Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

In a dark room.

With a click, the machine's interface ejected a small memory card.

Aoyagi Akimitsu took out the memory card, didn't look at it much, and put it directly into the inside pocket of his coat.

He was now dressed in a very organized black outfit, his long hair completely tied up. She didn't rush to shut down the computer; using the only light source from the huge screen, she looked at Gu Shao beside her, maintaining a certain distance without getting closer.

"How's it going over there?"

He was an avatar, sent to this secret room accessible only to those with high-level privileges to handle some matters, while his main body went to rescue people. To avoid his abilities malfunctioning, he wouldn't approach as casually as before.

Gu Shao lowered her hand from the headphones and turned to meet his gaze. Her eyes were somewhat vacant, but after blinking, they quickly regained their focus.

Aoyagi Akihiro knew that she had temporarily withdrawn her gaze from Bilson.

"Your... that Ms. Karasuma, has revealed her past and motives."

Gu Shao's tone was subtle.

Aoyagi Akimitsu laughed: "It's really amazing. Someone who's usually so tight-lipped immediately spilled everything after being touched on a sore spot. Was it my intimidation that worked, or was it the influence of the presence of a special person?"

Gu Shao remained noncommittal and continued, "However, she glossed over many details, such as not mentioning you. Your identity has not yet been exposed."

For example, she didn't reveal the name and identity of Karasuma Sakura's husband, Aoyagi Akimitsu's uncle; she also completely omitted Aoyagi Akimitsu's existence, whether it was his real name or the pseudonym Aoyagi.

“Not surprising,” Aoyagi Akimitsu said. “She never cared about me anyway. If she had even remembered the name ‘Aoyagi Akimitsu’ and reminded Rum, he wouldn’t have sent the Irish to their deaths for nothing.”

He paused, a thoughtful look on his face, and said, "Even if she had spoken, the outcome would probably have been the same... I don't intend to let them off the hook."

The air was thick with the stench of blood and wild animals. The surveillance camera in the corner was completely silent, and the reflection from the lens showed the string of stains that had been splattered on it.

Gu Shao no longer felt any obvious discomfort from these things. She recalled the last scene she saw before her vision returned, and she was equally unhurried.

Currently, the only people they need to protect in this base are Morofushi Hiromitsu and Edogawa Conan. The others are basically members of the organization, so it doesn't matter if they die.

Thanks to Aoyu Binguang, they were able to confirm that marriage—even if registered under a false identity—would grant the registered couple a protective aura from the system, thus immunizing them against most harms.

For example, just now in the dungeon, that low-level member clearly pulled the trigger, but the bullet failed to harm Morofushi Kagemitsu—after Aoyagi Akimitsu tricked him into going to the city hall and knocking him unconscious, he actually filled out and confirmed a marriage application form, and even registered Edogawa Conan as his adopted son.

Their safety is not a concern, and besides that...

She thought of the purpose of this trip that Aoyagi Akimitsu had mentioned.

She's basically done on her end, Rum is no longer a problem, and Furuya Rei should have been rescued by now and will notice the corpses at the bottom of the pit and begin investigating.
Aoyagi Akimitsu's side is mostly recovered, only...

Gu Shao looked at him, and noticed that he seemed to be in a daze: "Is there anything else you need to do?"

Aoyagi Binguang turned to look at her, and it seemed that her momentary lapse in concentration was all just her imagination.

"To accomplish something that I couldn't do four years ago."

As he spoke, he reached for a button on the machine.

……

In the laboratory.

“After Sakura’s incident, I have been investigating to find out who leaked the organization’s information to her.”

In the empty room, Karasuma Mochizuki was so engrossed in her memories that she didn't even notice the subtle tone of the person in front of her.

Who leaked it?
Her first suspect was naturally her son-in-law, since her daughter's tone was the most pained when she mentioned him on the phone, but she quickly ruled out that possibility.

