Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 328, Section 322: Scorpion Zoo

And so, the intelligence that the organization had been gathering came in handy.

Not long after, the base sent a reply to Lin Longma.

"Scorpion, an international professional assassin and art thief. He has a fanatical pursuit of artifacts from the Romanov dynasty."

Gender, age, and identity unknown. He specifically targeted the right eye in each of his crimes.

"The one that best fits the description of the attack on the Black Feather Gunner is this Scorpion. The Egg of Memories is also a treasure of the Romanov dynasty."

Lin Longma found the printer in the villa and printed out two copies of the Scorpion information.

Although it was supposed to be two documents, the contents could easily fit on a single A4 sheet of paper. Lin Longma didn't print out the remaining details of Shi Kaobing's past crimes.

This thing is useless to the three of them. If Shiratori needs it, we can just send it to him later.

"Scorpion?" Shiratori and Kaito Kuroba exchanged glances, mainly because the code name Scorpion inexplicably reminded people of "Sneaker".

Is this Shi Kaobing a member of the "zoo"?
“It doesn’t seem like it,” Shiratori said softly, stroking his chin. “If this Scorpion and Snake were in cahoots, how could he not even be able to get a sniper rifle?”
While adding a suppressor and high-powered scope to a pistol might showcase his marksmanship, wouldn't using a sniper rifle be more reliable?

Kaito Kuroba was able to return today with only minor injuries, thanks in large part to the fact that the gunman used a pistol.

If a sniper rifle is used, combined with the shooter's precise marksmanship, then it's truly a case of someone dying as soon as a shot is fired, and someone crying as someone dies.
As for heartfelt words, what's the point of listening to heartfelt words when Kaito Kuroba is dead?

In short, the code name Scrooge is too easily associated with Snake, and the actions of this gunman do not quite fit the behavioral logic of a member of an organized crime group.

For a moment, both Shiratori and Kaito Kuroba were caught in a dilemma.

"I said, what's there to be so conflicted about?" Lin Longma clapped his hands twice to get their attention:
"There is a high probability that the gunman who ambushed Black Feather was this international professional assassin, Scroobing."

Given Scroobing's fervent pursuit of Romanov dynasty artifacts, this guy clearly wouldn't give up the Egg of Memories easily.

This also means that Scrooge will definitely want to find a way to attack the Egg of Memory again.

"Even if this Scrooge has no connection with Snake, does that mean he's not an international professional killer or an art thief?"
"If we could successfully capture this international professional hitman and art thief, wouldn't that be a truly remarkable achievement?"

Why did the three of them initially arrest Snake's men and investigate the zoo?
Ultimately, Ryoma Hayashi and Shiratori, as the initiators of the cooperation, intended to gain credit through the capture of the "Zoo Organization" so that Shiratori could successfully take up the position of the chief investigator of the First Investigation Division.

Since the goal is to achieve merit, the merit of capturing an international professional killer and art thief is not necessarily less than that of a zoo.

First of all, this zoo organization is certainly not as well-known internationally as Scrooge, who runs his own business.

From the perspective of "international influence," arresting Skobing seems to be a better solution.

Secondly, the zoo organization had only been in the island nation for a short time and hadn't even started its operations when it was "tricked" by Kaito Kuroba.

The zoo organization also suffered minor losses due to the attacks from the white birds. It could be said that they didn't even get off to a good start.

On the contrary, what about Shi Kaobing?
Having only been in Osaka for a few days, they successfully ambushed Kaito Kid. Don't underestimate Kid just because he's a thief; he has a high reputation.

Shi Kaobing's rise to fame is like stepping on the "top influencer" in the island nation; once his identity is revealed, he will inevitably become "extremely popular."

Not to mention that the Egg of Memories he's eyeing is a treasure of the Suzuki family.

With two of the island nation's top figures serving Scorpion, how could his fortune be small? When Shiratori catches him and rewards him for his service, he can easily say, "This Scorpion not only shot Kaito Kid but also stole artifacts from the Suzuki Foundation. How heinous are his crimes?"

In short, whether it's the Suzuki family or Kaito Kuroba, they all served to "boost" Skobing's status.

Only when Shikabing's status rises will Shiratori receive the greatest credit.

“Capturing Shi Kaobing is a good idea, but…” Shiratori glanced out the window and said:
"This is Osaka, the Metropolitan Police Department's criminal investigation officers don't have the authority to enforce the law here."

“That’s easy to handle.” Lin Longma had already considered this situation: “After the shooting incident, Chairman Suzuki will definitely not continue touring with the Egg of Memories no matter what.”

Even the Egg of Memory will be taken back to Tokyo, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will depart soon; time is not on Scrooge's side.

"By the time Scorpion has a chance to make his move, the Egg of Memories will probably have already returned to the Tokyo area with Chairman Suzuki."

Kuroba and I will stay by President Suzuki's side. If we're lucky, we'll be able to identify Scrooge before you arrive.

Tonight is the last window for Scrooge to use force to obtain the Egg of Memories.

Unfortunately, Shiratori's prior arrangements caused Scrooge to miss this opportunity.

Now that the "Egg of Memories" has "returned" to Shiro Suzuki, even though Scorpion is an international professional assassin, he is still just an assassin.

Given that a behemoth like the Suzuki Group is on guard, would Scorpion dare to forcibly snatch back the Egg of Memories?
He's just an assassin, not John Rambo. Even Rambo only dealt with the town's police station.

If he really had the ability to single-handedly destroy the Suzuki Group, he probably wouldn't have stayed in the assassin business long ago.

Forcible seizure was clearly out of the question; the only option Scrooge could try was to acquire it by trickery.

If Ryoma Hayashi were Shikabing, he would definitely fabricate an identity to infiltrate Suzuki Shiro's circle.

Then wait for an opportunity to act.

"Then let's make it that way. I'll have to leave the rest to you."

"Leave it to us!" Kaito Kuroba was eager to take revenge on the Scorpion who ambushed him.
-
"So why should I pretend to be your secretary?" Kuroba Kaito followed behind Ryoma with a displeased expression, though his face wasn't his real one.

Instead, he had a face like Jin Tian's.

"Since Kinda isn't here this time, wouldn't it be more reasonable for you to pretend to be Kinda and stay by my side?"

Kaneda was in charge of the investigation into the Karasuma Foundation's connection to a large-scale organization in Higashikuni, and Ryoma Hayashi happened to leave him behind this time.

However, as Lin Longma's "person in charge," it's not surprising that Jin Tian would appear by Lin Longma's side at any time.

"To be precise, Jin Tian is not my secretary, but the director of the chairman's office of Yixin Consulting Company. He is a proper senior executive of the company."

Otherwise, what identity do you plan to use to infiltrate the Suzuki family's ship?

The wealthy Suzuki family has always traveled in a stylish manner. For example, when returning to Tokyo from Osaka, Shiro Suzuki chose to travel by cruise ship.

Kaito Kuroba, carrying the wooden box containing the "Egg of Memories," followed Ryoma Hayashi onto the ship, ignoring security checks.

(End of this chapter)