Conan: The Romantic Daily Life of a Ghost Detective

Judging from the shape of the wound's edges, it was most likely caused by a small, fierce dog.

Wen Shui breathed a sigh of relief, at least ruling out the possibility that someone attacked Xiao Kui and then injured Da Fu, who was trying to protect his master.

Although Xiao Kui has been missing for so long and has not been found, the hope that she is still alive is gradually decreasing, but at present there is no obvious indication that she was taken away by bad guys.

There is still the possibility that they might run away from home.

Warm water gently rubbed the cat's chin, and Dafu squinted its eyes, revealing a comfortable expression.

Wen Shui gently lifted the cat's paw and found that it seemed to have been pressed by something, but it was much less serious than the wound on the back of its neck.

After all, it had just pounced on Akira and made him roll around on the ground.

Ai Haibara walked over at some point and asked, "Is that Daifuku? How is it? Did you find any clues about Himawari on it?"

Wen Shui shook his head: "Not yet, but I can vaguely sense that it is trying to convey some important information to me."

Actually, no, Wenshui was just trying to find a reasonable explanation for his "friend of cats" entry.

We can't just say he's using cheats, can we?

At this moment, Xiaolan hesitated before saying, "Warm Water...should we take it to the vet first?"

She probably couldn't bear to see the cat suffer.

Wen Shui shook her head firmly and said seriously, "There's not that much time. Every second we delay will increase the danger to Xiao Kui's life."

"Xiao Kui..."

Xiaolan looked remorseful, then bowed to Wenshui and apologized, "I'm sorry, I couldn't tell the difference between what's important and what's not. I'm really sorry!"

Ai Haibara glanced at Ran with a complicated expression.

Then he took out a band-aid from his bag and handed it to Xiaolan: "This is specially made; it should be effective."

Ran thanked Ai Haibara gratefully and then put a band-aid on the cat's wound.

Wen Shui then began to communicate with the cat.

Conan was also observing carefully from the side, trying to use his reasoning skills to find clues.

However, after actually using this skill to communicate with the cat, Wen Shui discovered that this skill seemed to only allow them to sense each other's will through a kind of telepathic intuition.

They cannot communicate directly with animals like druids.

However, he could sense the two intense desires emanating from Dafu at this moment.

Food, pain.

It was probably due to not having eaten enough these past few days, coupled with the persistent pain from the wounds, that triggered its animal instincts.

Warm Water really wanted to ask it directly where Kazama Aoi had gone.

However, cats are much less intelligent than humans, so Daifuku seems to have a hard time understanding the overly complex thoughts conveyed by the warm water.

It seems that it can only sense simple emotions such as kindness, malice, handshake, and feeding.

So Wenshui came up with a solution: she took a picture of Kazama Aoi from her phone and placed it in front of the dog.

Dafu immediately began to whimper softly, and its dirty fur stood on end.

Wen Shui had a bad feeling. Daifuku's reaction likely meant that Kazama Aoi had encountered something terrible when she was with it before.

That's why it exhibits this stress response.

However, knowing this is not enough. We still cannot determine where Kazama Aoi had the accident or where she has been taken.

Wen Shui had no choice but to hold up a photo of Kazama Aoi and try to communicate with the cat using the words in her mind.

Let's see if we can get it to lead us to the place where Kazama Aoi disappeared.

However, the Junior Detective Club members next to them were unaware of Aoi Kazama's disappearance, so they all looked at Nukumi with great curiosity.

Genta Kojima asked Ai Haibara curiously, "Is this cold, aloof older sister/older brother communicating with animals?"

Ai Haibara glanced at him indifferently.

The chubby boy immediately sprang into action and hid behind Xiaolan.

Ayumi Yoshida scolded, "Genta, how can you be so rude? You should call her 'pretty older sister'."

“But she’s really cold.” Yuan Tai said, looking aggrieved.

Haibara sighed, "Things are complicated. Just know that Wen Shui is trying to save someone's life."

"Like Kamen Rider?" Ayumi asked.

Ai Haibara had never seen Kamen Rider, but she still smiled brightly: "That's right, just like Kamen Rider."

"Brother Wenshui is actually a great hero!"

Ayumi looked at Wen Shui with great admiration as he tried to communicate with the cat.

Ai Haibara frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that she should do something to prevent an irreversible tragedy from happening.

But then she thought again, Wen Shui shouldn't be that shameless, and just like he said, Wen Shui and Shu probably like girls with good figures, otherwise they wouldn't have been with her...

Thinking of this, Ai Haibara felt a tingling electric current running through her chest for some reason.

A faint, strange sensation also emanated from the soft soles of my feet.

Hmm, I feel... a little unsure of my own judgment, Ai Haibara thought nervously as she looked at Wen Shui's retreating figure.

