Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

"You mean, my uncle and aunt realized the existence of the cognitive world?" Miyano Akemi frowned and began to seriously consider his words.

"I think they must have had some sense of this special power." Kazawa raised his hand and briefly switched into the Phantom Thief Suit. "The cognitive world is not an independent existence—it's a shadow of the real world. My recovery wasn't accidental. But I don't think they ever showed this power in front of the organization."

"Hmm... Maybe I need to ask Shiho about this." Miyano Akemi thought for a moment, but came to no conclusion. She shook her head and said, "Although I worked as an assistant researcher for a short time, it was only because of Shiho's connection with my uncle and aunt. What the organization needed wasn't professional talent, but a trustworthy data recorder to help input confidential experiment data. I'm not like Shiho—I don't have much talent in biopharmaceuticals. Shiho assisted my uncle and others for a long time. Many of the drugs were developed by her. She knows the research content best."

Kazawa blinked curiously: "So, Mingmei, what did you study in college?"

"Accounting and auditing." Miyano Akemi smiled, finally dispelling some of her earlier gloom. "When I picked this major, the organization didn't stop me. Maybe they also lacked people in accounting."

Xingchuan Hui nodded understandingly. "Ah, that makes sense. The organization has a lot of black income from unknown sources. It's difficult to involve external personnel in their finances… Hmm? Kazawa?"

He was interrupted by Kazawa suddenly standing up. Xingchuan Hui looked at him in confusion as Kazawa walked over in two steps and grabbed Miyano Akemi's hands.

"Sister Mingmei..." Kazawa raised his face and looked at her with a pitiful and teary expression. "This is perfect—save the child!"

"...Huh?" Miyano Akemi blinked in confusion.

Kazawa clapped his hands together, and when he opened them again, two gold coins appeared in his palms like magic.

"What is this...?" Miyano Akemi hesitated and gently touched the coins with her fingertips.

"It's a long story. Basically—" Kazawa cleared his throat, "they're a batch of Byzantine gold coins stolen by a robbery gang across Europe..."

Miyano Akemi's fingers stiffened. She picked one of the coins up in disbelief, shook it gently, and felt its weight—something felt off.

In a very quiet voice, she asked, "How many gold coins like this do you have?"

"Um..." Kazawa glanced at the item count in his inventory and said hesitantly, "There's still... over 14,000 left?"

Miyano Akemi's fingers trembled, and the coin fell back into Kazawa's hands.

"And also, uh..." Kazawa looked down, did a quick mental calculation, then added, "There's also about 80 million yen in cash... of unclear origin."

"How much?"

"Over 80 million..."

Miyano Akemi took a deep breath, turned her head dizzily, grabbed the coffee on the table and took a large gulp.

Then, she touched her forehead, looked around, pulled two sheets of stationery from under the coffee table, and placed them on the marble tabletop.

Her damp hair was tossed behind her neck, and the rolled-up sleeves of her oversized men's shirt revealed her forearms. Her expression was even more serious than when she had been discussing the Kazawa family just now.

"Exact quantities, exact amounts. What's been spent, what's left, what it was used for," Miyano Akemi picked up a pen and hovered it over the paper with the authority of a detective interrogating a suspect. "Tell me everything—list it all!"

——

"What's wrong with you? Didn't sleep well last night?" Amuro Toru waved his hand in front of Kazawa, who was staring blankly at the sunny-side-up egg on his plate.

"Nothing," Kazawa muttered, chewing on his straw. "I just think overtime accountants doing financial audits are really terrifying..."

Toru Amuro didn't understand, but he was used to Kazawa saying weird things now and then. For someone who could match his Bourbon persona in sarcasm, it was normal to have some odd thoughts.

"I don't get what you're saying, but what happened yesterday?" Amuro Toru lowered his voice. "The organization made some big moves yesterday. You were acting under the identity of Akechi Goro. Was that related?"

Kazawa took a sip of juice, curled his lips, and whispered back: "Somewhat. But the main operator was Gin. The three criminals from the one-billion-yen robbery were all killed one after another."

"I know about that. But were they connected to the organization?" Amuro Toru frowned.

The one-billion-yen robbery was making headlines. Not only people like Amuro Toru with inside connections knew about it—media reporters had also picked up on the story. Early this morning, the deaths of the three robbers from internal conflict had become front-page news.

And Toru Amuro, who had sources inside the police, also knew one of the criminals was shot dead in the police station.

With that in mind, he turned to Kazawa. "The woman who died at the dock... You were the sniper last night?"

"Yeah, that was me," Kazawa admitted without hesitation, then glanced at Amuro Toru and added, "But I didn't kill anyone. I just helped clean up the scene."

Hearing that, Amuro Toru was slightly relieved, but then frowned again. "It was Gin again, wasn't it? I told you, if Gin gives you a difficult order, tell me first. What if he really makes you carry out an assassination—what would you do?"

"Then I'll shoot without hesitation." Kazawa picked up the sunny-side-up egg with a fork. The soft yolk burst and flowed onto the plate. "I've said before—I'm ready for this path. If one day you need to kill me to protect your undercover identity and avoid suspicion, you have to shoot without hesitation, senpai."

Amuro Toru watched Kazawa poke at the runny yolk again with a raised eyebrow.

This really was…

"Don't say such depressing things, kid. What kind of man do you think I am, falling into that kind of desperate situation?" Amuro Toru reached over and ruffled Kazawa's hair hard. "And stop messing with your egg! It's annoying to wash dishes like that!"

"Hey, hey, not again!" Kazawa quickly tried to protect his hair, which was on the verge of collapse.

After messing up Kazawa's hair until it frizzed with static, Amuro Toru let go and looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. Then he leaned in closer again, voice dropping: "Anyway, I won't let myself fall into that kind of trap. Don't go making sacrifices without telling anyone. Trust your teammates. No matter how bad the situation is, I'll find a way out—so stop saying stuff like that."

Kazawa paused for a second while trying to fix his hair, then resumed combing it back without replying or spouting more nonsense.

Was he thinking of Furuya Rei's close friend, Zhu Fu Jingguang?

Kazawa tilted his head, quickly changing the subject: "The one who was silenced inside the police station—this clue is worth following. The organization has moles inside the police, no doubt about that. It's rare for them to take this kind of step. We can't let it slide."

"I understand." Amuro Toru leaned on the bar, smiling confidently. "This time, we might catch one of the key players in your case. Kazami has found something new. Wait for my update, junior—and behave. It's not your place to lecture me as a newbie."