Chapter 44: Dr. Agasa

Tokyo, Beika Town.

After returning all the way from Nagano after finishing his deposition and taking a nap along the way, Gao Mo still did not feel quite right.

He only managed to perk up a little when he checked the system's projected text again.

Only now was it convenient to sort out the gains from the case settlement.

First was the "Kudou Shinichi's Guide to Deduction" drawn from Conan.

His deduction skills were severely lacking at present; sometimes he might see clues without realizing their significance, and even if he did realize it, finding the key point was extremely difficult.

This book had arrived just in time.

True to form, it manifested as a reference book sitting on the coffee table.

After the book's text was projected, Gao Mo carefully perused and read through it, his expression gradually turning somewhat subtle.

It was as if he had read it, yet gained nothing at all.

There were no accompanying study materials—resembling the Kudo family's library-like house full of collections, it felt as though he had merely obtained the table of contents and general summary of a supreme martial arts manual.

Moreover, Kudou Shinichi's talent was simply too high, and the content of the guide was basically tailored for a genius.

As a Level 1 detective, he really found this rather unfriendly, and he suspected that being Level 2 probably wouldn't feel much better.

Damn genius anomaly!

Gao Mo rubbed his hair and turned his gaze back to the system projection.

It was not entirely without gains, however.

The notes now recorded "Deduction Lv0," representing amateur-level deduction—currently, he was relying entirely on his Eagle Vision to get by.

He also had a clear direction on how to improve his deduction abilities; he just needed to study according to the table of contents.

In addition, he had fulfilled the upgrade conditions for the detective profession—a 4-star detective book.

[Storage Pool: 32 (25+7) stars]

The number of stars was simply not enough, allowing him to upgrade only one of his two professions, actor and detective.

Reaching Lv2 required 20 stars.

"Hmm."

Gao Mo reviewed his experiences over this period in a deep voice, particularly his recent trip to the Suzuki family's villa.

Deduction was important, but not strictly necessary.

To a pragmatist like him, Conan solving cases or him solving cases made no difference, nor would it yield any extra rewards.

The trouble this time ultimately stemmed from his substandard disguise skills and his inability to properly establish a disguise persona.

Compared to leveling up his detective rank, advancing his actor rank—which might grant him talent in the art of disguise—seemed far more urgent...

After pondering for a moment, Gao Mo shifted his focus back to the actor profession.

The sound of turning notebook pages echoed in his ears once more.

As the glowing text briefly twisted and reformed, the new data and information finished projecting before his eyes.

[Supernatural Ability: Eagle Vision]

[Professional Talents: Quick Immersion, Ageing Like Fine Wine, Disguise Expert]

[Book Abilities: Makeup Lv3, Shooting Lv1, Deduction Lv0]

[Storage Pool: 12 stars]

[Professions: Actor Lv2, Detective Lv1] (Lv0 professions hidden)

[Books: 5-star "Director Ochiai's Senior Guide", 4-star "Former MPD Detective's Handgun Shooting Guide", 4-star "Kudou Shinichi's Guide to Deduction"]

...

Tomoko Dobashi's "Makeup Guide" had vanished after being mastered, just like the low-star books.

His makeup ability had gone up another level after being upgraded to Lv2.

"Disguise Expert?"

Gao Mo's spirits lifted.

This talent had actually pushed his makeup ability straight to Lv3.

The makeup knowledge he had previously mastered seemed to be revitalized, as a vast array of new understandings and inspirations continuously burst forth in his mind.

In just a short moment, he had completely surpassed his "teacher," Tomoko Dobashi—at least in terms of disguise.

"Hoo!"

After digesting and absorbing all the knowledge of "special effects makeup" in his mind, a brand-new aura suddenly materialized around Gao Mo out of nowhere: the confidence and professionalism belonging to an industry elite.

If he prepared a little more thoroughly, he should now be able to apply a decent disguise to himself, transforming into someone like Mouri Kogoro, for instance...

Well, that might be a bit difficult.

The main issue was that he couldn't imitate that mustache demeanor and hypnotic voice.

The most suitable disguise persona would still be a character who didn't require much facial expression.

Gao Mo stroked his chin.

Besides that, the biggest problem was his voice.

