Stay away from Conan.

"Um……"

With a hazy, disoriented state, and feeling only a throbbing headache, Okakura Masaaki, a man in his thirties, began to regain consciousness from his coma. Suddenly, he awoke with a start—

After all, he still retained glimpses of the scene before he fell into a coma in his memory.

As a secretary assigned by the organization to a high-ranking official, Masaaki Okakura had received some training. Therefore, recalling the situation before he lost consciousness—the hotel staff member who suddenly knocked on his door, and then, taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, knocking him unconscious—this situation…

For a moment, Masaaki Okakura felt a little uneasy. Clearly, the other party was openly targeting him, but he didn't know what their purpose was.

Was it because he was an organization spy, or...?

Was it simply because of his position as a secretary to a political figure?
Or is there another reason?
As Okakura Masaaki gradually regained consciousness and was able to see the scene before him clearly, realizing that he was no longer in the hotel room, he immediately became alert and began to cautiously observe his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was.

With just a quick glance around, Masaaki Okakura determined that he was currently in a warehouse.

With a mixture of confusion and seriousness, Masaaki Okakura observed the scene intently, trying to find clues to further confirm his possible location.

Soon enough, as Okakura Masaaki looked around, he spotted a figure in the mostly empty warehouse.

Immediately upon seeing the figure, Okakura Masaaki's expression froze for a moment, but then, when he clearly saw what the figure looked like, his pupils dilated, and his heart seemed to leap into his throat, as if he had encountered some great terror—

Just then, the figure seemed to have noticed that Okakura Masaaki had woken up. The tall man in black with long silver hair, who had been facing away from him, turned around, looking at Okakura Masaaki with a cold gaze and a meaningful smile on his lips.

"—The zither...the zither, the zither wine!"

With a trembling voice, he uttered the code name. Okakura Masaaki naturally recognized the figure's identity. It was a name that he, as a member of the organization, knew by heart: the organization's code name member, Gin!

How could it be him?
For a moment, the scene of being suddenly attacked by a hotel staff member replayed in his mind, and combined with the current situation, Masaaki Okakura subconsciously made the connection—

Is it Gin?
Was the person who knocked himself out instructed by Gin?
But why would the other party do that?
Thus, while Okakura Masaaki didn't immediately realize why he was being targeted by a high-ranking member of the organization like Gin, Gin's fearsome reputation made it impossible for him not to be afraid, especially since he had been kidnapped and brought here without any explanation. After a brief moment of thought, he seemed to remember something, and his whole body began to tremble—

"Oh? It seems you've confessed without being asked!"

At this moment, seemingly noticing Okakura Masaaki's reaction, Gin looked at him meaningfully with a hint of murderous intent, saying the following:

"So you really did keep a memory card containing the organization's spy list!"

Upon hearing this, Okakura Masaaki trembled even more violently with fear. Just then, Gin pulled out a pistol, pointed it at the other man, and said menacingly:

"Hand it over! Otherwise, we'll have to send you on your way! After all, if you die, the secret... won't be leaked for now..."

His tone was slightly gentler, yet undeniably authoritative, which clearly instilled a growing sense of fear in Masaaki Okakura.

After all, it was inexplicable that he possessed a memory card containing the organization's spy list. This shouldn't have been known to anyone, especially since it happened so long ago—shortly after he joined the organization, when he had only managed to obtain the list by chance. He hadn't revealed this information since then, so how could it suddenly be known? However, reality was clearly different…

For a moment, Okakura Masaaki had no time to spare and could only feign composure as he said:

"I'll just die anyway if I hand it over... So, just kill me! At worst, once I'm dead, the list will be made public! What do you say?"

Summoning the last shred of courage in his heart, Okakura Masaaki threatened in turn, his body trembling.

Upon hearing this, Gin not only showed no reaction, but was actually delighted and said:
"Make it public? Fine! Let's make it public then! At worst, we'll just purge all those who have been exposed, and everyone connected to you will come down to join you!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Gin cocked his pistol, ready to fire and silence the witness.

"Wait! Wait a minute! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Seeing that his words still couldn't sway Gin, Masaaki Okakura finally couldn't bring himself to stand his ground and had no choice but to speak up.

And so, as Gin stopped what he was doing, Okakura Masaaki explained the situation, and Gin coldly said "waste of time," before suddenly pulling out a stick from behind him and smashing it down, knocking Okakura Masaaki unconscious.

Thus, it is clear that the Gin in front of him is not Gin himself, but Takato in disguise. After not finding the memory card on Okakura Masaaki or in his belongings, he could only try to get the truth out of Okakura Masaaki. Pressuring him by impersonating Gin worked, and the fearful reaction he showed upon seeing Gin was enough to conclude that he was definitely hiding something.

Therefore, after applying the final, extreme pressure and extracting the answer, Gao Yuan had achieved his goal. All that remained was to retrieve that thing.

To my surprise, he hadn't brought it with him this time; instead, he had left it at the hotel reception along with his other luggage...

……

Shikoku, Police Headquarters——

"Furukawa Shinobu has disappeared and there's still no news about her, but fortunately... the backup plan is working fine. As long as we accept that old man's request and introduce 'Louis' to him, everything will fall into place naturally..."

Meanwhile, an older police officer on duty in the police headquarters' records room, whose job seemed relatively easy, couldn't help but think this after reading the new message on his phone. Several days had passed since the events in Tokyo, but according to reports, Rum's operation was still unsuccessful, so…

Ah, Rum, just as I thought...

"I have your letter."

As the old policeman was thinking this, a junior officer who was distributing the letters that had been received at police headquarters that day came to the records room and handed the letter to the old policeman.

Thus, while the veteran policeman was surprised to receive a letter, he wasn't too bothered. After all, he had handled many cases in the past and received numerous letters related to them. So, upon receiving the letter, he casually opened it.

"The hatred of Louis's severed limb, the vengeance of Cointreau's murder, the Obon festival, the twilight villa, the reckoning—a contingency plan from Cointreau." (End of Chapter)