The journey begins with Conan

Chapter 209 Caesar!!
【Footsteps are coming! 】

George pressed himself against the wall, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

——Caesar is right. People in black robes are always the most sensitive to phone calls, even those who have had close contact with Caesar.

When a nervous brain starts to think of strange things unconsciously.

The heat wave filled with the smell of gunpowder made George's forehead covered with sweat. He held the cold shell of the phone tightly in his palm to prevent himself from shaking violently.

The ground at the corner was covered with increasingly bright golden light.

The air seemed to be filled with the pheromones of some wild beast, making him feel as if he was standing in front of a lion.

【Damn! 】

【What the hell is this?! 】

George panted, venting his emotions in silent roars.

If it weren't for the spiritual support of being a police officer, he would have collapsed to the ground by now.

Can……

What's next?
Caesar has obviously lost his ability to fight. Can he, alone, be a match for this monster?

George was unsure.

He forced himself not to think of overly negative answers.

that……

What if you take out your phone at intervals and use the complex terrain of the sewer as a walking tactic?
He glanced sideways.

A thousand meters ahead, there was a bright fire - Kim was holding a machine gun, blocking the octopuses rushing towards this side.

George dismissed the idea.

This is a standard 7-shaped terrain. His current location is a nearly two-kilometer-long straight passage with no other turns along the way. The pipes embedded in the walls are obviously not a place for humans to walk.

If he tried to take a walk, he would definitely run into those disgusting octopuses.

and so……

Has it failed?

George closed his eyes reluctantly.

They underestimated the black robe's ability. Or rather, they had made all the preparations they could at this stage, but there was only a gap in pure hard power.

So much so that now, they might all die here!

But there is nothing to regret.

Any adult should have the right to make his or her own decisions and the determination to bear all the consequences.

George opened his eyes.

The footsteps are getting closer!

The galloping body created a strong wind that blew around the corner.

After a short yet long interval, a dark shadow spread across the floor, reminding him of Ti West's "House of Evil", which was released this year.

…Actually, he quite likes watching horror movies.

George laughed for no apparent reason.

He shook his head, put aside all negative emotions, and prepared to make a final desperate struggle!
……

coming!

Leng Yan's knife is faster than you can imagine!

George took a step back and pulled the trigger. The noisy bullets made the stone wall full of pits and holes, making it look like something he had seen before...

Sudden.

He was distracted again.

When I was a university student in London, the face corroded by concentrated sulfuric acid in the accident prevention and handling class seemed to grow on the stone at the end of my vision.

All kinds of strange and bizarre details kept flying out from the layers of memory, falling into every thought uncontrollably.

blue sky...

White clouds...

Birds...

Beach...

A man in beach shorts...

The child squatting down to pick up shells...

……

The phone was held in the hand and hovered in the air.

The blood instantly covered George's face!
Everything in his pupils seemed to slow down, allowing him to clearly see the strange bending of his limbs as the blade cut through his arm.

But he felt no pain, and even had the mind to think about other things——

[Is this... a revolving lantern? ]

George had a very strange expression on his face.

He always thought that this was just an exaggerated expression in animations or movies, but he didn't expect that he would actually see a similar scene before he died.

George threw away the machine gun in his hand, which had been empty.

Perhaps it was the crazy secretion of adrenaline, he had never felt so good before!

Thoughts, actions, determination... everything is at its best! Even my most youthful and strong self is no match for me!

then.

George ran into the tip of the knife.

He was so decisive this time that even the black robe couldn't avoid it in advance!

The cold metal knife rubbed against the flesh!

He used a strange God's perspective to control himself and get closer to the other party.

Then he used his only remaining hand to touch the round metal body of the waist bag behind him.

……

——George.

——What’s wrong, Dad?

——It’s getting dark.

——Yes...but I still didn’t find the big shell in the story.

——Don’t be impatient, good things always require us to be more patient.

——Will we come tomorrow?

- I'm sorry, baby... but there's always another day. Remember what I said? Be patient.

--oh.

——Do you want to go home?
——Of course! Mom is still waiting, and we agreed to go back together.

##
The man in black rushed around the corner.

Only half of the black robe remained in the same passage.

