's backstory about the amusement park, Matsuda Jinpei looked at Zhuge Tongzhi, who was holding the hem of his clothes, and teased, "You can even observe the night sky?"
"Damn it." The girl being teased had two big words flashing through her mind. This morning, she had asked Noah's Ark to deliver this destination to Date Wataru of the First Investigation Division, but she didn't expect those two to come along too.
Didn't we agree that the boss would only grant three days off? Zhuge Tongzhi tried hard to recall yesterday's casual conversation and confirmed that it was indeed the case, so she confidently sent the message over.
No, she forgot that the head of the bomb disposal team had always cherished these two bomb disposal geniuses, and probably would have been let off the hook if they broke the rules a little.
Having considered this possibility, Zhuge Tongzhi cracked his knuckles, looked at Matsuda Jinpei who was already standing at the amusement park entrance, hesitated for a moment, and then loudly imitated Hagiwara Kenji's words, saying, "I... I observed the celestial phenomena last night and saw that Officer Matsuda was not suitable to ride the Ferris wheel today!"
"See, see, Jinpei, you definitely can't go up there!" Having found an ally, Hagiwara Kenji immediately straightened his back, stood next to Zhuge Tongzhi, put his hands on his hips, and said aggressively, "Kenji-chan will absolutely not let you go up there!"
"Hey, you two." Matsuda Jinpei's sunglasses slipped down a bit, and his dark eyes looked at the two people who had suddenly joined the field of occultism through the gaps in the sunglasses. "At least make your excuses more believable."
"Yeah, observing celestial phenomena at night is completely unconvincing." Conan stood to the side with his hands in his pockets, watching Zhuge Tongzhi wave her arms in afterimages, emphasizing the ominous nature of the celestial phenomena she observed, revealing a half-moon eye full of sarcasm.
As usual, the girl with frizzy hair carried a crossbody bag today, with the familiar amulet hanging on the side of the bag, along with a semi-transparent seven-colored card.
According to Zhuge Tongzhi, this is because these things could no longer be hidden after her guardian started coming home every day.
So these past few days, the seven-color card has been carried around as a pendant. The unique little trinket, paired with Zhuge Tongzhi's brightly colored outfit today, does indeed give off a unique style.
Because it was uncertain whether the scratches would affect the decryption, each color card was carefully protected with a card sleeve. Now, it was swaying on the side of the girl's handbag from time to time with her movements, and the seven color cards overlapped each other, showing different colors.
A seven-color swatch, a rose window, the elk in Alice's Wonderland... Conan looked at the swaying swatch, his thoughts drifting back to the question he had been exploring for the past few days. If his thinking was correct, then what kind of color combination was the truth?
"Big sister, the tickets are all bought! Come and have fun with us!"
The three people in front of him were still trying to persuade each other. Conan, who was deep in thought, was pulled back to his senses by Ayumi Yoshida's clear voice. The great detective turned his head and saw three children and Ai Haibara walking over with a tall, silver-haired woman.
The woman in the business suit looked somewhat disheveled; her clothes were slightly torn and had obvious water stains, as if she had fallen into the water and left them to dry on their own.
But aside from her silver hair and exceptionally refined and dashing face, the most memorable feature of this strange woman was her two eyes of different colors: one was a deep blue like the ocean, and the other was a light blue so pale it was almost transparent.
The woman, who looked somewhat bewildered, was led by Ayumi Yoshida, who gently bent her waist slightly to match the child's steps as they walked.
This action was very uncomfortable for her, who was tall, but she obediently let the chattering little girl lead her, listening attentively. When Yoshida Ayumi praised her appearance directly, she showed genuine shyness and embarrassment.
At the same time, her steps were very steady. The palm of her hand, which was half-covered by Ayumi Yoshida's small hand, had some subtle calluses, indicating that she was probably skilled with a gun. However, at this moment, she exuded a gentle and bewildered aura.
What a strange person. Conan frowned slightly, looking at Ai Haibara who was walking over with a questioning gaze.
"She must have been in a car accident and fell, suffering a head injury that caused amnesia," Ai Haibara said, showing Conan the latest news on her phone about the series of explosions on the highway last night. "I'm not sure if that's the reason, since it's quite a distance from the amusement park."
“The children want to help her regain her memories, since the amusement park is nearby, and they want to see if anyone knows her,” Haibara sighed. Clearly, she couldn’t stop this overly naive and wishful thinking. “Let’s call the police first.”
"Ah..." Conan looked at the Junior Detective League, who were excitedly asking the strange woman for details, and helplessly took out his phone and pointed it at the amnesiac older sister, saying, "I can't do anything about them, I'll take a picture first."
Before the shutter was even pressed, the woman, who had been crouching down with her mouth half-covered, listening to the children talk, suddenly turned her head and looked precisely through the lens at Conan behind the screen. Her previously peaceful expression turned into an extreme rejection.
