Chapter 142 Thirty-six Cats

If Karasuma Renya asked the store manager what was going on at this time, the manager, who was in a good mood, might really give him an answer... Unfortunately, there is no if.

After Karasuma Renya went on stage, there was nothing around her except a note in her hand that looked like a speech outline that someone had slipped to her and a wheelchair under her.

Oh, maybe Rum, the second-in-command standing behind him, counts too.

This development gave Karasuma Renya a real shock, and he was confused for a moment. Fortunately, his reaction was extremely fast, and the lower half of his face covered by the ventilator showed no unusual color except that the corners of his mouth were still twitching.

No matter what went wrong with his original plan, the most urgent task was to reassure the reporters below the stage. With this in mind, he slightly opened his mask and spoke a few words into the microphone with experience. He did not mention any specific information about the press conference, but still made people feel that everything was under his control.

That's what Rum thought.

When he had just received a call from the store manager and learned that he was required to cooperate in a special press conference, he had asked what the press conference was about. The store manager did not tell him, only saying that it was something that the boss had already approved. Rum was skeptical but went along with the arrangement because he was the small boss.

He wanted to cautiously ask his boss's opinion first, but Rum knew that his boss was a person who pursued efficiency, and was very eager for the store manager to return to the group to take over the important task - so since the store manager was willing to attend the press conference, it also showed that the boss's goal had been half achieved, right?

Now seeing the boss's calm look, it seems that the boss really asked the store manager to do this. Rum must be relieved.

Now that he was relieved, Rum finally had the leisure to pay close attention to how the manager's part of the work was being completed. The long video was just put up by the manager shortly before the media entered, so Rum, who had been busy in the back and reporting the work progress to his boss, just saw it.

He couldn't help showing a look of astonishment, thinking that his eyes had finally been damaged by years of work.

He could tell what "the world-changing fantasy drug" referred to. It was the project that Shirley had been in charge of before she defected. It was also the research that the boss had invested the most effort in. It could be said that Shirley's defection really hit Karasuma Renya in some ways.

If anything, a lot of data from that project and previous samples were left behind. Even if the project would be stalled after losing Shirley, a genius who specialized in drug A research, at least it was still there. Rum believed that as long as they accumulated experience bit by bit and moved forward, they would be able to restart the project sooner or later.

So Rum guessed that the blow to his boss was probably because Shirley's prototype was a cat - Rum knew this of course, even though Shirley and Miyano Akemi seemed to want to hide it from others, Shirley was born in the group, and Rum received many reports about Shirley almost every year.

If the spies he placed around this genius could be easily discovered, he would no longer be able to continue to be the head of the Rum Group.

Shirley, the independent Angora cat, didn't like to have much contact with others, so they just went along with her as much as possible. They said yes to whatever she wanted and gave her whatever she wanted to study. If she didn't want any contact, then there would be no contact. Shirley's social situation in the group was relatively blank, which made it easier to monitor whether she would do anything out of line.

This is of course because Shirley’s prototype is a cat.

Therefore, when Karasuma Renya learned that Shirley Cat, whom he had brought into the group because of her talent, had defected, he was hit hard from all angles and in multiple ways.

He is absolutely incompatible with the cats in this world!

Then again, Rum still didn't quite understand what the store manager wanted to do. Was he really going to tell everyone about the existence of the aptx series of drugs? What a joke! Wouldn't that expose the group's purpose in advance?

And what about the Phase III clinical trial? It couldn't be that the boss and the store manager secretly conducted the first two trials in a place where he couldn't see... Rum thought about it and still felt that it was unlikely.

You know, clinical trials need approval from the Food and Drug Administration. They have always relied on their internal network to get by, and the volunteers have always been people from the Karasuma family. After all, they can't tell the Food and Drug Administration that they are researching a drug that can transform ordinary people into animals.

Then he would either be regarded as a fool or a liar - there was no other way. Most people had a very weak acceptance level and a lack of imagination in areas they did not understand. Rum was no longer surprised.

Now, the store manager told him there was a third possibility.

Rum looked in shock at the store manager who was slowly coming up the stairs from the other side, muttering something in his heart.

Generally speaking, if a drug achieves the expected effect after Phase III clinical trials, regardless of other conditions, it can be put on the market. After that, the new drug will undergo Phase IV clinical trials. If the dream drug in the long run is really what Rum thought, let alone anything else, can it really be put on the market?

Rum remembered that before Shirley defected, Drug A was just a failed product that caused amnesia in the user. How was it possible that in such a short time, the store manager not only restarted the project, but also obtained complete research results and produced a finished product that could be put on the market!

