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

Let's rewind a few minutes.

While the rescue operation was taking place at the organization's base, someone else on the other side of the forest, not far away, also experienced a similar escape.

Rei Furuya, who was imprisoned in an unknown location, did not linger downstairs. Using the rope that Yuya Kazami had lowered down, he quickly climbed up.

Besides this subordinate, there were many other police officers surrounding the trapdoor. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him come up unharmed.

"Thank goodness you're alright, Furuya." One of the police officers who had spoken to him in the office came over and patted him on the shoulder. "When we first discovered your location was below, we thought you..."

"There are indeed quite a few bodies down there. It would be best to notify the forensic department immediately."

Rei Furuya repeated what he had just said to Yuya Kazami.

Upon hearing this, the other police officers were stunned, and the atmosphere that had just become relaxed turned cold again.

“…Okay, I’ll inform the administrator right away.”

The colleague sighed, resignedly took out his phone, and said to Furuya Rei, "Since you're alright, go back to Nagano Police Headquarters now. The nature of your sudden abduction is too serious, and the administrator has decided to conduct a thorough investigation. You'll need to submit a detailed report when you get back."

Fang Guling nodded.

Seeing that the others were busy, he didn't linger. He first did a quick check to make sure he was unharmed and hadn't been bugged. Then he strode over and got into the car that Kazami Yuya had driven.

Kazami Yuya watched as he expertly fastened his seatbelt, and tentatively asked, "Mr. Furuya, what exactly are you...?"

Give me your phone.

Rei Furuya reached out his hand to him.

Kazami Yuya choked for a moment, and could only hand over his phone while asking again:
"Do you remember how you were arrested?"

Rei Furuya paused as he was about to dial, turned to look at him, and frowned: "It was Glenn who appeared at the Nagano Police Headquarters, attacked me, and then took me away."

Kazami Yuya's expression froze. Seeing this, Furuya Rei sensed something was wrong: "The security cameras didn't capture it?"

"No."

Kazami Yuya shook his head.

"The administrator received an email saying that the organization would target you and Mr. Morofushi. He then tried to contact you, but the call didn't go through, confirming that you were missing. At first, we thought you had been ambushed after leaving headquarters, but we never expected you to be here..."

The honest subordinate looked extremely grim: "They are incredibly audacious to dare to break into the police headquarters and attack the public security officers."

At this moment, Rei Furuya stopped thinking about how Glenn had managed to get such a grown man out of police headquarters without attracting anyone's attention. He was concerned about something else: "How is Morofushi doing?"

Kazami Yuya knew they were good friends, so he quickly replied, "When I received the email, the supervisor had already contacted the Metropolitan Police Department to confirm that Mr. Morofushi went to Gunma Prefecture yesterday with another police officer to carry out a mission."

"In the afternoon, Mr. Morofushi sent an urgent message saying that another Public Security Officer, Ishigami, had gone missing and requested assistance. Because they were conducting a covert investigation and the incident occurred in Gunma, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's mobilization procedures were somewhat slow. When the supervising officer made the call, the support had just arrived in Gunma."

Rei Furuya's head ached at the rambling question: "Where's Hiro? Where is he now?"

Hearing him call out his childhood friend's nickname, Kazami Yuya quickened his pace: "I'm sorry, Mr. Furuya, Mr. Morofushi has also lost contact."

Rei Furuya's face instantly darkened.

He disregarded everything else and turned on his phone again.

In theory, electronic devices that have been out of his sight and may have been touched by members of the organization should have their SIM cards and batteries removed immediately before being handed over to technicians for inspection. But now he can't care about that anymore.

Rei Furuya turned on the screen, and the latest email he had received jumped into view again:

[Scotland has been captured and is being held in a base located in the forests bordering Nagano and Gunma...]

Kazami Yuya was still observing his boss's expression when he unexpectedly glanced at the email and was shocked to see the signature "M":
"This is the same person who sent the message to the administrator!"

"..."

Rei Furuya didn't speak; he was in a terrible mood. He looked up, his gaze fixed on the trees outside the window.

The forest offered little natural light at night, only the illumination brought by these outsiders. Judging from the surrounding scenery, they were currently in the outer reaches of a forest.

He remembered clearly that Morofushi Kagemitsu had once said that the Morofushi family used to live in a town on the border of Nagano, and that he had met a boy from the neighboring Gunma in a nearby forest, and the two had a lot of fun together.

"How long does it take to get to Gunma from here?" Furuya Rei suddenly asked.

"It's less than 2 kilometers. At a normal walking pace, it would take about ten minutes to cross and reach Anchu City in the neighboring Gunma. Mr. Morofushi disappeared in Anchu City."

Furuya Rei seemed lost in thought, his gaze sweeping over the steering wheel.

Kazami Yuya guessed what was going on and quickly gripped the steering wheel: "Mr. Furuya, please calm down. The superintendent has been intensifying his contact—you are now also a target of the organization. Please do not act on your own!"

"..."

Rei Furuya reluctantly looked away and gazed out the window again.

Suddenly, he saw something flying across the night sky.

He wasn't a sniper, but his eyesight wasn't bad either. As the thing got closer and flew straight over them, he finally saw it clearly—

"Aoyagi's eagle?" Rei Furuya recognized the amazing eagle that had recently helped the Metropolitan Police Department discover a bomb in Shibuya and arrest several dozen criminals. "What's it doing here?"

