Chapter 161 Seventeen Vigilantes
"Conan, are you ready? We're leaving." Xiaolan's urging voice came from outside the bedroom door, waking the detective who was sitting cross-legged on the ground from his thoughts.
Conan quickly responded, "Okay, I know, Xiaolan!"
As he spoke, he stood up and carefully gathered the photos and newspaper clippings on the floor and stuffed them into his notebook. Then he put the notebook with the magnetic buckle into the backpack leaning against the foot of the bed.
If someone had been in the room just now, they would have been able to see what Conan was looking at - all the recent reports related to the vigilante Wuming, as well as printouts of the secretly taken photos of Wuming that were circulating on the Internet.
Most ordinary people have high hopes for this vigilante who suddenly appears in the public eye. Conan, who is currently attending Teitan Elementary School, can always hear people around him excitedly whispering about Wuming during this week.
I don't even know when it started, but a group of vigilante admirers began to gather online and offline, believing that Wuming's existence further proved the incompetence of the Metropolitan Police Department.
However, Conan does not completely agree with these remarks.
Today's Tokyo really needs a 'hero' like this so that everyone will not completely lose hope for the future, but such a responsibility cannot be placed on one person.
Who can guarantee that Wuming doesn't kill people now and will never kill people in the future? Who can guarantee that Wuming doesn't seek fame and fortune now and will never make money from it in the future? Who can guarantee that Wuming can always be bright and keep his original intention to fight crime from beginning to end?
Pinning the hopes of a city on one particular person is like walking on a tightrope; there is no safety net.
Conan, or the former young detective Kudo Shinichi, believes that Wuming's existence can be a signal - a signal that Tokyo people have not given up and want to restore their original peaceful life, but he must not be the only hero in the hearts of Tokyo people.
Tokyo today cannot afford the risk of a 'hero' on whom it has high hopes collapsing.
Conan sighed worriedly: He was actually half an example.
As a detective who idolizes Sherlock Holmes, when he was still Kudo Shinichi, he actively learned all kinds of knowledge to enrich his brain. At that time, Kudo Shinichi also fantasized that he could help the Metropolitan Police Department catch as many criminals as possible by solving cases, so as to reduce crime in Tokyo as much as possible.
But Kudo Yusaku told him that this was impossible.
"As long as the Metropolitan Police Department remains the same as it is now, you can't do this by yourself, and it will put you and everyone around you in danger." Then, Kudo Yusaku earnestly told his outstanding son the truest situation in Tokyo today.
After saying that, he looked at the fearless fire in the boy's eyes, and pushed the frame of his glasses with his hand as if it was all expected, and smiled: "But if it's you, Shinichi, even if I said so, you would still want to do it, right?"
Yes, that's what Kudo Shinichi thought.
Even though he knows that the Metropolitan Police Department is riddled with problems that cannot be fixed by solving a few more cases, Kudo Shinichi still actively appears at various crime scenes, doing his best to help the various investigation departments solve cases and realize his value as a detective.
During his most active period, there were always reports and photos of him in the newspapers, and they called him the 'savior of the Metropolitan Police Department'.
To be honest, this title sounds really nice, and the proud young detective has expressed his joy to his childhood sweetheart many times in private.
This doesn't mean that he has changed. It only means that the name Kudo Shinichi has entered the public eye and has been remembered by those "people above" that his father has carefully talked to him about.
What Kudo Yusaku said before was right. He knew that his personality and persistent style would easily lead him into dangerous situations, just like now. He has changed from a spirited young detective to a helpless elementary school student, and it is very likely that his friends and family around him will be implicated.
But at the same time, what Kudo Yusaku said later is also correct.
Even though he became a child, the former Kudo Shinichi now Edogawa Conan never thought of turning a blind eye to the crime in front of him. He knew that when he saw someone committing a crime, he would still rush forward without hesitation and try to stop them.
