He's in Detective Conan, and he's the mastermind behind everything.

"Ugh…"

Ying Sheng sighed softly: "What you really want to ask is my attitude towards you, isn't it? Didn't you already think it through clearly before dinner this evening? Why do you need to delve into it further?"

"Fine, I can tell you very clearly, you are absolutely special to me, and I treat you with utmost care."

Is she special?

In the dim world, Xiaolan's lips curled up slightly, a hint of a smile lingering on her lips, but it vanished in an instant.

The guy next to me is incredibly perceptive, so I can't let him see through me.

Xiaolan gently bit her lower lip, suppressing the warmth that suddenly welled up in her heart, but her eyes clearly became even softer in the darkness.

"Sorry, don't overthink it. I know, but when I heard about Shinichi, I was inexplicably moved, and before I knew it, my thoughts started to wander."

Ran's voice started softly, but quickly returned to normal as she blinked, "But I'm really curious about Mizuki-kun's personality, um..."

I want to know you, I really, really want to.

Ying Sheng pretended not to notice her naive attempt to conceal her true feelings and smiled slightly: "The Tao says to sit in oblivion, the Buddha says to be empty of mind. The primary condition for becoming a god is to be free from attachment. What I have done is far from good enough. I am just a figurehead."

Before Xiaolan could ask anything else, Yingsheng interrupted her in a low voice: "Shh—, go through that door in front, and you'll reach the underground of the winery's research institute."

Chapter 214 Sigh, Lan, who lacks love, is so easily taken advantage of.

After a long period of darkness in the sewers, a dim light finally appeared. Xiaolan looked in the direction Yingsheng was pointing and saw a rusty iron fence on the side of a narrow passage not far ahead, from which the light was shining.

Seeing this long-lost glimmer of light, Xiaolan realized that she had actually followed Yingsheng through many twists and turns. The smell of decay and dampness in the air suddenly became clear, and even a gas mask could not completely block it out.

So engrossed in her complex thoughts, she hadn't noticed at all.

At this moment, setting aside all those complicated thoughts, she only had this one idea.

Fortunately, it didn't smell bad.

The two waded towards the fence entrance that was barely illuminated by the light. Halfway there, Ying Sheng raised his hand to stop Xiao Lan and whispered, "There might be surveillance cameras. Don't move here. I'll go check it out first."

Xiaolan nodded quickly, but she was quite curious.

With such a gap, a single camera could completely cover the view outside the passage. How could Shuiyue pass through without being noticed?

As she was pondering this, she was surprised to see Ying Sheng squatting down on the ground with light movements, then lying on his back, and slowly crawling towards his target with slight force in his hands and feet.

This……

Feeling the chill of the sewage that reached above her ankles, and seeing the suspicious substances rising in the sewage due to Ying Sheng's movements, Xiao Lan was truly astonished. Could someone really do that?

Although reason told her that for the sake of her life, this was all trivial.

But she really hadn't thought about it beforehand...

But now that you mention it, it seems she hadn't even considered coming here beforehand, and going further back, she hadn't even imagined that she would be able to fire a gun or throw a grenade...

I don't know if that person is dead or not.

When she pulled the trigger of the Uzi, she instinctively aimed it at the man's chest. Only after realizing that the other person might be wearing a bulletproof vest did she slightly raise the muzzle. However, she hadn't fired many shots when reinforcements from the brewery arrived, and she herself was shot.

Fortunately, the first shot hit her body armor; if it had hit the back of her head...

She was gone.

Afterwards, Ying Sheng solemnly apologized to her, explaining that he had focused his attention on the sniper's position and neglected the rear, and had not expected the distillery's reinforcements to arrive so quickly.

But after she calmed down, she realized that the gunshot came from the street, at an angle of about fifteen degrees to her back.

Considering the distance between the person and her, as well as the field of vision of her eyes, theoretically, she could actually see him out of the corner of her eye.

However, she was a little too nervous, and her gaze was too focused on the target in front of her.

No matter how you look at it, the biggest problem lies with her.

Moreover, even while being held back by the opposing sniper, Shuiyue-kun managed to eliminate him the moment the sniper fired, demonstrating exceptional awareness.

Compared to him, my own perspective is ridiculously narrow...

"What are you thinking about? So absorbed."

"Eh?"

Her wandering thoughts instantly came to a halt, and Xiaolan saw that Yingsheng was already standing in front of her again, cleaning with his hands behind his back.

"Has it been confirmed?"

She hurried over to help and asked in a low voice.

"It's confirmed, there are no surveillance cameras. I don't know what the distillery was thinking. Could there be some kind of trap or mechanism inside? We'll have to be extra careful later." Ying Sheng smiled. "Were you just lamenting the unpredictability of life again?"

"It's alright, but I feel like Mizuki-kun is really amazing."

“I think you’re even more impressive. You faced a life-or-death situation on the overpass before, and you still dared to continue.”

"Hmph, just as I thought. Mizuki-kun asked me to take Miss Aida to the research institute while he went there alone. He just wanted to get rid of me, didn't he?"

Xiaolan said smugly, "But they're not stupid. You mentioned the sewers before, so why did you go straight to the research institute? There must be something you lied about. And since you've been talking about going to the sewers for so long, and the cause and effect are clear, I'm more inclined to believe that."

