Chapter 198, Seventy-Third Cycle (28)
The prisoner was tied up and locked in cell B of carriage seven. The three policemen then temporarily returned to cell A next door, closed the door, and began to discuss in hushed tones.
"Did you see it at the time?" Matsuda Jinpei's face was dark.
“Hmm.” Date Wataru’s expression also darkened. “Although it wasn’t obvious, he must have encountered it once before. His hair at the temples was wet, and he came out quite late at that time.”
Kenji Hagiwara took out his phone: "That was around the time Hiro started executing his plan..."
The call was almost immediately disconnected, but new messages quickly appeared in the cherry blossom group.
[Zero: Sorry, I'm not available to make phone calls from now on.]
Matsuda Jinpei's fingers flew across the keyboard: [Before you came out of Room C and assembled, did you experience heart pain once?]
On the other side, Rei Furuya paused slightly, and finally sighed helplessly.
They found out after all...
[Zero: Yes, but it wasn't serious. It wasn't even as strong as when I tried to stop Akai and Akemi from meeting. And it only hurt for a moment. Compared to the usual worldline deviation warning, it felt more like a program error causing a bug. So I think the plan regarding Kaito Kid can continue.]
[Zero: I didn't tell you at the time mainly because of the time constraints. I originally planned to explain it to you in detail after the case was resolved.]
"Brother Xiu?" Sera Masumi was taken aback and leaned forward to ask the black-haired man in front of her, whose aura had suddenly become even more terrifying.
"It's nothing." Shuichi Akai, with a scar on his face, put away his phone and turned around seriously, saying, "The situation has changed. Let's split up for now. I have an important mission that I need your help with..."
[Hiro: Let's cancel this plan targeting Shuichi Akai.]
[Zero: No way!]
[Zero: It's okay. We're not really going to do anything to Shuichi Akai. It won't change the timeline too much; it'll just slightly shift the initiative in our favor.]
[Zero: If we really want to try to change the timeline, Shuichi Akai's role needs to be altered.]
[Zero: This time I definitely won't let him be so arrogant again!]
*
"Who is that Katsuki Masako? Is it really okay to leave that child with her for the time being?" Okiya Subaru tore off his disguise, revealing his true face as Akai Shuichi, with no scars on his face.
“I don’t know her identity either, and Shin-chan doesn’t seem to be sure either.” Kudo Yukiko handed him the new disguise. “But Shin-chan said Ai-chan trusts her a lot, so I thought maybe you would know that person’s identity.”
Shuichi Akai slightly twitched the corners of his mouth into a subtle smile, but remained silent.
“Well then, while Scotland has gone to the front carriage, let’s get started now.” Yukiko Kudo put on her hat and revealed a sly smile. “I’ll take care of Sharon.”
"Hmm." Akai Shuichi nodded, changed his coat, and put a grenade and a gun into his pocket.
*
Vermouth pressed the button.
Thick, pungent smoke billowed from the placed machine and gradually spread from carriage number eight.
Amuro Tooru, who had been chatting with Kogoro Mouri at the door of VIP Box B, froze, turned around, opened the door to VIP Box C next to him, and exclaimed, "Oh no! Fire! Everyone run!"
"What?! Fire?!"
"Fire! Fire behind us!!!"
"Run! Run forward!"
"Aaaaaahh ...
Almost all the passengers in carriage number eight suffered from fire PTSD, and they all went crazy, running forward irrationally.
Fortunately, there weren't many people, so even in the narrow train aisle with very low visibility, there was no stampede.
However, their running forward in this state caused panic among passengers in the carriages ahead who were unaware of the situation. It also prompted the conductor, who was in charge of passenger safety, to rush people to the front for refuge, and carriages seven and eight were quickly emptied.
There was no smoke drifting past carriage number six yet, and the conductor was trying to reassure the passengers, preventing them from pushing forward. They could observe the situation from here and contact the nearest station to prepare for stopping.
During her standoff with Yukiko Kudo, Vermouth peeked out through a crack in the door. There were three policemen guarding the prisoner outside, discussing something in hushed tones with serious expressions.
"Where's Ai-chan?"
"I don't think I've seen Haibara?"
"Where's Conan? He doesn't seem to be here either?"
The Junior Detectives' voices were quite loud; almost everyone in the carriage could hear them.
Then, Yukiko Kudo's phone suddenly rang.
Before she could react, Vermouth snatched the phone and clearly saw that the caller ID showed Conan Edogawa.
The blonde woman with red lips curled her lips into a smile and clicked to answer the call.
*
"Okay, Mom, you be careful too. I'm going to the front carriage to find Haibara now." Conan Edogawa said this without a hint of unease before hanging up the phone, his expression instantly changing.
