Detective Conan: Shadow Legion Office

10: Chapter 10 Lin Long’s Fate: A Swift and Decisive MoveThe Seba Conglomerate Headquarters Building stands in the heart of Tokyo’s CBD, its glass curtain wall reflecting the midday sun with a glare so piercing it makes people afraid to look directly at it.

Lin Long stood at the building’s entrance, looking up at this structure that symbolized wealth and power, a faint smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

Butler Ochiai followed behind him, reporting in a low voice:

”Sir, the Shadow Guards have sent word that Mouri Kogoro and Conan have already entered; they were invited to the executive director’s office by Yamamoto.”

”As expected.”

Lin Long set off and walked into the building.

The receptionist had clearly been notified, and upon seeing him, immediately led the way respectfully:

”Mr. Lin Long, Mrs. Seha is waiting for you upstairs, and Director Yamamoto is also there.”

The elevator rose smoothly, its mirrored surface reflecting Lin Long’s calm face.

He could imagine what kind of drama was currently unfolding in the executive director’s office—that old fox Yamamoto was likely using benefits to tempt Mouri Kogoro, wanting him to give false testimony to completely seal President Seba’s guilt.

Sure enough, as soon as the elevator reached the top floor, Mouri Kogoro’s angry roar could be heard coming from the end of the hallway:

”Who do you take me, Mouri Kogoro, for?! I am a famous detective; how could I possibly do something so fraudulent!”

Lin Long raised an eyebrow and quickened his pace.

The office door was ajar, and the argument inside was clearly audible.

”Mr. Mouri, why must you be so stubborn?”

Yamamoto’s voice carried a hint of impatience and undisguised greed.

”It’s a fact that Seba Takanori committed murder. You only need to ’supplement’ a few words in court to ensure he never sees the light of day again; it’s better for everyone! I can give you ten times the commission fee—no, twenty times!”

”You think money can buy me? In your dreams!”

Mouri Kogoro slammed his hand on the table in anger.

”Ran, Conan, let’s go! There’s nothing to say to a person like this!”

”Hmph, choosing the hard way over the easy way.”

Yamamoto’s voice turned cold.

”Mr. Mouri, you’d better think this through. Offending me won’t do you any good.”

”Who are you trying to scare? I, Mouri Kogoro, have never been afraid of anyone!”

The door was suddenly pulled open, and Mouri Kogoro walked out in a huff, nearly colliding with Lin Long at the entrance. He froze for a moment, then frowned and said:

”Kid Lin Long? Why are you here too?”

”To handle some business.”

Lin Long stepped aside to let him pass, his gaze moving past him to look at Yamamoto inside the office.

Yamamoto also saw Lin Long, a flash of vigilance and confusion crossing his eyes.

This office president who had suddenly appeared had recently become somewhat famous in business circles; he had heard that the man was quite close to President Tanifuji. What was he doing here?

”Director Yamamoto.”

Lin Long gave a slight nod as a greeting and walked straight into the office.

”I’m looking for Mrs. Seha.”

”Mrs. Seha is in the lounge.”

Yamamoto’s tone wasn’t exactly friendly, but he didn’t dare be too dismissive.

He could feel an unfathomable sense of pressure radiating from this young man.

Lin Long ignored him and turned toward the lounge.

Mouri Kogoro watched his back, then looked at the grim-faced Yamamoto, and a thought suddenly popped into his head:

Could this Lin Long be here to help Mrs. Seha?

”Dad, let’s go.”

Mouri Ran tugged at his sleeve, and Conan also looked up at him, his eyes full of urgency.

Mouri Kogoro snorted, glared at Yamamoto, and led the two of them away.

In the hallway, Conan looked back toward the office with a deep frown—what was Lin Long doing here? What were his intentions?

”Forget it, I won’t think about it. What do his intentions have to do with me? Better to spend this time thinking about how to coax Ran next time.”

Conan muttered a sentence to himself and quickly Ran toward Mouri Ran.

...

In the lounge, Mrs. Seha was pacing anxiously. Seeing Lin Long enter, she hurried to meet him:

”Mr. Lin Long, you’re here! Just now outside...”

”I heard.”

Lin Long signaled for her to sit down.

”Yamamoto wants Mouri Kogoro to give false testimony to completely bring down your husband.”

Mrs. Seha’s face turned pale.

