Chapter 465
Sincerity is a sure-kill move, insincerity is a super sure-kill move
The familiar words startled Morofushi Kagemitsu.
That afternoon at the hospital, when Aoyagi Akimitsu stopped him and identified himself, he said something similar—
"It really is me. I made a simple disguise, but my voice is the same. You can't possibly not recognize me, can you?"
There were no listening devices or cameras nearby at the time, so theoretically only the two of them should know what was said.
Moreover, he had noticed something amiss before. Gin always compared undercover agents to mice, but the person in front of him said that his reaction was like a cat. In the afternoon, when Aoyagi Akimitsu was in the archives, he had been holding a blue-eyed Ragdoll cat and said with a smile that they looked alike.
Morofushi Kagemitsu: "..."
The fact that the dangerous person is actually someone you know in disguise is surprisingly surprising at first glance.
but……
"Were you scared?"
Aoyagi Akimitsu looked at him and gently patted his face with the blade of his sword. Just minutes earlier, the low-ranking member who was leading the way had punched him in the cheek.
"Sorry, I'm not familiar with this area, so I had to find someone to show me the way. But I stole his gun on the way, took the bullets, and then returned it. You only suffered minor cuts and bruises; you won't die."
His tone was gentle, but paired with that face that looked exactly like Gin's, it only sent chills down one's spine.
Conan Edogawa was equally startled, but compared to Hiromitsu Morofushi, he was more surprised and delighted: "Mr. Aoyagi, what are you doing here?!"
As soon as he said that, his expression changed, and he hurriedly looked up at the surveillance camera above.
"Don't worry. Before I came in, I asked a friend who's good at hacking to take control of the surveillance cameras here."
Aoyagi Akimitsu put the knife back in his pocket, his expression turning serious: "But we need to get out of here quickly, or people will get suspicious if we take too long."
With that, he reached out to Morofushi Kagemitsu. The latter was uneasy and instinctively tried to dodge when he saw this action, but it was no use. Aoyagi Akimitsu grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him up with one hand like a cat.
Aoyagi Akimitsu put one of Morofushi Kagemitsu's arms on his shoulder and half-carried, half-helped him out of the cell.
The two went next door, and Conan Edogawa jogged to the door: "That person might have..."
Before the word "key" could be uttered, Aoyagi Akimitsu grabbed the cell bars with his other hand, and with two loud bangs, the iron cell door came tumbling down.
"Come out quickly." Aoyagi Binguang casually tossed the door aside.
Conan Edogawa stared at the twisted and deformed iron door bolt, which had been forcibly removed, paused for a second, and then turned to face the inside.
The other person in the cell, Itakura Takuma, was trembling all over. When he met Aoyagi Akimitsu's gaze, he shuddered and tried to shrink further inside.
“It’s you,” said Aoyagi Akimitsu. “Hello, Mr. Itakura, please don’t be afraid. I’m here to rescue someone. A friend of mine from the Manten Company is in Japan looking for you. Would you like to come with us?”
Zhu Fujingguang frowned slightly and reminded him in a low voice, "He is also a member of this criminal organization."
Aoyagi Akimitsu said, "Oh, I see. What a pity, then..."
"and many more."
Conan Edogawa quickly stopped him. He glanced at the door at his feet and the organization member lying unconscious on the floor of the next cell, and raised his tranquilizer watch.
With a soft "pfft," the anesthetic needle shot out, and Itakura Taku's eyelids rolled back as he collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Alright." Conan Edogawa wiped his sweat and pressed the watch cover back down. "Let's hurry up and go."
He sensed Itakura Taku's fear of the organization, but the situation was urgent, and he dared not gamble on which side the other man was on, so he could only take him down first. Outside the dungeon was a sloping corridor with a lamp every few meters on the wall. It was neither bright nor spacious, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Aoyagi Akimitsu led the way with Morofushi Kagemitsu, while Edogawa Conan, with his short legs, followed closely behind them.
Morofushi Kagemitsu felt that their pace was very steady, and even with Aoyagi Akimitsu leading an adult male of similar build, their pace did not slow down at all.
With no one else in sight for the time being, Morofushi Kagemitsu's brain finally had a chance to catch its breath.
At the same time, the questions that had been temporarily put aside because of the rush to get out also began to surface one by one.
“Mr. Aoyagi,” he whispered, “you…”
Why are you here?
Why did you dress up as Gin?
Why can you perfectly imitate Gin's appearance and voice?
—What is your relationship with Gin and this organization?
But when all the questions came to mind, they all boiled down to one question: "Where did you go?"
"what?"
Aoyagi Akimitsu seemed unaware of what he was talking about.
“Around 2 a.m., I saw a suspicious person downstairs and wanted to warn you to be careful, but you were not in your room at that time.”
Morofushi Kagemitsu asked quickly, staring at Aoyagi Akimitsu... or rather, Gin's face as he asked.
With the help of the lights on both sides, he could clearly see the silver hair and the sinister face. Perhaps because the other person was in disguise, he couldn't discern any emotion from that face.
Upon hearing this, Conan Edogawa also looked up curiously, awaiting the answer.
Aoyagi Akimitsu looked up and said, "A lot has happened, and it's hard to explain in just a few words... But if I don't say anything now, you'll definitely suspect me."
Morofushi Kagemitsu remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"Here's what happened—the hotel we were staying at unfortunately attracted a mother bear."
"...?" Morofushi Kagemitsu was taken aback.
“Conan, you’ve probably seen it too, right? It’s the brown bear’s head hanging above the entrance on the first floor.” Aoyagi Akimitsu sighed. “That’s a cub that’s at most two years old, so it shouldn’t be separated from its mother’s care yet.”
"When I was a child, for some reason, I accidentally provoked a mother bear with cubs..."
He paused, then continued, "It was a disaster. That's when I realized they are incredibly vengeful and skilled trackers."
"During dinner, I heard the boss say that he had encountered a bear in the area. My first thought was that the mother bear had come looking for me again. But these are just my personal guesses, and telling you will only increase your fear. So when Conan went to Mr. Mori's room, I went downstairs to ask the front desk and bought two wildlife monitoring devices at a high price, and had an eagle take them into the forest."
"It was just a precaution. I never expected that my phone would actually receive an alarm at midnight."
Completely unexpected by this reason, Morofushi Kagemitsu was speechless.
Conan Edogawa: "...Mr. Aoyagi, you brought that eagle with you? But I haven't seen it on the way here."
Aoyagi Akimitsu: "It's rare to be away from the city, so I let it fly around on its own. I only call it when I need it... Actually, I don't dare to tell it too much what to do. It's not the police or public security here. If I anger it, it will really peck me."
After saying that, as if realizing his wording was inappropriate, he patted Morofushi Kagemitsu's hand reassuringly:
“I didn’t say you were bad,” he said. “What I meant was that you, as human beings, are always able to weigh the pros and cons more rationally, and that’s a compliment.”
Morofushi Kagemitsu: "..."
...He had to be thankful once again that his childhood friend wasn't there. (End of Chapter)