Chapter 38 L. Ryuzaki [VIP]
Far from the coffee shop in the center of Beika Town, Cheng You parked his bicycle next to a park in the distance. As he slowly walked towards the coffee shop, he glanced around to see if there were any familiar young men around fourteen or fifteen years old.
No.
As Cheng You approached the coffee shop, he pursed his lips. This was an expected outcome.
However, there was also a vague sense of relief during the process, probably because she realized that Yuichi was capable of protecting himself, or perhaps because she trusted her partner.
Sitting at table X in the coffee shop, Cheng didn't look around. Instead, he started typing code on his phone, hacking into nearby surveillance cameras and projecting several camera feeds onto the system interface. His eyes scanned each video carefully.
Finally, Cheng vaguely saw a young man wearing a mask and hat, but this man had long hair, making it difficult to determine his gender.
But so far, he was the only one who seemed suspicious. Cheng You observed carefully, and just then, the young man also raised his sapphire-like, cold eyes from under his hat to look at the surveillance camera, meeting Cheng You's gaze across the screen.
Cheng You: There's no mistake, that look in his eyes.
He put away his phone and the system control panel, and quietly waited for the other party to arrive.
A whiff of North Island Iced Tea wafted over, and Cheng You, realizing someone had taken his seat, looked up expressionlessly.
His long hair, which makes him look like a girl, is a disguise.
After the other person sat down, he kept looking Cheng You up and down, as if trying to see his soul through his eyes.
Cheng didn't flinch at all; he sat there openly, secretly hoping that Youyi would figure something out.
"Wow, what's this gentleman's name?" the other person asked with a slight smile.
"Matsukawa Yuki," Cheng replied calmly, as the other person was confirming that he was the one who had sent him the message yesterday.
"I think I know you." The other person removed one side of their mask, revealing their entire face, and then put it back on after making sure Cheng could see clearly. "Do you know me?"
Cheng recognized him clearly; it was him, with the same face as Matsukawa Yuichi, who was six or seven years old. At fourteen or fifteen, he wasn't mature, but his eyes were completely unlike what one would expect at that age. "Matsukawa Yuichi."
"..." Yu Yi stared at Cheng You's face in silence for a moment, "I never thought that a person's appearance could change so much."
Cheng didn't speak, he just smiled. He didn't believe Youyi was unaware of the existence of disguise techniques. So what was the other party trying to do by saying this? Was he trying to find out Cheng Youyi's methods and then determine his stance and organization?
"I only took some money from Matsukawa-nii, and you've been chasing me all this time." Yuichi continued without waiting for the other person to speak, her voice sounding somewhat aggrieved.
“It’s not for that.” Cheng You took a deep breath, pulled a folded contract out of his pocket, and took out a pen to write small words in the signature column.
——【Do you know what a research institute is?】
After finishing writing, he pushed the paper to Yuichi, but said with a smile, "Let's sign this contract quickly. You can circle any parts that need to be changed."
Yuu raised an eyebrow and took the contract. He glanced at it and saw that the contents were all printed out news reports. Only the line written by the other party in the signature column was important.
Upon seeing what Cheng had written, a barely perceptible glint appeared in You's eyes.
“I know that,” he said.
"Really? That's great." Cheng You smiled upon hearing this, waved his hand, and ordered two coffees. "To go, please."
He pulled a gift box from his pocket, about the size of a fist, and handed it to Yuichi: "This is a gift for you. Take a look, you might like it."
"?" Yuuichi was puzzled, not understanding what this guy was planning, even though he had prepared all the necessary equipment.
He took the box and carefully opened only one corner, revealing a small glass bottle lying quietly among the red raffia, filled with a dark red liquid.
Yu Yi's pupils dilated in shock, his fingers twitched, and he immediately closed the box, staring wide-eyed at Cheng You: "What do you mean?" At this moment, he was also very flustered. He didn't understand why the other party would suddenly give him this blood sample. Whose blood was it? Why give it to me? I'm just a middle school student!
