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Chapter 213: Contacting the FBI
The dim alley was deathly silent.
Only the remains of the crushed bug lay lonely on the mossy brick ground.
Blake looked down at the fragments by his feet and crushed them casually with his shoe. The crisp sound of plastic cracking was exceptionally clear in the night.
Little guy, let's see if I can't scare you to death!
"Pfft."
A chuckle spilled from his throat.
Too easy to fool.
That high school detective, known as the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei Era, saw his IQ drop off a cliff when it involved Mori Ran's safety.
Since it was a vacation, naturally some entertainment was needed. Compared to simply buying property and enjoying food, watching the protagonist group panic and face a formidable enemy within the lies he wove was undoubtedly a higher form of entertainment.
"Run, Mr. Great Detective."
Blake tossed the handkerchief he used to wipe his hands into a nearby trash can and turned to walk toward the alley entrance. The street lamp stretched his shadow long and thin, projecting it onto the mottled wall like a monster baring its fangs and claws.
"Go infect that little scientist with this fear."
"Let me see what kind of sparks you can create under the weight of despair."
...
Haibara Ai's tea-colored pupils trembled violently, her already bloodless face now pale to the point of transparency. She knew the horror of that Organization too well. Countless bloody memory fragments surged up like a tide, instantly washing away her crumbling reason.
Thud.
As if losing the support of her bones, Haibara's knees went soft, and she slumped heavily onto the cold floor.
"Hey! Haibara!"
Conan was startled and instinctively reached out to support her.
"Don't touch me!"
Haibara slapped his hand away violently, shrinking back as if electrocuted until her back pressed firmly against the cold cabinet door of the lab bench. She hugged her knees, burying her head deeply in her arms, her small body trembling uncontrollably.
"It's over... it's all over..."
Intermittent murmurs came from her arms, carrying a heavy tone of crying and despair.
"If we are targeted by a member of a higher rank than Gin, we will definitely die."
"Kudo, you don't understand what that rank means."
Conan's hand froze in mid-air.
The scene in the restaurant resurfaced in his mind. The blunt steak knife piercing the palm and nailing deeply into the load-bearing wall. That inhuman explosive power, combined with the background of a high-ranking Organization member...
"Shinichi? Little Ai?"
Heavy footsteps accompanied by the rich aroma of coffee came from the stairwell. Agasa entered holding a silver tray with two steaming cups of coffee and some freshly baked cookies, a simple and honest smile on his face.
"What happened?"
Before the Professor finished speaking, his smile froze. He saw Haibara slumped on the floor trembling, and Conan with an ashen face, sweating profusely.
Agasa hurriedly put down the tray and stood helplessly between the two. "Did you quarrel? Shinichi, you're a boy, you should yield a little..."
"Professor."
Conan interrupted him, his voice as hoarse as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.
"The Organization's people have appeared."
Clang!
Agasa stumbled, his chubby body bumping into a chair nearby, making a loud noise.
"Or... Organization? The Black Organization?!"
"They found this place?!"
The Professor looked around in terror, as if a group of killers in black trench coats would break down the door in the next second and bomb this house full of warm memories to the ground.
"Not yet."
Conan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Now he was the only pillar; if he panicked too, it would really be over.
"That person's target right now isn't here, but..." Conan gritted his teeth, squeezing the name out. "Mori Detective Agency."
"What?!" Agasa cried out. "Ran?!"
Conan nodded, walked heavily to the lab table, pulled out a chair, and sat down, clutching his hair with both hands.
"That man is named Blake."
Conan repeated the intelligence he had eavesdropped to Agasa.
The Professor looked at Haibara paralyzed on the floor, then at the ashen-faced Conan, and swallowed. "Shinichi, are you sure you heard correctly? That man really said... he wants to use Ran as a test subject?"
"I heard every word clearly."
"If he really is a person of that level, and can even tease Gin casually..."
"Kudo, we can't win."
"Run."
Haibara suddenly grabbed Conan's pant leg, her fingernails almost digging into the fabric.
"Take your little girlfriend, take the people around you, run abroad, and hide your names."
"Don't try to resist. That kind of power isn't something a detective game can solve!"
Conan looked down at Haibara's fear-filled eyes.
Run?
Run where?
If that man really had his sights on Ran's physical constitution, if the Organization really extended its demonic claws to the Mori family... Under the heavens, where was safe?
Moreover, with Ran's personality, how could she run away with him to the ends of the earth without a reason? Furthermore, that man lived in Beika Town right now, right under their noses!
"I can't run."
Conan crouched down, grabbed Haibara's cold wrist, and pried her fingers off his pant leg bit by bit. His movements were gentle, but revealed an unquestionable resolve.
"If I run now, what about Ran? What about Uncle? What about those innocent people..."
"That bastard said he's going to give Ran her first 'medicinal bath' tomorrow."
"I don't have time."
Conan stood up, walked to the lab table, and grabbed the receiver of the landline.
"Since he's a monster that even Gin fears, since he's a biological weapon that transcends human limits..."
"Then we'll find a hunter who specializes in hunting monsters to deal with him!"
Agasa was stunned for a moment, then realized. "Shinichi, you mean..."
"FBI."
Conan's fingers pressed rapidly on the dial pad.
A long "Du—du—" sound came from the receiver. Every second of waiting was torture for Conan. Hearing the letters "FBI", Haibara's body stiffened, but she didn't stop him. She knew this was the only straw to clutch at.
Finally.
The call connected.
A voice, slightly lazy but sharp, came from the other end.
"Hello? This is the Kudo residence."
It was Akai Shuichi. Or rather, he should be called Okiya Subaru now. The pink-haired graduate student living next door who squinted his eyes and mooched meals all day.
"Mr. Akai, it's me."
Conan didn't use the voice changer, using his original voice directly. At a time like this, any disguise was a waste of time.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a chuckle, and the tone became serious.
"Calling me so late, Great Detective. Hearing your breathing rate, it seems you've encountered quite a bit of trouble?"
"It's not just trouble."
Conan's palm holding the phone was full of sweat.
"The Organization's people have appeared."
"And, it's a guy more dangerous and terrifying than Gin."
Inside the Kudo house.
Okiya Subaru was holding a glass of Bourbon whiskey, leaning against the window looking at the moonlight. Hearing this sentence, the glass in his hand paused slightly. His originally squinted eyes opened instantly, revealing those dark green, wolf-like pupils.
"More dangerous than Gin?"
Okiya Subaru put down the glass, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the windowsill.
"Although I appreciate your sense of crisis, in my intelligence network, the high-level executives currently lurking in Japan should all be under surveillance."
"This 'guy' you mentioned, what is his codename?"
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