Chapter 2170 - 2168: Upgraded? (How to Handle Evolution into an Orange Cat)

After the Mermaid Island incident, Fang Zheng finally enjoyed some relaxing days. Perhaps Conan had been behaving more restrained lately, resulting in fewer cases, and for Fang Zheng, his daily routine now consisted of checking company reports, visiting the Metropolitan Police Department (since he was still a special advisor), and then going home to rest.

Today was no different.

When Fang Zheng arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department, he had just stepped through the main entrance when he saw a female police officer in uniform with long hair eagerly wave at him.

"Hello, Mr. Fang Zheng!"

"Hello, Miss Yumi."

Fang Zheng smiled and nodded at the female officer in front of him, greeting her. The policewoman was Yumi Miyamoto from the Traffic Department’s Traffic Execution Division, quite a famous friendly face within the Metropolitan Police Department. Her favorite activity was organizing matchmaking events—well, if the department had a Women’s Affairs Supervisor position, Fang Zheng thought Yumi Miyamoto would be perfect for it.

"After work today, we’re all going to sing K, Mr. Fang Zheng, would you like to join us? Sato will be there too!"

Seeing Fang Zheng, Yumi Miyamoto approached him with a cheerful smile, grabbing his arm.

"Also, we recently got a few new girls in the Traffic Division, and they’re quite pretty, fresh graduates. Want me to introduce you to a few?"

"I’ll have to respectfully decline, as I’m afraid of getting jumped by a bunch of thugs in an alley."

"Hahaha, Mr. Fang Zheng, what are you saying, who would dare touch you?"

After hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, Yumi laughed heartily. As she said, despite Fang Zheng not having an official position at the Metropolitan Police Department and only being a special advisor, the department particularly valued Fang Zheng, even giving him an office for his work, and many officers had a good impression of him.

A large part of this was thanks to Fang Zheng’s Skynet System and his exceptional ability to interpret expressions, especially valuable to the Traffic and Criminal Divisions.

Previously, traffic officers would struggle with disputes about accidents, often becoming vexed with conflicting accounts and unable to easily resolve them without aggravation. Now, with the Skynet System, traffic officers can quickly resolve disputes by checking surveillance footage and presenting it to the parties involved in the accident, making it clear who’s accountable without having to argue excessively.

As for the Criminal Division, the main use is during interrogations. Not every suspect spills their guts like they do facing Conan, sharing even childhood bedwetting experiences. In reality, those who confess early and return home for New Year are few compared to the frequency of tough suspects faced by the Metropolitan Police during murder cases.

Scenes from TV shows where suspects tearfully confess after being treated to a bowl of pork bowl are fiction. In reality, simple-minded suspects remain tight-lipped, refusing to speak a word. The clever ones might bring a lawyer who advises, "Please don’t intimidate my client" when the questioning becomes slightly intense, sometimes driving interrogating officers mad.

With Fang Zheng, these issues dissolve away, as he’s unphased by their responses or lawyers present. He simply goes in, follows procedure, and concludes the interrogation—most suspects look at him as if they’ve seen a ghost and collapse, surrendering helplessly.

With time, news of a "mind-reading officer" in the Metropolitan Police Department spread rapidly, making interrogations much smoother.

Additionally, another reason the department is so amicable towards Fang Zheng is his plan to film a television drama depicting police conflict and tension with criminals, starring the rising star Yoko Okino as the lead actress. Fang Zheng planned to adopt the style of Serious Cases Unit 6, expecting it to easily attract viewers.

Thus, the department’s higher-ups offered their full support, having had enough of the media penalizing the police while favoring amateurs instead, overshadowing police officers during case-solving coverage. Take Shinichi Kudou, for example, who was dubbed "Japan’s police savior" by the media. An annoyance they can’t ignore.

Although Shinichi Kudou has disappeared, now there’s the "Sleeping Kogoro Mouri"...

From the department’s perspective, Shinichi Kudou was considered the most objectionable. Although there are famed detectives, they can tolerate them.

For instance, Heiji Hattori from Kansai, whose father is the head of the Osaka Prefecture Police Department.

And then there’s Shiro Uma, another high school detective, whose parent is a director in the Metropolitan Police Department.

The father is formidable, so perhaps the son solving cases simply indicates that "like father, like son".

As for the "Sleeping Detective Kogoro Mouri", he’s a retired police officer, strictly speaking, still within the police circle.

But what is Shinichi Kudou? His dad is a novelist, his mom is an actress, and he’s merely a high schooler.

And he becomes "Japan’s police savior"? Media, can you stop?