“Some things are complicated, like this gift, like the contact information, but you’ll probably understand when we meet again,” Cheng explained vaguely. “This gift is somewhat related to that research institute.”
"so?"
"Can you do me a favor?" Cheng You pointed to the gift box.
Since Yuichi knows about the research institute, he must be no ordinary person. He must know about the institute's god-making plan, and the source and value of this blood need not be explained further.
"Ugh, I feel like I've been working myself to the bone lately. I feel like I'm being controlled, and I'm not quite myself. I went to the hospital to have some blood drawn." Cheng stretched his arm, revealing his exhaustion, to convey the symptoms of the blood donor.
“…Hmm.” Yu nodded to show he understood, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked the question he most wanted to know, “When will we see each other again, Matsukawa-nii?”
"Three or four years from now, when we meet again, I'll still be the same as I was when we first met." Cheng You thought of certain times and couldn't help but smile, his smile even gentler than the sunlight behind him.
"..." Yuichi looked at the other person's genuine smile and slowly relaxed. Perhaps in a few years, he would understand all of this. "Where will we meet again?"
Why are you asking this?
“I’ll probably be in high school then, I’ll be making a lot of money, and when we meet again, I want to have a meal with you, take a walk with you. Or, I want to take you away from here.”
“This might not work, because the day we reunited was at night, at an amusement park, and in danger. Besides, I won’t leave here, and I know you won’t either,” Cheng said regretfully.
“…” Yuichi was indeed not leaving; he had his own things to do. He changed the subject and asked, “What kind of crisis? Matsukawa-nii’s enemy?”
"I guess so."
The two chatted about everyday things for a while. When the coffee was served, they left separately. After walking a long way, Matsukawa Yuichi turned around and stared at the figure riding away on a bicycle, lost in memories.
Having finished dealing with these matters, Cheng You had some free time. He could only stay in the hotel, occasionally checking out the Gray Fox Assassin's Creed website, and quietly waiting for winter to approach in December.
"It would be great if we could go out and have fun," Cheng You muttered, sprawled on the sofa watching the Beika Town news.
[If you're bored, you can learn more skills—it's always good to have more skills!] The system's voice rang out.
"Huh? I'd like to learn, but do you know any book that can teach me Chinese Kung Fu?! Or how to fight in a gunfight? Or at the very least, how to do a wild car race? Can you teach me? Or just give me a skill directly? You can't." Cheng You replied listlessly.
[No, no, no, no, host, you will receive skill rewards upon officially entering the Detective Conan main storyline. You can look forward to it.]
"I've been showing my face at the winery for so long, isn't that enough to get into the main storyline of Detective Conan?" Cheng You questioned.
[This isn't considered an official entry, after all, that was just your alternate account... and besides, your influence isn't enough.]
"...No, Conan, Morofushi Hiromitsu all know me. Cheng You is here to take down the Black Organization, so how can that not be considered officially joining?! What do you mean by not having enough influence?!"
[...The system wouldn't make a mistake; there are still 24% of the progress before the host officially enters the main Conan storyline.]
"..."
[However, the host has now fully entered the research institute side quest and is eligible to receive a reward.]
"?" Cheng You frowned. "A branch of the research institute? But my contacts and collaborations with the institute's boss, Gabriel Cecil, were also under my pseudonym, weren't they? Besides, is my influence in the research institute sufficient?"
The system is unlikely to be wrong. So, Gabriel Cecil knows my true identity? Cheng You pursed his lips. Oh no, did I go too far...? Impossible! I've been cautious enough!
Then, a sentence from the system made Cheng even more nervous.
Yes, host, but you only recently fully entered the main storyline of the research institute.
"Recently??" Cheng paused. Recently?! What has he been doing these past few days? He's only done one thing!
—Meet with Yuichi and trade blood.
Why is this considered entering the main storyline of the research institute?!
What exactly is the relationship between Yuichi, the research institute, and the brewery?
