Chapter 109 (The Hundred and Nine Chapters)

Watching Conan Edogawa, with his messy hair and a complex expression that seemed to say "I need some peace and quiet," stride towards the restaurant with his short legs, Nekono Ikuya's relaxed smile gradually faded. He turned to Kaito Kuroba, who had somehow become bored and was now flipping a deck of cards smoothly between his fingers, his emerald eyes hardening with a serious expression.

"Alright, let's get down to business." Nekono Ikumi tapped her fingertips lightly on the table, making a rhythmic sound. "What happened the night before last? For you to come here complaining so early in the morning, it can't be just a simple argument with Aoko yesterday, right?"

Upon hearing this, Kaito Kuroba's flamboyant card-cutting motion froze instantly, the deck of cards between his fingers snapping shut with a clean "snap." He casually tossed the entire deck onto the coffee table, leaned back into the sofa, and the nonchalant expression on his face faded slightly.

"Tsk, I knew I couldn't hide it from you, Yu Mi-ge." He curled his lip, not at all surprised that he had been seen through. "I had some bad luck on the way to Kidd the night before last, and ran into a troublesome guy."

"Oh?" Nekono Ikuya's emerald eyes narrowed slightly, showing interest. "Someone that even Phantom Thief Kid would find troublesome?"

"Hmm, a guy who calls himself 'Spider'." Kaito Kuroba's eyes sharpened instantly at the mention of this codename. "He's a master of illusion magic, very troublesome."

He briefly described his encounter with the spider the night before and the trouble the spider caused using illusions powerful enough to deceive and confuse others. Although he deliberately downplayed the incident and omitted many thrilling details, Nekono Ikuya could still sense the urgency of the situation that night from his slightly agitated tone and unconsciously tense fingertips.

“But it’s alright,” Kaito Kuroba changed the subject, raising his chin slightly with a smug smile returning to his face, as if the momentary seriousness just now was merely a figment of Ikuya Nekono’s imagination. “My preparations were quite thorough, and the magician’s tricks aren’t so easy to see through. In the end, I managed to shake him off!”

Kidd vs. Spider, Kidd wins!

Kaito puffs out his chest triumphantly.jpg

You are really great.

Nekono Ikuya praised Kuroba Kaito a couple of times, making him even more smug, and then a hint of interest flashed in his eyes.

"An illusionist? That's rare." Nekono Ikuya had seen witches, magicians, and sorcerers, but she had never seen an illusionist before.

He asked with great interest, "Do you need any help?"

Kaito Kuroba's eyes lit up, and he immediately sat up straight, his tone becoming light and cheerful, carrying the cunning and spirit of a young man.

He didn't stand on ceremony with Nekono Yuuya at all: "It would be great if you could help! Yuuya-nii, you don't know, that guy's illusions are impossible to defend against. I can handle him by myself and escape, but catching him by the tail and following the clues is a bit difficult. Yuuya-nii, you also know, my dad..."

Kaito Kuroba lowered his voice: "He's faking his death right now. He only managed to infiltrate the 'zoo' to gather information after a lot of trouble, so he can't spare any time to help much."

Therefore, he never expected his father to provide direct assistance from the beginning.

In fact, his initial determination to make a glamorous debut as Phantom Thief Kid was primarily aimed at attracting the attention and firepower of the 'Zoo' in the open, creating an opportunity for his father, who was operating in the shadows, to push this massive criminal organization to take action from the outside. Only by taking action could they reveal their weaknesses.

—Like a deliberately flamboyant little white dove, flapping its wings and using its dazzling whiteness to attract the attention of all predators in the darkness, just to cover the large crow that sneaks into the enemy's nest.

However, Little White Dove has now discovered a problem: although they are indeed fighting against an evil international criminal organization, the Phantom Thieves family seems to be walking on the edge of the law and can be tortured and arrested, so they cannot get help from the police and official forces like ordinary victims.

I can only work alone!

So, relying on this piecemeal approach, when will he be able to completely bring down the behemoth that is 'Zoo'? When will he be able to shed his disguise and reunite with his family? When will he be able to face him without guilt... his beloved girl?

Thinking of this, Kaito Kuroba's eyes momentarily showed a hint of dejection, as if he saw a bright future (just kidding).

However, this frustration only lasted a short time. Kaito Kuroba quickly cheered up again, even becoming a little smug.

Because he realized he wasn't truly fighting alone!

He has the loyal Grandpa Terai by his side, the witch Akako who can occasionally be of great help, the mysterious Ikuya, and the frenemy Hakuba Saguru...

Kaito Kuroba silently compared the two: "Hmph, Dad was truly working alone back then, wasn't he? Only Mom and Grandpa Terai helped him. Unlike me, I'm much more popular!"

Yes, Batman-type work-alone. Batman has the Bat-family around him, and he also has his Kidd Team!

He looked at Nekono Ikuya with eyes full of trust: "What we need now is not a head-on confrontation, but to find a way to get the 'Zoo' organization to move on its own, the bigger the better. Dad and I will work in the open and in the shadows, and only by stirring up the waters completely can we fish in the mud. It will also be easier for Dad to find a breakthrough from within."

