Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 554 The Fallen Magician
Saturday, April 7.

Osaka, Suzuki Museum of Modern Art.

The phrase "from the crab at dusk to the lion at dawn" likely refers to the period from Cancer to Leo, which begins tonight and continues until dawn tomorrow...

"The 'sky pavilion' mentioned later, which is described as 'descending from the bright sky pavilion and receiving the egg of memory,' should logically represent Osaka Castle, right? But Osaka Castle doesn't have a light show, so why would it 'glow'?" Hattori pondered.

At this time, everyone was still studying Kaito Kid's advance notice...

Shiraishi has never been interested in these "riddler projects." If it were a proper "code-breaking" project, that would be fine, but these "riddler projects" are nothing more than flirting between a phantom thief and a detective, which Shiraishi simply cannot appreciate.

Not to mention…

The Egg of Memories has been switched by Shiraishi!
Because the switch was carried out with the cooperation of Shiro Suzuki, even the police were unaware of it...

The real "Egg of Memory" is currently in Shiraishi's back pocket—the reason it doesn't look bulging is, of course, due to magic!
Just like Koizumi can hide such a long staff in her skirt and take it out at any time, this is spatial magic.

In this way, even if the opponent is a successor of "dark magic," Shiraishi is not worried that she can use supernatural means to steal the [Egg of Memories] from him without him noticing.

Conan and his friends worked feverishly on their research, finally determining that Kid would be setting off from Osaka Castle to steal the "Egg of Memories," and that the time would be tonight, though the exact time was still under debate...

This is tentatively interpreted as 3 AM!
Of course, the police must also be careful and prepared at other times as well.

As for Bai Shi...

Although I don't know what time it is, I know it's definitely not 3 o'clock—because this interpretation came from Kogoro!

Of course, Shiraishi didn't care about a few points.

Previously, I hadn't even been interested in asking Kidd himself...

The genuine item is with him, while the counterfeit item has been hidden by the police. According to Inspector Nakamori, only he and his two subordinates know its location, and all three have repeatedly confirmed that it has not been impersonated.

In this way, one can naturally rest easy—this was Nakamori's idea.

Shiraishi thought it was unreliable, but did not comment.

It's fake anyway...

When Kid is about to steal counterfeit goods to distract Scrooge, Shiraishi neither assists nor obstructs him, leaving it all to the "detectives + police officers" to play a game of cat and mouse with Kid.

This way, people won't find out that Shiraishi and Kid are connected...

"Officer Shiraishi, aren't you being a bit lazy?" Hattori said, pouting at Shiraishi.

He had secretly been trying to outdo Shiraishi...

But Bai Shi remained silent at this moment.

"Oh, no, no, it's just that I'm not good at this kind of flirting... cough cough, I meant the code." Shiraishi waved his hand and said.

Seeing that Shiraishi wasn't participating at all, Hattori said helplessly, "I think I'll go check out Osaka Castle first." Then, Hattori waved his hand and said, "Kudo, let's go!"

Conan: ...

"Kudo?" Ran suddenly looked over, seemingly noticing something.

"I... I mean... a tough battle! It's going to be a tough battle from here on out! Hahaha..." Hattori chuckled dryly.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you... Last night when I was falling asleep, I kept saying 'Kudo, Kudo'... I thought Kudo would come today too." Kazuha looked at Hattori speechlessly.

Xiaolan: ...

Xiao Lan became increasingly suspicious at this point.

Fortunately, Conan had a flash of inspiration...

"Ah! So Heiji-nii and Kazuha-neechan live together!" Conan said, trying to sound cute.

Sure enough, everyone's attention immediately shifted from Hattori's "slip of the tongue".

"Kid! Don't talk nonsense..." Hattori wanted to scold him, but seeing Conan's speechless look, he realized that he had almost let something slip, so he wasn't so confident anymore.

"W-What do you mean, living together? I just went to the Hattori family's house as a guest last night..." Kazuha quickly explained, then changed the subject, saying, "Let's go!"

"Huh? You're going too?" Hattori asked, puzzled.

"Huh? Didn't you say 'Let's go'?" Kazuha looked at Hattori with annoyance.

"Uh...yes, I said it," Hattori said awkwardly.

The person he wanted to go with was, of course, "Shinichi Kudo," but since he had already let slip "Shinichi Kudo," it wasn't appropriate to say now that he wanted to go with "Conan."

"Heiji-nii, I want to go too!" Conan volunteered.

"Well... okay." Hattori feigned a reluctant agreement.

