Conan, I'm an actor

During the last assassination attempt on Shigehiko Tobuchi, he had already witnessed just how skilled the hacker named "Karen" was.

However, he was unable to contact Karen afterward, and had no choice but to go to Shinjo, who had given him the earphones.

Just then, the door to the private room opened, and the waiter led Xincheng in from outside.

"Hey, you two, what brings you here in such a hurry?" Xincheng sat down on the sofa in the private room without any ceremony and said to the waiter, "Bring me a Coke, with ice, and put it on this gentleman's tab."

After the waiter left, New Town signaled to Pisco that they could begin.

“Cognac, Gin has assigned me a lot of assassination missions.” Pisco frowned. “I’m in charge of intelligence gathering and fund collection. I do assassinations, but I’m not good at them. I need your help.”

"Why should I help you with your mission?" Xincheng looked at Pisco in front of him and said with a smile, "You should know my rules. If you want me to help you, you have to offer something in exchange. As an ally, I'll give you a 30% discount."

"what would you like?"

"If you could get me this restaurant right here, I might reluctantly do you a favor," Shinjo shrugged.

Beika Hotel is located in a prime location in Tokyo. Pisco owns a stake in Beika Hotel, but not a large one. Giving away the entire Beika Hotel is unrealistic unless Pisco encounters some life-threatening situation.

“Okay.” Pisco nodded. “This is the target Gin needs me to assassinate.”

Shin-chan stared blankly at Pisco. He was prepared to ask for an exorbitant price and then try to bargain, so how could Pisco agree so readily?

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Pisco looked at New Town with some anxiety. "You already agreed to it before."

"Tch, that's too few." Shinjo picked up the list and glanced at it, his brows furrowing deeply. After a moment, he slowly looked up at Pisco. "Are you sure this is a mission, or that Gin isn't trying to kill you?"

“Well…” Pisco took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, “I had the same suspicion, but if I refused him, he might just shoot me on the spot.”

“Impossible.” Xincheng threw the list on the table. “I think you’re overthinking it. One or two people is one thing, but so many people… appearing at crime scenes repeatedly, you’re too suspicious. Even without evidence, the police can take you into custody.”

"Hey, can you give me some ideas?" Pisco said, rubbing his hands together. "I've already taken the money, you're not planning to renege on it, are you?"

“We’ve considered this beforehand. I will be in disguise,” Ireland, who had remained silent until now, said. “I will be working with Piscoe on the mission, and we will be in disguise and using false identities during the mission.”

"Still no good, the risk is too great." Xincheng stroked his chin. "Pisco, do you have a way to gather them together, maybe on one plane?"

“This…” Pisco’s eyes lit up. “I can handle the planes, but what excuse do I need to come up with to gather them on the planes?”

"Don't you have a certain status in the financial world? Plus, you're the chairman of a car company. Besides, you're doing this for the organization. Why not have Gin help out, or use the connections of other members in the organization to organize a party?"

Chapter 111 The Cognac-Inspired Incident

Pisco thought for a moment and nodded. "That's not a problem. The question is, what reason should I give to invite them over? Many of them are important figures, and my status might not be high enough."

"Just call it a seminar and symposium for the automotive industry. The better the name, the more people you invite, and the bigger the event. Oh, and have the organizers invite some influential European and American politicians, those big shots in your eyes. They might find their own way to attend this gathering." Xincheng raised his eyelids and tossed the list onto the table.

"So, we'll plant the bomb on the return trip?" Pisco's eyes lit up. "What kind of bomb can we plant without getting caught? I don't know much about this line of work, can you give me some advice..."

"Of course it's on the return trip. On the way there, with so many planes, can you monitor them all? With so many planes crashing, can you really stay out of it?" Xincheng retorted to Pisco without any politeness. "Also, is bombs all you think about? If you use a bomb, wouldn't your company and the airport responsible for security be completely finished? You'd have to pay huge sums in compensation afterwards, and it would be hard to clear your name."

"Then if we don't use bombs..."

"Cabin depressurization, pilot error," Ireland asked, staring at Newtown. "You mean this, right?"

“You’re only slightly smarter than Pisco, so this method will work for you. But you need to make sure the pilots are dealt with properly.” Shinjo pulled a pen from his jacket pocket, wrote something on a coaster, downed his iced cola in one gulp, placed the cup on the coaster, and then swaggered out the door.

“737MAX/DC10.” Pisco picked up the coaster, looked at the writing on it with a puzzled expression, and then handed the coaster to Ireland next to him. “What does this mean?”

"It's probably the aircraft model. I need to check. It should be the Boeing 737 MAX and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10," Ireland said after a moment's thought. "I don't know about the 737 MAX, but the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is a notorious air disaster."

"The King of Plane Disasters?" Pisco was taken aback.

