Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 340, Section 334: Kudo's Parents Ran Away

It was fine if Shinichi Kudo wasn't mentioned, but once Shinichi Kudo was brought up, Ryoma Hayashi noticed that Gin's expression became increasingly gloomy.

"Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo escaped!" Every word Gin uttered was filled with murderous intent, his eyes fixed on Vermouth and Curaçao.

"Can anyone tell me why Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo suddenly left Tokyo?!"
Leave the island nation?

Did the Kudo couple run away?

Lin Longma looked genuinely surprised. When he heard the boss's order in the research department, Lin Longma knew that Vermouth would definitely be uneasy.

But he didn't expect Vermouth's actions to be so efficient.

How long has it been? This couple escaped right under the organization's nose?

Faced with Gin's murderous aura, Ryoma simply shrugged and said, "I don't know anything about this."

I've been incredibly busy lately, how could I possibly have time to deal with novelists and actors?

The person who felt the most deeply after Lin Longma finished speaking was Gin, because he knew that Lin Longma was absolutely right.

Since the Risk Investigation Team was transformed into the Safety Countermeasures Section, the entire Isshin Association has become much more active.

During their time in the risk investigation team, Isshin will uncover many members within the organization who are suspected of being undercover agents, spies, or having a tendency to betray.

Moreover, some members, despite having no intention of defecting from the organization, brazenly took the organization's intelligence and sold it outside.

What do you call this? This is called betraying one's own people and lining one's own pockets!

This portion of the personnel is small in the executive department, but large in the intelligence support department. This is because the intelligence support department has access to a vast amount of intelligence.

If they dare to sell the intelligence gathered by the organization today, they will dare to sell the organization's intelligence again tomorrow if the price is right.

No one will stop the organization from eliminating these people; even Rum cannot interfere with the actions of the Security Countermeasures Division.

Rum's displeasure doesn't mean Gin is happy. It's important to remember that the gunmen sent out on missions by the Security Countermeasures Section are all members of the Execution Department.

The executive department was already short-staffed due to the massive purge, and maintaining its original workload was extremely difficult.

Although Gin has stepped up efforts to recruit and train new people, mature peripheral members and skilled gunmen cannot be trained in a short time.

At this moment, Gin was like a firefighter, rushing to wherever there was a fire with vodka.

Even his two sniper subordinates have been going on missions at a new high frequency lately.

All of this is thanks to the One Heart Society.

Does the internal investigation operation have to be stopped just because the executive department is short-staffed? Lin Longma is not one to make baseless accusations.

All the targets of the Security Countermeasures Division have solid evidence here, and each target that was eliminated basically crossed the organization's red line.

Even Gin couldn't say these people didn't deserve to die, especially since traitors, undercover agents, and those who betray their own side are exactly the kind of people Gin hates the most.

Yes, compared to the opposing factions within the organization, Gin clearly harbors a higher level of hatred towards the three types of people mentioned above.

If a traitor stands with Rum, Gin will definitely choose to kill the traitor first, and then kill Rum.

Gin was so busy that he naturally knew that Ryoma Hayashi's Yixin Society was not focusing on Shinichi Kudo at all.

Gin had his reservations, but he couldn't say anything. Ryoma was busy with the organization's purge, and Gin was busy putting out fires. The tasks of finding Shinichi Kudo and monitoring the Kudo couple fell to Vermouth and Curaçao.

Now that the Kudo couple has run away, they are the ones primarily responsible.

"The Kudo couple ran away?" Vermouth's face showed shock, then she explained:
"Please, what does this have to do with me? Don't you know I have several subordinates? And they're not even in the island nation."

"I'm just a lone wolf; all I can do is help find Shinichi Kudo. As for monitoring the Kudo couple, I think that's Curaçao's job."

With just a few words, Vermouth completely absolved herself of any wrongdoing.

As she said, Vermouth had no subordinates in the island nation. Although as a high-ranking officer, Vermouth had the authority to require some members to cooperate with her operations.

However, it's better to recruit and train your own subordinates. Otherwise, you won't even know when you've been taken advantage of.

Having one's own subordinates do one's own tasks is actually an unspoken rule within an organization.

As for the fact that the Security Countermeasures Division was able to use gunmen from the Execution Department to carry out the cleanup operation, it actually needs to be viewed in two steps.

The first step is for the Security Countermeasures Division to gather evidence of a member's "disloyalty," and then assign the task to the Execution Department.

The execution unit's gunman receives the assassination mission and begins the operation.

One task has become two, involving two departments. If the evidence is problematic, it's the responsibility of the security countermeasures department.

But if the "disloyal one" doesn't die and successfully escapes, then it's the responsibility of the executive department.

The credit and responsibility are clearly divided, and the gunman might even make some extra money while carrying out the mission.

This is the main reason why the gunmen in the operations department were willing to actively cooperate with the security countermeasures section in issuing the elimination order.

In any organization, nobody does anything that doesn't offer benefits; that's a fact.

"Members of the Intelligence Support Department have been monitoring the Kudo residence." It seems Vermouth has firmly pinned the blame on Curaçao, but it looks like Curaçao is planning to pull some strings.

Faced with both Vermouth and Gin's accusations, Curaçao directly refuted them, saying, "The Kudo couple has never shown any signs of fleeing."

Even three days ago, the Kudo family received a call from a friend who said they had spotted Shinichi Kudo in Kyoto.

"According to the Kudo couple's plan, they were supposed to set off for Kyoto today to meet up with their friends."

"In addition, during the period of surveillance on the Kudo couple, there were a total of 36 visitors to the Kudo family."

Of the 32 people identified, two are under surveillance and investigation.

Two other individuals, whose identities remain unknown, successfully evaded their pursuers and are currently missing.

After Curaçao finished speaking, she stared intently at Vermouth. Although Vermouth didn't say anything, it seemed as if she had said a lot.

The intelligence support department kept a close watch on the Kudo residence. Every visitor was recorded by intelligence officers, who also confirmed their identity.

Those whose identities have been confirmed do not need to be monitored, but those outsiders whose identities cannot be found yet need to be kept in check.

Now, two unidentified outsiders have appeared, having shaken off their pursuers. It is highly likely that they revealed some information that prompted the Kudo couple to leave the island nation.

Coincidentally, Vermouth is the organization's infamous Thousand-Faced Witch. Who knows if Vermouth was involved in any of those two outsiders?

(End of this chapter)