Chapter 45 Trust Me [VIP]
Regarding my own dream, or rather, it may not be a dream, because certain plot points completely align with the future that Cheng You described.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Fujingguang decided to tell Cheng You about this strange matter.
He briefly described the scene he remembered and sent it to Cheng You, hoping it would have some effect on Cheng You's plan.
The next morning, Cheng You was observing the body of the second gambling king to make sure he showed no signs of waking up before he felt relieved enough to go get the takeout.
Upon his return, he received a message from Morofushi Kagemitsu.
Dream?
This scenario seems to be something that will happen in the future? Morofushi Kagemitsu's description does indeed resemble the future.
Cheng You paused for a moment, then sent a message: [Cheng You: Have you ever dreamed about anything else strange before? Like, anything related to your classmates at police academy?]
[Midori: Hmm... I recently dreamt about Hagiwara and Matsuda dealing with a bomb and sacrificing themselves to protect the people. Zero had a similar dream too. Maybe it's because I haven't seen them in so long that I miss them in my dreams, but I don't know why I have this kind of dream, haha.]
Even if the future is changed, what actually happened on a certain timeline in this world will still become a dream and invade their consciousness.
Cheng looked at Morofushi Kagemitsu's description of his dream and noticed some inconsistencies. However, Morofushi Kagemitsu said that he couldn't remember the details of his dream very clearly and could only describe the general outline, unable to recall the specifics.
However, this information is sufficient.
At least, Cheng discovered a very important point.
Morofushi Kagemitsu's suicide was orchestrated by the organization. However, Cheng You is unaware of exactly what happened that day. This time, we must investigate thoroughly and, ideally, uncover the black-clad organization's mole within the Public Security Bureau.
A crucial point is that, after some thought, Morofushi Hiromitsu seemed to accept Rye's identity as an FBI undercover agent quite naturally.
So, when Rai learned that Morofushi Hiromitsu was an undercover agent, Morofushi Hiromitsu also learned Rai's true identity.
“Xiao Huo,” Cheng You suddenly asked, “at this point, did Morofushi Kagemitsu believe in Lai’s identity?”
【…Host, I am the “Alive?” system, please do not call me by such a name.】 The system’s electronic voice revealed a hint of speechlessness.
"Answer my question." Cheng had no time to pay attention to the system. He raised his eyes slightly, and asked again, drawing out his words.
[Yes, yes, host, but which time are you referring to?]
"When Shuichi Akai revealed his identity?"
Back then, it was just WeChat, maybe 80%.
"Then... what happened after hearing the familiar footsteps? He noticed Shuichi Akai's expression. At that time, Shuichi Akai didn't know that someone else would come. Did Morofushi Kagemitsu confirm the organization's test mission and also confirm Ray's identity? Is that right?" Based on the fragmented scenes provided by Morofushi Kagemitsu, Cheng You combined them with the original plot of the manga and made a rough deduction.
【almost. 】
“Then… Rai will most likely just pretend he didn’t see Morofushi Kagemitsu’s fake death mission.” Cheng said with surprise. This was definitely good news, but at the same time, it was accompanied by another problem.
But it can't be too blatant.
He absolutely cannot meet with Lei Yi with his own large face, after all, Akai Shuichi met him in the first year of Conan, and for some reason Akai Shuichi seemed to have some suspicions about him.
It would be great if we could communicate directly with each other.
Tsk, to be frank, Rye definitely wouldn't admit he's an undercover agent, and might even suspect Scotland of having ulterior motives.
Ugh! Can't the undercover agents communicate with each other? This constant back-and-forth, this suspicion of each other—when will this ever end?!
Cheng sighed.
Forget it, I can't bring up the plot ahead of time, otherwise Shuichi Akai might suspect that Scotland was sent by the Black Organization to test him, and he probably wouldn't reveal his identity to protect Kagemitsu Morofushi during the Taitai incident. If the plot is completely disrupted, the system will be furious and start cursing its innocent host.
Cheng ultimately decided not to contact Lai Yi or tell Morofushi Kagemitsu about Lai Yi's true identity in advance. By then, Morofushi Kagemitsu would naturally deduce everything, which would seem more natural.
On the evening of December 7th, Rye received a message from Rum saying that Scotland, who seemed to be an undercover agent sent by the Public Security Bureau, was to be dealt with by Rye. The location was the rooftop of XXX. Rum said that Scotland was unaware that his undercover identity had been exposed and that he would lure him to the rooftop.
