Chapter 69 A Decisive Battle
If there's any lesson learned from my previous abduction experience, it's this: you can't completely disregard weather forecasts, but you also can't completely trust them.
The forecast says it will snow tonight.
So, to avoid catching a cold, the little girl with tea-colored hair was dressed very warmly, wearing a hat, mask, scarf, and gloves, and she also had a backpack on her back, the contents of which were unknown.
When she walked out of the hotel, there was only wind, no snow.
"Shiho!" Rumi Wakasa, who had been waiting for a long time in the underground parking lot, saw the little girl and ran over quickly.
“Miss Wakasa,” Ai replied timidly, sounding somewhat nervous.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here to save you." Wakasa knelt down and hugged the little girl. "I promised your mother I would do this. It's a little late now, but please believe me, we will succeed this time! Shiho, you trust me, right?"
Ai nodded gently, then asked, "What about the others, Doctor..."
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid you can't see them again. It's too dangerous here. I'll take you to a safe place. Would you like to come with me?"
Under Wakasa's expectant gaze, Ai gave an affirmative answer.
"There's no time to lose, let's get going!" Wakasa handed Ai a black blanket. "Lie down in the back, cover yourself with this, and don't let anyone else see you."
Ai obediently did as she was told.
The little girl was unusually quiet the whole way, with only a small gap in the blanket for her to breathe.
Wakasa asked nervously, "Shiho, are you alright?"
"Um."
"I'm sorry about what happened before."
"It's not your fault! Mom and Dad won't blame you, and neither will my sister and me."
"Thank you." A relieved smile appeared on Wakasa's face.
However, her joy was short-lived; an unexpected event occurred—
A black Porsche suddenly sped out from the left.
Wakasa quickly dodged, thus avoiding being hit by the other party.
As the black Porsche and white Lotus passed each other, she noticed that the driver on the other side had long silver hair.
It's Gin.
Wakasa floored the accelerator, and Gin, not to be outdone, gave chase.
"You've finally appeared, Gin." A little girl's clear and melodious voice came from under the blanket in the back seat.
"Huh? Shiho, what are you talking about? How did you know Gin would be coming?"
“The sound of an engine, a Porsche 356A, I remember.” Ai’s tone was unusually calm. “I just ran into him.”
Wakasa was horrified: "When? Where?!"
“Just before I went to the parking lot. I saw him, but he didn’t see me because he was fighting with a man wearing a knitted hat. To be precise, it was four people fighting, each with a buddy, all of them were big and burly. They were fighting fiercely.”
Wakasa looked on incredulously. She wanted to comfort her with something like, "That must have been very dangerous" or "You must have been terrified," but Ai surprised her by saying, "It was a very exciting hand-to-hand fight. If Ms. Wakasa had been there, it might not have ended in a draw."
"Gin didn't win?" Wakasa was a little surprised by the result; she didn't know who the person in the knitted hat was.
"Yes, and it seems he doesn't really want to fight; he's eager to do something else."
"What's up?"
"Isn't this obvious?" Ai asked, quite surprised. "Was Wakasa-sensei completely unprepared for this?"
"You mean Gin's target tonight is me?" Porsche was sticking to him like a leech, impossible to shake off, so Wakasa involuntarily tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
"It's obvious that some things can't be hidden by plastic surgery. I think they already noticed you when you appeared at the Haneda residence."
"How...how did you know?"
"Now is not the time to discuss these things. Let's think about how to solve the immediate problem! How many people are on the other side?"
"It's just Gin, but it's hard to shake him off."
"Oh, that makes things easier."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"He's the bad guy, so why are we running away? We haven't done anything wrong, so why should we be chased around like madmen by a criminal?"
Wakasa was speechless: "But he's Gin..."
"Is a wounded, lone Gin worth your fear?" The little girl's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a menacing aura.
Wakasa, sensing a hint in those words, asked with deep unease, "Shiho, what do you think I should do?"
"Do we need to ask what we're doing? This is the perfect opportunity to capture Gin alive!"
"Capture Gin alive?"
Wakasa had never thought about this question before. She really wanted to ask where this girl, who looked only 7 years old but was actually no more than 18, got the courage to say such a bold statement!
