Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 431 Say thank you

"Who...who exactly are you?" Conan turned pale when he heard Ai Shiraishi call out his real name.

After all, this not only means that his identity has been exposed, but also that...

Shiraishi Black is very likely also "black"!

Moreover, given the length of time Ai Shiraishi has been lurking by his side, Ran's family is likely already under surveillance...

"Who is it? Don't you know... Ai Shiraishi, or do you want to know my code name?" Ai said with a cold laugh.

Conan: ...

Just then, a huge black shadow crept up from behind, completely enveloping Conan...

"Ah~ Sherry~" Shiraishi also acted like a member of the Black Faction.

"You..." Conan turned his head to look at Shiraishi because he was pale and didn't see Ai's disgusted look - Can you not make such a disgusting sound?
“You can also call me by my code name… Sauce Flavor!” Shiraishi said calmly.

Ai's expression was even more speechless—the name of the drink was indeed a name, but it seemed a little too cute.

"Is that lousy detective dealt with?" Ai asked coldly.

"Don't worry, they've all disappeared, and my men are handling the case." Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

“You guys…” Conan panicked upon hearing this.

Immediately, Conan, in a fit of extreme anger, snapped—and in the next instant, Shiraishi removed his belt.

Conan:? ? ?
"This is too dangerous...wait?"

Shiraishi wasn't plotting anything; he was just afraid of the thing that could blow out a soccer ball—the power boots and the tranquilizer darts. Shiraishi wasn't afraid of them at all. Since the tranquilizer darts hadn't pierced Kogoro's skin, they couldn't possibly penetrate Shiraishi's skin. As for the power boots... it was uncertain who was stronger!

Only with this football belt, Shiraishi couldn't quite pinpoint its limits, but...

Shiraishi took it off and realized that Conan was wearing a regular belt!
Shiraishi, however, had already forgotten...

The football belt is introduced after episode 300; it wasn't part of the initial equipment.

This really scared Conan—you've already taken off my belt, what else could you be planning to do?
Ai stared at Shiraishi in shock—as expected of you! Could it be... that you weren't faking it?
Shiraishi was momentarily embarrassed, but then he chuckled sinisterly, "Hehehe, next up is Sherry's favorite part!"

Conan:! ! !
What are you going to do?
"Where...where is Ran?" Conan asked loudly.

Seeing that he had been captured by Shiraishi, Conan was probably not thinking clearly and had lost his composure.

and……

It was truly touching. Even after Shiraishi had taken off his belt, he was still clutching his pants tightly and asking Ran what was wrong.

"Hehehe, do you really want to know?" Shiraishi asked deliberately.

"Damn it..." Conan thought he had caught Shiraishi off guard, so he quickly turned the switch on his shoe and tried to kick Shiraishi even in mid-air.

but……

At this moment, Shiraishi loosened his belt with his left hand and blocked his toes with his palm...

boom--

For a moment, Conan felt as if he had just defeated a leather-like creature, without feeling any strain at all. He was actually blocked by a kick with maximum power amplification.
The next moment, Conan immediately pressed the trigger on his watch again, shooting towards Shiraishi, but...

Seeing that he was aiming at the center of his forehead, Shiraishi didn't bother with much else, simply frowned and held the anesthetic needle in place!
"Hehehe, it seems you're only..." Shiraishi was about to continue scaring Conan.

But at this moment...

Ding-dong-

"Professor Agasa? Are you home? I'm coming in..."

A woman's voice came over.

Conan panicked upon hearing this—because he already believed that Shiraishi Kuro and Shiraishi Ai were outlaws, so he didn't ask for help immediately, but was worried that another innocent civilian would be implicated and lose their life!
However, Conan didn't expect...

Shiraishi and Ai were even more panicked than he was!
"Why didn't you lock the door?" Shiraishi scolded in a low voice, then threw him down and tossed his belt to him.

Conan:? ? ?
Then Shiraishi quickly untied Professor Agasa, and Ai immediately jumped off the table to open the window and put the other messed-up "scenery" back in order...

Conan:? ? ?
After being released, Professor Agasa immediately ripped off the tape stuck to his mouth, grimacing as he cried out, "Ouch, ouch, ouch... cough cough!"

