Conan Moslin

【Confirm to submit the destruction record? 】

【Yes. 】

Shirley turned off the computer, and the black screen reflected her tense face.

The coffee at hand was steaming, and a piece of torn newspaper was spread out on the table in a crumpled state. Although the handwriting was no longer clear, the bold words "Guangtian" were extremely eye-catching.

"Your sister...is that her?"

Blanco left the newspaper before he left.

"...I overheard what Brother Smino was saying to another person. Gin and Uncle Vodka failed in their mission there."

There was half a photo printed on the newspaper. A child with his back to the camera was standing in front of a charred ruin with his head lowered.

"My classmate knows the child at the scene. It seems that he is staying at the home of a recently famous detective."

The knocks on the door became more intense, and the sound of the door lock opening became louder.

Shirley pursed her lips, tore up the newspaper and threw it into the coffee cup.

"Sister Shirley...it's time for my checkup."

"You must take care of yourself."

She swallowed the bitter coffee and the ink-stained newspaper mixed with unshed tears, and Room No. 5 that belonged to her was violently pushed open.

The only consolation is that the most perceptive Akutagawa Akira is not here.

Miyano Shiho has accepted the impending punishment, but she will never sit idly by.

She still has... one last fight.

……

Nothing much has happened in the past two days.

The days when students go to school normally are indeed the safest.

The holiday has passed, and Li An, who had been quietly waiting for things to develop, seemed to have returned to his normal student life.

Wait? Student life?

Okay, it’s still not normal.

The professor at the podium was lecturing passionately, while the students in their seats were either writing furiously or pecking at rice like chicks.

Li An quietly mingled among the students, feeling as if he was in another world.

How long has it been since you last attended a university lecture?

Li An calculated for a while and then silently gave up trying to answer this question.

Although he could have completed his studies before Conan's timeline arrived, like Miyano Shiho, Li An felt that it would be too tiring and stressful. If he skipped a very important stage in his life, he would have left many regrets.

Kaito is living his high school life step by step, and she certainly wants to have a peaceful college life.

Therefore, in order to prevent his university life from being in disarray, Kuria decided to take Yuko out of school before Kaito really became Kaito Kid, planning to use this "gap year" to travel.

By the way, get involved in some things and find out some truths she wants to know.

From the very beginning she was certain that Kaoru Sora's death was definitely not caused by APTX-4869, but it must be related to the organization.

Whatever the truth is, this year will definitely be an amazing experience for her.

Maybe I could write a book?

Although he was daydreaming, Li An was still listening to the professor's explanation.

"Natural cell apoptosis is a normal physiological process, but too much or too little apoptosis can cause disease..."

The lecture was held at Nanyang University, a two-hour drive from Beihua Town.

In recent days, people have been collecting information at various lectures in various places, hoping to obtain content related to the study of Tower disease. However, because there are not many cases and very few biology professors studying this aspect, there are almost no clues.

Moreover, studying tower disease can be said to be a dangerous thing. If you go too deep, you may be drafted by the organization.

If so, it is extremely unfortunate.

The professor in front of her was the person she had found who was most likely to understand Tower disease.

Coincidentally, the professor's surname is also Hirota.

"Among the known diseases, there is a disease called Thanatos, which is caused by disordered cell apoptosis. This disease..."

Hearing this, Li An immediately focused his attention.

After briefly introducing the condition, the professor mentioned one thing.

"Because the cases are so rare, it is difficult to conduct more detailed research at home and abroad... Even I have only collected a small amount of data."

"If you are interested in further research, I can provide some basic data."

To be honest, if the professor hadn't mentioned this, Li An felt that he might have secretly copied it at some point.

You know, she hates trespassing the most.

The two-hour long and obscure lecture finally ended and the students left one after another.

It's already lunch time.

After all the students left, Li An found the professor.

The professor pushed up his glasses and looked the young man in front of him up and down with some confusion.

The ordinary young man, who could not be recognized in a crowd, did not seem to be a student here.

He looks very much like one of his former students.

"professor……?"

"Ah, you want the information about Tower Disease, right? I have a backup of the information on a disk at home, so you can come to my house to get it. When you come, remember to notify me in advance."

Although he successfully got the opportunity to obtain the information and Professor Hirota's business card address, Li An was still a little puzzled: "Why are your information kept at home?"

"About a year ago, the researcher assisting me took a leave of absence and has not been contacted since then." Professor Hirota smiled kindly, not surprised by his inquiry, "So the research on Thanatos was shelved for a long time. It has not been restarted since then."

"At the time, I had other projects to follow up on, so I just kept the disk as a reference."

Professor Hirota put his hands behind his back and recalled what happened before: "I remember... his child seemed to be a Thanatos patient. He was less than ten years old at the time. What a poor little guy."

Listening to his description, Li An felt that this person's experience seemed somewhat familiar.

"Can I ask the name of that researcher? I seem to have met someone similar."

"Really? That's great." Professor Hirota was a little surprised, and then uttered a name, "His name is..."

Li An silently repeated the name, matching this person with a figure in her mind.

This person is... the researcher I met at Mika Pharmaceutical Company.

He is also the father of the tower-sick child who died as a result of kidnapping.

It seemed that whether for Miyano Shiho or for that researcher, she would have to go there again.