“Shiho looks a lot like her mother,” Wakasa murmured. “But isn’t this just too risky?”
"Is Miss Wakasa scared?"
"It's a little embarrassing to say, but I am indeed a little uneasy. I don't think I have a chance of winning."
“There’s nothing to be afraid of! Think about all these years you’ve lived in hiding, wandering from place to place. What kind of life have you been living? As long as we get rid of Gin, the organization’s top assassin, the organization will definitely be wary of you in the future. Who would dare to cause you trouble? Besides, if we can capture Gin alive, we can obtain a lot of intelligence and wipe out the entire organization!” Ai said in an undeniable tone.
As Ruoxia sped along the empty, secluded road, she asked hesitantly, "But is this really feasible?"
"Then let me ask you, do you hate the organization?"
"certainly!"
"Do you want revenge?"
"think!"
"How much hatred, how much longing? How long are you willing to continue to eke out a living in the shadow of the organization? One day? One month? One year? Or 17 years? Are you willing to watch the people you want to protect die one by one? Wake up! Running away is useless. Even if you run to the ends of the earth, they will find you! We must fight back, or we will only face death! Think about it, once we miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, how long will we have to wait? Now we have two people, and the other side is alone and injured. The advantage is on our side! With a little trickery, Gin will be in our hands."
The sweet children's voices seemed to whisper the devil, bewitching hearts.
Wakasa was tempted; she wanted to capture Gin alive: "Shiho, what do I need to do?"
How much fuel is left?
"I filled up the gas tank before I came, so it's definitely enough."
"Very good. Don't go through the traffic light at the next intersection. Just change lanes and turn back."
"But wouldn't that violate traffic rules? What if the traffic police stop me?"
"At a time like this, are traffic rules really that important?" Ai's words left Wakasa speechless.
However, what Wakasa didn't know was that the little girl under the blanket revealed an almost ferocious smile, muttering to herself, "I wish the traffic cops would come and chase us!"
The traffic light was green at the intersection ahead, but the white Lotus didn't go straight. Instead, it turned around and drove 180 degrees back.
The black Porsche followed closely behind, but Gin's actions were more aggressive and violent, crashing into a section of the railing.
"He's caught up. What should we do next?"
"No rush, let's give him a walk."
"Walk?" Wakasa repeated, thinking she had misheard.
Ai's tone remained frighteningly calm: "I heard a siren, was it a traffic cop?"
"Yes, there are police cars behind Gin."
"Go straight at the next intersection, then turn left at the next one, and then go straight. Step on the gas and just go straight! Ignore the traffic lights and traffic control! Just don't hit anyone."
"But... but wouldn't that attract more traffic police?"
"The more the better, preferably all in the middle."
Wakasa seemed to understand something: "You want to use the traffic police to arrest Gin?"
"Wrong. How could Gin be caught so easily? This is just using the police car to give us a little advantage and to confirm something along the way."
"What's up?"
Just how much did he want to kill you?
Wakasa broke out in a cold sweat: "Why do we need to confirm this?"
"Because that determines whether he'll give up halfway or pursue us to the end. In other words, it's also the probability of him taking the bait." There wasn't a trace of fear in the little girl's words. Instead, there was only the excitement of the hunt. Wakasa couldn't help but feel that the person in her car was the more dangerous one.
If we switch the camera to the perspective of a passerby, this scene on the street looks quite comical.
Leading the pack was a white Lotus, which sped away, leaving everyone else in the dust.
Behind them were several traffic police patrol cars, their sirens blaring.
Following behind was a black Porsche attempting to break through this troublesome encirclement, while the traffic police were still bringing up the rear.
Porsche did not continue chasing Lotus at the next intersection, but instead turned into another side road.
By this time, the snow was falling heavily. The traffic police hadn't reacted in time and were hesitating whether to chase the white car or the black car when several police cars skidded and crashed together, allowing the Porsche to escape easily.
As luck would have it, Kaito Kuroba, who was leaving the hotel, also passed by this place.
He witnessed this scene, watching the black Porsche whiz past him, and thought to himself: Tonight is going to be quite lively!
