Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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Putting on a white lab coat again after so long really gave him the feeling of returning to the research division.
Standing in front of the locker room mirror, Ritsu adjusted his outfit. The moment he pulled back the curtain, he saw Akai's getup and suddenly felt this mission might be a bit troublesome. No matter how he looked at him, this guy didn't resemble a researcher at all.
Long black hair, a white lab coat, and that expressionless face with a cigarette dangling from his lips, he looked less like an academic and more like some shady underground doctor treating thugs.
Especially with the glasses on, he practically embodied the phrase "refined scoundrel."
"Rye, can't you tone down your presence a bit?"
"Oh? What do you want me to do?"
"Smile?"
After a brief silence, that cigarette-holding face broke into a smile that was three parts mocking, three parts cold, and four parts indifferent. Akai even had the audacity to ask Ritsu what he thought of it.
"No self-awareness whatsoever… You'd better not smile."
It was unsettling. Even worse, there was a hint of… forced pretentiousness in it.
"Anyway, follow the plan. Use force if necessary, but don't kill anyone. Gin said this operation needs to stay as low-profile as possible."
"Understood."
Kyoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. had a total of five floors. The research institute responsible for the longevity project was located on Basement Level 1, making things more troublesome. If discovered, escaping from underground would be difficult, which was why this mission was assigned to two high-performing members.
After confirming everything was properly in place, the two walked calmly toward the main entrance on the first floor. At the door, they used fingerprint scanning. Once verified in the database, the bulletproof glass doors slid open.
Akai silently marveled at Ritsu's hacking skills. Maintaining a calm expression, he entered his fingerprint and was assigned a new alias.
Though… wasn't his name a bit too random?
Sato Yamato.
Call that name out on the street, and you'd probably get a dozen people turning around.
Curiosity got the better of him, and he glanced at the name tag on Ritsu's chest. He understood immediately.
Takahashi Kenta.
Equally common.
Wearing the organization's special operational glasses, Ritsu suddenly felt like diving deeper into technological research. If he could enhance the glasses' functions, it would greatly benefit future missions.
For example, while these glasses already had recording and thermal imaging capabilities, they lacked night vision and tracking functions. The tech department clearly still had room for improvement.
After exchanging a glance with Akai, the two split up. Ritsu headed straight for the elevator leading to the basement while Akai remained in the first-floor lobby, ready to step in through the emergency stairwell if anything went wrong.
The elevator doors opened slowly. After stepping in, Ritsu tapped his ID card against the scanner and pressed the button for B1.
Each employee's ID card served as a key to different floors. Some areas were restricted, like Basement Level 1. Currently, only senior executives and researchers involved in the project had access.
As for the emergency stairwell leading down there, it was heavily guarded.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened. Ritsu walked steadily toward the server room, guided by memory. According to insider information, the main server room had no guards, only surveillance cameras operating 24/7 with no blind spots.
Taking out his phone, he launched a program he had prepared in advance. Just like in past missions, he froze the surveillance feed for a short period, preventing anyone monitoring it from noticing anything unusual. Once inside, he resumed the feed.
After confirming there were no cameras inside the server room, Ritsu approached the control console. Plugging in a USB drive, he injected his program into the system and immediately realized this would take some time.
He tapped his earpiece twice and said quietly, "Rye, I've successfully entered the server room. What's your status?"
"No abnormalities. Your infiltration is clean."
"Good. Keep watch, I'll need some time here."
With that, Ritsu focused on cracking the system. Kyoto Pharmaceuticals' firewall and password protections were surprisingly solid, time-consuming enough to increase the risk of being discovered.
The dim server room was filled only with the sound of rapid typing. As the progress bar passed halfway, voices suddenly came from outside.
"Professor Chikazawa, where did you get those research documents? Based on my analysis, creating this kind of drug is definitely possible but the files are incomplete. It might take years to fully develop."
"That document was an unexpected find. Don't ask about it."
Research documents?
Ritsu narrowed his eyes slightly, listening as their footsteps moved toward the elevator. If he remembered correctly, the project leader was named Chikazawa Heisuke. The documents he mentioned were likely what the organization was after.
An "unexpectedly obtained" set of research files and he didn't even want his own student asking about it.
Clearly, this Chikazawa wasn't simple.
Glancing at the progress bar, now at 70%, Ritsu suddenly felt it was worth checking out Chikazawa's room. People tend to keep important things close to them.
Which meant, his bedroom was very likely where the documents were hidden.
Since no one usually entered the server room, this was a good chance to try his luck.
Ritsu was a man of action. Turning off the screen and letting the program continue running, he stepped out, making sure to freeze the surveillance feed again.
He made his way to the rest area on B1, located some distance from the research facility.
All researchers involved in the secret project lived there, including Chikazawa. After confirming no one was around, Ritsu crouched in front of Chikazawa's room and began picking the lock.
Kyoto Pharmaceuticals had clearly cut corners on employee accommodations. This kind of lock didn't even take a minute to open, especially for someone like Ritsu. He handled it in seconds.
Slipping quietly inside, he found the room surprisingly filthy for a researcher. The small space was filled with the stench of dirty socks, making Ritsu frown.
'Does this guy not wash his feet?'
Looking at the cluttered mess, he had to admit, it was almost a "natural camouflage." Hiding something in such chaos would be easy and the smell alone was enough to discourage anyone from searching.
After putting on gloves and a mask, Ritsu held his breath and began searching the room.
Hard work paid off.
Behind an inconspicuous photo frame, he found several sheets of paper containing research data.
But when he saw what was written on them and the obvious burn marks along the edges, his eyes widened in shock.