Although Kuroba Toichi had previously infiltrated the zoo, his actions were still restricted because it was no secret that Phantom Thief Kid could disguise himself, and the 'Zoo' organization was on guard against such disguises. Fortunately, they believed that Phantom Thief Kid was dead, and their lack of vigilance allowed him to infiltrate.

Kaito Kuroba analyzed the current situation: "After many years, Kid, who was considered dead by the 'Zoo' organization, has reappeared in a high-profile manner, which has indeed attracted their attention and caused a stir. This can be considered as achieving part of the original expected goal, but... it's not enough." He was not satisfied with the status quo.

"If I can create enough chaos from the outside, I might be able to help my dad break the deadlock and force those snakes, insects and rats hiding in the shadows to take action on their own."

Kaito Kuroba is considering whether to make Kaito Kid even more high-profile, or even to provoke the 'Zoo' organization.

Oh, of course he knew there was danger in doing so, but he was prepared for it long ago when he decided to put on Kidd's cape, wasn't he?

“Creating chaos…” Nekono Ikumi repeated softly, a meaningful smile curving her lips. “Coincidentally, I happen to have a ready-made scapegoat here, but I haven’t decided who to throw it at yet.”

"Hmm?" Kaito Kuroba raised an eyebrow curiously.

Nekono Ikumi spoke casually, her expression remaining unchanged, appearing completely relaxed. "Just two days ago, I stole one of the most valued researchers from another very mysterious international criminal organization."

Instead of creating the illusion of an "accidental death," he meticulously arranged the scene so that all traces pointed to Shirley being forcibly abducted.

Even more bizarrely, the images and clues left behind were extremely blurry, making it impossible to determine which force was responsible. Even Shirley's colleagues, who were conducting experiments just a wall away from her at the time, knew nothing about her sudden disappearance afterward, as if she had vanished into thin air.

“Originally,” Nekono Ikuya continued slowly, a sly glint in her eyes, “I planned to wait until that organization found out where ‘Sherry’ was and sent people to rescue her, then pretend to be Sherry and set up a trap to ‘treat’ them well, so as to weaken their strength before the final roundup. But now, it seems that this plan needs to be adjusted a bit.”

Although they haven't truly penetrated the organization, Ikuya Nekono has been assisting Rei Furuya's operations from the sidelines, and they are getting close to the organization's core.

Bourbon even knew Vermouth's secret—not referring to her affection for Ran Mouri. He had reached a 'friendly' cooperation with her and began subtly probing into the man's location.

Before that, they need to eliminate as many of the organization's henchmen as possible, especially the various codenamed members with exceptional abilities.

Now is the perfect time to use bad people to wear down other bad people.

Kaito Kuroba instantly understood his intention, a knowing yet excited smile spreading across his face: "Ikumi-nii, you mean...?"

"Shifting the blame eastward, directing the anger of another criminal organization towards the 'zoo'?"

“Hmm.” Nekono Ikuya nodded. “We don’t even need solid evidence. Leaving some ambiguous clues will suffice. It just so happens that the Spider came to Tokyo before Sherry disappeared, that the Spider, this illusionist, had the ability to make Sherry vanish into thin air like this, and that the ‘zoo’ is pursuing immortality.”

The organization will definitely send someone to investigate in this direction. The two targets are similar, both are secretive, their leaders are unwilling to show their true faces, they keep their intelligence tightly under wraps, and they are highly wary of everyone—it's difficult for such an organization to sit down and reconcile accounts. Information asymmetry is their advantage; framing someone wouldn't be difficult.

Nekono Ikuya knew that to sow suspicion between two behemoths in the shadows, no solid evidence was needed; only the seeds of doubt needed to be sown. He only needed to leave some ambiguous clues to guide the conversation, and the moles and opportunists within the two organizations would naturally fan the flames for their own purposes.

Even if the team fails, it doesn't matter. The organization can't ignore the disappearance of an important researcher, and anyone in the shadows will be extremely sensitive and vigilant to outside investigations. Conflicts and friction are inevitable.

This will also effectively tie down some of the two organizations' energy for some time to come, relieving pressure on those fighting against 'the brewery' and 'the zoo'.

It would be quite amusing to see two enormous creatures lurking in the darkness clash, like dogs fighting and getting a mouthful of fur.

A glint of eager anticipation flashed in Nekono Ikuya's eyes.

He then quickly accessed the information from his own intelligence network and the 'zoo' intelligence that Kuroba Toichi had shared with him. His turquoise eyes darkened, as if covered with a thin layer of ice.

He looked up and smiled at Kaito Kuroba, saying, "Looks like we don't need to bring out Kaito Kid; we can just wait for Spider to appear. His public identity is that of the world-famous illusionist Günter von Goldberg II, who happens to have a public performance in Japan soon." Nekono Ikuya uttered the name lightly, her tone carrying a cold, playful edge.

“Look, he even prepared the stage for us himself.”

He drew out the last syllable, a sharp curve appearing at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes held no smile, only a chilling glint: "It's our turn to give him a surprise gift."

They have to get their revenge for ambushing Kaito, don't they?