Chapter 21 (Chapter 20) The Countdown to Reboot: The Devil Card...
'The Devil Card:'
The bondage of desire is a shackle imposed upon us.
And we had no other choice.
Inspector Nakamori began explaining his elaborate plan to Kogoro Mouri, while Conan listened attentively to see if the officer had any other loopholes. Meanwhile, the restless members of the Junior Detective League, led by Ran Mouri and Professor Agasa, went ahead to see the priceless gem.
The two adults underwent a face-pinching check by the officers to confirm their identities, and were then released along with the children who did not require checks—after all, Kidd only knew how to disguise himself, not how to shrink his body.
Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at the navigation prompts on O-D and, instead of going with Conan, headed to the jewel display case with the Junior Detective League.
However, her mind wasn't on the vibrant green gemstone; instead, she was wandering around, her gaze finally settling on the fire escape map on the wall, which indicated the various functional rooms on that floor.
The three real children had already started exclaiming "Wow!" around the display case, while Ran Mouri, Professor Agasa, and Ai Haibara listened to the jewelry exhibition guide tell them the stories behind the gemstones.
After all, besides its excellent quality, such a priceless gemstone is always accompanied by a tragic love story that creates a humanistic atmosphere, further enhancing its uniqueness.
The girl with black hair and black eyes found her target, broke away from the group, and walked straight towards the fire safety chart posted on the wall.
Ai Haibara, dressed in a deep red sleeveless turtleneck top and black shorts, glanced at the girl with impeccable style, her hands in her pockets. She turned to look at the girl's back and saw her look at the fire safety map before pulling a passing policewoman aside and asking her something.
Conan naturally mentioned this precocious child to Ai Haibara, suggesting that the child might have taken APTX4869 and, like them, survived and shrunk.
Although the scientist who developed the capsule seriously stated that surviving and shrinking is a low-probability event, and Zhuge Tongzhi does not have the aura of the organization, she will not completely deny the great detective's judgment.
Therefore, in her daily activities, she, like Conan, would keep an eye on the transfer student's actions.
After Zhuge Tongzhi exchanged a few words with the policewoman, the policewoman pointed upstairs. Ai Haibara watched as the black-haired girl bowed politely and then jogged back.
"Doctor, Sister Xiaolan." Zhuge Tongzhi tugged at the hems of their clothes to attract their attention, then looked up and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I accidentally drank too much water, and now I need to go to the toilet."
"But I just asked the older sister, and it turns out this floor only has men's restrooms!" She showed a curious expression, and then saw the guide smilingly explaining to everyone that this was a special design of Qingchuan Tower—the odd and even numbered floors each had a restroom layout for a different gender.
Yes, she had just seen it marked in small print on the map. Zhuge Tongzhi thought to herself, and she needed a reason to go upstairs.
"I need to go upstairs to use the restroom and then come back." After reporting to the adult, Zhuge Tongzhi made a face as if he couldn't hold it in any longer and turned to run towards the elevator of Qingchuan Tower, shouting as he ran, "Don't worry about me, I'll be right back!"
"Hey Kiri-chan!" Ran Mouri was worried about leaving a child alone in an unfamiliar place, so she took a few steps forward to accompany the girl, but then she heard the noisy Detective Boys behind her. The three children ran off to play in other display cases.
Professor Agasa hurriedly tried to stop them, but he had always indulged these lovely and brave children, so they were naturally not afraid of him at all. For a moment, he couldn't control the three children, and the tour guide, who was unable to intervene, looked embarrassed.
Ran Mouri stopped after taking two steps, looking around with a puzzled expression at the two missing people in front of and behind her.
The long-haired girl, who couldn't create clones, thought for a moment and, seeing that there were police officers coming and going all around her, figured there shouldn't be any safety risks. So she just loudly urged the girl who had already pressed the elevator door button to come back quickly.
"Hi—Sister Xiaolan, I'll be right back once I find the restroom!" The girl's clear voice was cut off by the closing elevator doors.
Wearing short sleeves and shorts, Ran Mouri stood in the air-conditioned venue and clenched her fingers. She felt a vague unease, but could only attribute it to the cold air conditioning. She turned around and grabbed one of the elementary school students, quickly calming the mischievous children down.
"Professor, I'm going to the restroom too." Ai Haibara looked at the closing elevator doors, took out her phone and sent a text message to Conan. She briefly told Professor Agasa, who was wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, and then headed towards the elevator in the Harukawa Tower.
Um?
The aloof girl tucked one side of her brown hair behind her ear, watched the elevator floor number on the screen in front of her climb higher and higher, raised her eyebrows, and a hint of amusement appeared in her icy blue eyes.
Was it an elevator that only stops at a single floor?
