Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

As night deepened, Ai climbed into Akemi Miyano's bed.

"Why are you here so late?" Akemi smoothed Ai's hair.

"Because I was afraid that Zheng Yi would kill me."

"what?"

Akemi blinked, puzzled.

Are you afraid that Zheng Yi will kill you?

Does Zheng Yi no longer recognize his own family?

Ai said, "Sister, I have something urgent to tell you."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Mingmei asked.

She felt her sister was acting strange today.

Ai took a deep breath: "It was Masakazu who gave me some information. It said that Sera Masumi is my cousin."

After saying that, Ai looked at her older sister curiously.

She was eager to know how her sister would react when she found out about this.

Akemi remained silent for a long time.

It was only after Ai thought she had fallen asleep that Akemi blinked.

"Sera Masumi? Your classmate?" Akemi asked, "The girl you suspected before, the one who had doubts about your identity?"

Ai nodded.

Then, she told her sister everything about Masakazu's speculation, the investigation report about the Akai family, and Sera Masumi's recent probing.

“Sister, this is ridiculous,” Ai said. “We always thought we only had each other. Suddenly a cousin appeared, and an aunt who is supposedly still alive. I don’t even know how to face her.”

Who knows where this relative comes from?

"Shiho, listen to what your older sister has to say." Miyano Akemi's warm palm stroked Ai's head.

"If Zheng Yi's investigation is true, then... this might not be a bad thing."

Ai was stunned.

Not a bad thing?

She nestled in her sister's arms.

No matter how you look at it, this suddenly appearing relative is a troublesome matter.

That aunt might have been shrunk by the organization's medicine and has connections to the organization.

Moreover, Zheng Yi said she might be a British agent.

Her son, Shuichi Akai, is an FBI agent.

Who knows how much trouble this complicated family might cause?

Akemi Miyano also thought about it for a long time.

Only then did he accept what Ai said.

“Sera Masumi is Shuichi’s younger sister, which makes her our cousin.” Akemi’s tone revealed a hint of helpless smile.

"Fate is truly wondrous, isn't it?"

"It's really amazing."

Ai nodded.

But this strange phenomenon isn't necessarily a good thing.

"But, sister..." Ai still couldn't accept it:

"Sera Masumi has been testing me. She might even know Conan's identity. I always feel like she has ulterior motives when she approaches me."

Ai seems very resistant to acknowledging them.

“Shiho.” Akemi’s reply became serious.

"Shuichi... is a trustworthy person. Although we've separated, I know him. His family shouldn't be bad people either."

"You're being too subjective. She probably approached us for the antidote. It's all that detective's fault for accidentally letting others know when he used the antidote," Ai said.

However, Shinichi Kudo's reappearance did not attract the organization's attention.

Could it be that Zheng Yi is helping to cover it up?
In order to keep the Kudo family making money for him, Shoichi will probably help to keep it a secret.

Akemi touched Ai's hair.

Ai was silent for a moment before saying, "So, I'll go and see if I can make contact and see if I can establish a family connection?"

With Zheng Yi backing her up, Ai is quite bold.

Even if Sera Masumi had connections with the organization, she wasn't too worried.

As long as she doesn't have direct contact with Gin, it's fine.

“No, my sister isn’t asking you to go and acknowledge her right now,” Mingmei said thoughtfully.

"What I mean is, you can try to get to know her, just like you got to know Conan and Ran."

Ai nodded.

Actually, I don't know much about Ran and Conan.

Mingmei knew that her younger sister was somewhat resistant.

She said, "Leave the matter of contacting her to me. I'll see if we should acknowledge each other."

Ai nodded and snuggled into Akemi's arms to sleep.

……

Autumn dusks come exceptionally early.

The streetlights were not yet on, but the shop signs on both sides of the street were already flickering with scattered light.

Ai's knuckles turned white as she gripped the strap of her schoolbag.

She turned her head sharply again, her neck appearing excessively stiff at the collar of her uniform.

The wind swirled the withered leaves around her feet, making a rustling sound.

At the alley entrance, only empty plastic bags fluttered in the wind, their pale plastic film sticking to the telephone poles with a "slap slap" sound.

