Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 123 The Last Supper
The corridor inside the building.

Gao Mo and Conan walked out of the room together, and did not feel anything when they did not head towards the piano room.

Death perception is powerful, but it only works when there is a threat, and he doesn't know if anyone is still watching him.

It can only be treated as the worst-case scenario.

"Go back and stay with Xiaolan first, be a good girl."

Thinking of Conan's terrible acting skills, Gao Mo bent down and pretended to coax a child to get rid of Conan, and continued to wander around the Twilight Mansion alone.

No other clues were found, but the approximate location of the monitoring room was vaguely deduced.

That idiot Da Shang was probably under surveillance from the very beginning.

This should be considered a change in the main storyline, right?
I don't know if it's the butterfly effect or if this is just how the world is...

Gao Mo felt a slight headache as he passed through the kitchen.

Ooue Shuzen was staring intently at Wakita Kanenori, seemingly afraid that the chef might poison him unexpectedly, and occasionally offering his comments—still with that haughty demeanor.

In the end, he even took over Wakita Kanenori's position and personally took charge of the project.

Although it wasn't directed at him personally, Gao Mo still sensed the murderous aura emanating from the one-eyed chef as he bowed and scraped.

The feeling he got from the chef in Beika Town was almost exactly the same as before.

"Do you even know anything about cooking? How could you cut the ingredients like that?!"

"Sorry, it's because of my left eye..."

"Your eyes are just an excuse. Are you really a chef?"

The aura of death emanating from Da Shang Zhu Shan intensified considerably...

"call!"

After not noticing anything else wrong in the kitchen, Gao Mo quickly walked away, pretending he hadn't seen anything.

It seems that everyone else who is tainted by the aura of death is related to him, but he has no need to risk saving someone like Da Shang Zhu Shan.

……

Outside the restaurant.

Gao Mo was about to go in to find out what was going on when a maid behind him called out anxiously, "Guest, the master has instructed that you are not allowed to wander around. May you wait in the living room? I will let you know when dinner is ready."

"Okay." Gao Mo's finger paused in front of the restaurant door.

Even if the maid didn't call him, he gave up the idea of ​​investigating.

The restaurant seemed to be a pre-arranged crime scene, and he had no intention of interfering with Da Shang Zhu Shan's death.

living room.

The detectives, unaware of the danger, were casually discussing the bloodstains in the villa and the tragedies that had occurred there.

However, even Hakuba Saguru, the son of the Superintendent General of Police, couldn't explain the specifics of the tragedy.

Mogi Harufumi, rather displeased, stopped the maid who brought tea and snacks: "Isn't your master showing up at all? Who exactly is that guy? If he wants us to investigate something from over 40 years ago, isn't it a bit too late?"

“I don’t know either,” the maid said nervously, biting her thumb. “Actually, I’ve never even met the master… The interview was conducted entirely through a computer.”

"Computer-based interview?"

"Yes, during the interview, there was only a computer, a banquet instruction manual, and a list of invited guests. I thought I wouldn't be selected because there were many interviewees, but then the computer suddenly popped up a message saying that I had been accepted."

The maid lowered her head under everyone's gaze.

"Even work communication is done via email..."

"So mysterious, could it be that you orchestrated this all along?" Mogi Harufumi moved closer, startling the maid into retreating.

"No, I came here because of the high pay. How could I possibly afford such a big house?"

The maid's distress is explained.

"I'm just doing what the master tells me to do, so please wait a little longer, okay? Perhaps the master will appear after the banquet starts... because when I arrived, there was a Mercedes parked in front of me, that must be the master's car."

“Brother Mogi,” Mrs. Senma raised her eyes slightly, “what’s the rush? Don’t you know very well who gathered us famous detectives? If we can’t hold back, we’ll just become a laughing stock.”

"that……"

The man with the mustache looked at the crowd, who had fallen silent again, feeling completely bewildered.

"Who are you talking about? Who's making fun of us?"

"What?" Ikumi Gunta put down her cards and laughed. "The renowned Mr. Mori, you come here without even knowing who your opponent is? The invitation makes it very clear..."

“It’s not necessarily that guy just by looking at the signature,” Hakuba Saguru said with a mysterious smile, his sharp eyes scrutinizing everyone present. “But I think he definitely won’t miss this banquet, and he might be disguised as one of us right now.”

The man with the mustache looked embarrassed: "You guys aren't talking about... Phantom Thief Kid, are you?"

It seems he misunderstood Conan.

But that brat grabbed my face without saying a word, so he deserved to be beaten up.

“That’s right, it’s the guy who caused the chaos a few days ago,” Harufumi Mogi grinned as he observed. “All of us detectives want to put him in jail.”

"Little Mustache, you're pretending to be stupid, could it be you?"

"How could that be?" the man with the mustache said, pinching his own cheek. "Look, I'm not some Phantom Thief Kid in disguise!"

“I don’t think it’s necessary to worry about this,” Gao Mo’s eyes twitched slightly. “We’ll know everything at the banquet later.”

He had disguised his face, but it couldn't withstand close scrutiny.

Moreover, it doesn't matter who Kidd is exactly; the most important thing right now is to get Rum to retreat as soon as possible.

"Bang!" The short-haired maid ran back and pushed open the living room door again.

