Kazawa stared at the interface on Conan's mobile phone, seemingly reading the content carefully—but in truth, his pupils were trembling from the flood of information.
What is this! What even is this!
How can the Night Baron be connected with the undead of Baker Street!?
Don't panic… think calmly…
…But he couldn't.
Many times, Kazawa's calm came from his access to hidden information.
The breathing room that came with being a spoiler was a major source of his confidence.
But this time, it was precisely because he knew what the artificial intelligence "Noah's Ark" referred to that he was genuinely starting to panic.
The message left by Ehara Tokio had been written by Karasawa himself, but the content was based on the actual background of "Ark Navi," a confidential organizational project currently under urgent development. It wasn't purely fictional.
While Conan was often misled and prone to drawing mistaken conclusions, Kazawa still had immense faith in this world-class detective's investigative and deductive abilities.
In other words...
His thoughts were a mess, and the plotlines of Detective Conan and P5 were colliding wildly in his head. Kazawa instinctively controlled his expression to keep his unease from showing.
"Do you think the organization is connected to this artificial intelligence?" For once, Kazawa was genuinely seeking Conan's opinion—because this had gone into unknown territory.
"If they're not directly involved, then something they developed must be." Conan nodded firmly. "Artificial intelligence, game development, the keyword 'Noah's Ark'—I don't believe that's a coincidence. I contacted Dr. Agasa. I found out this project is related to him and my father—they both helped that tech company develop the holographic game…"
Oh, right. Yusaku Kudo and Dr. Agasa were part of the team that developed "Cocoon."
Not only had they helped with the game's story, they'd also inserted a bunch of private material…
Kazawa, who wanted to ask more, glanced at the bedroom.
…Forget it. If they kept chatting in here, Akemi and Xingchuan would probably suffocate in the closet.
Kazawa held back his urge to continue and stood up.
"Looks like we'll need to wait for Dr. Agasa's update… Don't stay holed up in here. I'm kinda hungry—have you had lunch yet?"
——
In Beika-cho 2-chome, Dr. Agasa read Conan's message with a serious face and quickly tried to call Yusaku Kudo.
The call didn't go through.
Not surprising—it was the middle of the night in the United States.
The chubby doctor reread the email twice, worry deepening in his heart. After a moment's thought, he tidied the lab and headed out.
He had to visit the development liaison office in Tokyo himself.
Shinichi almost never made a direct conclusion without solid evidence. He was the kind who insisted on physical proof and logical deduction.
So if Shinichi believed that "Cocoon" had ties to the organization, then there had to be a clue…
The sky was clear in Izu, several dozen kilometers away, but Tokyo was currently blanketed in dark clouds and heavy rain.
Dr. Agasa grabbed a large black umbrella by the door and walked into the garage against the wind.
The holly trees in the yard glistened from the rain. Their bright red berries were bunched in clusters along the path, and the lively, wind-blown branches seemed to symbolize some kind of tenacious strength.
The garden's rainy scenery put a small smile on Dr. Agasa's face. He started the wipers and switched on the low beams.
The gate slid open automatically, allowing room for the car to pass. He gently pressed the accelerator.
Just as his little Beetle nudged past the wall, the headlights flashed forward—and Dr. Agasa hit the brakes hard.
Raindrops pattered on the roof and ground as he hurried out of the car and rushed to the front.
A small figure, wrapped in an oversized adult white coat, had collapsed face-down in the muddy rain. A skinny arm stuck out from beneath the fabric, limp and unmoving.
"A child?" Unbothered by his soaked clothes and fogged-up glasses, Dr. Agasa half-kneeled, gently rolled the unconscious girl over, and helped her sit up.
She was a very pretty little girl. Her short chestnut hair was soaked and caked in dirt, sticking to her cheeks messily.
Besides the white coat, she wore only a soaked blue shirt and clutched a long iron case tightly in her arms—its contents a mystery.
"What kind of parents let a kid out in this weather... and she's got a fever." He touched her burning-hot cheek and felt his heart tighten.
He glanced at the car, which hadn't even left the gate, sighed, and wrapped the freezing child in his coat, carrying her back inside.
Should he call the police? This didn't look like a normal missing child case.
But first, he had to bring down the fever. A child this young running a high fever was dangerous… and what if she had allergies to certain medicines? Parents these days were too careless...
As Dr. Agasa mentally planned her treatment, he was interrupted by the girl's faint, feverish murmurs.
"Kudo… Kudo Shinichi… Kudo Shinichi…"
"Run… away…"
"Ka… Kazawa… wuu… Ka… zawa…"
——
"Sister Akemi? Sister Akemi?" Kazawa called twice. Seeing that Miyano Akemi was still blankly staring at the newspaper, he reached out and tugged it from her hands—it had been ten minutes.
Feeling the tug, Miyano Akemi finally returned to herself. She looked up at Kazawa across the table. "What is it?"
"You're asking me? I should be asking you. You've been acting weird—are you okay?" Kazawa leaned closer, studying her face. "I called you so many times. You've seemed uneasy all day."
Miyano Akemi placed a hand on her chest, not replying.
Her heart was pounding wildly under her palm—but it seemed to skip a beat every so often. She wasn't sure if it was psychosomatic or something more.
Since waking up this morning, she'd been overwhelmed by a strange, oppressive sense of dread.
"I'm not sure," she admitted quietly, eyelashes lowering. "I keep feeling… this strange tightness in my chest. Maybe it's because I stayed up too late last night."
Tightness?
Kazawa bit his juice straw and went quiet. He couldn't say what he was thinking or feeling.
"…What are you two talking about?" Xingchuan Hui returned to the table, placing a chilled soda on it.
"Now that you mention it," Kazawa muttered, "I feel a little uneasy too." He tilted his head, listening to the distant beach noise.
After Jiang Yuan Shinan's disappearance, the event attendees seemed to have accepted that he was the elusive organizer—probably mentally unstable, too.
Since the "Dark Night Baron" virus hadn't appeared, and the so-called Baron only left behind one costume, many of the IT experts who had come to the Izu Princess Hotel in hopes of acquiring it left in disappointment. The rest stayed behind to enjoy the last day and night of their discounted vacation.
After all, they'd already paid.
With the same mindset, Kogoro Mouri, who had zero intention of hunting down the Dark Night Baron, readily accepted Kazawa's invitation to stay. He remained at the hotel with Conan and Ran.
Aside from Kazawa's group, everyone else—including Conan, who had made progress in his investigation—was in good spirits. In the pleasant afternoon sea breeze, they headed for the hotel's private beach to play in the water.
Kazawa had even disguised Miyano Akemi and Xingchuan Hui to let them join in.
"Alright, Kazawa." Seeing he was clearly bothered, Miyano Akemi patted his arm. "It's probably nothing. You said we came here to relax—so let's enjoy ourselves."
Not far away on the beach, a group of young people in swimsuits were energetically playing volleyball.
Mao Lilan jumped high and spiked the ball hard over the net—it slammed into the sand on the other side.
Bang!
Boom!
A thunderous explosion drew pedestrians' attention. Despite the heavy rain, people on both sides of the road lifted their umbrellas to look.
From a tall pharmaceutical building, a burst of flames shattered the glass facade. Debris rained down, triggering screams.
Smoke from the explosion billowed into the stormy skies, climbing upward and merging with the low-hanging clouds—smothering Tokyo in a dark, toxic haze.