Kanjuro watched Kogoro Mouri's face, which shifted colors like a palette, with great interest, as if admiring a marvelous play. He slowly stepped forward, ignoring Kogoro Mouri's instinctive retreat, his tone light yet carrying bone-chilling coldness:
"It seems I interrupted an... 'affectionate' call? Detective Mouri, do you mind sharing what you and Kudo Yusaku, far away in Hawaii, were just plotting?" His gaze was sharp, as if it could penetrate hearts. "Was it about me?"
Kogoro Mouri's face was ashen, cold sweat pouring down. He opened his mouth, wanting to argue or deny, but the invisible pressure radiating from Kanjuro almost suffocated him.
Just then, the phone Kogoro Mouri had just tossed onto the table suddenly lit up again and automatically switched to speakerphone—clearly, Kudo Yusaku on the other end had forcibly connected using remote technology.
Kudo Yusaku's calm yet warning voice clearly echoed within the silent office. This time, it was no longer a private whisper, but an open declaration of war:
"Kanjuro! I know you're there! Listen, if you dare harm a single hair on Kogoro Mouri..." Kudo Yusaku's voice carried an unprecedented sharpness and determination, "I, Kudo Yusaku, swear by all my reputation and resources that behind me is the entire FBI of the United States, along with all the special agent forces I can mobilize! They will launch a relentless pursuit against you and everyone around you! Until you are completely crushed!"
This naked threat exploded like thunder. Eri Kisaki's brows furrowed even tighter, and Ran fearfully covered her mouth, looking at Kanjuro with worry.
However, Kanjuro's reaction was beyond everyone's expectations.
He showed no anger, no fear. Instead, he started laughing softly, as if he had heard an extremely amusing joke. The laughter grew louder, filled with unconcealed mockery and pleasure.
"Heh... Hahahaha! FBI? Special agents?" Kanjuro stopped laughing, his eyes cold as knives. He turned to the ashen Kogoro Mouri, then looked at Eri Kisaki and Ran beside him, a devilish curve forming on his lips.
"Mr. Yusaku, it seems you still don't understand..." Kanjuro's voice was soft, yet carried a chilling implication, "The more you cherish something, the more I enjoy... destroying it right in front of you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't even give Kudo Yusaku on the phone a chance to speak again. He casually raised a hand and made a clear, cold gesture toward Eri Kisaki and Ran—a sign to "shoot."
"No!!" The roars of Kogoro Mouri and Kudo Yusaku on the phone erupted almost simultaneously.
Eri Kisaki's body trembled violently. She looked at Kanjuro's unquestionable gaze, then at the man before her—her nominal husband, but in reality, a stranger. An extremely complex struggle flashed in her eyes, but ultimately, that struggle was replaced by a deep, almost numb compromise. She knew that the price of disobeying Kanjuro was one that neither she nor Ran could afford. Almost instinctively, she tremblingly pulled out a delicate small handgun from her purse—a weapon Kanjuro had long ago "bestowed" upon her for self-defense (or rather, for moments like this).
Ran, meanwhile, was completely stunned. Tears instantly welled up, and she shook her head frantically: "No... Father (Kanjuro)! Don't! I can't..."
Kanjuro merely glanced at her indifferently. His eyes held no blame, no coercion, only a cold calmness waiting for the result. But this calmness was more oppressive than any roar.
Amidst Ran's collapsing cries and Kogoro Mouri's desperate gaze, Eri Kisaki closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her gaze was filled with deadly, icy coldness. She raised the gun and aimed it at Kogoro Mouri.
Almost simultaneously, under extreme pressure and twisted obedience to Kanjuro, the nearly broken Ran was also driven by an invisible force—or perhaps for a twisted form of "protection" (protecting her mother? herself? or avoiding Kanjuro's disappointment?)—and she subconsciously mimicked Eri Kisaki's action, raising her hand. Although she held no gun, the action and intent were clear.
"Eri! Ran! Don't!!" Kogoro Mouri let out a heartbreaking roar.
On the other end of the line, Kudo Yusaku's roar and pleas were drowned out by static.
"Bang!"
A gunshot, crisp and despairing, shattered all the noise.
Eri Kisaki pulled the trigger.
The bullet accurately struck Kogoro Mouri's chest. He widened his eyes in disbelief, looking at the woman who was once his wife in law. His body swayed, and blood quickly stained his shirt. He tried to speak, but only managed a gurgling sound of air escaping. Finally, he fell heavily backward, his eyes frozen in endless shock and pain.
Ran stared at her fallen foster father, then at her own hand, frozen mid-air in the motion of mimicking a shot. She let out a heart-wrenching scream and collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Eri Kisaki held the smoking handgun, her arm dropping limply. Her face was paper-white, and she stared blankly ahead, as if her soul had been extracted.
Kanjuro watched the scene with satisfaction. He walked forward and gently took the gun from Eri Kisaki's hand, as if tidying up a used tool. He spoke deliberately to the phone, which was still transmitting Kudo Yusaku's frantic calls and threats:
"Did you hear that, Mr. Yusaku?"
"This is... the consequence of defying me."
"I received your threat. However, I look forward more to... the day you come to seek revenge personally."
With that, he raised his foot and violently crushed the phone, cutting off the desperate and furious roar from afar.
Inside the office, only Ran's hysterical sobs, Eri Kisaki's deadly silence, a gradually cooling corpse, and Kanjuro's cold, triumphant smile remained.
Kanjuro looked at Ran, who was collapsed on the floor and nearly exhausted from crying. He slowly crouched down, not touching her directly, and spoke in a cold voice that carried a strange, soothing power:
"Ran, look up."
Ran tearfully lifted her head, looking at Kanjuro's handsome yet utterly cold face, which was so close.
