Tokyo National Museum Artifact Exhibition.

Like all the idiots who received the warning letter about the thief and stubbornly believed that they would succeed in catching the thief, the Tokyo National Museum did not choose to close or cancel the exhibition, but remained open.

And that’s not all…

“That’s a lot of people.”

Looking at the huge crowds of people, Fang Zheng couldn't help but sigh. He thought no one would come to such a monotonous cultural relic exhibition.

"Hehehe, this is all thanks to us, Mr. Fang Zheng."

Flanda, who was walking beside Fang Zheng, also chuckled when she heard Fang Zheng's sigh.

"Riko not only sent the invitation letter to the organizer, but also to various media and news organizations, and even online media. Now everyone in Japan knows about it. After all, this is the information age."

“Indeed, this is the information age.”

Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded. Just as Flanda said, in the past, if the Phantom Thieves sent out invitations, as long as they controlled it properly, the news would hardly leak out. But now it is different. As long as you spread the news online and find a few media outlets to spread the word, it is not impossible for such a thing to spread throughout Japan overnight.

"So these people are actually here to watch the fun?"

"Of course, this is a scene where we witnessed the appearance of the Phantom Thief. Who would miss such a scene? Isn't this the result?"

That’s true.

"But then again...what does this notice mean?"

As Fang Zheng spoke, he opened his phone and scrolled through it. Just as Frenda said, the internet was full of news about the thief Lupin IV coming to the National Museum to steal exhibits. It also included Riko's notice, which, like all the thieves' notices, contained completely confusing words.

"Under the guidance of the shepherdess, I will come with the wind, and welcome the child who longs to return to his mother's arms - Lupin IV, under the watchful eyes of the crowd."

"Hehehe, Mr. Fang Zheng, do you want to know? In the end, I have to tell you... It's not really a secret."

As she spoke, Flanda leaned close to Fang Zheng's ear.

"I heard from Riko that this shepherdess refers to the record of the first time Holmes noticed Professor Moriarty in the Uncanny Valley incident. At that time, he found an oil painting "Shepherdess" by the 18th-century French painter Jean-Baptiste Grosz in Professor Moriarty's study. The painting was once sold at a sky-high price of 1.2 million francs. It was this painting that aroused Holmes' suspicion at the time, thinking that Moriarty, as a professor, could not have so much money..."

"Uh-huh, so what?"

"According to Riko, the name of this shepherdess appears on the 12th page of the Uncanny Valley case record, on the 10th row of the 3rd line... This is also the time she appeared - 12:30, but in fact..."

Having said this, Flanda chuckled.

"That's the English version. If it's the French version, it's the 24th row, 1st row, which is 24:01. It seems that the police didn't find any clues at all."

"Haha, Riko is really deliberately persecuting Aria."

Hearing this, Fang Zheng also shook his head helplessly. It was obvious that the shepherdess was referring to himself, and the translation of Riko's notice actually meant "Under the guidance of Professor Moriarty, I will come to visit at 24:01 and steal the treasure."

That would be fine, but what Fang Zheng found even more interesting was that all the clues were related to Sherlock Holmes. In other words, if Aria was a real member of the Sherlock Holmes family, then she should definitely be able to think of this clue. But if she couldn't think of it in the end and Riko succeeded, she would definitely be ridiculed and hit hard by Riko to the point of becoming autistic.

After all, she is the descendant of Sherlock Holmes, but you can't even remember the deeds of your ancestor?

However, Fang Zheng did not intend to intervene. After all, this was just a little girl's prank. If Riko really wanted to persecute Aria, she could just transform into Aria and leave her hair or DNA at the crime scene. Aria would have no way to defend herself and would have to go to jail with her mother.

Moreover, even if Frenda didn't say it, Fang Zheng also found that Riko was playing a little word game. The notice didn't specify the date, but only said "under the public's attention". Then, most people who read the notice would definitely think that the other party was planning to take action when the Tokyo Museum opened. But in fact, even if there were only police here, it was under the public's attention. Not to mention that Riko had previously applied to Fang Zheng for the live broadcast permission for the entire network through her personal terminal...

Fang Zheng now finally understood what Li Zi was planning.

If it is broadcast live on the entire network, it will definitely attract everyone's attention.

So... times have changed, guys.

Looking at the martial arts detective students dressed as staff members walking around, and the policemen on high alert, Fang Zheng also shook his head.

At the same time, in the director's office of the museum, senior officials from the military detective, police and exhibition hall were all looking at the notice in front of them with serious expressions.

"So far, we can only guess that the date announced by the other party should be today."

A senior police officer spoke up and then looked at the curator.

"Then, Director, do you have any idea what kind of cultural relics they want to steal? This 'child longing to return to his mother's arms' should be a hint. Is there any specific cultural relic they are targeting?"

“This…this…”

The curator was sweating profusely at this moment, not knowing what to say. Of course, he could understand the meaning of the above, but he really didn't know. They had also heard about the rumors about Lupin IV, who often stole cultural relics from museums in various countries and then returned them to their original owners. Logically speaking, the cultural relic that Lupin IV wanted to steal must be the same, but the problem was...

"We really have no idea..."

Finally, the curator lowered his head.

After all, seriously speaking, more than half of the cultural relics in this exhibition were looted from other countries in the past!

If you really want to say, either one is possible!

“Woo…”

Looking at the notice in front of her, Aria frowned. As an S-rank martial arts detective, she had never encountered such a problem before. Aria had a feeling that the other party was deliberately looking for trouble with her this time. But even so, she still couldn't solve this mystery... This made Aria feel very frustrated.

