I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

Chapter 477 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind
As the saying goes, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

Although Hondo Eikai was not allowed to meet Hondo Eisuke directly according to the rules.

However, it's still okay to follow from a distance to make sure that Hondo Eisuke won't encounter any danger. After all, the CIA is really unreliable, even though Hondo Eisuke is staying at the home of his father Ethan Hondo's CIA colleague.

That CIA colleague knew that Hondo Eisuke was coming to Tokyo to see her, but he didn't stop her.

She is exceptionally sensitive to scenes of family reunions, for no other reason than—

This is how Ethan Hondo, Hondo's father, died.

------

Five years ago, Hondo Emi, under the alias Mizunashi Rena, joined the Black Organization as a replacement for the deceased liaison.

As a CIA liaison, she constantly informed other CIA agents infiltrating the Black Organization about CIA affairs, and also kept her CIA colleagues outside the organization informed of the Black Organization's affairs, while looking for opportunities to get close to her father, Ethan Bendon.

Until that incident four years ago.

Hondo Emi neglected to check because of her joy at seeing her loved ones.

An unexpected incident occurred when she arranged to meet Ethan Hondo at an abandoned warehouse in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and was introducing him to her new contact.

Hondo Emi had a listening device installed on her body by members of the Black Organization.

To ensure that Hondo Emi's identity would not be exposed, Hondo Emi's father, Ethan Hondo, had to make a difficult decision—to sacrifice himself to protect Hondo Emi.

Ethan Hondo staged the torture of Hondo Hidemi before shooting himself, ultimately ensuring that Hondo Hidemi's identity was not revealed in front of the suspicious Gin.

Ironically, Hondo Hidemi was credited with killing Ethan Hondo.

Instead, she was given special permission to join Gin's task force. Although Gin never took her along on missions, she used this opportunity to gain more access to internal information about the Black Organization...

However, Hondo Eikai still hasn't gotten over that incident.

If her meeting with Hondo Eisuke would repeat the tragedy of her meeting with Ethan Hondo years ago, she would rather never meet Hondo Eisuke at all, so that at least she could ensure that Hondo Eisuke would live safely.

------

Anno's mother, at the doorstep of Anno Mitsuko's house.

Ran Mouri arrived in a hurry with Eisuke Hondo and his entourage.

She knocked on the door, identified herself, and quickly gained Anno Mitsuko's trust, prompting Anno Mitsuko to open the door. However, Anno Mitsuko appeared to be in a hurry, picking up her bag and preparing to leave.

Seeing this, Ran Mouri asked with some confusion,
"Grandma Anno, is there something urgent you need to do?"

In response, Mitsuko Anno said with some anxiety,

"Of course, my son borrowed money from loan sharks because of his company's poor performance. Now he says the debt collectors are coming to our door soon and he wants me to transfer two million yen to the account he mentioned immediately."

"Otherwise, my son's life will be in danger!"

Two million yen?
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki exchanged a glance, each able to see the confusion in each other's eyes.

Is it really that much money, just two million yen, that we can't possibly pay it back no matter what?

But Kogoro Mouri just said that Anno won the lottery and received a large sum of money. How come he has money to travel but not money to pay off his debts? He's even stuck at home and has to ask his mother for money.
"This is a scam..."

Hondo Eisuke twitched the corner of his mouth and said helplessly.

Conan, standing nearby, nodded in deep agreement.
"Yeah, this is a scam." He suddenly realized that he and Hondo Eisuke had just reached the exact same conclusion, so he quickly glared at Hondo Eisuke to show that he and Hondo Eisuke were not on the same side.

To the point that Hondo Eisuke felt somewhat bewildered.

This elementary school student has quite a temper.

It seems like this elementary school student has been disliking him ever since he last visited the Mouri Detective Agency. Seriously, what's going on?
He doesn't seem to have offended this elementary school student in any way, does he?

"A scam? Impossible! My son would never lie to me!"

"Don't stop me! I need to go to the bank to transfer the money now, or the bank will be closed. He said the money has to be transferred today!"

Mitsuko Anno shouted.

This sight made Conan sigh and rub his forehead.

Oh my god.

Sometimes it's really hard to explain this to the elderly. Often, they only start crying and begging the police for help after the money has been transferred and the other party has run away, hoping to get their money back.

There was nothing he could do; he was kind-hearted, and he couldn't just ignore this kind of situation.

Conan sighed and said,
"Grandma Anno, please sit down and let me tell you slowly."

"The person on the other end of the landline wasn't Mr. Anno at all. He didn't even know Uncle Mori and Sister Ran, but Mr. Anno used to play mahjong with Uncle Mori and Sister Ran every day, so it's impossible that he didn't know them."

"Besides, Mr. Anno recently won a large sum of money and is currently traveling. How could he possibly not even have two million yen?"

"I……"

Mitsuko Anno's expression was rather unpleasant.

He glanced at his watch and realized it was almost time for the bank to close for teller services. He immediately started muttering things like, "It'll be too late if I don't go now," and "How could a call from a landline be a scam?"

They even tried to kick Ran Mouri and her group out.

Left with no other choice, Ran Mouri and the others could only try their best to persuade Mitsuko Anno by the entrance hall, making her completely forget about her earlier visit to Mr. Anno to ask if Hidemi Hondo was Rena Mizunashi.

The two sides are deadlocked.

Even Hondo Emi, who had been observing from the shadows, was somewhat helpless.

Honestly, wouldn't it be better if Nichiri TV aired a legal education program?
It seems that Hondo Eisuke and the others will be spending a lot of time arguing with Anno Mitsuko here. She doesn't have that much time—because she actually has a mission to complete.

Well, although the task is unclear, it's just a standby situation.

Neither Gin nor Ireland has a place for her in their plans, so she is currently in a state of being both free and busy, since both sides may call her in at any time to deal with Rye Whiskey or Batman.

"However, both rye whiskey and Batman are formidable adversaries."

Hondou Eikai sighed as he thought about this.

At that moment, Shuichi Akai put down the binoculars he was holding.

Yes, the member with the codename "Black Organization" is still here.

Let's get some gold coins from her later.

(End of this chapter)