He didn't possess Kid's ability to arbitrarily alter his voice...

It might be fine with strangers, but running into someone like Conan made it very hard to fool past; he couldn't just keep playing mute all the time.

Speaking of voice modification...

Gao Mo suddenly thought of a character—Professor Agasa, who made the voice-changing bowtie for Conan.

Later on, he seemed to have also developed a choker-type voice changer that could be fixed around the throat.

This genius inventor frequently took on all sorts of odd jobs, and though many of his inventions were unreliable, he was quite professional when it came to voice changers.

Many of Conan's high-tech gadgets came from him, and while his other props constantly needed repairs, the voice changer never seemed to have any issues.

It was entirely feasible to go and commission a set.

...

"Bang—!"

The next day.

Beika District 2.

Gao Mo arrived early carrying a bag of diet tea, heading toward Professor Agasa's villa right next door to the Kudo residence. Before he even got close, he saw a roaring pillar of flame soaring into the sky from the courtyard, and a cloud of explosive dust rapidly engulfing the entire area.

"..."

Would he get blown to death if he went over there now?

Lately, he had actually suffered quite a few beatings from reality.

It wasn't limited to those bizarre murderous intents; his daily life had also been extremely unfavorable.

Whenever he lined up to buy things, he always ended up in the slowest queue, sometimes even selling out right in front of him.

Because Ran had won major prizes time and time again, he had also tried his luck at the shopping district, only for him to be the only one who couldn't even win a consolation prize of toilet paper, needlessly spending a fair bit of money on shopping.

It felt as though all his luck had been sucked dry by task draws...

Now arriving at such a dangerous place, he deeply suspected that he would fall victim to it.

"Cough, cough!"

A bald, white-bearded, chubby old man wearing protective gear crawled out of the courtyard ruins, coughing and panting amidst the soot and dust for a while before finally noticing Gao Mo standing far in the distance.

"Ah, sorry, the experiment had a slight mishap... Oh? Are you that Kudo-kun mentioned... Kido Gao Mo-kun?"

Recognizing Gao Mo, the chubby old man immediately greeted him warmly.

"Are you looking for Shinichi? He didn't come over today..."

"I'm here to see you, Professor."

Gao Mo instantly recognized the mad-scientist-like chubby old man; he was simply too recognizable.

He had the appearance of a grandfather, yet his complexion was exceptionally rosy, with a gleam of exploration mixed in his eyes, beaming cheerfully just like a child.

He didn't seem affected by the explosion at all—suffering only minor scrapes on his face.

Truly admirable.

"Looking for me?" Professor Agasa led Gao Mo into the house looking somewhat puzzled.

The living room was still intact; it was only the underground laboratory in the courtyard that had exploded.

Seeing the diet tea Gao Mo brought, the old man's chubby face twitched slightly: "Wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes first."

Gao Mo casually glanced around the living room.

It had a typical otaku style, with disassembled electronic equipment parts scattered everywhere, numerous messy blueprints dropped on the floor, and a large pile of sweets sitting on the couch.

It looked as though inspiration had struck him all of a sudden.

The unfinished hamburger and fried chicken on the coffee table still seemed warm.

Hah, had he already anticipated that it would explode and thus run back to the laboratory to continue his research?

Before long, Professor Agasa reappeared wearing a white lab coat. Noticing Gao Mo sizing up the living room, he coughed slightly with mild embarrassment: "I usually clean up properly, it's just that today..."

"I understand."

Gao Mo cut him off and got straight to the point.

"Actually, I came here this time to commission you to make a choker-type voice changer, preferably one that can be concealed by a collar."

"A voice changer?" Professor Agasa scratched his head. "To alter the voice starting from the throat? It might take a little time, and if it's meant for singing..."

"The most basic voice-changing function will do. First and foremost is guaranteeing quality," Gao Mo interrupted again, fearing the old man would rig up all sorts of weird functions. "About how much will it cost?"

"Then let's say 100,000 yen, just covering the cost of materials," Professor Agasa didn't refuse payment, offering a friendly discount. "Give me 3 days, and I'll have Shinichi hand it over to you in 3 days..."

"No need, I'll come pick it up myself. Don't mention this to that guy."