"Is it just my imagination..." she murmured softly.

This is the seventh time I've looked back.

That feeling has been there ever since I left school.

She felt that someone was following her.

But every time she mustered the courage to turn around, all she saw was an empty street scene.

Even the stray cats passing by were more composed than her.

The tortoiseshell cat even stopped by the trash can, glanced at her, then elegantly licked its paws before disappearing over the wall.

Today, Zheng Yi took Curaçao to intimidate his business partners again.

That's what he said, in a lighthearted tone, as if he were going on a picnic.

He was in high spirits when he called, as if he could see those guys looking scared and find it very amusing.

His perverse sense of humor remained unchanged.

A very faint smell of tobacco suddenly wafted into the air.

It was a very faint flavor, a mixture of inferior tobacco and some special spice.

Ai's heart suddenly clenched.

Most of the people in the organization like to smoke.

Especially those low-level members who carry out assassination or tracking missions often smoke that special kind of strong tobacco to stay alert.

She is very sensitive to this smell.

This is not an illusion.

She quickened her pace, the sound of her leather shoes clicking on the asphalt road sounding particularly crisp in the twilight.

She dared not turn around again, afraid that if she did, she would see a face wearing sunglasses and expressionless.

As she turned the third street corner, she finally saw the gray building covered in ivy.

The ivy leaves had turned yellow and were shivering in the wind.

The wrought iron gate was ajar, and the light in the gatehouse shone with a dim yellow glow.

The security guard in the gatehouse was wiping his sidearm with his head down; the metal barrel gleamed coldly under the light.

It makes people feel at ease just looking at it.

"Chief Haibara?" The security guard looked up at the little girl with a hint of awe.

"So late today?"

Ai leaned against the door frame, panting heavily. Cold sweat soaked the stray hairs at her temples and clung to her cheeks.

My unease only subsided somewhat when I saw the security guard put his gun back into its holster.

"Yeah, Masakazu didn't pick me up today," Ai said.

The security guard didn't ask any more questions, he just pressed the open button.

He was a little scared when he heard the name Zheng Yi. Although he was Zheng Yi's employee, no one was unafraid of Zheng Yi.

With a loud thud as the electric door slid open, Ai staggered across the threshold.

The street behind her was still empty, but she always felt that a pair of eyes were still hiding in some shadow.

She could even feel the man's gaze fixed intently on the direction she had disappeared in.

What Ai didn't see was that, the moment she turned and walked through the gate, under the flickering streetlight across the street...

A figure in a black trench coat slowly emerged from the shadows.

The man held a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, the crimson flame flickering in the darkness.

He took a deep drag and exhaled the smoke in the direction where Ai had disappeared.

……

night.

The rain was drizzling outside the window.

Ai sat in front of the large lab table, but the microscope and test tubes in front of her seemed unable to concentrate her attention.

She would occasionally glance back at the tightly closed metal door, a hint of barely perceptible wariness in her eyes.

When Masaichi pushed open the door, he saw Ai looking distracted.

He raised an eyebrow, walked to her side, and casually ruffled the top of her soft hair.

"What's wrong? You made me pick you up again? You've been naughty again?" Zheng Yi's voice carried his usual teasing tone.

He patted Ai's head again.

Sure, sure, you've already learned how to act cute.

Ai slapped his hand away, frowned slightly, and said in a low voice, "Shoichi, I think... someone is following me."

"Following you?" Zheng Yi was taken aback.

Are there other lolicon characters in Tokyo?

"Who is it? People in Tokyo should all know that I have a daughter."

He walked to the window, looked at the gloomy sky outside, and spoke with arrogance in his tone:
"These days, who dares to touch my daughter? They must be tired of living and want me to kill their whole family!"

Ai glared at him, annoyed.

Who's your daughter?!

Can you be serious for once?

At my age and your age, people would at most mistake us for siblings.

“I’m serious. I’ve had this feeling since yesterday. It’s like there’s a pair of eyes watching me from a distance.”

Ai said.

Zheng Yi's smile faded, and he frowned.

Could someone really be spying on Ai Haibara?
He asked Ai, "Does anyone else in the organization have seen what you looked like as a child?"

