Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 187 Magician Level 3
"Boss, I'm going upstairs now."

Satomi took off her coat, revealing a playful bunny girl outfit. Hattori Heiji and Kuroba Kaito, who were staring wide-eyed, had their ears grabbed at the same time.

"Kaito, so this is what kind of person you are!"

"What's wrong, Aoko? That hurts..."

"He Ye!"

Rimi and the two young couples left one after another.

Suddenly, only Gao Mo and Yuanzi remained behind the stage.

"Kiyoshi-kun," Sonoko, who had been watching the spectacle with amusement, suddenly jolted awake after realizing she was alone with Gao Mo, "Is there anything I can help with? Like the magic show, I..."

"You can just be an audience member today, clapping is all you need to do, go on."

Gao Mo led the garden away, then turned and found a mask and magic cards for the performance in the tent that served as the backstage area.

Speaking of the last magic enthusiast incident, he had prepared card tricks, but he didn't have the chance to perform them then.

"Hahaha!"

Another burst of laughter erupted in front of the stage.

Rimi already possessed a talent for puppetry, and after obtaining Reiko Chikamiya's magic notebook, which was like a divine manual, she was even more blessed.

A small puppet, about the size of a pocket, is manipulated so vividly that it seems like a real little person, constantly bickering with each other, which looks particularly comical.

Fan Tianli, who had stepped aside, also clapped.

After Satomi, the psychic Sakuraba took the stage. Because of her rather taciturn personality, she barely spoke on stage and just focused on her psychic performance.

Fortunately, the audience was very supportive.

The medium magic is novel enough, and it seems that only Sakuraba is good at it in Japan. If it weren't for the series of events involving the Fantasy Magic Troupe, many well-known magic troupes would probably have invited this unassuming fat man.

"Boss." After Sakuraba and her assistants finished their performance, they brushed past Gao Mo, who was waiting by the curtain.

He really enjoys his current life with the Kido Magic Troupe.

People said he had angered the gods and spirits, which made him a little uneasy, but the boss and Satomi didn't care at all and were still willing to take him in.

Aside from the lack of money, everything else felt more comfortable than during the Fantasy Magic Troupe era.

"call!"

After greeting Gao Mo, Sakuraba felt her heart race for no apparent reason, as if she were being squeezed by the air.

Here it comes again, that feeling...

Sakuraba's chubby face was covered in sweat, and his eyes were filled with despair.

After his trip to the Dead Bone Plains, he seemed to be cursed, as if he could truly sense some terrifying presence.

The commanders and several others are dead, and Sakonji is dead too... Is it not over yet?
"Are you alright?" Fan Tianli pushed up his sunglasses, looking at Sakuraba, whose reaction was even stronger than his own, with a puzzled expression. "It was just a magic trick, why are you acting like you've seen a ghost?"

He had done similar guidance work countless times, but in the end, it usually came to nothing. However, this Kido Magic Troupe was indeed different.

Although they are currently unknown, both magicians come from the Fantasy Magic Troupe and are suspected of inheriting Reiko Chikamiya's magic notes, possessing great potential.

If it were the old him, he probably would have given these young people proper guidance and mentored them.

Now...

Fan Tianli reached into his pocket with a sigh, lit the half-smoked cigar again, his eyes full of stories.

Five years ago, he never imagined that he, as a disciple of Master Zhengying, would be so destitute.

During my street performance just now, no one recognized me—I don't know whether to be sad or relieved.

"Does this world really have ghosts?" Sakuraba's hands trembled as he suddenly grabbed Hanta Riki.

He often performs psychic magic but doesn't believe in ghosts or gods, yet the terrifying feeling is too real.

"He's here again, right here..."

"How could there be ghosts?"

Fan Tianli took a step back in fear.

This young magician was even more outrageous; he was just performing magic, yet he drove himself crazy.

"Calm down, your boss is putting on a show!"

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

Gao Mo, wearing a white mask, stood in the center of the stage for his first performance and surprisingly showed no nervousness.

Facing the bustling crowd, my mind was much calmer and clearer than I had expected, as if I could easily control the whole situation.

Acting skills are part of magic in themselves, not to mention he's a professional actor.

Two assistants carried a small table onto the stage. Gao Mo attracted the audience's attention with his words while shuffling magic cards. Even just shuffling the cards was a delight to watch.

"First, I'd like to ask a member of the audience to shuffle this deck of cards as scrambled as possible, and then point to a suit."

A bald man was invited onto the stage and, under Gao Mo's guidance, shuffled the cards.

"As for the suit, I'll go with spades," the uncle said, glancing at the bunny girl-dressed Rimi Zanma beside him. "I like black."

"Spades? Okay, now please don't blink, my magic trick will be quick! 3, 2, 1!"

Gao Mo didn't let the bald uncle stay on the stage. Instead, he stood in front of the small table, holding the playing cards in his palm.