“Aircraft have defects and often crash due to non-human causes,” Ireland said, frowning. “Air crash investigations take a long time and are not always successful. Even if the cause of the malfunction is found, the blame can be placed entirely on the aircraft manufacturer. That’s probably what Cognac is trying to say.”

“I see.” Piske’s eyes lit up.

“But the infamous McDonnell Douglas DC-10 has been grounded for a long time. There might be some left in Third World countries, but they’re used as cargo planes. Using such a plane to pick up people…” Irish Wine shook his head. “Those dignitaries aren’t stupid; they won’t take it.”

“There’s also the Boeing 737 MAX, that’s it!” Pisco decided on the aircraft type for the charter flight immediately.

Ireland's eyelids twitched. How much did Pisco trust Cognac? They'd finalized it so easily? Seeing Pisco about to take out his phone to have his subordinates make arrangements, Ireland immediately stopped him, saying he needed to confirm it again.

After resolving Pisco's problem, Shinjo booked a room at a hotel next to the Beika Hotel, took a shower, and went straight to sleep.

While he was sleeping, Ireland was searching for information for Pisco. After going through a lot of materials, he finally found some clues.

"The 737 MAX's maneuverability enhancement system?" Ireland frowned as he looked at the documents in his hand.

"what happened?"

“I think I might know about the Cognac plan, but the most crucial part of the plan is still unconfirmed,” Ireland said, sporting dark circles under his eyes. “He’s probably referring to the Boeing 737 MAX’s Maneuvering Enhancement System, but so far, there are no official reports linking the two crashes to that system.”

"What?" Pisk was a little confused. "What is this 'mobility enhancement system'? What's it used for?"

“The Boeing 737 MAX is a new aircraft developed by Boeing to compete with Airbus. It is claimed to have undergone six years of development, but the actual development time was less than six months,” Ireland said. “In order to adapt the aircraft to the new engines, the engineers moved the engines to a position further forward on the wings.”

"And then?" Piske felt his mind was a little stuck.

“Because of the change in engine location, the way the aircraft is handled also needs to be changed, and pilots must be trained, which is a significant financial burden for airlines. This is quite disadvantageous for the aircraft manufacturers that sell the aircraft.” Ireland produced a document, “This is Boeing’s original promotional material. They promised that the way the aircraft is handled would not change and pilots would not need to be retrained. Otherwise, they would be willing to pay $100 million in compensation for each aircraft. The maneuvering enhancement system was born under these circumstances.”

To put it simply!

"When the aircraft's nose pitches up abnormally, the system will intervene and bring the nose down. However, all of this is done by the system, and the pilot cannot intervene. Once the sensor malfunctions, there is a certain probability that the computer will identify the aircraft in a normal level flight state as having its nose pitched up, and then bring the nose down, resulting in the aircraft crashing vertically to the ground."

Pisco swallowed hard, and after a long pause, he asked, "There shouldn't be any survivors, right?"

“We can’t even find the bodies, so how can we expect any survivors?” Ireland said, frowning. “This guy is really ruthless. Using this method to assassinate people, I’m afraid no one will suspect them.”

“Didn’t you say this malfunction hasn’t been confirmed yet?” Pisco suddenly thought of something. “What if it’s fake?”

“Unlikely, because the current Boeing executives are the same people from McDonnell Douglas.” Ireland produced another document. “This is the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 data; they made the same mistake back then. After the crash, they tried everything to deny it, just like they are now. And…”

"And what?"

"The FAA already knows that the Boeing 737 MAX has major defects, but because it has sold so many, and the accidents involved airlines from third-world countries, plus Boeing has not yet admitted it and is blaming all the fault on the pilots, it has not taken measures to ground the aircraft." Ireland took a deep breath. "After these people die, their families will go to the airlines first. The airlines will not sit idly by and will inevitably guide public opinion to point the finger at the aircraft manufacturer."

Pisco shakily took out his phone. "Murata, it's me. By the way, could you check what kind of aircraft I'll be flying on for the next three months of business trips? If it's a Boeing, could you cancel the flight and switch to an Airbus?"

As someone in a high position, he inevitably had to travel by plane to various places. He hadn't lived enough yet, so naturally he wouldn't take a plane with such obvious defects. In fact, the aircraft manufacturer was even blacklisted by him.

Ireland shook his head. Pisco was good in every way, except he was too afraid of death.

But that's not really a flaw; who wouldn't want to live longer?

"Should we reconsider cooperating with Cognac?" Ireland hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly. "I'm not questioning the cooperation itself, but rather the extent of the cooperation."

“Just say what you want to say. There’s no such concern between us.” Pisco looked relaxed.

“Cognac is too ruthless. If one day he stands on the opposite side of us…” Ireland said, “According to my investigation, he inherited the estate of Jiang Xiaobai, the traitor of the organization, as well as part of that person’s property… Forgive me for speaking frankly, but you are no longer of any use to me.”

