Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 265 Bomb Disposal Expert Shinichi Matsuda
Nanbei Station.

Rei Furuya, who rarely smokes, lit a cigarette amidst the sirens, and his memories drifted back to his police academy days.

He's all alone now.

Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, Date Wataru, and Morofushi Kagemitsu...

It was as if they were cursed.

"Furuya, I will definitely keep my promise to Hagiwara!"

"We must catch that bomber this time!"

"I'm sorry, it seems I won't be able to keep my promise..."

Life is so fragile; perhaps it won't be long before he too is taken by death.

Sometimes he really wanted to just stay at Kido Detective Agency and be a good detective, but unfortunately, that was impossible.

It wasn't just about his identity and mission; he also couldn't allow himself to escape from it.

This bombing was not part of his mission; he came here because he wanted to give his classmates and friends an explanation.

Matsuda and Hagiwara... it's not that they can't be sacrificed, but they absolutely cannot die in such a miserable way.

"call!"

Rei Furuya savored the anger and bitterness in his heart.

After joining the public security system, he changed a lot. It became common for him to be indifferent and ruthless when carrying out missions, and he walked on the edge of the gray area every day... But he never forgot his time at the police academy and his beautiful aspirations for the police and justice.

Now that all those people from his memories have left, does it mean he has completely said goodbye to the past?
No, everyone will always live in his heart!
"Run!"

"Don't panic! Please remain calm during the evacuation! Do not push or shove!"

When news broke that there might be a bomb at the station, chaos erupted as everyone rushed out, forcing the police to deploy a large number of officers to guide them.

Rei Furuya did not enter the station but waited for the results of the police search.

He felt things wouldn't be that simple.

It's still too early to tell the time the prisoner mentioned.

"not here?"

Chiba's exclamation rang out outside the station, pulling Furuya Rei back to reality.

"But the two bomb sites from three years ago, the Beika Town Ferris Wheel and the Beika Central Hospital, the intersection of the extended lines of those two places is this station. In addition, the brakes, the steel strike zone, and the bloodstained pitcher's mound that the guy mentioned refer to the red train running on the Toto Line..."

Experts agree with this.

"It does seem to match up, the problem is the timing."

Gao Mo watched the surging crowd at the station.

"The other party was retaliating against the police; they wouldn't have allowed themselves so much time."

He conducted a simple criminal profile and concluded that the man was enjoying the police’s struggle.

The bomber is probably drinking and watching the spectacle on TV right now.

"Moreover, the other party was talking about overtime, not a physical extension of the line."

Gao Mo is still gathering information.

He already had a guess at the answer to the code, but he needed to piece together as much of the criminal's scheme as possible.

The other party enjoys tormenting the police, while he, in turn, uses the police to uncover the other party's true intentions and further enrich his profile.

Strictly speaking, this is an information war.

What's truly terrifying is the unknown; the real threat is a bomber hiding, while once you're involved, you're just a clown.

Gao Mo felt Furuya Rei's probing gaze and stopped explaining to Chiba.

He wouldn't have even come to the station if he hadn't wanted to know if the bomber was secretly watching him.

"Found it!"

Shouts came through the communication again.

"It's a fake bomb!"

"My bomb is fake too!"

"Phew, what a relief..."

"It's not over yet! Not just this station, but all other places where bombs might be hidden are being searched!"

Gao Mo returned to the car amidst the chaotic noise.

No malicious spying was detected.

It now seems that the other party wasn't that formidable; they were likely just gathering intelligence through television news or by personally going to the scene.

Even if there were bugging devices installed, they were probably only in a few key locations.

Sato said that the other party has his eye on him, at least not now, unless he deliberately goes to the bomb site, just like Matsuda Jinpei did 3 years ago.

The target was not a specific police officer, but the entire Metropolitan Police Department.

Gao Mo turned his gaze to the East Capital Iron Tower, which was shining brightly in the night sky.

That was the place he suspected.

Just like three years ago, the bomber needs to choose a location for the trap that is conspicuous enough to attract attention and make it easy for the bomber to observe and manipulate it.

The code likely refers to the elevator inside the Tokyo Tower.

But the bomb in this trap is nothing compared to the second bomb.

Gao Mo thought of Sonoko and Ran, who had their exams the next day.

Could it be at Teitan High School?

It is indeed very likely.

Although this world is not exactly the same as the "Detective Conan" anime, the general plot and background are largely the same, with only the outcome being different.

If Ran didn't encounter danger, how could Conan be highlighted?
As far as I can remember, 73 used this tactic more than once, often putting Ran in danger, and sometimes even completely ignoring Ran's powerful fighting ability.

