Conan's grammatical investigator

Chapter 1309 Game within a game
Kuroba Kaito was still taking his curtain call on the stage when the door to the performance hall was knocked open by someone outside.

People rushed in like crazy, with expressions of fear on their faces.

They panicked and jostled with the audience who were already watching the performance in the top floor hall.

Curses and screams soon filled the entire hall.

"How is this going?"

Kuroba Kaito looked at the scene in shock, quickly analyzing the situation in his mind.

Judging from the way these people were dressed, they looked like ordinary tourists visiting London City Hall...

Could there be a fire on the floor below?
In desperation, Kuroba Kaito jumped off the stage and came to Judy Hope who was standing there in surprise.

"Ms. Judy, it's not safe here. Please retreat to the back of the stage. I'll go check out the situation."

"But……"

Judy Hopper wanted to say something, but Paul, who followed her from behind, came to her side and advised: "Captain, there are too many people here, please follow me backstage first."

Kuroba Kaito glanced at Bol and said, "Protect your leader."

"Well, leave it to me!" Boll gave a firm look.

Kuroba Kaito rushed towards the influx of people alone.

He grabbed the collar of a man who was still running into the hall and asked loudly: "Hey! What happened outside?"

The man's face was distorted with fear, and he said tremblingly, "It's a spider... There's a huge spider down there!"

After saying that, the man broke free from Kuroba Kaito and continued to escape inside.

spider?

Kuroba Kaito frowned slightly and looked outside.

He thought of the world's number one illusionist who was performing on the first floor of City Hall at the same time today. His code name was "Spider". Could it be this guy's doing?

But how did he do it?
Illusion?
Kuroba Kaito looked around at the guests who were rushing in frantically, and when no one else came in, he glanced at the empty door.

He swallowed nervously, then walked over boldly and poked his head into the corridor.

However, the corridor was empty, not even a single person was in sight, let alone a giant spider.

At this moment, Kuroba Kaito's pupils suddenly contracted and he suddenly realized something.

not good!

Kuroba Kaito quickly dived back into the crowd.

When he returned to the backstage, he saw a shocking scene.

Boll was seen holding a pistol against Judy Hopper's temple and holding her hostage in the corner.

Surrounding them were other members of the Hober Thaumaturgy Group.

"Boer, please, let the young lady go..."

Robert, a butler loyal to the Hooper family, was being supported by someone and sitting on the ground. He was shot in the shoulder and blood was flowing out of his suit.

"Hum..."

Bol sneered and looked directly at Kuroba Kaito who was standing not far away.

"Kid, it seems that you are just like this..."

"I can't believe why Snake keeps losing to people like you."

"Huh, so he is really useless, isn't he?"

As soon as these words came out, Kuroba Kaito immediately knew his identity.

This person turned out to be an undercover agent sent by the zoo organization!

The other party was undercover in the Hopper Magic Group as an apprentice magician, and he disguised himself so well that no one could tell.

I even foolishly handed Judy Hopper to him just now!
Realizing his mistake, Kuroba Kaito could only grit his teeth and walk to the front to negotiate with Boll.

"I admit that your acting is indeed very good..."

"But you are already at a dead end. Even if you have a gun, you will never be able to get out of here..."

As Kuroba Kaito spoke, the muscles in his right arm were already stirring.

As long as the other party's attention is slightly distracted by his words, he can take out the playing card pistol at any time and shoot through the hand holding the pistol.

Faced with the obviously threatening words of Kuroba Kaito, Bol did not get angry but laughed and shook his head slightly.

"Dead end?"

"If it were you, would this situation be considered a dead end?"

"Don't look down on me, Kidd!"

Suddenly, Boll's palm moved slightly, and a round object fell out of his sleeve.

Kuroba Kaito's vision was fixed on it, and he immediately recognized that it was a flash bomb, so he subconsciously covered his eyes.

But even so, his movements were still a little slow. Before he could cover his eyes with his hands, a stimulating white light burst out in the background accompanied by a bang.

In the intense white light, everyone had to cover their eyes and stay still.

