Chapter 211, Seventy-Third Cycle (41)
"The situation has changed, and the plan has been altered." Shuichi Akai typed these words quietly into his earpiece in Morse code, his expression serious.
If Conan Edogawa weren't currently on high alert and his mind wasn't racing, he probably would have missed this piece of information amidst the noise.
"What's wrong, Mr. Akai? Did the Public Security Bureau make their move beforehand?" Conan Edogawa asked immediately.
"There's a sniper lying in ambush." Shuichi Akai calmly and quickly typed out the key intelligence. "The police are blocking the road with vehicles. The sniper is very skilled. We'd better turn back."
Conan Edogawa's pupils contracted slightly: "A sniper?! How is that possible! Why would Mr. Amuro bring a sniper with him?"
Surely they can't really be planning to kill Shuichi Akai, right? How could that be? What went wrong?
“A skilled sniper can hit a car’s tires to stop it without causing any casualties.” Shuichi Akai had already sat up, his gaze cold yet burning as he stared at the most suitable sniping position. “We can’t fight head-on. Let’s retreat for now.”
It's a pity, he originally wanted to find an opportunity to say a few words to Rei Furuya as Shuichi Akai.
"Turn around," Shuichi Akai suddenly said.
"What?!" Judy, who was in front of her, suddenly turned around.
"What?!" Carmel's hand trembled so much that he almost drove the car off the cliff.
First, she was startled by the voice that suddenly appeared behind her; second, she realized that the familiar voice caused a violent emotional fluctuation.
“Carmel, turn the car around and drive back right now,” Shuichi Akai continued.
This time, the two of them really heard clearly, and even Carmel, who was driving, couldn't help but look back.
Under the moonlight and amidst the snow-capped mountains, in the dimly lit back seat of the car, a man with black hair and green eyes quietly watched them.
"show!!!"
"Mr. Akai!!!"
Although they had long suspected that Shuichi Akai was not dead, they still couldn't help but burst into tears when he actually appeared in front of them, and were overwhelmed with a sense of security.
Without a word, Carmel immediately turned the car around, making a sharp turn and then a U-turn on the treacherous snowy mountain road with a breathtaking and perfect maneuver. Only then did he exclaim excitedly, "Mr. Akai, what are you doing here? Oh wait, when did you get in the car?! How come I had no idea???"
Judy had just wiped away her tears, put her glasses back on, and tried to keep a serious expression, but couldn't help but smile: "Show, where have you been? Is it okay for you to show up now?"
“Okay, we’ll talk about the specifics later. Right now, we need to avoid being chased by that group.” Shuichi Akai replied to both of them, then glanced out the window and said, “Open the roof.”
"Huh?" Camel was stunned, and couldn't help but confirm again, "Mr. Akai, what did you just say? Open the roof? But with the snow and wind outside..."
“It’s alright.” Shuichi Akai picked up his sniper rifle, his voice still calm. “Carmel, open the roof.”
Carmel saw three pursuing vehicles in his rearview mirror, gritted his teeth, and opened the roof of his car.
In an instant, a small but icy blizzard swept in.
“Show, who are those people? Are they from the organization?” Judy also pulled out her gun.
“No, they’re not an organization.” Shuichi Akai set up his sniper rifle. “It’s a long story, but they’re our allies on the same side.”
Almost the instant he finished speaking, a bullet shattered the rearview mirror on Carmel's side.
Judy and Carmel: "???"
Wait, are you really sure this is a comrade?!
Akai Hide glanced to the side and, upon seeing the precisely shattered rearview mirror, chuckled and said, "That's pretty good technique."
After saying that, he also fired his gun and shattered the rearview mirror of a purple Mazda that was traveling at high speed and maneuvering very well, almost catching up to him immediately.
Judy and Carmel: "..."
Wait, is this the time to praise someone?!
And do sniper rifle users really greet each other like that?
*
Conan Edogawa frowned as he multitasked, listening to the developments on Shuichi Akai's side while also closely watching the confrontation between Tooru Amuro and Yusaku Kudo.
Amuro Tooru had been in a bad mood ever since he heard the Oscar-winning film "The Scarlet Investigator." He stopped trying to probe further and instead pointed out directly how many surveillance cameras were in the room.
"Even for security reasons, most people would only install one or two cameras at home. But you're clearly traveling, yet you've installed surveillance cameras in almost every corner of your room. Isn't that either something else entirely, or just plain psychopathic?"
After the blond, dark-skinned youth finished speaking, he suddenly looked up and aimed precisely at the camera, then slowly gave Conan Edogawa, who was behind the monitor, a meaningful smile.
"Or is there someone else hiding behind surveillance cameras, watching our every move and analyzing every word we say?" he said. "Like that teenager I just mentioned who was hiding behind some FBI faked death plan."
Conan Edogawa felt a chill run down his spine, almost as if his hair had been blown off. Although he quickly calmed down, the hand holding the bow tie voice changer still stiffened for a moment.
He tightened his grip on the red ribbon, composed himself, and continued, "I'm sorry, this is just a personal hobby, and it's not appropriate to discuss the specifics with outsiders. After all, so many cases have occurred in just a few days... The cases have been happening far too frequently. I gradually developed this habit after only a short time in Beika Town. That way, even if some dangerous person breaks in and tries to do something bad, I can leave evidence or call for help in time, right?"
