"And just what were you two sneaking around doing in there?"
Yukiko leaned against the wall, her eyes dancing with curiosity as she watched the two men emerge from the laboratory, one after the other.
"Nothing much. Just a few things that ought to remain a secret," Yusaku replied with a faint, enigmatic smile. He moved to the sofa and sat down, placing the glass of water—the one currently soaking a bugging device—onto the coffee table.
"Hmm..."
Tsuneo didn't say a word. From the moment he stepped out, his gaze had been fixed intently on Conan.
This 'Dog-Headed Detective' truly has a turbulent life story, Tsuneo thought, his expression unreadable.
"Professor!"
Conan, misinterpreting the intensity of the gaze, assumed the 'Repairman' was staring at him because of the eavesdropping incident. He didn't dwell on it, however. Grabbing the water-logged bug, he hurried over to Professor Agasa.
I really need to add a waterproofing function next time, he muttered to himself.
"What's wrong?" Haibara Ai asked, flipping through a fashion magazine. she spared a glance at Tsuneo. "Was the data provided by that Artificial Intelligence really that terrifying?"
It was rare to see such a look on his face—as if he had just stumbled upon a secret that could shake the foundations of the world.
"It's more or less within expectations," Yusaku said, his voice remarkably calm. Having spent so much time abroad, he was well aware of just how massive and deep-rooted this international criminal organization truly was.
Tsuneo remained silent, his thoughts drifting as he looked toward Professor Agasa.
The old man had crafted so many gadgets for Kaito Kid. He had to know something. If he dug deeper into the history, it was entirely possible that the Professor and his old friend, Konosuke Jii, had met years ago through those two brothers.
"Is something the matter?" Professor Agasa scratched his head, still holding the wet bugging device. I know I invented this thing, but Shinichi was the one who planted it on you! Why are you looking at me like that?
"It's nothing," Tsuneo said, finally shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "I just need to eat something and get a good night's sleep."
Having been submerged in the virtual world for so long, his mental fatigue had reached its limit.
Night fell over Tokyo. On a stretch of metropolitan highway, a driver with a square jaw and sunglasses—which he wore regardless of the hour—gripped the steering wheel, leaning into the horn.
Vvveeeeepp!
"Damned idiot! If you don't know how to drive, hire a chauffeur!"
Vodka growled, his irritation with the car in front of them plain to see.
"That's enough, Vodka. Calm down," Gin said coldly. He lit a cigarette, took a deep, sharp drag, and pulled out his mobile phone.
Lately, the Organization's missions had decreased significantly. They were currently scouting for new talent, which meant keeping a low profile. High-profile aggression was not on the agenda.
"But Big Brother, that car in front is being far too arrogant!" Vodka grumbled.
Gin frowned. He had noticed his driver seemed prone to fits of rage lately. He wondered briefly if Vodka's brain had suffered some lingering damage from the last time he'd been beaten.
"What is this...?"
The silver-haired assassin stared at his phone. Something was wrong. The signal bar remained stubbornly empty.
"Big Brother, use mine." Seeing Gin checking his SIM card, Vodka reflexively handed over his own burner phone.
Gin punched in a string of numbers. This time, it connected. But just as he assumed his own phone was merely malfunctioning, the line went dead. A series of rapid busy tones followed, and the signal icon on Vodka's phone vanished as well.
"Maybe the signal in this street is just bad?" Vodka suggested, not thinking much of it.
"No." Gin's eyes darted to the sidewalk outside the window.
There were pedestrians walking by, chatting away on their phones without a hint of trouble.
"Uh..." Vodka was at a loss for words.
"Pull over. We'll use a public payphone." Gin was starting to suspect foul play. Had both phones been tampered with?
But he had never let them out of his sight. How could anyone have reached them? Was there a signal jammer installed somewhere on the Porsche?
Vodka watched as Gin stepped out of the car and headed toward a public booth. He muttered to himself and began a frantic sweep of the car's interior.
