Chapter 89 (Previous Chapter 88): Hunter's Training: The Mysterious Destination...
You must walk your path well from now on.
I took a car there.
After one night, the next day was Valentine's Day, which countless couples or couples-to-be had been waiting for. Even in Zhuge Tongzhi's not-so-wide social circle of elementary school students, quite a few people were going out on dates together on this day.
Zhuge Tongzhi himself was also one of them.
However, the trip she was going to take was not a romantic date for two. In fact, she had packed her luggage carefully after returning home last night, compressing everything from sleeping bags and daily necessities to a portable first aid kit and grappling hook into her small backpack.
If she hadn't thought it was impractical, she would have liked to carry a bulletproof vest with her, but she gave up on the idea because it would really hinder her movement.
Please don't think that Zhuge Tongzhi is about to head to the front lines; she's actually just going on a picnic with Professor Agasa and the three little ones...
However, the intensity of this outing cannot be simply described as "just that"!
What you may not know is that going out with the Young Detective also offers a choice of three mission scenarios: murder and body disposal, intentional murder (completed), and intentional murder (in progress), with a high probability of triggering the side quest "Ayumi has been taken hostage!".
Although the final result was a close call, we should still pay more attention to Ayumi-chan.
Moreover, the picnic site was probably somewhere in the mountains and forests. Zhuge Tongzhi sat in the passenger seat of the yellow Beetle, looking out the window at the increasingly sparsely populated street scene, and his wariness of this outing increased.
We must also pay attention to attacks by wild animals.
Putting aside everything else, the nearly one million wild boars that have doubled in Japan in the last two decades are enough to make them the most threatening animals in the mountains for these children.
If she could, she would actually prefer to stay home and relax eating potato chips, but... Zhuge Tongzhi turned his gaze away from the window and looked at the blue and white navigation box in the air amidst the three little ones' enthusiastic chattering in the back row.
"Next stop: Let's go on a picnic! (In progress)"
"Waypoint: No overloaded Beetles (Completed)"
Next waypoint: A mysterious destination (incomplete)
"...We have to go. We've already driven for an hour and we still don't know where we're going." The black-haired girl twitched her lips and said softly, "This is making me even more worried."
A soft chuckle came from the miniature earpiece, followed by a clear, childlike voice: "Kudo didn't go with you this time. That alone is enough to put our minds at ease."
“That makes sense, Haibara. You noticed that too.” Zhuge Tongzhi shrugged. “So why didn’t you come? The drug testing was already finished yesterday, right?”
“Scientific research is all about probability. There are so many cases around Kudo that even the police are finding it strange. It’s normal for me to know this.” Ai Haibara covered her earpiece with one hand and walked through the crowd of people wearing the same sports uniforms.
"On the one hand, the effectiveness of the antidote still needs further observation, and on the other hand, Higo has an important ball game that he can't miss today. Besides, I don't like the picnic theme that Professor Agasa chose."
The girl with brown hair sat down in her seat, put on Higo's signature baseball cap, and smiled slightly at Zhuge Tongzhi in the shadow cast by the cap, saying, "And what's more, my neighbor next door also asked me for a favor."
"I'm sick of his stewed beef, he doesn't even know how to come up with a different dish."
"Oh, this?" Zhuge Tongzhi knew that this was referring to Shuichi Akai, and said frankly, "It was my suggestion. I can't solve his problem, so I had to leave it to the professionals."
It seems Akai escaped Poirot unscathed yesterday, even having time to go home and stew beef. The black-haired girl stroked her chin, thinking: Or perhaps, the Kudo family's kitchen actually has a pot of beef and potatoes simmering on a low flame year-round?!
“I know.” Ai Haibara looked at the vast green field, her voice drowned out by the waves of cheers from the fans. “Zhuge, you seem to know something about me and that man that I don’t even know, right?”
"I suppose so." Zhuge Tongzhi looked at the bushes flashing past the window and chatted with Ai Haibara: "But the outcome of this matter, like Professor Agasa's destination, is something I can't be sure of."
"I see." Ai Haibara didn't press further, but simply ended the conversation abruptly: "I'll send you the specific effective time and interval of the antidote once I've made a record of it. In any case, it's best not to take it consecutively."
Zhuge Tongzhi gave a brief reply.
"As for your destination," the brown-haired girl on the other end chuckled, but ultimately refrained from spoiling the Doctor's mystery beforehand, "it'll be an interesting place. Take good care of Ayumi."
