Next, Ai Li and Kotone Shiomi followed the members of the Phantom Thieves and watched them perform a real-life version of Mission Impossible - they first lured away the shadow guards in the security room, then turned off the lights, and then started the crane to steal the "secret treasure" that was under heavy protection.

However, just when the Phantom Thieves thought they had succeeded and were about to leave the art museum, they discovered that the so-called secret treasure was just a fake. Then Madarame Ikryusai from another spiritual world rushed over with a large number of guards and surrounded the Phantom Thieves. Then he revealed everything to everyone with a smile.

"Ms. Ellie, are we really not going to go up and help?"

Hiding in the shadow gap above the art gallery, Shiomi Kotone asked in a low voice, and Airi shook her head.

"Shh, keep your voice down, it's not time for us to come on stage yet."

"But……"

"Be careful not to be discovered."

As she spoke, Ai Li stuck close to Shiomi Kotone - the two girls were hiding in the gap in the sign above the art gallery. The narrow gap made it impossible for them to move, so they could only stick together face to face.

Thinking of this, Ai Li once again tried to make her expression more solemn and serious.

She looked at Ellie and wanted to say something, but seeing that she was staring at the bottom seriously, she could only shut her mouth obediently - after all, Ellie herself didn't think there was anything wrong, and if she took it too seriously, wouldn't it be very embarrassing?

So Xi Jianqinyin had no choice but to remain silent and turned her head to look down.

Meanwhile, down below, the battle between the Phantom Thieves and another Madarame Ikryusai has reached a white-hot stage. Not only that, they also learned a secret - the mother of Kitagawa Yusuke, Madarame Ikryusai's disciple and now a companion of the Phantom Thieves, was killed by Madarame!

Of course, Madarame Ikryusai did not kill anyone himself. At that time, Kitagawa Yusuke's mother was seriously ill and had not much time left, so she painted a picture called "Sayuri" of a woman holding a baby and wanted to give it to her son. However, Madarame Ikryusai at the time was attracted by this painting and thought that this painting could make him successful. So after that, one time Kitagawa Yusuke's mother suddenly fell ill, and Madarame Ikryusai did not send her to the hospital. He just watched her die and then took the painting called "Sayuri".

After that, Madarame Ikryusai modified the painting of Kitagawa Yusuke's mother by hiding the baby in the woman's arms with mist, and then exhibited it as his own work.

Although Madarame Ikryusai was a person of poor character, one has to admit that he did have considerable artistic talent. The original meaning of this painting was that a mother was looking at the baby in her arms with affection. This is certainly a masterpiece, but that's all.

However, after Madarame Ikryusai's "transformation", all people saw was a woman with a melancholy expression looking down, and they didn't know what she was looking at, which made the painting full of mystery. As a result, the painting successfully rose from a "masterpiece" to a masterpiece like "Mona Lisa's Smile", and Madarame Ikryusai also became famous and completely established his status as a master of painting.

After learning the truth, the Phantom Thieves were naturally filled with righteous indignation and fought against another shadow boss, Madarame Ichiryusai. However, the shadowed Madarame Ichiryusai was quite difficult to deal with, and the Phantom Thieves were therefore caught in a tough battle.

Watching the Phantom Thieves fighting hard below, Shiomi Kotone couldn't help but want to help.

"Ms. Ellie... aren't we going to help?"

"Watch."

Ai Li did not say much. Soon, the Phantom Thieves found a way to defeat the shadowed Madarame Ikryusai and defeated him. Then the huge shadow monster disappeared, and Madarame Ikryusai reappeared from the remaining dark shadow of the monster.

At the same time, the magnificent art museum world in front of them began to collapse. The Phantom Thieves hurriedly left the art museum with the paintings, and Airie also followed the Phantom Thieves back to the real world with Shiomi Kotone.

"Ms. Airi, will this really make Madarame Ikryusai repent and reform?"

"You'll know when you see it."

Just as Ai Li said, the very next day, Madarame Ikryusai held a press conference, where he tearfully admitted his crimes, including not saving Kitagawa Yusuke's mother from death and plagiarizing other people's paintings. This naturally caused quite a shock and sensation.

As for Ellie and the others...

"That's all."

Watching the press conference on TV, Ai Li shrugged her shoulders, while Jie Tong next to her looked at Ai Li curiously.

"So, big sister, what will happen to that old grandfather?"

"Not very good. His behavior is considered as turning himself in, which can reduce his guilt. As for the death of the mother...even if Madarame Ichiryusai himself admitted that he did not help the mother, he did not actually kill her, so he will not be charged with murder. As for plagiarism, if his disciples come forward to point it out and there is evidence to prove it, he will be convicted and sentenced. Considering his age and the fact that he turned himself in, I believe the punishment will not be severe. At most, he will be stripped of all his titles, positions and capital in the art world, fined a little, and spend a few years in prison."