"You are simply too soft-hearted." Kanjuro's tone carried a hint of imperceptible "pity," as if instructing a foolish child. "You must understand, Kogoro Mouri and Kudo Yusaku on the phone were plotting to kill your biological father—me. Being merciful to your enemies is being cruel to yourself. This is a lesson you must learn sooner or later."
Ran sobbed, tears continuously streaming down. She looked at Kogoro Mouri, lying lifeless in a pool of blood—the foster father who had raised her, who, despite his many flaws, had given her warmth and protection—and her heart was filled with immense guilt and tearing pain.
"I... I understand, Father..." Her voice was broken and full of struggle. "But... but making me... making me do something like this... isn't it... too cruel... I..." She couldn't fully articulate her feelings, which were a profound discomfort born from the forced distortion of morality and familial affection.
Kanjuro reached out and gently wiped away the tears on her cheek. His movements were tender, but his eyes remained deep as a cold abyss: "This is precisely for your growth, Ran. This world is inherently survival of the fittest, filled with betrayal and slaughter. Only by personally severing your weakness and abandoning useless kindness can you become strong, and only then can you... stay by Father's side forever, safe from being harmed or deceived by anyone."
His words were like a magical enchantment, constructing a twisted logical loop for Ran in her most vulnerable state—killing was for protection, cruelty was for growth, and obedience was the path to "safety."
Ran stared blankly at Kanjuro, her mind a mess. Fear of her father, desire for strength, powerlessness regarding the current situation, and the deliberately guided anger toward the "betrayer"... all these emotions intertwined. Finally, under the immense psychological pressure and twisted dependence on Kanjuro, the struggle in her eyes was gradually replaced by a numb acceptance. She nodded forcefully, as if trying to completely shake off her weak self.
Right then, from the wreckage of the phone Kanjuro had crushed, a faint, voice-changer-distorted scream from Conan miraculously emerged, filled with disbelief and heart-wrenching pain:
"Ran-neechan!!! Have you lost your mind?! How could you... how could you kill Uncle Mouri!! He's the one who raised you!! Ran-neechan!!!"
This voice was like the final straw, slamming heavily against Ran's heart, instantly jolting her awake and drawing her attention to this ill-timed source of sound.
Ran snapped her head toward the phone wreckage, her face showing a look of suspicion and uncertainty: "Conan?! Why... why are you with Uncle Yusaku?!" She remembered that Conan was supposed to be at Dr. Agasa's house or with the Junior Detective League.
On the other end of the line, Conan's (Shinichi Kudo's) voice stopped abruptly, clearly realizing he had exposed himself in his desperation. He stammered, trying to find an excuse to cover it up: "I... I am..."
However, Kanjuro didn't give him the chance. He let out a soft chuckle, filled with mocking insight and cruel pleasure. He looked at Ran and spoke in a flat tone, as if announcing a settled fact:
"Ran, at this point, do you still not understand? Or rather, are you unwilling to believe?"
"This Edogawa Conan, who has been by your side all this time, pretending to be a child..."
Kanjuro paused, then clearly enunciated each word of that name:
"His true identity is the one known as the 'Savior of the Japanese Police' who mysteriously disappeared long ago—Ku-do Shin-ichi."
"Boom—!!!"
Like a thunderclap exploding in her mind, Ran froze completely, her pupils shrinking to their limit.
Conan... is Shinichi?
That childhood friend she missed day and night, worrying about him constantly?
That Shinichi Kudo who kept saying he wanted to protect her, yet always mysteriously vanished and used all sorts of lies to brush her off?
That Shinichi Kudo she wanted to pour her heart out to countless times, but could only endure alone because he was "away"?
He was there all along! He had been lurking by her side in the form of Conan! Watching her cry in worry over his "disappearance," watching her step-by-step approach her biological father, Kanjuro... In an instant, all the past doubts and irrationalities flooded her mind like a tide! Why was Conan always so smart, with reasoning abilities comparable to Shinichi's; why did he know so much about the things between her and Shinichi; why every time she got a little closer to her father Kanjuro, Conan would always find excuses to interrupt and show strange emotions... So... so that was it!!
The anger of being deceived, hidden from, and monitored erupted like a volcano, completely overwhelming the slight guilt and unease she had felt from killing her adoptive father. She felt as though her sincerity had been ruthlessly trampled upon!
Ran jerked her head up, her eyes no longer filled with tears but with a blazing fire of betrayal. She roared at the phone wreckage with all her strength:
"Shinichi Kudo!!!!"
"You not only lied to me! You used such a ridiculous method to monitor me and toy with my feelings!!"
"You and your father have even been enemies with my father at every turn, wanting to kill him!!"
"And now... now you have the nerve to criticize me?!!"
Her voice trembled with extreme anger, carrying a sense of finality after her heart had died:
"I will never forgive you!! Shinichi Kudo! I hate you!!!"
Having said that, she ignored the anxious and painful shouts and explanations coming from the other end of the line ("Ran! It's not like that! Let me explain!!"). She slammed her foot down, ruthlessly stomping on the already broken phone, grinding it with her heel until the faint voice disappeared completely, leaving only the harsh sound of plastic and metal shattering.
She panted heavily, her chest heaving, her eyes filled with coldness and hatred after being betrayed.
Kanjuro stood to the side, watching Ran's transformation with satisfaction. Good, anger and hatred are the best catalysts for severing the past and turning completely toward the darkness. His daughter was finally starting to "grow up."
Meanwhile, far away in Hawaii, Shinichi Kudo could only listen in despair to the final static before the phone was completely destroyed, his heart feeling like it was being pierced by a knife. Not only had he lost Uncle Mouri, but it seemed... he had also forever lost the girl he loved most.
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