She had met the man. Although he was exceptionally capable, he had only achieved his current status with the help of Godivasel, and he wouldn't dare to reveal it without permission.

The answer is obvious.

“I called him to confront him, and when he heard about his sister and niece’s accident, he apologized to me in a very calm tone, saying, ‘I didn’t expect it to turn out like this,’ and he even said… he actually said…”

While Karasuma Mochizuki was narrating, Edogawa Conan was also pondering this question.

Karasuma Sakura had lived peacefully for so many years, so who suddenly exposed this lie? He quickly reviewed what she had said: divorce and return to Japan, joining the organization to raise her daughter, her daughter deciding to stay in the United States after studying abroad, giving birth to a child with a genetic disease, her daughter divorcing when her child was a teenager, suicide, starting experiments to resurrect... He realized that he hadn't missed anything.

So, Karasuma Mochizuki didn't reveal some important details?

He sighed, disappointed that he had fallen so close. But he also knew that he had already gained a lot today, and given their current dangerous situation, he couldn't ask for more.

Thinking of this, Conan Edogawa shifted his gaze slightly, looking at the transparent container.

From his angle, he could only see the top cover of the machine and not the people inside, but he clearly remembered the scene from just now.

Immersed in the liquid, the woman seemed to be asleep, unaware of any storms outside, or what crimes her mother had committed for her.

Conan Edogawa: "..."

To protect her, I didn't tell her the truth, but that only hurt her more...

Is this really the right thing to do?
Quite inexplicably, almost without warning, a memory surfaced from the depths of Conan Edogawa's mind—

"Mr. and Ms. Mori were unaware of this?"

“Yes, I didn’t tell them. My neighbor told me that if I were exposed, people who knew my identity would also be killed.”

Conan Edogawa was stunned for a moment.

That was a conversation he had with Mr. Aoyagi after the Skobing case. He remembered it very clearly. After he said that he hadn't told Ran and the others the truth, Aoyagi Akimitsu's expression clearly showed his disapproval.

...Strange, why am I thinking about that time? It has nothing to do with the present.

……

Aoyagi Akimitsu was in a very peaceful mood.

His main body and his clone do not have synchronized memories at all times. He checks the progress on the other side by listening to what Gu Shao says in the earphone.

His gaze shifted slightly, landing on the container. He looked inside at the face that was almost identical to his own when he transformed into Aniset, but his face remained expressionless.

"Artemis, what a lovely name, it sounds like a girl's name. But your father said you'll have to change your name from now on. I'll just call you 'Binguang' from now on, okay?"

"Look, Binguang. This is your cousin, ten years younger than you. She's not in good health and can only lie in bed like this... Can you smile at her? She seems to really like you as her older brother."

"Although my parents divorced when I was very young, my mother took good care of me. I have always looked up to her as a role model, and I will raise Hina well. No matter what she becomes, she will always be my daughter."

"—You too, Binguang. Although you... well, you haven't been very willing to greet people since you arrived, and you don't talk to me and Perrin much. But you can treat me like your mother, I will take care of you, and I will love you like I love Hina."

Aoyagi Akimitsu looked at the two women in front of him who were related to him by blood, and slowly raised the muzzle of his gun.

"Don't continue."

He reverted to his natural voice, speaking in a tone devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"Let the dead rest in peace."

……

When the gunshot rang out and the people around him cried out in pain and fell to the ground, Karasuma Mochizuki was still in a daze and didn't realize what had happened.

She stared at "Gin," who was emitting a different voice, gazing into those emerald green eyes with utter astonishment.

Just now, this voice seemed to overlap with the voice she had heard over the phone a few years ago.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to turn out this way..."

Goldwasser was apologizing; he seemed sad, yet not at all. His tone remained largely unchanged, like a drop of water quietly falling into a calm, ancient well.

He calmly addressed his hysterical mother:

"—But she is dead. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Let her rest in peace." (End of Chapter)