“This…” Kazami Yuya hesitated for a moment before explaining, “The FBI’s police liaison officer is also in Anchu City.”

Jianggu Ling: "...?"

“An American tourist and a Japanese-American exchange student went missing in the forest on the border of Gunma and Nagano. The exchange student’s classmate asked the embassy for help, and Mr. Aoyagi was assigned to investigate.”

Knowing that his superior disliked the FBI, Kazami Yuya first explained the reason for the other party's appearance.

"When Mr. Morofushi requested assistance, he also mentioned that he had met Mr. Aoyagi, who, upon learning of his troubles, was willing to offer help, so the two traveled together for the time being."

Rei Furuya frowned deeply after hearing this: "If the FBI was involved, why was Hiro arrested?"

He dislikes the FBI, but he has to admit that some FBI members are quite capable, especially the two who were undercover agents.

...Wait, could it be that something happened to that FBI agent too?
Before Furuya Rei could even begin to wonder if this would escalate into an international issue, Kazami Yuya continued:

"According to Kogoro Mouri's testimony at the hotel, Mr. Aoyagi was lured away by a bear, and then Mr. Morofushi disappeared. In addition to him, the other person in their room, a boy named Conan Edogawa, also disappeared. Mr. Aoyagi went out to look for them alone."

Rei Furuya's forehead twitched. He stared at Yuya Kazami, who seemed to know a lot but only answered questions one by one, and was about to make him tell everything that had happened while he was away.

However, at that moment, a deafening explosion and a piercing siren rang out almost simultaneously from afar, as if they had planned it.

The explosion startled many people, and the police, who were still investigating the situation, became alert, with several drawing their guns. A few others remained calm, and after hearing the approaching sirens, decided to call back to Nagano Police Headquarters to inquire about the situation.

Rei Furuya saw those red and blue lights flashing as they drove into a side road. Behind those police cars were two riot police cars with the letters SAT printed on them. The anti-terrorism special police had also been deployed.

He immediately ordered, "Follow them."

Kazami Yuya paused for a moment, then hesitated, "But the manager said you..."

“I said, follow them.” Furuya Rei stared at him, emphasizing his words, “The eagle of Aoyagi flew in that direction, that guy might be there. I’ll explain to the superintendent.”

He wasn't usually a very good-tempered boss, but hearing how persistent he was, Kazami Yuya had no choice but to start the car and drive there.

The two sides looked close, but in reality, it was quite a long detour. In addition, the visibility was poor at night, and it was the first time Kazami Yuya had taken this route, which made Furuya Rei want to push him aside and climb on his own.

However, he didn't actually do that; he just gazed into the distance through the car window.

Night always provides the best cover for evil; no matter what happens in the forest, from his current position, he can't see anything.

"Boom!"

A loud bang came from afar.

Rei Furuya looked up, his pupils contracting slightly, and saw a police car flying straight towards their vehicle!
Kazami Yuya stood frozen in place, and Furuya Rei immediately snatched the steering wheel from his hands, turned it sharply on his own side, and the wheels screeched against the ground as the car twisted nearly ninety degrees before finally coming to a stop.

The police car that fell from the sky flew past them and crashed heavily to the ground, wheels up, roof severely deformed.

Rei Furuya quickly got out of the car and immediately looked at the police car. He was relieved to find no one behind the shattered windshield, but then he was filled with doubt.

"Mr. Fangtani!"

Kazami Yuya shouted, his voice so sharp it almost cracked: "That sounds like Gin!"

Jianggu Ling: "??!"

He walked around the car and looked ahead. After seeing the situation there, he was utterly astonished.

Not far away, a group of police officers lay dead on the ground, including many well-equipped special police officers carrying heavy firearms and riot shields. A man in black stood in the middle, his foot on someone's back.

He was tall, and the moonlight shone on his long hair, making it gleam with a striking silvery white.

He seemed to notice that there were still people here, and turned his head to look in this direction. Even from such a distance, Furuya Rei felt a chilling killing intent.

But he soon noticed something was amiss.

Rei Furuya slowly turned his head and found two people who looked extremely familiar to him in the open space behind the man.

A dark figure descended from the sky, kicking the head of a person who was swaying and trying to get up again, knocking the person to the ground once more, and then flying onto the shoulder of the silver-haired man.

“Zero!” One of the seated people saw Furuya Rei.

Rei Furuya snapped out of his daze and, completely ignoring Yuya Kazami's shouts of "Wait, Mr. Furuya!" behind him, ran quickly toward the spot without even taking his weapon.

He slowly stopped as he approached.

The silver-haired man looked at him. The face was indeed exactly like Gin's, but Furuya Rei keenly noticed a scratch on the man's cheek, from which no blood flowed. Clearly, this was a disguise.

Sure enough, the next second, this "Gin" emitted the voice that belonged to Aoyagi Akimitsu:
"I want an explanation."

Aoyagi Akimitsu was surrounded by a group of unconscious Japanese policemen, and at that moment, he was standing right on one of them. Judging from the condition of his back, the man's spine was probably broken.

He stared at the Japanese policeman in front of him and said rather rudely:
“The murder of American citizens who came to study and travel normally, and the attempt to gang up on them during the investigation—I have ample reason to suspect that the real purpose was to silence them—diplomatic personnel who came to investigate.”

"I have contacted the embassy and hope you will provide a reasonable explanation for everything that happened today." (End of Chapter)