Ke Xue: The thief Cao is actually myself

Chapter 700: Fighting another chuunibyou with a chuunibyou! (Seeking monthly votes!)
Upon hearing this, the gentle woman's wariness softened somewhat. She gently tugged at the middle-aged man's sleeve and softly advised, "Honey, I think this child is quite pitiful. Maybe he really isn't a thief; perhaps he just likes this car and couldn't help but glance at it a few more times..."

"Yes, Dad, I don't think he seems like a bad person. Maybe I misunderstood him just now."

The little boy seemed to realize that he had been a bit rash, and he lowered his head in embarrassment.

The middle-aged man's expression softened slightly after hearing his wife and son's words, but a hint of wariness remained in his eyes. He straightened up, looked Conan up and down, and slowly said, "Alright, kid, I was rude just now, don't take it to heart. But don't just lie on other people's cars like that, it can easily cause misunderstandings."

Conan quickly nodded, saying gratefully, "Thank you, Uncle and Auntie. I know I was wrong."

"Looks like this isn't the right place either!"

After the family left, Conan breathed a sigh of relief, secretly glad that he had escaped being arrested by the police. Then, he turned his gaze back to the parking space of that car, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, and slowly shook his head.

Now he understands that the masked man's affair seems to have nothing to do with the car or the family.

After all, who would bring their whole family along when engaging in shady transactions, especially when the trading partner is a ruthless group like the Black Organization?

Of course, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that the so-called family members are just a cover for the middle-aged man. However, Conan observed carefully that the interaction between the middle-aged man, the gentle woman, and the little boy was natural and intimate, and did not seem to be a pretense.

In other words, they are indeed a family, and it is not a disguise with ulterior motives.

But in doing so, he's likely gone to the wrong place again.

"Damn it, where is the clue?"

Conan was extremely anxious and couldn't help but mutter curses under his breath.

With less than half an hour left until the transaction time of 13 p.m., every minute and second was precious. Yet, he still hadn't figured out the transaction location, let alone find the masked man and his trading partners.

This situation made him extremely anxious.

Conan paced slowly around parking space number 30, carefully scanning the area around the space, trying to uncover more clues.

"Ta Tata..."

Just as Conan was engrossed in searching for clues, a series of steady and deep footsteps suddenly came from near the parking lot.

Conan subconsciously looked up and saw a very tall and muscular man appear in his field of vision.

The man was wearing an olive green suit, sunglasses, and a mask. He also had a hat pulled down very low, almost completely obscuring half of his face, making it difficult to see his features.

"Wow, it's huge!"

Conan's mouth dropped open, his eyes wide with amazement.

Having lived for so many years, this was the first time he had ever seen such a tall and imposing person. Even Vodka, whom he had only met once before, seemed to pale in comparison to this man.

However, when Conan realized that the other party's target seemed to be his parking space, number 30, his pupils suddenly contracted. He didn't have time to sigh anymore and quickly and quietly hid behind a car next to him.

Under his gaze, the tall man cautiously looked around. After confirming that there was nothing unusual, he stood quietly next to parking space number 30, seemingly waiting for something, or perhaps carefully observing something.

Conan frowned slightly, wondering to himself, "What is he looking at?"

"Wait...it seems like he's paying attention to the parking lot number?"

Could he be the person the masked man and his group were trading with?
Hmm, thinking about it carefully, this person's mysterious attire is indeed quite suspicious. Even if he is not the masked man's trading partner, he is probably engaged in shady dealings.

Just as Conan was pondering, the tall man seemed to have received some kind of message, or perhaps he had gotten the answer he wanted. He stopped lingering there and turned to walk away into the distance...

Conan gazed intently at the tall man's departing figure, his heart filled with doubt.

He had just checked carefully and there was nothing special about parking space number 30. Why did that tall man leave after looking at it for a while?

Was it because he couldn't find the person or thing he was looking for, so he decided to look elsewhere, or did he not observe carefully enough and miss some key clues?
With these questions in mind, Conan approached parking space number 30 again and began to observe it more closely.

"Next to the number 30, there was a tiny 1!"

Suddenly, he noticed a tiny, inconspicuous "1" next to the "30" in parking space number 30. He had seen this number before, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

But after witnessing the tall man's strange behavior, he keenly realized that this number might be closely related to a transaction by the Black Organization.

"That's right, 301! That should be the room number in this hotel!"

"That big guy from earlier is definitely the person we're dealing with! There's no mistake!"

With that thought in mind, Conan no longer hesitated and decisively chased after the tall man in the direction he had gone...

"Dong dong dong..."

Conan chased the tall man up the stairs and arrived at a room. The moment the door was slowly opened, Conan's pupils contracted sharply.

Because the person who opened the door was a black-clad man wearing a strangely smiling mask, the same masked man he had seen before.

"It's that masked man!"

"This is indeed their trading location!"

A surge of joy welled up in Conan's heart; he knew that he had finally found the right place this time.

However, Conan was well aware that the situation was extremely unfavorable for him. The enemy outnumbered him, and he was alone; he had to act with utmost caution. Otherwise, a single misstep could not only prevent him from stopping this heinous transaction and bringing the masked man and his accomplices to justice, but could also plunge him back into utter ruin. After the tall man and the masked man met up, they quickly lowered their voices and began whispering to each other.

Unfortunately, Conan was too far away from them, and he could only catch some indistinct syllables of their conversation, unable to hear it clearly at all.

