Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 179 The Demon Unleashed, The Hell Puppet Master
Asahikawa Detention Center.

Takato Yoichi's prison life was completely different from that of the other prisoners. He always had a faint smile on his face and was very leisurely.

"It should be today, right? Sakonji's solo magic show."

Closing the collection of Sakonji's personal information in his hand, Takato Yoichi calmly turned towards the iron gate.

Sakonji has been enjoying great success this past month, with news of him even reaching the detention center.

"Warden, what time is it?"

"Is there a problem with 3 PM?"

"No."

Takato Yoichi seemed to see distant Tokyo.

It's about time we went out.

"How can I become an agent? He must have chosen me for something. There are too many murderers in this world, one more won't make a difference..."

5 minute later.

Gao Yuanyao, dressed in a guard's uniform, walked out of the passage and disappeared from the detention center as if performing magic.

"Magic", "Revenge" and "Hell Puppet Master".

Takato Yoichi changed his clothes along the way, boarded a train leaving Asahikawa, and found a cell phone along the way.

Register online under the codename "Hell Puppet Master" and join the private chat room created by Gao Mo.

There is only one room leader in the chat room, "Shadow".

"Is this the code name for the Grim Reaper?"

Gao Yuanyao pondered this carefully.

It might not be Death itself, but rather some other agent.

This Grim Reaper appears to be an invisible entity, only his will can descend.

Shadow: "Congratulations on regaining your freedom. I am your supervisor, Shadow. Whatever your plans are in the future, you'd better report to me first. And be careful not to reveal the existence of this chat room."

Hell Puppet Master: "I don't have any particular plans for now. Explain the situation to me first. Who exactly are you?"

"You don't need to know who I am."

"Shadow replied."

"And don't even think about exploring the secrets of death. Keep your little schemes to yourself."

Gao Yuanyao's gaze narrowed.

His thoughts had been read—it felt as if a pair of eyes were watching him through his phone.

Ghostly Shadows...

A bead of sweat appeared on Gao Yuanyao's forehead, a mixture of subtle fear and excitement stirring within him.

My life from now on will definitely not be boring.

……

Tokyo.

Sakonji's solo magic show.

After more than a month of build-up, the performance venue is now packed with people, and its popularity has completely surpassed that of Japan's top magician, Kazumi Sanada.

Sakonji, who inherited the legacy of the Fantasy Magic Troupe, stood under the spotlight with a beaming smile.

"Welcome everyone to my personal magic show. Today, I will be performing a special magic trick for the first time, in memory of my teacher, Reiko Chikamiya, and my colleagues who passed away a month ago!"

"Of course, there's also a special colleague, the one who's currently serving time in prison..."

Below the stage.

In the remaining room, Rimi and Hattori sat together, with the magic notebook that Gao Mo had given her still in her bag.

The two-hour special performance consisted mostly of magic tricks from the notes or related derivatives, with the strangest part being the closing magic trick—

Sakonji said that the last magic trick in the notebook was "burning the strange rock in the air".

It might be the part of the notes that was torn out.

But why was it torn off?

"I killed Master Chikamiya?" Sakonji laughed loudly on stage. "It's just a rumor! My teacher and I were the closest when he was alive, otherwise he wouldn't have given me his most important magic notebook. If I'm lying, may I be engulfed in flames and burned to death! Please enjoy the final magic trick—Burning the Sky Rock!"

"call!"

Rice flower town.

Gao Mo watched the scene of flames burning the city on the screen, leaning back in his chair out of boredom, glancing at the few kids looking around.

Originally, I was just accompanying Ai to see a movie, but Professor Agasa let it slip, and first a group of children joined in the fun, and then Sonoko "coincidentally" ran into her outside the movie theater.

"It's so great to see Gomera again! I thought Gomera was dead," Ayumi said excitedly.

“Idiot,” Conan said speechlessly, “These movies were released when I was a child, they’re all old movies.”

"What do you mean when you were little? You're only in elementary school now."

"That's it."

“But if it’s an old movie,” the freckled boy Mitsuhiko said worriedly, “that means there won’t be any new Gomera movies, right?”

"Gomera is dead after all..."

"I heard that the final installment will be released next month, and Gomera will live on the screen forever."

Conan truly sensed the children's immaturity and helplessly explained in response to Gao Mo's questioning gaze.

"Actually, when I went to Dabao Production Company, there was a murder case in the Gomera production team, and the Gomera costume was also burned. Fortunately, the main plot has been filmed, and the film will be used to edit and complete the story later."

"You."

Gao Mo always felt that this guy was another form of Death Agent.

He truly lives up to his name as the Grim Reaper Elementary School Student.

"Yay, Gomera!" Ayumi's face flushed with excitement as she watched the climax.

"come on!"

"You guys, be quiet," Gao Mo noticed the dissatisfaction of the surrounding moviegoers and quickly pulled the increasingly loud children back. "If you keep this up, I'll send you home."

Since he brought these guys out, he's practically their guardian.

He has to take responsibility for everything the brat does.

In just a short time, a lot of malice was directed at him.

"The Doctor really loves to talk too much," Ai said, propping her face up to avoid looking at the children, "and it's caused all this trouble."

She never attended Teitan Elementary School and always kept her distance from the Detective Boys, while also giving Conan a stern warning. It's said that after suffering several setbacks and being severely reprimanded by the police, the Detective Boys are now practically defunct, but with the precocious Ayumi around, they still sometimes act the same as before, enjoying adventures everywhere.

Dr. Agasa was probably so annoyed that he passed the buck to Gao Mo.

Watching movies is always better than playing adventure games.

"I'm the one who finds this troublesome," Conan said, puzzled. "Why did you have to drag me along?"

