Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"I have to escape; I must spread the word about this discovery."

With his hands gripping the bars, Aoyama, who had been awake for half an hour, had already observed the room where he was imprisoned very clearly.

It was all painted white, and it looked like the paint would rub off if you touched it. I pushed the fence with my hand, and I could hear a hissing sound as the stainless steel fence rubbed against the edge of the wall.

"This cell feels like it was hastily put together."

However, even with such carelessness, it's impossible to dismantle the fence by manpower. Reality is different from the movies; even if he kicked the fence with all his might, it wouldn't collapse.

"But what's even more suspicious is the book that was brought in along with the food."

His gaze fell on the Bible next to the dinner plate in the corner of the cell. Aoyama rubbed his temples, mentally criticizing the homage to a certain redemption movie for a long time.

Why is there half a brick in my book...?

"Da da da……"

The sound of leather shoes hitting the ground echoed in the cell. Aoyama, who had just looked somewhat young, immediately reverted to a reliable expression, staring coldly at the man who gradually appeared in the light.

"It really was you, the guy who knocked me out. Just who are you?"

Aoyama stared at the bespectacled man, remembering that the man had mentioned that the anti-stab armor he was wearing was a gift from the Prime Minister.

"I am a secret police officer under Chief Hattori of the Osaka Police Headquarters. In order to prevent you from doing anything detrimental to Osaka, I knocked you out and left you here first, Chief Aoyama."

"You're kidding me! You're one of that bastard prime minister's men in Tokyo, aren't you?! You're actually trying to frame the Osaka government!"

"You seem to be extrapolating the relationship between Osaka and Tokyo to the relationship between the Kudo and Hattori families, which are actually quite close."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that the estrangement between Tokyo and Osaka is all an act for Hokuto?" Aoyama picked up a brick from the Bible and threw it forcefully at the man: "Hey!"

"Cough cough, that was close." The man glanced at the brick that was still six or seven meters away from him. Although it was certain that it wouldn't hit him, what if it had?

“First, I didn’t call you ‘Hey.’” The man moved a chair to the front of the fence and sat down, then took a sandwich out of his pocket.

"Secondly, my name is Kazami Rei."

"Are you a woman?" Aoyama blinked, only then vaguely seeing the "man's" slightly heaving chest.

"And Kazami? What's your relationship with that Kazami guy? And you know I'm a police officer in Hokuto, so Kazami..."

"I'm his sworn sister, so you could say that. As for that kid, he's a self-righteous idiot who thinks he's clever. He has no idea you're a spy."

[An adopted child dared to be so arrogant and mocking...]

"That's because he was adopted."

So you were the one who was adopted, Kazami...

"Anyway, I don't care what you think. Just stay here for now until this bombing in Osaka is over. I'll let you out after everything is done."

"Damn it, you..."

"and many more!"

The woman suddenly reached out, pulled her phone out of her pocket, gave Aoyama a warning look, and then answered the call.

"Hi~ Is this Uncle Zero?"

A fluent, fluent Mandarin made Aoyama shudder. He suppressed his discomfort and tried to gather information from the woman's conversation.

"Eh, so it has to be like this..." (End of Chapter)