Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"You really can't handle praise. People say they believe in you, and you're already planning to work for nothing."

After Hattori and Kudo finished their conversation, Conan, who had been taken to have lunch with Sayoko and the others, returned to the chat room. Looking at his best friend with a smile and a mustache, Conan's lips tightened slightly.

"Although I just finished eating with this guy, I miss seeing him like this."

The Osaka branch manager walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a baseball cap. The cap was old from washing, but it was clean.

He straightened himself up and slowly put the baseball cap on his head. The youthful baseball cap didn't match the sharp suit at all, but Hattori's hands-on-hips stance made up for it, giving him a bit of a nostalgic feel.

"It's been a long time, Kudo."

"Idiot, you've been giving me so much trouble."

Conan shook his head helplessly, trying to shake off the somewhat melancholic atmosphere.

It's clearly time for two now. Since old Kudo doesn't intend to kick him out, it proves that he's experienced the same things in the past. After talking to him last night and learning that everything is on a stable track, Conan breathed a sigh of relief, but is now paying even closer attention to this.

"Sasaki Kiyoshi."

Heiji Hattori immediately began introducing the deceased to Conan.

"On the surface, they are the heirs of a major domestic car tycoon family, but in reality, they are secretly producing weapons and equipment for the Tokyo government." Hattori paused for a moment, then added, "They are also Osaka-based companies, and they are part of our condition for remaining independent from the war."

"By the way, his maternal line is the Michiyo family of Kyoto, and five generations ago his family had a marriage alliance with Ito." Old Kudo, puffing on a good cigarette he'd taken from Hattori's drawer, vividly described Sasaki: "He's a distant relative, you could say."

"That's Yuuji's relative, it has nothing to do with us." Conan glanced at the case details Hattori had placed on the coffee table and glared at him with some disdain.

"You're really useless. Where did you go with that impulsive spirit you used to have?"

"Things are different now than before."

Heiji Hattori shrugged, then tossed the investigation warrant to Conan, while watching as Kudo pulled a capsule from his pocket.

"for you."

The capsule arced through the air and landed squarely on Conan's head.

"I found this in Professor Agasa's old house before I left; it corresponds to the medicine you had at that time."

The updated version cannot be given to him, because the medicine that Old Kudo took back then also had a stale smell.

"The helper I arranged for you is in the parking lot downstairs now, in a four-seater car." Heiji Hattori gave Conan a thumbs up, and casually pointed to the clothes in a brown paper bag in the corner: "After the case is solved, I'll take you to eat okonomiyaki."

"You idiot, don't you have anything else to say?"

Conan mumbled as he swallowed the capsule, then quickly picked up the paper bag and rushed into the bathroom attached to the Chief of Staff's office.

"Sayoko will go with him, Higashino will stay behind, I have other plans for him."

Hattori took off his hat and stuffed the prop he had specially dug out of his house back into the drawer.

……

"Now I'm wondering, if we want to investigate Sasaki, is it really necessary to buy a car from his brand?"

Dragged into the car dealership by her father, the two of them soon drove out in a luxury sedan. Nohara Maki looked at the car that she had bought in her name and felt a pang of heartache.

In the past, when they went on missions, the funding was often far from enough, not to mention they had to find their own way to cover it. This was the first time they had ever been so well-funded.

Even if Sasaki's memorial service only accepts owners of this brand of vehicle, it's absurd to buy a car just to sneak in.

No, she's the car owner now, so she can't be considered to have sneaked in.

"Disguising myself as a waiter or chef at a memorial service would be too easy to be discovered." Kudo Yuji glanced at the time, randomly found a parking lot, drove in, and planned to stay for an hour before heading over.

"Putting aside the fact that the other party must have hired their own family's confidants, our skills are only good enough for a roadside stall, but they would be exposed if we were cutting a fish in this kind of situation."

Yuji Kudo sighed and waved his hand: "Let's stick to the simplest method. The fancy ones are too demanding."

"Something about that doesn't sound right..."

"Alright, hurry up and recharge, we'll be in for a lot of trouble this afternoon."

After saying that, Mr. Kudo tilted his head to the side and slumped down, as if he had become a victim.

"Ha-hu, ha-hu."

Nohara Maki looked at her father, who had fallen asleep instantly. Unable to sleep, she took out her phone and began searching for everything related to Sasaki.

"This guy has so many scandals..." (End of Chapter)