Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 166 The Magician at the End of the Century: The Curtain Falls

Gao Mo understood Kidd's thoughts.

Is this guy trying to take care of the Scorpion himself?

That's fine. He doesn't mind having another helper, especially one who won't share the reward.

The original plan was to call in Rei Furuya for support... but that seems a bit redundant.

Shi Kaobing was neither virtuous nor capable of enduring such a massive battle.

"It's windy."

The burly Russian man walked at the front, and after passing through several underground staircases, the space in front of him opened up considerably. At the same time, he also discovered another passage carved out of the stone wall.

"This seems to lead outside... Are there any other entrances?"

“It’s probably to prevent an accident at one of the entrances,” the old butler guessed. “Master Xiyi must have set up mechanisms in other places as well.”

Bloody smell.

Gao Mo smelled an unusual odor wafting through the passage and was about to investigate when he heard a soft exclamation from ahead.

Pu Siqinglan found the mural first: "This is a double-headed eagle symbolizing the emperor... There is such a mural under the castle."

“Butler Sawabe,” the old butler Natsumi Kosaka asked, “do you know anything?”

The old butler shook his head: "Apart from Master Xi Yi back then, I doubt anyone knows."

Gao Mo glanced at the old butler.

He had briefly examined the passageway; it was too narrow and didn't seem like the work of the builder.

It looks more like a secret passage dug by a thief...

In other words, someone may have been here before.

"But what do we do next? There's no way forward. Are we supposed to go through that passage we just came from?"

The man with the mustache looked around.

"And what about Mr. Qian?"

“There’s a dent here,” Pu Siqinglan said, pointing to the middle of the mural. “Could it be some kind of mechanism? It looks like something’s being embedded in it…”

"Try this."

Tomoko Suzuki leaned closer to the stone wall and took out the Egg of Memories from her handbag.

The eyes of the people nearby immediately turned fervent: "It's good that Madam came too."

"The Egg of Memories is actually the key to unlocking the treasure vault."

"Crack!"

The bottom support of the Egg of Memories fits perfectly into the mural, as if an egg had grown on the stone wall... but there was still no reaction after it was placed on it.

Despite hearing the mechanism of the fixed memory egg, there was no sound from inside the passage.

"how come?"

The old butler, holding his breath and watching intently, trembled as he looked around, finding it hard to believe.

"The Egg of Memories must be the key..."

"Why are you reacting so strongly?" The man with the mustache snorted and casually glanced at the murals. "Perhaps there was no treasure to begin with, and the second Egg of Memory we're looking for might not even be in this castle."

"Damn it," the old butler pounded his fist on the stone wall, "What have I been doing all these years of perseverance? All these decades..."

"Butler Sawabe?" Natsumi Kosaka looked at the elderly man, whose figure was now quite hunched, with surprise.

"Sorry, miss."

The old butler sighed with guilt towards Natsumi Kosaka.

"Like these greedy fellows, my father fell ill and died shortly after helping to build this castle. Before he died, he told me that it contained the most precious treasures of the Kosaka family and the Emperor's family..."

"Did you deliberately take Miss Natsumi to Osaka?" The man with the mustache frowned in displeasure.

"I can't take it anymore. I need to know what the treasure is before I die."

The old butler's voice was filled with pain.

"I actually discovered the entrance that the master left in the study a long time ago, but it requires a password to open from the outside. I had no choice but to use the blueprints left by my father to open another passage from the tower."

I finally found this place, but still came up empty-handed... It wasn't until last month when the Suzuki family announced the Egg of Memories that I realized I needed a key to activate the mechanism, and now..."

"Hmph," the mustachioed man thought the guy deserved it, "Is treasure really that important? Worth a lifetime of exploration?"

Gao Mo had been watching Pu Siqinglan closely and noticed that her expression was dark and the projected text changed once again.

The treasure hunt has been changed to "stealing the Egg of Memories" and "setting fire to the castle and burning everyone to death".

This guy is ruthless; he actually changed his own rules for killing.

However, the entrance mechanism requires a password to open, so Inui Shoichi, who has only just arrived at the villa, probably doesn't have the ability to get in from there...

Was it Pu Siqinglan that opened it from the inside?
This is troublesome; this guy probably set up traps beforehand.

Gao Mo glanced at Suzuki Tomoko, who had retrieved the Egg of Memories, and silently retreated.

The aura of death that shrouds the castle should have been here.

If the castle really catches fire, the fire extinguishing bombs he has won't be of much use...

"call!"

Inside the second passage, Gao Mo moved swiftly and quickly found the vicinity of the entrance and exit, where he also saw the corpse of Qian Jiangyi, whose right eye had been pierced by a bullet.

A rotten rope ladder coiled around the side looked like snakeskin in the darkness.