Lei stared at the message for a moment, then paused. Public Security... an undercover agent... I was wondering why I had such a suitable accomplice; it turns out he's also an undercover agent. Shuichi Akai thought to himself, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips, but then hesitated, remembering he would have to deal with the other person later.
However, why wasn't it Gin who was the one infiltrating this time? Does the organization really need to use something like this to test me? Shuichi Akai thought to himself, unconsciously adjusting his serious expression.
Shortly after, Scotland, who had just returned to the organization after completing his mission, also received a message from Rum, asking him to go to the XXX rooftop to meet his comrades from this mission and carry out the next mission together.
Looking at the two words "rooftop," Morofushi Kagemitsu knew that this day had finally come.
He was surprisingly relaxed.
Slowly walking up to the rooftop, Morofushi Kagemitsu walked against the light toward his inevitable end.
But he knew that a miracle was happening somewhere here, and that hope would ultimately prevail over justice.
Justice will prevail.
Cheng had rented a car a long time ago, put on a fake license plate, and brought the body of the second gambling king, who had been given embalming drugs, to the trunk. The second gambling king died last night.
Last night, Scotland, while on a mission, obtained a revolver from within the organization and had the number two gambling king hold the gun and pull the trigger to make it look like he had committed suicide. Because of the embalming agents, the blood will remain fresh.
There might be some minor bugs, but this is for Furuya Rei's benefit. Although the system explicitly forbids informing Furuya Rei about the faked death in the next few days, Furuya Rei's own suspicions are none of Cheng You's business. Besides, planting a seed of doubt now will make it easier for him to accept when Morofushi Kagemitsu actually appears before him.
Finally, Cheng lied that he knew a little about disguise and could disguise the second gambling king as Morofushi Kagemitsu. In reality, he was using the disguise that the system only had one chance to use in each retrospective mission.
The system's ability to disguise itself is practically a face transplant; it might even change your blood type, though no one will think to get a blood test.
Cheng You thought with satisfaction. He had parked his car some distance away when he arrived and was observing from this spot. To make it easier to observe, he had specially dressed in black and even brought binoculars. This place was already desolate, and the body was placed next to the wall behind the rooftop. According to his observation, no one had gone that way.
Before Lai arrived, a total of seven people passed by. Cheng observed the position of each of them. Two of them seemed to be just passing by, while the remaining five did not leave after arriving. They all hid in nearby empty buildings, some carrying pistols and others carrying sniper rifles.
Cheng confirmed that these were indeed the people sent by the Black Organization to inspect the mission. As expected of the Black Organization; nothing they do is in vain.
He couldn't eliminate all five people, otherwise they would be suspected when they returned to submit their mission reports. Cheng decided to take care of the sniper first, and then take care of the people who could see his movements as he carried the body.
So Cheng You quietly walked to another empty building, slowly climbed to the roof, put on a mask, and sprayed himself with the sleeping drug You Yi had given him. Cheng You knew the wind direction here; spraying from this spot, the wind would easily knock out the sniper.
The sniper would only think that he was too tired and had failed in his duty.
Yu-ichi's drug concentration was too high. He had already gained some understanding of the drug's effects when he first tested it on the No. 2 gambling king, and knew what concentration would be needed to keep the other person unconscious for how long.
Cheng had specially prepared it, put it in a spray bottle, and sprayed it about five times. With the help of the wind, it could make people unconscious for two or three hours, which was enough time.
Next, Cheng You went to the back of the rooftop, where only one person was waiting. He quickly knocked the other person unconscious using the same method, but this time he deliberately sprayed more.
Soon, Shuichi Akai arrived.
Soon after, Morobuchi Kagemitsu arrived at the rooftop. He observed it from below for a moment before slowly walking up.
Cheng You, seeing that the two had arrived, began his own operation.
Having arrived early, he had already prepared pulleys on the back of the rooftop. As soon as the two started fighting, Cheng You would transport the body up.
"Give up on suicide, Scotland. You shouldn't die here."
"What?" Moribushi Kagemitsu pursed his lips; his keen hearing had already picked up the sound of pulleys coming from the other side.
“I’m Shuichi Akai, an undercover FBI investigator. Like you, I’m a hound trying to keep those guys hooked. Okay, if you understand, put down your gun and listen to me. It’s easy to let you go.” Shuichi Akai finished speaking, giving the other man time to think. He, too, couldn’t bear to see someone as talented as Hiromitsu Morofushi fall here.
