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

Upon hearing Ying Sheng's greeting, he looked up, adjusted his hat brim, and walked through a series of booths and soft music to the bar.

He looked Ying Sheng up and down, then glanced at the Sanshu Yezang on the bar.

"Please use."

Firefly's Way.

Chapter 262 Hotaru, Ran, and Ai, a Night at the Mouri Residence

The visitor picked up the Sanshuye Zang cup, drank the dark green wine in one gulp, and bowed slightly to Ying Sheng.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Firefly..."

Ying Sheng raised her hand to interrupt him: "You didn't need to make the trip yourself. Thank you for your trouble. Go back and give her my regards."

The person hesitated for a moment: "But..."

Ying Sheng shook her head slightly and leaned close to his ear: "You're not planning to hand over those contraband items to me here, are you? That's a bit too arrogant. Just find a safe deposit box in any mall outside, put the stuff in, and give me the number, OK?"

The winery's method is simple and effective.

The visitor nodded hurriedly and whispered in his ear, "The president has recently run into trouble. A new 'Hidden Moon Group' is expanding rapidly. They have more connections in the government than we do, and they are also more powerful. We suggested asking you for help, but the president has been refusing."

Ying Sheng glanced at him: "So what do you mean by this? Trying to overthrow your superiors?"

The person quickly shook his head: "Of course not, it's just...it's just..."

Under Ying Sheng's increasingly cold gaze, he hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and whispering, "After all, the president is a woman, and since you, Mr. Liu Ying, visited last week, her style of handling things has become more and more lenient, which has now affected our profits."

Several senior members of the association felt that you were more suitable to lead them, and they subtly mentioned this to the president, who did not object, so…”

"We'll talk about that later. I'll contact Chiyoko later. Now, could you please show me a lewd smile? Of course, don't go too far."

Yingsheng interrupted.

"..."

The man was silent for two seconds, then grinned rather awkwardly. Ying Sheng shook his head and finally said, "Go out and wander around for at least an hour before coming back to your nest. Be careful not to bring a tail." He patted the man's shoulder, leaned against the bar, and raised his glass to him.

"Walk slowly without sending."

The man was slightly taken aback, but after regaining his senses, he nodded quickly and strode outside.

Ying Sheng thought this guy's performance was really bad, but it didn't matter anyway. Seeing Xiao Lan's curious look, he leaned over and whispered:

"Black market dealers, anesthetics."

Xiaolan suddenly realized, but was still a little confused: "Since it's a transaction, why was he so polite to you?"

"I'm a big client, and I pay very quickly."

"Hmm... their leader is a woman?"

"What, even you discriminate against women?"

"........."

Xiaolan was speechless. She felt that Yingsheng was definitely up to something, but she didn't know where the ghost was. After thinking about their original purpose for catching fish tonight, she asked, "Could it be that the person he represents is the one you want to introduce to Mr. Amuro?"

"..."

Ying Sheng nodded: "Okay, you've figured it out. The person behind him is called Chris, and it's now absolutely certain that she won't be coming over tonight."

On the surface, Hotaru did indeed want to convey this message to any potential companions of Amuro Tooru in this area.

Xiao Lan seemed to be thinking, "Then we..."

"Of course we should go home. It's just the two of us. We'd rather curl up on the sofa and watch a movie than hang out in a quiet bar."

Ying Sheng spread his hands, said goodbye to Jessica, picked up a piece of ice that had not yet completely melted from the glass, and turned to walk out.

Xiaolan glanced at his retreating figure with a puzzled look, then turned back to Jessica and asked, "How much?"

Jessica smiled: "Free."

"........."

This made Xiaolan suspect that Yingsheng and this young lady really had some kind of story, but she didn't care too much and turned to follow Yingsheng. When she got to Yingsheng's side, she noticed that the ice cube in his hand had disappeared.

As she stepped out the door, the cool air instantly washed away all the humidity and heat. Xiaolan took a deep breath, and her brows relaxed a little.

Although the bar wasn't as scary as she had imagined, she still preferred the natural surroundings outside.

Beep beep beep——!

Car horns honked incessantly, and the small square in front of the bar was bustling with noise.

Xiao Lan raised her eyebrows slightly, as if there was no difference?

"Does it feel a bit like it started strong but ended weakly?"

"Walk to the street to hail a taxi," Ying Sheng asked with a smile.

Xiaolan shook her head: "It's alright. According to what Shuiyue-kun meant before, the strategy is to outsmart them first. The fact that we don't need to take action means that the covert steps have been completed. I just didn't expect that the fish was actually Mr. Amuro."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you beforehand."

“Mr. Shuiyue didn’t deliberately hide it; it’s just that I realized it late. If I hadn’t discovered it myself and had known beforehand, I probably would have acted awkwardly when talking to him. This kind of thing is very important, so of course we have to avoid such oversights.”

