Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 945: Driving the tiger and swallowing the wolf
"So, this is why the detective named Bai Ba is connected to the death of my uncle and aunt..."

Miyano Akemi lowered her head and couldn't help but ponder absentmindedly.

Hakuba Tantei is one of the most capable among this group of young high school detectives. According to Karasawa's evaluation system, the top one is undoubtedly Kudo Shinichi (Noah thinks this is biased, but Karasawa insists), followed by Hakuba Tantei and Hattori Heiji. As for Hakuba Tantei himself, compared to a pure armchair detective or a lone ranger, he is an elite who pays more attention to integrating resources and can even build his own database, in investigations against large organizations, the role he plays is even greater than the first two.

In other words, he is an investigative genius with outstanding abilities. It may not be a coincidence that the white horse detective who was tracking down the zoo had an intersection with the Tangze couple at some point.

"The zoo is also involved in their affairs?" Zhu Fu Jingguang frowned instinctively.

The troubles of one organization are already big enough, but if you add an unknown international thieves or assassin organization that may also have special abilities, the pressure will be doubled.

"I guess it's because of the alloy." Asai Narimi, who was flipping through the information, put down the file in his hand and recalled the events he had heard before. "If I remember correctly, the brooch that Miss Shiho gave to Karasawa was not collected by the organization later. They were the 'meteorite alloy with special radiation' that the Karasawa couple bought at an auction in the early days in order to treat their son..."

"Well, this explanation makes more sense." Zhu Fu Jingguang nodded slowly. "The zoo doesn't know what happened to the Tang Ze family. Ever since cognitive science showed its true power, the Tang Ze couple has been under house arrest by the organization. From their perspective, this couple of scientists bought the X-alloy, published some academic monographs on cognitive science, and then quickly disappeared from the world..."

Tang Ze, who was leaning against the wall listening to their discussion, shook his head after hearing his summary.

"No, the connection between everything may be deeper than that."

Others may not know, but Tang Ze is extremely sensitive to the timelines of both sides.

He is now in the first year of Conan, where the plot has already begun. 8 years ago, it was the time when the famous magician Toichi Kuroba "died" in a stage accident. It was also the time when Karasawa himself suddenly recovered from his high-functioning autism, which led to the organization's attention paid to the research of the Karasawa couple. The two of them began to be intentionally controlled and imprisoned by the organization.

Thinking of this, Tang Ze's eyes flickered slightly.

"Give me a little more time. I'll find out what Scoobbin knows."

At almost the same time, a similar conversation was taking place in the cabin on the other side of the corridor.

"Currently, the most popular guess about Scobin's identity is that she is Russian or of Slavic descent. Scobin's obsession with the Romanov dynasty has reached a very pathological level. After all, most bandits are more interested in economic value and make a living by looting. But the treasures that have passed through Scobin's hands almost never flow into the black market. This is another reason why there is still no clue to Scobin's identity."

After analyzing it this way, Hattori Heiji clenched the ballpoint pen in his hand and drew a heavy circle on the paper.

"She is active all over the world, always following in the footsteps of Baowu. It is not surprising that such a character can speak multiple languages ​​to disguise her identity. On the contrary, because she is in Japan, her appearance is too prominent, so she has to fabricate a Chinese background identity. As she said herself, China is a multi-ethnic country. There are indeed few ethnic minorities, but they do exist..."

As he was speaking, he noticed that the eyes of the people around him were turning to him. He couldn't help but feel a vein bulging on his forehead and clenched the pen in his hand.

"Why are you looking at me? I just have Ryukyu blood in my family..."

"Ahem." Conan retracted his somewhat rude gaze, "Anyway, I understand what you mean. Just like... well, just like Mr. Amuro Toru downstairs, when he said he was Japanese, it would arouse some suspicion, but a small number of samples do exist."

"...Anyway," Hattori Heiji rolled his eyes, ignoring Hakuba's attempt to laugh, "Be careful with her. She followed us this time, maybe to make it easier to take action along the way, but Ms. Kosaka suddenly provided another clue, which allowed her to see the possibility of obtaining two Easter eggs at once, so she is still holding back."