Well, although the original idea of ​​the boss was to package the drugs after they were successfully developed and secretly put them on the market and released into human society.

It's a bit immoral, but Rum thinks it's no big deal. One day they will turn this bad world into the paradise of their dreams, and then everyone can walk into the sun because they are no different.

Rum knew that the boss's wish was a little... extreme and a little naive, but he really longed for the future that the boss had described for him and couldn't wait to see that day come.

Then, while still reminiscing and fantasizing in his mind, Rum heard the store manager speak.

"First, I want to show you a video." The gentle black-haired young man tied up his long hair, stood on the stage, smiled and said, while taking a step aside.

All the lights in the venue were turned off immediately, and everyone's eyes were focused on the only large screen that was still on, driven by their curiosity.

They saw an Akita dog with fluffy and soft hair on it.

There was a sudden commotion in the audience. It was obvious that no one understood the manager's intention in showing them this. Meanwhile, out of sight of Rum and the others, many viewers slowly poured into the live broadcast room on the online platform. Perhaps they came to join in the fun, or perhaps they had walked in by mistake.

These store managers and Conan and others don’t care, because they know that everyone will definitely choose to stay in the live broadcast room in the end.

Karasuma Renya wanted to let the whole country know that the group had welcomed an excellent young successor, which just happened to help the store manager.

No one saw that under the cover of darkness, the corners of the store manager's mouth curled up slightly again.

It all started when the plan was being made. In response to Conan's question, the store manager said that he had his own way to delay the discovery of Furuya and others, and this method was very simple and crude.

It was not until the night before the press conference that Conan found out what the store manager's method was.

He watched as the store manager skillfully took out a glass bottle that looked airtight, with a transparent, unknown liquid swaying inside. He then poured the liquid into the basin and soaked the thin scarf that Conan had seen around the store manager's neck two days ago in the same basin.

Out of a detective's curiosity and his aching conscience, Conan hesitantly asked the store manager what it was.

The overly sensitive sense of smell of cats and dogs is also a problem, which is why the store manager usually does not use any incense or spray strong-smelling potions at home. Even the smell on clothes is light, and in human form, it is almost impossible to smell anything.

Although he didn't know what the manager used to soak the scarf, Conan could now smell the rich and cool scent from the human body. He moved his nose and felt as if he had smelled this scent somewhere before.

"Oh, nothing." The store manager smiled harmlessly and cutely. This expression did not seem out of place on his face. "It's just something I found in the action team before - um, research results?"

Conan was halfway through saying "oh oh oh" in response when he suddenly remembered what the manager meant.

Action Group, Research Results.

The black-haired, blue-eyed little detective looked at the bowl in horror: "That cat mint concentrate?!"

"Oh, you still remember it." The store manager said this casually without any guilt. He picked up the towel that had been soaked all over, twisted it, rinsed it with clean water, and then hung up his finished product to dry with satisfaction.

They are currently at Kudo's residence, so the manager is not worried at all about being exposed in advance.

"You picked it up?" Conan was slightly calmed down by the store manager's indifference. He crossed his arms and looked at the store manager with a squint and said, "Did Shirley and Hagiwara-san pick it up like that?"

The store manager immediately turned around and gestured to silence him: "Did you really pick it up?"

Yes, yes, it’s pronounced as “pick” and written as “grab”, right?

Conan immediately understood what the manager was going to do, but after thinking about it, he found that he actually wanted to see such a scene.

That was why on the first day - that is, today, he went back to the store manager's house early in the morning to look for the elites who were coaxed back by the store manager with a few words.

They handed the scarf to Shirley. Now it was no longer an ordinary scarf, but a scarf that the store manager had worn, with a cat mint scent that was concentrated countless times, specially made by the group for all cats, and lasted for a very long time.

The cats who thought they were here to 'work' and relax in the store with the manager fell without any resistance, which made Conan a little scared: Fortunately, he is a dog now and will not be affected by the cat mint.

Anyway, by the time the adults came to their senses after struggling to get rid of the cat mint scarves, everything here was settled.

As for the other dog, Shuichi Akai, the manager didn't tell Conan what he did. Conan still got it from Shirley indirectly, and only then did he know that the manager somehow brought Miss Akemi back to Japan. Now Mr. Akai is probably in a cafe in Tokyo facing his ex-girlfriend and ex-ex-girlfriend at the same time.

The content of the video currently being played on the stage is actually not difficult to understand.

The Akita dog in the picture sat obediently for a while, then revealed a very human expression and then twisted restlessly.

The Akita dog spoke.

"That...little boss, can I change back?"

…and it was an Akita dog that spoke with an Osaka accent.