Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

They learned the location of the pachinko parlor from the man and planned to go there to investigate first thing the next morning.

Who would have thought that the truth behind the recent kidnapping incidents might soon be revealed to them?

Neither the housekeeper who kidnapped Gu Jingzi before nor the middle-aged man who kidnapped the little boy yesterday had any connection or anything in common.

But when the man uttered the word "small steel ball," everyone present realized that if there was any commonality, it was "small steel ball"!

Both were forced to play pachinko, and both chose to kidnap children because they owed money.

Two seemingly unrelated things become subtly connected the moment the words "small steel ball" appear.

……

The next day

Ryūno and Rin woke up early.

The group first gathered at the Mori Detective Agency, and then set off for the pachinko parlor that the man had mentioned yesterday.

To everyone's surprise, this pachinko parlor was located on a street not far from Beika Station. This street is already considered one of the more bustling main streets around Beika.

Various clothing stores, jewelry stores, restaurants, convenience stores... are all located on this street.

The group entered the pachinko parlor and found it to be unusually luxurious.

In addition to the rows of pachinko machines, there are many other kinds of amusement machines.

Restaurants, cafes, bathrooms, rest areas... all sorts of facilities are available. If your wallet is deep enough, you can even stay here.

It's practically a one-stop shop for eating, drinking, having fun, and spending money!

...

At this moment, a staff member at the front desk noticed Longye and his group entering, so he came out from behind the counter and walked towards them.

"Excuse me, such young children are not allowed here. This little boy with glasses..."

Seeing Conan's sullen expression, Kogoro Mouri personally put him in a taxi and instructed the driver to take him back to the agency.

After Conan was seen off, the staff member bowed and then returned to the front desk.

While pretending to be sightseeing, Longye and his two companions began inspecting the shop.

……

half an hour later

"Dad! What are you doing! Have you forgotten why we came here?"

Xiaolan looked at her father, who was engrossed in pachinko, and said angrily.

Kogoro Mori stared intently at the panel on the machine, then said listlessly, "I think we're probably overthinking it. I've been observing for so long and haven't seen a single suspicious person. You and that kid should go back first. Since we're already here, let me play a little longer."

After hearing her father's words, Xiaolan angrily turned her head away.

Looking at Kogoro Mouri, who had already given up on the investigation, Ryuno rested his chin on one hand, thought for a moment, and said softly, "Leaving aside the suspicious people, there are actually a few places here that we haven't investigated yet."

After hearing Longye's words, Xiaolan asked in confusion, "Where?"

"The staff room, the equipment management room, and the finance office."

Upon hearing the place Ryūno mentioned, Mōri Kōgō scoffed, "Kid, how could we, as unrelated people, just walk into these places? I don't see anything suspicious here."

Seeing Kogoro Mouri answering his questions while still operating the machine with his hands, Tatsuno helplessly covered his face.

At this moment, he even missed Conan a little.

If it were that truth-obsessed fanatic, he would have sneaked in long ago, regardless of whether others allowed it or not…

Indeed, Uncle Mori is right; how could they possibly be allowed to enter these places so easily?

They're not using the official police force; they're just ordinary citizens who came to investigate on their own...

Thinking of this, Long Ye had an idea: "Xiao Jia, could you help me scan the people and situation inside this building in detail?"

[Yes, it's possible. However, due to a lack of specialized equipment, the scan is expected to take a long time, estimated at around 20 minutes. Are you sure you need a deep scan?]

"Okay, scan it."

After having Xiao Jia perform the scan, Long Ye opened the online store and started looking at the so-called "related special equipment".

These devices are all available for purchase in the online store.

Special reconnaissance satellites, special surveillance satellites, special defense satellites, highly intelligent…

However, their unit price is too high. The Fate Coins required for one satellite are higher than the combined price of 10 S-skills.

Therefore, Longye never made up his mind to buy it.

