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

"I basically know nothing about it, and you can probably guess why. I'm quite resistant to it." Ying Sheng moved his right wrist.

Shinichi Kudo understood what he meant and nodded.

Shuiyue had attempted suicide because of such things, so of course she would be very resistant to them. Moreover, judging from this, even if he really knew the inside story of the research institute, he should be hostile to it, so there was no need to doubt him too much.

Thinking of this, he turned to look at Inspector Megure.

Megure, who was sitting outside, nodded, opened the door, and went out, leaving only Hotaru and Shinichi Kudo in the lounge.

Ying Sheng raised an eyebrow slightly: "You don't mean to tell me something from the bottom of your heart, do you? Just say what's on your mind. I hate people who play coy."

"........."

Shinichi Kudo had just felt the atmosphere was a bit oppressive, and after hearing Hotaru's words, he was speechless. So he simply told the truth: "Inspector Megure went to get the reverse tracking program. When you call Kurosawa Jin later, try to stall for time so we can locate him here."

"That's really impressive. How long will it take?"

"Hmm... Last time it was one minute, but Inspector Megure said there has been an improvement this time, so it should be around forty seconds."

"OK, I'll try my best."

Ying Sheng leaned back on the sofa, but stopped halfway, turned around to look at the backrest, touched it to make sure there was no dust, and then leaned down. The wooden lining was a bit uncomfortable, so he twisted and turned a couple of times to adjust it to a comfortable position before letting out a satisfied sigh.

Shin-chan rolled his eyes at his actions, saying, "You really do look like a young nobleman."

"Ha, you never say anything nice."

Ying Sheng stretched while lying down, letting out a comfortable groan, and said slowly, "Do you think I'm not nervous being questioned like this by you and the police all of a sudden? I'm trying my best to calm myself down so that they won't see through me at a glance."

Shinichi Kudo leaned back on the sofa, his hand resting on the backrest, tapping it lightly. "I don't see how nervous you are."

"They're just barely holding on; that's how it is in the service industry."

Ying Sheng glanced at the door, which remained tightly shut, then turned back to Shinichi Kudo and whispered, "What happened to Mr. Amuro? Is my software still in good condition? Is he still alive?"

Shinichi Kudo shook his head: "I won't tell you for now, so you don't let it slip when you call later."

"Tsk, boring."

Ying Sheng looked up at the vent on the ceiling, exhaled softly, and gently rotated his left hand, which was resting on his knee, to feel the airflow.

"Why does it suddenly feel so hot?"

Shinichi Kudo looked around in confusion.

"Because your mind is not at peace, Kudo."

Ying Sheng lowered his gaze and sighed softly: "Have you thought about what your life will be like in the future?"

Why are you suddenly bringing this up?

"Let's chat, just to calm my nerves."

Shinichi Kudo couldn't find anything unusual, and assumed it was just that his mind was too chaotic. He took two deep breaths, thought about the future, and then chuckled softly.

"I haven't really thought about things too far ahead. In short, it's about solving cases. Let's solve the cases in front of us first, and then do our best no matter what happens next."

"How pure she is, it's enviable."

Ying Sheng laughed and said, "Looking at it this way, you could actually become a police officer. With your intelligence, you could definitely pass the professional exam, and with your crime-solving skills, you'd get promoted incredibly fast. Maybe in ten years, you'll be Inspector Megure's superior."

"What? Inspector Megure must have been promoted by then."

“He’s not a professional, he has no connections, and the crime rate in his jurisdiction is extremely high, so he can’t be promoted.”

"Hey, hey, Inspector Megure will be sad if you say that," Shinichi Kudo pouted slightly. "Don't be so realistic. Suigetsu, what kind of future are you looking forward to?"

"I never think more than three days ahead; I just live in the moment."

"...Then you just said that about me, your mentality is clearly even worse."

"Heh, after all, you and I are different. You are born with talent, come from a good family, are handsome, and have a strong sense of justice. If nothing unexpected happens, you will definitely become a successful person in high society, and maybe you will even be sitting in Xiaguan wearing a gold tie."

Chiyoda Ward, Kasumigaseki, is home to many of Japan's important political institutions and is also known as the central government district.

"I have no desire to go into politics."

Shinichi Kudo rolled his eyes: "Besides, you're not bad either, don't be discouraged."

"I'm not even sure if I'll wake up the next morning, or where I'll wake up. As for feeling discouraged or anything like that, haha, I'm actually not angry at all." Ying Sheng shook his head. "Let's get back to you. Have you completely let go of Ran?"

"...Your topics are so strange. Have you been reading something like 'No Longer Human' lately?" Shinichi Kudo sighed. "Don't worry, I've fully realized it. Ran and I aren't a good match. I won't compete with you for her."

"Isn't that a bit too chauvinistic of you to say? Do you treat Xiaolan like an object?"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. As expected, you're the one who really cares about her. After things are over here, hurry up and get to your social event. I'm really sorry to have taken up your precious time, but this matter is quite important."

Ying Sheng pouted: "You haven't even told me what's going on, and you're still emphasizing what? Social gatherings and stuff. Daytime doesn't matter, the main event is at night anyway."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Let's stay together."

"Share together?"

Shinichi Kudo was slightly taken aback. What was the problem...?

! ! ! ! !

