Chapter 372: Fake Wine vs. Watered-Down Wine

Double Chapter

When the words "someone who looks exactly like me" came up, one particular face immediately flashed in Amuro Tooru's mind:

—Vermouth. The disguise expert from the organization.

And if it was her, then she should be upstairs right now. Otherwise, Sakaguchi Tomomi wouldn't be looking at him like her entire worldview had just collapsed. At most, she'd just wonder why "Amuro Tooru" had suddenly taken up delivering takeout, not look like she'd just seen a ghost.

With that in mind, Amuro calmly walked back to the stunned actress.

Under her terrified, stiff gaze, he politely took the oversized takeout bag from her arms and said with a pleasant smile, "It's a bit too heavy. I'll carry it up for you."

If there were any building guards or checkpoints, he could try bluffing through with the takeout. As he recalled, the top floor of this place was being used to film some slowly dying monster movie.

And in a dying studio, security usually died first.

…

Meanwhile, Conan had made up his mind to confirm the identity of the suspicious person. He discreetly flipped open the face of his watch.

—If the guy was on high alert and he couldn't reach their face in time, he'd go for the tranquilizer dart. After all, the dart had longer range than his arm.

At that moment, "Amuro Tooru" finished fiddling with some equipment. He straightened up and casually walked toward Jiangxia and Conan, his expression neutral, but for some reason, he seemed… oddly cheerful.

Halfway across the studio, the door suddenly opened.

And the real Amuro Tooru stepped in, carrying the giant paper bag of takeout. His gaze swept the room, quickly locking onto Jiangxia… and then onto the other "Amuro Tooru."

The fake Amuro paused mid-step and turned to look at the doorway, narrowing their eyes slightly.

The moment their gazes met, something passed between them. Recognition. Calculation. Murderous vibes. A full-blown silent kaboom of you know I know you know I know.

Killing intent flared on both sides.

Jiangxia blinked, mildly surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. So, silently, he threw out his ghosts.

—If nothing else, he could harvest some killing intent to help pay the bills.

Vermouth's was usually high-quality stuff, but Amuro's was rare. Last time, his killing intent had peeked out, sniffed the air, then vanished. This time it actually stuck around for a bit.

Though both of these undercover booze bottles were clearly not as intense as Gin, in a public place like this, it was unlikely they'd immediately pull out weapons and start a shootout.

So Jiangxia continued watching with a relaxed expression.

Just then, the mermaid shikigami swam back, humming cheerfully with a fluffy ball of killing intent in her arms.

Jiangxia gave her a sidelong glance—she'd just been over by Amuro…

While everyone else was still gaping at the two identical Amuros, Jiangxia nonchalantly reached out, pinched the killing intent ball from the mermaid's arms, and examined it.

Huh… Coffee flavored?

So Bourbon really did like coffee—not just for cover, but as a lifestyle choice?

He'd assumed that with a name like "Bourbon," his killing intent would taste like something classier. Didn't expect it to be just… coffee. Well, at least it wasn't something bizarre like sandwiches.

In a way, coffee had its own gravitas—it just ran in a different direction than Jiangxia had assumed.

…

The real Amuro hadn't exactly snuck in quietly.

So naturally, not just Jiangxia and Vermouth, but the other staff and the Detective Boys also noticed the shift in atmosphere.

A beat later, someone muttered, "Twins?"

Vermouth, naturally, picked up on that. She gave a casual, polished smile and walked over to Amuro. Then, turning to the staff, she gestured smoothly. "This is my twin brother—Amuro Akira."

Jiangxia: "…"

Conan's gaze flicked back and forth between the two "Amuros." Vermouth's act was so smooth, he started to wonder if Amuro really did have a twin brother.

Amuro Tooru's eye twitched noticeably at that introduction.

But he recovered quickly and addressed the others, "Seems like everyone's on a break. I'd like to speak with him privately, if you don't mind."