"No!" A slightly hoarse female voice rang out, carrying emotions she herself didn't understand.
Conan, startled by the look in those heterochromatic eyes, instinctively pressed the shutter button repeatedly. The woman in the lens looked struggled and terrified, reaching out towards his phone with her eyes staring directly at the camera.
Meanwhile, behind Conan, Zhuge Tongzhi was still putting up a stubborn resistance with Matsuda Jinpei. The girl who was blocking him from leaving was lifted up by the curly-haired man like a cat, and her handbag slid down as her center of gravity shifted.
As the altitude changed, the seven-color card naturally left the shadow cast by the adults, swaying and shining brightly in the clear sunlight of the day. The seven colors overlapped with each other, illuminating the woman's face along with the flashing white light of the shutter.
When those heterochromatic eyes received that complex white light, their pupils suddenly dilated and trembled. A sharp pain from the depths of their brain crashed over them like a raging torrent, and countless fragments of memory, like sharp shards of glass, were spun deep into their minds.
The woman, who had only taken a few steps, suddenly collapsed to the ground, digging her hands deep into her silver hair, which shone brilliantly in the light, and screamed in agony.
"Aaaaaaahh ...
Conan, the Detective Boys, Kenji Hagiwara, and even Wataru Date, who was trying to persuade Jinpei Matsuda and Kirito, all looked over in surprise. The silver-haired woman braced herself on the ground, her heterochromatic eyes, which had suddenly opened in the shadows, scanning through lines of mixed data.
Rum, mission, spy, Ireland...
With a worried expression, Ayumi Yoshida clasped her hands to her chest and walked over to her trembling older sister. She tentatively touched her sister's shoulder and asked softly, "Big sister, what's wrong?"
The woman, who was supporting herself on the ground with her hands, did not respond and her breathing gradually became heavy.
FBI, police, traps...
"Big sister, are you alright!" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Genta Kojima also came over, squatting worriedly next to the silver-haired woman. Conan and Ai Haibara walked over, frowning as they looked at the woman whose situation had suddenly changed.
Chase, explosion, falling into the sea...
"Madam, are you alright?" Date Wataru and Hagiwara Kenji rushed over and knelt down beside the woman, who appeared to be having an attack of some kind of illness. They asked in a deep voice, "Can you stand up by yourself now? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
Amusement park, lights, lights, lights...
“She doesn’t look like she can’t move. Let’s help her over.” Matsuda Jinpei said, putting down the child he was holding and striding toward the woman on the ground who was breathing heavily. Zhuge Tongzhi followed, confused.
Light, memory, color... She is Curaçao!
As Zhuge Tongzhi walked into the crowd, Curaçao, stimulated by the light, suddenly remembered everything.
The children told her there were police there and she probably couldn't leave immediately. As her memories returned, the woman quickly understood her current situation, and her eyes changed from a blank and docile look to a fierce one.
"I need to find a way..." Curaçao lowered her head, wiped the sweat from her cheeks, and looked up, mimicking the gentle smile from before, apologetically smiling at the group of people around her, "No need to go to the infirmary, I'm fine, I..."
Her voice stopped abruptly when her gaze swept over a certain spot, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face.
This is... ale?
Wasn't she already dealt with by Rum? Curaçao's photographic memory quickly recalled the day Rum lectured her, the one-eyed man tapping the ground with his cane, emphasizing:
'Curaçao, remember this: you have no color!'
Along with the brain, there was also a photo of a young girl. Apart from the indifferent expression on her face, every detail perfectly matched the puzzled look on the face of the elementary school student.
Ale has turned into a child? Curaço was startled upon reaching this conclusion. Her initial thought of quickly finding a chance to escape was suppressed by a new idea—she had to take Ale back with her.
"What's wrong?" Zhuge Tongzhi looked at Curaçao, who was inexplicably silent, and scratched his head, puzzled.
Before the question could be asked, the woman with heterochromatic eyes stood up steadily, waving her hands to indicate that she had only had a headache for a moment and was fine now.
"Do you remember your name?" Ayumi Yoshida took Curaçao's hand, looked up and asked with concern, "Big sister, you must have been in a lot of pain just now, do you want to go over there and rest for a while?"
As the child leaned close to her with such trust, Curaçao instinctively wanted to pull her hand back, but remembering her amnesiac state, she had to suppress the strange feeling in her heart and let the child hold her stiff hand, stammering, "Ah, I, I'm fine now."
"Would you like some water, big sister?" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya took out an unopened bottle of mineral water from his backpack and handed it to Curaçao along with a handkerchief, quite gentlemanly: "They're all unused, use them to wipe your sweat."
"I borrowed some disinfectant spray!" Kojima Genta, who had just run off, came running back, panting, and handed over a bottle of spray for treating abrasions and other wounds in his chubby hand. He smiled at Curaçao and said, "Big sister, disinfect yourself before you go."
