Conan: What alias? That's my struggle!

In a corner booth of the café, sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting even shadows on the table.

After reading the letter in her hand, Akemi Miyano looked up with a complicated expression and stared at the man across from her who was drinking lemonade.

The letter was written by Shiho. The handwriting was neat and the wording was careful, but the long-suppressed longing could not be hidden between the lines.

Sister, I'm fine, don't worry about me.

"This Mr. Madeira is willing to help, you can trust him," Shiho wrote in the letter, but Akemi noticed that her sister used the code name "Madeira" instead of her real name.

This shows that the younger sister and this man are not well acquainted.

She might even be afraid of him.

But the man this younger sister fears is currently drinking lemonade through a straw.

As Akemi watched him puff out his cheeks and sip his lemonade, she couldn't reconcile this face with the terrifying assassin described in her sister's letter—a assassin even Gin feared. His hair lay limply on his forehead, and his eyes were half-closed, making him look like a college student who had just woken up.

Not some organization's top assassin.

"Um... Mr. Lin Ye," Akemi asked hesitantly, "may I call you that?"

The man drank his lemonade, didn't answer, but simply nodded.

The straw made a soft "sizzling" sound in his mouth as the lemonade level slowly dropped.

"Can you really let me see my sister?"

Lin Ye nodded again, still without saying a word.

Akemi's fingers nervously twisted together on the table. She desperately wanted to see Shiho, desperately so. Since their parents' death, her younger sister was her only family in the world. But she knew the organization's rules better than anyone—unauthorized contact would result in punishment at best, and...

"But what about Gin..." she asked tentatively.

Lin Ye finally put down the lemonade.

He took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and then dialed a number without a name.

Mingmei's pupils suddenly contracted.

She saw the string of numbers on the screen—though there were no notes, the format was all too familiar to her. It was an encrypted communication number within the organization, and only a handful of people could be directly contacted.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"What is it?" Gin's voice came through the receiver, deep and cold, and you could feel the pressure even through the phone.

Lin Ye placed his phone on the table and turned on speakerphone.

"Akami Miyano is next to me."

His tone was as flat as if he were talking about today's weather.

Akemi's back tensed instantly. She instinctively tried to back away, but the back of the booth blocked her way. Gin's voice, like a cold snake, crawled out of the phone and coiled around her neck.

Akemi Miyano.

Gin repeated the name and remained silent for two seconds.

Then he said something that Akemi had never expected.

"Damn woman, remember this, just this once. Don't try to bribe Madeira with money again." It was clear that Gin already knew what Lin Ye was going to do.

Akemi was stunned.

The message hidden in that "just this once" is too much—Gin knew about it, he allowed it to happen, but he wouldn't allow it to happen again.

The tone of the phrase "Don't try to bribe Madeira with money again" was less of a warning and more of...

Powerless.

It's a feeling of helplessness, like "I know this is against the rules, but I can't do anything about it."

Akemi subconsciously looked at the man across from her who was stirring lemonade with a straw.

Who is he?

Gin's voice rang out again, this time directly addressing Lin Ye: "Madera, don't develop the habit of breaking the rules. The organization is not a charity."

"Okay," Lin Ye replied.

The phone hangs up.

A few seconds of silence fell over the corner of the coffee shop. Akemi watched Lin Ye put his phone back in his pocket, her mind still processing everything that had just happened. Gin—the ruthless killer, the Gin whom even the organization's higher-ups feared—had actually yielded to this man.

It's not a compromise, it's a concession.

Mingmei could clearly distinguish between these two things.

"You..." She opened her mouth, then found her voice a little dry, "What exactly are you..."

Lin Ye, who had been mostly silent, finally spoke.

"That's normal. I'm the organization's top enforcer." He said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm second in terms of hard work, so Gin will definitely give me face."

Second in the list of model workers.

Akemi didn't know where to begin criticizing this statement.

Who is number one?

Gin himself?

Moreover, the title "top henchman" sounds like a line from a gangster comic, not something a cold-blooded killer would use to describe himself.

However, it's not hard to tell from Gin's attitude.

This man is truly the organization's ace.

A master of drinking lemonade with a straw.

Lin Ye didn't give Mingmei any more time to think. He put down his lemonade, his expression turning serious.

"I can take you to see your sister," he said, his eyes flickering slightly as he weighed his options, "but I have one condition."

Mingmei immediately composed herself: "What are the conditions?"

"Without my permission, you are absolutely not allowed to tell anyone about my physical features or any other information." Lin Ye stared directly at her.

"Remember, it's anyone."

Lin Ye emphasized this point.

Mingmei nodded. This request was reasonable; most of the organization's assassins were like this, not wanting their physical characteristics to be known by too many people.

"I understand," she said.

Lin Ye didn't explain anything further.

But of course, Akemi could never know what he was really thinking.

He was guarding against someone.

Morohoshi Dai.

Shuichi Akai.

Akemi Miyano's rumored boyfriend.

That man is an FBI ace agent, an undercover agent who infiltrated the organization, and will play an important role in the main storyline under the name "Shuichi Akai".

If Shuichi Akai knew what Lin Ye looked like and what his features were, it would be the same as letting the FBI know. He wasn't ready to deal with the FBI yet.

Therefore, hide it for as long as you can.

"Let's go."

Lin Ye stood up and placed the money for the lemonade under the glass. "I'll take you to see her."

Mingmei quickly got up and followed.

The two stepped out of the coffee shop; the sun was shining brightly. Lin Ye looked around at the streets to make sure everything was alright before leading Mingmei toward the parking lot.

Soon, Lin Ye found the BMW he had taken from the organization.

He opened the car door and gestured for Mingmei to get in.

"Thanks."

Mingmei bent down and sat in the passenger seat, fastening her seatbelt.

"Don't thank me, you'd better shower me with money." Lin Ye walked around to the driver's seat, and just as he sat down, before his hands even touched the steering wheel...

"Aaaaaaahh ...

A sharp, piercing scream came from the direction of the coffee shop, shattering the afternoon tranquility.

"Someone's dead!" At the entrance of the coffee shop, a waitress slumped to the ground, her finger trembling as she pointed inside, her face contorted in terror. Her mouth was open, but she couldn't utter a sound; only a series of gasping sounds came from her throat.

"Damn it! I knew this hellish world would be a hotbed of murders! And Shinichi Kudo isn't even around here! I've really seen a ghost today!"

Lin Ye slammed his hand on the steering wheel, reacting strongly to this.

His reaction.

This made Akemi Miyano realize that what her sister had mentioned in her letter was indeed true—Madeira suffered from a mental illness that treated the world as a game.

Yes, an extremely serious mental illness.