Neon and Starlight

"So, what you mean is that APTX4869 really could rejuvenate a person's body, but it couldn't change their true 'core.' So even if an old person truly became young again, they would still rot away inside."

The neon-lit Tokyo nightscape outside the car window reflected across the glass. Ai Haibara watched the shifting lights outside and slowly nodded.

"I wasn't the true inventor of APTX4869. After seeing Vermouth, you may have already guessed as much." Taking a deep breath of the leather-scented air inside the car, Ai Haibara relaxed into the soft leather seat. "I probably hadn't even been born yet when Vermouth took a similar drug."

"Yes. While you are an unprecedented genius, there's no doubt about that, but no offense—based solely on the few years you worked in the organization, it would still have been impossible for you to independently develop such an astonishing drug." Tangze, still dressed as Akechi Goro, nodded as he held the steering wheel.

Ai Haibara agreed with Tangze's guess and explained, "Mm. From the materials I came across, the organization had long been using drugs to poison assassination targets while observing the symptoms. Kudo would only rank among the last few names on that list. At first, I thought the direction of my improvements should be reducing the mortality rate, but their attitude was very subtle."

To be fair, that was true.

Leaving aside anything else, the Koji Haneda case, which would later be mentioned and was closely connected to Rum, had happened seventeen years ago. Shiho Miyano should have only just been born then.

Tangze had always understood Vermouth's hatred of Shiho Miyano as an extension of her feelings toward Shiho's parents, as well as her unending hatred for this entire line of drug research.

The existence of Vermouth, the ageless witch,