He was originally going to see a magic show with Xiaolan.

"It's already good enough that Kido-nii brought you here, why are you being so picky?" Sonoko complained indignantly, "You little brat, you don't want to follow Ran again, do you? Ran has an important date today."

She originally wanted to sit next to Gao Mo, but this brat just happened to be blocking her way.

"A...a date?" Conan suddenly froze, his nonchalant expression turning into one of panic.

"Yes, they said it's a very important person."

Before Sonoko could say anything more, a commotion suddenly broke out behind her.

Several thugs started fighting for some unknown reason, and the already small audience members began to leave the theater.

What are these guys up to?

“It’s them again,” an angry young man with glasses in front of him said. “These guys cause trouble every weekend, and that’s how this movie theater is ruined!”

"I heard the owner is going to sell this place next week?"

"There's nothing we can do. It's just a small movie theater, and now it's been targeted by some troublesome guys..."

Gao Mo listened to the whispers around him and then looked at the thugs causing trouble.

An old man with a white beard led his staff into the screening room, and spoke with the thugs with his head down. It took a while for the situation to calm down.

The children nearby didn't think too much about it and sat obediently to watch the movie, led by Ayumi.

Gao Mo's talent as a leader of children is only really useful at this time.

Conan looked on with envy.

He now has a lot more say among the children and has learned how to deal with these unruly kids, but he is still far from being as good as Gao Mo.

In this respect, Gao Mo is a god-like figure.

……

Outside the screening room.

After a movie ended, Gao Mo accompanied several children to the restroom.

Despite being called a movie theater, it only has one screening room and is said to be over 30 years old, with many parts showing signs of aging.

"What exactly do you want?" A shout suddenly rang out in the aisle. "Smoking in our movie theater is one thing, but to deliberately bring in thugs..."

"Don't talk nonsense. What do you mean I'm hiring thugs?"

A long-faced man with a cigarette dangling from his lips let out a sneer.

"It's about time to make a decision. Selling this movie theater to us now will still be worth something, but who knows what will happen later!"

"You bastard!" The tall staff member glared angrily, almost ready to punch him, but was held back tightly by the waitress.

"Don't be impulsive, he's deliberately trying to provoke us."

"Mr. Zhang Tian, ​​let me think about it some more."

The cinema manager, wearing round glasses and leaning on a cane, looked like an elderly intellectual. He squinted throughout the entire performance, seemingly without any emotional fluctuation.

"We'll have to wait until at least next week for the opening anniversary."

"Hmph, it's so deserted on the weekend. If it were me, I wouldn't open a movie theater no matter what business I do. Hurry up and make a decision." The long-faced man casually tossed aside his cigarette and stomped it out.

The staff member was furious: "How dare you say that? It's all your fault..."

Gao Mo stepped aside, not wanting to get involved. However, the long-faced man seemed unsatisfied and deliberately exhaled a puff of smoke: "Pretty boy, bringing so many kids to the movie theater, you'd better watch out for some bad luck!"

"Enough! You always deliberately provoke the customers!" The waitress couldn't take it anymore. "Even if we're selling the movie theater, it doesn't necessarily mean we can't do without you, right?"

"Who else would want this place besides me?" The long-faced man's expression softened slightly. "I'm doing this for your own good."

"What an annoying guy."

Sonoko followed Gao Mo and couldn't help but speak after the long-faced man left.

"They actually used such tactics to force people to sell their movie theaters..."

Gao Mo's eyes fluctuated.

Perhaps it was because of that puff of smoke that he vaguely saw the image of the long-faced man dying.

Hanging in the darkness, swaying back and forth, his face still showing fear and disbelief...

Not surprising at all; in the detective world, this kind of character clearly has a way of getting himself killed, and it's only a matter of time before he's killed.

"What a pity." Gao Mo turned to the various expressions on the faces of the people in the movie theater.

A murder is expected to occur before next week, but it's unclear who will be the killer.

"What's the pity?"

Sonoko paused for a moment, then looked at the pitiful cinema manager and the others, and suddenly seemed to have made a decision.

"Kido-kun, I'm going to buy some popcorn."

"Beep!"

Gao Mo didn't pay much attention and instead answered the call from Hattori Heiji.

"Something terrible has happened, Kido-san!" Hattori's voice was heavy. "Sakonji was burned to death during a magic show. It's said that everything was normal during rehearsals, but things went wrong during the stage performance... It's almost like the magic show was designed specifically to burn him to death."

Heiji Hattori felt extremely uncomfortable.

Disliking Sakonji is one thing, but actually watching him die in front of you, especially in such a strange way, is something even a detective couldn't stand.

"There's another thing. News came from Asahikawa that at the same time, Takato Yoichi disappeared from the detention center... Takato Yoichi is Kirishima Junpei's real name. He's a really scary guy. The reason he didn't kill Sakonji and deliberately got arrested was all for today."

"Well, I see."

Gao Mo didn't say anything.

He knew Gao Yuanyao had escaped from the detention center, otherwise he wouldn't have joined his chat room.

“That guy is too dangerous, he’s practically a born criminal,” Hattori Heiji said to himself. “This revenge is definitely not the end… Sakonji and his gang have unleashed a terrifying demon! The codename ‘Hell Puppet Master’ means he’s been planning to commit more crimes for a long time…”

“There’s no use telling me all this,” Gao Mo said with a headache. “This is something you should tell Inspector Megure.”

He can hardly be called a righteous detective; he has no intention of specifically targeting criminals.

Even Takato Yoichi is now considered half one of our own...

“Of course I know,” Hattori Heiji breathed a sigh of relief. “I just wanted Kido to tell Kindaichi that we will have to face Takato Yoichi again sooner or later!”

(End of this chapter)