Detective Conan: The Teyvat Syndicate — Chapter 350

Chapter 350: The Shadow Approaching Haibara’s Secret (Part 1)

The engine of Diluc’s sleek car hummed softly as they merged onto the main road. Settling into the comfortable leather seats in the back, Conan couldn’t suppress the detective’s itch scratching at the back of his mind. He leaned forward, adopting his best innocent child persona.

“Hey, Brother Diluc?” he asked, his voice bright and curious. “Klee told us before that she believes in the Anemo Archon, Barbatos. Do you believe in Him too?”

Diluc kept his eyes fixed on the traffic ahead. His gloved hands shifted slightly on the steering wheel. After a brief, almost imperceptible pause, he gave a curt nod. “I suppose so.”

“Then why do you believe in Him?” Conan pressed, tilting his head with wide, inquisitive eyes, perfectly mimicking the boundless curiosity of a first-grader.

“Because the Anemo Archon is the God of Freedom,” Diluc replied, his tone smooth and practiced, yet carrying a faint edge of resignation. “Because of Him, we are able to live freely in this world.”

Even if that particular Archon rarely ever did anything proper himself, Diluc added silently, a dry amusement flickering in his thoughts.

Conan scrutinized the red-haired man’s profile through his oversized glasses. Something about the phrasing felt off. The way Diluc spoke of this ‘Anemo Archon’ didn’t sound like a man reciting religious dogma or praising legendary myths. It sounded entirely too grounded—as if he were talking about a specific, tangible person he actually knew.

“Then…” Conan opened his mouth to probe further, but a sudden tickle in his sinuses derailed his train of thought. “Achoo!” He violently sneezed, his small frame jerking forward.

Klee, who had been pressing her nose against the glass to watch the passing scenery, immediately whipped her head around. Her bright eyes filled with genuine worry. “Conan, do you have a cold?” she asked, leaning over the seat.

Sniffling, Conan rubbed the tip of his nose and offered a helpless sigh. “It might be because Uncle Kogoro kept coughing all night. I probably caught whatever bug he has.”

Sitting beside him, Ai Haibara had been quietly observing the exchange. She shot Conan a flat, thoroughly unimpressed look. “You should have at least worn a mask before going out,” she chided, her voice dripping with dry exasperation.

“Hehe.” Conan flashed a sheepish, apologetic grin, scratching the back of his head. “I kind of forgot to bring one.”

“I really can’t stand you sometimes,” Haibara muttered, rolling her eyes. Despite her cold front, she pulled her schoolbag onto her lap and unzipped it with a resigned sigh. “I’ll find some cold medicine for you. After you take it, please try to behave yourself and keep quiet.”

Her slender fingers rummaged through the bag’s compartments until she retrieved a small, unassuming plastic pill box. She popped the lid open and began carefully sifting through the assorted capsules and tablets inside.

Sitting right next to her, Conan naturally followed the movement of her hands. His sharp eyes immediately locked onto a cluster of distinct capsules nestled in the corner of the container. His breath hitched. Those looked exactly like the temporary antidote for APTX4869.

He opened his mouth, fully intending to whisper and confirm his suspicions. But before a single syllable could leave his lips, a pale, elegant hand reached back from the front passenger seat. With a swift, fluid motion, the hand snapped the plastic lid shut and smoothly plucked the pill box right out of Haibara’s grasp.

“Children shouldn’t just take medicine randomly,” Baizhu chided gently, his tone warm but carrying the unmistakable authority of a physician. Bringing the box to the front, he popped it open again and inspected the contents. “My, my, little girl. The common medications in your box are quite complete.” He paused, his golden snake-like eyes narrowing slightly in feigned curiosity. “Huh? There seem to be some pills here that I don’t quite recognize.”

Haibara froze. The interception had been so fast, so utterly casual, that she only processed what had happened after the plastic container was already gone from her hands.