"awesome."

Ying Sheng sighed, "And then you tell me you have to find the sewers yourself. Ha, Xiao Lan has turned into a little mouse."

"Because I know that if things get to this point, Mizuki-kun will definitely tell me the truth to prevent me from acting rashly and being discovered by the brewery, thus disrupting your plans."

"That's right. If I choose to hide it because I'm worried about you, and it ends up having a bad impact on things, then I really deserve it."

With the trash cleared away to avoid leaving any obvious traces during their later actions, Ying Sheng turned to look at Xiao Lan:

"Is your back alright?"

"It's nothing. I have a bulletproof vest. The impact is nothing compared to practicing karate." Xiaolan shook her head with a smile.

"But there is no risk of death when practicing karate."

"Who said that? What if the kick goes astray and hits the throat or temple?"

"........."

Ying Sheng was speechless. He tapped her little head through the protective suit and said, "What are you thinking about all day long in here? Guns, blood, life-and-death crises, you absorb them so quickly. I feel like the things you care about are even stranger than mine. You seem to have no sense of reality about everything in the real world."

"Because I'm naturally oblivious, what can I do?" Xiaolan said casually.

"Sigh, I think you're just afraid of losing things, worried that you're not doing enough and that people will leave you. Honestly, there's no need for that."

"...Don't bring this up again, and besides, I didn't do a good enough job to begin with."

Xiao Lan pointed at the gun with her hand, aimed ahead, and fired a shot. She laughed and said, "Besides, there aren't many sharpshooters who can hit the bullseye every time. Most people shoot the torso first, where they have a better chance of success. Although I was at risk of dying, the chances were actually very, very small."

Ying Sheng looked into her eyes quietly for two seconds: "Is that really what you think?"

Xiaolan's eyes were unwavering: "Of course I didn't think of that at the time, but I did later. For people like you, Mizuki-kun and Gin, who are used to gunfights, being shot through a bulletproof vest is just a trivial matter."

Although I can't get used to it immediately, just thinking about it makes it unnecessary to be so afraid that I can't move. If there's a next time, even if Mizuki-kun doesn't take care of him immediately, I'll turn my gun on him and kill him right away.

Xiaolan's eyes were resolute as she clenched her fist tightly.

"Absolutely."

Ying Sheng looked at her for several more seconds, his gaze finally softening slightly, and he chuckled softly.

"I'm sorry, it seems I've been underestimating you. Your initial performance wasn't top-notch, but you've improved rapidly. The person who shot you earlier really wasn't much of a threat; it was just pure luck."

If you're not too tense and just focus some of your attention on your surroundings, you should be able to detect him as soon as he appears. You can also practice with him then.

Xiaolan nodded and looked at the iron fence on one side:

"Should I open it?"

"please."

Chapter 215 Little Orchid's Firefly Life: Feel the surprise attack from the sewers!

The iron bars in the sewer were rusty and reflected a faint reddish-brown sheen in the dim light. Each iron bar was about three fingers thick and looked exceptionally sturdy.

Xiao Lan stood still, gripped the same iron bar with both hands, and took a deep breath...

open!!!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom——! !

A series of solder joints burst open one after another, the sound carrying far and wide. Ying Sheng felt a chill run down his spine. Oh no, would this alert the winery?

But there was no turning back now. After Xiaolan pulled open another iron bar, creating a gap just big enough for a person to pass through, Yingsheng squeezed in sideways. He reached into the pocket of his protective suit with his right hand and found a pitch-black dagger, its blade gleaming coldly.

The turn was not far ahead. Ying Sheng moved silently and quickly approached, pressing his ear against the wall to listen. There was only silence, not a sound of human voices.

He then slightly protruded the tip of the dagger from the corner, using the blade to examine it, but found no camera.

Hey, that's weird.

Isn't this distillery a transnational criminal organization, the number one in the underworld? What's going on here?

Insufficient funding?

Are cameras really that expensive?

Honestly, if only they hadn't installed cameras in the solitary confinement cell, they might have been able to rescue Shirley without a sound.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely. Even prisons know to install cameras; the distillery wouldn't be that stupid.

Xiao Lan followed sideways. Ying Sheng shook her head at her and turned the corner. After walking for a short while, a fork appeared. Qing Zi had never been here before. Ying Sheng first carefully checked both sides, then took out the PXRF and took samples on both sides to test, easily identifying the path.

After three attempts, they finally reached an iron fence again, and this time, using the same method as before, Ying Sheng finally discovered the camera.

This didn't worry Ying Sheng at all; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there was something decent here. He had almost thought he had come to the wrong place.

The camera was a hassle, but he was prepared.

Ying Sheng pressed a button through his protective suit. A muffled, thunderous roar came from the ground, which was several meters thick. Almost simultaneously, Ying Sheng's right hand, hidden under the sewage, flicked, and a small pebble flew out like lightning, hitting the camera directly above it.

The camera immediately tilted downwards as if nodding, changing its gaze to the ground.

Although the explosion above wasn't powerful enough to cause tremors in the sewers, the two events happened in quick succession, and most people would connect them.