"Don't keep us in suspense with the professor." Zhuge Tongzhi sighed helplessly as he looked at the disconnected call screen—we're already on our way anyway, we'll find out when we get there.
The next second, she felt someone grab the sides of the passenger seat.
Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya, sitting in the back seat, half-stood up and shouted to Professor Agasa, who had been keeping him in suspense the whole way: "Professor! Just tell us where our picnic is going!"
“Exactly!” Ayumi Yoshida clung over, clenching her tiny fists, and asked in confusion, “Why didn’t you just tell us?”
"Could it be? Is that a place where you can't get eel rice at all?" Kojima Genta asked with fear, his mind wandering to eel rice wherever it may go, "How terrifying."
But there wasn't any eel rice at the previous picnics either, Genta. Zhuge Tongzhi revealed a half-moon eye. At most, he would bring some meat skewers or sandwiches, and if he caught any fish, that would be a treat.
However, she turned to look at the mysterious bearded inventor next to her. This time, Professor Agasa had not prepared any picnic ingredients, and even the drinking water was just the leftover stock from the car earlier.
So, we definitely have to go to a populated area? Zhuge Tongzhi thought for a moment, then heard Professor Agasa clear his throat and say, "Oh dear, if you want to know the destination, you'll have to solve the riddle I'm about to tell you."
"Hey—no way!" Ayumi Yoshida immediately objected. "The professor's jokes are just too lame!"
"Besides, didn't we already present a riddle before we set off?" After Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya finished wailing, Genta Kojima scratched his head in confusion. "Did the professor present a riddle?"
"You're late because of this idiot!" the two children said to their friend in unison, their voices so loud that Zhuge Tongzhi, caught between two voices, felt a jolt to his head from the sound waves.
Zhuge Tongzhi: >—<
"That puzzle was solved by Ai, wasn't it?" Professor Agasa said leisurely, his kind voice filled with obvious pride. "But that was Ai's wisdom, not yours."
The three children paused, looked at each other's clear eyes, and listened to Professor Agasa's patient guidance: "You can't grow by relying on the wisdom of others. You have to learn to solve mysteries independently without Conan and Ai."
“But without Conan and Ai Haibara, it’s really hard for us to decipher the code.” Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya said reluctantly, revealing something the three of them had always known, and received unanimous agreement from Ayumi Yoshida and Genta Kojima.
“However, to become a detective, you must learn to think independently.” Professor Agasa gently but firmly rejected the three children’s request to take a shortcut to find the answer, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons as he smiled: “You are, after all, young detectives.”
"Eh..." The three little ones were a bit stumped for a moment, but the black-haired girl raised her eyebrows high.
Leaving... Conan and Ai? Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at Professor Agasa, who seemed to be hinting at something, in the rearview mirror, then shifted his gaze to the three children in the back seat who were completely unaware of these words, and finally lowered his eyes.
That makes sense. Now that the first antidote has been developed, how much interaction will Conan, who has returned to Shinichi Kudo, and Ai Haibara, who has returned to Shiho Miyano, have with the Detective Boys after returning to their own lives?
This detective team will eventually consist of only three people.
Each burdened with an inescapable fate, Conan and Ai Haibara will eventually leave the Detective Boys one day in the future, just like they are now.
It's obvious that Professor Agasa must have been moved by Conan's drug testing, which is why he put these kids through such a test. The black-haired girl stretched her shoulders, then turned to Professor Agasa, who was waiting for the young detective to challenge her, and said:
"Doctor, what is today's riddle?"
But I'm still here, aren't I? Zhuge Tongzhi gave Professor Agasa a big smile, who had been stunned for a moment, and said sweetly, "I also really want to know our destination!"
She's also a member of the Junior Detective League, you know; she even has her detective badge in her pocket right now.
That's not a foul.
"Oh dear, Kiri-chan..." Professor Agasa, who knew the girl's true identity, smiled helplessly. He hadn't expected that although the two cheat codes that always helped the Junior Detective League solve riddles were gone, Zhuge Tongzhi, who had always been a loafer among the three, had suddenly become more assertive.
"Let's do our best together, Mina!" Zhuge Tongzhi turned around and looked at the three children who were easily inspired, and smiled, "Even though Conan and Ai aren't here, we still have to keep trying!"