Caesar held onto the wall and used the friction to pull himself up from the ground.

He staggered over to the machine gun, half-knelt on the ground to change the magazine.

The surging blood spurted onto the ground where he could clearly see it, flowing as thickly as lotion.

Caesar couldn't help but yell, "George! Throw the phone out!"

As he spoke, he reached for the remaining cell phone on his body, trying to bring the black robe back.

But suddenly...

Click~
It was as if something had fallen to the ground.

Caesar was stunned for a moment.

because……

He recognized what that sound was!
——That’s the crisp sound of the fire stick bouncing on the floor!
“GEORGE!!!!”

Caesar's eyes widened with anger!

……

boom----! ! !
Maybe one second, maybe ten seconds.

A brilliant fire suddenly expanded from behind the corner! Then, like a heavy rain in a storm, hot metal fragments swept across the world.

Caesar felt his shoulder socket hit by debris, and his body, which had just gotten up with great difficulty, was knocked to the ground again.

But he has no time to care about these now!
——Mills grenade!
This is the most lethal weapon they have prepared for this operation!

As for more powerful explosives, or even individual rocket launchers, they simply cannot be obtained in a short period of time.

And now.

The grenade on George exploded!
By committing suicide!
Caesar swallowed the blood that was rushing up again, staring at the corner covered with charred and fallen rocks, hoping, even praying, for some non-existent miracle to happen.

But obviously.

His wish was not fulfilled!
A man in a tattered black robe walked out from behind the corner, and his golden pupils lowered their eyes to look at the phone held in Caesar's hand.

The air suddenly stagnated.

Everything was so quiet that even the sound of Kim's gunshot seemed particularly far away.

Caesar gritted his teeth and straightened his spine. He looked at the enemy standing quietly in front of him, and spoke softly with a tone of realization and surprise.

“Sure enough… it’s you!”

He injected the painkillers and stimulants that were still intact into his blood vessels, drew on new strength to stand up, and looked expressionlessly at the still-living "enemy".

Just a hundred meters away from him.

The burning black robes emitted glowing embers under the influence of the heat wave. They blinked their eyes and surrounded the two curiously.

The black-robed man's hood was destroyed in the flames, and the black ceramic mask was cracked by the impact and scattered on the ground.

Even though the heat wave distorted the space, Caesar could still see clearly...

The other party finally revealed his face!
That was a face that Caesar was most familiar with!
His features were as handsome and cool as those of a Greek statue, and his gorgeous golden pupils were filled with burning flames. His golden hair was more dazzling than Alan's, and was draped over his shoulders in a messy manner like a lion.

——Caesar Gattuso.

The true identity of the man in black robe!

When this face, which he had not seen for only two or three days, appeared before his eyes again, Caesar could not help but feel dazed.

My mind was filled with mixed thoughts, and those questions that I didn't understand in the past suddenly had answers.

——Why can we still accurately locate the phone in our hands through the wall?

Because [Word Spirit Kamaitachi] can enhance hearing and produce an effect similar to radar, it can bring back and amplify precise sounds for the user, and use it to determine the direction of the sound source within the Word Spirit range.

- Why didn't John and Cassell react to the current situation in Brixham?

Because the investigators are still in contact with them these days. Perhaps those horrific cases closely related to dragons will be suppressed by John and Norma before they spread out.

……

Caesar suddenly laughed without any emotion.

He clenched the phone in his hand, raised it and waved it provocatively at the man in black robe.

"bring it on!"

Caesar said calmly.

He raised the knife and the gun, and his sea-blue pupils could only see icy indifference.

In the air filled with the stench of burning gunpowder, murderous intent was boiling!
……

Suddenly.

Gunshots rang out!

The phone in his hand was destroyed by the black robe, and Caesar fired bullets mercilessly!

The cold and silent underground is noisy again!
Caesar used the remaining cell phone to attract attention while frantically trying to embed the bullet into the black-robed body.

The floor gradually turns red!

After Black Robe was hit by a grenade at close range, the serious injury had reduced his physical fitness to a level worse than Caesar's today.

The metal fragments embedded in his joints and flesh, making his speed and every movement extremely stiff. Even if the kamaitachi caught the sound, it would not be able to dodge in advance.

then.