"Click..."

Conan frowned slightly, just as he was about to try to get closer to eavesdrop on their conversation, when a sudden, strange noise interrupted his attempt to get closer and listen.

Conan quickly turned around and saw a slightly overweight woman walking steadily toward the elevator entrance not far away, chatting animatedly with a young man wearing sunglasses.

The woman was wearing a bright red coat, and her round face was framed by a pair of exquisite glasses. She looked very wealthy, and her every move seemed to exude an inexplicable aura.

"It's that woman, and that man in sunglasses!"

Upon noticing their arrival, Conan instantly realized the situation was dire. His face turned deathly pale, and he thought to himself, "Oh no... I'm surrounded!"

"If we get caught this time, they'll definitely kill us!"

"Especially that masked man!"

The masked man is ruthless and will point a gun at his own accomplices at the slightest provocation, let alone him, who is an "eyesore" who knows the organization's secrets.

If I were to fall into their hands, I knew without a doubt that my fate would be unimaginably miserable.

Moreover, given the masked man's cruel and ruthless nature, he would never easily let go of anyone connected to him.

For example, there's Kogoro Mouri, the detective who seems a bit ditzy but is actually kind-hearted; and Ran, the kind, brave girl who cares deeply for me...

The thought that they might meet with misfortune because of him made Conan's heart clench as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand, causing him unbearable pain.

At this moment, Conan was filled with regret. He regretted that he shouldn't have been so stubborn and headstrong. He regretted that after finally escaping from that dangerous little house, he didn't contact Byakuya and Professor Agasa for help in time. Instead, he blindly insisted on dealing with the masked man and other troublesome issues on his own, which led him into this dilemma.

Unfortunately, what's done is done, and no amount of regret can change anything now!

Conan was extremely anxious, his brain working at full speed, frantically searching for a solution: "What should I do? What should I do? What is the best course of action?"

"Listen up, Masao, this door will lock automatically!"

Just as Conan was lamenting his predicament and panicking, the door to the room next to him suddenly creaked open. A woman carrying clothes in one hand walked out hurriedly, and at the same time, she bent down and told a little boy at her feet, "Just close the door!"

Then, still feeling uneasy, she added, "Then... I'll leave the room in your care!"

The little boy named Masao nodded vigorously with an obedient expression and said in a clear voice, "Mom, be careful on the road!"

As he spoke, he gently closed the door as his mother had instructed.

However, the moment the door closed, before he could even catch his breath, the little boy's face instantly turned terrified.

He was shocked to discover that there was another person in the room besides himself.

A boy he had never seen before.

The boy was wearing a blue suit, a white shirt, gray shorts, a bright red bow tie, black-rimmed glasses, and a stylish baseball cap. Who else could it be but Conan?

Just as Edogawa Fumiyo and the man in sunglasses were about to have a close encounter with Conan, Conan had a sudden inspiration. Taking advantage of the little boy and his mother's distraction and their lack of awareness of his actions, he slipped silently into their room like a nimble kitten, thus narrowly escaping a disaster.

"Ah...you're a thief!"

However, Conan's uninvited appearance, while averting his own danger, terrified the little boy, who instinctively screamed loudly.

Conan inwardly cursed, worried that the little boy's loud shouts would attract the attention of Edogawa Fumiyo and the others who hadn't gone far, which would be disastrous. So, he quickly rushed forward, gently and swiftly covering the little boy's mouth, and whispered, "Shh... I'm not a bad person!"

Conan's mind raced, and he quickly made up an excuse, saying, "I'm Conan, the space detective who traveled to this planet to hunt down a supervillain from Planet Lambo!"

"You're lying..." The little boy rolled his eyes, pointed his finger at Conan without any politeness, and his face was full of undisguised distrust. "You're just a kid like me!"

What kind of cosmic detective? Such absurd nonsense might be believed by innocent and ignorant three- or four-year-old children, but he is not so easily fooled!
After all, he's no longer a three-year-old child; he's long past the age of believing such bizarre stories.

Conan scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, trying to continue explaining, "I disguised myself as a child to avoid being detected by the enemy and to prevent them from discovering my true identity!"

The little boy gave a dismissive snort, his tone full of disdain: "Then show me how you turn back to normal!"

A space detective? Disguised as a child to evade enemies?
Ha, in his eyes, this little brat in front of him was clearly just an ordinary child like himself, and he would not be fooled by the other party's full of loopholes in his excuses!

Conan chuckled awkwardly, a troubled expression on his face: "This..."

Returning to his original self and resuming his identity as high school detective Shinichi Kudo is something he has been longing for day and night!
But the harsh reality is that he simply can't do it right now!

If this time, he can use his wisdom and courage to successfully eliminate the masked man and obtain detailed information about the mysterious "capsule" that shrunk his body, he might be able to develop an antidote with the help of Dr. Agasa's unparalleled wisdom and superb scientific technology, thus successfully restoring his original identity.

Unfortunately, his own safety was precarious at the moment, and he was constantly in danger of being captured by the masked man and his gang, let alone successfully capturing them and obtaining the crucial antidote from them.

Seeing his stammering and embarrassed expression, the little boy became even more convinced of his previous guess and shouted, "Sure enough, you are a thief!"

Having said that, he turned around without hesitation and ran frantically towards the location of the telephone in the room, determined to call the police and arrest Conan, this uninvited thief...

(End of this chapter)