Ai shook her head, unable to recall for a moment.

Zheng Yi said, "You shouldn't be a member of the organization. Many people in the organization already know your identity, but they just turn a blind eye."

Ai opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

She tried her best not to think about the organization.

I used to think that organizations were terrifying, and that I might never be able to escape their control for the rest of my life.

but now……

Ai glanced at Masakazu.

The organization has already turned a blind eye to her escape.

As expected, I was just too inexperienced before.

Zheng Yi patted her shoulder gently: "Okay, since you think so, I'll have someone investigate."

Ai nodded, feeling a little more at ease.

"Who do you think it could be?" Zheng Yi poured himself a glass of water and asked casually.

Ai bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Could it be... Sera Masumi?"

"Who did you say? Sera Masumi?" He looked at Ai with disbelief. "Why is she spying on you? To help you with your homework?"

Ai frowned: "Be serious."

“I’m very serious.” Zheng Yi shook his head.

"It can't be her. She doesn't know you're her sister. It's better to monitor someone who's already been exposed than to monitor a suspicious person like you."

"You mean... Conan?" Ai Haibara was taken aback.

“Of course,” Masakazu said. “However, Conan’s identity has already been exposed, and Sera Masumi has now confirmed his identity.”

Xiao Ai was speechless for a moment.

That detective is a bit unreliable; his identity was exposed so easily.

"How many people already know his identity?" Ai asked curiously.

“A lot,” Zheng Yi said.

"Do the organized groups know his identity?"

Zheng Yi nodded.

Ai Haibara fell silent.

"But you don't need to worry." Zheng Yi gently pinched her cheek.

"Conan has quite a wide network of connections; he has people in the organization who are temporarily helping him conceal his identity."

Ai asked, "Is he someone you?"

"of course not."

Zheng Yi patted Ai's head again.

"I'll take care of the people monitoring you. Don't worry, I've got you covered."

Looking at Masakazu, Ai's unease inexplicably dissipated.

Although this guy is usually unreliable, he's actually quite dependable when it matters.

"I understand," Ai said with a slight smile.

Ai suddenly asked again, "Is it because you've made too many enemies that they're targeting me because they want to get rid of you?"

She felt it was very likely.

Zheng Yi is so hated that it's normal for someone to want to get rid of him.

I'm just a poor little thing who got caught up in this mess.

“It’s unlikely,” Zheng Yi said. “No one would joke about the lives of their entire family.”

"Alright, stop overthinking." Zheng Yi rubbed her head, and this time she didn't resist.

"Focus on your experiment. For your safety, I suggest you stay in the lab instead of going to school."

Xiao Ai looked at Zheng Yi suspiciously.

Something about Zheng Yi's last words felt off.

So you mean you still want me to work overtime here, right?
“I’m doing this for your own good,” Zheng Yi said. “I’ll give you Curaçao; she’ll protect you and make you safer.”

Ai nodded, offering no objection.

"Then what will you do?" Ai asked.

"I'll hire a few more bodyguards," Zheng Yi said.

Ai nodded, her expression strange.

You're not going to hire someone from the organization to be your bodyguard again, are you?
Curious, he picked up the documents on the table, glanced at them, but didn't understand them.

After calmly putting it down, Zheng Yi asked:

"When will you be able to develop a drug that can turn people back into children without any side effects?"

“My main goal is to research an antidote,” Ai said.

“The medicine I mentioned also needs to be studied,” Zheng Yi said. “There’s a reason why the organization ignores you. I’ve been under a lot of pressure because of the organization.”

Ai looked at Masakazu again with a suspicious gaze.

Are you under a lot of pressure?

“I don’t think you seem to be under a lot of pressure at all,” Ai said.

“I just don’t show it in front of you,” Zheng Yi said.

He sat in the chair thinking for a moment, then said, "What was that saying again?"

"A father's love is deep and reserved. He leaves all the burdens to himself, but saves his most relaxed smile for his daughter."

Ai looked at Masakazu and sneered.

"It's probably because my son is used to only reporting good news and not bad news, and he doesn't want his mother to worry about him."

He lifted Xiao Ai up, making her realize her age and status. (End of Chapter)