Chapter 153: Big Scoop Unearthed!
Morofushi Kagemitsu's gaze towards Butler Hase changed once again.
He never expected that what was just a fleeting thought in his mind would actually be confirmed!
Are you a corpse too? Or did the organization's drugs turn him into the way he is now?
Before coming here, he saw some project approvals, many of which were related to this kind of research, and most of the applicants came from experimental bases in Tottori.
Could this butler also be a product of that region?
[Anti-fraud expert #205: Probably not. I just did a full-body scan on her, and her body structure doesn't resemble a human's; it's more like a bionic robot. However, this type is more advanced. Besides being closer to humans in physical characteristics, its core chip's computing methods and logical structure are also closer to human thinking.]
[Anti-fraud expert #198: This is somewhat similar to another project I've seen in fragments of memory. It involves robots, both physiologically and in terms of thought processes, that are incredibly close to humans. Then, through special methods, human consciousness is "transplanted" into them, achieving "immortality" in this way.]
Do you mean that Shunsuke Goto now has the authority to access this product?
[Anti-fraud expert #11: It sounds unbelievable, but it seems to be true. Otherwise, a robot like Hase Butler, capable of adjusting daily routines based on its owner's physical condition, wouldn't be needed by him.]
That's interesting. To reach such a level in such a cold and impersonal corporation in just three or four years... If he were truly capable, he wouldn't have emailed Melo asking for living expenses, would he?
This Shunsuke Goto seems to be hiding quite a secret.
[Anti-fraud expert #148: But on the surface, his life seemed perfectly normal. Nothing seemed amiss in places like his study or safe, and even the confidential documents were mostly business-related.]
[Anti-fraud expert #19: I've also looked at the other properties. Unless they have some subtle connection to Black Guest, it seems the people involved are all from the organization and the Karasuma Group. There's no sign of other forces involved yet.]
And what about everyone else around him? Is it just this robot butler?
[Anti-fraud expert #66: I checked the distribution of creatures in this villa. Luckily, only the personal butler is in this form; everyone else is alive.]
...As long as they are alive, at least we can get some more subjective answers from them.
Since this is not a living person, can't we really check its production batch or something?
[Anti-fraud expert #214: According to records, this butler joined the company three years ago. Only then did he begin acquiring the property and hiring servants. Trying to find others to inquire about the butler is unlikely to yield any valuable testimony.]
Three years ago.
From a timing perspective, it becomes even more suspicious.
Morofushi Kagemitsu pushed the milk far away, told the butler to stand still, and began searching him.
Then, he took out a talisman from the butler's inner shirt. The talisman was exactly the same as the ones he distributed in the organization for feudal superstition.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: It contains an advanced version of a signal tracker and jamming program, confirming it's our technology. However, this is a three-year-old version and hasn't been updated since.]
Goto's appearance does seem like a small piece of equipment obtained after gaining our trust. Then, like Ethan Hondou, he disguises himself as a follower of the Electronic God Cult and openly studies electronic technology-related materials.
[Anti-fraud expert #26: I forgot to tell you, we found a separate room on the third floor with a small Buddhist altar.]
...They pay a lot of attention to detail, that's all I can say.
But faced with such a perfect response, he felt that something was not quite right.
While allowing the anti-fraud master to take control of the housekeeper, he left the room and, taking advantage of the servants' rest, openly explored the villa.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #11: Are you looking for the maid who disposed of the body? She's locked in the basement, and she's already written three versions of her confession.]
Let's release her tomorrow then. It seems the housekeeper has already made all the arrangements; he's really smart.
[Anti-fraud expert #19: But compared to us, they're still far behind. The butler only gets a boost in this house.]
Enhancements? Could it be that there are a lot of devices installed here that improve computing and data simulation?
[Anti-fraud expert #214: This is too complicated to explain in a short time. In short, different computational matrices must have been loaded here to make it incredibly smooth to move around this building without encountering any obstacles. For an electronic being, this place is quite habitable.]
Electronic livable homes.
Morofushi Kagemitsu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he couldn't help but doubt Goshima Shunsuke's human identity.
[Anti-fraud expert #198: At least three months ago he was still human. I found his electronic medical report in the study; it was from a medical center sponsored by Black Guest, and it showed everything was normal.]
After I finished speaking, I showed him the report.
He didn't say anything after reading it.
[Anti-fraud expert #148: I trust your intuition, Jing. If you truly believe that Shunsuke Goto is problematic, we will fully cooperate with your plan.]