”How can he be so shameless!”

”Men die for wealth, and birds die for food.”

Lin Long picked up the coffee on the table and took a light sip.

”He has coveted the conglomerate’s power for a long time. Now that he’s finally caught an opportunity, he naturally won’t let go.”

He set down the coffee cup, his tone calm.

”However, you don’t need to worry; he won’t be jumping around for much longer.”

Mrs. Seha was stunned.

”Mr. Lin Long, you mean...”

”Over the past few days, my people have already collected quite a few things.”

Lin Long took out a USB drive and placed it on the table.

”Yamamoto used his position to embezzle 300 million yen from a real estate project and transferred it to his private offshore account;”

”Seba Masanori colluded with construction contractors to overreport project costs and line his own pockets. The evidence is all in here.”

He paused and added:

”As for the other three people causing you trouble, one is involved in insider trading, one accepted bribes during a bidding process, and one made private deals with a competitor to sell company secrets.”

”This evidence is enough to keep them in prison for several years.”

Mrs. Seha looked at the small USB drive, her eyes widening more and more, almost unable to believe her ears.

”Is... is this all true? You only took two days...”

She had originally thought Lin Long would need at least a week, but she hadn’t expected his efficiency to be so high, and the leverage he found so lethal!

”Dealing with people like this doesn’t require much time.”

Lin Long smiled.

”They’ve been greedy their whole lives; they exposed their tails long ago. It’s just that before, no one dared to pull them.”

”Then... should we call the police now?”

Mrs. Seha asked excitedly.

”Call the police? That’s too easy on them.”

Lin Long shook his head, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

”I’ve already had the evidence of Yamamoto’s embezzlement ’accidentally’ leaked to the Tax Bureau and the Inspection Bureau. I believe they will come to ’visit’ very soon.”

”I anonymously sent Seba Masanori’s dirt to his competitors and several shareholders who have grudges against him. Before long, he will be completely blacklisted by the real estate industry and torn apart by those within the conglomerate.”

”As for the others...”

Lin Long picked up his coffee, his tone light and breezy.

”Their ’dirt’ will be released bit by bit. First, let them be ruined and lose all power and support. Finally, we’ll hand the evidence to the police and let them face judgment in despair.”

This method of boiling a frog in lukewarm water was more effective at destroying a person’s will than simply sending them to prison.

Mrs. Seha felt a chill in her heart as she listened, and her gaze toward Lin Long became filled with awe.

At this moment, she finally understood why President Tanifuji held this man in such high regard—

He was not only capable, but his methods were ruthless and decisive. Without making a sound, he could uproot his enemies.

”Mr. Lin Long, thank you...”

Mrs. Seha’s voice trembled slightly, containing both gratitude and a hint of imperceptible fear.

”It’s a small matter; we are in a cooperative relationship.”

Lin Long put away the USB drive.

”Next, you only need to do one thing—convene an emergency shareholders’ meeting while they are overwhelmed, present the evidence of their crimes, and win over the neutral shareholders to take complete control of the conglomerate.”

”I know what to do!”

Mrs. Seha took a deep breath, her gaze becoming determined. With this evidence, she finally had the confidence to contend with those wolves and tigers.

...

Over the next two days, a massive storm swept through the Seba Conglomerate.

First, the Tax Bureau and the Inspection Bureau suddenly arrived and took Yamamoto away on suspicion of embezzlement and tax evasion. When the news broke, the entire conglomerate was in an uproar.

Immediately following that, the scandal of Seba Masanori’s falsified construction costs was exposed. Several partners terminated their contracts, and shareholders jointly demanded his removal. He was overwhelmed trying to cope and had no time for anything else.

The other three family members who had been the most vocal were also successively hit with scandals. They were either suspended pending investigation or forced into a retreat by competitors, quickly losing their say in company matters.

All of this happened too fast and too suddenly, as if an invisible hand were operating behind the scenes, precisely striking every target.

People in the conglomerate were bewildered, not knowing what exactly had happened. They only knew that those bosses who were usually arrogant and overbearing had met with misfortune overnight.

Amidst the chaos, Mrs. Seha followed Lin Long’s plan and convened an emergency shareholders’ meeting.

She calmly presented all the evidence and clearly stated those people’s crimes. Finally, she proposed a new management list and development plan.

