Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 324, Chapter 318: Not That Many Butts
A childhood without being beaten is incomplete.

For an entire afternoon, the naive and inexperienced Kaito Kuroba, lacking parental guidance, found his life complete with the final piece of his puzzle by Ryoma Hayashi and Shiratori, ensuring his childhood was without any regrets.

This beating didn't mean that Ryoma and Shiratori were making a fuss; it just meant that Kaito Kuroba's ability to cause trouble was beyond their expectations.

Can you believe they almost watched a terrorist be born?
To be fair, a typical terrorist might only dare to kidnap hostages or hijack a school bus.

Those who are slightly more advanced can occupy an embassy.

The most elite terrorists crash planes into buildings—Kaito Kuroba's act of blowing up a substation could directly elevate him to the throne of a top-tier terrorist.

The top level is truly the highest level, an achievement that Kaito Kuroba could never reach in his lifetime, but the first-class level is only the starting point for Kaito Kuroba.

The inexperienced high school students obviously did not realize the extent of the damage that a sudden, widespread power outage could cause to a city.

Life, property, safety. The reason the police exercised restraint towards Phantom Thief Kid is because Phantom Thief Kid never kills.

But if he blows up the substation in Osaka, then all of it can be recovered at once.

It's unknown how many people will die because of his actions, or how many will be injured by them.

The economic losses are too numerous to count.

In short, if Kaito Kuroba really does that, Shiratori won't need to investigate any more zoos.

His achievement in capturing the heinous terrorist Kidd alone was enough for him to succeed Matsumoto Kiyonaga as the new Superintendent General of the First Investigation Division.

After receiving in-depth instruction from both Ryoma Hayashi and Shiratori, Kaito Kuroba finally realized the danger and risks of his plan.

At the same time, he became increasingly convinced of the wisdom of his two older brothers who helped him pull back from the brink at crucial moments.

You have to admit it, because one of these two good brothers is ruthless and cruel, and the other is both ruthless and cruel.

He couldn't escape, and he couldn't win a fight. In short, teenagers are always taught a harsh lesson by reality and growing up.

What sets Kaito Kuroba apart from other teenagers is his unwavering commitment to his original aspirations.
-
Osaka, Suzuki Museum of Art.

Because of the Phantom Thief Kid's announcement letter, the nationwide exhibition tour of the Egg of Memories has attracted a lot of attention.

The so-called national tour is similar to a national concert, which involves visiting a few cities.

The Suzuki family's plan for the Egg of Memories was to travel to Suzuki museums all over the country and finally bring it back to the Suzuki family's "treasure trove".

Therefore, it is clear that the Egg of Memory is not actually a rare or extraordinary treasure in the Suzuki family.

Something worth less than 10 billion yen is certainly not something the Suzuki family needs to pay attention to.

However, due to the intervention of Phantom Thief Kid, the tour of the Egg of Memories took a turn for the worse.

Kidd's fan base is still too large, and every exhibition of the Egg of Memories is fully booked.

Art museums that are usually deserted are now packed with visitors, and some Suzuki museums have even been caught off guard due to insufficient preparation.

In short, while Phantom Thief Kid once again targeted the Suzuki family, he also brought them a massive influx of attention.
It's no wonder that the Suzuki Group members both love and hate Kid.

"That's how it is. Actually, it's not just me; my wife and children also have mixed feelings about Kid the Phantom Thief."

On the one hand, it seems like they weren't targeting our family, but instead of succeeding, they actually brought us quite a few benefits. On the other hand, it seems like they weren't targeting our family at all, yet both of these warning letters were sent to us.

At this moment, Ryoma Hayashi is having a pleasant conversation with Mr. Shiro Suzuki, the head of the Suzuki Group.

The central figure in their conversation is none other than the troublesome Phantom Thief Kid.

The complex attitude expressed by Shiro Suzuki is probably a mixture of love and hate, yet he can't bring himself to hate.

Although when Kid first sent them the notice, it almost made Suzuki Shiro suffer a terrible injury.

But that time, Kid's fate was "tragic" enough, meaning the Metropolitan Police Department's police were useless, which is why the Phantom Thief Kid got away.

Shiro Suzuki's purpose in finding Ryoma Hayashi this time was simple: to ensure the safety of the Egg of Memories, their tour needed a strong and capable person to safeguard it.

Ryoma Hayashi has the highest win rate in his encounters with Kaito Kid, and is the only one with a clear record of capturing Kid.

Both logically and emotionally, the Suzuki family would not allow Hayashi Ryoma to miss this tour of the Egg of Memories.

However, while listening to Suzuki Shiro's "casual conversation," Ryoma Hayashi sensed that there was something more to the Suzuki family head's words.

He didn't seem to really want Lin Longma to capture the Phantom Thief Kid. His words even implied that he wanted Lin Longma to "go easy" on Kid.
Lin Longma wondered if it was just his imagination, or if he had misunderstood. From the Suzuki family's perspective, this Phantom Thief Kid was truly a scoundrel.

Suzuki Shiro and Kuroba Kaito aren't related, so there's no reason for him to be so lenient with him.

To avoid misinterpreting his employer's intentions, Lin Longma could only make a slight attempt to probe.

"Speaking of which, our company recently hired two senior consultants: one is the gourmet detective Oogami Kisuke, and the other is the armchair detective Senma Kōdai."

If we add the sleeping Kogoro, we can definitely assemble a luxurious team of famous detectives.

With this lineup, capturing Phantom Thief Kid will be much easier. What do you think, Chairman Suzuki?

"Oh? Chairman Lin is indeed capable. I've heard of those two famous detectives. I didn't expect you to hire them as senior advisors."

This is something that many investigation companies and detective agencies cannot achieve.

Instead of answering directly, Shiro Suzuki enthusiastically engaged Ryoma Hayashi in a conversation about the reputations of various famous detectives and their past cases.

It's as if I'm a fan of these famous detectives.

Sometimes, remaining completely silent is a very clear stance.

Lin Longma hadn't expected that Kuroba Kaito possess some kind of magic that would make the Suzuki family "go easy on" him. Surely this kid wouldn't actually go and sell his ass, would he?

But with so many people in the Suzuki family, they can't sell to everyone.

But Ryoma Hayashi was clearly pleased with this, so he said to Shiro Suzuki, "I heard that Inspector Nakamori of the Metropolitan Police Department has been wanting to take over the guarding of the [Egg of Memories]?"

"That's right. Tomoko was also very annoyed by this, which is why she sent me to Osaka with the egg (the egg of memories)." Suzuki Shiro had a wry smile on his face, clearly having been forced to "kick out" with trouble.

"In that case, why not entrust the guarding of the Egg of Memories to him?"

(End of this chapter)