Chapter 4 Standoff
Upon hearing the voice, Vodka raised his eyes, which were hidden behind his sunglasses, to look at the person. Gin's scrutinizing gaze swept between the two of them.
"Is your organization still short of people?" Senior Advisor Yagami asked first.
The atmosphere froze for a moment, then Vodka leaned closer to Gin and whispered, "Brother, this guy seems to be here to apply for a job."
Gin didn't speak, his eyes still fixed on the two people in front of him. Generally, those who dare to come to Nishino Ward at night are either those annoying rats or members of the same black organization. Occasionally, there are also a few unlucky guys who accidentally wander in here.
His gaze swept lightly over Yagami, who was probably the second type of person, and then he looked at Cheng You, who seemed to be an unlucky fellow, with a hint of curiosity, as if he didn't quite understand how these two types of people had come together.
Vodka pondered his brother's meaning, wondering if he was testing the other person, so he asked, "Do you know what our organization is called?"
Yagami, the senator, didn't care at all: "What does this have to do with me? I just need this kind of work."
What are your abilities?
"Ah... I know a lot, like I'm a very accurate shot and I'm very strong." He spoke casually, looking more like he was there to interview the other person than to conduct an interview.
After all, Vodka was genuinely nervous. He wasn't very good at judging people, and he didn't quite understand what his older brother meant. The people on the other side seemed like criminals, but he was afraid that he might misjudge them and invite rats in. His older brother was already busy enough dealing with rats every day.
Cheng noticed Vodka's hesitation and pondered how to get the distillery to refuse. He arrogantly crossed his arms and looked at Vodka with disdain, saying, "I think your organization is too leisurely and incapable of achieving anything great. You might even go bankrupt soon. Our boss is someone who's determined to make something of himself. How could he possibly settle for something from your organization?" He pointed his thumb at Yagami Uesugi.
[Hiss, that makes sense...] Yagami stroked his chin.
Vodka immediately broke down upon hearing this: "Nonsense! Our organization is thriving and is about to launch a counterattack against the Metropolitan Police Department!"
"Is that amazing? Then show me how to snipe a target from a thousand miles away and hit it squarely?" Cheng, with an arrogant demeanor, successfully interviewed Vodka.
"Uh, I don't belong to the sniper department..." Vodka pulled out a tissue and wiped his sweat.
"Huh? You can't even do that? Then demonstrate a fight?"
"Won't……"
"So, are you in the literature department, and you're going to perform a poetry recitation?"
"No……"
"Tsk, so what can you do?" Cheng You naturally knew. He was just breaking it down step by step for Yagami to see. Yagami, take a good look. This organization is not easy to join.
“I’m a pretty good driver.” Finally able to mention his specialty, Vodka’s tone was slightly cheerful. “I’m loyal.”
"What?" Cheng You raised an eyebrow and looked at Yagami, "My dear friend, look at them. This organization has no real strength. Finding a job is a major life event. You've only just arrived in Beika Town and don't know the ins and outs yet."
"It's like you're not new to Beika Town." The other person thought to themselves.
"Okay, let's go." Yagami agreed, but couldn't help but wonder how Cheng You, who had just been timid, had become so arrogant. "Are you not afraid anymore?"
"I'm scared!" Cheng You clutched his chest, saying with heartache, "I'm so scared. I was just bluffing. To be honest, I knew how powerful you were the moment I saw you. I hope you'll protect me from now on, brother."
"Hmm." Yagami nodded faintly. [It seems I was being overly suspicious.]
"Did I let you leave?" Gin's cold voice rang out from behind.
"What? You want to kill me?" Yagami looked at Gin, who was holding a gun behind him, with a provocative look in his eyes. "The people of Nishino Ward are indeed arrogant."
Gin held a gun, his long silver hair obscuring one of his eyes, which emitted a ghostly green light; his entire demeanor was sinister and terrifying.
Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, the sound of leather shoes clattering came from afar, "tap, tap, tap," slow and rhythmic, as if the other was deliberately making noise to warn the rats lurking in the shadows.
Cheng You squinted. Although the newcomer was also wearing a hat, a few strands of blond hair still peeked out. The person slowly approached, and in the dim light, their skin appeared very dark, easily creating an illusion. But Cheng You already knew who the newcomer was. It seemed that the organization probably had some kind of mission or secret transaction in this place.