However, what Kaito didn't know was that the car owner was an accomplice of his "fiancé" from the dance earlier.
If the driver were to look up at this moment, he might see a distant point of light, which represents his three other fleeing companions who are outsmarting each other in the blizzard, searching for a suitable landing spot.
If the helicopter pilot were to look southwest with binoculars, he might spot a familiar American pickup truck – a Chevrolet C1500.
Akai was waiting at a traffic light when he glanced at the damaged guardrail on the side of the road, guessing that a traffic accident might have occurred. But he didn't expect that the driver who caused the accident was Gin, the same person he had fought with not long ago.
This wonderful encounter lasted only a brief moment; the actors, who had taken a break, went their separate ways, while the overtime for Porsche and Lotus had just begun.
"It seems Gin didn't really want to kill me that much." Wakasa breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're wrong, he'll be waiting for you at the next intersection. How much gas do you have left?"
"Two-thirds remain."
"That's enough."
"what do I do?"
"Go around to the front of him! Lure him over."
Where to?
"Snow-capped mountains".
This snow-capped mountain has a special connection with Ai Haibara, because it was here that she was kidnapped and barely escaped with her life.
However, this time the snow wasn't as heavy as last time.
The white Lotus drove along the winding mountain road, which from a distance looked like a ring of chocolate shavings on an ice cream cake. However, the real world is not like a fairy tale; the reality is that the road is slippery and muddy, and there is a risk of overturning at any moment.
"Stop in the tunnel ahead before Gin catches up!" Ai ordered.
Capturing Gin alive was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so the plan itself was extremely simple. The core idea can be summed up in one word: attrition.
This long and tedious cat-and-mouse game exhausts the opponent's patience and wears down their rationality. When Gin's mind is filled with only the thought of killing Rumi Wakasa, falling into the trap is inevitable.
As expected, Gin paid no attention to the construction sign at the tunnel entrance, thinking it was a trick by Wakasa to make him slow down, so he accelerated and smashed the sign.
This triggered the mechanism: fireworks went off, firecrackers exploded, and one tire burst. There was also a huge, rapidly inflating soccer ball on the roof, and two very strong straps at the front.
The Porsche is stuck.
Seeing this scene in the rearview mirror, Ai shouted excitedly, "Done!"
"That's it?" Wakasa was incredulous, as if she were dreaming.
"Not yet, he'll definitely resist. But don't worry, I have a tranquilizer gun."
However, the commander foresaw everything except one thing: Gin also had a gun.
Looking back, why did I overlook such an important point?
Because he didn't draw his gun when fighting Akai? Because he didn't draw his gun when surrounded by traffic police?
However, Gin did not fire his gun earlier simply because he did not want the situation to escalate further and cause unnecessary trouble.
But now, in this place where people can be buried on the spot after they've been killed, what reason does Gin have not to fire his gun?
"Drive! Lie down!"
Several gunshots rang out, but Wakasa was unharmed.
But it wasn't that Gin missed: he aimed for the fuel tank.
This serious mistake caused the commander to crash, in a physical sense.
The white Lotus, which was traveling at high speed, lost control and slid out of the tunnel. The tunnel was short, and the car overturned off the cliff.
Thick snow, blazing flames, billowing smoke, a cramped space…
Does this scene seem familiar?
This moment is just like that moment back then.
The silver-haired man stopped and looked down; there was no sign of any survivors.
He uttered a single word: "traitor."
The cold wind dispersed his breath, carrying away that name with it.
He killed too many people in his life, and he never remembered the innocent souls who died at his hands.
"Shiho? Shiho!"
The child struggled to open his eyes and saw Wakasa struggling to pull him out of the deformed car.
When she finally breathed in the fresh air after being reborn, Wakasa's expression changed: "Your face?"
Conan simply ripped off his mask and veil: "Edogawa Conan, I'm Ai Haibara's friend."
"W-How did you get here?!"
"Because Haibara asked me to talk to Ms. Asaka." The director, who was not focused on his work, finally found the original script.
Upon hearing this name, Wakasa's expression worsened.
"Oh, it seems you don't like this title. How about we just call you by your original name, Ms. Karasuma Yayoi?"
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