Conan's grammatical investigator

Chapter 1308 Magic vs Illusion
London City Hall, top floor.

On the stage, wonderful shows followed one after another.

Since it is called the Hobbs Magic Group, in addition to traditional magic such as changing pigeons, guessing poker cards, and changing living people, there are also acrobatic items such as human cannonballs and unicycle tightrope walking.

In the intervals between the actors preparing for their performances on stage, the host will tell some warm-up jokes to adjust the atmosphere.

And Judy Hopper herself, who would wander around the front row and chat with guests.

The two years since she took over the Hober Thaumaturgy Corps had enabled her to handle such occasions with ease.

Backstage, Kuroba Kaito and Boll were confirming the performance process over and over again.

Although it was the first time for Kaito Kuroba to perform this magic, he had a good foundation after all, and he could achieve good results after just practicing it twice.

In contrast, Boll is a new magician who recently joined the Hober Magic Group and has little experience on stage.

If it were an ordinary stage, the Thaumaturgy Troupe would not hesitate to let this newcomer go on stage and accumulate performance experience.

But this performance is very special. He needs to compete with the world's number one illusionist next door, so he cannot be careless at all.

In addition, Kuroba Kaito needed a partner to assist in his magic, so Boll was invited to perform.

"Mr. Shinichi, do you think it's okay for me to use this move when I go on stage later?"

Boll, dressed in white, came out from behind a special chair and ran to the right quietly like a thief.

But when he ran to the right, he suddenly stopped, stood up domineeringly and pointed to the left.

Kuroba Kaito looked at Boll's series of actions and nodded approvingly.

"This is also very good, let's act like this later!"

Just as the two were finalizing the final moves for the performance, a staff member from the Hobber Magic Troupe ran over to inform them that it would be their turn after the show on stage was over.

This is also the last show of today.

Out of trust in Kuroba Toichi's son, Judy Holbert deliberately changed the program and put Kuroba Kaito's "instant teleportation" as the finale of today.

"Okay, come right away!"

"Please get two people to help me move this chair outside!"

……

After a while, when the performers of the previous show finished their performance and the curtain slowly rose, Kuroba Kaito quickly set the scene with the help of the members of the Thaumaturgy Troupe.

It is said to be setting the scene, but in fact it is just placing a 20-centimeter platform in the center of the stage, and on the platform is a silver-white chair.

When everything was arranged, Kuroba Kaito stood quietly behind the dark curtain.

On the other side of the curtain, Judy Hopper was making her final speech before the finale.

"The next performer is a talented magician I discovered in Japan."

"He can make anything ordinary become incredible, turn decay into magic..."

"His magic is full of mystery and magic, which makes countless audiences intoxicated, so it is called 'Gorgeous Miracle' in Japan..."

Hearing Judy Hopper outside praising him, Kuroba Kaito felt a little embarrassed for a moment.

Although he does have a talent for magic and often uses it, it is more due to his own naughty and attention-seeking personality.

In terms of performance, he knows he still has some shortcomings.

His father, Kuroba Toichi, is a truly versatile and talented magician.

Although Kuroba Toichi also experienced the training in the dreamland since childhood, he gradually strengthened his performance skills and eventually became a world-famous magician.

However, this is exactly what Kuroba Kaito lacks, that is, perseverance.

Dad...

The figure of that man appeared in Kuroba Kaito's mind, and a knowing smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Ever since Kuroba Toichi was "resurrected", Kuroba Kaito felt like he had almost forgotten his other identity - Kaito Kid.

This is normal. After all, the purpose of playing this thief was to find the enemy who killed his father.

Come to think of it, when I first heard about the deeds of "Kaito Kid" from Aoko, I actually felt a little hostile.

Maybe I'm not suited to be a Phantom Thief...

When Kuroba Kaito thought back to the past, he couldn't help but feel sentimental about the future.

Now that my father has been found and the feud with the zoo organization is about to be settled, it seems that I should consider getting my life back on track.

After all, we can't always make Aoko and Uncle Nakamori angry, right?
The corners of Kuroba Kaito's mouth rose slightly, and he had already made up his mind to "retire" after this matter was completely over.

Of course, he will not give up magic, and will become a real magician like Kuroba Toichi in the future.

