Invitation to "Cocoon"

"This is truly remarkable..."

After James was rescued, he was left to his own devices. He watched the Junior Detective League members, his gaze lingering on Conan, lost in thought.

After a moment's thought, James looked away and then planned to quietly leave the scene.

After all, he's a high-ranking officer in the FBI; it wouldn't be good if he got caught and taken to the Metropolitan Police Department...

"Mr. James?"

Fujino had been watching James closely from the vicinity. Seeing that James was about to leave, he walked up to him, smiled, and grabbed him, asking, "Where are you going?"

"Forehead..."

James turned around and paused for a moment.

When did this guy appear?

"You are Mr. James Black?"

Sato Miwako, "Please wait a moment and come back with us to make a statement."

"But..."

James glanced at the black Chevrolet pickup truck not far away and said anxiously, "I have something urgent to do right now. My friend is waiting for me."

"Friend?"

Fujino glanced in the direction he was pointing and saw a man wearing a knitted hat.

It's obvious that it's Shuichi Akai.

"Oh... this friend of yours looks familiar."

Fujino smiled, as if he had suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, he didn't seem to have given a statement in the last bus robbery case either."

"Is he the one who got lost on the bus last time?"

Sato Miwako exclaimed in surprise, then continued, "Mr. James, would you please bring your friend along to give a statement?"

Shuichi Akai: "..."

Old Deng, you talk too much!

James: "..."

How was I supposed to know that someone with such thick eyebrows and big eyes wouldn't give a statement!

After giving my statement, I left the Metropolitan Police Department.

Fujino went to the parking lot to get his car, while the little ones waited at the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department.

"That foreigner seemed to want to leave before giving his statement, but he was caught by Fujino."

Ai Haibara pondered for a moment, then turned to Conan and said, "Thinking about it, something feels a bit suspicious. Don't you sense something's off?"

"There's nothing strange about him; I actually think he's a pretty nice person."

Conan figured that someone who liked Sherlock Holmes probably wasn't a bad person, and continued, "If anything is strange, it's just the name."

"Name?"

Ai Haibara thought for a moment, "James Bond, James, I think that's a pretty good name."

"James Moriarty."

Conan said, "This is the name of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis. But if you think about it, you probably wouldn't know this unless you're a Sherlock Holmes fan. Besides, the name James is quite common in England."

"That's exactly what you could think of."

Ai Haibara muttered to herself, "Besides that, there's another thing: he was with that man on the bus last time... and he didn't give a statement either."

"You mean that guy named Shuichi Akai?"

Conan didn't seem to care too much. "I think it's just a coincidence. After all, they're both Americans, and they probably don't like being questioned by the police."

"You're too lax..."

Ai Haibara glanced at Conan, feeling that this guy really didn't take the organization seriously at all.

Although she didn't sense anything amiss with the old man, she definitely felt the organization's presence from Shuichi Akai!

A Chevrolet pickup truck is driving on a highway in Tokyo.

"So, nothing unexpected happened, right?"

James wiped his glasses and asked Shuichi Akai.

"No."

Shuichi Akai, driving the car, said, "After all, we're just here for tourism."

"But those kids are really something else; they cracked the code immediately."

James leaned back in the passenger seat. "But speaking of which... the cop who noticed my attempt to sneak away was pretty good. He dragged us both away to take statements, but the way he broke into the car was really barbaric, just like the Russians."

"He's not a policeman."

Shuichi Akai deep voice, "He's just a High School Detective, who recently became an advisor to the Metropolitan Police Department. But it seems he's more than just High School Detective..."

"Oh?"

James asked curiously, "Could they be Russians?"

"..."

Shuichi Akai moment, wondering if his boss was colluding with Russia. Then, he lit a cigarette and explained in a deep voice, "I meant the look in his eyes. You can't be wrong about that look."

"I didn't see anything special, but since you've said so, he must be someone special... But since it's none of our business, let's not bother him any further."

James was used to this kind of eccentric behavior. He put on his glasses and continued, "But it really startled me. You actually cut off all your long hair."

"As the saying goes, rectify the image and start afresh..."

Shuichi Akai deep drag on his cigarette. "After all, my old flame dumped me."

"You still can't let go, so what?"

James continued, "Did you specifically call me here hoping to get back together?"

"Ah... I'm going to make him regret it."

Shuichi Akai voice, "He dumped me back then, and this time, he has to pay the price..."

On the other side.

Fujino took the children home from the Metropolitan Police Department, and then took Conan and Ai Haibara back to 5-chome in Beika Town.

"Fujino, the postman just delivered some mail, and there's a letter for you among it!"

Just as Fujino returned home with Ai Haibara, Akemi Miyano Fujino him a letter.

"My letter?"

Fujino glanced at the envelope.

However, they found nothing that could prove the other party's information.

"Yeah, I think it's weird too."

Akemi Miyano nodded. "This only has the recipient's address, and the sender's name is still HS."

"Okay, I understand. It must be the client's."

Fujino took the email and then returned to his room.

"HS..."

Fujino glanced at the sender's name and frowned.

Upon opening the email, I found a stack of 10,000 yen banknotes, a hard drive, and several medals.

The medal is white with blue stripes at the top and has a gray device at the bottom.

"Medals... and disks."

Fujino glanced at it curiously, then picked up the disk. "So what exactly does this mean... the information is on the disk?"

Fujino walked slowly to his large-screen computer, unplugged the network cable, and then inserted the hard drive.

Accompanied by a series of crackling sounds, a red mosaic suddenly appeared on the screen, followed by a recording:

[Fujino, it's an honor to meet you. I'm HS. You should have received the gift in the letter; it's an invitation to the upcoming release of the new-generation video game 'Cocoon' in two weeks. The money is my personal reward for inviting you. As for the purpose of my invitation... well, you'll probably find out when you arrive.]

"Biu—"

The buzzing sound was mixed with the sound of electricity again, the mosaic interface disappeared, and then the computer desktop returned to normal.