Chapter 135 Twenty-nine Cats
After repeated confirmation, everyone came to the conclusion: probably because he left there shortly after waking up, the store manager didn't know about the organization and thought it was normal for company employees to have their own code names.
As if he had finally had enough of their alert and nervous expressions, the store manager shook his legs and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Sure enough, Xiao Jing, Xiao Ling and, um... Xiu Jiang! You are all employees of Grandpa's company, right?" The long-haired young man dragged his chin and said in a light tone, "It's very obvious. When Xiao Jing first came to my house, he was also very concerned about the name of my store like Xiao Ling. He was furious, right? It took two days of coaxing before he agreed to stay."
The three people who were called one after another were choked and almost died of coughing on the spot. Akai's mood was even more complicated and subtle. It was the first time for him to meet someone who directly called him "Xiao Xiu" when they first met. What's more, he subconsciously treated the store manager as a cub... It was really weird to be called like this by someone who was younger than him no matter how you looked at him!
He turned to look at the other two people, but found that they were not surprised by the title, but more focused on the following sentence.
If Morofushi and Fūya could hear what Akai was thinking, they would just calmly answer him with three words: I'm used to it.
"Manager..." Zhu bowed his head and held his forehead. Hagiwara, who was close by, saw that the tips of his ears were red because of shame. "Can you please not tease me at this time?"
"Yeah, I only coaxed you for half a day but you got mad even more than Morobushi. In the end, it took Hagi, me, and Morobushi together to coax you for a day and a half." Matsuda said leisurely.
The store manager on the opposite side, who was secretly squeezing Akai, puffed up his cheeks when he heard this.
When I first came into contact with them, the store manager was much more capricious than he is now. Most of the time, he was very indulgent towards these cats that he "picked up", but there were also many times when he acted like a child, and every time the three cats couldn't help but want to hit him, but at the same time they patiently acted as the poop shovelers and keepers of their own human family.
These two months really made Matsuda experience the pain of raising a child. He felt that he would never want to get married and have children again in his next life.
Fortunately, although the store manager is childish, he is usually very reliable outside and is also a naive and gentle guy. So he did not quit, but actually worked here for two months, otherwise they would have run away long ago.
Jyoutani heaved a sigh of relief: the store manager had always been smart, and they no longer concealed anything in their words, so it was normal for the store manager to find out. It would be better to say that at this point, they had never thought about continuing to hide it from the store manager.
Unlike Conan, the store manager is directly related to the existence of the organization. He has even become the next generation successor of the organization without knowing it. Is there any need for them to keep it secret? Of course, they should let the store manager know more so that he can protect himself.
Conan, who had been unsuccessful in getting into the conversation, finally found a way in. He looked around at the expressions of the adults around him and calmly asked the question that concerned him the most: "So the store manager knows the location of the organization's headquarters and the identity of the boss?"
The air in the living room calmed down.
The store manager nodded nonchalantly, as if he hadn't noticed, as if what he was about to say was something unimportant.
"Speaking of which, I originally wanted to go alone, but now that you're all here..." He twisted his long hair around his cheek with his index finger, tilted his head and asked with a smile, "Next weekend, my grandfather and I have an appointment to visit him and get a physical check-up as usual. Do you want to come with me?"
—
That's it.
Akai sighed inwardly in the pitch-black box, and ended his memories.
After the store manager said that last week, it took them a while to process what he meant - that's it? It's that simple?
Although it is very exciting, the police and the FBI have been carefully operating for so long without obtaining any detailed intelligence from the organization's headquarters, and have only heard of the organization's boss but never met him. As a result, they have now easily achieved their goal, which makes them feel unreal.
So that’s how it is. Is this a backdoor approach?
Such a rare opportunity, how could they choose to refuse it!
So after discussing the action plan and backup safety measures, the three people who would go to the organization headquarters with the store manager that day were decided to be Akai, Conan, and Furuya.
Now the prototype is hidden in the suitcase, which is exactly what the store manager suggested. Although it is a bit crowded, it is indeed a better solution at this time.
What Akai and Fūya don't know is that Conan can actually find his own mother to help disguise the two adults. Not only can Akagi Nazuki disguise himself, he can also contact the elusive "Phantom Thief Kid" at any time.
But if he chose to disguise himself, Conan would not be able to follow, because these adults had not intended to agree to let him follow. If he had not suddenly had an idea and went directly to the store manager to act pitiful and beg, he would probably have been treated like a fragile item and thrown behind by the adults to gather dust.
Akae Nazuki also thought so. If he chose to disguise himself, wouldn't he be unable to see and take photos of Akai and Conan's dog? That would be a pity!
Therefore, neither of them mentioned disguise, which led to the current situation.
The main scope of activities this time at the headquarters is still the research department, because the itinerary reported by the store manager and the boss is there, and they don't want to cause any unnecessary vigilance. Anyway, the intelligence within the headquarters alone is important enough, and they have a long time to come and there will be other opportunities for the rest.
As for what they can do in the research department... Conan and the other two have something they care about very much, and that is the mysterious drug, aptx4869.
When Shirley escaped from the organization, she was locked in her room, but all her research data were in the laboratory, and she didn't have time to take them away. So this time when she came to the headquarters, the store manager volunteered to take over Shirley's "commission", which was to help her get the data on drug A and destroy all the rest.
