Chapter 145: Edogawa Conan: Am I an Illegitimate Child?!

A few days later, Heiji Hattori, who had been reading case files even in his sleep, was hauled out by his father.

"Dad, what is it? I'm busy learning how to write up case files," Heiji said, sitting opposite Heizō Hattori and letting out a huge yawn.

"Drop the act in front of me," Heizō said as he pulled a photograph out of a drawer and placed it on the desk.

"Are you looking for him?"

The photograph showed Gin in profile. Heiji rubbed his eyes. He had just watched the live broadcast a few days ago, but he certainly wasn't looking for the man. Why search for someone who was already dead?

However, Heiji had no idea what his father was getting at, so he simply kept silent and watched him.

"Stop making such a big fuss with your investigations. We have someone on the inside. If you really want to know, once you reach my position, I will tell you everything from start to finish."

Heizō's tone carried a hint of persuasion. If this kept up, he genuinely feared his son would drop dead from exhaustion.

"Someone on the inside? You mean an undercover agent!" Heiji's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Mm," Heizō nodded. "I can't tell you who it is specifically just yet."

This procedure was entirely normal. After all, the best way to protect an undercover agent was to minimize the number of people who knew their identity.

Yet Heiji felt as blocked up as if he were suffering from severe constipation. Aliens were currently wiping out the Black Organization; what would happen if they didn't pull their undercover agents out in time and they got killed?

"You're not going to tell me the person in this photo is the undercover agent, are you..." Heiji forced the words out.

Smack! Heizō picked up a piece of paper on the desk and swiped Heiji with it.

"What on earth have you been studying all these days?! If he were an undercover agent, would I be keeping his photograph lying around?!" Heizō scolded.

Heiji glanced at his communicator. Vernon hadn't sent any updates yet. He was bursting with a stomach full of words—things he wanted to say but couldn't.

"There's one more thing. Who on earth is that little kid tagging along with you?" Heizō stood up and asked. "Fake household registration records can't fool my eyes."

"Dad, what do you mean?" Heiji felt a bit nervous. Surely his father hadn't seen through Conan's disguise?

"He might be big trouble. Stay away from him," Heizō warned.

He was definitely big trouble, all right, but which kind of big trouble was his father talking about?

Heiji hesitated for a moment, then probed cautiously, "What kind of big trouble could he be?"

"He might be Yūsaku Kudō's illegitimate child," Heizō sighed heavily.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Heiji nearly coughed up a lung.

Shinichi Kudō had turned into Yūsaku Kudō's illegitimate child?!

"You wouldn't have guessed it, would you? Neither would I," Heizō said with a worried expression. "Still, I've seen photographs of Yūsaku, and this kid looks a lot like him when he was young. Furthermore, his household registration was sorted out by Yūsaku's friend, Professor Agasa. Add to that the rumor that Yūsaku rushed back in a terrible hurry, and I reckon he came back precisely to check on his illegitimate child."

"Who knows when Yūsaku made that mistake... sigh..."

Heiji's face turned completely red. He really couldn't hold it in much longer; he was dying of laughter. What kind of expression would Shinichi Kudō make if he ever found out he had been cast as an illegitimate son?

"On top of that, Yūsaku's eldest son, Shinichi Kudō, has gone missing as well," Heizō said, apparently firmly convinced of Conan's status as an illegitimate child. "For all we know, this is a bitter struggle among the upper class. You need to stay well away from it."

"I'll have to find an opportunity to talk some sense into Yūsaku, too. He can't just let things run wild. What era is this, and he's still letting his sons fight each other for dominance?"

Just as Heiji was suffering through his suppressed mirth, his communicator chimed. The security clearance level had dropped another notch.

Of course, it still couldn't be made public to society at large, but someone of Heiji's standing was now permitted limited communication with his parents.

"Dad! Let me tell you something, and you mustn't be frightened," Heiji said, straightening his clothes.

"What could possibly frighten me? You're still too young."

"Edogawa Conan isn't some illegitimate child. He is Shinichi Kudō!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. It's because of a drug called APTX-4869."

Heizō tapped his fingers against his wrist. This piece of news was indeed astonishing, but given his position, he was privy to certain special intelligence. For instance, he knew why so many nations kept planting undercover agents inside the Black Organization instead of simply wiping it out:

Aside from mutual distrust, a crucial factor was that everyone coveted the technology in the organization's hands.

Seeing that his father hadn't been startled, Heiji felt a bit surprised, so he dropped another bombshell. "Besides, the man in your photograph is already dead. He went up in smoke along with a secret base."

Heizō didn't speak this time. The intelligence he had received indicated that Gin was merely suspected of being missing.

At the same time, he was wondering how his son had come by this information. Surely Heiji couldn't have been the one to pull it off.

When neither piece of news managed to shock his father, Heiji sighed. "There's one more piece of news. The technology of the Black Organization is incomplete. It comes from an alien criminal organization..."

Boom!

Heizō slammed his fist down onto the desk and stared intently at Heiji. "Are you certain?! How do you know this?!"

Heiji jumped in fright. "Because the official alien organization that's hostile to them has already arrived! I've even met them... Their detector is floating right outside Earth, and I've even been up there."

"Evidence! I want evidence!" Heizō's face flushed red, though whether from tension or excitement was impossible to tell.

Heiji pulled out his communicator and played the live broadcast video directly for Heizō to see.

"Not enough," Heizō said after watching the video. After all, footage like this wasn't impossible to fabricate.

"Dad, did you bring your gun?" Heiji asked.

"What are you planning to do?" Heizō frowned.

Heiji stepped back a few paces until he was about five meters away from Heizō.

"Shoot me. Just aim for the foot," Heiji said.

Without a second word, Heizō fired. Bang! The bullet bounced off a force-field shield right in front of Heiji.

Tat-tat-tat. Hearing the gunshot, police officers immediately came rushing over. There was gunfire inside their supreme commander's office; nobody dared to neglect that.

The door was yanked open. "Assistant Commissioner..."

"Get out! Take everyone far away! Cordone off the third floor! Nobody is allowed in without my direct order!"

Heizō bellowed with absolute authority.

Thud. The office door was slammed shut immediately, followed by a flurry of rapid footsteps.

A few seconds later, Heizō opened the door, walked around the perimeter to ensure no one was lingering nearby, and then returned to his office.

"Dad, you really just shoot without hesitation!" Heiji complained, feeling very much like an adopted stray picked up off the street.

"If I had wanted to aim for your foot, I wouldn't have hit your leg. If you're going to lie about a matter like this, catching a bullet serves you right."

As he spoke, Heizō walked over to the bullet hole in the wall, probed it with his finger, and pried out the deformed round.

"..."

"Tell me everything you know right now!"

Heizō looked at Heiji with a stern expression.