Chapter 168 Twenty-Four Vigilantes

"Nana Koyama's death was an inevitable part of your plan."

When Conan's speculation about Wuming's identity was almost evolving to the point where he was a cyborg from a foreign laboratory, Wuming, who had just rescued the model, spoke calmly as if nothing had happened.

Even though he didn't mention anyone by name, everyone present knew that this sentence was directed at the murderer below.

Conan, who was squatting under Wuming's cloak, was indeed diverted by this sentence and began to think about the meaning of Wuming's words involuntarily.

If they hadn't saved the model, her body would have been found tomorrow morning at best, or no one would have found it at all. Everyone would only know that another person was missing from the cruise ship. Everyone would then be more vigilant, and the uncertainty of the voyage would be at its highest point. The murderer could not guarantee that other people would also die at his hands.

The only thing the other party can guarantee is Nana Oyama's inevitable death.

In other words, Nana Koyama, like Hiroki Tsuji and Katsuyoshi Asahi, is the murderer's real target of revenge and must be killed!

The murderer didn't care whether the others could escape later, just like he didn't care that Inspector Megure and the others were not dead. But for the murderer, he didn't leave any way for Nana Koyama from the beginning.

——This was probably the murderer’s plan before Wuming showed up.

Thinking of this, Conan sighed softly, and an inexplicable sense of excitement arose in his heart.

I'm afraid the murderer never expected Wuming to appear here and take charge of this case. And now that Wuming is here, all the murderer's subsequent actions will fail!

After Wuming said that, Conan knew that his previous guess was not entirely correct. Wuming was not only looking for Asahi Katsuyoshi, but also the murderer himself.

Otherwise, Wuming wouldn't be so clear about the inside story of this case. You know, even he who followed the whole process only discovered the subtleties during the day.

After hearing this, the model below looked shocked: "What? He is the murderer?"

Conan blinked, a little confused: He thought Miss Nana knew about this and made a deal with the murderer, so what exactly was the evidence they were talking about?

As the model blurted out, Wuming's gaze naturally fell on her.

She couldn't help but shudder.

No way? It wasn't really a crime, so it shouldn't alarm a vigilante like Wuming, right?

Unfortunately, Wuming couldn't hear her inner prayers. The hand hanging by his side moved, and Conan immediately understood that the next words Wuming wanted to tell him were information, so he pricked up his ears and listened carefully.

"Three months ago, Nana Oyama was driving her sports car through an intersection when she collided with a motorcycle that rushed out of the intersection. In order to avoid hitting the sports car, the motorcycle lost its balance and was thrown out of the car." Wuming's eyes were slightly satisfied with Conan, and his tone was still calm and steady. He pointed out bluntly, "But you think you didn't really collide, and finally chose to escape."

"I..." The model clenched her teeth and was about to argue, because in her opinion they did not collide, it was just that the motorcyclist was thrown away by himself. What does it have to do with her?

Originally, she had suspected that if the murderer was Murakami Jō, then it would be the person she almost hit three months ago. However, Murakami Jō was released from prison not long ago, so it couldn't be the motorcyclist, so she was relieved.

She suddenly reacted and looked at the murderer in the shadow opposite in disbelief: "Wait, that person that day was you?!"

"But you weren't hurt! Why do you want to kill me?" the model asked with gritted teeth.

Conan also thought about whether this could be a motive for the crime, but from his point of view, according to Wuming, the motorcyclist was not hit at the time, and was only scratched after being thrown out. It wouldn't be necessary to resort to serial murder for revenge, right?

He didn't think too highly of what he said. As a detective, Conan had indeed experienced many nonsensical cases. Many times, the murderer killed people out of hatred and inexplicable reasons.

But the fact that the murderer this time was able to commit so many crimes calmly and lead them all to this cruise ship is enough to prove that the murderer has a very quick mind and was even calm when committing the crime.

This information alone may not be enough... What if we consider this intelligence in conjunction with the case?

Chijiang Nayue felt the little detective under his cloak suddenly stand up, obviously he discovered the truth, so he smiled secretly in his heart and shook his cloak cooperatively, letting the little detective out from underneath.

Only then did Oyamauchi Nana realize that there was not only Wuming on the second floor, but also the little boy who claimed to be Detective Mori's assistant during the day!

"If it's just a scratch, there's really no need for me to hate you to this day." The detective's voice was childish, but his tone was serious. "What if that person lost his sense of taste after being hit on the head?"

Conan looked towards the shadow. Even though he couldn't see clearly who the murderer was, he had a clear answer in his mind: "You mean Mr. Sawaki Kouhei? Or should I call you the real murderer who wants to put the blame on Murakami!"

The man in the shadows moved and came out from his hiding place. The bright white moonlight shone on his face, illuminating the murderer's face.

As expected, it was Sawaki Kouhei, the wine taster who invited Mori and others to board the ship for the appointment.

Conan looked at Sawaki Kouhei, with inexplicable emotions surging in his heart.

He knew what the loss of taste meant to Mr. Sawaki: "Mr. Sawaki is a wine taster who pursues perfection and is a top genius in wine tasting. For such a Mr. Sawaki, even if he loses his sense of taste, he can still use his sense of smell and vision to 'taste' wine, but this does not meet his pursuit at all."