"Before discussing this, Tang Ze's situation might be a bit dangerous right now." Bai Ma twirled the pen in his hand and suddenly said, "Before arriving at the castle in Yokosuka, there's actually no need to worry about the safety of the Egg of Memory, but now that Tang Ze has discovered her secret, that may not be the case."

Conan and Hattori Heiji exchanged glances and jumped up at the same time.

I almost forgot how many accidents the keywords "Tangze + cruise travel" might have caused. When Tangze arrived on the ship, it was as if his physique that made him easy to be targeted had been epically enhanced. He never missed his target.

Before the cruise ship docks, please pay more attention to Tangze's safety.

After the two reckless detectives ran out, the white horse detective picked up the scattered documents on the table, walked to the window of the cabin, looked at the sea view outside the window in the dusk, and slowly exhaled.

The two of them would be overly nervous because they don't know enough about Tang Ze's situation, but Bai Ba Tan certainly wouldn't.

What we really need to worry about, and should worry about, is whether Scobin, the vicious thief who has been rampant internationally for many years, will be killed by some guys in the dark because he has the intention to kill Tang Ze without authorization.

If I remember correctly, Akechi Goro's room is right next to Urase Qinglan's...

Pu Siqinglan, who locked the door tightly, was more nervous than they had imagined at this moment. The surging murderous intent almost flowed out of her gray eyes and swallowed up the night outside the window.

She stood by the window, holding onto the windowsill outside, staring at the seabirds circling around the boat with an inquiring gaze.

Having been a shooter for many years, she was very confident in her eyesight and could certainly tell what those birds were.

In addition to the circling seagulls, she clearly noticed a few scattered birds far away from the flock of seagulls.

She guessed that they were probably white doves, like the ones that Kaito Kidd often used in his escape magic.

Compared to other thieves who are proficient in violence and firearms, Kaito Kid is like a real magician. He can use vision to set traps, use fancy magic tricks to cover up his tracks, and complete the trick of escaping.

It was perfectly natural for such a magician to use his pigeons to gather intelligence and monitor ships.

Therefore, if she wanted to find an opportunity to see Tang Ze alone, she didn't need to get entangled with those high school students. She only needed to...

She wiped the barrel of the gun in her hand, changed into light clothes, curled the corners of her mouth, and slowly aimed at the birds flying in the sky.

"Hey, hey..." Kuroba Kaito, who was watching this scene through the monitor, could no longer sit still and stood up all of a sudden. "It's okay to play with my pigeons, but you can't let them get hurt, otherwise I..."

"Don't worry." Xingchuan Hui slapped him back, "Tang Ze knows his limits."

"I--"

Just before Pu Si Qinglan pulled the trigger and shot down one of them in an attempt to lure out Kaito Kidd, a figure climbed up to the highest deck and stretched out his hand towards the sky.

The white dove that was targeted by Pu Siqinglan and was about to die suddenly seemed to break free from its restraints and fell towards the man's raised hand.

After missing the first shot, Pu Siqinglan quickly caught sight of the figure holding the railing with almost half of his body sticking out through the scope. He then switched to a sniper and carefully aimed in that direction.

The white dove landed on the other person's finger, leaned over and pecked the man's nose intimately. The light from the guest room below illuminated the lower half of his face.

It was undoubtedly Tang Ze.

Pu Siqinglan sneered, fastened the rope around her waist, and jumped out of the window lightly.

Using the force of the force, she jumped to a more convenient position. She determined the wind direction and speed through the flag on top of the boat and quickly adjusted a suitable sniping point. Looking at the young man in the crosshairs who was still playing with the pigeons and had no idea what was happening, the corners of her mouth curled up.

"Go to hell, you little thief who loves to pry into other people's secrets..."

He aimed at the opponent's right eye again. At the moment of pulling the trigger, Pu Siqinglan suddenly recalled what happened the day before, and the feeling of swelling and pain in the eye seemed to come again.

Her fingertips couldn't help but tremble again as she recalled the severe pain, but in the end, she still pulled the trigger again in despair.