Gao Mo picked up the flashlight from the ground and shone it on the object.

Inui Shoichi probably climbed down from above using a rope, but Urashi Seiran took the rope back afterward.

There's only the office exit right now...

Without delay, Gao Mo quickly returned to the main passage.

Kidd is still trying to find other mechanisms, and has temporarily stabilized Pu Siqinglan.

Ascending the stairs, I didn't see any special mechanisms.

Where in the castle was Pu Siqinglan hiding it?
Gao Mo's mind quickly constructed a virtual model of the castle, and as he ran, he felt as if he were in a transparent castle.

The above-ground buildings and underground passages are all connected together.

The tunnel that the old butler dug out earlier was indeed located near the tower.

The castle sits atop a hill, with its towers on the lower right side. This location was likely chosen to minimize excavation work and facilitate the disposal of waste soil and rocks.

Even if the castle does catch fire, it's still relatively safe to leave from the tower; all you need to do is prepare a rope ladder to climb.

"Mr. Kido?"

The twin sisters guarding the basement entrance exclaimed in surprise in unison.

"What happened?"

"Help me find it..."

Gao Mo's gaze swept across the office, taking Pu Siqinglan's thoughts into his mind. He took a few steps forward, casually pulled open the sofa, and found a military green backpack.

It was the backpack that Inui brought.

The zipper wasn't closed, and just one glance at Gao Mo made his brows twitch wildly.

They're all ruthless guys.

Large hand grenades, incendiary bombs, and all sorts of reconnaissance and mechanical tools.

It's unclear whether it was Inui Shoichi or Urashi Seiran who brought them to the castle—neither of them are good people.

"You two go out first and see if there's a rope ladder... a rope will do too."

"Huh?" The twin maids exchanged a glance, then left the office without saying anything.

Gao Mo checked the time, didn't linger, and quickly ran towards the guest room area with his backpack.

According to the criminal data collected so far, whether it was infiltration, assassination, theft, or cleanup, the perpetrators never made a mistake.

If he were Scorpius, he would definitely have left behind a contingency plan that would allow him to retreat comfortably.

There couldn't possibly be only these hand grenades.

The most likely place to tamper with things is probably the room where you stay; even the bathroom could be a potential site of theft.

faster.

The premonition flashed through Gao Mo's mind again.

There is no change compared to before; the right eye is still locked by the red dot.

The gears of fate continue to turn.

According to the rules of death, he should have been absolutely safe before that.

"boom!"

Upon discovering that the guest room was locked from the inside, Gao Mo simply kicked it open.

There weren't any special mechanisms designed in there; there was just a suitcase placed on the bed.

With a magical touch, Gao Mo unlocked the latch. A signal receiver flickered amidst some clothing, and most of the space was occupied by a bomb.

It appears to have been remotely controlled to explode.

He doesn't have the skill to defuse bombs, but he can just throw the suitcase out.

“Mr. Kido,” the twin maids replied, “there is only one rope.”

"That's enough. Take it to the tower outside. You all wait there."

Gao Mo didn't bother to explain to the twins. He picked up his backpack and suitcase and rushed out of the castle. His unusual strength, which didn't match his size, left the twin maids looking at each other in bewilderment.

"What happened?"

"Mr. Kido, were you stealing just now?"

"Probably not, I feel that Mr. Kido is a good person."

"I think so."

"Boom!"

The castle at night is not as beautiful as it is during the day. Under the dark clouds and thunder, even the fairytale-like building takes on a more terrifying appearance.

Gao Mo ran out of the gate. Furuya Rei hadn't arrived yet; it was still the same few cars.

This kind of assassin is definitely more experienced in dealing with by Furuya Rei, but after all, he is not a real subordinate and not so convenient to use—Furuya Rei is just a part-time job for him.

"boom!"

A muffled explosion suddenly rang out inside the castle, seemingly from an underground passageway.

Then came another series of faint gunshots.

The conflict still broke out.

However, it doesn't sound like it was equipped with a silencer—it's probably Kidd who preemptively struck.

After throwing down his backpack, Gao Mo hurriedly threw the suitcase bomb off the cliff, aiming for the least possible impact.

There may be other arrangements that were overlooked, but the main threat should be eliminated.

……

"Conan!"

"Watch out! This guy has a grenade!"

The basement was filled with smoke and ash from the explosion.

The group followed closely behind Pu Siqinglan.

However, a narrow passage in the middle was blown up by a grenade that Pu Si Qinglan had placed while escaping. Soon the passage was blocked by the collapsed earth and rocks. Except for Conan and "Suzuki Tomoko" who managed to get through in time, everyone else was trapped behind.

"Hoohoo!"

Pu Siqinglan nimbly escaped from the basement.