No surprise.

Flesh and blood flying!
After fierce fighting and sacrifice, the black robe was finally dragged into the quagmire by death!

Caesar looked expressionlessly at the still struggling "self", wondering whether that overly outstanding body function had been processed and strengthened in some way.

But it doesn’t matter.

After noticing the black-robed man's rigidity, he realized that forcing him to obtain information was no longer feasible.

Then, annihilation becomes the first priority!

Caesar wants to keep him here!

Even if it's your own body!
He held the phone with his bloody hand, looked at Caesar Gattuso's stiff and lifeless body, and suddenly snorted coldly.

“I never thought that I would see myself in such an ugly scene.”

Caesar looked down at himself lying on the ground with his legs broken and twisted, then reached out to take out the grenade from his waist bag.

"……Bye now."

Sniff~

The fire stick was pulled out!

The grenade fell in front of Caesar Gattuso in a parabolic shape.

boom--! !

Another roar.

The flames and metal plowed through the flesh and blood, finally turning the black robe into a bloody, motionless corpse!
——He is dead!

No! Or rather...he has never lived today.

Caesar wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth expressionlessly.

At such a close distance, he was not unscathed.

The white air wave made him fall to the ground, and the blood he had been holding back rushed out without a care in the world. His tense mind relaxed instantly, and the effects of the painkillers and stimulants also wore off.

Caesar suddenly felt very cold.

He let out a long breath, closed his already tattered coat, and fell to the ground with his head raised.

The mining lamp tied to his forehead was damaged in the battle, and the white beam of light flickered, allowing Caesar's lifeless pupils to see the gray-black "sky" above his head.

……

"Hey!"

A loud echo suddenly came from the empty underground.

Caesar turned his head and saw Kim running towards him with a gun in hand.

"All the octopuses have retreated!"

Jim's black coat was stained red with fishy blood.

He took one look at the enemy lying in the middle with his bones exposed, carefully shot him in the head, and then put the machine gun back on his back.

Milky white brain fluid flowed down Caesar Gattuso's cheek.

"...I like your caution."

The corner of Caesar's mouth twitched, and he said helplessly: "But to be honest, I am not happy to see this scene."

Kim didn't say anything. He squatted down and looked at Caesar's bloody body, his thick eyebrows subconsciously frowned.

"You're badly injured." Kim's face was serious.

Caesar coughed and took a breath of the bloody air, showing a rare sense of humor at this moment.

"Dude! You know what? No patient wants to hear words like 'You're done' from a doctor, especially when the doctor has an ugly expression on his face."

"But obviously, I'm not a doctor."

Kim shook her head.

He injected his stimulants and painkillers into Caesar's muscles, pushing the liquid into his blood vessels.

A new strength was squeezed out of my tired body.

Caesar struggled to sit up and pointed to where the black robe fell: "Can you help me search it? He may have something on him."

Kim helped him to lean against the wall and walked over to search the black-robed body.

"How's George?"

Caesar asked suddenly.

Kim looked back at him and said, "You should know better than me."

"Yeah yeah……"

Caesar shrugged: "It's just that I still hold unrealistic fantasies."

After a while.

Kim stood up from the ground and shook her bloody hands.

"I didn't find anything special... maybe he hid it inside his body? Do you want me to take a look?"

Caesar was silent.

He refused with some difficulty: "No! Let's wait until we get back to find the dissection tools."

Kim nodded.

He returned to the manhole and brought down the things hidden nearby. He first put the black-robed body in a handbag, then took out clean clothes and changed into them.

Caesar couldn't stand the torture, so he took out his robe and covered himself.

Kim carefully lifted Caesar up, and the two of them limped through the bloody and flesh-covered passage.

A familiar charred head was thrown against the wall...

……

After piecing together George's mutilated body, they finally pushed open the manhole cover and returned to the warm surface.

It's almost dark.

Perhaps because he had not yet adapted to the world, Caesar felt that the sunset was extremely red, just like bad blood.

"That's right, Kim."

Caesar suddenly called out to the other person: "Do you have a cell phone with you? Help me make a call."

(End of this chapter)