Conan, I'm an actor

These agents are wasting money buying real estate; if their identities are exposed, all their previous investments will be lost. Admittedly, they are no longer agents, but their actions are no different.

“I’ve already talked to the agent, and we should be buying a place near Tokyo.” Lei stretched. “A high-rise building will be built here as our headquarters, and an office will be set up in Tokyo. That’s where my office will be located.”

“Why didn’t we know about this?” Stout was taken aback.

“I think we talked about this at the last meeting.” Aquawit thought for a moment. “It seems the cross-sea bridge is almost finished, and they said the facilities on the island also need to be improved.”

Is that true?

"You must have been sleeping during the meeting!"

Chapter 329 Night Talk

"By the way, do you know where the BOSS is going tonight?" Commander Lei suddenly asked. "I heard that the BOSS is going to see his old classmate tonight."

“Is that even a question? It must be that Kogoro Mouri.” Stout rolled his eyes. “The boss personally intervened in the matter of Reiji Himuro because of him. I heard that a lot of money was used to suppress that matter, and even Miss Karen made a move.”

"It's that guy with the mustache."

At night, in a roadside izakaya

Shinjo sat cross-legged on the cushion, with the food Kogoro Mouri had ordered in front of him. He then picked up the menu and checked off some drinks.

"You did what happened at Himuro, didn't you?" Mori asked, staring at his old classmate. "I don't mean to accuse you, I just want to confirm with you."

“I’m telling you, I did it, so what?” Xincheng readily admitted. “You think you can take me to the police station? Don’t even think about it.”

As he spoke, he had already picked up his chopsticks and started struggling with the food in front of him.

Kogoro Mouri fell silent, but Shinjo didn't stand on ceremony and began gulping down the food on the table. It wasn't that the food was particularly delicious—it was all ordinary dishes—but Kogoro Mouri was treating, and he felt he had to take advantage of him.

"I'm planning to close the detective agency," Kogoro Mouri suddenly said.

"Why so suddenly?" Xincheng was taken aback.

"The famous detective Kogoro Mouri is Conan, not me. Conan is about to turn back into that brat from the Kudo family. If I keep using the name of the famous detective, wouldn't that just be swindling?" Kogoro Mouri shook his head. "If I go to the local police station now, even if I make up some wild deductions, they will believe it's the truth."

"You're afraid your reasoning skills are too poor and you'll wrongly accuse an innocent person, right?" Shinjo put down his chopsticks. "That's exactly the kind of thing you would do."

"I know my reasoning skills aren't great, but could you please put it more tactfully?" Kogoro Mouri said with a dark expression.

"I'm so sorry, I can't be subtle." Shinjo picked up a piece of tempura directly. "So, you're trying to avoid those clients?"

"Correct."

“Then close it down. How about you work for me?” Shinjo said, stroking his chin. “I do need some experience. I’ll be the manager of the Tokyo office. The salary and benefits will definitely be good. After a few years, it won’t be a problem to get Kudo and Ran a wedding house.”

"I haven't agreed to this yet!"

"We've been living together under your nose for so long, and you still haven't given your consent."

"Shut up, shut up!"

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Xincheng waved his hand. "It's good that you're not a famous detective; at least it won't be so easy for criminal suspects to find you. By the way, how's your relationship with your husband? Are you still separated?"

"Ah! After the last plane crash, her attitude improved a little, but only to a limited extent." Kogoro Mouri sounded a bit depressed when he mentioned this. "Ran has been paying attention to this matter, but we're used to living apart."

“That’s true…” Shinjo stroked his chin, pondering something in his mind.

"By the way, did you know that Reiji Himuro died in prison?" Kogoro Mouri suddenly asked.

"he died?"

"You didn't do it?"

"Come on, bro, that's a prison. Even if I were the bravest person in the world, I wouldn't go into a prison and kill someone." Shinjo rolled his eyes. "It must have been the Mitsui and Yotsubishi conglomerates that did it."

"Clam?"

“Back then, Mitsui and Yotsubishi dealt with a large number of bad debts through the bank robbery case. They gave Himuro Reiji a large commission. I don’t know where Himuro Reiji hid that money.” Shinjo shook his head and said, “I think those zaibatsu were afraid that Himuro would tell the truth, so they silenced him in advance.”

