He's in Detective Conan, and he's the mastermind behind everything.

"In principle, this kind of thing cannot be leaked, but Brother Kudo is not an outsider."

Shinichi Kudo thanked him, turned on the recorder, and the first thing he heard was a familiar yet cold voice.

"—Inspector Megure, this is Kiyoko Yukimatsu. I want to report a criminal."

Shinichi Kudo's gaze sharpened slightly as he listened intently. When Amuro Tooru began recounting his past sins in the recording, Shinichi Kudo gritted his teeth and looked at Inspector Megure, who was constantly tapping the steering wheel with his fingertips in the driver's seat.

Inspector Megure understood his meaning and nodded, saying, "The police have already verified it, and everything matches what he said. With this recording, we can solve a lot of cold cases at once, and we might even receive commendation from our superiors."

His last sentence was just an attempt to ease the somber atmosphere, but he himself didn't find it humorous; it was a complete hellish joke.

The police have to rely on this method to solve cases? They're a bunch of hopeless idiots.

Shinichi Kudo remained silent for a few moments. He had met Tooru Amuro several times and even solved cases with him, so he had a good impression of him. But who would have thought that you can know a person's face but not their heart, and that Amuro was such a vicious and ruthless person in secret?

"Judging from the way he's talking, it seems like he's been drugged?" Shinichi Kudo asked.

"It should be something like hallucinogens or truth serums, right, Kudo? This is what I wanted to tell you: Kiyoko Yukimatsu's identity is not simple."

Megure Juzo's tone was quite solemn: "Around 1 p.m. today, we verified the authenticity of the report and began investigating Amuro Tooru's location. Finally, we found his trail in Sopocho and rushed over to prepare to arrest him."

As it turned out, this person was very perceptive and had a strong sense of counter-surveillance. Before we could even set up an encirclement, he had already sensed something was wrong and decisively fled.

Sato chased him for two blocks, but still couldn't catch him.

We were extremely frustrated at the time, thinking the operation had failed. The police officers who went to the Amuro Detective Agency to investigate reported that Amuro Tooru had gone to Souhou Town to complete a request from Mizuki Hotaru, to find a man named Hara Yoshiaki to make software. We…”

"Wait a moment!"

Upon hearing the name that caught his attention, Shinichi Kudo couldn't help but interrupt, "What did Suigetsu ask him to do?"

Shuiyue's parents work at the research institute, and he himself has been threatened by people sent by the institute. His identity may not be so clean, and we must find out.

"We've had quite a few commissions, and they're all recorded."

Inspector Megure explained in detail: "Mizuki asked Amuro Tooru to investigate Yukimatsu Nami to see if she would continue to cause trouble for Mori-kun. After learning that she had gone to Kyoto, the investigation was terminated. After that, there was also Mori-kun's hallucinations, Attorney Kisaki's financial situation, and Okino Yoko's home address."

The reason for seeking out Hara Yoshiaki is that Mizuki-kun wants a martial arts software that can calculate the best counterattack based on the input movements, to be used as a reference for Ran's karate practice.

By the way, did Xiaolan win the championship?

"........."

Even though it was something very important, Shinichi Kudo was speechless for a few seconds. Suigetsu was really taking it easy.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that these things seemed to revolve around the Mori family, which gave rise to an extremely complicated emotion in his heart.

Shuiyue treated Xiaolan much better than he did. What was the closest contact he had with Xiaolan in their daily lives before?

It seems to be...

Should I have her come to my house to clean every now and then?

Shinichi Kudo shook his head. Whatever happened, it's all in the past. Why think about it so much?

"Ran has won! Inspector Megure, you can continue."

Although Ran's victory was indeed dazzling, the case was still the most important thing. If the police hadn't been delayed and the stadium hadn't been so noisy that he couldn't ignore it, Shinichi Kudo wouldn't have gone in to take a look.

"Xiao Lan has really grown up."

Inspector Megure sighed and got back to the main topic: "After our failed capture, we planned to interview and investigate Hara Yoshiaki, the last person Amuro Tooru contacted. It turned out that he was also on the run. We didn't understand the situation, but naturally we chased after him."

Hara Yoshiaki wasn't as experienced as Amuro Tooru, and we were about to catch up with him, but then…”

Megure gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. Shinichi Kudo noticed that there were tears glistening in his eyes, but even more intensely, a burning rage.

"Just like what happened to you, Kudo-kun, right before my eyes, Yamazaki's head exploded." Inspector Megure's voice trembled slightly, but he forced himself to remain calm. "But it wasn't explosives, it was a sniper. The next second, the gunshots roared, it felt like they were hitting me!"

Shinichi Kudo wanted to say something to persuade him, but after a long silence, he simply asked, "Is the sniper Amuro Tooru?"

In his previous confession, Amuro Tooru mentioned that he had once shot and killed an innocent girl.

Megure sighed deeply: "No, it was a gray-haired, lean man. We called the local police to surround Amuro Tooru, and they unexpectedly ran into him, but... alas, that was the last message they sent."

Shinichi Kudo's heart grew heavier, and he pressed on, "Did Hara Yoshiaki run away?"