"Hmm!" The three children quickly perked up and surrounded Professor Agasa, who was smiling helplessly, shouting in unison, "Professor, please tell us today's riddle!"
"Well, okay, listen carefully then." Professor Agasa cleared his throat, his hands still gripping the steering wheel, his mustache swaying up and down with the opening and closing of his mouth: "Orange and Mushroom had a fight, and Mushroom said one sentence, and Orange died."
"Why is that?"
"Orange is dead?" The three children were a little confused and started whispering about what kind of magic the mushroom had, while Zhuge Tongzhi quickly realized what the pun meant.
She chose to give the three children time to think. At that moment, Noah's Ark's calm voice came through the miniature earpiece in their ears: "Why did the orange die? It died the moment it was picked."
"Furthermore, oranges and mushrooms can't talk," the AI analyzed seriously. "So this is a fantasy story, where the mushrooms have the ability to kill other fruits and vegetables."
Ah, I forgot about this child who's always on standby. Zhuge Tongzhi thought for a moment and then explained, "No, this isn't a logic puzzle."
"What did you say, Kiri-chan?" Yoshida Ayumi keenly heard Zhuge Tongzhi's words. "Did you guess the answer?"
"Ah, um." Zhuge Tongzhi scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed but speaking clearly, "The answer is, because 'if the fungus wants the orange to die, the orange has no choice but to die.'"
It's a pun!
"Ah..." Amidst Professor Agasa's loud laughter, the three children in the car shivered as if blown by a cold wind sweeping across the Himalayas, frozen into silence by the lame joke.
“I see,” Noah’s Ark said calmly. “That’s interesting. I’ll share it with Hiroki.”
"Haha, actually, there's a second part to this riddle." Zhuge Tongzhi chuckled twice, but when he mentioned the pun, he couldn't help but want others to fall into the same trap he had: "So, how can we save this orange?"
Before the three little ones could continue to ponder, she revealed the answer: "That is to coat the orange with a layer of sauce."
"What?!" Ayumi Yoshida, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya, and Genta Kojima all had three question marks popping up above their heads.
"Because 'when the sauce is outside, the bacteria's lives are somewhat affected'!"
The three little ones: ...
"Hahahahahahaha!" Seeing the children's expressions, Zhuge Tongzhi and Professor Agasa burst into laughter at the same time, and this joyful atmosphere contrasted sharply with the polar-icy silence on the other end.
Question Professor Agasa, understand Professor Agasa, become Professor Agasa!
Amid the three children's protests, Professor Agasa reveals their destination and leads the four children to a quiet village at the foot of a mountain.
"Waypoint: Mysterious Destination (Completed)"
Zhuge Tongzhi shifted his gaze from the pop-up navigation box to the vast expanse of farmland and the steep, closely connected mountain slopes before finally looking at the guesthouse in front of him.
It turns out that the destination of this outing was the home of one of Professor Agasa's hunter friends.
The outing activities included hunting in the mountains and having a bonfire barbecue.
No wonder Ai Haibara said she didn't like it, and the professor didn't bring any ingredients. Zhuge Tongzhi watched as an old man wearing a deerstalker hat and Professor Agasa together took a strange-looking barbecue grill out of the trunk of a Beetle.
That's the "latest-developed equipment" that Dr. Agasa mentioned—a high-tech barbecue grill that he independently developed and modified. It's said to be able to grill meat fully automatically and control the optimal baking time for each type of meat.
"It won't explode, will it?" A few black lines slid down Zhuge Tongzhi's forehead. Carrying his bag, he followed the hunter's son and went to the same bedroom with Yoshida Ayumi.
The friends were excitedly exploring the bedroom's layout, while the black-haired girl suddenly flopped onto the bed, turning her head to look at the endless green mountains and fields outside the window.
Well, anyway, this is a 'necessary outdoor activity'.
But before going up the mountain, she needed to find something. Zhuge Tongzhi recalled the various tools she had seen in the yard and thought about asking for some hemp rope.
She needs three anti-lost wristbands.
It is absolutely necessary.
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Author's note: Yes, this is a theatrical version.
But it's relatively easy and silly to sculpt.
You can watch with peace of mind (shyly).
…
Hunting is legal in Japan, but a gun license is required.
The number of wild animals there is so large that it's interfering with normal agricultural and forestry production.
This week's theme is related to hunting!
…
Mwah!
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