Finally, when the visitor came in, everyone had returned to a relatively harmonious state—except for "a seven-year-old boy falling to the ground, but no one helping him up," there was nothing else strange.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Professor Agasa. I saw the door wasn't locked and thought... I guess you had a guest. Sorry to bother you."

The newcomer was a long-haired woman who looked to be under twenty years old, but her clothes were much more mature than those of a high school student. Shiraishi estimated that she was probably a freshman or sophomore in college.

"Hmm?" The long-haired woman looked at Conan with a puzzled expression.

This child...

Why are you sitting on the ground... and not wearing a belt?

"Pervert! Don't use the toilet in the living room next time!" Ai scolded Conan directly.

Conan:? ? ?
"Ahem! No, no... I mean... may I ask who you are?" Professor Agasa changed the subject, drawing the visitor's attention.

"Professor Agasa, don't you remember me? I came here with Shinichi when he was in junior high school..." the long-haired woman reminded him.

"When you put it that way... it seems..." Professor Agasa didn't know whether he had genuinely remembered something or was just being perfunctory.

“Shinichi was in the soccer club at the time, and I was the manager of the soccer club…” the long-haired woman continued to remind him.

"Ah, I remember now... It's Shinichi's... senior, right?" Professor Agasa had clearly remembered something, and his expression became somewhat strange.

“That’s right, I’m Uchida Asami, who’s two years ahead of Shinichi.” Uchida Asami clearly realized that Professor Agasa wouldn’t remember her if she didn’t say her name, so she said it herself.

"Oh, right, Uchida-kun... what brings you here today?" Professor Agasa asked, as if he had just remembered.

"Well... I was looking for Shinichi, but I haven't been able to get through to him on the phone lately. I just went to his house, but no one was home. I saw your place was open, so I was wondering if he might be here... I'm sorry to bother you." Uchida said apologetically.

“It’s nothing, Shinichi…” Professor Agasa said, glancing at Shinichi who was glaring at him resentfully, and then continued, “He’s been helping the police lately, so he probably won’t be back for a while.”

“That’s right, he’s probably already forgotten about the confession from four years ago…” Uchida said with a sigh.

Ai Haibara continued to look at Conan with disdain, then deliberately said, "Uchida-neechan, sometimes a big sister with horns comes to clean Kudo-nii's house. You can ask her!"

I, Shiho Miyano, have the utmost contempt for scumbags who cheat on their partners!
"Huh?" Uchida was taken aback when he heard this.

"What horns... Ai, you're talking nonsense again..." Professor Agasa interrupted Ai with a sudden pang of conscience.

"Um... may I ask why you're looking for Shinichi...?" Professor Agasa then inquired of Uchida.

“Actually, I invited him to my birthday party this weekend a few months ago…” Uchida said helplessly, then shook his head and said, “But it seems he has already forgotten.”

Conan: ... Conan then came to his senses a little, looked at Uchida carefully, and then remembered this as well—he had indeed forgotten!

"Uchida-neechan, you invited Kudo-nii to your birthday party, could it be because of... confessing your feelings?" Ai asked quickly.

Upon hearing this, Conan immediately glared at him—you're not just scaring me, you have to gossip too?

“No.” Uchida smiled and shook his head, then said, “It’s just that I’m in the mystery club at university, and my friends in the club are throwing me a birthday party. I thought that if a real detective came, everyone would be happy.”

"Yeah! He loves being in the spotlight so much, he must have really wanted to go back then, but... he probably forgot about it afterward, right?" Ai said mercilessly.

Conan:! ! !
"Um..." Conan was about to say something.

Ai interrupted again, "By the way! Uchida-neechan, could you invite my brother? He's also very good at deduction."

“Eh? Your brother is…” Uchida was taken aback upon hearing this.

Shiraishi then spoke up, saying, "Hello."

"Ah!" Uchida exclaimed upon hearing the sound—because it was so big, Uchida hadn't looked closely and hadn't been thinking of the things here as people!
When they heard Shiraishi speak, their attention was drawn to him, and they were startled when they saw him.

"You, you are... Director Beika, right?" Uchida said with some admiration.

"Huh? You know me too?" Shiraishi asked in surprise.

“Of course! I’m also from Tokyo University. The mystery club, the fitness club, the psychology research club… and several martial arts clubs all claim that you are their senior.” Uchida said matter-of-factly.

