Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 426 Serial Bombings!
Just now, Zongfang was sitting leisurely on a bench in Beihua Park.

Looking at Kotomi and the other three children, playing with remote-controlled airplanes in the open space...

Hmm, that boy who seems to have the most ideas, the one with glasses, isn't here—Munekata thought to himself.

But just then, the "boy with glasses" came speeding by on his skateboard, leaving a trail of sparks and lightning!

Just as Munakata was frowning deeply, about to ask if his skateboard was illegally modified...

"Mitsuhiko! Get the plane airborne!" Conan shouted urgently.

"Huh? What?" Mitsuhiko was taken aback.

The next moment, Mitsuhiko discovered that the remote control wasn't working properly...

"Huh? What's going on..." Mitsuhiko fiddled with the remote control in confusion.

But then the plane went out of control and hurtled towards the children...

Upon seeing this, Conan quickly ran over and launched the plane high into the air with a powerful volley.

Just as Munakata was about to come over and ask him if he was bullying someone...

Boom!

A tiny toy airplane exploded!

Although the damage was minimal because it occurred in the air, the impact still kicked up a cloud of dust, and the loud noise caused panic among the people in the park, who screamed and scattered in all directions...

……

"What? An explosion at Beika Park? Okay, immediately organize police to cordon off the area... evacuate the scene! I'm coming right now!" Shiraishi said immediately after receiving Munakata's call.

Shiraishi quickly arrived at the scene, by which time the ill-fated Beika Park had been emptied once again.

The Mikasa Police Station's mobile unit, armed with bomb disposal shields and detectors, has entered the area to conduct bomb disposal—searching for any other unexploded bombs.

Shiraishi found Munakata, who was with the children...

Zongfang's face was serious at this moment. After seeing the director, he forced a smile at the children and said, "Everyone, stay here with Aunt Teng for now..."

rattan:……

Fujii wanted to remind the section chief that calling her "older sister" would be enough.

However, Munakata had already gone to find Shiraishi.

"Director."

"Is it... targeting Kotomi?" Shiraishi's face was also full of strangeness at this moment—could it be that the person who targeted the Sakuraba couple back then is now making a move against Kotomi?

"It shouldn't be." Zong Fang shook his head at this moment.

Shiraishi was somewhat surprised to hear this. Given how nervous Munakata usually was about Kotomi, even if it wasn't true, he should have thought of that.

“If it were him, he wouldn’t have used a plastic bomb to kill Kotomi, nor would he have needed to steal from the gunpowder depot. Instead… he would have used a much less conspicuous method,” Munakata explained.

Munakata didn't say anything more about the Sakuraba couple.

However, Shiraishi realized at this moment that Munakata's suspected person was likely "related to the police force"!
Otherwise, they wouldn't have said "there's no need to steal from the gunpowder depot," it's very likely someone from the government...

Now is not the time to dwell on this; Shiraishi is still focused on the explosion at hand: "What exactly happened?"

Munakata told Shiraishi about Conan's sudden arrival and what happened afterward...

After hearing this, Shiraishi became even more convinced that the explosion was indeed not related to Kotomi, but rather the fault of a certain dwarf detective!

Shiraishi then waved to Conan—Munakata clearly didn't know this little brat well enough and was worried that he would be frightened, so he didn't ask him any questions.

When Conan saw Shiraishi arrive, his urge to confide in him was already growing. When he saw Shiraishi beckoning, he immediately ran over like a dog.

"Someone called Dr. Agasa, looking for Shinichi..." Conan explained the events that had just occurred in a very organized manner.

That's right, Conan did know about the bomb beforehand and rushed over, but not by much.

I received a call about the voice changer while I was at the doctor's house...

The other party on the phone claimed that he had a grudge against "Shinichi Kudo" and wanted to challenge him with a "bomb".

Even after the doctor told him that Shinichi Kudo was not there, the other party did not intend to stop the challenge.

Following the other party's clues, Conan arrived at Beika Park and finally confirmed that the bomb was on the remote-controlled airplane...

"Doctor? Shinichi Kudo is that high school detective, right?" Munakata still didn't understand the logic—why would a phone call meant for Shinichi Kudo be with some doctor?
“That’s right, it’s Professor Agasa… He’s Shinichi’s neighbor. Shinichi isn’t home right now, so he’s forwarding the phone to Professor Agasa,” Conan quickly explained.