Taking advantage of this period of stiffness, Boll turned around and lifted the black cloth in the corner behind him, revealing a huge piece of transparent glass.

It turns out that the so-called corner is not a wall, but the glass curtain wall of London City Hall, which is just covered by a piece of blackout cloth.

Boll held Judy Hopper's neck with one arm and fired three shots at the glass curtain wall with the other hand.

Piu, Piu, Piu.

After three shots, the stress structure of the glass curtain wall changed. Boll kicked it again, and the entire curtain wall's glass shattered.

Hearing the sound of glass breaking, Kuroba Kaito, who had recovered his sight first, rushed over immediately.

However, Paul had already pushed Judy Hopper down. At the same time, he gave Kuroba Kaito a last mysterious smile and then jumped down.

Kuroba Kaito quickly chased to the broken glass curtain wall, only to see a white triangular hang glider soaring towards the distant sky.

That is……!
Kuroba Kaito frowned and immediately recognized that this was the paraglider used by the fake Kaito Kidd that appeared when the Hopper Magic Group was in Japan.

In fact, the fake Kaito Kid was also arranged by Snake from the Zoo Organization to lure away Inspector Nakamori.

But this also indirectly shows that the zoo organization had already developed a portable folding hang glider, and its technological level was not inferior to that of Terai Huangzhisuke's anonymous friend.

Kuroba Kaito just glanced at Paul who was escaping using a hang glider, then immediately looked away and looked at Judy Hope.

Although Judy Hopper was pushed off the building first, London City Hall is shaped like an egg placed at an angle, and there is a gentle slope on the outside leading to the upper level.

This caused Judy Hopper to roll down the slope, screaming continuously.

Kuroba Kaito leaped up and suddenly leaped in her direction.

But compared to Judy Hope who rolled sideways, Kuroba Kaito found his body balance the moment he landed, and his feet actually ran directly on the glass curtain wall.

The London municipal staff sitting in the office only saw a dark shadow running quickly outside the glass, and they all showed shocked expressions.

Kuroba Kaito ran faster and faster, and when he was two meters away from Judy Hope, he suddenly pounced forward and caught Judy Hope who was about to fall.

At the same time, he pulled out a poker pistol with his other hand and shot a grappling hook at the glass curtain wall above.

This is a modified playing card pistol, which also has a small grappling hook function. The power of the grappling hook stopped the two people from falling in time.

Kuroba Kaito used all his arm strength to pull Judy Hope onto the gentle slope, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?"

At this time, Judy Hopper's body was covered with scratches and bruises from hitting the glass curtain wall, but she shook her head stubbornly.

"It's all my fault. Bol took the Crimson Tear away..."

Kuroba Kaito glanced at Judy Hopper's suit and found that the jewel brooch on her chest was gone.

Kuroba Kaito felt depressed, but he didn't say anything immediately.

"Let's go up first..."

……

As soon as the two of them climbed back to the top floor along the gently sloping glass curtain wall, members of the Hopper Thaumaturgy immediately surrounded them and surrounded Judy Hopper in the middle.

Judy Hopper apologized to Kuroba Kaito again: "It's all my fault..."

"It was because I was too anxious to revive the Hober Thaumaturgy that I asked Robert and the others to start recruiting members again."

"If I..."

As Judy Hopper was speaking, Kuroba Kaito forced a smile and said, "No, it's not your fault..."

"I didn't expect that after that incident, they still hadn't given up on the Crimson Tears."

When talking with Bol in the morning, Kuroba Kaito learned that Bol joined the Thaumaturgy Group after the Hober Thaumaturgy Group returned from Japan.

However, at that time, Kuroba Kaito subconsciously felt that after the events in Japan, and since he was still stealing gems under the identity of Kaito Kid, there was no reason for the Zoo Organization to target the Crimson Tears again, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

Can why?
Why did they finally find out?

Just then, there was a mocking sound from the crowd outside the room.

Kuroba Kaito quickly asked what was going on.

A member who hid in the room explained: "For some reason, those people outside were talking about a 'big spider', as if they were possessed by evil spirits..."

"I've called the police, they should be here soon."