If that's the case, today's performance should be the magic debut of the future great magician - Kuroba Kaito?
Even though it was my debut, I definitely couldn't lose to that guy...

Kuroba Kaito's expression became serious, and the image of the world's number one illusionist, Günter von Goldberg II, appeared in his mind.

Although his true identity is a killer of the Zoo organization, his skills as an illusionist are definitely world-class.

That person's performance has started now, right?
I wonder how he is acting now?

……

London City Hall, first floor.

While the Hober Knights are performing, the world's number one illusionist will also be performing here.

Moreover, this performance was a temporary public performance, no tickets are required, and it is completely free.

This resulted in a large number of people coming to watch the performance, more than 300 people.

If the security guard at the door had not allowed all the people in for safety reasons, the enthusiastic audience would have filled the entire first-floor lobby, including the spiral corridor.

However, when everyone was crowded in various seats in the hall waiting for the performance time to arrive, they did not find the stage for the performance.

The entire hall was arranged as usual. Not to mention a stage and a big screen, there wasn't even a platform prepared.

"What's going on? There's not even a stage here. How can we perform?"

"Have we been tricked by that illusionist?"

"It's not time for the show to start yet, is it? Now that we're here, let's wait and see..."

The crowd was somewhat restless, with voices of dissatisfaction and questioning rising one after another.

Suddenly, a grand background music sounded in the hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

"Awaited……"

The sound came from directly above the lobby on the first floor.

Everyone looked up and saw a blond man in a black suit floating below the ceiling.

"Wow!"

"It's the world's number one illusionist, Günter!"

When the man appeared, the crowd reached a climax instantly.

At the same time, a red halo shone on the ceiling, forming a huge spider web pattern.

Enjoying the cheers from the audience below, the man named "Günter" revealed a confident smile on his face and slowly opened his arms.

"Welcome to the world of spiders!"

As Günter finished his words, the spider web pattern on his body quickly transformed into a stimulating white light like a flash bomb, flashing throughout the hall.

In the dazzling halo, all the audience subconsciously raised their hands to cover their eyes.

But the speed of light is much faster than the speed of hands. When their vision gradually returned to normal, the residual light spots in their vision gradually faded, and they found that nothing around them had changed.

The hall is still the same hall.

But when someone looked up at the ceiling, they found a huge spider web woven from the ceiling to the pillars leading to the ground.

This spider web is not the previous spider web pattern created by red laser, but a real spider web!

On the spider web, huge red-eyed spiders were slowly crawling from the ceiling towards the crowd along the gray-white spider silk.

"what--!"

Suddenly, someone couldn't stand the shock and let out the first scream.

However, this scream was like opening Pandora's box.

People in the crowd screamed one after another, and then turned and ran away in fear.

Soon, the fear of spiders spread among the people like a terrible plague.

But when these people ran to the gate of the city hall, they found that a terrible spider web was already across the gate, and there were also several huge spiders crawling towards the crowd.

The two huge round eyes flashed scarlet light, and the six bristly legs moved flexibly.

When the crowd looked into the eyes surrounded by hair, their blood was soaked with fear.

"what--!"

"Run!"

"Go back, go back quickly!"

Suddenly, screams rang out in the hall.

The crowd rushed towards the stairs leading upstairs like lambs being driven.

……

Meanwhile, people on the top floor had no idea what was happening downstairs.

As Judy Hopper's introduction ended, the red curtain behind her slowly opened.

Kaito Kuroba, dressed in a black suit, stood next to a chair and bowed respectfully to the audience in front of the stage.

"Dear viewers!"

"Today I will present you an incredible magic show..."

"On this stage, I will demonstrate the miracle of teleportation!"

"Please pay close attention to my movements and prepare to witness a magical magic!"

After he finished speaking, Kuroba Kaito stepped onto the platform behind him without hesitation.

There is a chair on the platform.

Kuroba Kaito sat down on the chair, and the assistants on both sides came over, took up a silver plastic sheet from behind the chair, and covered Kuroba Kaito with it.

There were two holes on both sides of the silver plastic sheet, with two hands exposed through the holes.

Plus, since there's an outline of a head on the top of the plastic sheet, it's easy to tell that Kuroba Kaito is still inside.

