Chapter 25: Teyvat Organization
Ran leaned closer, her eyes tracing the smooth, glowing surface of the purple gem resting against Lisa's collarbone. "Is it... glass?" she murmured, though the sheer depth of the color suggested otherwise.
Conan, having just brushed his fingertips against the casing moments prior, knew better. It lacked the brittle, icy bite of ordinary glass. Instead, it hummed with a faint, almost imperceptible warmth. He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, trying to place the strange texture.
"Ah-le-le! How strange!" Conan's childish voice suddenly piped up, shattering the quiet curiosity. He pointed a small finger toward the kitchen doorway. Xiangling had just emerged, carrying a steaming bowl of soup, the fabric of her apron shifting to reveal a glowing red gem tied to her waist. "Sister Xiangling has a bead just like that! Did you buy them at the same store, Sister Xiangling?"
All eyes immediately shifted to the young chef.
Ran blinked, comparing the two in her mind. "He's right. The color and the outer casing are different, but the core design... they really do look alike."
Kogoro waved a hand dismissively, already reaching for his toothpick. "Oh, please. You can find cheap glass trinkets like that in any back-alley souvenir shop. It's just a coincidence."
Xiangling blinked down at her Pyro Vision. Seeing the intense curiosity in the detective boy's eyes, she simply unclipped it from her belt. With a casual toss that nearly gave Conan a heart attack, she dropped the glowing artifact right into Ran's palms.
"It's definitely a coincidence! You see these things everywhere back home," Xiangling chirped, wiping her hands on her apron. "I haven't met Miss Lisa before today. But hey, if she's Natsume's friend, then she's my friend too!" She flashed Lisa a brilliant, sunny grin. "You have to come visit the restaurant often! I'll cook up an absolute feast for you!"
Lisa rested her cheek against her hand, her eyes curving into amused crescents. "Mhm~ I certainly will. I'll be looking forward to experiencing Chef Xiangling's superb culinary skills."
Conan stared at the heavy, glowing red gem now resting in Ran's hands. His jaw went slack.
'No way. She just handed it over? Just like that?'
He had spent the last ten minutes calculating exactly how he might trick or cajole the chef into letting him examine the item. To have it practically tossed into his lap derailed his entire train of thought.
He leaned over Ran's arm to inspect it. Unlike Lisa's winged, circular casing, Xiangling's Vision was set within a sturdy, diamond-shaped frame. The gem itself was a brilliant, fiery red, housing a glowing symbol that perfectly resembled an abstract, flickering flame. He pressed his fingers against the glass-like surface. It wasn't an illusion—the gem was physically radiating a gentle, comforting heat, like a mug of hot cocoa in winter.
His mind raced, connecting the dots. 'The colors correspond to the elemental symbols inside. Red is fire. So...'He shot a covert glance back at Lisa's collarbone.'Purple... lightning? Electricity?'He chewed his bottom lip.'And what about the casings? Why are the frames completely different if they serve the same purpose?'
He scrutinized the two women. Were they lying about not knowing each other? He watched Xiangling enthusiastically describe a spicy boar dish while Lisa listened with polite, mild intrigue. No. The subtle distance in their body language, the polite boundaries—it was genuine. They really had just met today.
His gaze shifted to Natsume, who was quietly sipping her tea, watching the exchange with an unreadable, calm expression. 'Where does Natsume fit into all this? She doesn't wear one of those gems. Did she just happen to stumble across two people who possess these impossible artifacts?'Conan ruffled his own hair in frustration.'Damn it. Too few clues. I can't build a solid deduction on this.'
Lisa caught the boy's internal crisis, her lips twitching upward in a knowing, highly amused smile. Xiangling, entirely oblivious to the miniature detective's mental breakdown, clapped her hands together. "Alright, alright! Mr. Mouri, Natsume, eat up before the soup gets cold!"
After a few more moments of polite admiration, Ran handed the heavy red gem back to the chef. The rest of the dinner passed in a blur of excellent food and lively chatter. Once the final plates were cleared and Kogoro had thoroughly drained his tea, the Mouri family finally stood to take their leave.
Conan lingered near the doorway, his sharp eyes catching a crucial detail. Lisa remained seated gracefully at the table, making absolutely no move to gather her coat. "Sister Lisa?" he asked, tilting his head with feigned innocence. "Aren't you going home too?"
Lisa stood, gliding over to the entryway. She leaned down, her emerald eyes locking onto his oversized glasses. "Mhm. My home is quite far from here, so I won't be leaving tonight. I think I'll stay over and take the opportunity to chat a bit more with my lovely new friends." She reached out, her gloved fingers gently patting the top of Conan's head. Her smile was sweet, but her gaze was sharp enough to cut glass. "Are you satisfied with that explanation, little brother?"
A drop of cold sweat rolled down the back of Conan's neck. "Haha... I was just curious..."
Thwack!
"Ow!" Conan yelped, clutching the fresh, throbbing lump on his head. He spun around, glaring accusingly at the mustached detective standing behind him with a smoking fist.
"You nosy little brat! Why are you interrogating her?" Kogoro barked. "Miss Lisa can sleep wherever she damn well pleases!" Instantly smoothing his features into a suave, overly confident grin, Kogoro turned back to the librarian. "Miss Lisa, please feel free to drop by the Mouri Detective Agency anytime. If you ever run into any trouble, you can always commission me to—"
"Alright, that's enough, Dad!" Ran interjected, her face flushing with embarrassment. She grabbed the back of Kogoro's collar and began dragging him forcefully out the door.
