Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 575 Future Photos
Ayako breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Shiraishi was indeed intact.

However, Ayako, whom Shiraishi saw, looked somewhat haggard.

"What happened? Didn't you sleep well last night?" Shiraishi asked with concern.

"Yeah, I've gained a little weight recently. I exercised for a while last night and couldn't fall asleep..." Ayako made up an excuse.

“I told you I’d be fine.” Shiraishi bluntly exposed her—clearly, because of her “disappearance” last night, Ayako was still tossing and turning even after getting through on the phone.

Ayako blushed upon hearing this and admitted, "After all, I heard you were poisoned last night..."

Ayako is resourceful; she even found out about Shiraishi's poisoning, which she definitely didn't hear from the Beika Bureau.

After hearing that Xiao Hei had been poisoned by cyanide, even though she had heard that Xiao Hei claimed his condition was stable and that he had even refused to be taken to the hospital, and that Xiao Hei had also reassured her that he was safe, Ayako was still terrified and spent most of the night searching online for information about the mechanism of cyanide poisoning.

Of course, Ayako also heard about the reason why Shiraishi was poisoned—Shiraishi could usually detect poisoning methods in advance!

To this, Ayako can only say...

How could the people in that mysterious organization be so evil?
Did they lure Xiao Hei into performing artificial respiration first, and then poison him mouth-to-mouth?

……

Although Ayako looked a little tired because she hadn't rested well, fortunately, today wasn't the actual day for the ribbon-cutting ceremony—tomorrow was the day the building would be officially opened. Today was just a visit by some guests who were associated with the Tokiwa Group.

Therefore, Ayako only wore light makeup today, without a formal dress, and rode in Shiraishi's car...

"Oh right, Sonoko and the other kids should be here too, so let's bring Ai along!" Ayako suggested.

Ayako had suggested it before, but Shiraishi brushed it off by saying that "Ai doesn't like overly noisy occasions." However, Ayako now thinks that since there are other children present, it would be better to let Ai go as well, since children should act like children.

"Them? Those children?" Shiraishi was taken aback upon hearing this, and had a bad feeling.

“It’s Mayoi, Ran, Ayano and the others… and Conan and the other kids are there too,” Ayako said matter-of-factly.

Shiraishi:……

"Conan's here too? Sonoko brought them along." Shiraishi was speechless.

Because Conan came to help last night, he went out with me this morning, but I didn't say we were going to Nishitama Town!

“Well, it wasn’t Sonoko who took them. Sonoko originally wanted to go shopping with Ran, Mayoi, and Ayano today, but since Detective Mouri knows the female president of the Tokiwa Group, she was invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony and was going to visit her today. Sonoko and the others went with Ran… It seems they met the Junior Detective League kids along the way,” Ayako explained.

Sonoko had only recently informed her sister that they had changed their plans for today, and Mayoi had also gone at the last minute.

Shiraishi:……

What a coincidence, isn't it?

It seems the Tokiwa Group is in for a major crisis!

Since Ayako had already said so, after a moment's hesitation, Shiraishi decided to pick up Ai along the way.

The three then arrived together at the "Twin Skyscrapers" in Nishitama Town, which were about to officially open...

That's right, it's another "twin" building. Like the Mihana City Hall, it has a twin-tower design, only larger and taller.

When they arrived downstairs, they ran into the Mori family, who had also just arrived, along with Sonoko, Mayoi... and even Professor Agasa and the three members of the Detective Boys.

Looking at the lineup before him, Shiraishi felt that the Twin Towers were already on their last legs...

"How does Detective Mouri know President Tokiwa? Could it be... that he has something to investigate?" Shiraishi asked warily.

With this lineup, it's quite normal for President Tokiwa to receive bomb threats or something similar!
"No, actually, President Tokiwa Mio is my junior from university, which is why she invited me here this time," Mori said proudly.

after all……

There are many senior students; if Mori weren't a famous detective, he wouldn't have been invited.

Ran pouted to herself – Mori had sneaked out earlier without telling her what he was doing, which was why Ran insisted on following him… He really was there to see some “beautiful club president”!

However, since Ms. Shiraishi and Ms. Ayako were also present, Ran didn't expose him.

Sonoko, who was in the know, ignored all of this and joked, "Junior? They must be very close, right?"