But now that I think about it carefully, maybe these things really do have their reasons for being expensive.

……

While Xiao Jia was scanning, Long Ye pulled Xiao Lan aside.

"Xiao Lan, let your uncle play for a while. He's taken on a lot of cases lately, so he probably needs to relax with these things."

"Instead of that, Ran, could you call Inspector Megure for me and ask him to find out what that housekeeper's statement was like last time?"

After hearing Longye's arrangement, Xiaolan nodded and took out her phone.

Shortly after…

"She was threatened too? What's the name of the pachinko parlor?...What!?"

After listening to Inspector Megure and Ran's conversation, Tatsuno's pupils contracted, and his brows were full of certainty.

"Similar debt collection process, similar threats, the same pachinko parlor... It would be a miracle if this parlor didn't have problems."

After a while, a voice sounded in Long Ye's mind—[Deep scan complete]

The next moment, he immediately opened the scan file in the system.

Personnel, rooms, darkrooms, architectural 3D diagrams... everything was presented to Longye in great detail.

Inside the finance department, there is a hidden door leading to a small room.

An obese man is sitting at a table in the center of the room.

The man held a pen in his hand, and there was an open notebook on the table with several lines of writing clearly visible on it.

Upon seeing the contents of the words, Longye's eyes were filled with a chilling intent.

——Shipping Arrangements

健康：肾X5、肝X7、骨髓X10、角膜X20、心脏X12

Warehouse No. 4 outside the dock is available for direct delivery.

...

Total 37 items: 29 usable, 5 partially damaged, 3 broken

-

Considering the numerous abduction cases he had recently heard about, Longye immediately understood the connection between them.

It's still unclear what these so-called "goods" actually refer to.

As for partially damaged goods, defective goods...

Thinking of this, Long Ye's expression turned serious, and a hint of killing intent flashed in his eyes.

Ran, who was standing next to him, seemed to notice that something was wrong with Longye and asked with concern, "Longye, what's wrong?"

Hearing Xiaolan's words, Longye came back to his senses, the murderous intent in his eyes disappeared, and he looked tenderly at the worried Xiaolan in front of him.

He gently patted Xiaolan's head and said, "It's alright. What do you want to eat for lunch? Let's take Uncle Maoli out for a good meal!"

……

Inside the hotel

Longye slipped out of the restaurant under the pretext of going to the restroom.

He took out his phone from his pocket and made a call.

"Hey?"

"Sonoko, this is my name, Tatsuno. Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Find a reason to spend the day with Xiaolan today, preferably... let her stay overnight at your place, can I ask you for that?"

On the other end of the phone, after hearing Ryūno's request, Sonoko paused for a moment, then asked疑惑地问道, "It's possible, but what happened..."

Chapter 54 The Prelude to the Devil (Part 5)

After lunch

Kogoro Mouri received a call from his neighbor saying they were one player short for mahjong. He immediately perked up and rushed off to play.

Ran was also called away by Sonoko, who said she was going to discuss with Sonoko about her junior high school music teacher, Sayuri Matsumoto.

Seeing that the two had left, Longye squeezed the missing person poster in his pocket, then walked to a deserted corner and summoned his wings.

Even before dinner, he had already instructed Xiao Jia to deduce the location of the abducted children based on the information they had.

According to the notes, the transaction took place at the dock, and the children would also be "shipped" together.

Therefore, these children must be located not far from the docks. After all, the Metropolitan Police Department has deployed police forces everywhere in Beika City these days.

It's simply impossible for these guys to bring dozens of children from the city to the docks for a transaction in full view of everyone.

The place where these children are being held must be not far from the dock!

Therefore, Longye also instructed Xiao Jia to focus on investigating the area near Mihua Wharf.

Before the results of the investigation came out, Longye decided to fly home first to make some preparations.

……

Evening

Around Mihua Wharf

In a dark warehouse

More than 30 children were kept in a large cage.