Her heart violently skipped a beat, a cold spike of adrenaline flooding her veins. Conan’s sharp eyes hadn’t deceived him—she had indeed tucked a few capsules of the temporary APTX4869 antidote into that very box, just in case of an emergency.

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the fabric of her skirt. According to Conan’s previous investigations, this Doctor Baizhu possessed extraordinary medical expertise. If anyone could identify an anomalous pharmaceutical compound by sight alone, it would be him. She prayed silently that he wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

When Baizhu explicitly mentioned the ‘unrecognized pills’, the lingering dread in Haibara’s chest amplified into outright panic. Her breathing grew shallow.

Yet, she couldn’t simply lunge forward and snatch the box back. Baizhu’s reasoning was flawless; to any normal adult, a child shouldn’t be self-administering random medication. His inspection was perfectly justified under the guise of a caring doctor. Reacting too aggressively now would only shatter her facade of a normal elementary schooler, practically screaming that she was hiding something illicit. She forced herself to remain still, swallowing the heavy lump in her throat.

Fortunately, Baizhu didn’t seem inclined to interrogate her further. He merely offered a gentle, patronizing smile over his shoulder. “Remember, it’s dangerous to take pills you aren’t familiar with. It is always best to take medication under the strict guidance of an adult,” he lectured softly.

With practiced ease, he extracted the standard cold medicine, handed it back to Conan, and graciously returned the plastic pill box to Haibara.

A quiet, shuddering sigh of relief escaped Haibara’s lips the moment her fingers brushed the plastic. She didn’t waste a single second, immediately shoving the box deep into the bottom of her schoolbag and aggressively zipping it shut.

Conan watched her frantic, defensive movements out of the corner of his eye. His brow furrowed, a heavy cloud of suspicion settling over his thoughts.

Judging by the sheer panic radiating from her usually composed demeanor, he was ninety-nine percent sure that what he had glimpsed earlier was the actual antidote for APTX4869.

Damn it, he cursed inwardly. It was a pity she had hidden the box away so quickly. If he had been just a second faster, he might have been able to swipe a few capsules for himself, just in case he needed to temporarily return to his teenage body. But now, the opportunity was gone. He couldn’t exactly demand highly classified, body-altering drugs in front of Diluc and Baizhu without blowing their entire cover.

Resigning himself to his shrunken fate for the time being, Conan popped the cold medicine into his mouth and swallowed a heavy, internal sigh.

In the driver’s seat, Diluc maintained his intense focus on the road, though his crimson eyes briefly flicked to the rearview mirror. He watched Haibara secure her bag with a calculated calmness. Shifting his gaze slightly toward the passenger seat, he opened the organizational network interface in his mind and sent a silent, encrypted private message.

[Did you get the temporary antidote for APTX4869?]

Baizhu received the digital ping instantly. He didn’t turn his head, keeping his serene gaze fixed on the passing cityscape outside the windshield. His fingers rested lightly on his lap as he mentally replied.

[Yes, I secured two capsules. I was worried that if I took any more, Ai Haibara would notice the discrepancy in her inventory.]

Diluc’s expression remained perfectly stoic as he handled a turn.

[I heard from Kaeya that after obtaining the research data on the Silver Bullet project and Conan Edogawa’s blood samples, Lisa’s research at the base has made significant progress.]

Baizhu smiled faintly, adjusting his glasses.

[Indeed. She has successfully developed a phased antidote for APTX4869. Now that we possess the temporary antidote developed by Ai Haibara, Lisa can cross-reference the chemical structures and compare the efficacy of the two drugs.]

Diluc’s brow twitched slightly.

[A phased antidote? How does it differ from the temporary version Ai Haibara created?]

[The unique cellular regression effect of APTX4869 forcibly made Kudo Shinichi and the others roughly ten years younger, physically reverting them from teenagers into young children,] Baizhu explained through the silent link, his medical expertise bleeding into his tone. [Lisa’s phased antidote, however, is designed to systematically reverse a specific portion of APTX4869’s function, rather than attempting a volatile, all-at-once temporary override.]