Moreover, he did sense the possibility of Sonoko and Ran's deaths.

Gao Mo closed his eyes and pondered.

Guessing is unreliable, but his reasoning ability is top-notch.

You'll know whether it is or not once you verify it.

Another task is to find a way to deal with the bomber behind it all.

Solving the bomb crisis is only a temporary solution; if the bomber is not caught in this case, similar incidents will continue to occur in the future.

With a guy like that around, he can't sleep peacefully.

"Buzz!"

The backup machine suddenly started vibrating.

Ai seemed to know that his main phone was on silent, so she sent the message directly to his backup phone.

"The East Tower is dangerous, don't go there. The second one might be the Teitan High School gym storage room. You can't be seen, there are eavesdroppers."

"..."

Gao Mo quickly read the message, replied with a smiley face, and then deleted it.

Why do you act like an underground worker?
Moreover, saying that this makes his reasoning feel completely unfulfilling.

No matter how clever your reasoning is, it can't compare to knowing the answer directly.

Forget it, let's deal with the bomb crisis first.

Gao Mo glanced through the car window at Furuya Rei, who was meeting with his subordinates outside the station. Just then, Chiba returned to the car.

"Officer Matsuda, the criminals seem to have anticipated that we would search this station, and they have planted quite a few smoking fake bombs."

“Okay,” Gao Mo put away his phone and said, “Let’s switch to a regular car and take me to the East Capital Iron Tower.”

"Huh?" Chiba looked blankly at her.

"Stop! Hurry up!"

The Tokyo Tower was still bustling at night. Gao Mo disguised himself and left Chiba to keep watch below while he took the elevator alone.

After carefully sensing the situation, to prevent the perpetrators from noticing anything amiss, he nimbly climbed to the top of the elevator without contacting management.

The elevators were located in several places, including one with a small bomb mounted on the brake. The bomb wasn't very powerful and was likely there to stop the elevators from operating. Another small bomb was attached to a steel cable.

The real bomb was fixed above the elevator he was riding in—a large bomb with a mercury rod.

The timer is already running, and the explosion is expected to occur around noon tomorrow.

Unlike small bombs, this one should be powerful enough to shatter the Tokyo Tower.

Even though Gao Mo did not foresee the danger of death, a layer of fine sweat still appeared on his forehead.

If he were to be caught in the explosion, he wasn't sure if he could be resurrected.

"The mercury rod isn't working, and there's plenty of time... there shouldn't be any problems."

Gao Mo silently recited a sentence in his mind, and his glowing eyes quickly scanned the bomb.

His Level 4 bomb disposal skills make him an expert among experts, not to mention his magical hands and extraordinary eyesight, so even without the necessary bomb disposal equipment, it doesn't matter much.

These eyes are better than night vision goggles.

After glancing at the listening device next to the bomb, Gao Mo immediately started defusing it.

All potentially noisy devices were turned off beforehand, and given that elevator shafts are inherently noisy, there was no need to worry about being detected by criminals.

The other party is probably still enjoying the police's commotion and doesn't have time to eavesdrop on this side.

Taking out scissors, tweezers, a screwdriver, and a universal wire, Gao Mo seemed to have completely transformed into Matsuda Jinpei, steadily disassembling the bomb's structure and cutting the wires connecting the photocell—

Although he doesn't need lighting to defuse bombs, and there's hardly any light in the elevator shaft right now, this thing will activate as soon as it's exposed to light, and he'll be killed if anything goes wrong.

Get it!

Gao Mo accelerated the disassembly process, without cutting any of the other wires.

His goal was not just to defuse the bomb, but to disable the detonator without damaging its integrity, or at least to make the perpetrators believe that the bomb had not been defused.

The technical requirements are significantly higher.

Fortunately, with his Level 4 bomb disposal skills, he probably knows more about bombs than the bomber himself.

After working on it for a while, Gao Mo restored the bomb to its original state. From the outside, it looked just like the original, and the timer was still ticking. However, the inside had been modified, and the detonation device was completely ineffective.

Next up is Teitan High School.

The second bomb is probably more powerful than this one, but that one can be easily defused.

The only problem is whether Ai Haibara has remembered it wrong.

Having spent so much time together, Ai didn't deliberately hide it from him—this Ai wasn't from the future, but rather possessed memories of another Conan world.

Consistency in understanding cannot be fully guaranteed.

Of course, he felt there was no way out.

Just like three years ago, the perpetrators liked to give a vague location of the second bomb in advance in the code.

Three years ago it was a hospital; this time it's a school.

As for the school, it will most likely be Teitan High School.

