Chapter 55 Emergency Rescue
As the saying goes: those who survive a great calamity are sure to have good fortune in the future.
However, since Ai Haibara escaped the clutches of the organization, her luck has really been bad.
First, on her first day of school, Conan showed her around the school and they found a bomb. Then, every now and then, all sorts of cases would come knocking on her door. Finally, this morning, while she was still in her sleeping bag, she was inexplicably kidnapped by human traffickers.
Why do we say it's inexplicable?
Based on the prisoners' conversation, Ai roughly figured out the ins and outs of the incident: the two people had no intention of kidnapping her at first; they were just taking advantage of the situation!
The prisoners were supposed to make the transaction near their campsite, but their vehicle got stuck in the snow and broke down.
The driver finally managed to find the doctor to help repair the car at dawn. Meanwhile, another woman sneaked into their tent to steal some food, only to find Ai sleeping there.
When the woman saw that she was of mixed race, which perfectly matched their leader's requirements, she thought she could make another quick buck.
However, the prisoner regretted a little after getting Ai's help. They had already had a big argument about the cost of baby formula, and neither of them wanted to spend money on cold medicine.
As a result, Ai's high fever persisted, and she had no strength at all, which saved the prisoner the trouble of giving her sleeping pills.
If Ai hadn't gotten sick, she probably would have seized the opportunity to run away long ago.
Alas, it's all fate!
It wasn't until the man called Octopus took her to a cabin on the mountain that Ai, who was pretending to be asleep, had a chance to send a distress signal to Conan while the man was on the phone.
After sending it, she didn't know if the other party had received it.
Late at night, Octopus received a phone call, which immediately sparked a heated argument.
Ai didn't quite understand what had happened, but the person quickly showed her the answer through their actions.
The prisoners tied her hands and feet with rope and sealed her and the baby's mouths with duct tape.
Under Ai's terrified gaze, the prisoner said, "Oh dear, don't look at me like that. Uncle also wanted to give you a better life, but those treacherous cowards ran away first! The ship has already left, and there's no room left for you!"
Ai tried to say something vaguely, but her mouth was sealed shut and she couldn't speak.
"Don't struggle! Uncle will light a fire for you later so you can leave warm and cozy, okay? Little girl, may you be reborn into a good family in your next life. But every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. If you want revenge, go find those guys, don't come looking for me!"
Now Ai realizes that it wasn't just the two of them who were abducted, but the other children had already been taken away by ship.
Seeing that his accomplices had abandoned him, the prisoner also decided to run away.
She and the baby would undoubtedly be a burden. Therefore, the perpetrator planned to burn them alive before the police arrived!
The prisoner quickly packed his belongings and then checked his phone.
He poured gasoline on some flammable materials, opened the door of the cabin, and shouted to Ai, "Don't be afraid, it won't hurt at all!"
Immediately afterwards, everything around was engulfed in flames.
"How can someone say something like that without batting an eye at a time like this?!"
Trapped in the sea of fire, Ai forcefully broke the ropes and tape binding her hands and feet, freeing the baby from the bonds as well.
The poor thing was terrified and burst into tears.
Ai quickly comforted her, "Don't cry, sweetie! You'll inhale the thick smoke!"
Xiao Ai painstakingly found some water, wet a handkerchief, and covered the baby's mouth and nose.
She tried to climb out through the back door, but was horrified to find that she couldn't push it open!
"Could it be locked from the outside?!"
Ai knelt on the ground, covered her mouth and nose with wet towels, and banged her body against the door.
However, the door moved but still couldn't be opened.
The fire spread rapidly, burning her eyes so badly she could barely open them. But she had no other way out but through this door.
The young girl's body had once helped her escape the organization's dungeons, but now it had become a burden.
"If only I were a little stronger."
Ai thought to herself, her hand unconsciously reaching into her inner pocket.
There were two capsules inside, which she regarded as talismans:
The red one is the poison that shrunk her, and the blue one is the antidote that restored her body.
However, the latter has never been tested on humans.
There are now two paths before us:
They can either wait to be burned alive or take the antidote and escape.
The second method might result in death by poisoning or freezing, but either way, there's always a glimmer of hope.
"It seems we won't be able to wait for Edogawa."
Xiao Ai sighed, gritted her teeth, and swallowed the blue capsule.
She grew up amidst a heart-wrenching pain.
Shiho gathered up everything she could find to keep warm and wrapped herself in it all. In the current situation, there was no time to think about whether it fit or not.
With a burst of energy, she smashed open the wooden door and ran away from the fire with the baby in her arms.
However, as Shiho took her first step, she realized that she had underestimated the power of the snow.
The knee-deep snow instantly froze her legs, making every step a tremendous ordeal.
The worst part is, she had no idea where to go!
The snow-capped mountains, shrouded in darkness, all looked the same; she couldn't even tell which path led down the mountain.
To be more precise, there was no road at all!
Just as Shiho was holding the baby, at a loss, she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine in the distance!
