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"We have arrived at your destination, my dear Ai." In the awkward atmosphere of silence throughout the second half of the journey, Noel looked at the approaching house of Professor Agasa and deliberately used a sweet tone to try to make the girl in the car forget his previous embarrassing remarks. Obviously, the girl did not pay any attention and still sat in the passenger seat with a cold expression and said nothing.
"Xiao Ai?" Noel called out again, but the petite girl was obviously lost in her own world and didn't respond at all. He could only helplessly and tentatively call out the girl's real name.
"Miyano Shiho, can you hear me?"
"I'm sitting next to you. I'm not far away and I don't have hearing impairment." The girl was finally brought back to her senses and turned to look at the man.
Noel said he would not argue with his family and had no intention of asking further questions. He stopped the car and waited for the other party to leave.
"Actually, it suddenly occurred to me why you were in the hospital tonight?"
Haibara Ai suddenly asked that she and Noel met at the hospital gate, and then naturally she was asked by the other party to watch how to scare the detective, and was provided with a lot of materials as a friendly gesture. However, she did not have time to ask why Noel appeared in the hospital at night.
"Actually, I have a mission tonight, which is to kill someone." Noel suddenly said mysteriously. His deliberately lowered voice and gloomy expression made him look serious, but Ai looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Why, you don't believe it?"
"Would you go kill someone wearing the clothes your brother gave you?" the girl glanced at the other person's gray windbreaker. After only a few days of contact, she realized how much the man in front of her cared about his "brother" named Xiaoguang. She vaguely guessed that this man should have played a considerable role in making Grapa, who was trained by the organization since childhood, become what he is now.
Who is Hikaru Natsukawa? Is he a beast tamer? Is his real name on the list of APTX4869 users? Haibara Ai is not stupid enough to ask Noel. Judging from the way the man looks at that person, as if he is looking at his treasured dragon, she does not want to get involved.
Noel didn't expect Xiao Ai to notice this, but he didn't deny it. He just waved his hand and said, "Anyway, something happened. The details are confidential."
"It seems that he is indeed a disciple of Vermode." Haibara Ai did not ask any more questions after hearing this. People in the dark world can always suppress their curiosity.
The girl unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car. Noel watched her walk into the house silently. Then he started the car again, stepped on the accelerator, drove to an ordinary residential building in the moonlight, and stopped the car in the corner.
The weather is somewhat cold today, and as the night deepens, there are few pedestrians on the road, not even animals. The only sound is the rustling of leaves in the wind, coupled with the dim street lights. It is not a beautiful scenery. In short, this environment is suitable for crime.
So Noel opened the trunk and asked softly:
"Ms. Hong Shang Mai, have you thought it through?"
In the trunk, a casually dressed woman gradually opened her eyes. After seeing the other person clearly, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes. She had simple and refreshing short hair, a pair of drooping eyes that looked very harmless and even soft. She was curled up in the trunk with a thin and frail figure. Compared with the tall figure of Noel, she looked like a trafficker who abducted a decent woman.
To some extent, this was true. This was the man that Noel had found in the hospital and had stuffed into the trunk in a state of unconsciousness. His actions were so skillful that they could be considered kidnapping.
Noel watched the other party calm down and asked again, "Do you really want to kill that Kamata?"
Yes, this man is also the murderer in Conan's world. He poisoned a doctor named Kamata at an event at Xiaolan's school. Of course, the victim this time was an out-and-out scumbag. According to his usual habit, Noel sent the other party enough evidence to put Kamata in jail. However, the woman still went to the hospital tonight, trying to steal the KCI, and then happened to run into Noel's hands.
"Are you Mr. Ikaros?"
Apparently, Noel's question made the woman realize something. Her eyes widened and she looked quite excited.
Noel did not deny it and asked again: "The evidence is enough to put him in jail. Is it necessary to do it yourself?"
The reason for Mai Hongxiang's murder was revenge, not for herself, but for a patient who had nothing to do with her.
"I can't accept that he would kill someone just for a theory!" The woman looked a little angry, and her voice was a little trembling and crazy as she said, "This kind of guy who doesn't care about human life should also experience the feeling of having his own life controlled by others."
"But you don't have to involve yourself." Noel frowned and looked at the woman. He knew that her attitude was a bit extreme, but he also understood that she was indeed a very kind person.
I will never understand why someone would seek revenge for someone who had nothing to do with me.
