Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

She immediately stood up and, trying to maintain a composed pace, quickly walked towards the restroom.

As soon as she entered, before she could even close the door, she began to dry heave in front of the sink.

"Uh...cough, cough..."

However, apart from a little bit of acid, she didn't vomit anything.

My stomach was spasming and tightening in waves, and just thinking about the perfectly normal aroma of the food I had smelled earlier made me feel nauseous again.

"..."

After a while, the nausea slowly subsided.

Vermouth straightened up, her hands supporting her slightly panting weight in front of the washbasin. She took off her sunglasses, looked at her pale face in the mirror, and felt a little confused.

what happened?

Are you sick? Or are you just too tired lately?

She thought back and realized that she hadn't done anything particularly special in the past few days. She had just had a poor appetite, but she hadn't paid much attention to it.

The woman turned on the tap, dampened a tissue with water, and gently touched her face; the cool touch made her feel a little better.

She put her sunglasses back on and quickly regained her impeccable appearance.

She walked out of the restroom without even glancing at the barely touched meal, and paid the bill and left.

After all, the task Rum had given her was not yet finished.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The smell of disinfectant in the hospital was kept inside the glass door.

After finishing his physical examination, Lin Jiashu arrived at the parking lot, opened the car door, got in, and casually tossed the physical examination report he had just received onto the passenger seat.

His physical condition is perfectly normal.

Apart from the hormone levels, which were as high as average as usual, everything else can be summed up in the word "healthy".

What's unusual is that his physical examination this time was quite comprehensive—including reproductive health, and the results were quite satisfactory.

Instead of starting the car immediately, he picked up his phone and opened the notes app—accurately calculating the elapsed time based on the date recorded on it.

It's been almost a month...

The so-called one month refers to the time when she last met Vermouth, and what Lin Jiashu told her about APTX4869 users not getting pregnant was actually a lie.

According to information provided by Ai Haibara in her previous science popularization, the core mechanism of action of APTX4869 is to induce programmed cell death, which is the key to its status as a perfect poison—it is difficult to detect because it lacks toxicological properties.

The shrinking of the body like hers and Conan's is a miraculous survival phenomenon caused by the accidental degeneration and stagnation of cells other than nerve tissue in a very small number of individuals under the influence of the drug.

They were stuck in childhood, but Vermouth was different.

If it is the same mechanism, then in this whole process, there is no direct conflict or damage to her reproductive system's ovulation function, egg activity, or uterine implantation environment.

At least in theory, there is no such inevitability.

"..."

Women are more likely to conceive if they ovulate on the correct day.

During ovulation, due to changes in hormone levels, a woman's body actually releases some subtle signals—such as a slight increase in basal body temperature, and... showing more interest and initiative than usual in certain aspects.

Based on the dates of her previous friendly matches with Vermouth, and combined with her physical and mental state on that day, it wasn't difficult for him to deduce that those subtle changes, which even she herself might not have noticed, were dangerous for her.

Lin Jiashu took this quite seriously this time.

He had plenty of self-confidence throughout the entire night.

After all, in order to find Karasuma Renya's whereabouts, Vermouth's existence is something that must be secured.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Jiashu stepped on the gas pedal.

The white BMW roared to life and quickly merged into the traffic outside the hospital.

He scrolled through his contacts to Xiaolan's number and dialed.

The call was answered quickly, and Xiaolan's clear and pleasant voice came through: "Hello, Jiashu-ge?"

"Xiao Lan, it's me."

Lin Jiashu's voice naturally turned into a smile, "Did Aunt Eri tell you about having dinner with you tonight?"

"Ah, um! My mother told me about this at noon."

Xiaolan responded, then added with a hint of apology, "But Yoshiki-nii, I made plans with Sonoko to go shopping for clothes at the shopping street this afternoon, and I feel a little bad about standing her up... Anyway, Mom usually gets off work quite late, so I can go to the restaurant by myself after I finish shopping, I should have enough time."

"It's okay, I'll come pick you up when you've finished shopping."

"No need for that."

Xiaolan quickly refused, her voice full of consideration, "Aren't you supposed to take Mom to school today? Her car broke down today, it's too much trouble for you to run back and forth, Jiashu-ge. It's very convenient for me to take the tram myself."

"So, in Xiaolan's heart, I'm already the kind of terrible man who finds even taking care of his girlfriend too much trouble?"

"Huh? No! That's not what I meant!"

Xiaolan blushed instantly on the other end of the phone, and hurriedly explained, "I just... I just didn't want you to work too hard, Jiashu-ge..."

Hearing her flustered tone, Lin Jiashu could imagine her adorable flushed face and couldn't help but chuckle: "Just kidding, I know Xiaolan is the most considerate. Okay then, be careful on your way, and send me a message when you get to the restaurant."

"Yes, I know!"

Xiao Lan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart.

She was already looking forward to dinner and chatted with Hayashi Yoshiki for a few more minutes when she heard Sonoko urging her from behind.

"Yoshiki-nii, Sonoko seems to be urging me to come. See you tonight then."

"Okay, see you tonight, have fun."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, inside the Fei Law Firm.

Eri Kisaki was engrossed in a mountain of files when her assistant, Midori Kuriyama, spoke from outside the door.