"Haha, it's an honor." Shiraishi said modestly—in fact, he wasn't anyone's senior. Shiraishi didn't join any clubs in college and always worked part-time to support himself!

At most, when "mercenaries" participate in competitions, they may have contact with some sports associations.

"Senior Shiraishi, do you really have time to attend my... cough, do you really have time to meet the students in the mystery club?" Uchida asked with surprise.

“This…” Shiraishi hesitated for a moment upon hearing this.

Indeed, Shiraishi doesn't have any urgent work at the moment—the case publicity has come to an end; after all, too much of a good thing can be bad.

And Ayako didn't have time for a date this week... But Shiraishi wasn't so free that he went to some mystery club fan gathering!

"Yes, yes! Brother, you can bring this little brat who wets his pants along too!" Ai said, pointing at Conan.

“You…” Conan was about to get angry.

Ai interrupted, "If you don't want to go, brother, perhaps... you could invite Detective Mouri! And since my sister has horns, she could represent Kudo-nii!"

Conan: ...

Conan was immediately speechless.

If Xiaolan were to go, who knows what misunderstandings might arise.

Shiraishi thought for a moment. Since it was the Tokyo University's mystery club, it might actually produce a professional team in the future. It wouldn't hurt to "make some good connections" now. So he nodded and said, "Alright, since the juniors welcome it, I'll go."

"That's great! Everyone will be very excited to know!" Uchida complimented.

Uchida seemed to want to say something, but didn't. Seeing this, Ai took the initiative to say, "If we see Kudo-nii, we'll remind him to come along too."

"Yes, thank you, little sister," Uchida said with a smile.

Afterwards, Shiraishi and Uchida exchanged contact information...

After Uchida left, Conan finally exploded: "What exactly are you trying to do? Professor, explain yourself! What's going on with her?"

Anyone who didn't know better would think Conan was catching someone cheating...

Upon hearing this, Professor Agasa said awkwardly, "Actually, I only found out not long ago, hehehe..."

"Who exactly is she? Inspector Shiraishi, she's not your sister at all!" Conan said angrily.

Bai Shi shrugged, too lazy to explain to him.

Seeing this, Conan turned to look at Ai—he had at least realized that Ai... was very likely in the same situation as himself!
That was definitely more than just acting...

“That’s right. I’m not related to Shiraishi Kuro by blood. If you think about it… I should be considered his ‘frontline person in charge of security,’ right?” Ai said matter-of-factly.

“An informant? So…” Conan looked at Ai and knew that she was definitely “not a good person.”

As a detective, he naturally knew that most of his informants were members of criminal organizations.

“My code name is real, and… the drug that made you shrink was also made by me.” Ai admitted it directly.

“You…” Conan was even angrier.

"However, Ai has now left the organization and is working on an antidote," Dr. Agasa explained on Ai's behalf.

"Doctor! Which side are you on?" Conan demanded.

"Alright, Professor Agasa and I went to great lengths to act in order to help you raise your guard, so don't be ungrateful," Shiraishi said bluntly.

“You…I…” Conan felt wronged.

“Say thank you,” Shiraishi reminded him.

Conan: ...

"Thank you? Are you sure this guy is trustworthy?" Conan said, pointing at Ai.

"Do you think you weren't exposed before? I found out you were still alive first, and then I became Shiraishi's informant." Ai reminded him deliberately at this time—so that he wouldn't think that he had hidden himself well and that it was Shiraishi who "betrayed" him so that he would know that "Edogawa Conan is Kudo Shinichi".

"I……"

“Indeed, if Ai hadn’t covered your tracks, Gin would probably have already started hunting you down. Even if you had escaped, the Mori family would definitely have been implicated,” Shiraishi said confidently.

Conan felt extremely uncomfortable...

First, I was given a severe fright, then I met that difficult senior, and then... I inexplicably ended up owing her a favor.

"No need to thank me, just cooperate with my experiments from now on," Ai said matter-of-factly.

"I didn't mean to thank you..."

Before Conan could finish speaking, Ai reminded him, "This is also so that you have a chance to recover."

Shiraishi also cautioned, "You might think it's fine not to go back to normal, and you can even take a bath with your little Ran sister, but... how many lab rats have already exploded in the lab by now? Nobody can be sure about your current condition."

Conan: ...

"I didn't... Don't talk nonsense... I really want to turn back..."

(End of this chapter)