"Ring ring~"
The sudden ringing of the telephone stopped Kouyu and Conan from their conversation.
The two turned to look at Xiaolan.
"Do you think this call might be from Hattori?" Conan asked Kosuke, looking at Ran.
"Maybe," Guangyou replied somewhat perfunctorily.
Conan, who was listening intently to the phone call, didn't notice the perfunctory tone in Kōyū's words. He simply nodded and said, "I hope so."
He only had so little information about Hattori Heiji.
The only thing we know for sure is that Hattori Heiji and Kazuha were probably going to see Mr. Kusunoki.
And that Mr. Nanchuan is very likely living in the home of a man named Ito in Xianqiao Town.
However, there are quite a few people with the surname Ito in Xianqiao Town, so finding him is not easy.
Xiaolan called Guangyou and Guangyou outside, but couldn't get through.
As darkness was approaching, Hattori Heiji, who should have arrived long ago, was still nowhere to be found.
To be honest, he was a little worried.
"What's wrong?" Kōyū met Ai's icy blue eyes, reached out and stroked the contours of his face, and asked softly with a smile in his eyes, his tone full of teasing, "Is my face that attractive to you?"
Just now, he turned his head and saw Ai looking at him sideways. Although he didn't know what had happened, to be honest, he was quite happy to see this.
This is also the main reason why he gave Conan a perfunctory answer earlier.
"It's nothing." Ai lowered her hand from her chin, looked at Kōyū's smiling face, and said in a flat tone, "I just saw a narcissistic person."
“What do you mean by narcissism? I’m just stating a fact.” Kōyū leaned forward slightly, getting closer to Ai, his smile fading as he looked into her eyes and said, “Isn’t that right?”
"No." Ai replied in her cool voice after exchanging a few seconds of eye contact with Kousuke.
After saying that, Ai turned her head away.
That's really disappointing...
Although he said that, Guangyou's face did not show any disappointment as one would expect; instead, a smile returned to his lips.
Almost simultaneously after Kousuke finished speaking, Ai Haibara said in a voice only she could hear, "Yeah, right..."
On the other side, Xiaolan pressed the answer button, but before she could speak, she heard a male voice from the other end: "Ah, it's me, Hattori Heiji."
"What? Give me the phone." Uncle Mori frowned instantly when he heard the kid's voice.
What am I doing out here today?
Isn't it all about finding this kid from Osaka?
They searched all day without finding it, and that's when this guy finally called them.
No matter what, this kid came here to see him.
As an elder, he should also ensure the boy's safety for his parents in Kansai.
Doesn't this kid know that someone is worried about him?
Snatching the phone from Xiaolan's hand, Uncle Mori's face hardened, and his voice rose involuntarily, carrying a lecturing tone as he shouted into the phone, "Hey, you brat, where are you anyway?"
"Even if something happened, couldn't you have called us first?"
Heiji Hattori was visibly taken aback when he heard Uncle Mori's seemingly lecturing words, which were actually filled with concern.
After realizing what had happened, Hattori Heiji pretended to be nonchalant and said, "I'm sorry, sir, I'm currently in a coffee shop with a gentleman named Kusukawa."
"We were having such a great time chatting that we forgot to call and let you know."
After hearing the explanation, Uncle Mori felt much relieved and asked, "So, Kazuha is with you too?"
"Yes, don't worry, we're all fine." Hattori Heiji said calmly, then suddenly changed the subject, "By the way, Uncle, I have a code that I'd like you to help me decipher."
"A code?" Uncle Mori was a little confused.
Why do we have to crack the code again?
“It was Mr. Kusukawa who came up with the code,” Hattori Heiji explained. “I promised him that I wouldn’t leave unless I cracked the code.”
"But I can't figure it out no matter how hard I try, so I thought I'd trouble you to take a look while he's not here."
"Isn't Mr. Kusunoki next to you?" Uncle Mori noticed another point in his words.
“Yes.” Heiji Hattori wasn’t in a hurry and explained, “Someone called him earlier, saying they were short one person for a mahjong game, so he went outside to make the call.”
"I see." Uncle Mori had no doubts.
"So I thought I'd ask you to take a look at the code while he's not around." Heiji Hattori added a compliment, "After all, you're such a good strategist, I'm sure you can crack the code."
"Since you've put it that way, I'll reluctantly agree and help you check the code." Uncle Mori was no longer angry; in fact, he even had a smile on his face.
"I'll send you the code via text message now," Hattori Heiji said after seeing that Uncle Mori had agreed. "If possible, could you please give me the answer before dark?"
"It's about finding the seven numbers hidden in this code."
"Seven numbers?" Upon hearing this, Conan immediately thought of a possibility: "Is it the combination to a bank safe deposit box?"
"If there's no way to answer this, then I probably won't be able to go to your place today, Uncle."
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