"Hey, what are you standing here for? Aren't you going to carry out your mission?" Amuro Tooru said, deliberately lowering his voice.
Gin holstered his gun and looked coldly at the newcomer: "You're too late."
Amuro Tooru ignored them. As he passed by Cheng You and Yagami, he deliberately glanced at them sideways while pulling his hat brim down.
"Let's go." He walked to Gin's side, and together they turned and walked into the alley to the side, their figures quickly disappearing into the darkness.
As expected, there was some kind of mission. Cheng You glanced at him one last time before turning away. He could no longer see Yagami Shangcan's figure when he turned around. He left so quickly?!
Cheng You: ...
"Tsk, how rude." Cheng You sighed helplessly. Although he didn't know how Yagami Uesugi currently viewed him, the other party didn't seem to affect him much. Preventing the other party from entering the distillery was a step forward.
"Hey, system, how do I upgrade so I can hear the true voice of the wine?"
System: [Successfully completing two rewind missions will accumulate enough value. Missions that save the lives of key characters are highly valuable.]
Cheng nodded, put his hands in his pockets, and slowly left along the way he came.
In the shadows, the three from the distillery arrived at the target transaction location. The man, with his hat pulled down, walked over and handed them a large box. "Tsk, those old guys are really hard to deal with. No matter what I said, they wouldn't let me join. I had to go to great lengths to steal this research object."
"Thank you for your hard work, El." Amuro Tooru took the box and said, "Anyway, there will be an exhibition in a few days, which is a good time to make our move."
Gin nodded. "That old man Cecil is indeed difficult to deal with. It seems we need to find something on him." A ruthless glint appeared in his dark green eyes.
When Cheng You returned to the Mi Garden residential area, he looked up at the window of his shared room. It was still pitch black. Had Ye Shen Shangcan not come back yet? Had he run off to some godforsaken place to find the organization again?
Thinking this helplessly, he had already taken the elevator to the eighth floor. Their apartment was the only one rented on this floor, and there was an eerie quiet atmosphere all around. Cheng slowly entered the password, then wiped away the fingerprints left behind with a tissue before opening the door and entering the apartment.
After turning on the light, Cheng You suddenly noticed a dark figure sitting on his sofa. Even the air seemed to be filled with a chill. His heart skipped a beat, and he took the prepared scalpel in a way that made it easy to attack.
Then he heard someone's inner monologue: "Tsk, what are you doing sneaking around in the entryway? So annoying." The tone was full of impatience and irritability, but also somewhat familiar.
Cheng peeked over to confirm that it was indeed Ye Shen Shangcan himself before he felt relieved and quickly changed his shoes to come over.
Oh, what a scare! I forgot that my roommate has this inexplicable criminal aura, and his abilities are among the best in the underworld.
"Why did you go to that place? Don't you know it's dangerous?" Cheng said, feigning anger. "And you didn't even tell me you were leaving!"
"I'm lost, why are you following me?" Yagami said nonchalantly. "Where I go is none of your business. What else could my purpose be but to make money?" His tone was really unpleasant.
[Seriously, Nishino Ward is such a dreadful place, it's irresistible. If I hadn't used force to subdue passersby and force them to tell me the way, I'd probably still be wandering around in there. Ugh, what a hassle, I'd better avoid that area in the future.]
Cheng You: ...So that's how you got out of there. It must have been tough for you, haha. But it's good that you don't go there often.
"Okay, okay, goodnight." Cheng You waved his hand, intending to go wash up and rest.
"Hey, are there any jobs that pay well?" Yagami asked seriously after careful consideration.
Don't you go to school?
"I've taken leave," he said. [I really don't want to stay in a place full of idiots; shady activities are much more interesting.]
"..." Cheng thought about it seriously for a long time and felt that someone with Yagami's personality didn't seem to have any jobs he could do. Finally, he racked his brains and came up with a brilliant idea, "Hey! Go be an NPC in a haunted house! That should be quite profitable."
"Really? I'll think about it." So Yagami took out his phone and started looking at job postings for haunted house employees.
After washing up, Cheng You lay in bed reflecting on the day's experiences. He had originally planned to just do these tasks and coast through life. Although he had transmigrated, he didn't care where he was going to coast. However, after passing through Nishino Ward and seeing things, he suddenly changed his mind.