These brats… Curaçao, somewhat bewildered, accepted the items handed to her by the two boys and was led by Ayumi Yoshida to sit down on a nearby bench.
The short-haired girl climbed onto the stool and gently wiped the dust-covered wounds on her face with a damp handkerchief. She instinctively moved aside, but Yoshida Ayumi lifted her cheek and helped her back to the side.
Ayumi Yoshida softened her movements further, cleaning the wound while coaxing, "Don't be afraid, it just hurts a little bit~"
What's going on? He could have snapped their necks in a minute. Forced to play house with the elementary school kids in front of three policemen, Curaçao's body stiffened, the water bottle in his hand almost bursting from his grip.
No, it's all for bringing back the ale. Curaçao closed her eyes, feeling the slight stinging sensation of disinfectant spray on the wound on her cheek, and suppressed the discomfort of being close to people, thinking to herself: Rejuvenation, this is a major discovery.
The silver-haired assassin interacted with the children, her stiff and helpless demeanor not much different from when the Junior Detective League first discovered her. Conan looked away and sent the photos on his phone to Date Wataru.
“Officer Date, you can use this photo to find someone first.” He sent over the clearest photo, in which the silver-haired woman stared directly at the camera, her gaze slightly unsettling. “You must be busy with your mission, right? Inspector Megure can take a look.”
"Yes, I've already sent it." Ida Hang put away his phone, looked at Curaçao who was surrounded by children with a slight dilemma, and said, "Logically speaking, we should take this lady directly to the police station."
“Thank you for your trouble, but I would like to stroll around here with the children.” Upon hearing this, Curaçao stood up, clenched her fist over her chest, and said in a tense and flustered voice, “I vaguely remember that I came with a friend.”
She couldn't go to the police station because of her identity, and besides, she needed to find a way to take him away... She glanced discreetly at Zhuge Tongzhi, who was talking to a boy with glasses and a girl with brown hair, and tried to find a way to stay here.
Zhuge Tongzhi looked up as if he sensed something, but didn't catch the gaze that quickly moved away. He scratched his head and continued the previous topic with some puzzlement: "Then you guys go play with Ayumi and the others. I want to go with Officer Matsuda."
“Well, I’m worried about them.” Ai Haibara had no objection. She crossed her arms and turned to look at Curaçao, who was talking with three police officers and quickly finalizing the matter of searching for memories here. She said, “This person is a bit strange.”
“We might not necessarily split up. If it’s a search, we’ll definitely have to go to all the major amusement park rides.” After Conan finished speaking, he saw the three police officers who had finalized the arrangements walking over with the Junior Detective League. He looked at Zhuge Tongzhi and said, “Let’s act together first.”
"Hmm." Zhuge Tongzhi nodded. So far, O De had not provided any trigger path, which made her feel slightly relieved, but also made her more vigilant.
Because this thing almost never gives any advance warning.
The group picked up their tickets at the entrance and headed into the bustling amusement park filled with laughter and screams.
Curaçao, who had successfully blended into the group, was surrounded by three mischievous but kind children. He had to deal with their concerned questions and satisfy their wild ideas and requests.
The silver-haired female assassin, who had never been so close to an ordinary child before, was momentarily overwhelmed and couldn't think of an opportunity to abduct El.
Unaware that children's requests could be refused, she used every trick in the book, relying on her superhuman strength and photographic memory, to carve out her way through the entire arcade.
Using tampered darts, Curaçao relied on her absolute accuracy and power to win the grand prize of a giant white bear plush toy at the last game shop.
Yoshida Ayumi cheered and rushed over, grabbing the leg of this gentle yet handsome older sister. Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko and Kojima Genta shouted excitedly from the side. The praise and amazement of the three children enveloped the woman in the center.
Under the boss's shocked gaze, Curaçao put down the few darts that were never used. Amid the children's cheers, she smiled, reached out and took the large polar bear that was only half her height, bent down and handed it to Yoshida Ayumi who was standing next to her.
"Here you are." Watching the little girl bury her face in the soft fur of the doll, she couldn't help but smile and reached out to pat the little girl's head.
But when he felt the warmth on his hand, Curaçao suddenly realized what was happening.
Wait, what am I doing?
The silver-haired woman withdrew her hand from her head, belatedly took a few steps back, and looked around but couldn't see any trace of El—she hadn't even realized when they had separated.
"Yay!" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya cheered from the side, walked up to Curaçao who was looking around, raised a hand covered with dolphin plush toys of various colors, and waved to the older sister, saying, "Big sister, we plan to give each of us one of these plush toys. You can choose first."
She didn't need something so soft. Curaçao, eager to find the ale, glanced at the various colored dolphins and casually picked out a plain white one. "This one will do."