"Of course! Back when we were in school, Mio was once harassed by a few thugs, and I used an over-the-shoulder throw to get her out of trouble!" Mori became even more arrogant.

"She's the junior who rescued the damsel in distress... Ran, I feel like Aunt Eri is in danger." Sonoko deliberately exaggerates the danger.

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan immediately glared at her father...

Before Mori could say anything, Ayako, exuding murderous intent, said, "Sonoko... you can't be so arbitrary!"

"Uh... I'm so sorry!" Sonoko apologized promptly upon seeing her older sister's expression.

"Ai! You're here too?" Ayumi was quite happy to see Ai.

Ai remained aloof as always, and it was only after Ayako "coaxed" her that she joined in the fun with everyone.

At that moment, a young woman dressed in business attire walked out of the building and immediately spotted Shiraishi...

"You must be... Ms. Suzuki and Mr. Shiraishi? Are you Detective Mouri? The president is still receiving guests and couldn't greet you personally. I'm Secretary Sawaguchi Chinami. Please come with me to the exhibition hall!" Sawaguchi said politely to the people at the door.

Upon hearing this, everyone followed her inside.

While riding the escalator, Sawaguchi also introduced the Twin Towers to everyone...

“Once it is officially put into use, the Tokiwa Twin Towers will become the tallest buildings in Tokyo. Tower A has 75 floors and Tower B has 68 floors. The floors above the 31st floor on both sides belong to the Tokiwa Group, while the floors below the 31st floor are occupied by other commercial groups. Now we are going to the exhibition halls on the second and third floors, where we will see the latest products of our Tokiwa Group,” Sawaguchi explained.

Changpan Group focuses on the software development industry, and is involved in everything from games to various practical software.

In the exhibition hall, in addition to the software displayed on ordinary computers, there are also many specialized peripherals.

This includes...

"Huh? This thing that looks like a game pod, could it be something similar to the legendary 'cocoon'?" Genta asked expectantly after seeing several seats that looked like they could partially enclose a person inside.

The Sindora Group's "Cocoon" has now become a focus of public opinion because it is game-like, so children are also paying close attention to it.

“No, that’s…” Zeguchi was about to explain when another voice came: “No, that doesn’t have a consciousness interface. Instead, it scans the user’s facial features and collects the user’s genetic information through spectrum analysis. Through extensive calculations, it calculates the target human’s appearance ten years from now.” A technician wearing glasses said.

"Huh? Ten years from now..."

"Spectral acquisition? Does that mean we can try it without drawing blood?"

Upon hearing this, Sawaguchi explained to everyone, "This is Mr. Hara Yoshiaki. Director Hara is not only a director of the group, but also a key technical expert."

"A key technical staff member... So, Mr. Yuan is also a software engineer?" Bai Shi asked with some concern.

“That’s right, and it’s not just the software, its hardware is also top-notch.” Originally, I thought that Shiraishi was interested in the “appearance prediction” device.

After all, this is designed to assist the police in solving cases, especially in updating the predictive profiles of long-term fugitives.

"Yes, I witnessed it during the Tagikawa family incident." Shiraishi quickly changed the subject without saying much—actually, Shiraishi was worried about the "Black Organization"...

Programmers have always been a key target for recruitment by the Black Organization; Namiko Nagae was previously recruited by them.

When Shiraishi mentioned the Takigawa family, he specifically explained, "Actually, it's nothing. At the time, all we had was a portrait of Takigawa Mirai as a child. Although we collected the genes of the Takigawa couple as a reference, it wasn't their own, so it only had about 50-60% of the effect... Sigh."

As he spoke, he sighed, seemingly lamenting the future fate of Tagikawa.

"I see..." Bai Shi understood at this moment that the device would also directly collect human genetic information, and when simulating and calculating, it would focus on "genes" and use physical appearance as a secondary factor.

"Huh? Can we see what we'll look like in the future?" Genta asked with great interest.

“Yes, that’s right, would you all like to give it a try?” Yuan said to the children.

It's clear that Yuan seems to really like children.

Afterwards, the three boys were arranged to try out the equipment and then received three photos: "High School Boy A", "High School Boy B", and "High School Beauty Radiating Youthful Vigor"...

"Hey? Ran, Mayoi, Ayano... let's give it a try too!" Sonoko said to the other three.

Actually, they were quite interested too, but they weren't as proactive as Sonoko.