After pulling open the sofa and finding no backpack, he was shocked and pressed the remote control on his body, only to hear the echo of an explosion outside the castle.

what happened?

who is it? !
"Da da!"

Footsteps followed closely from the basement. Before Pu Siqing could think, her fierce gaze fixed on the exit, and the red dot instantly locked onto Conan's right eye as he chased after her.

Even a little devil dares to chase after me.

"boom!"

Almost instinctively, Pu Siqinglan fired the shot. Confidently, she didn't even look at the result before turning around and striding out of the office.

She never imagined that the Russian secretary had come to arrest her; she had been completely fooled.

And then there was that inexplicable Mrs. Suzuki, who somehow got a playing card gun and almost left her buried underground.

Two expert gun users, and the detective with the mustache also seems to be more than just a simpleton...

Now, no one knows who has cracked her plan.

It felt as if a pair of ghostly eyes were watching from the shadows.

"Little detective!"

Tomoko Suzuki catches Conan as he rolls down the stairs and discovers that only his glasses have been knocked askew by a bullet and his head has been injured.

They turned out to be bulletproof goggles.

No wonder he's so brave.

"I'm fine," Conan said painfully, "Hurry, don't let her escape..."

"What a reckless brat! What if he misses?"

Suzuki Tomoko looked warily towards the exit, unsure if Urako Seiran had really left. She put Conan down, threw out a smoke card, and then suddenly leaped out.

Her skills were nothing like those of a pampered noblewoman.

not there?

"Boom!"

Suzuki Tomoko narrowly dodged two bullets, which hit the bookshelf almost right past her right eye.

Scary!

The other party anticipated all his thoughts and seized the moment when he relaxed his guard.

He truly deserves to be called a top-tier professional assassin.

Kidd, hidden beneath the mask, broke out in a cold sweat.

This is the first time I've encountered such a ruthless killer; he's far more terrifying than any police officer.

"You're not Mrs. Suzuki, are you?"

After Pu Siqinglan's sneak attack failed, she immediately hid outside the corridor.

"I was wondering why the tycoon's wife would come here alone, without even a bodyguard... The Egg of Memories has finally fallen into your hands, Phantom Thief Kid, but the method of theft is different from what you predicted..."

"I never intended to steal it; I was just borrowing it."

Tomoko Suzuki smiled, instantly ripped off her mask, and transformed back into the Phantom Thief Kid in a puff of smoke.

"biu~"

Several cards shot out of the room, and another burst of gunfire rang out amidst the billowing smoke.

Pu Siqing frowned, choosing not to confront Kidd in the confined corridor.

There's another lurking figure we need to be wary of—they have both grenades and Molotov cocktails.

The "Knights' Chamber" leading to the main hall.

Western knight armor is displayed on both sides, and tapestries decorate the surroundings.

After firing another shot into the corridor behind her, Pu Siqinglan did not rush directly into the hall. Instead, she took out Molotov cocktails that she had hidden in advance from the corners on both sides.

That's enough to ignite the knights.

If the fire isn't extinguished in time, the entire castle could burn down, providing ample cover for her escape.

Hmph, did you think she'd be so stupid as to run off like that?
"stop!"

Kidd ran sideways into the knights' quarters and, seeing Pu Siqinglan's movements, quickly fired his gun, this time aiming at the back of Pu Siqinglan's hand.

The card was launched.

However, Pu Siqinglan was prepared. While pulling a knight's armor over for cover, the red dot instantly locked onto Kidd's right eye.

"boom!"

The sounds of cards hitting armor and bullets shattering lenses rang out one after the other.

Kidd's right monocle shattered and fell off. Although he managed to dodge in time and avoid being shot through his right eye, his brow was still cut by a shard of glass, and he fell to the ground bleeding profusely.

"do not move!"

Pu Siqinglan approached with a cold laugh, raising her gun to aim while simultaneously throwing a Molotov cocktail with her other hand. The flames, accompanied by a pungent odor, instantly ignited the tapestry.

"Even Kaito Kid is nothing special..."

"Including the basement, you fired a total of 8 shots just now, right?" Kidd closed his right eye, glancing at the card gun that had fallen to the side.

"Are you trying to say my gun is empty?" Pu Siqinglan smiled brightly. "This model's magazine does only hold eight rounds, but there's always one left in the chamber, making it nine in total! Hmph, that's it, Phantom Thief Kid, go to hell and be a thief..."

"Miss Qinglan."

Gao Mo walked from the hall into the knights' quarters, holding a grenade in his hand.

"One bullet can't kill two people, right?"

"It's you? The appraiser!"

Pu Siqinglan's pupils dilated.

Gao Mo's presence was so minimal after he arrived that she didn't even pay him any attention.

"How did you know my backup plan?!"

(End of this chapter)