Chapter 207

"Mr. Akai, are you worried about the safety of Hoshikawa and Akira?"

Akai Shuichi turned his head and looked at Conan. His dark green eyes were still as calm and sharp as usual, without any other emotions that Conan thought he would have.

Conan breathed a sigh of relief, then touched his head and apologized:

"Haha sorry Mr. Akai, I thought..."

"You're right. I am a little worried."

Akai Shuichi suddenly interrupted Conan, which made Conan stunned. However, Akai Shuichi did not care about Conan's attitude, but a flash of memory flashed through his mind.

The dilemma of being surrounded, the crisis of being exposed, Xingchuan and Ming walked out from the light, with an angelic smile...

Shuichi Akai was calm. He knew that from then on, he might pay more attention to Hoshikawa and Ming than to others, but it had nothing to do with personal feelings.

Just like when people discover a rare plant, they will subconsciously want to protect it. Now that I have discovered the beauty of this world, I want to help it when I can, so that all the beautiful things can exist longer. That's all.

"He has some very rare qualities that many people don't have. I don't want such a person to fall into the hands of the organization. It's a pity."

Yes, what a pity.

Conan nodded in agreement; he thought so too.

It's not because of how amazing Hoshikawa Kazuaki's reasoning and drawing abilities are, but because although he has some weird bad tastes, he is also a person who is so gentle and kind that most people can't even dream of him.

Although that guy always likes to play tricks on himself and deliberately scare people, every orphan sponsored in the orphanage in the mountains can prove that Xingchuan Heming is really a good person. How could such a person be destroyed by that evil organization?

"Mr. Akai is right. We have to find a way to remind him. We can't let him be fooled by the organization's members who are disguised as public security undercovers. After all, in the eyes of the organization, Xingchuan and Ming are just special experimental subjects. Once they are tricked into the organization, who knows what they will do to Xingchuan."

Conan put his fist on the desk and started thinking about how to persuade Xingchuan and Ming. But Akai Shuichi suddenly said:

"Many people participated in the assassination of the undercover police officer Scotland, and Baifu was the second person to arrive at the scene of his death. Logically, even if Xingchuan and Ming were deceived by the members of the organization because of their limited knowledge, Baifu should not have been deceived. But if what you said is true, after Baifu appeared, he did not immediately expose the identity of the person claiming to be Scotland, but instead found the eavesdropping devices hidden on Xingchuan and Ming first. This matter itself is suspicious."

Conan looked up in surprise.

“Unless Baifu’s identity as a protector is fake, he would not let someone with a questionable identity get close to Xingchuan and Ming without any counterattack.

So the first thing to figure out now is, will Balvenie, a researcher who has been trained by the organization since childhood and can also serve as a killer, really voluntarily become the protector of the son of a runaway experimental subject, and even go against the organization's orders for this?"

In the study of Kudo's house, the two fell silent for a while. They knew too little about Baifu, and at most they could only learn a little from the fragments of others' words. In comparison, the people they were more familiar with were Xingchuan and Ming.

How long have Xingchuan and Ming known Baifu? They didn't know before, but now it seems that he has known Baifu for much longer than they have known each other, and earlier than they thought before. Xingchuan and Ming are not foolish people. Even if they were deceived by sweet words for a while, after a long time of getting along with each other, if the other party really came to contact with bad intentions, would he really know nothing about it?

"I don't think Xingchuan would be able to find it."

Conan thought about it for a long time and finally came to a conclusion with certainty.

He thought of the obvious hints that Xingchuan and Ming had given him before they parted in the banquet hall, and their almost equal attitude, as if they were communicating with people of the same age. He couldn't help but groan in his heart and rubbed his aching head in pain.

Xingchuan must have recognized me at that time, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't be so bored as to make so many explicit hints to a child. Even if this child was already familiar with him and even played all kinds of bad jokes on him, Xingchuan and Ming wouldn't do this.

But it is more likely that Xingchuan and Ming Zao had some suspicions in their daily interactions, but they could not find any evidence. It was not until he found out when he was using his identity to solve the case in the banquet hall that he finally confirmed this.

Wait, there is actually another possibility. Could it be that Xingchuan and Ming ran towards the anesthetic needle on their own initiative?

Conan was shocked by his own guess, then he shook his head vigorously, throwing away all the thoughts that would lead to his social demise.

Acting like a child in front of a former senior, acting like a spoiled brat, and then being discovered and exposed in front of him, is simply too embarrassing, okay? It's really unbearable to endure for even a second.

Conan would rather pretend to be an ostrich. As long as Hoshikawa and Ming don't expose him directly in person, Conan will never admit that he has been exposed by Hoshikawa and Ming.