Sonoko originally wanted to invite her older sister, but seeing "Ayako's smile," she gave up.

after all……

A 17-year-old girl might be interested in what she'll look like at 27.

But 24-year-old girls often don't want to see what they'll look like at 34, especially... It's one thing to secretly look at it, but now there are so many people around, especially with their boyfriends present!

After that, four high school girls went in, and after the equipment worked for a while, four more photos were taken.

Sonoko immediately picked up her own photo and looked at it, but... she looked at it from left to right and seemed not very satisfied.

Ran's future photo made Conan, who had secretly gone there, blush, and made Sonoko feel envious and jealous. The "jealousy" wasn't directed at Ran, but rather at...

"The thought of Shinichi getting all the benefits later is really annoying!" Sonoko teased, then looked at Ayano and said, "Ayano, I need to see yours... You look so much more mature! You look like you're already married, and a beautiful one at that..."

Upon hearing this, Ayano blushed and secretly glanced in Shiraishi's direction.

(The photo is a still from another drama starring the actress who plays Ayano this year; the actress is about 27 years old!)
As for Maya's future photo... because it was a bust, Maya noticed what she cared about and immediately pointed it out towards her sister, saying, "See! I told you it would look like my sister, it couldn't be flat... uh..."

(Theoretically, this is Mayoi twelve years later, which is about right...)
Mayoi blushed immediately, turned her head away, and whistled to ease the awkwardness.

That's right, she also discovered the bug—from her perspective, it was indeed facing her sister's direction, but to others, it looked like she was talking to Shiraishi about her development problems!
Ayako already knew the truth and knew that Mayoi was just being thoughtless, so she just smiled slightly.

This left Hara and Sawaguchi completely bewildered—what exactly is the relationship between these people?
Just then, another person came in. He was also a guest of President Tokiwa Mio, and... Shiraishi knew him too!

"Satsuki-kun?" Shiraishi asked in surprise.

"As expected, you've arrived, Miss Ayako... and Senior Shiraishi." Satsuki looked at Ayako first, but then her eyes fell on Shiraishi.

"Satsuki, you're here too? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Ayako said warmly.

“I made this decision on short notice. When you came to Osaka to exhibit the Egg of Memories, you didn’t invite me... You’re really being too polite.” Satsuki was equally enthusiastic.

Seeing everyone looking at the future photos, Satsuki changed the subject, saying, "Ah, is that it... Ayako, didn't you see it? It must be even more beautiful than it is now."

"Stop teasing me... Satsuki, you're the one who shows no signs of aging. Did you take a test before? Can I see it?"

Ayako and Satsuki still had endless things to talk about as soon as they met, but... they were both too polite and neither of them wanted to use the equipment!
At this moment, Conan and Ai were pushed by the three little ones to sit in the device as well—the two of them were the least willing to be tested!

Ai Haibara is alright; even if the test reveals "Sherry's" appearance, she can simply destroy it, since no one here knows her anyway. But as for Conan...

Fearing that if she found out Shinichi Kudo's face, Ran would kick her in the face!

It was only with Kidd's help that he was finally cleared of suspicion.

"Luckily, it's big enough. Can I try it too?" Shiraishi suddenly remembered something and offered.

“Of course.” Yuan immediately invited Baishi in as well.

Seeing this, Ayako and Satsuki stopped their pleasantries.

This time, three... no, one photo and two blank sheets of paper were printed out!
For some reason, Conan and Ai both got "blank sheets" (nothing on paper), while only Shiraishi produced a photograph.

Conan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his blank sheet of paper, but Ai's face turned grim—clearly, she had already guessed it too…

It's very likely that the side effects of APTX4869 caused problems with their genes, preventing them from living ten years in the future!

However, the fact that Shiraishi had the photos relieved Ai Haibara somewhat, while Conan was puzzled...

"Huh? What's going on? Is there a malfunction..." Yuan was puzzled as he looked at the two blank sheets of paper.

At this moment, Sawaguchi said to him, "Director, look at the photo of Inspector Shiraishi... It seems there's a mistake too. This is... from ten years ago, right?"

Indeed, the photo in Shiraishi's hand showed an even younger face...

It's not so much ten years later, but rather ten years ago, when I was about the same age as Ran and Sonoko!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dongdong: Today is October 27th. On this day in 1806, France captured Berlin. Please vote for me! Please vote for me! Please vote for me!
(End of this chapter)