"Hmm, it seems like it wouldn't hurt for me to tell you in advance."

"I will try my best to make sure that Mizuki-kun won't have to worry about this kind of thing again."

"Haha, then I'll wait and see."

After getting into a taxi and having the driver head to the Mori residence, Hotaru kept an eye on the rearview mirror. However, since he couldn't control the route to test the waters, he couldn't be completely sure if anyone was following them. He could only say that one car was suspicious.

Back at the Mori residence, Hotaru and Ran went straight upstairs.

Pushing open the door, the detective agency on the second floor was empty. To be honest, this was the first time Ying Sheng had entered here in his official capacity. Compared to the time he came last week to hand out flyers to Kogoro Mouri, the layout of the place had remained largely unchanged after the renovation, but everything looked brand new.

Consequently, it completely lacks any sense of life.

Since the day Kogoro Mouri left for Ginza, he has never returned.

After climbing the stairs to the third floor, changing into slippers in the entryway, and entering the living room, Ai Haibara was sitting on the sofa watching TV, holding a cushion in her arms. When she saw the two of them come home, she only glanced up at them before looking back down.

"You've worked hard," she said.

Ying Sheng stood at the entrance and looked around. The home had an everyday feel to it. It was his first time here, but he had a strange sense of familiarity.

Most importantly, Xiaolan didn't entertain him; she went to her bedroom to change her clothes on her own.

Her clothes smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. It was fine in the bar, but as soon as she left, the smell became unpleasant.

Hotaru stroked his chin and looked at Ai Haibara: "Should I say 'I'm back'?"

"..."

Ai Haibara looked up and asked, "Whatever, where's the stuff? The fish and...fish food?"

"Go get it later, there might be someone watching this area right now."

Ying Sheng sniffed his shoulder, feeling that it seemed alright. He walked over and sat on a sofa to the side, glancing at the TV, which was showing a documentary about the gene sequencing project.

“Is it wise?” Yingsheng asked.

"Prepare materials in the room for the science seminar with the Suzuki Foundation tomorrow afternoon," Ai said.

"He's the one who's really worked hard. I'm planning to rent a villa for you. Do you have a preferred location?"

"If we want to continue drug trials, it's better to set up a research institute than rent a villa. We'll have to cooperate with the Suzuki Group then, right? That should be something we can handle."

"I don't think you're so quick to trust others, especially capitalists."

“That way…”

Xiao Ai thought for a moment and said, "If we want to be discreet, it would be best to take over at least a private hospital. That way, we can easily purchase all kinds of equipment without attracting attention."

Ying Sheng nodded: "It's also more convenient to prepare the medicine this way. I had thought about it before, and I even had a target in mind: my parents' old clinic, which we'll expand later. It's a pity I don't know any doctors there, so I'll have to wait and see."

Ai had always lived in the shadow of the brewery, so of course she wouldn't know a doctor. She nodded and continued watching the documentary.

Ying Sheng looked at her for a few seconds and asked curiously, "Don't you get bored?"

"What? A documentary?"

Ai raised an eyebrow, her face showing the pity of a wizard looking at a Muggle: "Don't you know what a great undertaking this is? It will unravel the mysteries of human life."

Ying Sheng paused for a moment: "I thought you would be disgusted by these things."

"The reason I hate science is simply because I don't want anyone to use it for evil."

Ai glanced at Hotaru: "I actually think you have some ill intentions, but after you learned about Akechi's research project on 'manipulating memories,' my first reaction was that this drug could be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, which made me doubt my previous attitude."

Ying Sheng asked curiously, "You were very wary of me before? I felt you were as naive as a real child."

"Not to you, but to drug A."

Ai sighed softly, "I used to believe that it was impossible for a person to reverse time, and that if someone tried to force it, they would be punished. But now I am a beneficiary of this drug, and you have given me a glimpse of other possibilities."

I think this kind of research might not be truly evil; it's the organization that's evil.

Ying Sheng smiled and said, "I hope I can always satisfy you, but I wasn't talking about a documentary before."

"Is that life?"

Ai thought for a moment and said, "It's alright. I just escaped from the organization, so everything is still new to me. Besides, isn't that what life is like? It's not always boring. You can't expect every day to be exciting."

"I was being naive. What about in terms of social skills?"

Yingsheng asked again.

“I’m used to being alone in the organization, and I still have you guys here now.” Ai said casually. “I’m not really a child, so don’t worry about me too much. I’ll speak up if I have any thoughts.”

"That's good. I'm always worried that I haven't thought things through. By the way, Fusa has released new wallets, two styles in total. Have you seen them?"

Ai tilted her head and looked at him for a few seconds, her eyes strange: "You wouldn't even want to flirt with a child, would you?"

"........."

Ying Sheng reached out and flicked his forehead: "You, a great scientist, how did you become such a love-struck person?"

"it hurts."