The pointed remark was transmitted through the voice changer from under Yusaku Kudo's mask.
Amuro Tooru withdrew his gaze from the camera and instead looked coolly at Kudo Yusaku's neck, which was hidden under his high-necked clothes.
Kudo Yusaku's expression remained unchanged. Just as agreed beforehand, after officially entering the probing phase, the main questions would be answered by Edogawa Conan, who was monitoring the situation.
Just as Conan Edogawa predicted, Tooru Amuro's patience ran out, and his next goal was to tear open Yusaku Kudo's collar, who was currently disguised as Subaru Okiya, to see if he had a voice-changing collar around his neck.
"Shuichi Akai, how long are you going to keep up this act?" Tooru Amuro's eyes were cold and sharp. "Now that things have come to this, isn't it time for you to take off your mask?"
Kudo Yusaku pretended to cough twice, feigning a cold, and then took off his mask, looking confused.
Then, he saw the blond youth opposite him freeze for a moment.
Amuro Tooru frowned as if offended, his fake smile vanished completely, and he stared at him expressionlessly.
"Shuichi Akai, I told you to take off that mask. Are you trying to fool me?"
"What? A mask? I don't know what you're talking about?" Conan Edogawa said from behind the monitor, and Yusaku Kudo perfectly followed along with his lip movements.
Amuro Tooru stared at him coldly, clearly having lost all patience, and bent down to tear open his collar.
However, the neck beneath the collar was perfectly smooth, with no voice changer whatsoever.
The blond youth was taken aback, and, still not believing it, tugged at the collar in his hand, suspecting that the voice changer was hidden inside.
Just then, Yukiko Kudo, who plays Yusaku Kudo on TV, was speaking while looking at the camera.
She was clearly so excited while praising and expressing her admiration for the FBI agent who was the inspiration for "The Scarlet Investigator" that she forgot about Yusaku Kudo's character and made some rather cute fangirl expressions and remarks in front of countless viewers.
Yusaku Kudo: "..."
Yusaku Kudo gave an awkward but polite smile: "Um, Amuro-kun? What are you doing?"
“Isn’t this… not a good idea?” he said.
*
"Who are they?! How can they have snipers who are on par with Mr. Akai???" Carmel couldn't help but ask in shock during their frantic car chase.
Shuichi Akai's sniping skills are top-notch internationally, but the person chasing him could even engage in a sniping duel with him in such low visibility and a shaky car! That's definitely no ordinary person!!!
"It should be someone from the Public Security Bureau." Shuichi Akai's expression also turned serious, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
He should have heard of such a skilled sniper, but for a moment he really wasn't sure who it was.
If he hadn't confirmed that the people chasing them were police officers, he would have suspected that it was the organization and Scotland or Gin.
"Police?! Why would the police chase after us and shoot?!" Judy exclaimed in shock.
Even if they were FBI agents secretly infiltrating the country to do something big, shouldn't they at least be treated like this?
"What should we do? They're chasing us very closely, especially that purple Mazda. The driver is quite skilled. If this continues, they might really catch up with us," Cameron said anxiously.
Shuichi Akai was deep in thought.
While catching up wouldn't be a major problem, their subsequent actions and initiative would certainly be greatly affected.
Given Rei Furuya's personality, he might directly threaten to send all FBI agents back to the United States.
“We can’t let them grab us like this.” Shuichi Akai made his decision, pointing his gun directly at the tires of the purple Mazda. “I have a plan, Camel. After the next turn…”
Conan Edogawa was startled upon hearing his plan and quickly said, "Mr. Akai! Won't this kill someone? The snowy mountain is too dangerous. What if they slip and fall down the mountain..."
“It’s alright, the driver of that car is very skilled and can keep his balance.” Shuichi Akai said without hesitation, and the moment the opportunity arose, he pulled the trigger and fired.
"Bang--!"
*
"Amuro-kun, can you let go now?" Kudo Yu mimicked Okiya Subaru's face, feigning confusion and wariness. "Um, are you misunderstanding something? I haven't been able to understand what you're saying since the beginning, but if you keep touching me like this, I'm really going to call the police."
Even though the person in front of me is a policeman.
The blond, dark-skinned youth stared at his neck with an incredibly terrifying expression, his hand gripping his collar with bulging veins. He paused upon hearing this.
Then, he slowly raised his head, his gaze moving inch by inch from the man's neck to his chin, behind his ears, and facial features.
Both Yusaku Kudo and Conan Edogawa were well aware of what body language and facial expressions meant, and at that moment, their hearts skipped a beat, and a bad premonition filled their hearts.
But before they could react, the blond youth laughed again.
Although he was smiling, there was no smile in his eyes; they were colder than ever before.
"No matter how he disguises himself, even if it's Phantom Thief Kid, there's a simple but effective way to identify him."
His hand suddenly released Kudo Yusaku's collar, then slowly moved towards his face.
"Since you still want to keep pretending, then I'll just have to tear off your mask."
Conan Edogawa suddenly stood up, about to speak, when he heard a deafening roar from the other end of his earpiece.
Almost simultaneously, Shuichi Akai's unusually shocked and anxious voice also came over.
"An avalanche!"
He was speaking as if he were shouting.
"Run!!!"
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