"Don't move!"
The kidnapper's knife had already stabbed into Sugawa Gen's neck. He didn't seem to need or care about the life or death of the hostage. He just needed a tool to intimidate the police here.
Bright red blood was already flowing out along the blade. Conan grabbed the restless Haibara Ai and calmly disappeared into the crowd.
Without alerting the kidnapper, they had to find the right angle to attack.
“Ouch!”
Conan covered his forehead and raised his head to see a pair of deep blue cat eyes. The man raised his finger to signal him to be quiet, then motioned for them to follow him, turned around and led them out of the crowd.
The movement in the hall finally alarmed Kogoro Mori, who was staying in the quarantine area. He walked out full of confusion, only to find that the Sugawa Gen family had become hostages.
What a troublesome little devil.
Unfortunately, the police here seemed to be good-looking but useless, and were controlled by the kidnappers. He walked over with a smile: "Let's talk it over nicely, don't hurt the hostages."
The kidnapper snorted and looked around. "Where is Takahashi Sakai? Ask him to bring out the auction items!"
Hearing Takahashi Sakai's name, Tanaka Takayama pushed Maori Kogoro away with a cold look in his eyes and said in a cold voice: "He is dead. I am the person in charge now. If you have any problems, come to me. Let the child go."
"Dead?" The kidnapper was stunned for a moment, but soon his face turned grim and he said angrily, "No matter whether he is dead or not, take out your auction items!"
The kidnapper's emotions suddenly got out of control, and he pulled the knife back a little. The burning pain made Qichuan Yuan frown and shrink back, and then his peripheral vision suddenly noticed a suspicious man who was wrapped in black and looked serious.
When the robber said this, the man raised his head instantly and looked over here dangerously.
Lots seems to be the key word.
Qichuan Yuan withdrew his gaze thoughtfully. It seemed that they could collect a lot of information from this exhibition alone.
Tanaka Takayama sent people to move all the auction items to the lobby, which contained many sculptures and paintings. However, the kidnapper simply exchanged glances with his companions, ignored the exquisite works in front of him, and walked straight to the last work.
Only that work was covered with a black cloth, and the label also indicated the name of the work: "Fire".
This should be the portrait that Qichuan Yuan was looking for. He had no expression on his face as he watched his accomplice lift up a corner of the black cloth. He then turned around and nodded to the kidnapper behind him.
They had a purpose, why did they want to steal this portrait?
"Let the people here get out of the way!"
After taking the portrait, the kidnapper took Sugawa Gen and walked out, threatening the crowd to disperse.
The guests all retreated one after another, looking anxiously at the young man who was being held captive with a very calm face, and they were sweating for him in their hearts.
Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire, and a stream of blood instantly exploded on the kidnapper's body. The kidnapper screamed and dropped the knife in his hand to the ground in pain. Qichuan Yuan also took the opportunity to grab the portrait and threw the kidnapper to the ground.
But the next second, the man who fired the gun fired another shot at Qichuan Yuan's arm. Qichuan Yuan's arm hurt, and a wave of soreness and numbness enveloped him. The moment his arm became weak, the suspicious man in black quickly snatched the portrait and rushed out the door. At the same time, three figures rushed out behind him.
The sudden gunshots were like a fire that quickly ignited the fear in the hearts of the guests. They could no longer hold back and fled in panic, pushing and shoving their way towards the door. Standing in the middle of the crowd, Gen Sugawa was inevitably pushed around and almost fell to the ground.
Damn!
Qichuan Yuan cursed inwardly, stepped over the kidnapper lying on the ground, and quickly ran after him through the crowd.
It’s a pity that the man seemed to be very familiar with the terrain here and soon disappeared.
Blood was oozing out of Qichuan Yuan's arm in waves. The massive blood loss made him a little dizzy. He tried to steady his steps and searched the area with a frown.
"Qichuan!"
It was the voice of Morobushi Kagemitsu. Sugawa Gen looked over and saw Morobushi Kagemitsu, Conan and Ai trapping the suspicious man in black in a corner not far away. The man in black looked alert and was ready to attack.
The portrait seemed to have accidentally fallen against the wall during the chase. The black cloth on the portrait was torn off at some point, and a corner of the frame was broken. Qichuan Gen picked up the portrait that had fallen on the ground, a little dazed.
The portrait showed him. He looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, standing alone in front of a burning building. The fierce flames dyed the sky red and also dyed the white snow an ominous dark red.
That building looked exactly like the Gojo family's residence, from the outline to the details, every part matched.
This scene was the fire that Gen Sugawa witnessed in his first life, which took away Lady Gojo's life.
The suspicious man looked back and forth between the screen and Saikawa Gen's face with a strange look. Could it be that they were the same person?