Since the floor they are on now only has men's restrooms, it means that every single floor is a men's restroom. If they want to go to the women's restroom, they should take the elevator that only stops at even-numbered floors or the elevator that stops at all floors.
Was it a mistake, or was it intentional?
It's the latter, isn't it?
Ai Haibara glanced at the floor numbers that were constantly climbing toward the top floor, and made a decision. She stood in front of the elevator that stopped at even-numbered floors, ready to wait until Zhuge Tongzhi determined which floor he wanted to go to, and then follow him to check it out.
The white square numbers are jumping.
11, 13, 15... 23, 25
On the black display screen, the constantly changing white pixels finally stopped at the number '25'. Ai Haibara pressed the up button for the double-decker elevator and waited for it to come down, sending a text message to Conan.
The double-decker elevator, which was originally stopped on the 32nd floor, was moving rapidly downwards, and soon it was only 8 floors away from her. Seeing that the text message was still in 'unread' status, Ai Haibara simply dialed Conan's number.
The moment she looked up at the screen, she suddenly realized that the elevator that had just stopped on the 25th floor was also going down, with the floor number decreasing. When she looked over, it quickly stopped on the third floor.
At the same time, the double-decker elevator arrived at the first floor, and Conan answered the phone with a crisp arrival announcement.
"What's wrong, Haibara?"
"Great Detective, I think..."
The signal was poor in the elevator shaft, so Ai Haibara stopped in her tracks and pressed the door open button, intending to quickly share her findings with Conan over the phone.
However, a loud blare suddenly drew everyone's attention. In the crowd's gaze, a team of police officers in black bomb suits and helmets rushed into Qingchuan Tower, with a small group heading straight for the elevator.
"Attention! Attention! Explosives control team is conducting bomb disposal operations. All unauthorized personnel are requested to evacuate immediately!"
A loud warning sound reached the ears of everyone present. Upon hearing this, the police officer who happened to be next to the elevator quickly blocked Ai Haibara's steps as she was about to enter the elevator.
The girl with brown hair paused, and saw a small group of police officers led by an exceptionally tall officer enter the elevator next to them, which only stopped at one floor.
The officer, who seemed to be the team leader, spoke up in a serious, magnetic voice: "Go to the 25th floor. The rest of you, quickly clear out the unrelated residents on the five floors above and below that floor."
"Received, Commander Hagiwara!"
Hearing Conan's equally serious voice on the phone, Ai Haibara slowly said, "Great Detective, Zhuge has gone to the 25th floor."
…
7-story apartment building
The camera left behind by Zhuge Tongzhi faithfully ran, objectively recording the scene before him. The background sound of the video was the same: the police loudspeaker announcing the evacuation, and the sound of footsteps echoing in the corridor was chaotic and disorderly.
This place is relatively close to the Metropolitan Police Department, so when Kenji Hagiwara arrived at the foot of Harukawa Tower, Jinpei Matsuda had already been there for more than ten minutes.
In other words...
Despite the sweltering heat of his bomb suit, the black-haired, curly-haired police officer focused intently on using small scissors to pick up one end of a patch and skillfully retrieved the explosive device embedded in the wiring. The bomb, which had originally possessed immense power, suddenly transformed into a kitten with its claws worn smooth.
Matsuda Jinpei's teammates relaxed, and one even joked to lighten the mood: "This time, Officer Matsuda probably didn't even need three minutes to defuse the bomb."
"Haha, he's Officer Matsuda after all!"
"That's right, that's right, Officer Hagiwara will definitely have it sorted out soon too."
In a relaxed atmosphere, after taking care of the preservation of the □, Matsuda Jinpei took off his blast helmet, letting his hair, which was almost soaked with sweat in a short time, breathe some fresh air.
It's exceptionally hot today. Even on the 7th floor, the heat is still intense. He thought casually, wiping the sweat from his cheeks with the back of his hand, and lazily responded to his laughing teammates: "It's just because it's a very simple bomb."
"That's not right, it's because Officer Matsuda came."
"I agree." "Me too." "+1 +1"
"Alright, let's go." Matsuda Jinpei interrupted the group's conversation. The officers, who had gradually become more composed at the bomb disposal scene thanks to Hagiwara Kenji, quickly lined up and headed downstairs to the police car. "Go to Hagi's area. They might need us to assist with the evacuation."
"Hi----!"
Matsuda Jinpei picked up the boxes filled with bomb parts, squinted at the bright sun outside, and wiped the sweat from his neck, which had been trapped by the bomb suit.
He turned and walked downstairs, thinking:
Hagi, is he going to refuse to wear his bomb suit again because he thinks it's too hot?
Based on his understanding of that seemingly well-behaved guy, the answer was almost 100% yes.