Chapter 112 Who is the vine and who is the melon?

Pisco's expression was somewhat uncertain. To survive in the organization, loyalty and intelligence were secondary. The most important thing was value. As long as you had value, you could survive; otherwise, you could be betrayed, sacrificed, or even destroyed at any time.

“When Cognac approached me, he had already begun inheriting that man’s estate. His cooperation with me was probably not for the money, but because Gin and I don’t get along.” Pisco slowly shook his head. “However, I will be careful when we cooperate in the future.”

the next morning

Shinjo was woken up by a phone call. Before he was fully awake, he heard Gin's voice, which startled him so much that he almost jumped out of bed.

"Your mission failed," Gin said coldly. "I don't want it to happen again."

"Failure my ass, it's just that I didn't manage to catch Shuichi Akai. You didn't even give me the bait, how could I let the prey take the bait?" Shinjo said with a sneer. "You're so capable, can you call in a helicopter? Why didn't I see you stop that helicopter? A rat in the gutter is afraid of a cat."

After saying that, he tossed his phone aside and went to sleep.

Gin stared at the phone that had already been hung up, his expression shifting between light and dark.

He hated rats the most, but Cognac compared him to a rat in a sewer. If this guy wasn't still useful, he would want to kill him right now.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Vodka looked at Gin's unpredictable expression with some confusion.

"Have you found the list of those detectives?" Gin asked, staring at Vodka.

"Not yet..." Vodka said somewhat guiltily.

"Useless." Gin snorted. "Go and find out where Cognac went those two days, and who was with him."

"Yes."

As Gin looked out the window, he felt a murderous intent towards Vermouth's subordinate.

Few within the organization knew about the helicopter attack on the Twilight Villa. Vermouth might know, but based on his understanding of her, he knew that woman wouldn't go around spreading such a thing.

Of course, he might have gotten the information from the Metropolitan Police Department and guessed that they were the ones who called the helicopter by reviewing the records, but that's unlikely.

If we rule out the two scenarios mentioned above, then there is only one possibility—Cognac was present at the time and saw their faces.

He had always thought that Cognac hadn't done anything productive since coming to Japan, but now it seemed he had been overthinking it. His apparent idleness was just a facade; secretly, he had been doing quite a lot behind his back.

Around noon, the hotel staff knocked on the door, and Xincheng, who had just gotten up, decided to stay up all night. His head was clear, but the muscles on the inside of his calves were incredibly sore, making it impossible for him to walk.

“Vodka is investigating you and Miss Koshimizu,” Karen’s voice came through the earpiece. “It seems the matter at Twilight Villa has been exposed.”

“So what if we’re exposed? The Metropolitan Police Department’s sieve-like security measures won’t keep this up for long; they’ll find out sooner or later.” Shinjo asked while finishing his lunch delivered by room service, “Have you found out where Akai Shuichi is staying?”

“Not yet. That person seems to know someone is investigating him, and he deliberately avoids cameras when he acts, especially police cameras.” Karen was also a little annoyed. “I found him in a private camera in a supermarket.”

"You hacked into a private computer?" Shinjo was taken aback.

“What do you mean by intrusion? Its database is right there in the open. What’s wrong with me taking a look?” Karen was very unhappy with Newtown’s wording. “If it were really an intrusion, that computer would be unusable by now.”

Xincheng was speechless. He knew he couldn't reason with this woman; after all, she wasn't even human.

"Those people you asked me to monitor, those FBI agents, boarded a plane from Tokyo to Los Angeles half an hour ago and returned to the United States."

"Did they all go back?" Shinjo asked, frowning. "The FBI agents aren't that honest, are they?"

“Judy Stairing should still be in Japan.” Karen said, projecting a video onto the hotel’s television. “The surveillance footage doesn’t show her boarding the plane.”

It was a video of about fifteen minutes, featuring FBI agents. Throughout the video, Judy was never seen, suggesting she was on another mission.

"Is her name on the immigration records?"

"Yes, her immigration records show that she returned to the United States with the main group."

Shinjo stroked his chin, lost in thought. If Shuichi Akai stayed in Japan, that would be understandable, since he needed to rescue Akemi Miyano. But why did Jodie want to stay in Japan?

This woman's skill level is only average; she could easily become a hindrance. There's no reason to bring this burden along. It would be better to bring Cameron than this woman; at least Cameron's driving skills are excellent, and he can be useful in crucial moments.

“Perhaps it wasn’t Mr. Akai who kept her here. Jodie Starling’s father was also an agent who died at Vermouth’s hands. She might have stayed behind to seek revenge on Vermouth,” Karen suddenly said.

“Vermouth? That shouldn’t be the case.” Shinjo was taken aback. “She was exposed?”