However, because the pulleys were close by, he also heard some noises, and Shuichi Akai couldn't help but frown.
Morofushi Kagemitsu spoke sternly, "Don't interfere." At the same time, he gradually began to doubt the purpose of the Black Organization's operation. If... if it really was Zero going upstairs later, then, so this was the Black Organization's plan.
Shuichi Akai understood perfectly; this must be Scotland's plan. As expected of Scotland, they could even guess something like this in advance.
The next second, hurried footsteps came from the other side of the stairs.
Morofushi Kagemitsu: !! It's Zero!!
He remembered that when Cheng was telling him about the plan to transport the body using pulleys, he casually said, "Maybe what I know is something that happened in a parallel universe."
Parallel universes? My parallel universe self is just as responsible and intelligent.
He recognized the footsteps of his childhood friend, but he couldn't gamble. What would happen if Zero came? Scotland's undercover identity had already made him a prime suspect in the organization. He knew Zero, and he was afraid that Zero's identity would be exposed as a result. He couldn't risk Zero's life to gamble on Ray's true identity.
All he could do was take this opportunity to protect Zero, to protect him one last time.
Zhu Fujingguang thought: If it weren't for Cheng You, he might have made the same decision as his counterpart in the parallel universe.
But he couldn't hesitate. While Rye was still surprised by the footsteps coming from the hallway, his gaze was no longer on Scotland. Rye probably knew Scotland had a plan, so he didn't want to look. Similarly, he hoped he could help him and prevent the newcomers from ruining it.
Taking advantage of the moment, Morofushi Kagemitsu nimbly moved the body from less than five meters away. He carried a bass bag weighing more than ten kilograms every day, so moving a body was nothing to him.
In an instant, Morofushi Kagemitsu pulled the trigger hard, placed the gun in the corpse's hand, and immediately hid behind the rooftop structure.
He wasn't sure if Ray had noticed the flaw in the statement.
When Ray heard the gunshot, he immediately turned around, quite surprised. What was going on? Wasn't he supposed to be leaving? Why?
At that moment, the person in the stairwell finally reached the rooftop; it was Bourbon.
The moment Ray saw Bourbon, he frowned, and a doubt about the Black Organization's mission involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
After discussing the mission with Bourbon, Shuichi Akai suddenly realized what was going on.
So this is what the Black Organization's purpose was this time. So... Scotch Whisky could have escaped, but he still chose to commit suicide. It turns out that he discovered the Black Organization's ultimate goal, so his suicide also protected Shuichi Akai in another way.
Shuichi Akai pursed his lips, a sudden pang of guilt rising in his heart.
Rei Furuya stared at the body lying there, at the familiar face. He could hardly believe that just this morning, they had been laughing and promising to go to that kaiseki restaurant together. Now, that face, which had been smiling in the sunlight, was now pale and lifeless.
Some people have personally parted the clouds and mist, and when the sunlight shines down on the earth, they are not touched, because they are already dead. Some say that the dead will turn into clouds and mist, sunlight, stars, or even a gentle breeze that is always by your side.
But none of these are what he wants. What matters most to him is not this kind of nothingness that can vanish at any moment. The person he cares about most is a living, breathing person who can stand in front of him, who will show a gentle smile, who will carefully bandage his wounds after a fight, and who will happily call him "Zero".
Life has meaning, and death is also imbued with profound colors. They say that living is colorful, which is why some people struggle to live. They say that death is black, which is why some people desperately try to escape the sea of death's suffering. But for an undercover agent, death has the black of tragic failure, the gray of torture and liberation, the blood-red of being forced to crawl over the corpses of comrades, and the colorful of triumphant return after success.
Zero is not the end, but the beginning of everything.
For a moment, memories flooded back, and he smiled helplessly, focusing his attention on the present.
Now was not the time to think about such things. Standing before him was still the organization's cold-blooded assassin. He suppressed his grief and examined the corpse. Morofushi Kagemitsu's right hand was stained with blood, suggesting suicide. It was that guy, Ray, who forced Scotland to commit suicide. Furuya Rei thought to himself, giving Akai Shuichi a vicious glare.
At that moment, Furuya Rei suddenly noticed something. He slowly approached Morofushi Kagemitsu's body and carefully examined his right hand. If it was suicide, there were some strange things about it.