"Then why did you save so many unrelated people, Ikaros?" The woman suddenly calmed down and asked softly.
“You knew me before?” Noel looked at the woman’s smile and realized that he had been tricked.
"After all, you have saved so many people, everyone will find out, even if you are so low-key." Hong Shang Mai looked at Noel with a smile on her face, even with a hint of admiration and excitement?
Worship? Noel understood this and was silent for a moment. He probably knew that there were some connections between the people he had saved, and there was even a special chat room, but they were just some secret conversations between each other for warmth. He never thought that they would appear in front of him.
"If you no longer intend to kill him, why are you still in the hospital?" Noel looked at the woman with a headache, realizing that he had been tricked.
"Even if I didn't follow your advice and insisted on killing someone, would you have exposed your identity and come to stop me in person?" Mai Hongue just asked again, but in an affirmative tone.
"You're overthinking it. I don't have such kind intentions. I just happened to have something to do at the art museum tonight."
Noel was telling the truth about this. Originally, he just wanted to come and watch the scene of Conan and Aina, but he found out that the woman he had already warned was still going to the hospital to steal KCL, so he had to take her away first. After all, to some extent, he really didn't want a good man to go to jail for murder.
"So what's your purpose? To lure me out and see what I look like?" Noel's tone was mocking, making him feel like he was watching a fish.
"I want to know why you did this? We all want to know." Mai Hong said apologetically but firmly: "You are saving us, everyone..."
"If that's what you want to say, then you don't have to. I was just doing it for the sake of convenience." Noel realized that the woman in front of him was willing to take revenge for someone who had nothing to do with her, and could not accept that theory was more important than human life. This idealist with a strong sense of empathy and justice probably had some misunderstanding about what she did as Ikaros.
For example, he was regarded as a righteous saint or something like that.
This once again gave Noel a strong sense of contrast, even a sense of absurdity, especially when he met the woman's undisguised admiring eyes. Noel turned his head away, not wanting to look.
This will only make him more aware of the sin on his hands.
"We want to thank you and help you!" Hong Shang Mai said anxiously, "Someone in the chat room found out that there is a wanted warrant for you on the black market, and everyone is very worried..."
"No need," Noel shouted irritably, his tone even carrying a hint of murderous intent due to his momentary excitement, causing the woman who was trying hard to muster up her courage to freeze in place, her body shaking instinctively.
"Anyway, I don't need anyone else's help in anything I do. I can handle it myself." Noel realized that he almost lost control of his emotions, and added hastily, then turned around and got in the car, ready to leave this disgusting place immediately.
"Mr. Ikaros," the woman approached Noel again and looked him in the eye, "We don't know why you did this, but we understand your concerns about not wanting to be exposed. I will keep everything I saw today a secret."
"But please believe that no matter what, you saved us and gave many of us hope to live again. This is something we will always remember. No matter why you saved us, the fact is that you saved us."
There was only sincerity in the woman's eyes. After she finished speaking, she seemed to have completed the most important task and finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was what she promised to all her friends in the chat room to do. Perhaps expressing gratitude verbally was just the most insignificant thing, but it was what they believed must be done.
She looked at the man, who was sitting in the car wearing a gray windbreaker. His long hair covered his eyes and his expression was unclear. He seemed to be silent for a while and said softly:
"knew."
Hong Shang Mai seemed to have heard something surprising, and her face was full of joy. Then, she heard the man say:
"I really don't need you to do anything for me, but if you need to do anything, just help others. Even though it's useless, it's fun."
After leaving these words, the man drove away, as if escaping, and immediately left the Hongshang dance clothes behind without a trace.
Mr. Ikaros... is indeed a great person.
The woman raised her lips slightly and sighed. She finally had the energy to look around and began to think about how she should get back...
This is...my home?
Looking at the familiar apartment building in confusion, it was a small house that she had bought after working hard. Mai Hongshang realized that she had been sent home.
The woman covered her mouth, but her eyes were wet for some reason. The sound of the cell phone interrupted her complicated emotions. Someone on the other end asked:
/Did you meet Mr. Ikaros? How was it? /
/He is a super nice guy./
Konoha Mai answered quickly, and was so excited that she couldn't find any gorgeous adjectives for a moment, so she could only add:
/Very very good!/
/Really? I think so too. /
The other side responded, and the dull handwriting on the cold display screen seemed to have emotions, stating the facts that he had observed.