I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 693 Whether you want to cooperate or not, you have to! (2nd update)
On the rooftop of Teitan High School, the afternoon sun shone warmly, and a gentle breeze brought a sense of comfort.

Shiraishi E, Ran, and Suzuki Sonoko were sitting together, enjoying their lunch break and the bento boxes they had brought.

While devouring her luxurious three-tiered bento, Sonoko excitedly chatted about the hottest gossip in Tokyo: "Hey, have you heard? There's some super explosive news lately! Several famous company presidents have fallen on hard times!"

Her eyes lit up, and she lowered her voice as if sharing top-secret information: "It was done by another guy who calls himself 'Bandit Azu'! He's incredibly ruthless; he shot those guys right through their kneecaps! And I heard it was all to force them to drop their lawsuits and compensate the victims!"

She spoke vividly, but didn't notice that Xiaolan, who was holding chopsticks, paused slightly.

Ran subconsciously glanced at Shiraishi E, who was slowly eating fried noodles and bread beside her, a hint of guilt and unease flashing in her eyes.

Just then, Shiraishi E suddenly put down the bread in her hand, and said to Sonoko in a calm tone, as if she were admitting that the weather was nice today, "Oh, you mean those things? I did them."

"Pfft—cough! Cough cough!" Sonoko almost choked on the food in her mouth and coughed violently before she finally caught her breath.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Shiraishi E in disbelief, her face filled with shock and immense curiosity: "W-what?! E?! It really is you?! Why?! Why did you go and provoke those guys?"

Before Shiraishi E could even begin to explain, Ran, standing beside her, lowered her head guiltily, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. Her voice was barely audible, filled with embarrassment as she explained, "Actually... it's like this... Sonoko."

"Aren't we going to Los Angeles with Aunt Yukiko in a while? I... I really want Mom to come too, she's always so busy... so... so I..."

The quick-witted Sonoko immediately understood. She took over the conversation with an exaggerated admiration in her tone: "So you're going to have Eri help Aunt Eri 'handle' those tricky cases? To teach those heartless capitalist presidents who are inhuman and bully ordinary people a lesson? To stop them from delaying and acting like scoundrels?"

Shiraishi E nodded, confirming Sonoko's guess.

He even kindly reminded Sonoko, half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Sonoko, by the way, your Suzuki Group hasn't gotten into any lawsuits lately that would attract the attention of 'Bandit Azu' or involve bullying ordinary people, has it?"

Upon hearing this, Sonoko immediately patted her chest loudly and assured them repeatedly, "Don't worry, don't worry! Absolutely not! Although our family has had its share of lawsuits, they are mostly business disputes with other large companies or suppliers, all about money and contracts. We absolutely do not bully the innocent! Our Suzuki family is a socially responsible company!" She spoke with great confidence.

"That's good." Shiraishi E nodded in satisfaction and continued eating his bread.

Sonoko's curiosity was completely piqued, so she leaned closer and continued to ask, "But, Emi, I have a question!"

"Why are you using the name 'Notorious Bandit Azu' to do your job? The police are cracking down so hard right now, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble? That name is too conspicuous and too dangerous!"

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi E chuckled, a sly look on her face: "You don't know this, do you? These days, the name 'Bandit Azu' is a hot topic and a public alias in Tokyo."

"According to some unofficial and incomplete statistics, there are at least a thousand cases of varying sizes every day in Tokyo alone, and the perpetrators all claim to be 'the notorious gangster Azu.' They claim to be responsible for everything from convenience store robberies to pranks."

"Really? There are so many?!" Sonoko was so shocked that her mouth formed an "O" shape. She quickly took out her phone and started searching.

A moment later, she looked at the various bizarre social news stories popping up on the screen, her expression becoming incredibly varied, "My God... it's actually true... this is too outrageous..."

She scrolled through the screen, then suddenly seemed to have discovered something amazing, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! Seriously?! There are still over fifty live streams, and the streamers are all wearing masks and calling themselves 'Bandit Azu,' chatting, playing games, and even selling products online! Is this even possible?!"

Shiraishi shrugged, looking completely matter-of-fact: "So you see, 'Bandit Azu' isn't a specific person anymore; it's become a symbol, a public IP. Anyone can use it, and they can even piggyback on the traffic. The police have no way to investigate, so it's perfectly safe."

Sonoko listened in a daze. After processing the information, she thought of another question, her eyes sparkling with excitement and curiosity: "Then... Emi, what do you plan to do if you encounter a particularly stubborn, arrogant, disobedient, and unyielding club president?"