He was only performing a small magic trick, but it wasn't entirely acrobatics. After taking a deep breath to grab the audience's attention, he suddenly tossed the card into the air and made a series of flower cuts, dividing the card into ten stacks in a few seconds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in just these few short seconds, many amazing things have happened..."

"What did he do?" Nakamori Aoko didn't understand.

"The cards should be divided into 1, 2, 3... 10 cards, and the suits and order should also be sorted."

Kaito Kuroba instantly saw through the card game act, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

The magic trick was quite conventional, but Gao Mo's hand speed was incredibly fast; it was a card magic trick entirely reliant on hand speed.

At least he didn't see any mechanisms or props.

"As expected, this guy is also a master of magic!"

"Very impressive?" Nakamori Aoko didn't understand. "Hasn't Kaito performed before? It's just that he's at the same level as Kaito."

"..." Kaito Kuroba was speechless.

Just because he's performed before doesn't mean he's simple.

It's as if he's terrible.

"When did Kido-san learn magic?" Hattori Heiji didn't see much of it. "It actually looks pretty convincing."

"It must be because I like magic that I learned it," Sonoko's eyes lit up. "Here, Kido-san!"

“Now, let’s invite another lucky audience member up here,” Gao Mo said, stepping past Sonoko who was excitedly raising her hand and jumping up, his gaze fixed on Nakamori Aoko. “This beautiful lady, would you mind doing me a favor?”

"I?"

Nakamori Aoko's bewildered expression made her the center of attention.

Kaito Kuroba, standing nearby, gritted his teeth, about to speak up to help, when a handsome man suddenly walked onto the stage from the side: "I wonder if I could have the honor of helping you?"

"what?"

After a brief silence, the scene suddenly erupted in cheers of surprise.

"It's Hoshikawa Tongwu!"

"I'm not seeing things, am I? Hoshikawa Tongwu is here too!"

"Is he Xinghe Tongwu?"

Hoshikawa Dogo?

Gao Mo quietly sized up the handsome blond man with a side parting in front of him.

She's only just returned to Japan and she already has such high popularity.

The difference between his situation and that of the down-on-his-luck uncle Fan Tianli is too great.

"Hello everyone," Xinghe Tongwu waved stylishly to the audience, then smiled and asked Gao Mo, "Anything alright?"

“Of course, no problem.” Gao Mo didn’t know what this guy was up to, but he didn’t think too much about it.

All I need to do is finish the magic show quickly.

With his current level of magic, he's not afraid of being sabotaged by his opponent.

"Now, Mr. Xinghe, please turn over these 10 decks of cards one by one and tell everyone what you see, okay?"

"Ok."

Sonoko, watching anxiously from below the stage, observed Hoshikawa Dogo's movements: "What should we do? No matter how good Kido-san is, he's only been learning magic for a short time, while his opponent is a top-notch magician..."

"It should be fine, right?" Kazuha asked uncertainly. "There's no reason for someone like that to sabotage us, is there? Besides, Mr. Hanta is his fellow student... right, Heiji?"

Heiji Hattori also kept his eyes fixed on the stage.

He cared more about Gao Mo than Xinghe Tongwu.

The once-promising detective agency owner is now increasingly neglecting his duties, even going so far as to become a magician.

Perhaps it would be good to be bullied by Hoshikawa Dogo.

After getting a setback, Kido will focus on developing his detective career.

If Kindaichi-sensei chooses to partner with Kogoro Mouri, then he'll partner with Kido-san...

"Impressive, all spades," Hoshikawa Tongwu on stage revealed the first card of each deck to the audience. "In just a few seconds, he not only separated 10 decks of cards, but also formed straights with the same suit... But it can't be that simple, right?"

Gao Mo met Xinghe Tongwu's gaze again and nodded gently, saying, "Please continue to turn to the first page of each stack, and keep repeating the cycle."

Only nine stacks of playing cards remained on the table.

Hoshikawa Tongwu smiled and continued flipping the cards: "Jack of Spades, Queen of Spades, King of Spades, Ace of Hearts... have they all been sorted?"

After flipping out four dragons in a row—black, red, plum, and square—Hoshikawa Tongwu's smile finally faded slightly, and he stared in surprise at Gao Mo's calm eyes behind his mask.

He had been paying attention from the moment the cards were shuffled, but the actual time to complete the maneuver was only a few seconds.

What kind of prop is so powerful?
After the last Joker card was revealed, Hoshikawa Dogo couldn't help but gently twitch his fingers to examine the cards.

It's impossible to tell what tricks were used.

"Clap clap clap!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Although Gao Mo was performing the magic trick, shouts of "Star River Tong Wu" could be heard everywhere.

Before we knew it, the number of viewers had doubled, with a large number of young women flocking to the scene, and even the police had to come to maintain order.

"It seems like we're being mistaken for a performance by the Galaxy Magic Troupe." Gao Mo looked speechlessly at the lively crowd below the stage.