"These guys!" Kogoro Mouri slammed his fist on the table, making the dishes shake and attracting everyone's attention.

Just as he was apologizing, someone in the crowd recognized him, and then the classic scene of fans asking for autographs unfolded.

It was half an hour later when Kogoro Mouri finished signing autographs. Thanks to the enthusiastic toasts from the fans, Kogoro Mouri was already quite drunk.

Shinjo paid the bill directly and then drove Kogoro Mouri home. At this moment, the Mouri Detective Agency seemed deserted.

Knowing that Kogoro Mouri wouldn't be back tonight, Conan and Ran went out to eat and haven't returned yet. They wonder if Kogoro, their father, will be furious when he finds out.

After settling Kogoro Mori in, Shinjo appeared downstairs and sighed helplessly as he looked at the person leaning against the lamppost.

"Did you come here specifically to wait for me?" Shinjo asked, staring at Amuro Tooru.

"No, not at all." Amuro Tooru's answer was straightforward. "I just happened to run into you and wanted to remind you of something."

"Go ahead and say it." Shinjo glanced at his watch. "You have ten minutes. Sungsik will come to pick me up in ten minutes."

“It won’t take ten minutes, three minutes will be enough.” Amuro Tooru took a deep breath. “Don’t do things like Himuro Reiji anymore. The higher-ups are very unhappy with your behavior.”

"I didn't kill Himuro Reiji. If you want to investigate, you should investigate the Yoshitsubishi and Mitsui companies," Shinjo said with a smile. "This isn't how you throw mud. If your police force is too incompetent, I can help you investigate."

Amuro Tooru's face twitched. Of course he knew that Shinjo hadn't done this, otherwise he wouldn't be the one looking for Shinjo today.

"Are you trying to make us take the blame?" Shinjo stroked his chin. "But I don't want to."

“I will convey your message, but until I receive a reply…” Amuro Tooru sighed, “please remain restrained.”

He knew the higher-ups wanted to use this incident to give Shinjo and his team a warning, since Himuro Reiji died from—wound infection. As the ones who created the wound, it wouldn't be wrong to say they killed Himuro Reiji.

However, Xincheng clearly knew the inside story and the dirty dealings between Bing Shi and the two banks.

If he really has to take the blame, he'll thoroughly investigate the matter and expose the inside story. How many people die during the investigation is a minor issue; the real problem is how many will die after the incident.

"It's so comfortable talking to smart people. I'll be going now," Xincheng said, looking at the cars driving by on the street.

Amuro Tooru waved his hand, signaling Shinjo to leave quickly. He felt that if he stayed with this guy any longer, his blood pressure would rise considerably.

After getting into the car, Xincheng took out a hangover cure directly from his pocket.

"The transaction is tonight, and you're still going drinking? I don't know if you're reckless or just incredibly bold," Narumi sighed. "Are you going to the port area now?"

Shinjo glanced at his watch. "It's still early. How about we go to the convenience store?"

"What are you going to the convenience store for?" Cheng Shi clearly hadn't caught up with Xin Cheng's train of thought.

“Think about it, they came by submarine. Not only was the journey arduous, but they also had to eat canned food.” Xincheng stroked his chin. “Canned food is fine to eat occasionally, but eating it long-term will drive you crazy. If we go over and buy some discounted bento boxes that are close to their expiration date, wouldn’t that show that we are very sincere?”

"Why is it a discounted bento box nearing its expiration date?"

“I’m already being kind by not feeding them expired food. If they’re so capable, they can go buy it themselves. They’re wanted criminals now,” Xincheng said matter-of-factly. “They can try if they’re not afraid of getting caught.”

"But I feel like you're not being polite to Mr. Amuro Tooru at all. If I remember correctly, he should be a police officer from the Public Security Bureau, right?" Narumi asked with a smile.

"He's not entirely part of the police force; he's practically one of us now." Xincheng stretched. "When he came over this time, he told our police superiors they were trying to frame us. Do you think I could let him get away with that?"

As they were talking, Narumi had already parked the car on the side of the street. Shinjo got out of the car, bought a few bento boxes, and headed straight to the port area.

Meanwhile, underwater outside the port area, a submarine silently floats in the water; this is Gin and his crew's means of transportation.

Vodka was somewhat uneasy at this moment. He felt that his boss's cooperation with Xincheng was a mistake. Didn't he see that Xincheng had previously joined forces with the police to eradicate their people in Japan?

