Before Yoruichi could stop him, Kaito Kuroba waved his hand again, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"None of you can do it, unless it's..."

He looked at Ai and Takato alternately for a while, and finally pointed to one of the men.

"A child this big would be more like it."

"But what would I do with a child, right?"

"How about..."

“I can go,” Gao Yuan interrupted him quietly, glancing at Mingzhi, “...if Officer Mingzhi is comfortable with that.”

Because of their previous conversation, neither Akechi nor Yoruichi Toyama were surprised.

This might be the only meaningful thing the puppeteer can find for himself right now.

Ai's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but Akemi immediately stopped her.

Kaito Kuroba paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"No way? Who are you, little brother?"

Gao Yuan remained unmoved when someone six or seven years younger than him called him "little brother".

It seems that once he was certain about the matter at hand, he quickly got into the zone.

“I…” he said, bowing slightly in a stage-like manner, “I am a magic apprentice.”

"What a coincidence, me too!" Kaito Kuroba suddenly became interested, or rather, he decided to tease this child who looked like just an elementary school student but was so arrogant.

With a soft "snap," a deck of cards appeared in his hand.

As his fingers flipped through the cards, they flowed out in a steady stream, scattering onto the ground.

Most people would assume the magician was hiding cards in his sleeve, but Gao Yuan was only staring at his fingers.

There was another "smack".

Kaito Kuroba's hand became completely empty, not a single card left, seemingly a perfect ending.

But a hint of surprise flickered in his own eyes.

The same hand of cards appeared in Gao Yuan's left hand.

Actually, saying "the same" is not accurate, because if you count carefully, you will find that there are only a few.

Card magic is not complicated; it only tests the magician's hand skills.

The cards appear and disappear, endlessly scattering, are simply a matter of constantly twisting, hiding, and unfolding the cards in one's hand...

A deck of 20 cards and a deck of only 6 cards, when fanned out, can create a similar visual effect.

Takato only had the remaining 6 cards from Kaito Kuroba in his hand.

He slowly closed the fan shape and rubbed it between his hands.

All the playing cards disappeared.

What leaped from his fingers was a bright red rose.

Faced with this all-too-familiar flower, Gao Yuan chuckled meaningfully and handed it to Kuroba Kaito.

“Excellent taste, Mr. Kuroba.”

Kaito Kuroba bowed to him with surprise before accepting the roses and tidying up the props scattered on the ground.

"You are truly an excellent magic apprentice!" Kaito Kuroba, still eager to continue, tried to elaborate, but was immediately interrupted by Yoruichi Toyama.

"He's my brother, um..." Yoruichi Toyama, who almost habitually said "he's my mom," scratched her head before adopting a serious expression.

"This time, we're counting on you all."

"Once you get there, protect yourself first, then control the situation and wait for the police to arrive."

"By the way, Kuroba-kun, you'd better disguise yourself."

...

The police cars that drove to the mountain villa where Conan and his friends were located split into two teams.

One group, led by a swordsman, went directly around to another mountain path behind the mountain.

The other team consisted of Akechi and Yoruichi Toyama, who were carrying Kaito Kuroba and Takato, who were going to take a night flight, and drove directly to the burned-out suspension bridge.

"You two must be careful," Yoruichi Toyama said naggingly. "That Ms. Tanaka might do something unexpected."

"Don't worry, Great Detective!" Kaito Kuroba gave a perfunctory salute, but his gaze was quite serious.

"This is an internal matter for us magicians; you should leave it to us."

"Master Harui Kaze's reputation must not be disrespected by laymen!"

Before he finished speaking, he picked up Gao Yuan's body with one hand and jumped off the broken bridge.

With a "whoosh," a pair of pure white hang gliders unfolded in the air and gracefully flew towards the opposite shore.

“By the way,” Kaito Kuroba chuckled in the night wind, “Master Magic Apprentice, I still don’t know your name.”

“My name is Toyama…” Gao Yuan paused for a moment, then gave a pseudonym he had used before, “Toyama Haruji.”

It only took the two of them a minute or two to land on the other side of the valley.

Reassured, Akechi and Yoruichi, who were now facing each other from a distance, drove off again.

Gao Yuan nudged Kuroba Kaito, who had retracted his hang glider, and revealed a sly look.

"So, how do you plan to disguise yourself?"

"How about I dress up as a fat guy? To scare that girl who keeps flirting with me?" Kaito Kuroba casually suggested.

"I frequent their chat room; it's got a VPN. It's too much trouble to report it to the police if it weren't for the party..."

The implication was that he was supposed to be a member of this murder party from the start.

It seems this event was destined to develop into what it is today.

Gao Yuan thought to himself calmly, but shook his head at Kuroba Kaito's suggestion.

"They don't let you show your true face because you look too much like that high school detective, Shinichi Kudo."

"A detective appearing in front of a potential killer could trigger something very unexpected."

“However…” A smile, the kind unique to the “puppet master of hell,” appeared on his lips, malicious yet seductive.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!