Morofushi Kagemitsu nodded silently. He felt that the fact that the anti-fraud app had made a move while he was investigating Goto Shunsuke was not simple. Even if it was not the focus of the mission, it should still be related to the mission.
Then he would need to take some proactive action. Given the limited intelligence, what he needed to do was to use this identity to obtain the secrets his side required. He wanted to quietly cover things up before any potential insiders realized what was happening.
Even if things are exposed in the end, he can still consider it a gain; he can also accept the identity of Midorikawa Osamu with more peace of mind and provide good assistance to his relatives and friends.
[Anti-fraud expert #66: OK! Tomorrow is a workday. You can use the unstamped project proposal in the study as an excuse to go to the research lab and gather information.]
[Anti-fraud expert #205: Based on the car's usual driving trajectory, we've identified three locations that are likely the sites of high-level research labs. Two are in Tottori, and the third is in Tokyo, which happens to be related to the project proposal.]
Let's go to the one in Tokyo then.
Morofushi Kagemitsu had already set his schedule for tomorrow. After returning to his room, he glanced at Hase, the butler who was now under the control of the Anti-Fraud King, and watched him leave the room.
He closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep.
But the sleep didn't bring any other memories; instead, it added a lot of trouble and fright.
"Big sister, you don't look well. Do you want some water?" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya leaned over the bed, looking at the silver-haired woman lying on the bed, sweating profusely, with great concern.
The silver-haired woman, Curaçao, was still reeling from the nightmare. When she tried to recall its contents, she couldn't remember anything, just like the blankness in her mind when she was rescued.
Ayumi Yoshida placed the hot water on the bedside table and said, "Yes, drinking some hot water might make you feel better. Big sister was injured before too."
Curaçao wasn't particularly thirsty, nor did she believe that drinking water would relieve her pain, but she couldn't bear to refuse the children's kind offer. So she picked up the cup, took a small sip, and then held it in her hands to warm her slightly feverish body.
Perhaps her condition reminded the children of another adult who was with them. The usually unreliable Genta Kojima sighed deeply and said, "I wonder how Mr. Midorikawa is doing. I hope the doctors at the hospital can cure him."
"...Did Mr. Midorikawa suddenly faint?" Ai Haibara asked, naturally wanting to know what had happened when the children mentioned Osamu Midorikawa. "Did Professor Agasa examine him?"
“...I think so,” Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya recalled. “But the doctor didn’t tell us anything, he just told us to call an ambulance. He said that Mr. Midorikawa needed to go to the hospital immediately.”
Ai Haibara and Conan Edogawa exchanged a glance, realizing this wasn't some trivial matter. However, since Dr. Agasa had texted them saying that Osamu Midorikawa was out of danger, they could ask about it later.
The focus now is on this seemingly suspicious amnesiac woman.
Ai Haibara walked to Curaçao's bedside, took out a temporary medical report from the amusement park's medical team from the drawer, and began to read: "...Multiple abrasions, head injuries, and memory impairment. It is recommended that you go to the hospital. So why didn't you go to the hospital and instead dragged her to ride the rides at the amusement park?"
“My older sister seems to be very afraid of going to the hospital, so we want to help her recover her memory as soon as possible…” Yoshida Ayumi explained, “Because my older sister had a strong reaction to that Ferris wheel, we decided to take her to ride it.”
"Then we met you guys, and we didn't make it happen." Genta Kojima scratched his head and said, "What if our older sister regained her memory after we rode the Ferris wheel? Wouldn't that be a great thing?"
“…Since your older sister is injured, even if she doesn’t want to go to the hospital, you can bring her here to get her bandaged.” Ai Haibara patiently explained the situation to them, then remembered some instructions, her eyes hardening as she said, “Besides, when the professor took Mr. Midorikawa to the hospital, shouldn’t he have asked someone else to take you home? Why did you come back?”
"Um, well, we did ask Uncle Mori to take us back..." Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya said somewhat guiltily, "but he and the pretty ladies went to the water park and allowed us to do whatever we wanted!"
Conan Edogawa's lips twitched; Uncle Mori's unreliability was indeed evident in every aspect.
Seeing that the woman was becoming uneasy because of their conversation, he didn't want to say anything harsh, so he just said, "It would be more convenient for her to see some photos first rather than taking her directly to the Ferris wheel."
“Yes! We took a lot of photos!” Ayumi Yoshida took out the professor’s camera and started flipping through the photos one by one. “These are photos we took at the amusement park. Do you remember anything, sister?”
The children all crowded around, and Curaçao, following their lead, looked down at the photo.
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Author's Note: Butler & Curaçao: I need peanuts—!
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