Therefore, after Conan learned of Wuming's existence, he immediately collected a lot of information about Wuming through various channels - remember, the vigilante has only appeared for a week - and subtly resonated with him in Wuming's every move.
Conan doesn't have such complicated and heavy thoughts about being a hero or not. For him, he simply cannot let go of any crime that he sees, that's all.
He guessed that Wuming probably thought the same as he did.
This strange resonance made Conan secretly admire and respect Wuming, even though he did not agree with the words and deeds of his admirers who had praised him as a god because of their long despair. Apart from other things, the number of criminals Wuming caught, the number of cases he prevented, and the large number of case clues he collected in a week were enough to make Conan marvel.
Wuming is really too hardworking! To achieve this level, Wuming is definitely a genius detective in solving cases, but does he not need to rest?
Conan felt that Wuming could not continue to fight alone like this. Even steel would be broken by this, let alone Wuming being a human.
Ah, speaking of rest.
Conan had already gotten into the car with Maori and his daughter. He fastened his seat belt obediently and continued to look out the window with his mind wandering.
Recently, the Maori Detective Agency was involved in a series of murders. The victims were all related to the uncle. Fortunately, due to various accidents, no one really died, but only suffered varying degrees of injuries.
The most important thing that all the victims had in common, apart from the "people related to the uncle" that they later discovered, was the poker cards that appeared at the crime scene.
This time the murderer seemed to be killing people in the order of the poker cards, from Megure Jusan to Princess Eri, then to Agasa Hiroshi and Tsuji Hiroki. Not only Conan, but everyone noticed this pattern.
Following this narrowed scope of investigation, they quickly identified the possible identity of the murderer and several possible victims.
Now the three of them were heading out to meet up with the other people they had made an appointment with.
Conan pinched his chin and began to think and recall.
According to Mr. Sawaki, who was familiar with the uncle, it was very likely that Mr. Asahi of the Ninth Person had invited Mr. Sawaki to visit the restaurant that was about to open a month ago, but this plan was ruined due to an accident.
Speaking of this, Conan was speechless. He didn't expect it to be such a coincidence.
Mr. Asahi is an industrialist who built a luxurious marine entertainment center in Tokyo Bay. However, the most important and iconic building in this entertainment center, the Water Crystal Restaurant, was built based on the design drawings drawn in the early years by the famous architectural designer Teiji Moriya, who was acquainted with Mr. Asahi.
That's right.
Therefore, as an asymmetrical building, the Crystal Restaurant was blown up a month ago by Teiji Moriya, who was a perfectionist, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and severe mental disorder.
It was Conan who caught Teiji Moritani himself.
Because the Crystal Restaurant could no longer operate, according to Mr. Sawaki, Mr. Asahi later changed the location to meet them, which is their destination today.
The young detective jumped out of the car, looked up at the huge object parked at the dock, and was shocked.
"Wow, what a beautiful cruise ship!" Xiaolan exclaimed as she stood beside him.
Conan had read a lot of relevant information before coming. He was concentrating on flipping through the notebook in his hand and answered casually, "Yes, this luxury cruise ship is called Otto Noe, one of the fifty sea nymphs in Greek mythology, symbolizing free thought. Mr. Sawaki said before that this is one of Mr. Asahi's products. It will probably stay on the sea of Tokyo Bay for two days and one night this time - ah!"
An iron fist instantly fell on his head. Uncle Maori, standing behind the detective, said dimly: "Oh? You know a lot, kid."
"It's written in the travel encyclopedia, ha, ha." Conan laughed awkwardly, rubbing his head and making excuses for himself, "I've never left Tokyo, so I'm very excited!"
In today's Tokyo, ordinary people need to go through multiple procedures to leave, and they may be blocked for a long time, so as a child who looks like he is only seven years old, there is nothing wrong with Conan saying this.