A bright silver flash passed before his eyes. Conan, who was running towards the top deck of the ship, turned his head sharply. When he realized what it might be, his face changed immediately.

"Tangze, be careful--" He took two steps to the top of the boat and instinctively issued a warning. He caught the trace of the incoming bullet and felt the crazy secretion of adrenaline. He once again quickened his pace to sprint towards Tangze.

If it was Scobin... No, at least he could have diverted his sight and avoided fatal damage...

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Tang Ze, who had his back to them, paused for two seconds, as if he just realized who was behind him. He turned his head blankly and revealed his face.

Of course, the face was intact. Not to mention being hit, there was not even a scratch, as if the bullet just observed was an illusion.

Conan, who thought he would witness the moment he was hit, was stunned, stopped suddenly and almost tripped himself.

"What's wrong?" Teasing the white dove perched on his finger, Tang Ze looked at the two people who were running and sweating, and showed just the right amount of confused expression.

While the two detectives were stunned, a small "plop" sound came from the side of the boat, as if something fell into the water. The sound was naturally drowned out by the strong sea breeze and disappeared quietly into the darkness.

When Conan remembered to hold on to the railing and look outside, he could only see the lights on and the closed windows in the guest rooms below.

"Strange..." Conan muttered to himself.

Pu Siqinglan, who had pulled the window shut, covered her right eye tightly, not caring about the sniper rifle that had fallen into the sea. She suppressed the scream that she wanted to scream out instinctively because of the severe pain, curled up under the windowsill, and took rapid, deep breaths.

Her head was buzzing, and it took her three or four seconds to finally free herself from the pain and begin to recall everything that had just happened.

She was definitely not mistaken. The moment the bullet hit the other person, that person turned around and gave a provocative sneer in the direction of her sniper scope, as if declaring war.

Pu Siqinglan loosened her right hand tremblingly, and felt her right eye go dark. A drop of blood flowed down her eye socket and hit her sweaty palm, which was so dazzling that it seemed like a warning.

After waiting for another two minutes and confirming that Pu Siqinglan would not open the tightly closed window again, Xingchuan Hui, who was standing at the window, put away his stern expression and slowly lowered the gun he was aiming at.

"Hey, you look a little scary like this." Kuroba Kaito, who rarely disguised himself, sat in the back and watched the whole process of his expression changing. He supported his face and commented, "If she really wants to take action..."

He has dealt with these guys in the Phantom Thieves many times, and he knows that almost all the members of the Phantom Thieves, except Tang Ze, have some problems with their identities and can no longer return to the sun.

Past social relationships have been completely abandoned, and even past life has gradually become a forgotten past as revenge and struggle have taken place.

They have outstanding abilities and strong execution, and even each of them has transformed into a more determined and stable state because they have seen through their past obsessions. Such guys are indeed the best choice to become vigilantes, but their dangerousness is also self-evident.

If we have to evaluate Kuroba Kaito, Hoshikawa Teru is the best among them, in terms of dangerousness.

He paid some attention to the content of the group chats and knew that this guy who looked introverted, even a little lifeless sometimes, and seemed to always have too much energy, did not have a character and state that was mostly caused by his abnormal growth environment. Eighteen years of being away from the right path and living on the evil path with no return made it difficult for him to adapt to normal society.

The Phantom Thieves are all he has now.

In other words, if Tang Ze goes crazy one day and becomes antisocial, the others will still hesitate and think for a while - of course, a large part of them will probably follow Tang Ze to the end - Xingchuan Teru will just chase after them with a gun and ask Tang Ze where to start killing?
"Then send her down." Hoshikawa Teru unfastened the safety of his pistol, calmly sat back in his seat, and gave an answer that did not surprise Kuroba Kaito.

"...How cruel." Kuroba Kaito shrank back exaggeratedly, making a move to protect himself, "Kangze might have really done a good thing by bringing you guys together."

If Tang Ze really didn't care, it would be really fun to let this group of people out... In response, Xingchuan Hui just gave a confused look.