The system's second major task for him was to find out who or what organization would bring disaster to Beika Town. Such an organization would probably be just as difficult to deal with as the brewery, and almost no one would know about it.
To take down a rat lurking in the shadows, these methods alone aren't enough. You need to find a way to infiltrate them, to gain a deeper understanding... If only I could become the head of the distillery...
After a moment of contemplation, he returned to his normal life, thinking that he should find a job, and it had to be a daily wage! After all, who knows how long a month is in the world of Detective Conan!
Then he suddenly remembered that the reward he received from the random spinning wheel after completing the mission to help Conan solve the case seemed to be a shop.
He brought up the system interface, glanced at his inventory, and indeed there was a reward: "One Random Shop." Clicking on this slot would display the address of the shop.
Cheng looked on curiously, and the first thing he saw was the big sign "Mouri Detective Agency" across the street.
"Is this really random?" he couldn't help but wonder, how could it be such a coincidence!
The system replied cheerfully: "[Of course it's random. Congratulations, host! The shop is right across from the Mouri Detective Agency. You're one step closer to the protagonist! Please select the shop name and the content related to the shop you wish to draw.]"
The draw, yes, this is not something you can decide yourself, so after another spin of the wheel, it finally points to the dessert shop.
Cheng chose the most normal name from several options: North-South Alley.
The next day, when Cheng arrived at the shop, the interior was very neat and clean, and all the materials were in place. He silently praised the system for its high efficiency.
So he hung up the "Open for Business" sign, sat in a sunny corner looking through recipes, and sketched out his future goals in his mind.
It has to be said that the system's reward is indeed quite good. Although this is just a dessert shop, the second floor is actually part of the shop. It's just that the second floor is a simply decorated room with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom, which is probably reserved for the shop owner to live in.
However, for the sake of the mission, I still need to live with Yagami for a while. I'll use this place for other missions later.
"Ding-a-ling—" This was the sound of the wind chimes hanging on the door when a guest pushed the door open and came in. Cheng looked up and saw two familiar people.
"Welcome!" He smiled and stood up to greet the protagonist.
"Hello, hey, are you the detective from the hot pot restaurant yesterday?" Ran Mouri asked in surprise.
“Yes, what a coincidence, miss. But I’m not a detective, I just enjoy reading this kind of book in my spare time,” Cheng You walked to Xiao Lan’s side, bowed slightly like a gentleman, and handed her the dessert menu. “What would you like to order?”
Conan couldn't help but ask, "Big brother, I remember you told the receptionist yesterday that you were a new exchange student who just arrived in Beika Town. Why did you open a shop here so soon?"
"I'm a man of action; once I set a goal to open a shop, I did it right away," Cheng said with a grin. "But little brother, you'll have to come often in the future~" His tone sounded strange, as if some kind of conspiracy was waiting for him.
Conan silently remarked: It would be strange if he came here often.
Generally, such sudden and seemingly unintentional approaches to Conan always arouse his suspicion that they are either members of the organization or people who know his identity.
Ran smiled and said, "My name is Ran Mouri, and this is Conan Edogawa. May I ask your name, sir?"
"My name is Cheng You."
"One chocolate cake, to go. Thank you, Mr. Cheng." Ran smiled and handed the menu to Conan, who casually ordered a cupcake.
Cheng silently memorized the recipes and, when they weren't looking, slowly followed them to cook. The system would give him a bonus of being a culinary master while he looked at the recipes, so he could cook with peace of mind.
Even though he carefully placed the recipe in an inconspicuous place, he still couldn't escape the keen eyes of the famous detective: What? This guy can't cook? Is he really disguising himself as an ordinary person to complete some mission?
After Cheng finished packing up their desserts, Conan still didn't ask. But later, back at the Mouri Detective Agency, he ate a few bites out of boredom and found them surprisingly delicious! He thought: Maybe he misunderstood him; perhaps he was looking at the recipe to better present the taste of the desserts…
(Cheng You: Thank you for helping me complete this system buff, Detective.)
During Cheng's lunch break, the system interface displayed that the time rewind had reached 100% and he was about to proceed to—
Seven years ago, in Beika Town.
A note from the author:
Lan Jiang likes Chinese food, like Mapo Tofu. hhh
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