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The rooftop of the Rice Flower Mall was originally used as a shopping area and also had a stage for children to perform on. However, it was decided to undergo renovation last week, leaving the upper floor empty. Furthermore, the renovation was not started as it was the weekend and there were more customers.

However, the construction props were left on the roof, providing more cover for the kidnappers who were hiding at the entrance to the roof, making it very difficult for snipers to shoot.

Although Kenji Hagiwara, who arrived first, was determined to negotiate in order to delay time, the police had not yet discussed a specific solution and could only listen to the other party's demands.

Kenji Hagiwara frowned as he listened to the technicians' analysis in the headphones. For the police, kidnappers who hold hostages are often the most difficult to deal with.

"Inspector Hagiwara, we have confirmed that the kidnapper is the same suspect as before."

"Keep investigating. They shouldn't be so impulsive as to expose themselves. There must be a reason." Hagiwara Kenji lowered his voice and replied, then looked down at the four kidnappers, observing the situation carefully.

The children and the elderly looked unharmed and in a stable mood, but Xiao Kong looked frightened and was about to be tied up. He had already guessed the opponent's true strength. If he was so ferocious, he must be threatening his younger brother or other children.

While Hagiwara Kenji was thinking, Maenari stood at the stairs and shouted out his conditions.

"I need two helicopters and 2 billion yen."

His voice was torn apart by the roar of the helicopter, leaving only faint fragments. However, Hagiwara Kenji has always had good hearing, and he managed to hear the other party's conditions clearly. His brows wrinkled slightly, and he felt more and more that there was a problem.

He immediately recalled the information the police now had.

Cheng Yongtai had been investigated twice before, for fighting and participating in illegal activities, and even for some murder charges, but was released due to insufficient evidence. This time he was wanted as a suspect because a previous murder case finally exposed his traces, and he was even photographed holding a gun, so the police immediately launched a wanted warrant.

So he was so desperate that he was ready to kidnap hostages and ask for money to escape? But the police's wanted police force should not be enough to force him to this point... and 2 billion is not a sum that can be taken out casually. Is he asking for such a high amount just because he has lost his mind due to being forced into a corner?

The series of thoughts was just a moment of reality. Hagiwara Kenji took the loudspeaker and said, "I can't hear you clearly. How about I go down and negotiate with you?"

After all, the principle of the police is to protect the crowd. At this time, having an excuse to let a policeman get close is extremely beneficial for both the control of the situation and the safety of the hostages at a critical moment. Naturally, Kenji Hagiwara paid attention to this.

In order to show that he was harmless, he took off his gun belt. Seeing that the other party did not respond, he adjusted his headphones while slowly descending along the helicopter ladder. When he was about to take a few steps forward after landing, he suddenly heard the other party shout:

“Stop!”

Qiancheng raised his voice to stop the other party from moving forward. After all, he had already thought about the current situation. Letting a policeman get close to him would be an act of a fool.

Hagiwara Kenji couldn't pretend not to hear these simple words at such a distance, so he could only stop and raise his hands to indicate that he was not a threat.

Qiancheng nodded and turned to look at the other brothers and ordered, "Let this guy go."

As soon as he finished speaking, the younger brother who had almost made a mistake immediately tore off the tape on Noel's body. However, just as he was about to tear off the tape on his wrist, he was scolded again: "Don't use your hands, let go of his legs and his mouth!"

The younger brother obediently tried to tear off the tape on his legs. When he found that it was impossible, he finally had an idea and took out a knife to cut the tape. Qianjin lost his patience after he kept dithering. He pushed the younger brother away and pulled Noel's collar and said viciously:

"You kid, get to know these kids."

He pointed at the kids from the Junior Detective Team and circled around them, finally stopping at the boy with cat eyes. He naturally noticed that the two were wearing the same jacket. Although they didn't look alike, they must be very familiar. So he simply pointed his gun at each other and said to Noel, "If you don't want me to shoot him, then listen to me from now on."

As he spoke, he pulled off the tape on Noel's mouth, put another underling's earphones on Noel, and put the walkie-talkie in Noel's pocket, saying, "Go up and talk to that cop. Repeat what I say. If you dare to run away, you will die."

Noel probably understood what the other party meant. It turned out that he didn't kill him because he was going to use him as a messenger. He originally thought that he could get through this copy easily. After all, when he was negotiating with the police just now, he saw Conan had already skillfully taken out the detective badge from his sleeve, and Xiaoguang... he actually hid a blade in his sleeve! Looking at the bright blade, Noel already complained about his incompetence. He had also hidden it in the past, but it was super inconvenient, so he simply gave up and kept taking the route of forcibly escaping, although the actual application was only the time with Akai Shuichi.

"Do you understand?!" Qian Cheng obviously noticed that the trendy-looking man in front of him looked absent-minded, so he raised his voice and asked.

"Got it." Noel responded weakly, and slowly stood up. He felt his legs were a little numb and he did not forget to move his ankles.

"Wait, tie this up on him." Qian Cheng seemed to suddenly think of something, took a backpack from his younger brother, and took out a bundle of explosives from it.

"As expected, it is more appropriate to use your life rather than using human threats." He smiled as he tied the bundle of explosives around Noel's waist with tape, but found that the other party's expression remained unchanged, which made him wonder if the other party had some problems with his brain or something.