"She really didn't cause any harm, and even reaped the fruits of her own labor. She could only bite off her teeth and swallow her blood, but that was because she was targeting Karasawa." Hoshikawa Teru pointed at Kuroba Kaito, then pointed at his own right eye, "If it wasn't Karasawa, anyone else would have died twice."

Not to mention, Scobin is a ruthless murderer, and his logic is completely different from that of ordinary criminals who grew up in a peaceful society.

Her disguise did have many loopholes, and the disguised image made it easy for people to let down their guard, but that was mainly because she had already prepared to kill anyone who discovered her if she was exposed, so she didn't have to worry too much.

If Tang Ze hadn't been suppressing her here, it would have been easy for her to rely on her weak disguise to slaughter these fat sheep who were eagerly searching for treasure and unaware of the danger one by one.

"...What you said is true." Kuroba Kaito thought about it and really couldn't refute it, so he could only shrug his shoulders, "But I still think that there are some things that you really don't have to do yourself. It's not bad to let her accept the punishment of the law and pay the price for her past evil deeds."

"With Japan's efficiency in executing the death penalty?" Hoshikawa Teru curled his lips, "Then we shouldn't be part of the Phantom Thieves Group. We should get involved in politics as soon as possible. Maybe when we become the Minister of Law, she will still be alive and well, waiting for the review of the death penalty."

"At least we can return the money to the victim's family, right?" Kuroba Kaito thought about it and came up with another reason.

"It's not like she hasn't done something like exterminating a whole family before." Xingchuan Hui lowered his head, still not interested in his proposal, "Who should we return it to? It will still end up in a museum in the end."

There were more likely outcomes, but he felt there was no need to elaborate, so he didn't say much.

That is, Scobin relied on the huge wealth in his hands to constantly fight with the police, using the treasures he had collected through grinding his teeth and sucking blood as bargaining chips, negotiating bit by bit until he had a chance to escape...

But don't forget, there is another organization behind her.

"From what you said, you must kill her?" Kuroba Kaito shrank back again.

Xingchuan Hui packed the disassembled pistol parts back into the suitcase one by one without answering his question.

He really thought so and was indeed prepared to do so, but Tang Ze wouldn't let him.

"Kill her? That's such a waste." Facing Kuroba Kaito's question, Tang Ze handed the pigeon he was stroking back to him, "As the saying goes, garbage is a resource that is placed in the wrong place. She looks like garbage now. Of course, part of the reason is that she really is garbage, and the other part is that she has indeed found the wrong position for herself."

Kuroba Kaito felt that he would hear an even more unpleasant answer, so he defensively took a half step back before asking: "So what are you going to do with her?"

"What should we do with her? Hand her over to the organization." Tang Ze looked back at him as if he was a fool. "Please, we are indeed standing on the opposite side of the organization now, and you are also standing on the opposite side of the zoo, but the two families don't know who we are, so it is impossible for them to regard us as their number one target or a serious threat. On this issue, the two of them are competing with each other. Wouldn't it be better to hand her over to the organization and let them fight?"

For Tang Ze, the organization is undoubtedly the target that needs to be eliminated the most, and for Kuroba Kaito, the zoo is almost the same, both are absolutely on the opposite side.

However, the organization didn’t know that Tang Ze was still alive, and the zoo didn’t notice that Kaito Kidd had been replaced, so how could they know what kind of opponent they were facing now.

Then in the eyes of both parties, the other side is the competitor who is competing with them for resources.

Whether it was the X-alloy controlled by the organization or the quasi-mask users in the zoo who were likely to have some special abilities, they would become a predatory relationship that would not end until one of them died.

Why not do something that can drive a tiger to devour a wolf and reap the benefits?
Kuroba Kaito looked at the smile on Tang Ze's face and silently wrapped his pigeon in his clothes.

It’s better to listen less to people with bad intentions. It seems like you’ll be infected if you listen to them too much.

----

Amidst some people's confusion and some people's fear, the night passed peacefully.

"It's an incredible feeling." Conan, who was about to walk down the gangway with his bag on his back, looked at Tang Ze who was leading the way and couldn't help muttering softly, "We actually made it to Tokyo safely..."

