Chapter 81 Demons also need to keep pace with the times

Bai Ma Tan's phone was quickly connected, and his voice sounded tired, a tone he had never heard before. "You saw the news about the spider being caught in the web, right?"

Kuroba Kaito: "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"It's okay, thanks to that kind lady who pretended to be room service and barged in while the spider was trying to torture me and fed it six bullets."

What happened that day left an indelible mark on Bai Ba Tan's mind, which was not young but by no means mature. He could recall the scene of that day in his mind endlessly without closing his eyes.

"She must be a well-trained special agent, because all six bullets missed Spider's vital points, only crippling its mobility. She then rushed ahead of the crowd, precisely removing all the weapons and gadgets from Spider. After the angry crowd arrived, she threw them into a corridor where Spider could never reach, then quietly departed. Do you know someone like this?"

Kuroba Kaito: "No."

He knew some female professional killers who could use such amazing marksmanship and quickly disarm close-range fighters, and who were purely violent and physical... but none of them who were still alive could be related to Spider.

Bai Ma Tan: "What a shame! I was hoping to team up with her to catch the organization behind Spider. She knew Spider was going to assassinate me that night and arrived just in time. Her intelligence gathering and operational capabilities must be incredible."

Kuroba Kaito: "If you really want to know, just check the surrounding surveillance. The Swiss police are also looking for her, so they should be able to access the surveillance."

Bai Ma Tan: "I checked. I even checked every person in the camera, one by one. This woman simply doesn't appear on camera at all. I think she either tricked the camera with some special means, or she fell from the sky like you did. As someone experienced in both situations, what are your thoughts? I've sent you the camera distribution for that hotel and its surroundings."

"What do you mean I'm experienced?"

Kuroba Kaito symbolically denied that he was Kaito Kid, but his subordinates opened the computer without any delay to receive the file sent by Hakuba Tanfa, and checked the weather in the area on the night of the crime, as well as the layout of the hotel.

"A hang glider wouldn't be possible in this weather and wind speed. Only something incredibly maneuverable could achieve a precise landing. Or maybe she's hiding inside an object or a car trunk and being concealed."

Bai Ma Tan: "I think so too, but the key is how she escaped afterward despite being injured?"

Kuroba Kaito: "Is she injured?"

Bai Ma Tan: "Yeah, I saw Spider throw a hidden weapon at her. She didn't dodge at all, so she was definitely hit. Even if that move was blocked by a steel plate like you did before, I saw Spider use a needle to pierce her carotid artery during the close combat with her later, but the scene was so chaotic that I couldn't see clearly. That's why I was so anxious to find her! Although Spider is still unconscious in the ICU and we can't get to know him, in that situation, he must have used something that could quickly incapacitate someone and even drag them down with him. Didn't the news say to remind her to go to the hospital immediately?"

Kuroba Kaito: "...I'm hanging up now. I'll contact you if I find anything. Be careful not to die suddenly. You definitely don't want to be in the news again anytime soon. The title of 'Genius Detective Who Died Suddenly from Staying Up Late' is ridiculous."

Hakuba Tan: "Don't worry about that. I know my limits. I'm going to personally send you, Kaito Kidd, to jail. I won't give up before that happens."

"I already told you I'm not Kaito Kidd—Bye."

Kuroba Kaito hung up the phone with Hakuba Tan and supported his chin in thought.

Demon... If he can use a cell phone, doesn't it make sense that he's also proficient in shooting?

With this in mind, Kuroba Kaito sent a text message to Oni: [Can you use a gun?]

A phone call soon came in, and the voice on the other end was smug: "Yes, I have a gun license. Let me show you, I took it on my second trip to this city, and I passed it on my first try."

Several picture messages were sent to Kuroba Kaito's mobile phone, and on it was an official American gun license with the name and address covered by mosaics.

The person in the picture is indeed a ghostly human, but she looks like... about the same age in the photo, but she doesn't give the impression of being as aggressive and weird as she is now?

Kuroba Kaito looked down and found that this gun license was issued by Gotham City, which does not exist in reality. He thought that even the devil can photoshop photos these days.

But he still politely praised: "Your computer forgery skills are unexpectedly good. I thought you were more interested in using magic."

The ghost on the other end of the phone said: "What fake? This is a real ID. It has a chip, watermark, and anti-counterfeiting. I spent a lot of time in class to get it."

Kuroba Kaito was actually praising him now: "You've even learned how to fake technological hardware? That's impressive."

It is said that different fields have different meanings. It is really amazing that a demon who is purely magical can learn this level of technological forgery.

"Okay, why are you asking me this? You're not trying to play the cowboy game with me, are you?"

Cheng Xiaoyu stroked the rounded corners of the certificate and put it away.

As expected, he talks too much nonsense all the time. Is it possible that no one will take him seriously if he tells the truth and shows his real ID?

Kuroba Kaito: "Were you the one who went to beat up the spider and save Hakuba?"

The voice on the other end of the line started to smug again: "It's me. What's the matter? You're so impressed by my heroic performance in firing six shots, each one avoiding vital points, that you want to become my disciple?"