Noel was naturally not nervous. Not to mention that he was used to bombs, it was already very polite of him not to laugh, not to mention that the bomb was fake.

The moment he was tied up, he realized that the weight of the bomb was wrong. At most, it was filled with smuggled goods. It had some power but not much, no different from Spring Festival firecrackers. It was probably because the gunpowder had such power just to fool the police dogs with the smell. Otherwise, this bomb that cannot hurt anyone might as well just have a shell.

However, with the ability of these kidnappers, it is not difficult to get bombs. If he can buy guns from the organization, why can't he buy bombs from the store? Bombs are cheap! Knowing the morality of the organization selling things privately, Noel can say with certainty that the bombs are definitely sold.

But if they did, where did the bomb go?

However, in the eyes of others, Noel looked so scared that he dared not move the moment the bomb was tied to him. The children's faces changed, and tears welled up in their eyes as they tried not to cry and cause trouble. Genta wanted to shout something but was stopped by Ai in time. Facing the kidnappers with real guns, they could not anger them no matter what. Conan suddenly rushed over and cried, "Brother Kong, wuwuwu..."

Noel looked at the tiny Conan lying on his lap. His crying was so sincere that Noel would have believed it if he had not felt a bug stuck on his body. But when he thought that Conan was crying because he was worried about his condition, Noel felt better.

Qiancheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted and picked up Conan, then pushed Noel forward and came into the police's sight. Noel pretended to fall to the ground because the other party used too much force, and grabbed Conan's eavesdropping device in his hand.

Kenji Hagihara saw the bomb on Noel's body clearly, and his pupils suddenly shrank, but he met Noel's seemingly calm expression.

"Keep going."

The voice of Qiancheng came from Noel's earphone. He showed a helpless smile to Hagihara Kenji, his hands were still tied behind his back, and were tightly restrained by the tape that fixed the bomb. Otherwise, he would have wanted to cooperate with the posture of raising his hands high. He walked forward slowly, and his eyes covered by his hair looked at Hagihara Kenji seriously. He saw that the other party was stunned for a moment and then his expression became firm. He had no intention of retreating quickly after seeing the bomb again. Safety is the priority.

There was no need to guess the choice at all. Noel watched as the other party took a few steps forward, obviously trying to get as close to the kidnapper as possible. But soon, Noel heard Qiancheng's voice in his earphones, hurriedly shouting to stop.

The two were only one step apart, and this distance allowed Noel to clearly see the worry on Kenji Hagihara's face.

"Tell him that two helicopters and 2 billion yen should be delivered before noon."

Noel repeated the words truthfully, looking at Hagiwara Kenji from the obscured angle and asked silently, "Are you injured?"

"Two billion in cash cannot be gathered before twelve o'clock," Hagiwara Kenji said as Noel finished speaking. He looked at the intercom on Noel and explained seriously, "Before twelve o'clock, the most we can get is..."

"There is no room for negotiation," Noel repeated the words in the headset. He had guessed something. Looking at Hagiwara's thoughtful expression, he continued to quietly serve as a repeater and said, "Otherwise, these children's lives will be in danger."

After the words fell, Noel mouthed the same words: "The kids are fine, they don't want to kill anyone, and, come closer."

Noel was quite sure that they didn't want to kill anyone. To be precise, only the leader Qian Chengyongtai didn't want to kill anyone. His subordinates didn't know that. Noel, who was not suitable as a hostage, was left behind. Although it now seemed that he was left behind for the convenience of passing messages, it would be completely fine to just give the police a walkie-talkie. Tying a bomb to the body was somewhat redundant with threatening the children. Considering that the bomb was fake, tying it on himself was more like showing it to the police. As for the purpose... to attract more people?

Noel looked at the increasing number of helicopters in the sky, and felt that he would have to take a long statement afterwards. Although he had already done this several times when he met Conan before, he really didn't want to go to the Metropolitan Police Department or anything like that.

Kenji Hagiwara first thought of the amount of 2 billion. Generally, when kidnapping hostages, unless they are stupid people, they will not ask for such a large amount. They will more likely ask for an amount that the bank can hand over in time, and then immediately take the money and run away. After all, in terms of time, how can they outlast the official agencies? However, the other party asked for such a large amount, which means that they want to extend the time. Combined with Noel's point that the kidnappers don't want to kill people, are they sure that they will be caught and don't want to extend their sentence...

Thinking of this, Hagiwara Kenji said, "Then give us some more time. It's unlikely to be done before twelve o'clock." His tone was urgent and even excited. He leaned over and shouted into the intercom with a worried look on his face, "Don't hurt the children."

Noel immediately heard a voice in his earphone telling him to step back. He took a few steps back in panic and gently threw the wiretap in his hand to Kenji Hagiwara. This action was not very obvious, and it was impossible for the kidnapper to notice it at a distance.

In the headphones, the front image was torn between more money and being able to leave faster. I chose the former with difficulty, but ordered grumpily: "Hurry up."

Although there was no trace of anger in Noel's calm delivery.

The two sides had agreed on the terms. Hagiwara Kenji said he needed to discuss with the police to get back on the plane. Noel was about to go back the same way, but he heard a voice in his earphone:

"Keep going."