"What's so incredible?" Hattori Heiji squinted at his friend next to him, "Do you still hope that something will happen to Tang Ze?"

"That's not what I meant, it's just... forget it." Conan adjusted the backpack on his back and seemed to want to say something, but finally swallowed it.

Although it may seem a bit inappropriate to say this, as if I am cursing Tang Ze, but seeing Tang Ze really finish his trip safely and return home, it still feels unimaginable.

Thinking back to the terrifying gunshot line that cut through the night sky last night, he still felt sweat in his palms and had an unexpected sense of disbelief.

The two were about to follow the crowd getting off the boat when they suddenly heard Suzuki Sonoko's powerful voice.

"Ms. Pu Siqinglan, good morning... Hey, your eyes..."

Several detectives whose attention was attracted by the key words turned their heads, and their eyes like searchlights swept towards Pu Siqinglan.

Pu Siqinglan, who once again put on an eye patch on her right eye, clutched the suitcase beside her and glanced at Suzuki Sonoko: "Nothing, conjunctivitis has come back again, it's just more serious this time."

Suzuki Sonoko looked carefully at the part of her body exposed outside the eye mask, and had no choice but to nod for a moment.

There is no other reason, it’s just that Pu Siqinglan’s current appearance is too convincing.

The area covered by her eye patch was already quite large, almost covering the entire area of ​​the eye sockets under her eyebrows, but one could still see a stretch of redness and swelling on the side of her nose. One could almost imagine how horribly swollen her eyes would be when she wasn't wearing the eye patch.

Just yesterday, the detectives who were about to sentence Pu Siqinglan on the spot looked at each other in bewilderment.

Well, if people didn't know that she was Scobin, some people would probably believe that she was Kaito Kid and had just escaped from Scobin's gun.

"Don't worry about my eyes." Pu Siqinglan put on the veil again and raised her head with a strong stubbornness. "Let's go to the castle first."

The most urgent task now is to seize the opportunity to get the Egg of Memory.

As for Kaito Kidd...

His true identity has been discovered, so the situation now is that everyone is back on the same starting line. The outcome is still unknown, so we can take our time to plan.

"Mr. Suzuki is arranging a vehicle." Secretary Nishino, who was following behind Suzuki Sonoko, pushed his glasses and answered at the right time, "I'm sorry, after all, the Egg of Memory is still the property of the Suzuki family. We have to send it to the shore to complete the damage assessment. You can go to the castle in Yokosuka to visit and look for clues about the other egg. If you need to use the Egg of Memory, Mr. Suzuki will bring it to the castle to visit Miss Kosaka in a few days."

This statement actually meant that the Suzuki family, considering the relationship between her grandfather and the Egg of Memories, had considered giving in and handing the egg over to Kosaka Natsumi.

Suzuki Sonoko, who understood everything, clapped her hands happily and said, "That's good too. If you really need to exhibit it, you can borrow it from Miss Kosaka later."

"Well, we can also organize a special exhibition as a gimmick, right? Miss Suzuki is becoming more and more like a qualified heir to the Suzuki family." Bai Ba Tan chuckled twice.

"Don't think so badly of people. I just think this is also a good story." Suzuki Sonoko snorted and turned her head.

After determining their respective directions, the group quickly split into two groups.

The detectives who had locked onto Scobin certainly couldn't let her follow the other unsuspecting people, so they naturally chose the team that went to the castle.

"The castle is being cleaned and cleared. I'm sorry, neither I nor my grandmother have lived there in many years. Please wait a moment." Natsumi Kosaka watched absentmindedly as Masato Nishino and others packed the box containing the Egg of Memories and put it into the car, and smiled apologetically at Kogoro Mori and others.

"Such a famous fairy-tale castle has been vacant all this time? What a pity." Mao Lilan held her face and let out a sigh.

"It's because it's so famous that it's run more as a tourist attraction." The butler following behind Kosaka Natsumi immediately stepped forward to explain, "It's not that we neglected to take care of it, it's mainly because the castle was built a long time ago and life is not very convenient. The old lady lived in the castle for a long time when she was young, but after the master and the lady passed away, she and the young lady have been living in the city."

