"How long will it take to create a new sub-scenario?"
Tsuneo stood in his living room, staring at the bulky game capsule. For the first time, his apartment felt woefully cramped.
"If I'm building it from scratch, it should take a few days," the voice of young Hiroki crackled through the phone on the table.
What the 'Repairman' had requested was a small-scale virtual world—something with simple environments designed for martial arts training using the user's raw physical data. For an AI of Hiroki's caliber, it wasn't a difficult task.
"So, I just need to keep the power and the internet cable connected, right?"
Tsuneo looked over the machine, feeling a bit out of his depth. Despite his skills, this level of technology was still far ahead of the current era.
"Yes. I will utilize other supercomputers to handle the remote processing..." Hiroki began to explain the technical principles behind the operation—concepts that would likely sound like gibberish to any ordinary person.
"Hey, what are you two babbling about?"
Heiji Hattori—Osaka's 'Black Chicken' and the 'Five-Star Limited Rerun Character' of this story—had once again made his way to Beika Street. He stood there, looking back and forth between the high-tech capsule and the phone on speaker, his face a mask of utter confusion.
"Probably something game-related," Conan said, peering at the phone on the desk.
The incoming call displayed as a string of scrambled code. It was obvious that even if someone tried to trace it, the line wouldn't actually exist in any conventional sense.
"Hattori?" Tsuneo turned his head and gave Heiji a faint smile. "When did you get here?"
"Huh?" Heiji tilted his head, annoyed. "I walked in right behind Kudo. You didn't see me?"
"Ah, my mistake. Well, since you're here... I have a rather sensational photo. Do you want to see it?" As he spoke, Tsuneo reached into a drawer and pulled out the photo he had taken of Conan the day before.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Conan's expression shifted instantly. He dropped into a crouch, his hand flying to the dial on his power-assist shoes.
Let's just go down together, you demon! the little detective thought frantically.
"You didn't take a nude photo of this guy, did you?" Heiji looked down at the snarling, 'dog-headed' detective and suddenly felt like he didn't want to see it anymore. There really wasn't much to see...
"Officer Takagi called yesterday," Tsuneo said, finally placing the photo face-down on the table and pressing his hand over Conan's head to keep him still. "He said those police files that were stolen a while back were mysteriously mailed back to the station."
Conan's hand froze. He reached out, snatched the photo to stuff it in his pocket, and then furrowed his brow. This was the first he'd heard of this development.
"Those were cases you two solved together, right?" Heiji asked, his tone turning serious. "But why steal them only to send them back? It doesn't make any sense."
Common sense dictated that if someone went through the trouble of stealing sensitive documents, they would either use them or destroy them. Mailing them back was an unnecessary risk.
"It's a provocation," Conan muttered, feeling that invisible weight of pressure again. "It's like they're pointing a gun at our heads and telling us they already know the whole truth."
"Or maybe it's a trap meant to lure the snake out of its hole," Heiji suggested, looking down at the shrunken detective.
If there was a target, it could only be the boy standing right there.
"But this method is..." Conan shook his head.
If the Organization already knew that Shinichi Kudo was alive, they had a dozen more effective ways to smoke him out. Returning case files felt... off.
"Do you need me to investigate?" Hiroki's voice asked from the phone.
"Can you?!" The Great Detective slapped his forehead. How could he have forgotten the 'God' living in the wires?
"Huh?" Heiji had been wanting to ask who this kid was. He sounded young, but the way he spoke was nothing like a normal child.
"Don't spoil the kid too much. You'll give him bad habits," Tsuneo said without looking back as he finished plugging the internet cable into the capsule.
On this point, he and Yusaku Kudo had come to an agreement. A person should only take on as much as their own strength allowed. Being chased by information or problems beyond one's capacity would eventually lead to being swallowed by the vortex.
"I understand. I will only provide hints for the most critical information," Hiroki replied. He was already beginning to monitor every Organization member he could track through the global network.
"Hiroki, can you look up information on Chris Vineyard for me?" Conan asked, shooting a sideways glance at Tsuneo before turning back to the phone.
"The famous American actress?" Heiji recalled the name.
"What kind of information are you looking for?" Hiroki asked.
"The scandalous kind, obviously," Tsuneo chimed in with a chuckle. "Ideally with some exclusive, high-definition photos."
"..."
The AI fell silent, seemingly speechless.
Conan felt a headache coming on. He grabbed Heiji by the arm and dragged him out of Tsuneo's apartment.
"I'm certain she's a member of the Black Organization," Conan explained as they walked down the hallway. He began to recount in detail what Tsuneo had done to that woman at the memorial service on the day Pisco was kidnapped.
"...Are you sure Brother Tsuneo isn't just a criminal?" Heiji muttered. Sneaking up on a beautiful actress and knocking her unconscious...
Well, it's hard to defend that one!
"No, I'm sure he knows her. He just won't tell me the details," Conan sighed. "And after that incident, she completely vanished from the public eye. It's incredibly suspicious."
"You think she's lurking nearby?" Heiji looked back toward Tsuneo's apartment. If that were the case, surely the Repairman would have said something?
"It's hard to say. Even Tsuneo might not know everything," Conan reasoned.
With a level of disguise mastery similar to his mother's, it was almost impossible to see through a person if they didn't make a mistake. It was too early to draw a conclusion.
But was there really a member of the Organization nearby? If someone like Gin suspected something, he wouldn't investigate—he'd just pull the trigger.
"By the way, I heard a new foreign teacher started at Teitan High recently, right?" Heiji recalled a conversation between Kazuha and Ran. They had been discussing their new English teacher.
"Jodie-sensei..."
"There's nothing strange about her," Conan said immediately, recalling the woman's behavior during the bus hijacking. But then he glanced at Heiji and hesitated.
"I knew it. We're going to go take a look," Heiji said, catching that flicker of doubt. He knocked Conan firmly on the head and started walking faster.
Idiot, did you really think I'd just sit this one out?
Conan rubbed his head, sighing. When it comes to being hot-headed and impulsive, I really can't compete with this guy...
Back in the apartment.
"Is it alright to leave those two alone?" Hiroki asked. Neither of them seemed like the type to stay out of trouble.
"The forces currently revealed are still too few," Tsuneo replied thoughtfully. "When you give Conan information, weigh it carefully. He has too few trump cards in his hand right now to be trying to film a blockbuster action movie."
(End of Chapter)
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