Big Brother is being too paranoid again, he thought. Is it really so impossible for two phones to break at the same time?
Ever since the Pisco incident and those failed assassinations, they had only managed to lure out a few low-level peripheral members of unknown identity. Since then, Gin had been suspecting moles within the Organization at every turn. It was exhausting.
And then there was that Dark Knight.
Because of him, Vodka had to inspect the car every time the wind blew too hard. He truly wanted to take a hammer to that masked freak's head.
"Wait, I have a signal now?"
"Maybe the SIM card slot was just dusty."
After checking everything, Vodka sat back in the driver's seat. He stared at the two phones in a daze, then tried calling one from the other. The call went through instantly. The audio was crystal clear.
"What are you doing?" Gin opened the car door, only to find his driver holding a phone in each hand, muttering to himself.
"Big Brother, the phones are fine now!" Vodka grinned, showing off the re-inserted SIM cards. "I tested them. They work perfectly."
"Is that so?" Gin took his phone back. Immediately, his brow furrowed.
The signal vanished instantly.
"Vodka... what kind of game are you playing?" Gin's voice was like ice.
"Big Brother..." Vodka paled as he felt Gin's murderous gaze. He scrambled to check again.
After several frantic attempts, they discovered a terrifying pattern: no matter which phone it was, as long as it was a certain distance away from Gin, the signal was full. The moment Gin touched it, the device turned into an expensive brick.
"Big Brother, could it be your... body?" Vodka swallowed hard, glancing at Gin's livid face.
It couldn't be... a curse, could it?
"Someone is playing tricks on us!" Gin's hand moved inside his coat, his fingers coiling around the grip of his Beretta. He stepped out of the car, his cold, predatory eyes scanning the surroundings.
Someone had to be nearby. Someone was watching them, waiting for the exact moment he picked up a phone to cut the signal through some unknown means.
Vodka followed him out, looking left and right, his hand on his own holster.
Neither of them noticed a security camera mounted on a storefront not far away, its lens silently tracking their every move.
After a moment of tense silence, Gin realized they were exposed. "Drive. Now."
When facing an invisible enemy, the best tactic was to put distance between them.
The Porsche roared away from the busy street, heading into the outskirts. Throughout the entire drive, Gin's eyes remained glued to the phone in his hand.
Zero signal. Still.
Why?!
Unless something miraculous happened, this "state" of his would persist for the next seventy-two hours.
Vodka gripped the wheel, his mind racing. Big Brother... he must be cursed...
While the silver-haired assassin spent the night in a state of sleepless paranoia, his eyes bloodshot and his mind spiraling, the culprit was faring much better.
Tsuneo had enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep. Early the next morning, he was already waiting as a Suzuki Financial Group delivery truck pulled up to his door.
"Honestly, Brother Tsuneo, this thing is useless without the Schindler Company's servers to run it, isn't it?" Sonoko remarked as she personally supervised the delivery of the 'Cocoon' game capsule.
The chaos at the press conference had been beyond anyone's imagination. The children of dozens of high-society's most powerful figures had been held hostage in a virtual world. That alone was enough to make Thomas Schindler's life a living hell.
Furthermore, the revelation that the Chairman was a descendant of Jack the Ripper—and the concrete evidence supporting it—was currently fermenting in the public eye. Many people were already looking to scavenge what was left of his empire.
"The internal hardware is all intact, right?" Tsuneo asked, lifting the hatch of the capsule to peer inside.
As long as there was an internet connection, Noah's Ark would have plenty of ways to interface with and control this machine.
"Of course. This unit was pre-ordered ages ago. After the incident at the gala, you told me you wanted it, so I just had my people divert one to you," Sonoko nodded.
"Good, good, very good!" Tsuneo's smile grew increasingly radiant. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a check, and handed it to Sonoko.
"Here. Fill in whatever amount you like!"
(End of Chapter)
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