"Well, the castle is built on a mountain, and it's not very convenient to get in and out, and life is not modern enough. It might be because of my parents' car accident that my grandmother felt it was necessary to live in the city. At least it would be much more convenient to travel and seek medical treatment." Kosaka Natsumi also explained.

"I always feel that the castle looks a little familiar." Looking at the photo on the table, Maori Kogoro stroked his mustache and posed in a thoughtful pose, "Where have you seen it before? In what movie?"

"It was indeed loaned to the crew, but Detective Maori thought it looked familiar, probably because it was built by Master Kiichi in imitation of Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle." The butler continued to explain, "It is the prototype of the Disney castle, also known as Cinderella Castle."

"Oh! So that's it! But a Japanese and a Russian went back to Japan and built a German castle..."

Tang Ze coughed and managed to suppress the urge to tell a hellish joke.

How should I put it? Although it’s understandable to me, there is a bit of humor in this matter.

Natsumi Kosaka's great-grandmother is the owner of the ring that Ryu Samukawa took out on the boat yesterday, and she is also the third daughter of Nicholas II. The reason why Kiichi Kosaka chose to spend a huge amount of money to build such a castle was mainly because his wife's mother was German and she was more or less influenced by some culture. In addition, Kiichi Kosaka probably deliberately concealed his wife's background and almost deliberately avoided any elements related to Russia, which led to the creation of such a stitching.

However, the emergence of a new Neuschwanstein Castle in Japan is still humorous.

"It's probably because Master Xiyi was close to the royal family back then." The butler smiled nonchalantly, "There are still a lot of photos and information about him in the castle, as well as photos of him with some Russian nobles at the time."

Sitting at a table outside, Pu Siqinglan pretended to be uninterested in the topic here, narrowed her eyes, turned her head and glanced at the crowd here who were in a lively atmosphere.

Her gaze especially swept across Kosaka Natsumi's face, and when she retracted her gaze, there was a hint of mockery on her face.

As a descendant of Rasputin, she had a deep understanding of Nicholas II's family. It was their extreme admiration for Rasputin when he was alive that led to Rasputin's later power, and finally he became the target of public criticism and was strangled by the nobles and the people.

This is why, when she saw the egg of memory, her desire to possess it was almost as strong as her desire to destroy it.

They were also the madmen who led to the destruction of Tsarist Russia. Nicholas II and his family were just mediocre people who were deceived and bewitched by evil monks because of their ignorance. However, her ancestor was to become the culprit of the so-called demise of the country, and all the absurdities of the last Tsarist dynasty were blamed on him...

Look at that dazzling Easter egg, look at the exquisite statue made of pure gold, and then look at the craftsmen who only took away some of the royal family's wealth and were able to build a Neuschwanstein Castle in Japan. Who is the real sinner? Is there any need to say it?

While she was showing a sarcastic expression, the topic over there also turned to related issues, such as the castle.

"…Rasputin had a special court title and could freely enter and leave the Tsar's inner palace. Queen Alexandra was a devout believer in mysticism. Ever since he cured the crown prince's hemophilia, she had respected him highly. Even though he had a bad reputation, she insisted that 'the saint was always slandered, and they hated him because we loved him'…" Bai Matan spread out his hands, "so that when the contradictions developed to the most acute level, the nobles who protected the dynasty decided to execute him before the revolutionaries killed the Tsar's family, trying to save the situation that was on the verge of collapse."

"Hmm..." After listening for a long time, Maori Kogoro curled his lips and commented, "The royal family obsessed with pleasure, the arbitrary charlatans, plus the declining national strength, it doesn't sound like a good thing."

Pu Siqinglan rolled her eyes and swept across the faces of Hakuba Tan and Maori Kogoro with a cold gaze.

However, before she could take the next step, Tang Ze, who was sitting between them, accurately caught her gaze and looked over as well.

Pu Siqinglan felt a sharp pain in her right eye again and covered her eyes again.

(End of this chapter)