Moreover, according to media surveys, now Japan’s elementary students say they dream of becoming detectives, and the least popular profession is police officer, because "police seem incompetent compared to detectives...". News like this nearly infuriates the department’s top officials.

Therefore, Fang Zheng’s proposal receives full support.

Support, full support!

If you can help improve our image among the public, you’ll get whatever you need! How you want us to cooperate, we’ll do it!

Oh, speaking of which...

"By the way, Officer Yumi, I happen to have something to ask, you and Officer Sato for assistance."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Yumi curiously blinked and looked at him.

"It’s like this. You’ve probably heard, I’m planning to film a drama focusing on police work, and tomorrow the main characters will come to experience police life, see what a police officer’s day is like. Officer Yumi, you’re familiar with the Traffic Division, and Officer Sato is quite a figure in the Criminal Division, I hope you can guide her."

"Her?"

"That’s right. Currently, the main character we’ve settled on is the female lead. The drama’s storyline revolves around her joining the Traffic Division as a rookie police officer and inadvertently uncovering the secrets of a sinister organization, and then..."

Fang Zheng somberly swallowed back the phrase "shrinks in size".

"...In short, our script starts with the protagonist recently joining the Traffic Division as a rookie police officer, and I’ve heard you’re skilled at mentoring newcomers, so I’d like to ask for your help."

"No worries, leave it to me."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s request, Yumi happily patted her chest.

"But who is the main character you’re talking about? Is she really famous?"

"Yoko Okino, you should know her, right?"

"Eh—————?!"

Upon hearing the name, Officer Yumi widened her eyes, nearly letting out a shriek.

"Really, Yoko Okino will play a police officer?! Wow, that’s incredible! If the Traffic Division hears about this, they’ll be thrilled..."

"Wait, wait, wait, Officer Yumi."

Seeing Officer Yumi instinctively almost spread the news, Fang Zheng broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly pulled her back.

"Yoko will be coming disguised; I hope you won’t tell others about it, otherwise your patrol might be pursued by the media."

"Ah... that’s true."

Yumi had been overly excited just now, but being pulled back by Fang Zheng, she promptly realized. Indeed, while Yoko Okino may not yet be an "Emperor Superstar", she is an emerging idol star, which is enough to drive the media wild. If the news of her visiting the Metropolitan Police Department to experience life spreads, the whole department’s entrance will likely be mobbed by the media tomorrow.

Of course, Fang Zheng doesn’t like the media, but he doesn’t care.

Should any media outlet cause trouble, he could take Conan for a visit to their editorial office.

Guaranteed, that media outlet would soon become a prime target for their peers.

Hmm... Fang Zheng realizes he is getting better at utilizing Conan.

The next day, Fang Zheng drove over with Yoko Okino to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Now, Yoko Okino was completely in disguise. Her iconic long wavy hair was tied up, and she donned a modest outfit typical of a societal office lady, along with a pair of prescription glasses—the most magical thing about people in the Conan World is that just wearing glasses makes people unrecognizable.

In fact, after unraveling Conan’s identity, Fang Zheng curiously asked Ran whether she never found the bespectacled Conan familiar. Ran, feeling embarrassed, admitted that she did find him quite familiar after he took off his glasses but felt he looked like a different person once he put them on.

What could Fang Zheng say, but marvel at the magic of Conanology.

"Hello, I’m Yoko Okino, pleased to meet you."

Even though she’s already a popular idol star, Yoko Okino still maintains a very polite demeanor, bowing respectfully to Yumi—perhaps this is why Yoko has managed to survive several Conan film sets, after all, those who act high and mighty in front of Conan usually end up dead.

"Ah, hello, pleased to meet you."

Yumi Miyamoto hurriedly returned the greeting, while Fang Zheng nodded and looked at Yoko Okino.

"Today, Officer Yumi will be guiding you through a day in the life of a police officer, and I’ll be accompanying you."

"Huh? Mr. Fang Zheng is going on field duty too?"

"Of course."

Fang Zheng nodded.

"Since Yoko Okino’s agent can’t come, after all, an agent is like a celebrity’s business card; even if Miss Yoko is hiding her identity, if the paparazzi and media find out her agent is at the Metropolitan Police Department, it won’t make much difference than Yoko herself being there."

Fang Zheng has decided on the shooting schedule for this drama series. The reason he brought only Yoko Okino is because Fang Zheng knows only Yoko can withstand Conan’s Grim Reaper’s Aura. As for the other role selections, Fang Zheng already has plans.

That is, during the casting process, bring Ran and Conan to the film set, and after a round of Grim Reaper’s Aura cleansing, those who die are naturally eliminated, and those who survive are eligible to join the crew. This way, it avoids the tragedy of having chosen roles but then halfway through shooting, the actor dies due to the Shinigami Elementary Student’s Aura...

