After dropping Vermouth off, Vodka drove the car toward Mihana Town.
"Asti, where should I drop you off?" Vodka asked.
"Mihana Town, Fourth District. You can just let me off at the intersection," Qianben Xixi replied. "Oh, Gin, here's your gun."
As she spoke, she handed the gun case to the back seat. Gin didn't take it but instead gestured with his eyes for her to place it on the back seat.
"Has the anesthesia not worn off yet?" Qianben Xixi set the gun down, feeling it necessary to show concern for her superior's well-being. "Why don't you two go handle things first? I can get back on my own."
"No need," Gin refused. Even if he were shot in the chest and on the verge of death, he would never show weakness in front of his subordinates, let alone something as trivial as anesthesia. The gunshot wound on his arm was even less of a concern. He had calculated the position when he shot himself—it would heal in a few days.
"Boss, are you really okay?" Even Vodka couldn't help but ask. Earlier, when he saw his boss kneeling on the ground, he had been terrified. But after seeing that his boss seemed fine, he assumed everything was all right. Now, with Asti bringing it up again, his heart was once again in his throat.
Faced with his subordinates' concerned looks and questions, Gin felt somewhat appreciated but also a bit annoyed and embarrassed.
So, he glared at Asti in frustration before replying disdainfully, "Hmph, just a tiny anesthetic needle—something only kids play with."
It had to be said, her superior's intuition was quite sharp. Qianben Xixi blinked. Wasn't that exactly a grade-schooler's anesthetic needle?
"Asti," Gin spoke up again as the car approached Mihana Town, "remember to ask Rum for a suitable gun once you get back."
Clearly, Gin attributed her failure to eliminate Sherry's accomplice today to the gun issue. After all, she was using his gun, so it was only natural that it didn't feel right. Of course, the sniper distance and weather conditions also played a big role. In any case, having a capable sniper in the Organization was truly important.
Take today's operation, for example. Due to environmental conditions, if Asti hadn't joined the Organization, there would have been no suitable sniper available—he would have had no one to rely on.
Given Gin's cautious nature, he wished he could deploy an entire team of snipers for every operation to cover every possible angle.
So, despite his frustration, Gin still held a certain level of respect for someone in his heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have patiently explained things to her. If it were anyone else, he would have just given them a cold glare.
"Understood," Qianben Xixi nodded obediently. "How do I contact Rum?"
Gin: "…"
Did he really have to teach her that?!
Gin felt that talking to Asti for just two sentences was more effective than shooting himself in the arm earlier—he was now fully alert and no longer drowsy.
"Forget it, I'll have Rum contact you later," he decided to give up on communication. It was easier to handle it himself. "Send the model of the gun you want to my email."
"Oh, okay," Qianben Xixi thought her superior was truly considerate. To avoid causing him more trouble, she added directly, "The same as yours will do. I actually found it quite comfortable to use today. I just need a few more tries to get used to it."
Gin glanced at her. "Suit yourself."
"Oh, right," Qianben Xixi suddenly thought of something and whispered, "Do I have to pay for it?"
Gin: "…"
Facing her superior's gaze that looked at her as if she were an idiot, Qianben Xixi awkwardly explained, "I've been really broke lately."
"Is your shop not doing well? But don't worry, weapons in the Organization are free to take, just say the word to Rum." Vodka, unable to hold back after listening to their conversation, chimed in, "I think your egg pancakes are really tasty, how could business be bad?"
"So you ate the ones Gin bought this morning too?" Qianben Xixi guessed that Vodka had probably been waiting in the car outside earlier, so she complained, "Business is okay, but I really don't have the time."
"Hah, busy running to the police station, I suppose." Gin suddenly sneered mockingly, "Can't you just behave? Do you know how many times you've been to the police station this month? Rum has mentioned it to me several times, and I've even considered whether I should just silence you."
Qianben Xixi: …
Faced with her superior's questioning, she had her own grievances too. Could she really be blamed for this? It was all that Detective Boy's fault, okay? She didn't want to take any of the blame for this!
"I've been behaving," Qianben Xixi declared righteously. "Trouble just finds me on its own."
Hah, Gin didn't want to hear her explanations at all.
"Alright, we're here. Get out of the car."
Out of sight, out of mind. For the sake of his own mental and physical health, Gin felt he didn't want to see this bottle of Asti anytime soon.
Vodka parked the car at the intersection. When Qianben Xixi opened the door to get out, she realized she was still wearing the long black trench coat and the black fedora she wasn't used to wearing.
"The clothes?" She knocked on the rear window and pointed at herself.
"Keep them." Gin rolled down the window, said that one sentence, then closed it again and directly told Vodka to drive off.
"Fine." Qianben Xixi shrugged indifferently.
Rum was very efficient. Not long after Qianben Xixi got home and finished washing up, he had already sent her the address and method for picking up the weapons, and then directly transferred a sum of funds to her.
[Contact me directly in the future if you need weapons or activity funds.—Rum]
Great, now even Rum knew she was broke.
…
The next day, Qianben Xixi used the activity funds provided by the Organization to buy herself a brand-new, latest-model laptop.
Then she went to Professor Agasa's house to return the borrowed laptop to him.
However, what she didn't expect was that when she arrived at the professor's house, she found everyone there.
"Everyone," of course, referred to the Junior Detective Team led by Conan.
"Sister Natsuya, what brings you here?" Ayumi was the first to rush out.
"I came to return the laptop the professor lent me." Qianben Xixi said, placing the heavy laptop on the table. "Where's the professor?"
"The professor is preparing some things." Ayumi said with a smile. "We're planning to go camping. Sister Natsuya, do you want to come along?"
Hah, no thanks. She could already feel death calling. Qianben Xixi smiled and said, "You guys go ahead. I have to run the shop. Have fun!"
"Ah, that's such a shame." Ayumi said disappointedly. "Right, Conan? I really wanted to go camping with Sister Natsuya."
"I don't want to." Conan pouted.
Neither do I, thanks.
Qianben Xixi grumbled while looking in Conan's direction. Just as she was about to say something, she was shocked by someone's hairstyle.
"Hey, Conan, what happened to your head?" Qianben Xixi blurted out. "Why did you shave it into a buzz cut? Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter!"
When she said this, she completely forgot what she had done yesterday.
Conan: "…"
Hmph, it's all because of that damn Sniper.