Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Lin Xiu looked around, and soon his gaze fell on the ceiling above his head.

The top floor of this shopping mall features a suspended ceiling design, with removable partitions installed below for the maintenance of wiring and pipes.

On the wall of the stairwell, there was a square access panel with a slight gap at the edge of the cover, which could obviously be opened.

A bold plan took shape in Lin Xiuyi's mind.

He didn't delay any longer, and quietly closed the stairwell door to make sure the thugs outside couldn't hear what was going on inside.

Then, stepping on the stair railing, he carefully reached out, grabbed the edge of the access panel cover, and lifted it up with force. The cover was easily opened, revealing the dark space above.

Lin Xiuyi peeked inside and, after confirming that there was enough space inside the ceiling to accommodate her and that there were no other obstacles, she nimbly flipped over and crawled inside.

The space inside the suspended ceiling was more spacious than expected.
The partition was fixed to the top floor slab by several thick metal pillars.

The distance between the metal pillars is just enough for one person to climb.

Lin Xiuyi lay prone on the cold partition, keeping her body as low as possible to avoid making a sound, while listening alertly to the movements below.

After confirming that they had not attracted the attention of the robbers, they climbed up the metal pillar step by step toward the location of the hostage.

The metal pillar swayed slightly under the weight of the body, making a faint creaking sound that was particularly clear in the quiet environment.

Lin Xiuyi moved with extreme caution, slowing down her movements to minimize the pressure on the pillar while closely monitoring the situation below.

If you spot any thugs looking up, immediately stop what you're doing, hold your breath, and continue until the danger has passed.

A few minutes later, Lin Xiuyi finally climbed to the ceiling above the group of hostages.

He lay on the metal pillar, slowly adjusting his breathing and calming his heartbeat. Then he looked down and, through the gap in the partition, found the father and son directly above him.

Lin Xiuyi reached out and carefully grasped the edge of the square partition below, slowly moving the partition upwards.

To avoid making too much noise when the partitions moved and alerting the robbers below, Lin Xiuyi did not dare to remove all the square partitions.

They simply moved it up two or three centimeters, revealing a thin gap.

This arrangement would allow him to see the situation below clearly, and also make those below notice the movements above.

Through this gap, Lin Xiuyi completely confirmed his previous guess.

The father below remained crouched, leaning slightly forward to shield his son, a toothpick twirling gently in his mouth as he subtly observed the surrounding robbers.
The little boy behind him hid the flashlight in the gap of the curtain and rhythmically pressed the switch.

A faint light shone through the gap in the curtains; it was the SOS signal he had seen downstairs.

Lin Xiuyi secretly praised him and was thinking about how to establish contact with his father below.

Before he could figure it out, perhaps because there was too much dust accumulated on the ceiling partition, a lot of fine dust fell down through the gaps when he moved the partition, landing right on the shoulders of the father and son.

The hostages around them were so terrified of the kidnappers that they all kept their heads down and huddled up in fear, and no one noticed the tiny speck of dust falling.

But the man with the toothpick in his mouth immediately noticed something was wrong.

He frowned slightly and blinked imperceptibly.
First, he casually raised his hand and patted the dust off his shoulder. Then, as the patrolling thug turned around, he suddenly looked up and stared in the direction where the dust had fallen.

When his gaze met Lin Xiuyi's eyes through the gap in the partition, the man's eyes widened instantly, his pupils contracted slightly, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. He almost cried out in surprise.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, immediately covering his mouth and swallowing back the words that were about to come out.

He never expected that someone would be hiding silently in the ceiling.

Lin Xiuyi looked at the other person and gently shook her head, signaling him to stay calm and not reveal anything.

He then pointed in the direction of the gang leader and then at the hostages below, intending to use hand gestures to signal the other party to pay attention to the robbers' movements and wait for the right opportunity to act together.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a flurry of footsteps suddenly echoed through the building, breaking the oppressive silence.

Immediately afterwards, a thug's panicked shout came over.
"Boss, something terrible has happened! A major incident has occurred!"

"What's all the noise about!"

The gang leader was sitting on the counter, fiddling with a double-barreled shotgun in his hand.
I was already getting impatient waiting for the person downstairs to return, who hadn't come back yet.

Hearing his subordinates' shouts, he became even more enraged, abruptly stood up, and sternly rebuked the thug who had run towards him.
"What happened? Have you searched everything downstairs? If you dare delay my business, I'll teach you a lesson!"

The thug who ran up to deliver the message was covered in sweat. When he reached the thug leader, his legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground.
He was panting heavily, and his voice was trembling as he said, "Boss, it's not... it's not about downstairs. It's about that kid Long Er. He just said his stomach hurts and he needs to go to the toilet on the second floor."

"But after he went in, he didn't come out. I waited for a long time and felt something was wrong, so I went down to check."

"The result...the result was that he was found unconscious in a bathroom stall!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the gang leader's expression changed instantly, his brows furrowed tightly, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

He gripped his double-barreled shotgun tightly and demanded an explanation in a stern voice.

"Knocked unconscious? How is that possible! Didn't we herd everyone in the mall to the third floor? Could someone be hiding somewhere?"

"I...I don't know!"

The thug who brought the news trembled with fear and stammered,
“We checked every corner of the second floor, and apart from Long Er, we didn’t find any trace of anyone else, but he was clearly knocked unconscious…”

"Boss, could it be... could it be that the police have already infiltrated?"

"We've robbed so openly and made such a big fuss, the police must have already received word. They might have already quietly surrounded the mall and sent people in to infiltrate!"

"Shut up!"

The gang leader was hit where it hurt by his subordinate's words and instantly became agitated.

He abruptly raised the double-barreled shotgun in his hand, pointing the muzzle at the head of the messenger.
"Who told you to talk nonsense? If the police really come, I'll be the first to shoot you!"

Before the words were even finished, a deafening bang echoed through the enclosed third-floor space, sending dust plumes from the ceiling and plunging everyone into a wave of utter terror. (End of Chapter)