Shiraishi then spoke up, "Then let the two detectives, one big and one small, go. Let's go get something to eat first."

At the same time, she stopped Kazuha from going with him, lest Conan and Heiji have difficulty communicating with her.

"Shiraishi, then I'll trouble you... You young people should come together. Detective Mori, how about we go for a drink?" Shiro knew that the young people probably wouldn't want him to entertain them; they just wanted to have a drink with Mori, since it was still early.

So Shiraishi took Ayako, Sonoko, Ran, and Kazuha to find a place to eat—the car had exactly five people.

Shiraishi simply found a unique family restaurant with a garden, and the four girls' conversation quickly shifted to "the吐槽侦探" (a term used to describe someone who makes sarcastic or critical remarks).

Just as Shiraishi was about to finish eating and was ready to call it a day...

click-

The restaurant suddenly lost power.

Shiraishi quickly turned on the flashlight on his phone.

"Don't panic, everyone. It's probably just that the circuit breaker is old..."

"Huh? The circuit breaker is fine. Sorry everyone, it seems like we're not the only ones experiencing a power outage."

"Sorry, everyone who wants to pay now will get a 50% discount, and any dishes that haven't been served yet will be free... We might get a call back in a little while."

……

Earthquakes are frequent in the eastern island nation, and Osaka is one of the areas most frequently hit. On average, there are 20 to 30 earthquakes that can be felt every year. Businesses and residents are used to sudden power outages and other such incidents, so there is no panic.

However, there was no earthquake this time; it seems to have been just a simple power outage.

Shiraishi looked at his phone, which shone brightly in the darkness—7:20.

"Hmm?" Shiraishi suddenly heard the sound of fireworks coming from afar, so he got up and went outside to take a look.

turn out……

"Boss, is that the direction of Osaka Castle? Did they say there would be a fireworks show today?" Shiraishi asked, pointing in the direction of the fireworks.

"It is Osaka Castle, but... a fireworks show? I haven't heard of it..." The shopkeeper shook his head.

Bai Shi's heart stirred, and he vaguely guessed what was going on.

Power was restored to the restaurant approximately five minutes later.

However, Ran, Sonoko, and Kazuha were a little nervous at this moment.

"Osaka Castle? Could it be Kid's doing?"

"Officer Shiraishi, shall we go back first?"

"That's right! Otherwise, we wouldn't have seen Lord Kid!"

Ran, Kazuha: ... "Sonoko..." Ayako smiled as she looked at Sonoko.

Upon seeing this, Sonoko quickly covered her mouth.

Shiraishi then paid the bill and left, leading everyone back to the museum.

At the door, Shiraishi saw Detective Mouri and Uncle Shiro coming out, so he went up to them and asked, "Uncle Shiro, has Kid arrived?"

“He didn’t come…but the Egg of Memories isn’t here either. As for Inspector Nakamori and the others, we can’t get in touch with them right now.” Shiro said, his voice a mix of nervousness and composure.

Just then, Shiro's phone rang...

Upon seeing that it was Nakamori, Shiro breathed a sigh of relief and answered, "Hello, this is Suzuki... Hmm? Oh, it's alright... I'm glad you're all okay..."

After hanging up the phone, Shiro said frankly, "Sure enough, it must have been the power outage that allowed Kid to find their location. Inspector Nakamori lost the [Egg of Memories]."

Shiraishi was not nervous at this moment, but...

Originally, Shiraishi wanted to observe the reactions of those "suspicious individuals" when they heard the news, but none of them were here now!
"Where are Miss Pu Si and Mr. Qian?" Shiraishi asked curiously.

They were still in the museum before Shiraishi left.

Shiro understood why Shiraishi had placed Pu Si at the beginning, and he also understood what Shiraishi wanted to ask.

"Everyone's busy with their own things and isn't at the art museum," Shiro said regretfully.

Upon hearing this, Bai Shi guessed that the real "Shi Kaobing" among them might have already made his move.

This speculation was quickly confirmed—Conan brought back Kid's broken lens, and... a fake [Egg of Memories].

"What's going on?" Shiro was shocked when he saw these things.

"After Kid got the [Egg of Memories], he was sniped while trying to escape," Conan said.

He witnessed it...

After determining the location of the theft, Conan and Hattori immediately gave chase and happened to see Kid spreading his wings and leaving after committing the crime. So they continued to chase after him on their motorcycle and skateboard.

however……

On the way, Conan and Hattori heard what sounded like a gunshot, and then Kid suddenly fell into the sea!
Because the sound of the gunshot was very close to Conan and Hattori, the two split up—Hattori went to search the vicinity of the sound, while Conan continued to chase after Kid.