He handed the takeout bag to a nearby crew member. Then, slipping an arm over Vermouth's shoulder, he steered her toward the door. Vermouth lifted her hand in tandem, striking the pose of casual, friendly coworkers.

Of course, one of them had a concealed blade between their fingers, and the other had a mini pistol tucked into a loose sleeve.

Two identical faces. One tension-charged standoff. Jiangxia almost expected dramatic violin music to kick in.

The next moment, the two alcohol-flavored assassins exited without another word, slipping through the door and vanishing into the corridor.

Jiangxia: "…"

Conan narrowed his eyes. Even though he hadn't seen any weapons, the vibe had been more than enough.

Yeah, those two really don't seem to get along…

Which made one thing clear: Mr. Amuro probably wasn't Anonymous.

In fact, after watching that little exchange, Conan was now pretty sure the "lighting assistant" from earlier was the real Anonymous—someone in disguise who had been caught completely off guard by the sudden arrival of the real Amuro.

Conan looked toward the hallway where the two had disappeared, tempted to follow.

But before he could take a step, an imposing voice cut through the air behind him.

A man in a suit had appeared in the studio at some point.

—Producer Kamei.

He glanced first at the "Gomera" suit, only slightly taller than a grown man, then at the three wide-eyed children clustered around it. His expression was somewhere between disdain and condescension.

"So disappointed, aren't you?" he sneered. "There's no real Gomera. Just old cloth suits stuffed with even older men. What a joke. Good thing this relic of a series is finally ending."

Director Mikami, who had been chatting nearby, frowned and turned around. "They're just visiting kids. Please don't say things like that in front of them."

But Producer Kamei ignored him, continuing to rant. He slammed the music, insulted the actors, mocked the special effects, and even took a jab at Gomera's outdated design. Only after venting all this did he stroll away to find lunch.

He had clearly grown tired of the Gomera films and everything they represented.

The mood in the studio sank.

The cast and crew had heard plenty of industry gripes before, but something about hearing it this bluntly—and in front of the kids—cast a shadow over the set.

Even Gomera looked a little deflated.

Director Mikami cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed. "Ah—right. Yesterday's footage has been developed. Everyone, let's head to the screening room and check it out."

The staff nodded in agreement.

But it wasn't suitable for the guests to join them.

The actor who had just peeled off the Gomera suit—Matsui Shugo—wiped sweat from his face with a towel and offered naturally, "I'll take the guests on a tour of the studio."

As he spoke, his gaze briefly flicked toward Jiangxia, somewhat hesitant.

Jiangxia glanced at the faint trace of killing intent lingering on Matsui Shugo, then patted Conan on the shoulder. "You go with the kids. The equipment here is delicate—don't let them break anything."

Conan sensed Jiangxia was planning to track down the two Amuros and immediately squashed his own urge to follow.

…If Amuro really got into a confrontation with Anonymous, Jiangxia was clearly the more appropriate one to step in. He, after all, was just an elementary schooler with one tranquilizer dart and zero backup.

If he accidentally tranquilized Amuro, no one could guess how that shady, kidnapping-prone Anonymous might react.

And if he darted Anonymous instead, and Amuro tried to hand her over to the cops… who knew what kind of secret protocols her mysterious organization had? What if they silenced members for leaking identities like the Black Organization did? If that started a bloodbath… well, that wasn't the kind of action scene Conan was aiming for.

All things considered, Jiangxia was the safer bet.

Plus, both suspects had odd ties to him—Amuro had some form of rapport, at least. And Anonymous, for some reason, acted weirdly soft around Jiangxia too.

…Maybe the situation could de-escalate just because of him.

Conan nodded subtly and turned to the kids chattering around Matsui Shugo, quietly praying for peace on Earth.

…

Amuro and Vermouth had left quickly, while Jiangxia had been briefly stalled by Producer Kamei's nonsense.

By the time he stepped into the corridor, both suspects were long gone.