Zong Fang frowned upon hearing this, then asked in confusion, "Transfer the call? Doesn't he... have a cell phone?"

Conan: ...

As expected of a veteran inspector, he was able to ask such insightful questions!

The reason is that Shinichi's cell phone is also in Conan's hands. If Conan were to receive calls from Shinichi every few days, Ran would find out sooner or later. So, apart from a very few people who know Shinichi's cell phone number, everyone else only knows his home phone number, which means the calls will be transferred to Professor Agasa.

"Well... it seems that Shinichi usually only uses the home phone to take detective cases because he's busy with school!"

Fortunately, Conan had already come up with a reason.

"Where is he now?" Zongfang asked immediately—since the bomber specifically called him, he was now the key to solving the case, so Zongfang naturally wanted to find Shinichi Kudo first.

"I don't know either..." Conan said, glancing furtively at Shiraishi repeatedly.

Shiraishi also spoke up at the opportune moment: "Shinichi Kudo seems to be with those people lately..."

Zong Fang was taken aback when he heard this. He followed Bai Shi's gaze and saw several plainclothes police cars driving over. Judging from the demeanor of the people who got out of the cars, Zong Fang guessed that they were police officers!
The explosion at Mihana Park drew not only officers from the Mihana Police Station, but also personnel from the First Investigation Division, the Security Department, and the Public Security Bureau.

Because of the previous theft of the "Oriental Powder Depot," they were already on edge, so when the explosion occurred in Beika Town, they rushed over immediately.

Although Zongfang felt it was shameful that the police would hire a high school detective, he didn't ask any further questions out of a sense of confidentiality.

"What? Shinichi Kudo's enemy?" Kazami frowned upon hearing the situation and instinctively turned to look into the car.

Although the other people couldn't see what was going on inside the police car because of the blackout glass, Bai Shi did see it—the "cleaner" he had dealt with twice before was sitting inside!
Just then, Conan's cell phone rang...

"Um... this... Shinichi left my number with him..." Conan instinctively wanted to use his voice changer to speak to the other person as "Shinichi Kudo," but since there were people around, he could only explain why his phone was ringing.

Munakata frowned upon hearing this—wasn't Shinichi Kudo too ambitious? Entrusting him to a small child?

While Conan was answering the phone, Kazami and Munakata squatted down on either side of him to listen...

"Unfortunately, it seems Shinichi Kudo didn't take my challenge seriously, thinking he could just find a child to deal with me." The voice changer came through the phone. Upon hearing this, Conan, Kazami, and Munakata all looked around—clearly, the culprit could see what was happening here, and was probably nearby!

Meanwhile, Shiraishi had already been looking towards a tall building behind him...

On the rooftop, a man with a goatee that reached past his chest was seen looking in their direction through binoculars.

Upon noticing that Director Mika was staring at him, Goatee immediately hid to the side.

"Who exactly are you? What grudge do you have against Shinichi?" Conan asked hurriedly.

"If you can't remember, then forget it. Since he chose to let you, a little smart kid, deal with me, then so be it! The next place to explode is Beika Plaza."

The bomber was about to hang up when Conan quickly said, "Wait! I'm just a kid... I need a hint..."

"Tch... The hint is 'under the tree,' you'd better hurry, a single bomb will explode!" The other party hung up the phone after saying that.

"Mihana Plaza!" Conan immediately looked at Shiraishi.

Shiraishi glanced at the location where the bomber had been, but it was too far away, and he knew he wouldn't make it there in time. So Shiraishi looked south—towards Beika Plaza.

"Section Chief Munakata, immediately contact the patrol officers near Beika Plaza and evacuate the crowd!" Shiraishi said, and ran directly towards Beika Plaza.

Are two legs faster than four wheels?
In some cases, this is indeed the case—for example, right now, Mihana Park and Mihana Plaza are separated by the Dimujin River!

Although it was just a small river that wasn't very wide, the others at the scene still had to drive across the bridge, while Shiraishi was heading straight for the direction of Beika Plaza...

Upon reaching the embankment, he didn't slow down at all. While running, he took off his cumbersome director's uniform and rushed down the embankment, then jumped into the river!
"Mom, look! It's Chief Mika!"

"Chief Mika jumped down..."