"Yes, you are right, Conan-kun." Sawaki Gonghei did not seem annoyed, "That way of tasting wine is not perfect."

"I didn't expect that in the end, I would be exposed in this situation." He smiled gently, looking as if he was still the polite first-class bartender. The other three knew what kind of heart he had under his appearance. "But it seems that I am not at a disadvantage to have the famous vigilante investigate my case, right?"

Of course he wanted to refute it at first, but Sawaki Kohei also lived in Tokyo and knew that since Wuming already knew that he was the murderer, no matter how he argued, he would only give the other party the opportunity to present more evidence, so he simply chose to admit it.

Conan was stunned. He didn't expect that Sawaki Kouhei could remain so calm after being exposed, as if he had some backup plan... No way, it turns out that Sawaki Kouhei doesn't know about it?

Wuming took a steady look at the calm man below and suddenly said, "Bomb."

Nana Koyama, who had just learned about this, looked over in horror and said, "You lunatic, you actually installed a bomb on the ship? You will die too!"

Sawaki Kouhei frowned, but pretended not to care: "Die together, do you mean die together? Of course I won't do that. After all, I plan to go back to my hometown to rest for a while after my revenge."

He put on a distorted expression full of malice and opened his mouth to speak, but Wuming, who was looking down at him, crossed his chest with his hands and interrupted him leisurely.

"So you originally wanted to kill Nana Koyama here, then pretend to be a witness, and detonate the bomb after everyone else gathered on the deck..." Wuming narrowed his eyes, "and leave by helicopter."

All correct. It was only then that Sawaki Kouhei's expression changed. He stared at Wuming coldly, and after a few seconds of silence, he asked, "What did you do?"

"The company you ordered the helicopter from..." Wuming hesitated, and after a moment's thought, he decided to tell the truth, "It was unexpectedly acquired by another group before you boarded the ship."

Sawaki Kohei suddenly had a bad feeling. He caught a glimpse of an unnatural expression on Conan's face and his heart sank.

"The company that acquired that company is the Akagi Group." The young detective touched his chest while answering the question, and looked at Sawaki Kohei with a complex look and a hint of sympathy.

He almost couldn't bear to continue talking - okay, just kidding.

Conan asked subtly, "When Mr. Sawaki came out, didn't he notice that Officers Matsuda and Hagiwara were not in the room?"

Sawaki Kohei's face was completely clouded with gloom, and he obviously remembered something.

"If nothing unexpected happened, the bombs on the ship have probably been dismantled by the two of them by now." The little detective who reported the news shrugged, "After all, they are the twin stars of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team of the Metropolitan Police Department."

After learning from the chairman in the afternoon that the murderer was planning to escape by helicopter, Conan relied on his rich experience to deduc that the murderer must have other arrangements on the ship, so he secretly revealed this information to Matsuda Jinpei and the others.

Well, he actually had some selfish thoughts in mind: "After Officer Matsuda and his team went to defuse the bomb, no one would stop him from going looking for the murderer."

Who would have known that they would coincidentally run into Wuming who was also investigating the case and knew more crucial information? They also directly ran into the murderer's sixth crime scene and rescued Nana Koyama.

Conan felt strangely satisfied.

Sawaki Kohei's originally elegant face had now become distorted and ferocious. The failure of his revenge and the information that he was actually going to be caught had pushed him to the brink of collapse. The string in his mind was now stretched to the final stage and was about to break.

"I originally thought that the person who would come would be Nishikawa, the awful writer whose books are a mess, but it turned out to be that idiot chairman." He murmured, "Just like I thought Kudo Shinichi would come, and specially prepared the last poker card for him. Unexpected factors really need to be eliminated at the very beginning..."

Before Conan could react, he found that the vigilante had jumped down from beside him at some point. His figure was as fast as lightning, and in the blink of an eye he pinned Sawaki Kouhei to the ground.

Looking closely, they saw that what was swept far away on the deck was a gun - this guy wanted to take his enemy to hell before being arrested.

Conan ran downstairs quickly, but the stairs to the second floor were not where they were just now, and he could not follow the unconventional route like Wuming. When he ran to the paralyzed Nana Oyamauchi, Wuming on the other side had already ended his conversation with Sawaki Kouhei.

Conan blinked again, and Wuming disappeared without a trace, just like in the urban legend.

At the end of that night, no one knew what they said, but Conan could see that even after being taken away in a helicopter by the Metropolitan Police Department police, Sawaki Kohei's originally dark and broken eyes lit up again.

Stunningly bright.

Conan vaguely realized that perhaps the purpose of Wuming's trip was neither Asahi Katsuyoshi nor this case.

Wuming's target from the beginning to the end was only Sawaki Kouhei!

The excitement in his heart about the perfect collaboration with his recent idol faded as time went by, and Conan thought about his original idea again as the cruise ship returned.

Who is Wuming? And, Wuming really needs a qualified assistant who can help him.

His eyes fell on the back of someone on the deck who was also waiting for the cruise ship to dock.

Could it be you?

On the other side, Uncle Maori, who was still packing his luggage in the room, accidentally saw the poker box on the table, and a small stack of spades pressed underneath, and his mouth turned down.

"You little brat, you forgot to put away your playing cards." He muttered as he picked up the poker cards, then paused.

"Strange, why is there one missing?"