They don't want to see this drug being used against their own kind, nor do they want to see organizations conducting experiments on humans, even though the drug itself has been confirmed to be non-lethal and non-toxic. This is not illegal, but it is immoral.
——But for some reason, Conan and Shirley have not yet told the adults the so-called true effect and purpose of drug A, so the latter came this time to find the answer.
Fortunately, Gin seemed to have more important things to do in the research department. Akae Nayue didn't care much about what Gin was going to do, but the three in the suitcase did care but couldn't pay attention to it for the time being, so they didn't walk together for long and separated at the fork in the corridor.
Chijiang Nayue decided to take a box of cats and dogs for a routine physical examination.
Today was a holiday, and there was someone he really wanted to see who might be at the physical examination site.
Because physical examination was just a euphemism used by Akajiang Nayue when she was playing the role of the store manager. In fact, there is another more accurate name.
Experimental research laboratory.
The organizations in this world are different from those in other worlds. The biggest difference is that all the experimental subjects in this world's organizations participate in the experiments voluntarily. They have or agree with the ultimate goal of the organization, so they are willing to become experimental subjects to move this goal forward.
And Karasuma Renya did not kidnap small animals home like the store manager did. For the confidentiality and stability of the experiment, the experimental subjects were all selected from within the Karasuma family.
Belmode is one of them. She once deeply identified with the organization's philosophy and longed for a better future. This slight hope completely distinguished her from the Belmode in other parallel worlds.
Chijiang Nayue wanted to see her, and the store manager who had been silently accompanying and caring for her for twenty-two years also kept muttering in his heart that he wanted to see her.
So here they are.
As expected, the store manager, who was dragging his suitcase and walking slowly, successfully met Vermode outside the laboratory. The latter had received the news a long time ago, so he came here to pick him up in advance.
"Let me take you to the new lounge first." The female star smiled at him and tucked her golden hair behind her ears. "The boss won't be back for a while. He's very worried about you and wants to personally supervise them while they examine you."
Their relationship in this world was not that close, but it was not bad either. At least Vermouth was kind to him, thought Chijiang Nayue.
"Okay, thank you for your help, Teacher Sharon." said the store manager.
[Xiaohong...] In her mind, there was still [Shu]'s hesitation, [Are you really okay?]
[Book] He was really worried that his child would suffer from schizophrenia one day, but at the same time, he knew very well how strong Chi Jiang Na Yue's mental state was, and such a thing would never happen.
It’s contradictory. Too contradictory.
Akae Nayue understood the implication of [Shu]'s words, so she pretended that she heard nothing, and happily followed Bermode's leaving footsteps while dragging her suitcase.
Bermode is a very talkative person. When she wants to maintain a good conversational atmosphere, there is almost no dull moment. The two of them walked and talked as they walked, and they both felt quite relaxed and comfortable.
The store manager's pace became more relaxed as he walked. His suitcase was specially made by a doctor. It was very sturdy and could support the weight of several people.
So the store manager, who had completely relaxed in front of Bermode, simply sat on the suitcase after he was led to the lounge by Bermode, while Bermode turned around to make tea, crossed his arms, and rested his chin on the top of the pull rod.
The well-proportioned face seemed to have some flesh squeezed out in this childish posture. When Vermouth turned around, he felt itchy for some reason and wanted to go up and poke a hole in it that would bounce back.
"Teacher Sharon, I remember that Grandpa said he wanted to study medicine." The store manager asked curiously, "What kind of medicine is that?"
"I thought you wouldn't care about this." Belmode rubbed his fingertips and didn't answer him immediately.
After waking up, Kaluuya is a genius. It only took him a few days to show his enchanting talent and outstanding learning ability to Karasuma Renya. But at the same time, Kaluuya's mentality is still that of an unpolished child. He has no memory of the past, like a blank sheet of paper that has just been born, making people want to write something on it.
But Belmode inexplicably didn't want to see such a scene.
"What the boss wants to study is a fantasy drug—" She thought for a moment and said with a subtle smile, "A fantasy drug that can change this world and create a paradise that belongs to us."
She didn't know what Kaluya's prototype was, but since he was the boss's designated successor, and she had seen many people in the research department change their size without changing their expressions, then Kaluya must be one of their kind.
So when talking about this part, Vermouth did not hide it too much, and changed his appearance of a riddle teller in front of others, and explained it unexpectedly straightforwardly: "In short, the effect that still only exists in the imagination is to turn ordinary people into our peers, and turn our peers into more worry-free peers, such as dogs."
“Less worry?”
The store manager's tone was a little strange. Bermode thought he was surprised because he heard this for the first time, so he nodded without thinking much.
"You know, right?" Bermode reminded helplessly, "The prototype of that gentleman..."
Both Akae Nazuki and the store manager knew it was a crow.
Does a crow need any more reasons to hate cats?
The store manager's eyes turned into crescents. He hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Couldn't a dog also eat a bird?"
Belmode sighed: "Dear, dogs are easier to train and control than cats."
What she didn't say was that the gentleman certainly had a backup plan, and the fate of someone like him who couldn't please him wouldn't be any better.
The store manager noticed that after Bermode finished speaking, the suitcase he was sitting on suddenly shook.
It's like something is moving violently inside.