Returning the way he came, Gao Mo brushed past a couple entering the elevator without attracting any attention.

Chiba, who was guarding below, hadn't even reacted yet, thinking that Gao Mo had forgotten something and had come back to get it.

"You can leave now."

"what?"

Recently, Chiba has been saying "ah" much more often.

"Where to next?" Chiba followed, reporting on the situation at the Metropolitan Police Department. "Other trains on the Toto Line have also been searched. There are fake bombs everywhere. The headquarters is furious. They've also sent a lot of people to search major baseball stadiums."

Chiba sighed pessimistically, "Even if we know that the bomber is playing us, we still have to investigate. It's just that there are so many places, we probably can't finish investigating in a day."

So far, the investigation has failed to find even a trace of the bomber, let alone the location of the bomb used as a trap. No wonder the Metropolitan Police Department's top brass is furious.

As news spread, the bombing incident has garnered widespread attention and had a significant impact, undoubtedly putting immense pressure on those above.

"Go to Teitan High School." Gao Mo's goal was clear.

After dealing with the bomb at Teitan High School, all that's left is to wait for the bomber to take the bait.

"Huh?" Chiba stared wide-eyed as he got into the car, but didn't ask any more questions and obediently acted as his driver.

Anyway, he's definitely not as smart as Officer Matsuda, so asking too many questions would only make him look stupid.

Although he really wanted to know why they went to Teitan High School in the middle of the night, he couldn't figure out what Teitan High School had to do with bombs.

Upon arriving at Teitan High School, Chiba was still left outside.

Seeing Gao Mo sneaking over the wall into the school, Chiba was even more confused.

How did a perfectly normal detective from the Metropolitan Police Department end up acting like a thief?

The more Chiba thought about it, the stranger it seemed. He looked around nervously and quickly took on the role of lookout.

"Absolutely no one can know."

"rustle!"

The Teitan High School sports storage facility is located in the basement of the school building.

Gao Mo spent a lot of effort to find the location.

Skillfully prying open the lock, Gao Mo searched the darkness with his eyes alone, without even turning on the light.

Soon after, five gasoline drums placed deep inside the warehouse caught Gao Mo's attention.

Also discovered was a listening device hidden in a corner.

Five bombs?

And they were all large bombs, that's really ruthless.

Gao Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.

Tomorrow at 3 PM is the time when students take a break from their exams.

If it's a bad ending, everyone will be blown up, including Sonoko and Ran, who have been studying hard all week—the two even made a promise to invite everyone to a tropical amusement park after the exams.

dismantle!
Gao Mo directly destroyed the bugging device and quickly disposed of the large bomb hidden in the gasoline drum.

The workload was considerable, but it was significantly simpler than the meticulous work at the East Capital Iron Tower. Gao Mo defused all the bombs in just a few minutes, as if performing magic.

One of the feature phones used as the detonation device also fell into Gao Mo's hands.

Clearly, the perpetrators were well-prepared; even if the police were lucky enough to find the bombs, they could have detonated them remotely beforehand.

Gao Mo turned and walked out of the sports warehouse.

We'll discuss the follow-up actions tomorrow after we catch the bomber.

"Officer Matsuda, can we go now?"

Outside the school, Chiba greeted Gao Mo in a low voice, his chubby face covered in sweat, which left Gao Mo speechless.

How could a driver be more nervous than a bomb disposal expert?

"You can go back to sleep now. Don't report our actions yet. We'll talk about everything after this is over."

"Sleep, sleep?"

Chiba's face was covered in even more sweat.

“If Inspector Megure and the others find out, they’ll kill us… The entire Metropolitan Police Department is looking for bombs right now, and we can’t stay out of it.”

"We don't need to worry about the bomb anymore. Now we need to think about how to catch the bomber."

After all that commotion, even Gao Mo, with his strong mental fortitude, was exhausted.

"If you want, you can continue searching with the others, just don't mention me."

After parting ways with Chiba, Gao Mo went to the temporary base alone to revert to his original identity, and then casually bought some late-night snacks before heading home.

If it weren't for the fear of Chiba overthinking things, and the possibility that Chiba might have to write a report afterward, he could have handled everything by himself.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Bomber..."

Gao Mo watched a police car pass by, muttered something, and then saw Ai waiting outside the office in a coat in the distance.

"What are you planning to do?" Xiao Ai asked, tugging at Gao Mo's sleeve. "With your current reputation, you should be able to pinpoint the bomb's location directly. As long as the plan is careful, we should be able to have the explosives disposal team disarm it secretly without any problem."

"Cough." Gao Mo stuffed a takoyaki into Xiao Ai's mouth.

(End of this chapter)