Chapter 388: Code Name Spider
Conan knew he had overstayed his welcome. The conversation was rapidly veering into dangerous territory—shadowy syndicates, international assassins, and covert operations. This was absolutely not the kind of discussion a seemingly innocent first-grader should be privy to. If he lingered any longer, he risked drawing suspicion, or worse, forcing them to silence him to protect their hidden identities.
Ganyu was one thing. From what he had gathered, the Teyvat Organization operated with a certain moral code and didn't make a habit of slaughtering innocent bystanders. Toru Amuro, however, was a completely different story. The Black Organization he served was ruthless, methodical, and notoriously unforgiving. A single slip of the tongue, a single misplaced piece of knowledge, and they would erase him without a second thought. He wasn't about to throw his life away over a careless mistake.
"Ahem, cough..." Conan forced a pair of exaggerated coughs, a deliberate reminder of the small child sitting right in the middle of their clandestine meeting.
He immediately contorted his features into a mask of pure, childish panic. He doubled over, clutching his stomach tightly with both hands, and squeezed his eyes shut until his face flushed a convincing shade of red. "Sister Ganyu, this is bad!" he whined, pitching his voice an octave higher. "I suddenly really, really need to go to the bathroom! I can't hold it anymore! Hurry, where is it?"
Ganyu blinked, momentarily taken aback by the sudden outburst. Her surprise quickly melted into a gentle, accommodating smile. "Just turn left after you leave the lounge, go straight down the hall, and take a right at the very end. You'll see the sign for the bathroom right there. Do you want me to walk you there?"
Conan shook his head so fast it was a blur, waving his hands frantically in the air. "No need, Sister Ganyu! I can definitely find it myself! Oh no, oh no, I really can't hold it!"
Without waiting for another word, he bolted out the door like a startled rabbit. His small sneakers squeaked against the floorboards as he vanished down the corridor in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only the echo of his panicked footsteps.
Amuro stood perfectly still in the center of the lounge. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp, tracking the fading sound of the boy's frantic retreat. He listened intently as the rapid patter of sneakers grew distant, eventually swallowed by the silence at the far end of the hallway.
He waited another ten seconds, letting the quiet settle over the room. Only when he was absolutely certain the corridor was empty did he move. His steps were silent as he approached the entrance. He cracked the door open, sweeping his gaze across the deserted hallway to verify the boy's departure. Satisfied, Amuro eased the door shut. The deadbolt clicked into place with a quiet, definitive snap.
Down the hall, safely locked inside a bathroom stall, Conan dropped his panicked facade entirely. His expression hardened into a look of intense concentration. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, specialized earphone, and pressed it firmly into his ear. A faint burst of static crackled to life, followed by the muffled acoustics of the lounge. He had slipped the miniature bug under the edge of the coffee table the moment he first walked into the room, a calculated risk that was about to pay off.
Back in the lounge, Amuro remained entirely unaware of the tiny transmitter stuck beneath the furniture. His focus had been entirely consumed by the captive sitting on the floor. Ganyu, however, let her gaze drift toward the underside of the coffee table for a fleeting second. A faint glimmer of amusement crossed her eyes, but she kept her silence, choosing to let the little detective play his game.
With the perimeter secured, Amuro pivoted on his heel. His gaze locked onto Spider, who remained slumped against the floorboards. The blond man closed the distance with slow, measured steps. With every inch he advanced, the warm, approachable smile that usually defined the cafe waiter melted away. In its place emerged the cold, calculating visage of an elite operative—a predator assessing its prey.
Spider watched the transformation with a mixture of wariness and dawning realization. He glanced from the locked door, to the serene Ganyu, and finally back to the approaching blond man. "You're working together," he rasped, his voice laced with disbelief. His eyes narrowed, fixing entirely on Amuro. "Which organization do you belong to?"
Amuro didn't even grant the assassin the dignity of a direct answer. He simply offered a dismissive, sidelong glance before turning his attention entirely to Ganyu. "So," he began, his tone conversational yet edged with steel. "This is the operative from the Zoo? The one constantly tangling with the Kaitou Kid?"
Amuro had done his homework. His internal intelligence files painted a very clear picture of the man on the floor. Whenever the world-renowned illusionist, Gunt von Goldberg II, began a global tour, a trail of high-profile accidents inevitably followed in his wake. Priceless gems vanished from heavily guarded vaults, and prominent figures met sudden, violent ends., the man had visited Japan on multiple occasions, and every single trip resulted in a chaotic clash with the elusive phantom thief, Kaitou Kid.
The pieces had started falling into place shortly after the incident on the Bell Tree Express. It was Cointreau who first mentioned the Zoo—a mocking moniker assigned to the shadowy syndicate. Lacking the group's true designation, Amuro had subconsciously adopted the nickname himself. Later, Kaeya had passed along a crucial tip: a suspected operative from this very syndicate had slipped into Japan and was recklessly causing collateral damage across the country.
A surge of quiet bitterness tightened Amuro's chest. He loved his country, but he couldn't fathom why Japan constantly served as a magnet for every bizarre, destructive underground organization on the planet.
"That is correct," Ganyu replied, her voice maintaining its calm, professional cadence. "According to our internal intelligence network, Gunt von Goldberg II serves as a high-ranking assassin for that particular syndicate. He specializes in advanced hypnosis and psychological manipulation. His designated code name is Spider."
"The Teyvat Organization's intelligence network is truly something to behold," Amuro remarked. He narrowed his eyes, a faint, dangerous smile playing at the corners of his lips as he looked down at the captive. "To uncover his official code name in just a matter of days... it makes my own efforts look rather amateurish. As an intelligence officer myself, I wasn't entirely certain of his true identity until you confirmed it just now. I must admit, I feel quite ashamed."
"Oh, please don't say that, Mr. Amuro. You are exceptionally capable," Ganyu said, hurriedly waving her hands to deflect the praise. "Our organization simply possesses unconventional methods for gathering information. It has nothing to do with any lack of skill on your part. The fact that you managed to trace the connection between the illusionist and the Kaitou Kid entirely on your own is already a remarkable feat."
Spider let out a harsh, dry chuckle, his eyes darting between the two of them as the realization finally hit him. "Well, isn't this interesting," he sneered, the surprise evident in his strained voice. "It turns out you two aren't even from the same organization."
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