I will never admit it!

While Conan angrily made up his mind again, he also raised his vigilance and sensitivity towards Hoshikawa and Akira in his mind.

Could it be that a guy who is so incredibly sharp and also extremely good at reasoning and association was deceived by Baifu for such a long time without noticing?

How is that possible!

If that guy can't resist bullying and taking advantage of Momotani, Conan Edogawa will write his own name backwards!

That's right, that guy, when facing the person he suspected, did nothing but bully him. His character is simply so bad that he is not even a human being!

Thinking of the exercise book that had been placed on the desk in his room until now, Conan's face turned green.

At the time, I didn't think anything of it, I just thought it was Xingchuan and Ming's weird bad taste. Now I think about it, could it be that the guy had doubted my identity at that time? So he used such a malicious method to test me?

Bah! What a test! He must be just a malicious person!

Edogawa Conan took two deep breaths, then gritted his teeth and said to Akai Shuichi:

"Don't worry, Mr. Akai. There is absolutely no way that Hoshikawa and Ming will be fooled by Baifu like he is teasing a cat."

Akai Shuichi looked at him in confusion.

Did I mention that Baifu treated Xingchuan and Ming like fools? No?

Besides, what does this have to do with teasing cats?

What kind of weird things did this usually calm and intelligent boy think of that made him come up with such perverted and taboo ideas?

However, Shuichi Akai wisely did not delve into the matter further, but nodded in agreement.

Although he had few direct contacts with Xingchuan and Ming, he had been secretly investigating and paying attention to them. In his opinion, if Baifu really had problems, even if Xingchuan and Ming were fooled by Baifu, it would be impossible for them to not find out the problem for so long.

So, since there is no problem with the identity of Baifu's secret protector, then where exactly is the problem?

Conan frowned, leaned on the desk and muttered to himself:

"Could it be that the member of the organization who pretended to be an undercover police officer was actually the one with a problem with his identity? Or was it that he already knew Baifu, or even had a cooperative relationship with him, so Baifu didn't stop him?"

Akai Shuichi had been listening to Conan's analysis in silence, but suddenly spoke up:

"Generally speaking, if an undercover agent's identity is discovered during an undercover mission, as long as there is enough time, he or she will generally choose to evacuate immediately, just like me back then. However, evacuation does not mean there is no danger. On the contrary, there will be countless pursuits and interceptions from organizations along the way. Not every undercover agent is as lucky as me to be picked up by his companions and escape successfully. Back then, Scotland encountered an accident on the way to evacuation and was accidentally killed by a bomb left in the car by a crazy bomber."

Conan listened in silence. Shuichi Akai rarely talked about his time in the organization before, and he never mentioned the unique feeling of being an undercover agent. Conan, who was good at empathy, could immediately imagine the dangerous situation that Scotland was in after his identity was exposed, and the life-and-death situation on the road to escape. However, he died before dawn.

However, Shuichi Akai did not give him too much time to feel sad, and instead talked about something else.

"In fact, it is well known that it is not easy for undercover agents to escape unscathed when their identities are exposed. However, if they want to use the method of faking their own death to temporarily disappear from the eyes of the organization, it will be easier as long as the operation is done properly, and there will be more room for subsequent operations."

Conan was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened and he said in surprise:

"Mr. Akai, are you wondering if the accidental death of Scotland during his escape was actually a fake death? Is he still alive?"

He thought about the short conversation he had heard from the eavesdropping device earlier, and an incredible idea gradually took shape in his mind.

"Could it be that the person Xingchuan and Ming went to see was really the undercover police agent who faked his death and escaped, who died in an accident while on the run after his identity was exposed?"

However, Akai Shuichi was not as optimistic as Conan, and still analyzed calmly:

"This is only a possibility. But the premise for this possibility to happen is that Scotland at that time had enough time to contact reliable people to help him complete the complicated and tedious preparations before faking his death and to send away all the members of the organization involved in the pursuit. At the same time, he had to successfully deceive the hundreds of police officers who were chasing the bomber at the time, the residents living on the entire street where the explosion happened, and the organization's new codename member Merlot who saw the explosion with his own eyes, as well as Balvenie, Chianti and Cohen who arrived later."

Conan was stunned when he heard this, but Akai Shuichi sighed and said:

"As an undercover agent, I also hope that he really used the method of faking his death to escape and move to the dark. But boy, this possibility is too low. Because the time left for him was too short, these operations were almost impossible to complete."

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-12-13 15:17:37~2022-12-14 16:17:37~

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 2 Brain Axes; 1 Cold Moon;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: tydd 20 bottles;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!