Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"Why does everything look blue to me?"

As the smoke cleared, Conan was able to see the main situation in the stairwell by the light from his watch flashlight. The man lying on the ground was foaming at the mouth, and not far from him was Higashino lying on his side.

Seemingly having some adverse reaction to the smoke bomb thrown by Higashino, Conan now felt his eyes were throbbing with pain, blinking incessantly, and his hand hovering in the air in front of him as he slowly moved closer to Higashino.

"My stomach, that bastard seems to have elbowed me with an axe handle."

Higashino let out a weak groan: "Why... it felt like I exploded when the axe handle hit my stomach."

"Uh, it's probably just an illusion caused by too much force."

Conan can't very well say that he asked Professor Agasa to make a version without fireworks because the explosive fireworks soccer ball he made was so useful.

Feeling a little guilty, the elementary school detective patted Dongye on the shoulder and ran back to the attacker. He picked up the axe the attacker had used and examined it, confirming that it was the same fire axe that had been in the fire extinguisher box downstairs. His heart skipped a beat.

The two of them hadn't been upstairs long, meaning this person might have been following them the whole time, only preparing to strike when they noticed the inside of the steel door.

"It can't be those guys who kidnapped you in your dreams."

Higashino caught his breath, pointed Conan's wrist at the attacker, grabbed the veil covering the attacker and yanked it off forcefully, then exclaimed in surprise, "How could it be him?!"

"Who is he?"

The person lying on the ground was someone Conan had never seen before, and he didn't recall this man ever appearing in the banquet hall during the luncheon.

"He and Segawa Masashi belong to the economic department, but Akimura is at the same level. Because he is mainly responsible for things like national welfare, he often appears in the morning news."

Higashino glared at Conan with some disdain: "You don't even watch the news, yet you want to be a detective and a reasoner." "Who wants to be a reasoner!" Conan retorted stubbornly, but unexpectedly Higashino pointed at his suit and made fun of him.

“You’re dressed like you’re from an old anime from thirty years ago. You’re a die-hard fan no matter how you look at it. And you say you don’t want to do mystery, but it’s not shameful…” Higashino curled his lip: “Don’t you realize that the people on the street who are smiling at you are mostly people in their thirties and forties? They grew up watching this anime.”

"Who...who is a die-hard fan of that trashy anime?! They're just watching for the spectacle!"

Conan, with his sharp eyes, noticed that Akimura snorted. So he stomped his foot, and his shoe, which flashed with red lightning, kicked the person on the ground again, knocking him unconscious once more.

"But if this person is in charge of national welfare and the economy, why would he attack us?"

"When I saw the two children from Shinichi Kudo's family here, I instinctively felt that the old man had discovered something. The guy who attacked us probably found out that I had seen the message he left for his companion and changed it. I think he, and the people behind him, are probably those so-called pro-American surrender factions."

"You changed his mark?! When? Why didn't you tell me?" Conan asked incredulously as he approached Higashino and grabbed his shoulder.

"It was on the floor below that I noticed this guy had written a few English letters on the fire hydrant pipes, so I added a few more letters. Although the Northerners hate the South, they wouldn't be so disheartened as to treat two kids like us, so this guy is definitely not a police officer!"

Higashino rubbed his eyes, looking at Conan's green suit, and felt his eyelids itch again.

"The most urgent thing is to find an empty room, strip this guy naked, and see what else he has on him."

"Hmm, shall we go down?"

Someone might see them, and who knows, maybe their companion is on the next floor right now. If they go down the stairs, they might run into each other and end up in a deadly situation.

They exchanged a glance, then Higashino and Conan nodded in unison. Conan kicked open the locked steel gate with a soccer ball, and the two of them grabbed the attacker's trouser leg and pulled him inside. (End of Chapter)