"Just say what you want to say, there's no need to hide anything." Gin stared at the dark sea, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

The decision to cooperate with Cognac was extremely risky. If it weren't for Cognac's suggestion, he would never have agreed to such a risky plan, especially since the transaction location was set near the other party's headquarters, Tokyo.

"Boss, you mentioned before that Cognac has a submarine. Where did it come from?" Vodka asked seriously. "There are only a handful of companies in the world that can build submarines. The organization has been working on this submarine for nearly 20 years, dealing with all sorts of problems..."

"You suspect that Cognac might be a front man for one of them?" Gin smiled slightly.

"It's not just possible, it's certain!"

"What if I told you that this is exactly what I valued, which is why I chose to cooperate with him?" Gin asked, directly posing a probing question.

"This one……"

Vodka's expression at that moment was priceless; he hadn't even considered this question. The problems he could think of, Gin had certainly already considered long ago. If he were…

"Boss, you're not thinking of cooperating with the person behind Cognac, are you?!"

“The organization is no longer necessary. On the Suzuki Express, Cognac has already traded away the drug data for APTX-4869.” Gin stroked his chin. “Those research data should be from Sherry; they are the latest version, at least newer than the data in the organization.”

Vodka's expression turned deathly pale instantly. He had known Gin for quite some time, so he was familiar with Gin's methods of threatening politicians—the simplest forms of coercion and bribery. Threatening them with dirt on them, bribing them with the promise of immortality.

Without mutual benefit, mere threats are ineffective. The earliest batch of politicians' scandals were genuine, but the later ones are less compelling. Some of these scandals were even handed to them by the politicians and wealthy themselves; even if they were exposed, it wouldn't be a big deal. They simply wanted these scandals to gain a ticket to "eternal life."

Now that Cognac has handed over the data, it means the organization is no longer of any use to them. Given those guys' personalities, they will definitely eliminate the organization as soon as possible.

“There are two parties that have the information now, one is the FBI, and the other is Japan.” Gin stretched. “As for Japan, you should already know about what happened on the Suzuki Express. As for the American branches in New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles, they were completely cut off yesterday and are very likely to have been eliminated.”

"What does Cognac want from you, boss?"

“Clean up the organization.” Gin squatted down. “That’s how it appears on the surface, but if he wants to clean up the organization, he only needs to do what he did on the Suzuki Express: provide the relevant authorities with a list.”

“Boss, that guy Cognac isn’t asking you to recruit people, is he?” Vodka’s expression suddenly became quite strange. “If I remember correctly, those three traitors from back then, Stout, Riesling, and Aquawit, are now working for him. And it seems they’re not working as spies anymore, so where are they working now?”

"That should be the case. The die-hards within the organization should be eliminated directly, while those who can be won over should be recruited to work for us."

"This is outrageous! How can we agree to something like this!"

"Why can't we agree? We can give him all the scoundrels and let him clean up the mess. We can take the rest with us, either to Europe or to America."

Vodka instantly understood his elder brother's meaning: no matter how powerful Cognac was, its territory was limited. Therefore, the areas where Cognac couldn't reach were the areas where they could operate.

Incidentally, he could also get Cognac to help change the files of these people. He had contact with members of the organization who had been turned by Cognac, and all of them had changed their identities. Moreover, these identities were all plausible unless you investigated them carefully.

If we can really achieve this, then a comeback might not be impossible.

It's more comfortable to work for someone else than to work for someone else.

But soon, Vodka realized another problem: it seemed he could no longer work for his boss.

Gin's task for him was to follow Cognac, not to be his driver.

"Oh, by the way, besides you, Cohen and Chianti will also be going to Japan this time..."

“Cohen is fine, but Chianti is not!” Vodka objected decisively.

"Oh?" Gin was somewhat surprised.

“Calvados died at Cognac’s hands, and Chianti harbors a deep grudge about it. If she had the chance to kill Cognac, she definitely would,” Vodka said. “Now is the time for cooperation between the two sides. If this woman ruins everything…”

“Do you know Chianti well?” Gin suddenly laughed. “But you don’t know this woman well enough. Do you know what a viper is? A viper only strikes when it finds an opportunity. She will remain restrained until she is certain of killing Cognac.”