Conan guessed a bit, "Could it be..."
"Are the activity funds gone?"
Chi Feichei countered, then immediately started making calls, contacting the various young members of the Detective Boys.
The FBI wants to tail him?
Then he'll help arrange something, leading to an unexpected outcome for the other party...
Haibara Ai was used to it. Chi Feichei's previous request was like this; he didn't coddle the children, it was challenging, like a proper case.
However, the difficulty had definitely decreased somewhat. Last time was almost considered a success, and this time with Hattori Heiji leading them, catching the target should be no problem.
As for safety... that would depend on how Hattori Heiji and the children discussed and prepared.
Although different from how ordinary adults treated children, she thought it was quite good. One gets what one puts in; it gave the children money to spend and also allowed them to learn something.
Moreover, the case of designing the mascot back then was exhausting, but afterwards, those three kids all felt like they were taken seriously, not treated as mere children, but as a detective team worth entrusting tasks to, and they were quite happy about it.
Of course, having a sum of activity funds to spend afterwards made them even happier...
After hearing Chi Feichei finish his call, Hattori Heiji also understood who the helpers were, and a black line appeared on his face, "This is tailing and monitoring a dangerous individual, is it really okay to call on a bunch of kids? They're still children!"
Chi Feichei was manually increasing the difficulty for him!
"How did Conan get injured?" Chi Feichei countered.
Conan, who was about to speak: "..."
This... meeting bank robbers, he didn't want to either...
Hattori Heiji looked at Conan and was instantly speechless. Speaking of danger, those mischievous kids didn't seem particularly safe on a normal day either.
"I'm afraid they'll cause trouble if they're idle," Chi Feichei said, putting away his phone. "At least the person being monitored this time, judging by their behavior, doesn't seem like a dangerous criminal, or they would have made a move on me already."
"That's true..." Hattori Heiji couldn't argue. "If we're taking them, then we're taking them, but we have to make it clear to them that they need to listen to commands and only help with supplementary tasks..."
"They'll come over to the hospital later, you can communicate with them yourselves." Chi Feichei didn't plan to meddle further.
He was the client, he only needed to see the results.
"I want to participate too!" Conan declared proactively. Seeing the other three look over, he said helplessly, "I can direct remotely, right? Last time the Detective Boys had a case, I wasn't in Tokyo and couldn't help, and they grumbled about it for a long time..."
He even suspected if this guy Chi Feichei was doing it on purpose, always choosing a time for the case when he couldn't go...
Don't mention it, Chi Feichei really was doing it on purpose.
He didn't find any neighbor disagreeable, nor did he dislike the area he lived in for being too peaceful, so why would he lead the Death God Elementary Schooler over there?
...
An hour later, the sky completely darkened.
In the parking lot, Ran Mouri stood in front of the car and said somewhat awkwardly, "Mr. Feichei, please give me the bento box and chopsticks back. I'll take them home, wash them clean, and then take them to Professor Agasa..."
"No need," Chi Feichei said. "I'll be taking Ai over tomorrow anyway, I can drop them off then."
"Then..." Ran Mouri looked around, "Where's Ai?"
"She said she forgot something upstairs and went to get it," Chi Feichei said.
"As for us, we'll just wait there for those three kids to come over!" Hattori Heiji leaned against Chi Feichei's car.
As for Kazuha Toyama... Hattori Heiji had already sent her back to Osaka.
"My ride's here," Sonoko Suzuki said, seeing a car approaching. She ran forward, not forgetting to turn back and tell everyone, "Then I'll head back first, Mr. Feichei, don't forget to come watch our play in three days!"
Chi Feichei agreed, "I'll go."
"What about you, Hattori?" Ran Mouri asked Hattori Heiji expectantly.
"I don't think I'll go," Hattori Heiji said, scratching his head with a dry laugh. "Something will likely come up that day, I won't be able to make it..."
"That's a shame..." Ran Mouri said regretfully.
...
On the 8th floor, Haibara Ai walked through the dimly lit corridor and quietly slipped into Conan's hospital room.
Conan was spacing out, staring at the ceiling, still agonizing over whether or not to be direct with Ran Mouri. He hadn't heard any movement outside the door. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise by his ear, turned his head, and saw a dark gun barrel pointed at him. "Haibara..."
"I'm truly sorry," Haibara Ai said calmly, pointing the gun at Conan. "It seems the same cruel black blood flows through my body as it does through theirs."
"What?" Conan froze on the hospital bed.
"Don't you understand yet? My true identity has been exposed," Haibara Ai said, looking at Conan with cold eyes. "It was seen through by those men in black you spoke of, during that incident at the Haido City Hotel. I never dreamed that besides Pisco, another one of their companions was also at the venue. That person said I might have shrunk after taking the drug, so the Organization started to suspect me and came knocking this morning..."
Conan sweated. "The one who took you back that day was..."
"I don't know either," Haibara Ai continued. "But I originally thought I would be killed. Instead, they said they could let me return to the Organization and continue the research work on APTX4869 that had been suspended."
"The condition is to kill me, the person who knows the Organization exists?" Conan asked.
"That's right, that's the condition they offered, and I heard your parents will also disappear tomorrow," Haibara Ai said, pointing the gun at Conan with a cold expression. "Now their people have surrounded the parking lot, and that Osaka boy is already dead, right before my eyes. Mr. Feichei and the Professor have been taken hostage. To save them, I have no choice but to eliminate you..."