"It must be something urgent again."

"Go, Chief Mikasa!"

……

Many people on the street also noticed this scene.

After all, the sight of a super strong man who is 2.3 meters tall and weighs more than 300 kilograms rushing down the embankment of the Wujin River is quite impactful.

Later, the people who came to the riverbank saw...

Director Mikasa leaped into the river and was about to jump into the middle of the river!
Despite its bear-like physique, it leaps with the agility of a leopard, even tucking its legs in mid-air twice after taking flight, appearing remarkably light...

puff-

However, the large splash of water proved to everyone that physics still exists.

After landing in the middle of the river, Baishi immediately spread his huge arms and started kicking his legs. Even with just one arm, he swam to the other side in just a few strokes!

……

At the Mihana Plaza, the nearby patrol officers had just arrived and started to evacuate the crowd when they saw their own chief of police rushing over, completely soaked!

At this moment, Bai Shi noticed that the people in the square seemed very reluctant and dragged their feet about the sudden evacuation...

Upon seeing this, the patrol officer quickly explained, "Chief, to avoid causing panic, Section Chief Munakata didn't let us announce the bomb incident, only saying it was a drill."

It's already 12:55...

"Okay, I understand." Shiraishi nodded—there was nothing wrong with this approach. It was Golden Week, and there were many people in the square. Announcing the bomb announcement so rashly would cause trouble even if there was nothing wrong with it.

Suddenly, Bai Shi lifted his leg, stepped onto the car window frame, and climbed onto the roof of the patrol car, while simultaneously pulling on the car's loudspeaker...

"Everyone in Beika Town, there's been a small accident. I'm confident I can guarantee everyone's safety, but please run! Parents with children, please carry your kids. Young people, please help the elderly and parents who can't carry their children," Shiraishi said directly.

Upon seeing the little giant on the roof of the car and hearing what he said, the people in the square changed their previous lazy attitude.

The crowd, which had been slowly dispersing, suddenly began to retreat rapidly...

At 12:57, the spacious Mihua Square was deserted.

"Chief, should we go in and search..." the patrol officer asked nervously.

“You’re not professionals, and there’s no one in danger right now, so just stay and watch,” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

There were only ordinary patrol officers around, and there was no need to rescue anyone. There was no need to take the risk. It was better to wait for the bomb to explode on its own than to have someone die.

However, Shiraishi's gaze still drifted towards the area under a few trees...

Under the few trees within sight, Bai Shi saw nothing, and a sense of unease rose in his heart.

Then I noticed that many people were carrying things in their hands...

Will someone pick up the bomb?
A strong sense of crisis welled up in Shiraishi's heart!
Just then, Shiro saw A-Liang helping an old lady cross the road...

The old lady was also carrying a pink cat-shaped bag.

"Honestly, people these days... just abandoning their cats like that... Luckily, they met me," the old lady casually complained to Ah Liang.

Amidst the surrounding noise, Bai Shi heard this and immediately jumped out of the car and ran over.

"Director!" Ah Liang saluted immediately upon seeing this.

However, Shiraishi couldn't pay attention to him at the moment and quickly asked the old lady, "Grandma, where did you find this cat carrier?"

"Hmm? It's under that tree over there... by the bench," the old lady said.

As Shiraishi spoke, he quickly snatched it away, saying, "Let me take a look..."

Meow--

beep - beep - beep -

There is indeed a cat, but... there's also a beeping sound inside!
Moreover, the moment he took the cat carrier, Shiraishi's hair stood on end—which is why Shiraishi was able to hear the old lady's words so accurately!
While it's true that Shiraishi has excellent hearing, part of the reason is also due to his instincts—he's more sensitive to this direction. After receiving the cat carrier, Shiraishi's sense of crisis immediately surged.

"Excuse me..." Shiraishi said, opening the cat carrier and handing the cat to the old lady: "Please take this!"

Seeing that there was indeed a bomb inside, and that the countdown was less than a minute long, Shiraishi immediately turned and ran back!

"Eh... what does Director Mika want a cat bag for?" the old lady asked, puzzled.

Finally, with only three seconds left, Shiraishi rushed back to the Tsutsumi River. On the embankment, Shiraishi threw the cat bag high into the air—the bomb exploded just as the cat bag reached the middle of the river…

(End of this chapter)