After they learned that Mr. Asahi had made an appointment with Mr. Sawaki, they guessed that the murderer would choose to act at this time and catch all the targets in one fell swoop. Therefore, with the cooperation of Mr. Sawaki, several people successfully learned the names of other people who had made an appointment with Mr. Asahi to meet on the cruise ship at this time. However, the people who actually made an appointment with Conan and others to gather here were not those possible victims, but——
"Ah, I see Officer Date." Conan stood on tiptoe and waved over there, "Officer Date, Officer Matsuda and Officer Hagiwara! Here, here."
The young detective sighed inwardly: There are not many capable police officers in the Metropolitan Police Department, and these three are really working hard.
Even Officers Matsuda and Hagiwara, who were mainly responsible for bomb disposal, were borrowed by the short-staffed Investigation Division...
"Hmm? There seems to be another person next to them?" Xiaolan looked over there curiously, "Is that the police officer as well?"
Uncle Maori also frowned and recalled: "I've never seen this face before. Is there such a person in the Investigation Division 1?"
As the people approached, Conan, the only one who recognized the fourth person, twitched his mouth.
Sure enough, I was not mistaken, the fourth person was Mr. Zhufu!
He got to know Mr. Morobushi because of the organization's affairs, and he always knew that the other party seemed to have acquaintances in the Metropolitan Police Department, but he didn't expect that it was Officer Hagiwara and his group.
But why would Mr. Morobushi appear here? Could it be that Mr. Asahi behind the cruise ship is related to the organization? Conan took a breath.
Fortunately, when Date Kou and a few others attracted the attention of Uncle Mori and Xiaolan, Conan seized the opportunity and approached Morobushi Kagemitsu on the way to the cruise ship.
The young detective lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Midorikawa, why are you here too? Is this a mission from the organization?"
The pseudonym that Morofushi Kagemitsu used outside was Midorikawa Hikaru, so Conan also helped to conceal his identity and called him that.
Morofushi Jingguang then half-knelt beside the child and answered in a low voice: "Well, is that right? I don't know either."
Conan felt like he was being played by a kid and smiled: "Hey, hey..."
"Just kidding." The black-haired, blue-eyed young man blinked and smiled. "Don't worry, this is a private trip and has nothing to do with work."
It would be strange if I wasn't worried.
Conan muttered, "You said the same thing last time, and then you went to the front by yourself."
"If you want to talk about this, we are the same, right?" Zhu Fu Jingguang said helplessly.
The cruise ship set sail as soon as they boarded the deck. Maori and his group were there greeting Sawaki Kohei and others who had arrived earlier. Conan was still very concerned about the purpose of Morobushi Kagemitsu's trip and was about to ask something when everyone heard the sound of an engine roaring from far above their heads.
"Is that today's passenger too?" Hagiwara Kenji asked in surprise, his arm on his childhood friend's shoulder.
Everyone looked up and spotted a handsome helicopter in midair. Its exterior was painted in red and black to create a beautiful pattern, but it was too far away to see clearly.
The faces of the people who had experienced the incident two days ago all looked a little sad at the same time. They were obviously thinking of the helicopter that Hiroki Tsuji had almost crashed.
"Yes, the guest said in advance that they would arrive a little late, so we just need to set sail as scheduled, and they will catch up." The staff on the deck who knew more answered Hagiwara's question.
Zhu Fu Jingguang suddenly frowned and felt a chill.
Strange, I have a bad feeling... Could it be that he knows the people on the helicopter? Is he from the organization?
It wasn't long before his hunch was fulfilled.
Because when the hatch of the helicopter that had successfully landed opened, the people who came out were the young chairman Akae Nazuki and his young and handsome butler Amuro Toru.
——Of course, this is the two people’s own self-introduction.
At least when they came down, the four people present fixed their eyes on the face of 'Amuro Toru'.
Isn't this their good friend who died in the line of duty many years ago and recently came out to hang out? What kind of person could take that gorilla as a housekeeper?