He suddenly remembered the order his boss had given him, and for an instant he felt as if he were in an ice cellar, with a bucket of ice water pouring down over his head.
The man coughed dryly and said with a tingling scalp: "Well, I think this child and this portrait have a connection, so I'll give this portrait to you."
Zhufu Jingguang looked at him with an indescribable look and said, "Please, this painting looks like you stole it, it's not yours."
Conan, however, became suspicious. The change in this man's attitude was too strange. He was holding on to the painting like a beast guarding its food, but his attitude softened instantly after seeing Sugawa Gen.
Conan silently took out the wiretapping device from his pocket, smiled and looked at Morobushi Kagemitsu: "Brother, he has returned the portrait, let's let him go!"
Morobushi Jingguang looked at him in surprise. This kid was the one who chased him the most fiercely just now. His eyes paused at Conan's hand, and he shifted his gaze with mixed feelings, "Okay, you go."
The suspicious man looked between the people cautiously, moved a distance along the wall, turned around and ran away, and disappeared in a moment.
"How is it?"
Sugawa Gen walked over holding the portrait with his other arm and asked in a hoarse voice.
Hearing his hoarse voice, the three people present couldn't help but frown. Zhu Fu Jingguang interrupted him, "Stop talking, type."
"It's a success," Conan nodded. He took advantage of the man's inattention and secretly threw the monitor into his hat.
Morofushi Kagemitsu took the portrait from Sugawa Gen and asked, "Where is this portrait? Is it this?"
Is this a painting by Mrs. Gojo?
Sugawa Gen shook his head slowly and pointed to a rose symbol in the corner of the painting. This was a painting by Shimizu Tsuki.
But the style that comes through is indeed Lady Gojo's style.
Morofu Jingguang couldn't help but frown, but how could others know what Qichuan Yuan looked like, and how did they know it?
"Ah, you are talking about this portrait."
Tanaka Takayama placed the portrait on the stand in astonishment and carefully wiped the dust off the frame.
"I don't know for sure, but I know that Shimizu painted this a few years ago. At that time, Takahashi Sakai won the first prize with Shimizu's work. As a reward, they had the opportunity to travel and study. This painting seems to be one of those."
Conan asked: "One of them? Are there many portraits there?"
Tanaka Takayama frowned and thought for a while, then said hesitantly, "Yes, I remember Shimizu told me that it was very strange there, such a big building, but inside there were only portraits. And the protagonists in the pictures were all this child, and most of the scenes were about daily life."
"However, there was a room full of explosions and fires. When Takahashi Sakai saw it, he thought it was very close to the theme of the exhibition, so he secretly took pictures of all the pictures and asked Shimizu to paint them when he got back. However, in the end, only this one was painted."
Everyday, explosions and fires.
When these sensitive words appeared together, Qichuan Yuan's heart beat violently. He ignored the pain in his throat and asked hoarsely, "Do you have any other photos?"
"It seems that I can't find it. Takahashi Sakai never backs up the data, and Shimizu is unwilling to keep such things."
Tanaka Takayama wiped her hair while recalling the past. Suddenly, her eyes were fixed on the face of Sugawa Gen. She compared him with the portrait in disbelief and exclaimed, "How come you look so much like the person in the portrait? Could you be this child?"
Zhu Fu Jingguang smiled and explained: "The child above may be his younger brother. We have been looking for him for a long time. Please tell us everything you know. This is very important to us."
Tanaka Takayama had a complicated expression. She had never expected to encounter such a coincidence in real life.
She nodded seriously: "Okay, wait a moment, I remember there is some information here."
Watching Tanaka Takayama walk into the warehouse, Morofushi Kagemitsu patted Sugawa Gen's shoulder comfortingly and said gently, "Don't worry."
Qichuan Gen nodded slowly, but his mind was dazed and his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
There aren't so many coincidences in the world. If it could be explained by just a painting, it could be that someone just saw such a scene by accident. But even daily and other explosions happen, which makes him suspicious.
And even this painting cannot actually explain its appearance, because nothing like this has ever happened in this cycle.
And Sugawa Gen also had speculations about other explosions and fires.
If it was really as he thought, then the other portraits were most likely the explosions and fires he experienced during his reincarnations.
And if this is true, it proves that there is someone in this world who is in the same infinite cycle as him, and this person is most likely Lady Gojo.
This is also enough to prove that in the previous reincarnation, Lady Gojo was not actually dead, but had been watching over Sugawa Gen somewhere.
Gen Sugawa felt a chill on his back. The sudden surprise and doubt made him unable to react for a while to the possibility that Mrs. Gojo was still alive. He was just filled with endless doubts. If Mrs. Gojo was alive, why didn't she come to him? Was this person really Mrs. Gojo? Or was there someone else in the cycle?
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