Fang Zheng still remembers watching an episode as a child, which recounted Conan going to Yoko Okino’s location shoot, with people dying halfway through filming... whether the production side went bankrupt in the end, he doesn’t know.

But now that Fang Zheng has choices, he certainly won’t make the same mistake!

After all, it’s his own money being spent.

"Mr. Fang Zheng can also be an agent?"

"Haha, don’t worry, I’m more familiar with this line of work than you."

Facing Officer Yumi’s curious inquiry, Fang Zheng laughed. Joking aside, in the World of Love, he once challenged simultaneously becoming the agent for 12 girls, so what’s one Yoko Okino? Piece of cake!

"Alright, let’s head out."

As it turned out, as long as Conan wasn’t around, a day in the life is quite uneventful. Yoko Okino and Fang Zheng simply followed Yumi to manage some traffic, issuing parking fines to violators, and before they knew it, the afternoon had arrived.

"Alright, today’s work is more or less done. How do you feel?"

Yumi continued driving while cheerfully looking at Yoko Okino beside her. Initially, she’d been a bit stiff around the popular idol, but after treating Yoko Okino as a newcomer for a day, the two gradually became familiar and less restrained.

"Yes, the feeling... seems very mundane."

Yoko Okino answered honestly.

"I always thought a police officer’s life would be tense, dangerous..."

"Honestly, we prefer days like this. It’s like being a firefighter; better to stay in the office drinking tea and playing cards than being on deployment, since when we really get tense, it’s trouble... ah."

At that moment, Yumi saw a police car parked nearby, with Officer Shiratori and Officer Takagi lounging there without much to do, so she quickly steered in their direction and parked not far away, waving at them.

"Hey, Shiratori, Takagi!"

"Ah, Officer Yumi, hello."

Seeing Officer Yumi appear, Takagi and Shiratori hurriedly greeted her.

"What are you guys up to?"

"Ah, we just received a report."

As he spoke, Takagi looked toward the restaurant behind them.

"Someone said they planted a bomb in this restaurant, so we came to check, but found nothing... probably a false alarm."

Saying this, Takagi curiously looked at Yoko Okino next to Officer Yumi.

"Who’s this? A newbie?"

"Yes, she’s the new transfer here today. Come on, say hello to Officer Takagi."

"Hello, Officer Takagi, Officer Shiratori, nice to meet you. My name is Okita. Pleased to meet you."

Being an actress, Yoko Okino skillfully smiled and bowed to Officer Takagi and Officer Shiratori, while Takagi returned the salute with a silly grin and Shiratori looked curiously at Yoko, rubbing his chin.

"This Officer Okita, she seems familiar... hmm..."

"That kind of pick-up line has gone out of style, Officer Shiratori."

Yumi playfully patted Shiratori, and at this moment, a familiar voice came through.

"Yumi? Takagi? What are you all doing here?"

"Officer Sato?"

Everyone looked up upon hearing the voice, seeing Officer Sato standing there, accompanied by Conan, Little Ai, Dr. Agasa, and the Boy Detectives... huh?

Seeing this, Fang Zheng raised his eyebrow and silently counted heads.

Officer Shiratori, Officer Takagi, Officer Sato, Dr. Agasa, Boy Detectives, Little Ai, Yoko Okino, Officer Yumi—hmm, all familiar faces, shouldn’t be affected by the Grim Reaper, no issues.

As Fang Zheng counted people, the casually dressed Officer Sato extended an invitation to Takagi and Shiratori—today was her day off, no work, yet somehow she had the bad luck to run into the Shinigami Elementary Student.

"We’re going to karaoke with Yumi later, are you guys coming?"

"Come on, come on, let’s go. I can introduce the newbie to you too."

This time, Yumi was also stirring the pot without a care, and Takagi hesitated for a moment before nodding. Shiratori, on the other hand, turned around and waved his hand dismissively.

"I’ll pass, not in the mood for karaoke today. You guys go."

As he spoke, Officer Shiratori headed towards his police car, and at this moment Officer Sato turned back to Yumi.

"We’ll see you later then. Be sure to introduce the newbie to us."

"Don’t worry, I’ll definitely surprise you."

Yumi grinned and responded, then turned back intending to drive off. But just at that moment...

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from behind, startling everyone.

"What happened? What’s going on?"

Yoko Okino also worriedly looked back, only to see Officer Shiratori’s police car engulfed in smoke, engulfed in flames.

What’s going on?

Seeing this, Fang Zheng was also taken aback, glancing at Conan nearby.

Your Grim Reaper’s Aura has upgraded again?