“Uh, but that…” It’s a defective product that wasn’t painted. Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya hesitated for a moment, wanting Curaçao to exchange it for another one.
But the silver-haired woman's attention wasn't on that. She hurriedly put the white dolphin into her pocket and then asked, "Is that girl, the little boy with glasses, lost?" She subtly shifted the focus of her inquiry.
"You mean Conan?" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya withdrew his hand when she insisted, pointing to the starting point where they had fought their way here. In the distance, they could see Zhuge Tongzhi in his brightly colored clothes. "They're waiting for us at the other end of the game district."
"Then let's hurry back." Ayumi Yoshida said in a muffled voice, her face buried in the fur of her oversized teddy bear, "Conan must be waiting a long time."
The short-haired girl took two steps forward while holding the bear, but tripped over the bear's legs, which were dragging on the ground. Curaçao quickly grabbed her by the collar, preventing Yoshida Ayumi from falling flat on her face.
"Thank you, big sister." The girl holding the bear looked up and smiled sweetly, the bear's face also tilting up in her arms. After saying that, she continued to stumble forward, still holding the bear, and almost tripped after only two steps.
Curaçao: ...
That's too slow. She covered the distance that Yoshida Ayumi took in five or six steps in two, picked up the plush toy that was considered decent to her, hugged the bear, and avoided the girl's thanks. "I'll return it to you later, hurry up and go."
The three children passed by laden with gifts, each of them adorned like a Christmas tree. The giant polar bear in Curaçao's arms silenced the envious exclamations of the other children. The Junior Detectives returned, showing off their eldest sister all the way.
Curaçao remained expressionless, but her fingers, holding the polar bear, sank deeply into the fluffy ball of fur. The憨憨 (simple and honest) bear, feeling the pressure, maintained its憨憨 (simple and honest) expression.
"Did you go to buy supplies?" Zhuge Tongzhi asked, his eyes crinkling as he looked at the four Christmas trees approaching.
While the children were winning prizes, they searched all the large amusement rides nearby and found nothing wrong. Now they planned to explore deeper into the area.
Should we go to the Ferris wheel first? Zhuge Tongzhi hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the three police officers who were looking at the amusement park map.
Before she could ask a question, her cell phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated violently, and at the same time, a loud ringtone sounded on Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Date Wataru.
All four of them simultaneously pulled out their phones, and shortly after checking the messages or answering the calls, their expressions changed drastically.
Noah's Ark: 'The Metropolitan Police Department received a text message with a bomb warning, requesting officers to defuse the bomb at a designated location.'
Damn it, the thing I feared most has happened.
Zhuge Tongzhi held his phone, reached into his bag, pulled out a miniature earphone, and put it in his ear. The emotionless synthesized electronic voice of Noah's Ark began to play in his ear, repeating the riddle that was sent on a timer.
"I've already followed the signal back, and if all goes well, I should be able to find them soon," Noah's Ark said, his voice devoid of any comforting tone, yet it conveyed a strong sense of security.
"What did you say? Has the Metropolitan Police Department received another riddle from the bomber?"
Ida Wataru couldn't help but repeatedly confirm with his colleague on the phone, while Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, who were next to him, had obviously received the same message and were frowning as they talked to their colleagues who were urgently informing them.
After receiving three positive replies, Date Kou's voice turned cold, and he said, "Then, please send me the riddle."
"A new route has been detected. We have automatically planned a path for you based on your travel direction."
"Next Stop: The Last Three Seconds on the Ferris Wheel (In Progress)"
Next waypoint: The Invitation of the Knights of the Round Table
Zhuge Tongzhi looked away from the blue and white navigation prompt box flashing in the void and turned to look at the three police officers who had quickly solved the riddle. In his worry and anxiety, he did not notice that Curaçao was looking at him from behind the polar bear.
The woman, whose eyes had been icy cold, suddenly shifted her gaze, looking back and forth between Zhuge Tongzhi and the three children beside him who were sharing dolls.
After bringing the ale back to the organization, the naturally suspicious Rum would definitely follow the clues back to where he started. Curaçao thought silently, taking the newly given cat keychain from Ayumi Yoshida, hesitating for a moment before finally holding it.
The pockets on business suits are very narrow, and the pockets of the clothes and pants are already full.
She had never had this problem before… Curaçao glanced again at Zhuge Tongzhi, who was dressed in bright colors. No one had ever given her so many dolls, so much care, so much…
Because she is Curaçao, which has no color.
She is Curaçao, the pure black of the organization.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Morning Star will be updating right on time! (Salute)
The timeline will be explained gradually — please wait —
…
There's a reason why Zhuge Liang would curse someone to be hit by a car. (Eyes shift)
The child has worked hard.
…
Welcome to the swatch section!
What color should I be?
Go find it.
…
Mwah
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