"It's impossible for everyone to just get a puncture in the knee, right? There must be some more 'special' way of treating them, right?" Her words were full of eager inquiry.

Looking at her inquisitive expression, Shiraishi E's lips curled into a meaningful smile: "How about it? Want to know? It's no fun just listening to me. How about... you come with me tonight for a 'field trip'? I'll show you around?"

Upon hearing this, Yuanzi was overjoyed and immediately nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes, yes, yes! Of course I'll go! I'm bored tonight anyway! This is so exciting! It's a deal!"

She immediately turned to Xiaolan beside her and enthusiastically invited, "Xiaolan! Come on over! It'll definitely be much more interesting than reading mystery novels!"

Although Xiaolan still had some hesitation and worry on her face, she thought that this matter was ultimately caused by her, and she was indeed a little curious about how Shiraishi E handled it. In the end, she nodded and said softly, "Hmm... I'll go too."

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As night deepened, the Kanagawa Villa, located in a luxurious area of ​​Tokyo, was brightly lit.

Real estate tycoon Yusuke Kanakawa, his knee in a thick cast, was sitting irritably on an expensive sofa in the first-floor living room, recovering from his injury.

The excruciating pain and immense humiliation drove him to rage like a trapped beast, as he roared furiously at his assistant who stood before him with his hands hanging limply.

"One hundred million! I'll offer one hundred million yen!" Jin Chuan's face was contorted with rage, spitting almost onto his assistant's face. "Post a bounty on the black market and the dark web! I want that damned 'bandit Azu's' head! Alive or dead! I want him torn to pieces!!"

The assistant's face was full of difficulty. He spoke cautiously, his voice trembling slightly, "Um... President... I'm afraid... I'm afraid it won't work..."

"Baka! What's wrong with that?! I have plenty of money!" Jin Chuan roared.

The assistant swallowed hard and explained with difficulty, "It's not about the money... President, you might... you might not be aware of the situation. Right now, the total bounty on the dark web for 'the notorious bandit Azu' has already exceeded 10 billion yen... and it's been up for a long time..."

Jin Chuan's roar abruptly stopped, his anger freezing instantly, replaced by an incredulous embarrassment: "Hundred...hundred billion?! Is...is that so?"

His arrogance instantly diminished by half. "So...so what was the result? Did anyone take the order?"

The assistant shook his head bitterly and whispered, "No results... It's said that several internationally renowned assassins or teams have tried, but... they either vanished without a trace or gave up completely. Nobody dares to take any jobs involving 'the notorious bandit Azu' now... nobody can do anything to him." "Damn it!!!" Jin Chuan slammed his fist on the sofa armrest in anger, aggravating his leg injury. He winced in pain, but felt even more furious and powerless: "Are we just going to let this go?! Are we just going to let this lawless bastard run rampant in Tokyo?! Is there no justice?! Is there no law?! What are those useless cowards in the Metropolitan Police Department doing?!"

The assistant kept his head down, avoiding eye contact with the president, but inwardly he was furiously complaining: 'The law? The law? Boss, you don't seem to care much about those two things, do you? Those forced demolitions, threats, falsifying accounts…'

He was about to gently advise the president to be patient and consider the matter further—

Suddenly, he felt a very slight stinging pain on the back of his neck, as if he had been bitten by a mosquito or pricked by a very fine needle.

He instinctively reached out to touch it, but a strong wave of dizziness instantly overwhelmed his consciousness.

Before he could even utter a sound, everything went black, and he collapsed onto the soft carpet with a thud, losing consciousness.

Jin Chuan, who was in the middle of a heated argument, was startled by this sudden turn of events. He looked at his assistant lying on the ground, frowned, and snapped angrily, "Hey! What's wrong with you?! Are you playing dead? Get up!"

However, the next second, his rebuke got stuck in his throat, and his pupils suddenly contracted in terror!
Suddenly, four figures appeared silently at the entrance to the living room!

They were all wearing those chilling masks, just like the one worn by the notorious bandit Ah Zu!
However, based on their figures and clothing, it can be vaguely discerned that they are three women... and one man.

Jin Chuan was terrified, his body involuntarily shrinking back, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Who...who are you?! How did you get in?! What do you want?!"

The masked man at the head of the group, Shiraishi E, didn't bother to waste any more words on him.

Jin Chuan only saw the other party's wrist twitch slightly, a flash of cold light, and then a slight stinging pain on his own neck. Then, just like his assistant, his consciousness quickly blurred, his head tilted to the side, and he completely lost consciousness.