Kuroba Kaito frowned slightly and took the initiative to say, "I'll go out and take a look..."

He pushed the door open and walked out of the room, coming to the front of the performance hall, where he saw a group of people smashing things in the air like crazy mental patients.

This scene made Kuroba Kaito more certain of his previous guess that they were caught in Sipder's illusion.

Sipder used the gimmick of free performances to attract a large number of audiences, and then manipulated them with illusions...

The purpose is to seize the gem at today's performance of the Thaumatology Troupe.

Realizing this, Kuroba Kaito felt filled with regret, wondering why he had not been more vigilant at the beginning.
It's too late to say anything now. There are less than 24 hours left before the stars return, and the gems are lost...

Thinking of this, Kuroba Kaito felt very depressed.

He lowered his head, raised the poker gun casually, pointed it at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger.

A playing card flew out and hit the sprinkler head of the automatic fire extinguishing device, triggering a cone of water curtains.

When the cold liquid sprayed on the insane crowd, the effect of the illusion disappeared instantly, and everyone's eyes gradually became clear again.

……

"What did you say?"

"The Crimson Tears were stolen..."

Qin Zhibo, standing on the lawn of Murray Mountain, frowned, his eyes filled with shock.

After Kuroba Kaito on the other end of the phone explained the whole story, Qin Zhibo became even more confused.

Judging from the plan organized by the Zoo, they have never given up on the Crimson Tears, which is why they have placed their own people in the Hober Thaumaturgy before today.

But why?
Why take action today?
If they had suspected the Crimson Tears earlier, they could have taken action during the time when the Hobber Thaumaturgy returned to London.

While Qin Zhibo was thinking, his heart suddenly palpitated.

He felt a crimson light flash inexplicably, as if calling him.

Qin Zhibo stared into the distance.

"This is……"

On the other side of the phone, Kuroba Kaito and Judy Hope, who was treating her injuries, also felt the same light in their minds.

"This……"

"Did you feel it too?" Qin Zhibo asked.

"Hmm..." Kuroba Kaito hummed, "It seems to be the Crimson Tears?"

"should be."

Qin Zhibo's eyes were a little dazed, and then his face was shocked, as if he had thought of something.

"I know why the zoo organization chose to take action today..."

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm afraid all of us, including your father, Kuroba Toichi, have been deceived by Nefren Ka's prophecy..."

"Cheated?"

Kuroba Kaito was puzzled, still not understanding what the problem was.

Qin Zhibo walked out of the court while explaining, "The Black Feathered Bandit said that one of the prophecies left by Nevren Ka was that when the stars return to their positions, he would be resurrected with the help of the gem on the top of his crown and a reincarnated body."

"And this gem must be kept in the spotlight of the world at all times, otherwise its location will be announced to all believers."

"But the true content of the prophecy may not be like this..."

"This gem should be able to be hidden like an ordinary object, but when the stars return to their proper positions, it will involuntarily emit a kind of power that will attract those who know this prophecy."

"That is to say, no matter how you hide the gem, once the scheduled time comes, the gem's location will be revealed to everyone."

"The purpose of the Beast Brotherhood stealing gems for more than a decade is to make the contents of the false prophecy come true and make the Magic Eye Organization believe that as long as the gems are handled carefully, their existence will never be discovered."

"And what the Brotherhood has to do is to use lightning speed to snatch the real gem when the prophecy comes to the last moment..."

After listening to Qin Zhibo's analysis, Kuroba Kaito suddenly realized.

He kept wondering if he had made any mistakes somewhere, but he didn't expect that this was a trap set by the other party from the very beginning.

This scheme even fooled Kuroba Toichi and James Hopper, the former leader of the Hopper Thaumaturgy.

No wonder they chose to take action today.

Because there are less than 24 hours left until the stars return to their positions...

There is such a short time left, even if the location of the gem is made public to everyone, the people from the zoo will take the initiative.

hateful!

After hanging up the phone, Kuroba Kaito clenched his fists and cursed angrily in his heart.

On the other side, Qin Zhibo was thinking.

He was wondering whether the Black Organization was also involved in the actions of the Beast Brotherhood?