But luckily, Jiangxia had assigned ghosts to tail both of them. He could track them anywhere.

He focused for a moment, located their auras, and swiftly passed through the hallway into the stairwell.

After descending a few floors, he headed toward an empty office.

Instead of barging in, he paused and tapped into his ghost's vision to peek inside.

The office was a mess. Items scattered, a table knocked over. Vermouth had already shed her disguise, revealing her true face. Judging by the disarray, there had been a brief conflict—but it looked like they'd worked something out.

From what Jiangxia could tell, the counterfeit booze and the watered-down liquor had reached a short-term truce.

Almost all the killing intent from Amuro Tooru had vanished. Vermouth's, on the other hand, had intensified.

In short, it looked like she'd been the one who took the loss this time.

A crowd of ghosts was still floating around in the heady scent of that fresh killing intent, practically drunk on it.

Sensing Jiangxia's arrival, the Tengu paused its harvest and floated over, handing Jiangxia the latest batch of killing intent and whispering a brief report of the events inside.

Jiangxia had already guessed as much before coming.

Now, hearing it confirmed, he learned that Bourbon had indeed caught Vermouth red-handed.

—Amuro had dug into Vermouth's connection with the organization's boss and used that info to threaten her. If she kept impersonating him and running around, he'd go public with the secret. And if she tried to kill him to keep him quiet, that same secret would be automatically leaked.

The secret wasn't fatal, but it would be… inconvenient. Politically, socially, organizationally. And with Vermouth's flair for survival, she could tell it wasn't worth it.

She'd weighed her options—"kill Bourbon" versus "deal with the fallout"—and realized Bourbon wasn't so easy to off anyway. She reluctantly lowered her gun and agreed to an uneasy peace.

No wonder her killing intent was so spicy today.

Jiangxia rechecked her through the ghost's eyes, then nodded to himself, satisfied. The boss might be aloof, but the information network was still producing results.

After double-checking the hallway and sensing no immediate traps, Jiangxia silently moved closer.

With two Amuros randomly showing up in one place, it would look suspicious if he didn't come follow up.

He moved silently—his steps light, no noise—until he reached the doorway, completely undetected.

Inside, Vermouth's disguise had been torn off, revealing her usual self.

Jiangxia eyed her expressionlessly and said, without surprise, "So it was you. I had a weird feeling last time."

"…Last time?"

Amuro's gaze, which had started to soften, instantly sharpened again.

So she's impersonated me more than once? he thought grimly.

Was it to get close to Jiangxia specifically… or did she have a broader plan?

Maybe she'd been pretending to be Amuro Tooru all around Tokyo, hoping one of his acquaintances would approach her first—and just so happened to run into Jiangxia both times?

Amuro frowned and mentally catalogued the people who knew him. Some were reliable. Others… less so.

If any of them had unknowingly spoken to Vermouth, thinking it was him…

His stomach turned. This had to be investigated thoroughly. Quietly.

Until he got a full picture, he couldn't let anyone in the organization find out Bourbon was undercover. Otherwise, they might set a trap to bleed Public Security dry.

Also, he needed to ask Jiangxia about both encounters with Vermouth when they were alone—without the risk of Vermouth listening in and connecting dots she shouldn't.

Right now was not the time. Too risky.

…

Vermouth, hearing Jiangxia's "last time" line, stiffened as well.

—Last time she'd disguised herself as Amuro Tooru to interact with Jiangxia and the Detective Boys.

And now, here she was again, same disguise, same Jiangxia, same set of annoying children.

She didn't need Amuro's level of paranoia to connect those dots.

Any decent intelligence agent would pick up on the overlap.

And if Amuro noticed those kids… one of whom was the enigmatic Conan, better known as the shrunken Kudo Shinichi…

Vermouth's eyes narrowed.

I have to cut off this conversation. I absolutely cannot let Jiangxia go into detail about "last time."

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 35/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:3/10*