Chapter 320: The Increasingly Popular Terminals
Seeing that Natsume didn't seem to want to talk about it right now, Ran considerately dropped the subject and steered the conversation elsewhere. "By the way, Miss Kamon seems to be wearing a terminal on her wrist. I remember they've only been on the market for a short while and are in incredibly high demand. I didn't expect you to have gotten your hands on one so quickly."
Hearing Ran's question, Raita nodded, his tone carrying a mix of grumpiness and pride. "Yeah, it's ridiculously popular. Everyone and their mother is buying one, and Hatsune just had to join in on the fun. I had to pull a lot of strings and put in some serious effort to snag a matching couple's set."
As he spoke, Raita raised his arm, pulling back his sleeve to show off the sleek device strapped to his wrist. It was clearly a matching pair to the one Hatsune wore.
"Besides, Mouri, you guys don't need to envy us." Raita shifted his gaze to Kogoro's hand, gesturing toward the detective's wrist with a teasing grin. "Don't you have one too? Actually, it looks like you have more than one."
He chuckled, leaning against the table. "As expected of a famous detective. You can afford to give such a scarce, high-end item to every single family member, and you're even generous enough to buy one for the kid freeloading at your place."
Listening to Raita's amused banter, Conan subconsciously lowered his gaze to the smooth surface of the terminal on his own wrist. A complicated glint flickered in his eyes.
In reality, this expensive gadget hadn't been bought by Uncle Kogoro at all. Knowing how the older man blew any spare cash he had on beer, mahjong, and Yoko Okino merchandise, there was absolutely zero chance he would drop a fortune on something he deemed completely unnecessary.
This terminal was actually a gift from Natsume. And it wasn't just him; Kogoro, Ran, and even the energetic kids from the Detective Boys had all received one.
The day after they returned from their eventful trip to Osaka, Natsume had casually shown up with a whole box of the highly coveted devices, letting them take their pick.
Naturally, Ran had felt deeply embarrassed to accept such an expensive gift from a friend so casually. But Natsume had merely waved off her concerns, claiming with a breezy smile that she and Ningguang were close friends, allowing her to secure the batch at base cost price.
Unable to win against Natsume's stubborn generosity, Ran had ultimately accepted the kindness. Of course, she later went out of her way to find gifts of similar value to give back to Natsume, a quiet exchange that visibly deepened the bond between the two girls.
Armed with their new gadgets, it only took a few days for the Detective Boys to completely adapt to the technology, constantly buzzing each other with the terminals' communication features.
However, Conan remained sharply vigilant. He knew perfectly well that the Jade Chamber—the corporate giant that developed these Akasha Terminals—was a direct subsidiary of the elusive Teyvat Organization. Because of that lingering doubt, he absolutely refused to use the device for anything sensitive. Whenever he needed to discuss confidential information with Subaru, he strictly relied on his original, encrypted methods. Naturally, the cautious FBI agent did exactly the same.
At this moment, facing Raita's playful teasing, Kogoro remained surprisingly composed. He didn't try to claim credit, instead telling the honest truth about how the terminals had fallen into their laps.
After finishing his explanation, Kogoro let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Ah, man. The speed of technological development these days is simply beyond my imagination! I remember when I first strapped this thing on, I was completely baffled. Couldn't figure out how to use the damn thing at all. Even this little brat picked it up faster than I did."
To emphasize his point, Kogoro aggressively scrubbed his knuckles over the top of Conan's head, messing up the boy's hair. Conan merely rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching in a deadpan expression.
Hearing the detective's grumbles, Raita burst into a booming laugh.
The two men exchanged a few more casual remarks, but it wasn't long before Raita's restless energy got the better of him. Unable to sit still, he stood up, waved a dismissive hand at Kogoro, and impatiently wandered off toward the bar area to find drinking buddies.
A few tables away, Bourbon smoothly balanced a serving tray, playing the role of the diligent waiter to perfection. He appeared entirely focused on his customers, but beneath his charming smile, a sliver of his sharp attention remained locked onto Kogoro's table—and specifically, onto Natsume.
His keen eyes hadn't missed the subtle interaction earlier, when Natsume had abruptly called out to his current employer, Hatsune, right before the woman left the area.
Puzzled as to whether there was a hidden connection between the two women that his intelligence network had somehow missed, Bourbon continued to eavesdrop. He caught their discussion about the Akasha Terminals, his gaze sweeping over the table to confirm that almost everyone, including the bespectacled child, wore one of the sleek devices.
Bourbon imperceptibly brushed his thumb against the terminal secured to his own wrist. This particular unit had been provided by the Teyvat Organization, then rigorously inspected and modified by the Black Organization's tech division. Feeling the smooth metal, a complex, bitter taste rose in his mouth.
Just how is it that the technological capabilities of these underground syndicates are vastly outstripping each other?
After the Jade Chamber officially launched the product, the world's leading official research institutions had scrambled to reverse-engineer it. Yet, even with the finished item in their hands, those government labs couldn't even produce a decent, low-end knockoff.
Fortunately, the one thing that offered Bourbon a slight sliver of comfort was that the Black Organization couldn't crack the terminal's core technology either. At most, their top hackers could only run surface-level diagnostics to check for external plugins or install minor tracking software beneficial for their own illicit activities.
However, this glaring tech gap only caused Bourbon's vigilance toward the Teyvat Organization to skyrocket.
Boasting such superb technological supremacy, a terrifying wealth of talent, and an active cooperation with the Black Organization, this mysterious faction was a massive wildcard. If he weren't currently deep undercover within the Black Organization, severely restricting his movements, Bourbon would have already initiated contact with their personnel to conduct a thorough investigation.
But even with his hands tied, Bourbon—no, Furuya Rei—had still quietly arranged for several elite Public Security officers to infiltrate the company known as the Jade Chamber, aiming to gather as much intelligence as possible. As for the other, more elusive members of the Teyvat Organization, he hadn't yet devised a safe method to approach them.
And as for that specific high-ranking individual within the organization... that was a dangerous target he would only choose to approach as an absolute last resort.
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