Conan clenched his teeth and remained silent.
"I'm letting you go first, you should be content with that. This way, you won't have to witness the tragic sight of your parents' deaths..." Haibara Ai said, pulling the trigger.
"Bang!"
A bouquet of flowers shot out from the gun barrel.
Conan, who was stunned stiff: "..."
"If it were like this, what would you do?" Haibara Ai lowered her head, pulled the flowers from the gun barrel, and placed them in the vase on the nearby table. "At the venue that day, if there were other people from the Organization and they threatened me like this, I think I would have acted just as I did now. Don't blame me... After all, they might kill me, and everyone connected to me would also meet a tragic end..."
"Hey, what exactly did you come here to say?" Conan said speechlessly.
"I came to give you a heads-up," Haibara Ai said, turning to look at Conan. "If you tell her anything about the Organization, she could very likely become one of the Organization's targets..."
...
The parking lot outside the building.
"Was that a gunshot just now?" Chi Feichei asked Hattori Heiji, lifting his eyes.
"No, I don't think so," Hattori Heiji said, puzzled. "Did you hear wrong?"
"Probably." Chi Feichei felt his nose itch slightly, like he was about to sneeze...
He held it back.
Speaking of which, Ai went upstairs alone, probably to get Conan to keep his identity a secret... Was I mentioned?
Dead? Or taken hostage?
Actually, given the current situation, neither is likely.
Even if the Organization saw through Conan and Haibara Ai's true identities, it's unlikely they would kill him just because he had contact with Sherry. However, he would definitely be suspected and asked to kill those related to them...
"Are you alright?" Hattori Heiji asked, seeing Chi Feichei lower his head. "You didn't actually catch a cold, did you?"
"I'm fine," Chi Feichei said, pulling at his mask. He handed a card to Hattori Heiji. "There's a hotel diagonally across from my place. Take the kids there tonight, no need to pay. Someone will settle the bill with the Shinike Group at the end of the year."
Hattori Heiji took the card, looked at it, and pocketed it. "That's convenient... Huh? Here come those three kids! Has that cold young lady come down yet? Didn't she say she was going to find a key? She's so slow. Actually, you could just ask the hospital to hold onto it and pick it up tomorrow anyway, since she's not going back tonight..."
"Then I'm truly sorry for making you wait so long." Haibara Ai said expressionlessly, walking over.
Hattori Heiji: "..."
He couldn't feel any sincerity in her apology...
The three kids from the Detective Boys ran over, greeted each other, exchanged pleasantries, and then split into two groups to head towards Haido Town.
Chi Feichei drove Ai Haibara to the apartment.
The journey was uneventful. Hattori Heiji and the three kids followed by taxi, got off near the apartment building, first booked rooms at the hotel, choosing rooms on the same floor as Chi Feichei's apartment, with balconies, and began their surveillance.
Chi Feichei parked the car in the underground garage and took Ai Haibara upstairs.
A thin layer of dust covered the doorway, suggesting it hadn't been broken into and searched.
"Change your shoes yourself," Chi Feichei said. "Your slippers are still in the shoe cabinet."
Haibara Ai found her slippers and, while changing shoes, didn't forget to look around inside. "It seems no one came in while you were away... Do you know who might be keeping an eye on you?"
"Not sure, could be kidnappers, thieves, or others..." Chi Feichei changed his shoes.
Haibara Ai nodded. Chi Feichei had a special identity and lived in such a high-end apartment; it wasn't impossible for thieves to target him...
Akai, taking advantage of Chi Feichei bending down, darted onto the floor, went to bite Haibara Ai's slipper, bit it once, slithered into the room, and then looked back at Haibara Ai.
"Is it trying to show me something?" Haibara Ai followed.
Akai was satisfied internally; the girl understood...
Chi Feichei: "It wants to show you the art it and Fumo made."
Without Chi Feichei needing to say more, Haibara Ai saw the wall hanging with all sorts of dolls. It was quite unsettling upon closer inspection, but thinking of Akai's behavior like a child showing off toys, she still squatted down and patted Akai's head. "That's impressive!"
Akai was delighted. "Of course! Doesn't it feel like home? Fumo says this is what home feels like!"
Fortunately, Haibara Ai couldn't hear Akai's words. She turned to ask Chi Feichei, "Did it and Fumo do this themselves?"
"Yeah," Chi Feichei said, entering the house and taking the thermos and chopsticks into the kitchen. "They did it all themselves, I didn't help. Want some juice...? Never mind, it's been sitting out for over ten days, don't drink it. The cola hasn't expired yet, want some?"
"Okay..."
Haibara Ai was speechless for a moment. Speaking of which, what did it feel like for juice to expire at home?
She responded, then Haibara Ai looked up at the wall again. Thinking that these two animals had made it, she could feel how difficult it must have been.
"Where's Fumo?"
"He went out," Chi Feichei said, taking out a bottle of alcohol, a bottle of cola, and a bucket of ice. He pushed open the glass door and went out onto the balcony. As the target of surveillance, he still needed to go out and make himself noticeable. "I generally don't manage him."
Haibara Ai silently followed, understanding.
Chi Feichei's pets are all raised freely...
End of Chapter