In the end, Hattori didn't find the sniper, and Conan didn't catch up with Kid either, but...

Conan found Kid's broken lens and a box that had fallen nearby.

Fortunately, the box provided good cushioning, so the counterfeit goods inside were unharmed.

Shiraishi quickly put on gloves to examine the lenses—mainly the lenses!

I breathed a sigh of relief after confirming there was no blood on it.

"A sniper? Someone who can snipe a target using a hang glider in the right eye from the ground?" Shiraishi's face darkened.

Bai Shi had previously researched some information about Shi Kaobing—it couldn't be found online, but he naturally had his own way of doing things.

Indeed, "Scholes," as a legendary assassin, was most skilled at sniping, and...

He also has a habit of specifically aiming at other people's right eyes!
……

Just then, Pu Siqinglan, Qian Jiangyi, Han Chuanlong, and Ya Luo returned.

The four of them seemed quite concerned about the [Egg of Memories]...

Seeing this, Shiraishi walked up to them and scrutinized them—even the most robust Yaro looked like a child in front of Shiraishi.

Of course, what Shiraishi was actually smelling was the remnant of the flames on their bodies...

However, the result was... flawless, it seems the murderer did not make such a basic mistake.

"What? Kidd stole it?"

"And because he was shot, he fell down?"

"Is the [Egg of Memories] alright?"

The four made no secret of their concern for the "Egg of Memories"... and their disregard for "Kid".

"It's alright, this box should be explosion-proof," Conan said, handing the box to Shiro Suzuki.

The four of them seemed relieved to hear that everything was alright.

“But…eyes…Lord Kid wouldn’t have already…” Sonoko said, looking distressed.

“No, that guy won’t die that easily,” Shiraishi said confidently.

When Shiraishi saw Kid's glasses, he was also startled—how could he not be dead?

However, Ayari immediately reminded Shiraishi—there was an aura of "magic" about that broken monocle…

Given that there wasn't a trace of blood on it, Shiraishi guessed that Kid's "magic" exploded at the critical moment, allowing him to "dodge" at the last second.

“Huh? This [Egg of Memories] seems a bit off…” Qian Jiangyi suddenly said.

"Oh no! Is it damaged?" Yaro exclaimed in surprise.

"No...it seems like it's been switched! President Suzuki..." Urashi hurriedly looked at Suzuki Shiro.

"This..." Shiro hesitated, wondering whether he should tell them.

Bai Shi then said, "Don't worry, that's a replica. I'm keeping the real one safe."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—after all, they were worried that the [Egg of Memory] might be damaged after falling from the sky, and they were relieved to hear that the real one was not lost at all.

"As expected of Inspector Shiraishi, even Kidd got tricked," Chaki remarked.

"I'm sorry I didn't inform everyone beforehand," Shiraishi said politely.

Chaki simply shook his head and said, "It's good that you changed it..."

Chamu was also very worried after hearing that something had been lost again.

At this moment, Secretary Nishino returned, followed by a young woman and an elderly man—the old man seemed to be the young woman's housekeeper.

"President, this Ms. Natsumi Kosaka says she wants to talk to you about the [Egg of Memories]," Nishino said quietly as he approached President Suzuki.

It took Natsumi Kosaka a lot of pleading and cajoling before Nishino finally came to inform Chairman Suzuki.

"Hmm? Is that so... Okay, please come in." Although Shiro was puzzled by the other party's purpose, he did not refuse.

Shiraishi glanced at Kosaka Natsumi a couple more times...

Another "Xia Mei".

However, unlike the lively Natsumi from before, the Natsumi in front of us appears very quiet and reserved.

Because of Kaito's earlier reminder, Shiraishi roughly knew Kosaka Natsumi's identity.

However, Kaito wasn't very clear about it at the time, and Shiraishi soon learned that Natsumi Kosaka was not only a descendant of the creator Kiichi Kosaka, but also...

According to Natsumi Kosaka, the third daughter of the last Tsar fled to the Eastern Island before the Tsar's family was purged, and married her great-grandfather, Kiichi Kosaka. This is why the latter half of the Tsar's Egg project was completed by an engineer from the Eastern Island.

Natsumi Kosaka wasn't just making things up; she also brought a drawing left by her great-grandmother...

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Dongdong: Today is October 4th. 2002 years ago today, the Green Forest peasant uprising army of the Eastern Han Dynasty stormed Chang'an. Requesting monthly votes! Requesting monthly votes! Requesting monthly votes!
(End of this chapter)