Even those two hands were waving playfully at the audience.

This scene made many viewers laugh.

However, when the two assistants peeled off the silver plastic sheet again to the beat of fierce drums, Kuroba Kaito who was originally on the seat disappeared instantly.

The lights on the stage also became brighter.

The next second, the lights went out, and Kuroba Kaito was seen sitting on the spotlight at the edge of the stage, crossing his legs leisurely.

The magic trick was over before many viewers even realized what had happened.

Kuroba Kaito, who was sitting upright in his chair in the previous second, appeared 5 meters away in the next second.

"Wow!"

The whole audience let out a sound of surprise, and everyone widened their eyes in disbelief.

After most people recovered from the shock, applause gradually broke out.

clap clap clap...

The applause seemed to last for a long time before it stopped.

Kuroba Kaito walked to the center of the stage and said leisurely, "I think there are still many people here who haven't figured out what happened. Maybe they were blinking just now and didn't see the moment I moved."

"Of course, there are definitely more viewers who want to know the secret of 'teleportation'..."

"According to the magician's three rules of Thaxton, the same magic trick should not be performed twice to the same group of people, and the secret of the magic trick should never be revealed."

"But today, I will make an exception and perform another teleportation for my friends in London..."

"This time, I will wear a more conspicuous white jumpsuit so that you can see the mystery clearly."

"Please don't blink!"

Kuroba Kaito took a white jumpsuit handed to him by the assistant next to him, put it on, then repeated the previous process and sat on the chair on the platform.

The two assistants from before once again covered Kuroba Kaito with the silver plastic sheet, leaving only the outline of a towering head and two holes showing his hands.

When two assistants lifted the plastic sheet, a white figure jumped down from behind a chair and tiptoed to the spotlight on the right side of the stage.

At this moment, the audience thought that the white figure was Kuroba Kaito and burst into laughter.

But at this moment, the white figure suddenly stopped, turned around and pointed to the other side of the stage.

At this time, the strong light of the spotlight went out again, and Kuroba Kaito appeared next to the spotlight again.

But unlike the last time, this time Kuroba Kaito appeared next to the spotlight on the other side.

Seeing this scene, the audience suddenly realized what was going on and stood up and applauded.

For a moment, applause and whistles rang out one after another.

Kuroba Kaito stood in the center of the stage and bowed in thanks along with his two other assistants and the white "stand-in".

In fact, the principle of this magic trick is very simple. It is to use the magic chair to hide people and hide the assistant actor Boll in it in advance.

When Kuroba Kaito was sitting on a chair with a plastic sheet covering his body, he could sneak around from under the chair to the back and hide himself by taking advantage of the two assistants adjusting the plastic sheet.

And Boll, who was hiding in the chair, would stretch out his two hands and put on the semicircular headgear above the chair to pretend that Kuroba Kaito was still sitting on the chair.

Afterwards, when the two assistants were about to uncover the plastic sheet, Kuroba Kaito used his black clothes and black curtain to go behind the spotlight.

At this time, the lighting engineer will increase the power of the spotlight so that Kuroba Kaito behind the spotlight is in a backlit position, so he can sit safely on the spotlight without being discovered.

When the spotlight is dimmed again, the person will suddenly appear, creating the illusion of instant movement.

As for the second performance, Kuroba Kaito referred to the tricks he used when he was Kaito Kid and fought wits with the police, and deliberately exposed a flaw to the audience.

Boll, who was already wearing a white jumpsuit, jumped down from his chair in full view of everyone and turned to the right to attract the audience's attention.

He himself moved in the opposite direction of Boll, just like the first time, and then appeared next to the spotlight in the same way.

As for the white jumpsuit, for Kuroba Kaito, one of the most mastered skills as a Phantom Thief is “changing clothes in one second”.

However, just as Kuroba Kaito on the stage was enjoying the applause from the audience, a rumbling sound suddenly came from outside the door of the performance hall.

People near the door were the first to hear it, and the rumbling sound felt like it was shaking the floor.

Just as these people were staring at the door with puzzled eyes, the door was suddenly pushed open.

The crowd rushed in like crazy.

I wish you all a happy Dragon Boat Festival!