It only takes half a day to travel by boat from Takeshiba Pier in Tokyo Bay to Gunkanjima Island in Izu.
However, because the island has been contracted out to an unknown tourism company, it does not accept unreserved individual tourists, so there are no regular boat schedules.
Besides Kindaichi and his tour group who had secured spots to visit the island, there were also two unexpected guests on the ship: Yoruichi Toyama and Akechi.
Unsurprisingly, as soon as Hajime-chan saw the two of them appear at the same time, she immediately became twice as hostile and pointed at them, ready to unleash a barrage of mindless attacks.
Then, remembering the humiliation of being rebuffed by Yoruichi Toyama before, after holding back for a long time, she finally said, "I won't lower myself to the level of a pretentious person," and dragged Miyuki away.
Yoruichi Toyama shrugged indifferently.
Mingzhi tapped his glasses frame with his finger and smiled at him.
"I thought you were going to give him a lecture again."
Yoruichi Toyama smiled as well.
"Was it useful? Even though I roasted her until she was covered in corpses, that Hajime-chan still didn't give up on her idea of trying her luck at treasure hunting!"
"No matter how smart he is, he's still a child! He won't learn to turn back until he hits a wall a few times."
Speaking of this, I'm reminded of another famous detective who shrunk in size.
I wonder if Conan was even slightly moved when he heard what "Miss Hirota" said before she fell into the sea.
These high school students, one after another, all love to be lone wolves!
Don't they know it will ultimately harm both themselves and others?
Mingzhi's laughter became more pronounced in his ear.
"How old are you? Why do you talk like an old man? Like a..."
He seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing, "Like a policeman."
...Brother, you have excellent taste!
Yoruichi Toyama mentally made a joke at him, then deliberately squinted and sized him up.
"Then you don't seem like it at all..."
"Shh!" Mingzhi interrupted him with a look.
The two adjusted their positions leaning against the ship's railing, watching the tour group members, especially the young people from the same university club, joking and laughing on the deck.
“I mean,” Yoruichi Toyama said again, speaking in English, “Kindaichi probably wouldn’t have guessed, but you should have noticed something, right? That tourism company that contracted the Golden Island is probably backed by that puppeteer.”
"You just casually came to the island like this, aren't you worried about any accidents?"
To say that Gao Yuanyao, the "Puppet Master of Hell," never harms innocent people is not entirely true.
Kindaichi, including Akechi, were among his favorite targets for persecution.
This so-called criminal artist, who treats murder as a "performance," feels no psychological pressure whatsoever when he ruins a few "props" during his "performance."
“I guess he won’t this time,” Akechi replied in English as well.
"Given that puppeteer's habits, luring this group of people to the island meant that something was going to happen inside, right?"
"Even if Kindaichi is the one he's trying to frame, if he uses me as a 'sacrifice,' then there will be no one to track down the murderer!"
"Wouldn't a 'performance' without an audience be boring?"
You really have a big heart...
Yoruichi Toyama sighed silently, not entirely disagreeing with the statement.
Mingzhi was referring to the "King of the Cave" case that had previously occurred in Hong Kong.
Through Takato Yoichi's meticulous planning, Kindaichi was framed as the murderer, and one of the victims was none other than Akechi himself.
But that incident was indeed conducted in the open spaces of Hong Kong, and there was plenty of Hong Kong police force to track down Kindaichi.
This time, Yoruichi Toyama, a spoiler-loving fan, naturally knows that Kindaichi and Akechi are just "spectators."
"As for the tourism company that developed Golden Island, I have already sent people to investigate, and I will be notified of the results as soon as possible."
As Akechi spoke, he winked at Yoruichi Toyama.
"Mr. Toyama, you're quite familiar with Mr. Megure from our Department One, Department Three, right?"
"My style of doing things is quite different from Mr. Megure and the others."
Out of caution, despite speaking in English, Akechi omitted words like "First Investigation Division" and "Inspector Megure".
But Yoruichi Toyama already understood.
He had long been puzzled. While it was true that Japan's tourism resources could be monopolized and developed by capitalists, why didn't Akechi and the others investigate the development company when they knew that Takato Yoichi was behind the Golden Island project?
At least, this point was never mentioned in the original storyline.
In other words, neither the police in Conan nor the Kindaichi world possess the basic investigative ability to follow clues.
But his current wisdom was completely unexpected.
Is it because of the changes brought about by global integration? ...
As Yoruichi Toyama remained silent in thought, Akechi pushed up his glasses again, his gaze behind the lenses carrying a hint of sarcasm.
"Leaving those things aside..."
"Hey Yuanshan, what's wrong with your English pronunciation?"
Did you burn your tongue while drinking soup yesterday?
...Hey? I'm not even trying to flirt with you, and you're still trying to flirt with me?
I have such a bad temper!
"I'm not saying this to be mean, but your English is weird, isn't it? What kind of rural accent is that?"
Yoruichi Toyama quickly retorted, fully utilizing Taro's British English cheat code, preparing for a major battle.
……etc?
British English, right?
He probably knew what was going on with Mingzhi's accent at the farmhouse.
This guy learned English while studying in the US, so it must be American English!
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