Wen Shui tried everything, from imitating a cat's meow to rubbing his belly, but still couldn't get Da Fu to understand what he meant.

But that makes sense, since this is, after all, just the world of Detective Conan.

She has an amazing ability to communicate with animals; she seems a bit like a supermodel.

Just as Wen Shui was about to give up on communication and contact Officer Takagi behind her to ask him to take the cat back for professional investigation.

His fingers, which had been gently stroking the cat's fur, were suddenly pricked by something.

He carefully parted the cat's fur and found something that looked like a dried raisin stuck deep in Dafu's white fur.

It looks like the seed of some plant, with many barbs on it.

Wen Shui's keen detective intuition told him that the seed in his hand was the key to solving the case.

Actually, the term "Maori elimination method" was flashing wildly in my mind.

But he didn't recognize what it was.

So Wen Shui turned to look at Conan, the encyclopedia. In the anime, Conan would usually have a flash of inspiration at this point, saying "I know" as he turned and ran to the crime scene.

Unfortunately, Conan was also completely baffled this time.

Instead, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya behind him suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "I know this thing. It's called 'Nekogaku-ji' (Nekogaku-ji), and it's the fruit of a kind of grass."

Wen Shui was delighted: "Do you know where this plant usually grows?"

"It seems to have been in a remote place." Mitsuhiko scratched his head. "I only saw it on TV, so I don't remember it very well."

At this moment, Ai Haibara was already reading from her prepared statement on her phone:

"Cat thistle, scientific name: Phantom Felis-Semen, is a perennial thistle plant..."

Warm Water: "Get straight to the conclusion!"

"Looking for it." Ai Haibara's eyes were exceptionally focused as she quickly tapped the screen with her slender fingers. "Found it. It usually grows in polluted land around chemical plants."

Wen Shui breathed a sigh of relief.

Since there shouldn't be many places like this in the Tokyo metropolitan area, it should be relatively easy to pinpoint the target if the correct crime scene is found.

Wen Shui believed that with her abilities, she should be able to discover some clues.

At that moment, Officer Takagi ran across the street.

He had already finished his investigation and evidence collection work on Tanaka Tomofumi and had put him in the car. He came over to ask if they wanted a ride back for Wenshui and the others.

"Warm Water Guy, where are you going later? Shall I take you home?"

Wen Shui shook his head with a wry smile: "Officer Takagi, we'll probably have to trouble you to come with us again."

"Huh? Have we found another clue about the Slit-Mouthed Woman?" Officer Takagi asked in surprise.

"No, this time we have found clues about Kazama Aoi's disappearance, and we can basically confirm that she should have been to a place in the city that looks like a chemical plant."

In fact, most people wouldn't be able to be so certain based on just this clue alone.

After all, there is a possibility that the cat Daifuku, after losing contact with its owner, might have ended up in a chemical plant and gotten stuck with seeds.

However, the Metropolitan Police Department usually wouldn't just ignore this clue. Instead, they would send junior detectives to places where this plant grows to investigate one by one.

But because Wen Shui had a cheat code in his brain, he was able to skip the investigation process.

After listening to Nukumizu's account, Takagi Wataru looked on incredulously.

The case-solving rate is too fast!

In the morning, a crucial clue about Matsuzaka Ume was discovered. On the way back at noon, a bathroom murder and body concealment case was solved. Before the perpetrator could even be taken away, another clue was discovered regarding the missing Kazama Aoi, whom the Metropolitan Police Department had been searching for for days without success.

Takagi is increasingly convinced that Nuwa and Kazuki are possessed by the god of detectives.

By this time, Ai Haibara had already used her phone to list all the suspicious locations in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The chemical plants shown on the screen are all located in the surrounding remote suburbs.

However, there were a total of 6 suspicious locations.

Wen Shui frowned slightly: "Officer Takagi, can you have these six suspicious locations searched immediately?"

Takagi looked troubled: "I'm afraid it won't be that fast. After all, you just discovered such an important clue, and now almost everyone in the First Investigation Division is rushing towards the Kanda River."

The others also had their own investigative tasks, but they had only discovered what appeared to be clues in the missing persons cases. It was impossible for the higher-ups to approve the redeployment of personnel to disrupt the existing plans.

Wen Shui's expression was unpleasant.

However, he also knew that Takagi Wataru was right; the country had set up many restrictions in this regard in order to prevent the violent authorities from overthrowing their superiors.

Deploying a large number of people for a search requires approval from several different departments through various procedures and signatures.

Do we really have to wait until the paperwork is done? I have a feeling that the longer we delay, the worse things will get.

Takagi Wataru hesitated for a moment before saying, "However, my men and I don't have any other missions at the moment. Normally, we'll only be assigned new missions after we return to the station and hand over the prisoners. We can split up to investigate."

"But bringing so many people to conduct an unauthorized investigation would surely result in severe punishment, wouldn't it?"