"No! Can you be serious for a few seconds?" Kuroba Kaito said, "I just want to thank you, thank you for saving Hakuba."

Cheng Xiaoyu: "Thank you very much. You are such a polite and good child."

Kuroba Kaito: "...Has anyone ever told you that you easily run out of conversation?"

Cheng Xiaoyu: "That's because their minds aren't active enough to keep up with my agile brain circuits."

This is the first time I've seen someone use "agile" to describe their brain circuits...

Kuroba Kaito: "By the way, did you find anything on the spider this time?"

Spider has been unconscious, so it is definitely impossible to get any information out of him with current technology, but non-technological means may not be possible.

Although no one knew how Ghost Shadow operated, a thick stack of intelligence appeared in the living room of Heiyu's house at noon the next day after Viper and others were arrested. Although the information inside was not enough to be used as evidence to convict and arrest the Zoo Organization, it greatly filled their intelligence gap.

And Viper and the others didn't die. They just suddenly went crazy for a while, shouting something like there was a demon, there was a demon, the demon was coming, and Pandora's box was indeed the place where the demon would come. Then they returned to normal after a few days and had no memory of the madness they had experienced in the previous few days.

In this regard, Officer Nakamori was certain that they were just trying to pretend to be mentally ill in order to escape legal punishment, and he was very angry when talking about this matter.

But Kuroba Kaito knew that they were not pretending.

Cheng Xiaoyu: "Yes, but Spider is actually an outsourced employee. The relationship between him and the zoo is very delicate. He was hired by Viper to kill Kaito Kidd. He has a code name but no official position in the organization, and knows nothing about the inner workings of the organization. It's not because they want to keep it secret from him. The zoo organization has always intended to win him over, but Spider didn't refuse but also didn't agree. He has always maintained a distance from the zoo organization. The reason is that he is not very interested in immortality. He just wants to be a happy pervert who can make money by using illusions to torture and kill people. He doesn't want to take a fixed salary. So everything that can be pried into this guy's head is also in Viper's head. There is no need for me to send you repeated content with too many words."

Kuroba Kaito: "Not only the organization's, but also the evidence of the murders he committed before. I want to give these to Hakuba."

Cheng Xiaoyu: "These demands have nothing to do with handling the zoo organization."

Kuroba Kaito: "I know, I understand. You may not understand, but this is relevant to the families of the victims. There must be many people waiting for the murderers of their loved ones to be found and punished. Uncovering the crimes is not only to try and punish the murderers, but also to bring truth and justice to the victims and their families. This is why I said earlier that I hope to make the crimes of the zoo organization public. Those who hide in the shadows and harm others will not make any waves if they die in the shadows. The darkness is still rampant. Only by exposing them to the sun can we repel the darkness."

The devil on the other end of the phone didn't retort this time, but just chuckled.

Kuroba Kaito's scalp tingled when he heard this laughter: "Just to add, I didn't mean this metaphor directly towards you."

"Of course I know. Don't think I'm a wild animal completely disconnected from human society. I can think in human ways, it just depends on whether I want to or not."

said the demon on the other end of the line.

"But let's be clear. The zoo's intelligence sharing is based on our shared goals and mutual benefit. Revealing the spider's past actions is completely indirect. I can't just do my job for nothing just because of the human logic you're talking about. If you want to instruct the demon, you have to pay the price. You should know this rule."

Kuroba Kaito thought of Koizumi Anko's suggestion of getting Lucifer for free. "We can discuss the contract after the zoo issue is resolved, but I don't think it would prevent me from asking for the price first. It's reasonable to ask for the price before a deal is concluded, right?"

Cheng Xiaoyu: "Don't even think about replicating Koizumi Hongzi's freeloading on Lucifer. Lucifer's Q&A session is remote. Lucifer can't reach the human world, nor can he attack people over a broken 'network cable.' But I'm offline just like you, and I can stand by your bedside every night with a marker and draw turtles on your face."

Kuroba Kaito was sweating profusely. "Why would I do something as shameless as that? I'm a stickler for rules. See, I always show up on time after sending out notices? If I can't ask for the price, forget it. I'm just a little curious."

"You can ask for the price. Let me give you a piece of insider knowledge: a legitimate and law-abiding demonic contract won't have a price tag like a gift from fate. And it's not just demonic contracts, any contract—including all kinds of contracts in human society—if the drafter can't explain any of the clauses or is vague about it, then you can just run away. And I'm a legitimate demon. I don't force sales, so please feel free to ask for the price."

Cheng Xiaoyu cleared her throat.

"Now I will tell you the price for letting me expose Spider's crimes. According to the market price of our Ghost Shadow Kingdom, as the current absolute ruler of the Ghost Shadow Kingdom, a great wizard of air magic with nearly a thousand years of experience, a lord-level demon with knowledge of nearly a hundred systems of spells and boundless magical power, you will pay for hiring me..."

Kuroba Kaito knew that Oni-ying was a powerful figure, but he didn't expect her background to be so powerful. After hearing a long list of prefixes, he felt that this deal would not be possible without sacrificing the human souls of an entire city. He was thinking about how to politely reject the deal.

"...Ten bottles of different flavors of Coca-Cola soda."