Ekota.
"Qingzi, Qingzi, are you home?"
Kaito Kuroba quickly changed his clothes and ran like the wind towards his childhood friend's house.
He wanted to create a perfect alibi for himself!
Arriving at the door, he raised his hand and knocked on the tightly closed door.
Time passed slowly, and finally, a soft sound came from inside the house, followed by a clear and melodious response.
The door slowly opened, revealing a girl who looked exactly like Xiaolan—Nakamori Aoko!
A hint of surprise shone in her bright, watery eyes, but more so, she was delighted to see Kaito Kuroba.
"Hmph, why are you here so late?" Qingzi pouted, pretending to be angry.
However, she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.
Kaito Kuroba scratched his head, smiled a little embarrassedly, and quickly explained, "Hehe, well... I didn't go shopping with you this afternoon, so I came here specifically to apologize." After saying that, he carefully stepped into the house.
Although she was still a little annoyed at being stood up in the afternoon, Aoko's sullen mood disappeared immediately when she heard that Kaito Kuroba had come to apologize.
She didn't stop Kaito Kuroba, but just whispered, "At least you still have some conscience!"
Entering the living room, Kaito Kuroba looked around.
Then, as if he were at home, he lay comfortably on the sofa and casually asked, "Isn't Uncle home so late?"
Aoko, who had just closed the door and walked in, saw Kuroba Kaito lounging on the sofa, looking quite relaxed. Feeling a little annoyed, she said irritably, "Dad just got a phone call, and after listening to it, he left looking shocked."
"Haha... Is that so?" Kaito Kuroba's lips twitched slightly as he subtly wiped the fine sweat from his forehead while pondering what kind of message Inspector Nakamori had received.
Actually, you can guess the general idea without even thinking about it; it's most likely related to yourself.
...
"Now for a breaking news update from the police: the world-famous jewel thief Phantom Thief Kid has recently been identified by the police and is very likely involved in a shocking murder case!"
"The following are photos taken by people at the crime scene!"
At that moment, Kaito Kuroba was sitting in front of the television with Aoko watching a program when suddenly his expression turned extremely grim.
Because his own slightly disheveled figure and face suddenly appeared on the television screen.
"It's that thief? How is that possible?" Aoko stared wide-eyed at the news on the TV screen, her face full of shock.
Although she hated Kaito Kid because this despicable guy always tricked her father.
But she couldn't believe that Kidd would commit murder.
"Maybe it's a mistake?" Aoko looked at the news, her heart filled with astonishment and doubt. She turned to ask Kuroba Kaito, who was sitting next to her and seemed a little anxious.
"Hmm... I guess so!" Kaito Kuroba replied uncertainly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
At that moment, he was secretly relieved: "Luckily, I managed to contact my mom in time, otherwise this would have been a real problem!"
Aoko noticed Kaito Kuroba's changing expression and became increasingly curious.
She stared at Kaito Kuroba, feeling that he was acting strangely today.
In fact, deep down, Aoko always harbored doubts about the true identity of Phantom Thief Kid.
She had tried to verify this conjecture through various methods, but each time she failed to reach a clear conclusion due to Kaito Kuroba's clever responses.
At this moment, facing Kaito, who had suddenly appeared and was acting strangely, Aoko's doubts resurfaced.
Just as she was about to probe further, a breaking news report on television forced her to temporarily suspend her plans.
On the television screen, the news anchor stared in astonishment at the note in his hand and reported: "We now have an breaking news report! Phantom Thief Kid, who was previously listed as a suspect by the police, has just appeared at the Italian National Exhibition and successfully stole the rare gem 'Heart of the Ocean' that is on display."
"Now please watch the footage transmitted from the scene." As the host spoke, the camera switched to a surveillance video.
In the video, the phantom thief Kid, dressed in a pristine white robe, stands steadily atop the Italian National Exhibition.
The white cloak behind him was fluttering in the wind.
"When the bells toll to announce the end of the century, we will meet again." Facing the camera, Phantom Thief Kid uttered these mysterious words, after which a thick cloud of smoke suddenly billowed up.
Amidst the billowing smoke, the figure of Phantom Thief Kid gradually blurred and eventually disappeared from view.
"This Phantom Thief Kid is so weird!" Aoko frowned and poked her chin in confusion as she watched the Phantom Thief Kid appear in a foreign country on the TV news.
She always felt that some of the Phantom Thief Kid's subtle movements on camera seemed to exude a lightness and grace unique to girls...
After seeing this news, Kaito Kuroba finally felt relieved and secretly rejoiced: Asking Mom for help is definitely reliable!
"Hey, Aoko, don't think like that! That Phantom Thief Kid around here is definitely an imposter. Didn't he admit himself that he's Lupin III?"
"Oh, is that so?"
"Of course! The real Phantom Thief Kid would never hurt anyone..."
...
Inside the villa, Yuzuru held Sonoko and Ran in his arms and slept soundly through the night.
Meanwhile, the police downstairs worked all night but found no useful clues.
When they learned that Kaito Kid had appeared overseas, they were at a loss and could only blame the case on the mysterious words left behind by the fake Kid when he left: "Lupin III".
"Ah—uh—"
Xiaolan woke up stretching and unconsciously snuggled into the warm embrace beside her.
"Awake?" Yuzuru had actually been awake for a while, but he had kept his eyes closed to rest so as not to wake Ran and Sonoko.
"Hmm, good morning, Nan." Xiao Lan's face flushed red as she recalled what happened last night.
Perhaps woken up by their voices, Sonoko, who had been playing the wildest game last night, groggily opened her eyes.
The three of them played around on the bed for a while longer before finally getting out of bed, satisfied.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the suspension bridge, Conan and Kogoro Mouri spent a nerve-wracking night.
After sunrise, Inspector Megure contacted them via radio and instructed them to take a helicopter to the villa.
Conan jumped out of the helicopter impatiently and ran towards the villa. He had only one thought in his mind: to see Ran as soon as possible!
"Ran, wait for me, I'm coming!" Conan rushed into the villa, panting heavily.
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