"In any case, all we can do now is to strengthen our vigilance and never allow that thief to succeed again! That guy deliberately posted a notice online and gathered so many people just to fish in troubled waters! Therefore, we must strengthen our vigilance and never let down our guard!"

Really interesting.

Sitting on a chair not far away, drinking coffee, Fang Zheng nodded secretly while looking at the heavily guarded museum. He had to admit that Riko did have Lupin's genes. She did this on purpose to make people think that she was planning to fish in troubled waters when there were many people around.

It is common sense that when there are too many people, the security force will be weaker, and it is easier to fish in troubled waters than when there are too few people. However, Riko did the opposite. It is true that when there are too many people, the attention will be distracted, but because of this, the security work requires more energy than usual.

It's like a long-distance race. Let others run ahead as hard as they can, and then you take action calmly after they are exhausted.

After all, super-intensive security is very energy-consuming. As the saying goes, it's not that you are afraid of thieves stealing, but that you are afraid of thieves thinking about it.

Um?

At this moment, Fang Zheng suddenly noticed a sight. He raised his head and looked into the distance. He saw a short-haired girl standing on the top floor of the other side of the museum, staring at him. As if she had discovered something, the girl quickly turned and left the moment Fang Zheng's eyes fell on her.

Reki? What does she want?

After narrowing his eyes and thinking for a while, Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.

Never mind, we’ll know when the time comes.

Soon, the day is over.

"This exhibition ends today. Please leave in an orderly manner."

As the electronic music sounded, the visitors left the museum one after another with a look of speechlessness and disappointment on their faces.

"Really? I thought I could see Kaito Lupin the Fourth!"

"According to my reasoning, she should have appeared!"

"That means your reasoning is totally wrong. Come on, you're just a member of the mystery club, but you really think you're a detective."

"Oh, what a waste of time! I even took a day off to hang out here for a day..."

Seeing the groups of people dispersing in twos and threes, the military detectives and police officers in charge of security finally breathed a sigh of relief. Afterwards, the police captain in charge of on-site command also quickly issued orders.

"Close the museum immediately, conduct an inventory of all cultural relics, and seal all entrances and exits!"

"yes!"

Soon, the martial arts detectives and the police took action again, and then cooperated with the museum's experts to count the collections.

They had even prepared themselves for the possibility that some of the collections had been swapped or lost, but what was unexpected was that until the inventory was completely completed, no omissions were found.

What is going on?

"Anyway, that's all for today, you can go back and rest."

Although the police chief at the scene did not know what was going on, he eventually concluded that it was most likely a misjudgment on his part. Perhaps the other party had not chosen today at all, and now was no longer a time when everyone was paying attention. Most people should be sleeping, right?

Although Kaito Lupin IV is elusive, he has never lied to anyone.

Nothing should happen tonight.

Thinking of this, the inspector asked the martial arts detective who was responsible for assisting in security to return to school first, and also asked some police officers to go back to duty and rest, while he himself stayed here to continue studying the notice letter.

At this moment, it is almost twelve o'clock.

"It's time, Professor Moriarty."

Standing on the top of the tower, looking at the museum not far away, Franda smiled proudly and looked at Fang Zheng who was wearing a mask beside her.

"Yeah, yeah."

Fang Zheng glanced at his watch.

"It's already twelve o'clock, one minute left."

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...

Just as the second hand returned to the starting point, Flanda pressed the button in her hand.

At the same time... the entire museum suddenly became dark.

Not only the museum, in fact, the entire block became dark, with only the light of the flare flickering in the darkness.

"BIU--Bang!"

The dazzling light shot straight into the sky, illuminating the already dark city.

"What is that?"

"Flare?!"

Noticing the strange light coming from the sky, the inspector immediately stood up and walked to the window to look out. The others were also stunned.

What a joke! This is not war time, why are you setting off flares?

“Bang, bang, bang!!!”

Soon, a series of flares flew up, illuminating the entire night sky with white. This also woke up those people in the city who were originally preparing to rest, or even had already rested. They walked to the window and looked at the strange scene outside, not knowing what was going on.

"Lupin is coming! Lupin IV is coming, everyone, everyone be alert!!"

The inspector rushed out of the office in a hurry, shouting and trying to call the guards in the museum, but what he didn't expect was that as soon as he arrived in the hall, he saw a girl in a thief costume standing there, holding a vase in her hands.

"whee……"

Seeing the police officer in front of her, Riko made a face at him, and the police officer quickly picked up his gun and pointed it at Riko. At this moment, other police officers also rushed over from all directions, picked up their guns and pointed them at Riko.

"Put your hands up, Lupin IV, I am officially arresting you now!"

"That depends on whether you have the ability."

Riko giggled, then she stepped back as if dancing, while the inspector continued to hold the gun tightly.

"You have nowhere to escape. The entire museum has been completely sealed off. Not even a mouse can get out. You'd better surrender! I don't know where you hid before, but you can't escape from here."

Speaking of this, the inspector was quite proud. In order to be on the safe side, he also put in a lot of effort. After the closing just now, the entire exhibition hall was completely blocked. Now even if Lupin IV wanted to escape, he couldn't escape!

"Yes..."

Hearing the inspector's words, Riko nodded.

"Indeed, it's very difficult to escape from here now. Just like you said, this place is like a can, but..."

Riko giggled.

"If it's a can, you can open it, right?"

As Riko finished her words, a gust of air suddenly erupted, and then the entire dome of the Tokyo National Museum was blown away with a loud bang!