*Unfortunately, we missed out on the goal this week. Made a lot of progress though! Two more weeks of opportunity left to aim for Top 200 for fanfics released within 30 days (50 POWER STONES) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
At the Nichiuri TV Station...
Jangxia and Kudo Yukiko had already entered the shooting studio, getting familiar with the camera setups.
According to the station's rules, no audio or video equipment could be brought into the studio, so all guests and audience members had to hand their phones over to the staff before entering.
When the "man in black" called Yukiko Kudo, her phone buzzed in the small basket at the front of the staff member's desk.
The staff member smiled and quickly muted the phone to avoid disturbing anyone's work.
...
The call couldn't get through.
The man in black placed the phone down in silence, staring at the screen, lost in thought.
Conan, hiding behind the door, watched secretly. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the man in black seemed calm at first glance, yet there was something off when you looked closely. He seemed... flustered?
Conan scratched his head, trying to think. Could it be that Edogawa Fumiyo had done something weird and got caught by the police? That wouldn't be too bad—enemy count -1.
But just as he thought that, the man in black suddenly turned and walked toward the kitchen where Conan was.
Conan panicked, quickly moving back to his original spot, lying down and pretending to sleep.
The kitchen door creaked open, and the man in black stepped in.
He walked straight up to Conan, pushed him, and in a strange, hoarse voice said, "Stop pretending. I know you're awake. Where's Fumiyo Edogawa?"
Conan was too worried the man in black was trying to trick him, so he kept his eyes closed, remaining still.
The standoff lasted for more than a minute before the man in black sighed.
He removed his mask, revealing a face that was eerily similar to Kudo Shinichi's.
It was Kudo Yusaku, Conan's father. He squatted down, half-crouching, and poked the dirt-covered Conan with his mask. "Wake up. Have you seen your mother? We were supposed to meet up half an hour ago, but she never showed."
"..."
"..."
"?????"
Conan opened his eyes, staring in shock at the "black organization member" standing beside him, then jumped up in surprise: "??!"
...
To help her husband's plan to "make Shinichi experience the cruel world," Kudo Yukiko and Kudo Yusaku had split up that morning. Yukiko went to a hotel to set up a "crime scene," while Yusaku went to a vacant house. However, when he arrived, he found that his son was still there, but his wife was nowhere to be found.
Yukiko's phone wasn't answering and appeared to be out of signal range.
Yusaku left the empty house while his son was still asleep and began searching the area.
He went to a nearby convenience store but, due to the crowded streets, lost track of her.
With little information to go on, Yusaku tried to think it through.
Standing in front of the convenience store, he glanced over at the nearby subway station.
Yukiko's phone had been unreachable, likely because she'd entered a place with bad signal—maybe an elevator or the subway. But it was also possible someone was blocking her signal on purpose.
He ruled out the elevator; he had called several times over ten minutes, and Yukiko couldn't have been stuck in there that long.
The subway was unlikely too. Yukiko had no reason to just vanish into it, especially without messaging him first. And if it were a kidnapping, the subway wouldn't be the ideal place to transport a hostage.
It seemed more likely that someone had used a signal jammer to block Yukiko's phone.
But who would carry a signal jammer around these days?
The more Yusaku thought about it, the worse it seemed.
While Yukiko had been out of the spotlight for years, there were always obsessive fans with ill intentions. It could also be something more dangerous...
Maybe that "dangerous organization" had targeted them after they impersonated black organization members.
Yusaku's expression darkened as he considered this. It wasn't just about making a shrinking poison anymore; it was about how powerful this organization could be.
Worst-case scenario? The black organization might have noticed Conan's resemblance to Shinichi and was watching him instead of making an immediate move.
If that were true, then them pretending to be members of that organization would have been like walking right into the lion's den.
...The chances of that were slim, but if it were true, the consequences would be disastrous.
Yusaku returned to the empty house, grateful to find that his son was still there.
Relieved, he tried searching again for Yukiko, hoping she'd just missed him and had gone back to the convenience store.
But no luck.
After a few moments, Yusaku tried calling again. This time, Yukiko's phone rang, but she still didn't answer.
Could it be that the kidnappers had realized someone was trying to contact her and decided to stop blocking her phone's signal, hoping to speak with him?
Yusaku decided he needed more information.
His attention turned to his son.
Conan, still pretending to be asleep, was shaken by his father's actions.
Unfortunately, Conan didn't have any helpful information—he was more confused than anything.
Staring up at his father's face, he finally understood what Yusaku was asking and, after a beat, responded, "My mother?"
Yusaku nodded. "It's 'Edogawa Fumiyo.' She's using a disguise."
"..." Conan thought back to earlier and his dead fish eyes seemed to grow even more lifeless. "No wonder 'Edogawa Fumiyo' kept talking about 'Kudo Yukiko' when mentioning my family..."
Yusaku sighed, "At first, we just wanted you to understand that fighting against that organization alone is dangerous... But now it seems your situation is worse than I thought. More dangerous."
Conan, frowning, asked, "What?"
Yusaku explained, "Your mother's missing, and I can't get in touch with her. I've been searching, but I'm getting nowhere..."
He threw the rope aside and picked Conan up from the ground. "We can't stay here. Let's go. We'll talk on the way."
...
At the Nichiuri TV Station's backstage...
While father and son searched for Yukiko, Yoko Kinoshita excitedly watched as Yukiko Kudo removed her disguise mask, stars practically twinkling in her eyes.
As a huge fan, meeting her idol face-to-face, holding her idol's hand... even though the idol had a funny belly from the costume fillers, Yoko still felt like she was about to ascend to heaven.
Though retired for many years, Yukiko was still as cute and polite as ever, and she happily chatted with her fan. Soon, it was time to start shooting.
Jangxia sat at the table, observing the scene with mild amusement. It was a little chaotic, but he wasn't too worried. After all, he remembered that in the original timeline, Kogoro Mouri never missed a show. With that example in mind, Jangxia thought, I can handle this.
The recording went smoothly.
Despite the questions and answers, Jangxia, who had watched plenty of anime as a kid, was already familiar with the usual tropes in this world. He could guess the outcome from the get-go by just changing the conditions.
Reasoning wasn't about catching the criminal; no evidence was needed, as long as the result was right. The process could be completely edited, as long as it made sense.
Yukiko, sitting in the audience, watched Jangxia with pride, feeling that the skills she taught him were finally coming into play.
...
At the long table in front of the camera, four people were seated: Jangxia, the resident guest, along with the host and assistant—today's assistant was a special cameo by Yoko Kinoshita.
However, Jangxia was paying more attention to the host than to Yoko.
The host was a middle-aged comedian with a funny face. He radiated a lot of murderous energy.
It seemed like this was the guy who was going to pull something shady today...
...
During the live broadcast, an ad break interrupted the recording.
The host suddenly grabbed his stomach, groaning in pain.
Jangxia, concerned, asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... just... maybe the milk I had this morning went bad..." The host replied, calling over a staff member. "Where's Suwa? I haven't seen him this afternoon."
Suwa was the show's producer. Right now, he was downstairs in the conference room, waiting for the host.
The host mentioned him now, probably hoping someone would notice Suwa's absence... you know, just in case he needed an alibi after doing something questionable.
Jangxia sat quietly next to him, watching with mild tolerance as the host played his part.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*