He suddenly jumped up, pointed at Ying Sheng, and stared in disbelief: "You don't mean to say that you're going to stay out all night with Xiao Lan, do you?!"

Hotaru looked at her with disdain: "What are you thinking? Of course Ran will sleep with Sonoko. I just think it would be really interesting if we organized some activities back then, creating a lively atmosphere. Besides, haven't you already let it go? Even if there really is..."

"Absolutely not!"

Shinichi Kudo quickly interrupted, "You guys are still high school students!"

"Hey, don't you ever read social surveys? High school students are the most common age group for this?" Seeing that Shinichi Kudo's face was flushed but he didn't know what to say, Hotaru chuckled. "Alright, alright, just kidding. Sit down."

Click——

Inspector Megure is back.

1, requesting an extension until next month...

Chapter 279 A fierce storm rages on the other side, while calm reigns here.

Connect the phone to the reverse tracing app, enter a number, and dial it.

About ten seconds later, the call was connected.

"It's me, officer. Are you there?"

Ying Sheng spoke first.

Gin wasn't there, of course; it was Vodka who responded. Hotaru exchanged a few meaningless words with him, and seeing Inspector Megure subtly give him an OK sign, he naturally ended the conversation, the last sentence being:

"Do you have any good programmer recommendations in the organization? I want to develop a piece of software."

"No, I have something to do, that's all."

After Vodka finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

In the simple lounge of the police hospital, Hotaru leaned back and looked at Shinichi Kudo and Juzo Megure, who were deep in thought opposite him.

"How so, you two?"

Shinichi Kudo looked at Hotaru and spoke first: "Is he the Mr. Uozuka I was talking about? You chatted with him so casually, you must have a good personal relationship?"

Hotaru chuckled. "I'm like this with everyone. It's the service industry, you know. This guy is Kurosawa Jin's underling, the one who's always following him." Hotaru tilted his head. "They tracked him down in thirty seconds. The police are quite skilled. Inspector Megure, may I ask for the address out of curiosity?"

Inspector Megure glanced at the laptop screen for a few seconds, then said with considerable excitement, "There's only one detached house at 6-26 Beika-cho!"

"Congratulations! The police really need to catch him, otherwise my role as the mole might be exposed." Ying Sheng smiled and pointed to the coffee table. "I'll probably be here for a while longer. Would you like a cup of tea?"

Megure Juichi suddenly stood up: "I'll go prepare for Suigetsu-kun right away." He turned to leave, then stopped and bowed deeply to Hotaru: "I'm very sorry, Suigetsu-kun, I had some doubts about you before, please understand."

Ying Sheng shook his head: "I already said it's nothing. You can take my phone too, to avoid any misunderstandings."

Megure thanked him again, somewhat apologetically, and bent down to pick up his phone. Just then, the phone screen on the coffee table lit up with a message from Skipye.

—I can provide you with an entertaining joke.

Both Inspector Megure and Shinichi Kudo saw the message and looked at Hotaru at the same time.

Ying Sheng shrugged: "What, did you think this was some kind of code? You can open it and take a look, browse through the chat history. She's just an online friend of mine, but a very important one."

After apologizing again, Inspector Megure and his companion opened and looked through the chat history, confirming that Hotaru and Ms. Ryuuko's chat history was as innocent as could be.

Philosophy and law appear most frequently in her photos, followed by literature. The photos that are slightly closer to everyday life are landscape photos she takes casually. They have a fresh style and never involve specific people or places, nor do they show any trace of her own presence in the photos.

Most of the time, Ying Sheng is just a listener, but she always manages to perfectly catch up with Ying Sheng's falling emotions or the questions she raises, allowing the conversation to flow naturally and endlessly like a clear stream.

If ordinary people were in this state, they would probably chat all night long and be eager to meet in person.

However, both the other party and Ying Sheng were clearly very rational and restrained. They never let the topic spread out of control, but always ended it at the right time.

Judging from the time intervals and periods of their replies, they are people who usually have important things to do.

Ok……

Shinichi Kudo pondered, "Mizuki's main task is to go to school. What is Ryuuko's main task?"

No, Shuiyue's real business is going to school and flirting with women everywhere. Although this chat log looks innocent, three days ago, Shuiyue finally revealed her true colors and asked to meet in person, and the other party did not refuse.

Looking at the subsequent chat logs, Shuiyue didn't actually go there. Was it a ploy to lure him in?

He's really cunning and shrewd.

Shinichi Kudo's glances at Hotaru became increasingly strange, and Hotaru sighed softly.

"Hey you two, do you really need to watch this long?"

"Sorry, sorry, it's just... um..." Inspector Megure quickly snapped out of his daze, scratched his head awkwardly, and handed over his phone. "Mizuki-kun, please reply to her quickly."

I find it really interesting to watch these two chat; I get so engrossed in it before I know it.

Ying Sheng didn't answer the phone, shaking her head and saying, "Since you're going to see it anyway, just reply for me. Say something like, 'That's why we live, and I have a joke to share with you, but it'll have to wait until after dark.'"

Megure nodded and replied accordingly. The other side quickly responded with an "OK". Hotaru smiled and waved his hand, and Megure left with his phone and laptop.

Shinichi Kudo followed him out, turning back as he left to say, "Are we living just to be the laughingstock of our neighbors, and then laugh at them in return? 'Pride and Prejudice'?"

Ying Sheng gave him a thumbs up: "Impressive readership."