Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Well said.

Sano remained silent, but after Gin parked the car, he got out and prepared to take a taxi to Beika Hotel.

Finally, Gin reminded Sano to be cautious and act carefully.

"Who knows, Shuichi Akai might show up."

Shuichi Akai?

Sano paused for two seconds, then roughly realized that Ai Haibara's escape method was a mystery, and Gin probably felt that someone was helping her, making him the prime suspect.

That would naturally be Shuichi Akai.

...But that's not actually the case.

Of course, Sano wouldn't explain anything to Gin; he simply agreed and waved goodbye before leaving.

As Gin watched Sano's departing figure, he thought for a moment, then took out his phone and made a call.

It was nearly six o'clock.

Sano has arrived at Beika Hotel.

Considering that Conan might come over later, Sano switched to the Kuroshi disguise, modified his clothes, and finally covered his face with a passerby hat.

Since it was a memorial service, there were no restrictions on getting in, such as an invitation; they just asked me to register my name and gave me a handkerchief.

Sano went to a corner and casually looked around at the people in the hall, wondering if he could find out who the so-called Pisco was and his target just by relying on his intuition, without any clues or information.

But before they could find those two, Sano spotted an... familiar face.

I suppose you could call them old acquaintances.

Black dress, long golden waves, foreigner, with delicate features.

Indeed, it is the "true face" that Vermouth revealed in the earlier Shenlong mission.

Although Sano wasn't entirely certain that it was Vermouth's true identity, Gin also said that Vermouth had accidentally gotten involved in this mission by chance.

So this person might really be Vermouth.

Of course, it's also possible that Vermouth is actually someone close to this woman, which is why she deliberately impersonates her and uses her as a front.

Sano investigated briefly and learned the other party's identity.

It was Chris Vineyard, a big star from America's side. Unlike Sano, who... well, came to pay his respects spontaneously, she was invited to the memorial service.

The fact that they flew all the way from America to Japan makes them even more suspicious.

Should we go over and test the waters...?

Sano turned his gaze again and saw two short figures sneaking into the hall.

Sure enough, those two guys showed up too.

Sano secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Based on past experience, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Pisco is likely to have an accident today.

Sure enough, the system made a sound again the next second.

[Please ensure Shiho Miyano's survival. Completion will earn you 150 enhancement points. Remaining time for the mission: 1:29:59].

...Why is it Shiho Miyano?

Sano tilted his head, finding the name used in the mission more puzzling than the mission details.

Sano's insistence on ensuring Ai Haibara's survival is understandable, but Shiho Miyano...

Could it be that Ai Haibara will grow up today?

That makes sense. Conan has grown larger before, hasn't he? As the same species, Ai Haibara has also changed size at different times, so it doesn't seem like a strange thing.

However, since the mission is limited to ensuring Shiho Miyano's survival, it means that Ai Haibara must first grow bigger and then survive until she shrinks back down.

This meets Sano's mission requirements.

Sano still had some doubts. Was Ai Haibara's growth into a larger size something that was bound to happen?

If it were a given fact, that would be fine. But if it weren't, and it was influenced by external factors and would only happen under certain conditions, then would this have happened if Sano had interfered and distorted the current situation?

The system may be able to "predict the future," but can't the future be changed?

Sano quietly took a cocktail from the hand of a waiter who was passing by.

Never mind, the mission comes first.

Based on past experience, as long as Sano tries to minimize his presence and doesn't get involved in anything, this inevitable "future" is unlikely to change.

So now Sano just needs to wait until the conditions are met, and then he can finish things up and everything will be over.

While a waiter was serving drinks to guests, he was bewildered to find that the drinks on his tray were gone. Meanwhile, Sano's gaze was fixed on Ai Haibara.

Conan is leading Ai Haibara on a "wandering" tour of the hall, but their real purpose is to find Pisco and his target.

Although Conan was unable to conduct remote tracking because the installed bugging devices and transmitters were destroyed, the intelligence clues he heard before that time could not be faked.

If you can't catch Gin Rye, catching a Pisco is still good.

The guests in the hall were all dressed in black formal attire because of the memorial service, so you couldn't tell anything at all.

Conan frowned, unaware that Ai Haibara behind him had almost fallen to the ground in fright simply because she bumped into a waitress.

