If there's a problem, it needs to be solved.
So, after a brief moment of thought, Vermouth pulled the old trick again—found the mystery number in Jiangxia's call history and dialed it.
"Beep—beep—"
A few seconds later, the call connected. A little boy's voice came through, soft in tone but with a completely adult vibe.
"Why are you suddenly calling this number?" Conan asked warily. "What happened?"
It was weird. Jiangxia never initiated calls to this line.
After all, as "Edogawa Conan," a certified elementary school student who required adult supervision by law (and also Ran), Jiangxia would normally call Ran or Kogoro if he wanted to invite Conan to go crime-hopping.
Even stranger: this wasn't the usual number Jiangxia used when reaching out to him.
In fact, it was Kudo Shinichi's number.
Usually, Conan was the one who screwed up and called people using his "Kudo" line by mistake—something about bleary eyes, too many phones, and habit. But Jiangxia? Never once had he misdialed.
So what was this?
Was Jiangxia too deep in a tricky case and just mashed the first number he saw?
—As a senior cadre of the Brainstorming Association, Conan's mind instantly spun up a mature-rated scenario. The kind with tension, shadowy figures, and clues spilling everywhere.
He wanted in.
…
Back at the other end of the line—
Vermouth had frozen.
And then—bam. A full-on emotional lightning strike.
That voice…! That's Cool Guy when he was a child!
Mimicking a voice precisely requires talent.
And Vermouth? Was a prodigy.
She was hypersensitive to voices—almost pathologically so. Years ago, as Sharon Vineyard, she'd been close friends with Yukiko Kudo. She'd seen little Shinichi up close. Heard his voice.
So the second she heard that familiar tone today, her mind lit up like a murder board.
Puzzle pieces started flying into place on their own.
She knew the real effects of APTX4869 better than anyone. Knew what it could do.
A single, terrifyingly plausible theory settled in her brain:
Cool Guy's still alive. He just got hit with a shrink ray.
…
"…Hello?"
On the phone, Conan had been waiting. Too long.
Now his voice was cautious, wary.
He was starting to suspect that the person on the other end wasn't Jiangxia.
Vermouth shook herself out of her stunned euphoria. Snapped back to the moment.
And then—just because she could—decided to cause a little chaos.
In Ran Mouri's voice, she sweetly teased, "This number? So you do have other numbers. Why didn't you ever tell me~?"
…
Several kilometers away—
Conan's feet locked mid-step.
A few seconds of frozen silence.
Then a thin sheen of cold sweat spread across his back.
"…Who are you?!" he shouted.
—Ran, calling Kudo Shinichi's number, and hearing him pick up, and yet not reacting at all?
Not even a "wait, what"?
Instead, she joked about "other numbers"? That wasn't her. At all.
Plus—wasn't she supposed to be at a concert?
Then why was the background noise so quiet?
A thousand red flags whipped through Conan's brain like shikigami on a rampage.
And he reached a very simple, terrifying conclusion:
That's not Ran. It's someone pretending to be her voice!
…
As he barked into the phone, Conan pulled out his "Conan" phone and quickly texted Sonoko Suzuki.
She should be with Ran at the concert. Better confirm that the real Ran hadn't been kidnapped, body-snatched, or otherwise turned into a shikigami puppet.
…
Meanwhile, back in the dusty supply closet—
Vermouth stared at the call log, eyebrows raised.
She'd honestly just wanted to stir the pot a little. Thought she could get a front-row seat to a very awkward "friendship triangle" situation. But she barely said one line and already got busted.
Well, that was fast.
With a resigned sigh, Vermouth ended the call.
Some days you're the European Emperor. Today, she was not.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 20/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:3/10*