Having lost their opposition and seeing a hope for ’stability,’ the neutral shareholders passed her proposal almost unanimously.

In this way, Mrs. Seha completely took control of the Seba Conglomerate and stabilized the situation at a speed no one had expected.

When the last opponent was taken away by the police, Mrs. Seha stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of her office, watching the heavy traffic below, and let out a long sigh of relief.

...

A week later, at the Lins Information Consulting Office.

Mrs. Seha visited in person, bringing a massive check and a contract.

”Mr. Lin Long, this is the remaining commission fee, as well as your bonus.”

She pushed the check toward Lin Long; the amount was 150 million yen.

”In addition, this is the cooperation contract I’ve drafted. The Seba Conglomerate is willing to establish a long-term strategic partnership with Lins Office. All future information consulting and security consultancy business will be handled by your office.”

This was not just gratitude, but also a gesture of goodwill and alliance. After this incident, Mrs. Seha had completely seen Lin Long’s power. For the newly stabilized Seba Conglomerate, forming an alliance with him brought only benefits and no harm.

Lin Long glanced at the contract; the terms were very generous, almost completely entrusting the conglomerate’s ’intelligence security’ to him. This meant he could legitimately intervene in the core business of the Seba Conglomerate in the future and collect more resources and information.

”Pleasure doing business with you.”

Lin Long signed his name on the contract.

”Pleasure doing business with you!”

Mrs. Seha showed her first truly relaxed smile in a long while.

After seeing off Mrs. Seha, Butler Ochiai walked in and handed over a document:

”Sir, this is a summary of the recent movements of the major conglomerates.”

Lin Long flipped through the document, the smile on his face deepening.

Although the turmoil within the Seba Conglomerate appeared to only involve internal struggles on the surface, it had caused quite a stir in Tokyo’s elite business circles.

The Ooka Conglomerate, the Suzuki Conglomerate, and even some overseas capital forces were secretly investigating the background of the Lins Information Consulting Office.

”A mysterious office that can clear all obstacles and take control of an entire conglomerate in just a few days without making a sound...”

”It is said that the boss behind it is very young, but his methods are ruthless; even an old fox like Yamamoto fell...”

”He is closely connected to President Tanifuji, and his background is not simple...”

”In the future, if there are any difficult matters, we can also seek help from this office.”

Various speculations and rumors circulated among the conglomerates, and Lin Long’s name truly entered the vision of those big figures for the first time.

They might not yet know Lin Long’s specific strength, but they all remembered the name ’Lins Information Consulting Office’ and listed it as an entity that ’needs to be treated with caution.’

To ordinary people, the internal changes in the Seba Conglomerate were just an unremarkable piece of social news, soon replaced by new cases and gossip.

But for those standing at the top of the pyramid, this meant that a new and non-negligible force had quietly risen.

Lin Long closed the file and walked to the window. Sunlight spilled over him, yet it seemed unable to penetrate the aura surrounding him.

From solving the Tanifuji Akiko kidnapping case, to recruiting Curator Ochiai, to now controlling the Seba Conglomerate, his steps were becoming steadier and his power greater.

The Shadow Trooper Corps’ scale has expanded to 10 Shadow Guards and 3 Shadow Sharpshooters, and the accumulation of malice black qi has surpassed ten thousand points, bringing him closer and closer to unlocking the next unit type, the ’Shadow Binder.’

”This is only the beginning.”

Lin Long said in a low voice, his eyes flashing with the light of ambition.

The stage of the Conan world is vast, with the colossus that is the Black Organization, top-tier powers like the Suzuki Conglomerate, and countless evils hidden in the dark.

What he needs to do is slowly encroach, infiltrate, and control, eventually becoming the true uncrowned king of this world.

On the street in the distance, the figures of Conan and Mouri Kogoro flashed past, seemingly investigating some case again. Lin Long saw them but only gave a faint smile.

Now, he no longer needs to pay special attention to that brat.

His gaze had long been fixed on a much broader horizon.

As the reputation of Lins Office spread through the elite circles, more and more ’special commissions’ began to find their way to his door.

Some sought help with family infighting, some commissioned investigations into business rivals, and there were even some forces from the gray areas wanting to hire him to ’solve problems.’

Lin Long turned no one away.

To him, every commission was an opportunity to accumulate power, and every opponent was a stepping stone on his path forward.

And his legend has only just begun its most brilliant prologue.