"Look, Amuro-nii! There's a fire up ahead!" Conan shouted. "I can hear a baby crying!"
"Hold on tight, we'll be there soon!" Amuro said calmly, but inwardly he was filled with anxiety, fearing that something might happen to the two children.
When they saw Shiho holding Yosuke, their hearts finally settled down, but they were also deeply shocked by his recovery.
However, we should not linger here; we can discuss these matters later.
Amuro took a warm blanket out of his backpack and wrapped it around the two of them, asking, "Where's the culprit?"
“A man called Octopus ran away just now, and he was the one who started the fire,” Shiho answered, shivering as she huddled under the blanket.
Was he alone?
"Yes, that's right. He said his companions abandoned him and sailed away first, so he ran away too."
Amuro frowned after hearing this, looked at the rolling snow-capped mountains and then at the motorcycle, and finally said to Conan, "I'll go after the criminals, you take them down the mountain."
"Hey, are you kidding me? The weather forecast says it's going to snow again soon, and there's even a risk of avalanches. If we don't get down there now, we won't be able to leave!"
"Can you tell if there's room for four people?" Amuro retorted.
Ai turning back into Shiho was a factor he hadn't considered at all; two adults simply couldn't fit in, and there was also the risk of overloading and causing a rollover.
"Amuro-nii, do you know how to snowboard?" Conan asked. "You can use my snowboard to go down the mountain!"
"Thank you." Amuro took the skateboard and turned to Conan, saying, "Make sure you escort them safely down the mountain."
"Going after criminals now is dangerous! How many times do I have to tell you before you listen?! People could die!" For the first time in his life, Conan understood the difficulties Amuro faced in his daily efforts to persuade him with both gentle and forceful words.
"Then I should go even more, shouldn't I? If the criminal dies like this, wouldn't he escape legal punishment?" Amuro asked calmly.
This left Conan speechless. He gritted his teeth, looked at Shiho, then at the baby, and finally back at Amuro. The young detective asked, puzzled, "What special meaning does that person hold for you?"
"I don't know," Amuro answered frankly. "You'd have to ask to find out."
Conan looked extremely unwilling.
He knew perfectly well that Shiho and Yosei needed to get down the mountain as soon as possible.
But was he just going to stand by and watch Amuro go to his death?
“You said you would help me when I was all alone, right?” Amuro said seriously. “Now, please take them down the mountain.”
"Let's get this straight, you have to come back alive!" Conan said, grabbing the other person's arm.
"My life is not your concern." Amuro smiled and tapped the young detective on the head. "Don't worry, I'm not that easy to kill."
Watching Conan drive away on his snowmobile, Amuro then got on his snowboard to chase after the criminal.
"Honestly, it's been so many years since I've snowboarded."
For some reason, Amuro found himself reminiscing about his middle school days when he and Kei learned to ski together.
"But Jing definitely can't know about today's events, or he'll be furious."
A light snow began to fall from the sky, and Amuro couldn't help but quicken his pace, fearing that the snow would bury the prisoner's whereabouts.
Fortunately, he quickly discovered the culprit.
The man lay motionless in the snow.
"Could he be dead?"
Amuro's heart sank, and he hurriedly ran over.
After a quick check, I breathed a sigh of relief: there was still a pulse, he wasn't dead!
"It might be an acute myocardial infarction triggered by the low temperature."
Amuro quickly took first aid measures for the prisoner.
In the dim moonlight, he saw the tooth necklace around the man's neck.
"Wake up! Pull yourself together, you octopus!"
Amuro shouted loudly, trying to wake the prisoner.
The unconscious man's eyelids twitched, opening a crack to reveal his eyes, and he mumbled something.
"Octopus, hang in there! I'll get you down the mountain!"
Amuro said he was about to carry the man to the snowmobile, but the man spoke up: "Caiman, is that you? You're such a persistent ghost."
"What are you talking about? Who is Kaimen?" Amuro asked in surprise.
"Is this a name, or a code name?"
But the octopus seemed oblivious to Amuro's question, lost in its own memories, muttering to itself, "You're barely able to save yourself, yet you're still thinking about saving others. You haven't changed at all..."
"Hey! I'm asking you a question, who are you talking about?!" Amuro roared angrily.
Whether it was because his life of evil deeds had come to an end, or whether fate was playing a cruel trick on Amuro and deliberately giving him a difficult problem.
Just then, the octopus tilted its head: it was dead.
Along with those secrets that had been buried for many years, they melted away in the ice and snow, never to be mentioned again.
"Damn it! Bastard!"
Amuro angrily cursed.
"It was so close!"
"Why now of all times?!"
Overwhelmed with anger and resentment, Amuro knelt on the ground, clenching his fists and pounding heavily on the cold, hard snow to vent his emotions.
At that moment, the rumbling sound and unusual tremors from the ground instantly brought him back to his senses—
"Oh no! It's an avalanche!"
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