Just as Cheng was troubled and even somewhat worried about these matters, the system suddenly announced: [Huh, strange, the host has officially entered the Detective Conan main storyline and has reached 85% progress. What did the host do?]
"?" Cheng Youxin's heart sank. This number had suddenly increased. What was going on? Was his identity about to be ruined? Compared to being exposed openly, it was the enemy's underhanded tactics that were most terrifying.
On the other hand, having finally managed to take a break and find some time to contact his contact person, Morofushi Kagemitsu secretly sent him a message about recent events, and then immediately deleted the message.
He didn't reveal any information about Cheng You, but his contact was known as the top detective in public security, and even had the title of "world's number one detective." He wasn't sure if the other party could spot any loopholes in the details he sent.
Morofushi Hiromitsu is struggling with how to tell his contact about his relationship with Cheng You, because of Matsukawa Yuki, and because of the desire to destroy the winery, he has risked everything to cooperate with an even more dangerous person.
Moreover, can contact person L trust this? Even though they trust each other.
Sure enough, the next second, contact L sent him a question: [L: Mr. Morofushi, are you hiding something? Your tone and the details seem off.]
[Midori: As expected, nothing can escape your eyes.]
This was the pseudonym he used when he joined the brewery—Midori Kawai.
[L: Please explain in detail.]
Morofushi Hiromitsu recounted his encounter and collaboration with Cheng You, as well as his past friendship with Matsukawa Yuki. When he mentioned Cheng You's suspicion that his contact might be an undercover agent, Morofushi Hiromitsu paused, then replied, "[Midorikawa: I believe you, Ryuzaki. Although you always maintain a mysterious air.]"
After everything was explained, L. Ryuzaki had no doubts, even though the story seemed to have many coincidences.
Soon, L. Ryuzaki sent his analysis, saying that Cheng You was a potential collaborator, and that they could trust each other to complete the cooperation, but they couldn't completely trust what the other party said. He also said that Cheng You's goal was most likely not cooperation, although it was possible that the Black Organization and the research institute were among his goals, but that wasn't his primary objective.
[Midori: So what... was his main purpose?]
[L: It's you.]
"???" Morofushi Kagemitsu was completely confused. What did that mean? Was the target me? Me?
[Midori River: What do you mean?]
[L: I don't know either. Based on the analysis, that's how it seems. He deliberately approached you; how could it be just because of your friend, Matsukawa Yuki? And I feel there's another possibility, though it's unlikely: Matsukawa Yuki and Cheng had been plotting something for a long time. Even the meeting with your friend three years ago, becoming friends, and then meeting you all—it was all arranged.]
[Midori: This... so they knew I would infiltrate the Black Organization a long time ago? That's a bit too far-fetched.]
[L: Hmm... I'm not entirely sure, it's just my gut feeling, but it's great to see Mr. Morofushi so energetic.]
Morofushi Kagemitsu fell into deep thought as he looked at the last sentence. Vitality? Perhaps it was because he had met Zero. He felt inexplicably at ease.
He and Zero's contact probably didn't know each other, and only a few high-ranking members and his contact knew about his undercover work. They had only recently officially joined the Black Organization, received codenames, and gained the organization's trust. The contact had to slowly report to the higher-ups, who then needed to encrypt the information and process their past data before notifying the relevant leaders and secret contacts.
Ryuzaki was unaware that his childhood friend, Rei Furuya, whom he was tasked with infiltrating, had also arrived. It seemed that this matter had not yet been communicated to the various contacts. The Public Security Bureau was indeed slow in handling matters, but it was better to be meticulous.
[Midori: Okay, I understand. Also, I'd like to leave the matter of the organization's undercover agent in the Public Security Bureau to you, Ryuzaki.]
[L: No problem. We'll eat cake together when Mr. Morofushi returns.]
L: Justice will prevail.
The other person is just a ten-year-old kid who loves sweets. Morifushi Kagemitsu smirked as he read the last two sentences.
Okay, wait for my return.
Let's eat cake together.
[Midori River: Justice will prevail.]
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