Vermouth answered the phone, and Mr. Akai also said there was no problem.
Very good, then let's continue as planned.
"Cough cough cough..."
The thick smoke had gradually dissipated through the window, but it was still very choking, and I didn't know what it was made of.
Conan Edogawa coughed as he walked to compartment E in carriage seven and knocked on the closed door.
“It’s me,” he said.
The door was opened cautiously, and only after confirming that it was only the black-haired boy outside was he let in.
Conan Edogawa glanced a couple more times at the strange woman who opened the door and let him in.
"Are you really alright? Who did you find to impersonate me? Can he really handle the organization members? Won't something bad happen?" Ai Haibara stepped forward and asked him anxiously.
"Yeah, that guy's fine." Conan Edogawa looked away and turned to the little girl with brown hair, giving her a bright smile. "That's Kaito Kid, after all. At least his escape skills are unmatched."
*
Shuichi Akai was actually a little surprised and confused.
Because their plan went so smoothly, the whole process was fraught with danger but ultimately safe.
He wouldn't have thought there was a problem if he hadn't seen Scotland.
But Scotland is also in the car now. Will he really be so easily distracted from Bourbon?
However, it makes sense. Conan Edogawa learned from Kaito Kid that Scotland had its own mission to complete, so they took advantage of Scotland going to the front carriage to deal with Kaito Kid, Spider, and Pandora to quickly complete the "Sherry's death" plan.
But things went too smoothly, which made him a little uneasy.
Although there was no evidence and the logic was sound, Shuichi Akai inexplicably sensed danger based on his intuition and the time he spent with Scottish Bourbon during those years.
However, this danger does not seem to be life-threatening.
Shuichi Akai went through everything about Bourbon again.
Although he disliked him, Bourbon had known about his undercover identity for a long time but never exposed it to the organization or used it to threaten him. He even helped save him several times, both openly and secretly.
Bourbon pretended to cause trouble for Miyano Akemi and Miyano Shiho because he disliked them, but in reality, he was protecting the lives of the two sisters and gained their unimaginable trust. They might even know Bourbon's true identity.
Bourbon's close relationship with the hacker Sakura was revealed during the power struggle following Rum's death, at least proving that his previous hostility and hatred towards Sakura were all an act. Sakura, an assistant to the Public Security Bureau, is a super-adolescent with a strong sense of justice and kindness. Why would she put on such a show with Bourbon? It's unlikely she developed feelings for him, even beyond her beliefs, during the conflict. Their behavior suggests they were acting from the beginning for the organization's benefit, so Bourbon is very likely also an undercover agent.
Bourbon is suspected of being an undercover agent and has been caught red-handed by Scotland. However, Scotland has not revealed a single detail about Bourbon's suspicion. Instead, Scotland keeps bothering Bourbon, who finds it annoying and hateful but is unable to get rid of him completely.
He revealed that the information about himself was leaked by Scotland and Vermouth, but when he wanted to snipe Scotland, he was warned by Bourbon. Bourbon's subsequent pursuit of him and sabotage of the FBI seemed to be genuine, which is not like an undercover agent and contradicts the logic of his previous behavior.
...Unless it was because of the death and replacement of cherry blossoms during that period that Bourbon came to hate him completely, and even his fellow undercover comrades wanted to kill him.
Moreover, when Bourbon came to the vicinity of the Mouri Detective Agency to catch the defector Sherry, he actually became good friends with three very capable police officers.
Even when acting during a mission, Shuichi Akai had almost never seen Bourbon hugging and cuddling people so frequently. That person seemed genuinely not angry and happily accepted the three policemen's strange habit of "giving all their friends three hugs every day."
After much deliberation, Shuichi Akai still felt that the possibility of Bourbon being an undercover agent was too high.
If Bourbon is an undercover agent, then his position within the police force must be extremely high, high enough to influence cooperation between the two countries and organizations.
This is a rare opportunity. If we can confirm that Bourbon is indeed an undercover agent and successfully recruit him to cooperate, then we won't be far from destroying the organization.
However, if the test fails, and if Bourbon is not an undercover agent but a real member of the organization, then his life will certainly be seriously threatened.
And there won't be a second chance to fake death.
However, Shuichi Akai did not hesitate. He lowered his hat brim slightly and walked directly towards the back of the carriage.
The smoke in carriage number eight had not completely dissipated. Although no one was in sight, the faint sound of voices could be heard.
It's the voices of Bourbon and Sherry.
Strictly speaking, it was the voices of Bourbon and Kaito Kid, who was playing the role of Sherry.
Shuichi Akai approached silently, his hands already touching the gun and grenade, and quietly hid in the crack of the door, watching the two outside.