I've experienced this feeling myself, as an idol.

"I'm sorry," Hoshikawa Tongwu said with a headache, "it seems I've ruined your performance... Is there any way to leave here? I haven't been back for years, and I didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic."

"Let's go from the back."

Gao Mo shook his head and left the stage first.

Regardless, he accomplished his mission.

A formal stage magic performance, apart from taking a lot of time, is not particularly difficult.

[Magician lv2-lv3]

[Bound Talent: Magic Eye 2, makes it easier to see through magic tricks and traps, and enhances "Transparent World"]

Huh?
Gao Mo paused slightly, thinking he was seeing things, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that the new talent was indeed "Magic Eye," which he had acquired once before.

Talent can actually be stacked.

But is this really a magical talent?

I feel like I've become the magician's nemesis.

……

The hotel where the Kido Magic Troupe is staying.

Rimi and her assistants carried their luggage back to their room and soon went to hand over the rental to the rental company.

In fact, according to her idea, there was no need to choose Zhi Park for the first roadshow, but Gao Mo was worried that there would be too few audience members to complete the task, so she simply spent more money to do it.

After turning on his phone, Gao Mo immediately saw the news that Xinghe Tongwu had appeared in Zhi Park.

The Kido Magic Troupe also gained some attention as a result, but whether it was good or bad is hard to say.

Magic fans were all focused on Hoshikawa Dogo, and many thought it was Hoshikawa Dogo doing a promotional event.

"Mr. Fan Tian!"

Xinghe Tongwu wiped his sweat and approached Gao Mo and his group, warmly greeting them along with his fellow disciple Fan Tianli.

"It's been almost 10 years since we last met, hasn't it? When I saw you at the roadshow, I almost thought I had mistaken you for someone else... Is this your newly formed magic troupe?"

“I’m semi-retired now,” Fan Tianli said awkwardly, avoiding Xinghe Tongwu’s gaze. Finally, he sighed and explained, “I’m here as a mentor because of an old friend.”

Gao Mo continued to check the news, silently adding to himself: Actually, it's for the 100 million yuan guidance fee.

"Semi-retirement?" Xinghe Tongwu was completely taken aback. "Why? You're only 40 years old. Isn't it too early to retire? Is it because of your teacher?"

"It has nothing to do with the teacher." Fan Tianli hid his embarrassment with sunglasses.

What's worse than your own downfall is undoubtedly seeing your fellow disciples thriving; the worst thing is to be caught red-handed.

Hoshikawa Tongwu seemed to have noticed something and didn't press further: "By the way, Zhanzi is back too. How about we organize a joint performance next time? It's been a long time since the three of us performed magic together."

“I think I’d better give up,” Fan Tianli said, his mood becoming even heavier. “If you were really interested, you could have brought the Kido Magic Troupe to the magic show next week. Today was a rare opportunity for a promotional performance, but you stole all the limelight.”

"The Kido Magic Troupe?"

Xinghe Tongwu glanced awkwardly at Gao Mo.

Sonoko and her group stood to one side with their arms crossed, looking rather unfriendly.

The popular magician, who should have been very popular with girls, left a less than good first impression.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" Sonoko snorted irritably. "Nobody's paying attention to the Kido Magic Troupe anymore!"

“Yes!” Kazuha also chose to stand on the side of the Kido Magic Troupe.

"I'm so sorry," Hoshikawa Tongwu said, a bead of sweat on his forehead, sensing an inexplicable danger. "But the magic show for next week is already scheduled... We'll do a joint performance next time, if there's a chance."

Hattori put his hands in his pockets and pouted.

He had seen quite a bit of the world by following in his father's footsteps.

This guy is just being polite.

That's true, Kido's magic troupe is really not well-known these days.

“Mr. Fan Tian,” Xinghe Tongwu changed the subject again, “Are you free these days? It’s rare for everyone to be here. I was thinking of getting together at Teacher Zhengying’s house. Ten years have passed, and Teacher Zhengying may have already secretly gone home.”

"This……"

Fan Tianli gripped his trouser leg tightly with his fingers.

Returning to the teacher's house is more terrifying than facing fellow students.

What should I say then?
Did he perform for a small magic troupe for 100 million?

"How about Mr. Fan Tian reconsider?" Gao Mo suddenly put down his phone and said, "If you join our magic troupe, I can help you solve any other problems, and Reiko Konomiya's magic notebook is currently in our hands."

"Reiko Chikamiya?"

Xinghe Tongwu was startled.

Because he had just returned to China, he wasn't very clear about the Fantasy Magic Troupe.

"What is your relationship with Reiko Chikamiya?"

“The Fantasy Magic Troupe disbanded last month,” Han Tianli explained. “They were a new Fantasy Magic Troupe… or you could say a new Kinmiya Magic Troupe.”

That way, it doesn't seem so embarrassing on the surface.

When others asked, he would say it was because of Reiko Chikamiya.

(End of this chapter)