"He has already admitted it himself. Is this not okay?"

Hearing Ai Li's answer, Shiomi Kotone was obviously surprised.

"Of course, the prisoner's testimony is credible to a certain extent, but it cannot be completely relied upon, because we have to consider the possibility of confession under torture and the prisoner taking the blame for others. Therefore, witnesses, testimony, and evidence are all necessary. Even if Madarame Ikryusai himself admitted all the crimes, if there is no evidence to prove his testimony, then the police will not be able to sentence him."

"how so……"

Faced with Ai Li's answer, Shiomi Kotone was obviously a little disappointed.

“Laws exist not to uphold absolute justice, but to uphold justice that most people can accept.”

Ai Li glanced at Shiomi Kotone.

"Even if the Phantom Thieves did nothing wrong, so what? Even if they did make the evildoers change their ways, so what? Can you guarantee that they will never make mistakes? A knight-errant breaks the law with his sword. Even a world-famous knight-errant dare not say that he has never killed a good person by mistake in his life. Even if the Phantom Thieves guarantee that they will only act on the most heinous criminals, will the public accept it?"

Having said that, Ellie spread her hands.

"Why do the public recognize the law? Because the provisions of the law are dead. There are records of what crime a person has committed, how he has been punished, why he has been prosecuted, and whether there is evidence. Of course, the law is not perfect, and there are many cases of unjust, false, and wrongful convictions, but at least the law has clear, explicit rules and procedures that can be seen and touched."

"But the Phantom Thieves are different. How do they choose their targets? How do they confirm that the other party needs to be tried? Why don't they call the police instead of using this method? How do they prove that they are not manipulating other people's minds, distorting their wills, and using methods similar to hypnosis to make others confess their crimes? Do you think the public will accept this invisible and intangible rule that only a small group of people have the power of life and death to judge everyone?"

"this……"

Hearing Ellie's question, the girls looked at each other. At first, they did think that the Phantom Thieves were right, but when faced with Ellie's question, they didn't know how to answer.

"Even if it's a false case, at least you have to be charged with a crime, and you need to provide testimony. But what about them? They're just like the chivalrous thieves or chivalrous robbers. They kill a few people and leave a note saying 'Heaven's punishment'. Why did the other person die? How to prove that he deserved to die? And how to prevent others from taking advantage of the situation? Even if someone is convicted, at least the police must be sent to arrest him first, and then investigate and question him. But the Phantom Thieves are invisible and intangible. Then one day they suddenly give a notice, and then someone around you suddenly bursts into tears and says that he has committed a terrible crime... Can you accept this process?"

The little girls might still be entangled in whether the actions of the Phantom Thieves are just, but Airi doesn't care about such trivial issues. There are many such victims in the Conan world. Madarame Ikryusai's behavior is indeed bad, but in the Conan world, people as bad as him would have filled the crematorium long ago, and all kinds of revenge killings have never stopped. Can we not catch those murderers just because they are for revenge?

How is that possible?

Another reason why Ellie doesn't like the Phantom Thieves is just as she said, even though the Phantom Thieves' original intention was good, she didn't like the ending very much.

Just as Ai Li said, if the other party repents and changes his ways, it is considered surrendering, and surrendering will result in a lighter sentence. Moreover, in Ai Li's view, the significance of the law is not only to uphold justice, but also to punish evil.

That's right, punishment.

Just like Yeze Natsune's father, he made his adopted daughter and several innocent girls into artificial angels and let them kill each other to complete his plan. The punishment that Airi gave him was to shoot him directly. In this way, he would never be able to see whether the plan on which he had gambled everything was successful or failed. In Airi's view, dying in such desperate cruelty was the punishment that fit his crime.

The same goes for Madarame Ikryusai. If he fell into Airi's hands, Airi would ensure that he would be unable to live or die, and then watch helplessly everything he had slip away from him, and finally die in agony from a heart attack in rage - this was the punishment that fit his crime.

Instead of crying and proposing to mend his ways like he does now, going to jail would not be a punishment for him at all, it could even be considered an enjoyment - after all, he is so old, it is impossible for him to receive labor education like the young prisoners. This is simply changing the place where he can live out his old age and die peacefully.

Ai Li absolutely disagrees with the idea that this is a punishment for evil.

"So what are you going to do, Miss Ellie?"

"There are still two days until the next rainy night."

Ellie flipped open her phone and checked the weather forecast again.

"First, let's play cops and robbers."