"Ah! Ran, wait! I haven't properly said goodbye to Miss Lisa yet!" Kogoro wailed, his heels scraping against the floorboards.
Ran offered a hurried, apologetic bow to Natsume and the others before hauling her protesting father down the street. Conan trailed behind them, his steps slow and reluctant.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing back at the closed door of the restaurant. 'Damn it. I really want to know what they're going to talk about.'There was no way a woman as sharp as Lisa was just staying for idle gossip. He had missed his window to slip a bug under the table; doing it with Lisa watching him like a hawk would have been suicide. He kicked a loose pebble on the sidewalk.'I'll have to let it go for now. There will be other chances.'He narrowed his eyes into the evening gloom.'I just hope to God these people have nothing to do with those Men in Black.'
The moment the footsteps of the Mouri family faded down the street, the atmosphere inside the room shifted.
Xiangling locked the front door, flipping the 'Closed' sign to face the window. She spun around, her casual, bubbly demeanor tightening into something far more focused. "Alright, the outsiders are gone. Traveler, what exactly are we discussing tonight?"
Natsume pulled out a chair at the center of the dining table and sat down, gesturing for Xiangling and Lisa to take the seats beside her. She folded her hands on the tabletop, her golden eyes sweeping over her two companions. "We are discussing the future development and expansion plans of our organization."
Xiangling paused, her hand freezing halfway to untying her apron. She blinked, tilting her head. "What organ— Oh! Right! The Teyvat Organization."
Lisa rested her chin on her folded hands, a mischievous glint dancing in her emerald eyes. "Oh my. Xiangling, dear, don't tell me you actually forgot the name of our little syndicate?"
Natsume shot the chef a flat, deeply unimpressed stare.
Xiangling laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "Ahaha... Traveler, I'm sorry! It's just... there aren't exactly many of us right now, are there? It's literally just the few of us sitting in this room. And with Alhaitham off doing his own thing, we haven't had any big operations. After a while... I kind of just forgot we were a secret society."
The mention of the Sumeru scholar sparked a thought. Xiangling leaned forward. "Speaking of which, Traveler, have you seen Alhaitham lately?"
Natsume let out a long, weary sigh, the kind of sigh reserved exclusively for dealing with overly independent geniuses. "I haven't seen him in person. I've sent him a few messages, and he replies, but he absolutely refuses to specify what he's currently working on." She rubbed her temples, looking thoroughly helpless. "Not that I could control him even if I tried. I can only let him operate freely and trust his judgment. Don't worry, though. Alhaitham always acts with absolute discretion. I'll forward him the summary of tonight's meeting whenever he decides to check his phone."
Meanwhile, across the city, the man who supposedly 'acted with absolute discretion' was currently bypassing a Class-A security door.
Alhaitham swiped a stolen keycard through the terminal, his expression utterly bored as the heavy steel doors of Sherry's private laboratory hissed open. He stepped into the sterile, white-lit room, his teal eyes scanning the rows of high-end centrifuges and encrypted mainframes. His objective was simple: extract the replication data for the APTX4869 compound.
Natsume was right about one thing, at least—there was no immediate danger. The Black Organization's internal security was laughably rigid, meaning no one even suspected that a newly minted executive was currently raiding their top-tier research division.
Ever since Alhaitham had infiltrated the syndicate, he had made it his personal mission to avoid tedious field assignments. To secure a comfortable desk position, he had casually submitted a 'minor research breakthrough' to the higher-ups.
It was a stamina-replenishing serum. When consumed during a crisis or severe injury, the liquid rapidly accelerated cellular recovery, flooding the user's muscles with explosive energy and drastically enhancing physical output for a short duration. For an organization built on assassinations and high-risk operations, it was a miracle drug.
More, it lacked the lethal toxicity of their other experimental drugs. The only drawback was a brief period of extreme muscular fatigue once the effects wore off—a minor inconvenience that simply required tactical timing on the user's part.
The Black Organization's leadership had been ecstatic., their paranoia worked in his favor; they simply couldn't fathom that any rival intelligence agency would send a scholar of his unmatched caliber to act as a mere undercover rat. His value was too high.
As a result, Alhaitham had shattered all previous records for promotion. He was granted executive status and a codename faster than anyone in the syndicate's bloody history.
Bordeaux.
Today marked exactly his second day holding that title.
He approached the central terminal, his fingers flying across the keyboard with practiced, silent efficiency. The APTX4869 drug was the nexus of this entire world's timeline. It was the catalyst that shrank the detective, the very core of the Black Organization's deepest secrets. Mastering its chemical data was not just an option; it was an absolute necessity for the Teyvat Organization's future use. Whether they needed to manipulate the syndicate or negotiate with the 'protagonist group,' the APTX data was the ultimate trump card.
A progress bar appeared on the monitor, glowing blue in the dim laboratory light. Alhaitham watched the numbers tick upward, his face a mask of calm calculation. He never engaged in a battle where the outcome wasn't already decided. And to ensure absolute victory, he needed every piece of data, every hidden variable, and every trump card this world had to offer.
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