For example, this hand—after suicide, the hand shouldn't naturally fall like this… Could it be that Rai faked Morofushi Kagemitsu's death as suicide? But there are a few strange things that don't seem like something a left-handed person like Rai could do… Could it be…
Rei Furuya's gloomy gaze turned into a distant hope.
Soon, Lei and Furuya Rei left, but they couldn't take the body with them because they had just received a message from Rum, who asked them to leave the body there and that someone would come and deal with it later.
Rei Furuya stared at the few lines of text on the message screen, his fingers gripping the phone harder and harder.
After they left, Morofushi Kagemitsu waited for a moment, waiting for the members of the Black Organization hidden in the shadows to finally make their move. Sure enough, they came here to examine the body.
"Confirmed to be Scotland, and the person is already dead."
"Take it away and destroy it."
As the footsteps faded into the distance, and silence returned to the surroundings once more, Morofushi Kagemitsu emerged from the shadows. He carefully cleaned up the scene, removed the pulleys, and slowly descended the stairs.
Just then, a car with a fake license plate pulled up in front of him; it was Cheng You.
"If I remember correctly, you don't have a driver's license, right? How come someone rented a car to you?" Morifushi Kagemitsu opened the car door, sat down, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and tease.
"It's just a matter of making some minor technical modifications," Cheng You said with a wink and a smile.
...
The two laughed for a while and then fell silent for a long time.
"Do you...do you want to tell Furuya Rei that you're still alive?" Cheng asked.
“No.” Morofushi Kagemitsu replied solemnly, “At least not for the next five or six days. This time, the Black Organization’s operation is targeting the three of us, Whiskey, so Zero will be in danger even after returning to the organization. It’s very possible that the person holding his phone right now is an organization member.”
“…Indeed. This operation by the Black Organization also shows that the undercover agent they sent to the Public Security Bureau was not a high-ranking member,” Cheng You said.
“Not everyone in the Public Security Bureau can become a high-ranking official,” said Morofushi Hiromitsu. “This is good news. At least the undercover agent sent by the Black Organization cannot directly access these secrets. Although we don’t know how the information that put us in danger was leaked, there won’t be a next time. The Public Security Bureau is not to be trifled with.
"What are you planning to do now? You can't contact your contact person anyway. We don't know how much information that black-clad organization's undercover agent has. It would be bad if we were discovered," Cheng You said.
"Well, we won't contact the contact person for now. If we don't contact him for a few days, he might get suspicious. After a few days, Zero will bring back the news of my death in the line of duty." Morofushi Kagemitsu smiled. "For now, it's not a good time to stay in Japan."
"Going abroad? That could be a good way to relax. I can help you change your identity; I can hack into the system and get you a new card. Also... there's disguise, but I don't know how to use it right now..."
"Yes, I plan to contact Zero and the contact person after I'm safely out of the country. I also know about the disguise technique. That corpse looked so much like me, it was definitely not an ordinary disguise. I understand that your miracles can't happen all the time."
“Come find me three years from now. I need you. Let’s fight the Black Organization together.” Cheng You looked at Morofushi Kagemitsu and said earnestly.
"good."
"Come find me in Beika Town." Cheng You wrote down the address of his North-South Alley dessert shop on a sticky note and handed it to Morofushi Kagemitsu.
"Okay." Zhu Fujingguang smiled and accepted it. "Thank you, Cheng You."
"It's okay, after all, I really need you."
Three days later, Morofushi Kagemitsu had already left the country, and Cheng You cleared all the surveillance information related to him.
System notification: [Hidemitsu Morofushi has safely arrived overseas. His rescue mission has been successfully completed. Congratulations, host! However, progress in the main Detective Conan storyline has not yet been made. We hope you will continue your efforts after returning to the main Detective Conan storyline.]
Cheng You: Sigh, another new job for oxen and horses has begun!
[Zero, trust me. —h]
[L. Ryuzaki, wait for me to come back. —Mr. Midorikawa]
A note from the author:
Actually, my original plan was to have Cheng You disguise himself as Morofushi Kagemitsu and die in his place. Then, at that time, Morofushi Kagemitsu would have safely left the country, Cheng You would have completed his mission and died during the time-travel mission, and he wouldn't have died in the world of Detective Conan's first year or in real life.
But then I thought about how Morofushi Kagemitsu's body would be disposed of later. At that time, Cheng You would still be conscious, and he would be consciously experiencing the gradual fading of his genitals...
Ugh, that's so cruel...
Let the guilty ones come instead...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com