The organizational atmosphere is so strong...

This level of feeling likely extends to more than just one member of the organization in the meeting hall.

There are just too many people here; I can't tell which one is the one that gives me the feeling...

Ignoring the waitress's concern, Ai Haibara tightened her clothes, caught up with Conan, and pulled him away.

Upon seeing this, Conan asked the other person in confusion what was wrong.

Ai Haibara pursed her lips and laid out her current thoughts.

It turns out that in the past few days, Ai Haibara has been having dreams of being caught by Gin and Rye, and in every dream, it's a snowy day like today.

Therefore, Ai Haibara is very worried that something unexpected might happen today.

The prolonged tension even caused Ai Haibara's mental state to begin to collapse.

Human beings are complex and contradictory creatures.

Just like Ai Haibara, even though she no longer feels any meaning in surviving and has no chance of successfully avenging herself against the organization, she still wants to continue to live on.

Even though Ai Haibara could clearly continue to eke out a living day by day, looking at Professor Agasa and the members of her squad who she spends every day with, she feels that she is dragging innocent people down with her.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have preferred to have died at the hands of the organization back then."

Haibara sighed.

To put it bluntly, Ai Haibara just wants to give up and doesn't want to live anymore.

Seeing Ai Haibara's dejected expression, Conan felt it necessary to soothe his teammate's spirits. After thinking for two seconds, he considerately took off his glasses and put them on her.

"Alright, now they shouldn't recognize you."

Ai Haibara touched her glasses and couldn't help but laugh in exasperation, "Do you think these are Superman's glasses? You think no one will recognize you if you wear them?"

"Pretty much, I'm like Superman."

Conan said casually, then clapped his hands and said, "By the way, should we call Sano and ask him to come and help us?"

...This guy actually remembered to look for teammates?

Chapter 230, Page 229: Silencing Pisco

Neither Conan nor Ai Haibara noticed that they had wandered into Sano's place by chance.

Sano could hear their whispers clearly.

"I think we should forget about it."

Ai Haibara directly rejected Conan's suggestion: "After all, this matter has nothing to do with him. It was just that he was unintentionally dragged into it. There is no need to involve him any further."

Upon hearing this, Sano couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by Ai Haibara's answer.

Sano originally thought that Ai Haibara would be the kind of person who would do anything to survive, but he didn't expect that even with her mentality broken down like this, she would still have the mind to consider the safety of herself, an unrelated person.

Should I say that I underestimated her, or overestimated her?

...Or should we be moved for a second or two first?

"Or is it that you have no confidence at all, which is why you want to seek Sano's help?"

Having been successfully influenced by Conan, Ai Haibara finally regained some of her energy and made a sarcastic remark with her arms crossed, which immediately made Conan's face darken.

"Who says I'm not confident? I already know who Pisco's target is, and I even called Inspector Megure under the guise of Shinichi Kudo to get the police to come and take control of the situation. The reason I wanted Sano to come is simply to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"Yeah."

Ai Haibara followed Conan's gaze to the man surrounded by a group of reporters at the door: "Congressman, I heard you're currently embroiled in a bribery scandal. I see. If we're talking about the most likely target of the organization, it can only be him."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Inspector Megure led his team into the room, explaining that they had received a report that someone might be planning to assassinate Congressman Tomoguchi.

Then the memorial service finally began, the lights in the hall were turned off, and a slideshow was played instead.

Tsk, you have to be close to Ai Haibara, otherwise you might not even notice if she's gone.

Ok?

However, just as Sano was about to move, his gaze suddenly lifted and turned to a point of shimmering green above.

...What the heck?

"biu!"

With the help of the superhuman effect, Sano clearly heard a gunshot that was obviously equipped with a silencer, and a flash of light that was particularly conspicuous in the darkness. After colliding with the luminous green above and creating a spark, a huge boom and a faint scream rang out.

"What's going on!?"

Amid gasps of alarm, the lights in the hall were turned back on, and sure enough, a person was lying on the nearly shattered chandelier that had fallen to the floor.

It must be that senator who swallowed his mouth.

Sano didn't move. Amidst the chaotic noise of the police and guests, he quickly fixed his gaze on Ai Haibara, who was pulling Conan along, probably wanting to leave.