The smoke at the junction of carriages eight and nine completely dissipated, revealing a clear view of the blond, dark-skinned youth threatening with a gun and the brown-haired girl raising her hands to indicate harmlessness.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. Just stay in the back carriage. After I blow that carriage apart, my comrades will come to pick you up.” Bourbon held his gun still in one hand, but took out a bomb from his pocket with the other and placed it directly at the connection between the two carriages.
The tea-haired girl sneered as she tore off the cargo cover from carriage number nine, revealing a dense array of bombs underneath: "This doesn't look like a sign that they're not going to kill me."
Bourbon paused for a moment, then chuckled helplessly, realizing that Vermouth was hiding her intention to kill Sherry from him. He beckoned the brown-haired girl over so she could return to the organization with him in a different way.
The girl with tea-colored hair refused outright and even slammed the door shut.
Just before the blond youth was about to step forward and lead the person out, Shuichi Akai had already pulled out a grenade, ready to aim at the connection between the two carriages and throw it over.
"Click—" The familiar sound of a gun being cocked came from not far behind.
Shuichi Akai felt a chill run down his spine and turned his head sharply, meeting a pair of gentle, smiling, upturned blue eyes.
“I never thought you were actually still alive.” Scotland sighed softly, gun raised amidst the swirling white smoke. “Shuichi Akai.”
Shuichi Akai tensed up, his mind racing through all the information and key images, and he quickly understood everything.
He realized he'd fallen for their trap.
Scotland and Bourbon's real target may not be Shirley, but him.
"squeak--"
The door behind him was pushed open, and a blond, dark-skinned youth walked in, forming a pincer movement with the black-haired, blue-eyed youth on the other side, thus attacking Shuichi Akai.
“Shuichi Akai, you’ve finally met your match.” Bourbon also raised his gun, revealing a wicked smile like a cat eyeing its prey, his purplish-gray eyes filled with arrogance and malice. “I told you, I will kill you with my own hands. Scotland, you are not allowed to fire.”
Scotland smiled and said "okay," no longer aiming the gun at Shuichi Akai's vitals, but his blue eyes lost their smile and stared coldly at Shuichi Akai's face.
Sensing something was wrong, Phantom Thief Kid, under intense questioning through his earpiece, quietly opened the door to check on the three extremely dangerous men. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead, but he couldn't think of a way to safely rescue them and dared not make any rash moves.
Shuichi Akai, who had been warily watching Scotland, paused his finger as he reached for the grenade after Bourbon's last words, and looked at Bourbon, who was approaching with a gun raised.
The blond youth's smile widened when he saw Akai Shuichi's serious expression: "Don't worry, I won't kill you right now. I'm not as kind as Gin. I'll take you back and torture you slowly..."
He paused, even his steps faltered, the hand holding the gun trembled and fell to his side, while his other hand involuntarily clutched his heart. He then leaned weakly and stiffly against the door to avoid collapsing.
Shuichi Akai was startled by his sudden heart attack. His eyes widened slightly as he couldn't understand what had happened, and countless guesses flashed through his mind.
But before he could react, Scotland made its move.
Akai Shuichi instantly drew his gun and pointed it at him, but the man completely ignored him and brushed past him, rushing over to catch the blond youth who was about to fall to the ground, anxiously checking on him and asking about his condition.
Shuichi Akai, who was completely ignored: "..."
Without hesitation, Shuichi Akai seized the opportunity and threw the grenade forcefully.
"Boom—"
The bomb precisely blasted open the connection between the two carriages, and carriage number nine, carrying the brown-haired girl, was gradually left behind by the speeding train.
Even with such a commotion, Scotland seemed oblivious to everything, focusing intently on checking on Bourbon's condition and gently inquiring about his feelings.
Shuichi Akai lowered the brim of his hat, turned around, and quickly left.
No one stopped him, even though Bourbon seemed to have recovered and told him to let go, Scotland still wouldn't let go.
Aside from a sharp glance upwards when Shuichi Akai threw the grenade, he didn't even look at the two targets he was supposed to catch.
Shuichi Akai left the carriage and quickly returned to his compartment to change back into Subaru Okiya's disguise.
But his heart was still pounding, and he stared at the broken-down and exploding carriage number nine behind him with a complicated expression.
Does Bourbon have heart disease?
It seems not, I've never heard of it before, and the onset was so strange, it didn't conform to any medical common sense.
It was almost as if... he had deliberately feigned illness to stop Scotland from leaving so that he could be let go.
He had previously told Scotland not to fire.
Akai Shuichi's expression changed in a few moments, eventually settling on certainty and approval.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