Matsuda Jinpei got into the police car and headed towards Harukawa Tower amidst the blaring alarm, a dangerous smile spreading across his face as he clenched his fist, which was incredibly painful to punch.
Well, let's catch him red-handed this time.
His explosion-proof standards need to be properly regulated.
…
25th floor
Zhuge Tongzhi slipped out of the elevator, followed the blue and white arrows to a floor display, and successfully picked up two 'little gifts' hidden at the bottom.
"Waypoint: The Phantom Thief's Tools (Completed)"
"Please continue driving in the current direction for 142 meters."
The girl with black hair and black eyes quickly stuffed the playing card gun into the sports bag she was wearing around her waist, and stuffed the small white bag, whose purpose and switch were unclear, into her pants pocket.
No rush, O will naturally teach her how to use it. Zhuge Tongzhi walked to the window, glanced at the police cars below that had become several small dots, and hurried towards the eight eggs.
The single-floor elevator behind her quickly jumped to the 19th floor, and the girl ran away from there.
Faster, faster.
On the same floor, Phantom Thief Kid was secretly astonished by the sudden appearance of the police car.
The 25th floor was so high that he couldn't see which side the police were from, but they were definitely officers from the Explosives Unit.
"Alright, alright, then there's no need for Mr. Phantom Thief to call the police." Kaito Kuroba, now working as a cleaner, removed the covering from the bomb he had discovered, thoughtfully reducing the workload for the police officers, and then hurried towards the nearest fire escape—
Mr. Phantom Thief is not suited to meet with the police.
Wishing the officers all the best in their work. Kaito Kuroba lowered the brim of his hat, revealing an ordinary, unremarkable face and an even less noticeable, human demeanor. He carried a cleaning bucket that he hadn't actually used and brushed past Zhuge Tongzhi, who was jogging by.
Huh? x2
Where did this child come from? / Is that Kaito Kid?
The two people walking in opposite directions paused for a moment, stopped, and turned around to meet each other's gaze.
"It's too dangerous here. I have to get this child out of here," thought Kaito Kid.
"Did they come to scout the location beforehand? I need to ask the God of Survival to stay and help them out," Zhuge Tongzhi thought.
The two of them simultaneously wore the distant yet polite smiles that one would give to strangers meeting.
…
Metropolitan Police Department
The officers of the First Investigation Division received a provocative fax from the bomber, who brazenly explained his motives, stating that he was seeking revenge on the police to avenge his colleague.
Date Wataru quickly began sifting through the information, trying to pinpoint where the perpetrators might be, while the officers from the First Investigation Division behind him looked puzzled at the two answers written down by Matsuda Jinpei.
"I have absolutely no idea how I came to this conclusion."
"Me too, he knew it after only three minutes?"
"Is this black ship referring to the port?"
“No, it’s actually quite simple.” Ida Kou interjected during a break from arranging the work: “The information is given directly by Qi and Qingchuan. The rat is the first in the 12 zodiac animals, and ‘piercing the sky’ symbolizes extreme height. That’s how we get the two specific floor numbers.”
“Yumen Apartment changed its name, but the reason for the name change caused quite a stir, and you should all have heard about it.” Ita Hang said quickly, checking his sidearm. “In that case, the two locations are confirmed, and the black ship is the distractor.”
"As for the last two sentences, they were just pure threats." The burly police officer, with a toothpick in his mouth, gave his stunned colleagues a hearty smile, revealing his sharp mind, which was just as quick as his four colleagues'.
“Let’s go, everyone. This kind of scum will definitely choose to stay near the scene.” Ida Ko patted his colleagues on the shoulder and walked straight towards the police car outside. “Let’s go catch him.”
Despite his calm demeanor, the police officer was actually seething inside—since a bomb had been planted, it was clear how he intended to retaliate against the police, and the target was his two close friends who had risked their lives to defuse it.
Before driving the police car out of the police station, Ida Kou's eyes were like swords as he looked at the location of Qingchuan Tower on the navigation system.
But you won't succeed, because I will definitely catch you.
…
Inside Qingchuan Tower
The elevator doors opened on the 25th floor, and sure enough, Kenji Hagiwara, who had taken off his bomb suit, tugged at the sweat-soaked uniform on his back and led his team to begin searching the floor.
The officer with medium-length hair walked step by step toward the eight eggs, unknowingly being pushed from behind by a devilish fate.
Next waypoint: Eight eggs with hidden secrets (incomplete)
"Please note that you have entered a red congested section of the road."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Everyone assemble!
Now it's time for the Devil Card to take control of the story!
…
There were so many people yesterday! I'm so happy!
I screenshotted that I had 519 favorites today, but after sleeping it off, it became 525.
But everyone, 520————! (Slightly makes a heart shape with his hands)
…
Mwah! Thanks for your support!
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