"Excuse me, Attorney Fei. I've brought back the tomato juice and sandwiches."

"...Thank you, Kuriyama."

Upon hearing the voice, Eri Kisaki paused, turned around from her office chair, and said with a hint of helplessness on her bright face, "Look at me, I'm so busy that I don't even have time to eat. I'm starving now."

"So the saying 'the capable should do more' is not just empty talk."

"But if things continue like this, I, who can't even take care of myself, sometimes won't even have the standing to discipline the younger generation..."

Eri Kisaki gave a graceful smile and took the bag from Midori Kuriyama's hand.

"Does 'younger generation' refer to Mr. Lin?"

“Yes, Xiaoshu…” Eri’s eyes were full of smiles. “He has always been very easy to take care of, but he doesn’t seem to care about himself when it comes to himself.”

Is that so?

Kuriyama Midori actually had quite an impression of Hayashi Yoshiki, after all, Hayashi Yoshiki had visited the Fei Law Firm a few times before.

Just as Eri Kisaki started eating her sandwich, the doorbell of the law firm suddenly rang, which surprised the two of them—because there shouldn't have been any clients scheduled for consultations today.

However, Midori Kuriyama still went outside.

This is Eri Kisaki's personal office, so after Midori Kuriyama leaves, she needs to walk a little further outside. Eri Kisaki didn't notice at first, but just as she took a bite of her sandwich, she suddenly heard a muffled sound outside.

It sounded like something suddenly falling to the ground.

"?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Eri Kisaki put down her sandwich and stood up. "Kuriyama? Is this a client?"

no respond.

The beautiful woman walked straight to the door and turned on the doorknob. When she opened the door, she saw Kuriyama Midori lying unconscious on the ground.

"Kuriyama!?"

Sizzle sizzle—!

Her scream was answered by the hissing sound of the stun gun.

The assailant, who had been lurking outside the door, suddenly pressed the switch on the stun gun and attacked Eri Kisaki. Although startled, Eri reacted with exceptional speed, grabbing the assailant's wrist, pulling him over, and executing an over-the-shoulder throw—

boom! !

The man wearing a hat and mask was thrown to the ground, but before Eri could get up, a shadow loomed over her.

"That's impressive, but there's more than one of us."

"Varied--!?"

Eri looked up and saw a tall, thin man wearing a hat and mask, holding a stun gun and poking her: "We're from the Victims' Association... well, you probably can't hear us now."

Under the influence of the stun gun, Eri Kisaki collapsed to the ground without any resistance.

The tall, thin man looked at her, who had already lost consciousness, and a cold smile appeared on his face.

At this moment, his companion stood up while rubbing his back.

"Ouch, that stinky woman!"

"Useless trash, you actually got taken down by a woman! And hurry up and pull your mask up, your face is all over the place!"

Chapter 64: Need help?

Night falls and the city lights begin to twinkle.

Lin Jiashu drove to the Fei Law Firm building and parked the car smoothly.

Although it's a little earlier than the agreed time, once Eri gets ready, it should be about time to get to the restaurant now.

Lin Jiashu timed it perfectly and called Fei Yingli on his cell phone.

But when I called, all I heard was a long busy tone; no one answered the phone.

Are you still busy?

Lin Jiashu didn't think much of it.

In the afternoon, he sent the restaurant list to Eri Kisaki for confirmation. Eri Kisaki responded quite positively, but then said that she needed to work harder for tonight's dinner, and Yoshiki Hayashi did not send any more messages to bother her.

After waiting a while and still not getting a reply by phone, he decided to just go upstairs and wait.

Lin Jiashu got out of the car, took the elevator straight upstairs, but when he pushed open the door of Fei Law Firm, he found it to be quiet inside.

Kuriyama Midori, who was always at the front desk, was nowhere to be seen.

Just as he was wondering about this, he saw Kuriyama Midori lying unconscious in the corridor in front of Eri Kisaki's office after only a few steps. There were no obvious marks on her body.

"Miss Kuriyama?"

Lin Jiashu did not rush forward.

He first quickly scanned the surroundings to make sure there were no people hiding nearby and no blind spots before stepping forward, squatting down, and checking her breathing and carotid artery.

He was just unconscious...

There were no obvious signs of a struggle around, except for some wrinkles on the carpet in front of Eri's office. Otherwise, the entire room was completely silent... There was no trace of Eri.

"Aunt Yingli?"

He raised his voice and called out, but there was only silence in response.

Lin Jiashu knelt down beside Kuriyama Midori, gently patted her cheek, and whispered, "Ms. Kuriyama! Wake up!"

It took several strokes, until Hayashi Yoshiki had to increase the pressure, before Kuriyama Midori finally reacted.

"Uh……"

The woman's eyes were initially glazed when she first woke up, but her expression immediately turned panicked when she saw Lin Jiashu's face: "Mr. Lin!?"

She subconsciously looked around.

"It's alright, there's no one else around. What happened?"

“There were two men! Wearing hats and masks, they used… used stun guns…” she stammered, recounting what had just happened, then suddenly grabbed Lin Jiashu’s arm, “Right, Attorney Fei! Where is Attorney Fei?!”