Shiraishi E moved swiftly, took out the rope she had prepared beforehand, skillfully tied Jin Chuan up tightly, and then sealed his mouth firmly with tape.

After doing all this, he turned to look at a woman next to him who, although wearing a mask, still had a charming figure and moved quite leisurely—Yukiko Kudo.

“Ms. Yukiko, I’ll leave the rest to you,” said Emi Shiraishi.

"Okay~ Leave it to me!" Even through the mask, Yukiko's voice still carried a hint of eager excitement. She put down the box that looked like a makeup case she had been carrying, opened it, and inside were various exquisite disguise tools and a pre-made human skin mask.

She took out the mask made to resemble Jin Chuan's face and carefully put it on Shiraishi E. Then she took out professional cosmetics and, under the bright lights of the living room, carefully touched up Shiraishi E's face, perfectly covering up all the discordant parts such as the edges of the mask and differences in skin tone, making her almost indistinguishable from the real Jin Chuan.

After completing the disguise, Shiraishi E cleared her throat, and when she spoke again, it was Kanakawa Yusuke's slightly hoarse and arrogant voice: "Alright, now you can hide and watch the show."

Ran, Sonoko, and Yukiko worked together to drag the unconscious Kanakawa into the adjacent study, leaving the door ajar with just a crack so they could observe what was happening in the living room.

Eiraku Shiraishi walked over to his unconscious assistant and removed the tiny anesthetic needle from his neck.

Then, he sat in the same spot where Jin Chuan had been sitting, even placing his injured leg in the same position as Jin Chuan, and waited quietly.

A few minutes later, the assistant on the floor let out a soft groan and groggily woke up. He rubbed his aching neck, struggled to get up from the carpet, and looked around blankly: "What...what happened to me? How did I suddenly pass out..."

Shiraishi E, using a perfectly mimicking voice, said with a hint of impatience, "Looks like you've been working yourself to the bone these past few days; you suddenly fainted. Go back and see a doctor properly, don't let it interfere with your work!!"

When the assistant heard that the president didn't seem to be blaming him, but instead told him to see a doctor, he was flattered and bowed repeatedly: "Yes! Yes! Thank you for your concern, president! I... I'm fine, I might just have a little low blood sugar... Well... I'll go back now? You should get some rest."

Shiraishi E was silent for two or three seconds, as if she had gone through a fierce internal struggle, and finally let out a heavy and helpless sigh: "Never mind... never mind..." He waved his hand, his tone sounding very tired and dejected, "Pass the word... those few lawsuits that caused such a stir before... withdraw them. Pay the highest compensation that is due, settle them as soon as possible, don't drag it out any longer."

The assistant was taken aback, jerking his head up as if he'd misheard: "President...President?! What did you say? Withdraw...withdraw the lawsuit? And pay the highest compensation standard? This...how could this happen so suddenly..."

This is completely out of character for the president, who is always meticulous and never admits defeat!
Shiraishi E didn't speak, but simply raised her head and coldly glanced at her assistant with Jin Chuan's habitually fierce and impatient eyes.

That one glance instantly reminded the assistant of the president's usual tyrannical nature, sending a shiver down his spine. He quickly raised his hand and slapped himself across the face: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, President! I was too talkative! I shouldn't have asked! I'll take care of it right away! I'll take care of it immediately!"

After saying that, he practically tumbled out of the villa's living room without looking back, as if a vengeful ghost was chasing him.

As Shiraishi watched her assistant flee in panic, a satisfied smile crept onto her lips beneath the mask.

The study door was pushed open, and Ran, Sonoko, and Yukiko came out.

Sonoko was the first to exclaim in surprise, her eyes wide: "Wow! E! So that's your method! So clever! He won't find out at all!"

Xiao Lan also breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Well... in this way, even if he comes to his senses and regrets it afterward, the order has already been officially issued and carried out. The deed is done, and it's too late for him to go back on his word. For the sake of his pride, he will probably have to swallow this bitter pill."

Yukiko commented with a smile, "This method is indeed much gentler than directly punching through the knee."

Shiraishi E smiled.

With this combination of moves, they'll have no choice but to cooperate!
He glanced at the European-style wall clock and said, "Let's go, it's getting late. There's another 'guest' on the list waiting for us to visit."

Under the cover of night, four figures quietly left Jinchuan's villa, as if they had never been there.

Inside the study, Jin Chuan was tightly bound and unable to struggle. He could only pray that someone would find him soon.

(End of this chapter)