"Dinner is ready, and my host seems to be waiting for you in the dining room."

"Dining room?"

Led by the maid, the group entered the restaurant with some skepticism.

A masked man wearing a hood sat at the head of the long dining table, looking like an evil villain from a movie.

Gao Mo casually glanced around the restaurant and noticed that each table had a nameplate with its own name on it; his seat was at the very end.

"Distinguished guests, welcome to my Twilight Palace. Please take your seats..."

The masked man made a voice that was clearly altered.

"I invited you all here today in the hope of drawing on the wisdom of the famous detective. Please discuss the specifics while we eat, because you need to be well-fed to have the energy to do things."

After the masked man finished speaking, the maid pushed the food cart back and served the dishes one by one around the table.

Please enjoy your meal.

"Oh?" Ikumi Gunta exclaimed in surprise, "That Mr. Wakita's cooking skills seem pretty good."

“That’s all there is to it,” Da Shang Zhu Shan sneered, stroking his mustache. “It can only fool ordinary people. In the end, I still have to take action myself.”

"Hehe, gourmets are so picky." Gunda Ikumi habitually put on gloves to wipe the tableware and briefly inspected the food, which caused Ooue Shuzen to frown in dissatisfaction.

"What are you doing? Do you suspect I poisoned him?"

"It's just a professional habit, don't worry about it."

"Hmph, unnecessary."

Da Shangzhu glanced casually at Gao Mo, who was sitting down last, and then, as if to prove his innocence, began to enjoy the appetizer.

"Everyone came here for Kaito Kid, so I had absolutely no reason to poison him, and that one-eyed guy was watching the whole time."

Gao Mo didn't move.

He didn't know if Da Shang Zhu Shan had any thoughts, but as soon as he had the idea of ​​eating, he had a premonition of death.

At least he has a big problem.

Is this a sacrifice to make an example of him?
“I also think it’s better to be careful. The cutlery was set out here from the beginning, and seats were specially arranged,” Mogi Harufumi said as he wiped the cutlery. “Nobody knows what this sneaky guy is thinking.”

Xiaolan suddenly lost her appetite, but her stomach was terribly hungry.

Fortunately, the maid brought in new cutlery: "I've washed all of these."

“Really,” Da Shang Zhu Shan said disdainfully, “If anything happens, I’ll be the first to die. You’d be better off enjoying my cooking.”

"It tastes really good." Chima Kazuyo was the first to taste the chicken soup.

Gao Mo pretended to eat a little food only after confirming that there was no danger.

Just as I was thinking about what to do next, I suddenly felt Da Shang Zhu Shan's gaze on the other side again.

"You've all probably noticed, haven't you?" the masked man continued, "A tragic incident once occurred in this Twilight Mansion, which is why I went to great lengths and spent a fortune to buy this house..."

"This place originally belonged to Karasuma Renya, a wealthy man who died mysteriously half a century ago. Forty years ago, a grand banquet called Karasuma Renya Memorial Service was also held here. It is said that those invited to attend were all celebrities in the financial world..."

"However, the grand banquet, ostensibly to commemorate Karasuma Renya, was actually an auction for a large collection of artworks collected by Mr. Karasuma during his lifetime, more than three hundred pieces of priceless art..."

"Then, tragedy struck. As you can see in the museum, the bloodstains scattered everywhere seem to tell the story of the cruelty of that night."

"On the last day of the auction, everyone seemed to have become a different person. One gentleman was shouting like a demon, the girls in the room started crying incessantly, and someone was excitedly stabbing their wrist with a pen."

"Soon, the guests inside began fighting over the artworks in the hall, and some even picked up auction swords and began hacking at each other..."

nonsense.

Gao Mo ignored the masked man.

The bloodstains inside the museum were actually from scholars who were brought there in search of treasure and were brutally murdered.

The story told by the masked man was actually a story made up based on the treasure code...

He probably didn't want everyone to discover that the treasure came from the Karasuma family, so he concealed his purpose of hiring other detectives to help find the treasure.

Gao Mo's attention shifted to Chima Kazuyo, who was picking up a teacup and drinking tea.

"boom--!"

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from outside the building.

Even Da Shangzhu was startled.

"Where did the explosion come from?"

"Don't worry, I just want to restrict your freedom of movement," the masked man's voice continued. "Your cars and the suspension bridge that brought you here should have been destroyed, so you can't escape. Besides, there are no telephones here, and no cell phone signal..."

"All of this is in the hope that all the renowned detectives can devote themselves wholeheartedly to finding the enormous wealth that has been accumulating for many years, slumbering somewhere within this building..."

"From now on, I will split the treasure equally with whoever finds it, and only those who find the treasure will have a chance to leave. This is a survival game where your lives are the stakes..."

"Damn it!" The man with the mustache was pale, and only managed to avoid slipping with the help of his daughter, Xiaolan. "My rented car was......"

"Ugh!"

Equally enraged, Da Shang Zhu Shan let out a scream, his face contorted in disbelief and pain, and collapsed to the ground, clutching his throat before falling silent in an instant.

Huh?
Gao Mo's fingers trembled slightly.

Almost at the same moment that Da Shang Zhu Shan collapsed, everyone present was tainted with the aura of death.

(End of this chapter)