Inspector Megure said, "At the time, of course we wouldn't let him escape. Several of us fired to suppress the sniper positions, and Sato gave chase. But they also had ground support, and there were many of them, so it eventually turned into a large-scale firefight with us."

Some time later, an anonymous person reported to us that another sniper was coming from the direction of Beika Town. He was characterized by a black leather jacket, a brown-red mushroom haircut, and driving a blue Dodge Viper.

We immediately asked the traffic police for assistance to investigate the road surveillance footage and intercept the person. It turned out that they had an undercover agent in the traffic police force who leaked the information!

The traffic police ultimately failed to intercept us, while we were in Shuangbao Town...

Alas, it was all for naught.

"what?!"

Shinichi Kudo was quite shocked, and his eyes held a hint of something indescribable. It wasn't that he had a problem with the police, but such a high-profile operation, only to find nothing, was it... a bit too easy to say?

"Is there not even a single survivor?" he pressed.

Megure Juzo's eyes were filled with sorrow: "The other side is extremely cold-blooded and brutal. After confirming that Hara Yoshiaki had escaped, that sniper killed all the people blocking our way on the ground. His sniping skills are very high, and we simply couldn't stop him."

The air inside the police car was heavy for a moment.

Such brutality undoubtedly dealt a tremendous blow to Shinichi Kudo's still innocent heart.

Was the danger Kiyoko described really that great?

What exactly is that drug, and what did Yuan Jiaming have to do with it that it was worth paying such a huge price?

"Fortunately, we weren't completely clueless. The traffic police team found some information from the mole."

Megure said, "The traffic police, despite violating their duties, gave the mole a good beating and interrogated him. They found out that he was originally ordered to investigate the whereabouts of a black BMW. Before he could find out anything, he accidentally learned about the sniper and spread the news."

Shinichi Kudo's eyes flickered slightly: "Does that faction know that the traitor has been caught?"

"I don't know, who knows if there are other moles in the police system." Inspector Megure honked the horn, and after Sato Miwako and Chiba Kazunobu got into the car, he slowly started the engine. "But we have to try and see if we can lure the snake out of its hole."

"Kudo, you have a keen eye for observation. We hope you can help us."

Shinichi Kudo, showing no fear, nodded emphatically: "Please, you must take me with you!"

Inspector Megure chuckled, "I knew you had a strong sense of justice, Kudo. Don't worry, we'll mainly be observing from the outside this time, there won't be any danger. But just to be on the safe side," he glanced at the rearview mirror, "Sato, give Kanagawa's gun to Kudo, he's a very good shot too."

Shinichi Kudo turned his head to look, and Miwako Sato pulled a police revolver from her waist and handed it to him expressionlessly.

Megure glanced at Revolver and sighed, "After this incident, we've been applying for more convenient police equipment, but it won't be done anytime soon. We've also requested support from our superiors. From now on, the SWAT team will be in charge of the front lines, and we'll stay in the rear."

Shinichi Kudo nodded, put the gun away, and after his experience in Kabukicho, he didn't seem to have much of a reaction to it, as if he had just gotten used to it.

Seeing that Sato Miwako looked unwell, he couldn't help but ask, "How are Officer Takagi and Officer Shiratori?"

"that's it."

Sato Miwako replied casually, having no interest in speaking, and simply closed her eyes to rest in the back seat.

"They are much better now, but it will probably be a while before they are discharged from the hospital."

Megure Juichi continued, then said quite seriously, "Brother Kudo, let me tell you what happened next. We've found that black BMW, but it's in the suburbs. There are signs of a vehicle changing places nearby, but it's extremely difficult to track."

There was blood inside the vehicle, and it is currently being tested. No other findings have been made.

However, traffic police reviewed past surveillance footage and found that it had traveled with two other vehicles for an extended period last night. Those two vehicles have since been located by the police at another major crime scene, in an abandoned warehouse area east of Beika Town.

A large-scale conflict broke out there in the early hours of the morning. Finally, an anonymous woman called the police, saying that terrorists were releasing poison gas and that armed police had to be sent over, and that they had to wear gas masks.

I went over to see as well. There were many dead, but only one survivor. The doctor said it seemed to be because he had rhinitis.

But he still hasn't woken up, and we haven't been able to contact the woman who called the police since. We still don't know exactly what happened there last night.

Shinichi Kudo pondered for a few moments. "That woman drove away in a black BMW. To avoid being caught by the people who used poison gas, she used the police?"

Megure sighed, "That should be the case."

The night before last, after being manipulated by a woman who claimed to be the head of a criminal gang to divert the police's attention, several unclear explosions occurred at the Aoyama Pharmaceutical Company, and a gunfight broke out on the Mitsui Street overpass.

And it wasn't just a typical gunfight; submachine guns, sniper rifles, and grenades were all involved.

Good heavens, is this still Tokyo?

Last night, she was used by unknown people to help her escape from pursuit; this morning, she was used by Kiyoko Yukimatsu to step on Amuro Tooru's landmine for her.

Sigh, the police are really just a useless backdrop, easily exploited by all sorts of unscrupulous people.

The complex and indescribable feelings in Megure's heart were unknown to Shinichi Kudo. He was only lost in thought. The forces that helped Hara Yoshiaki escape were looking for that woman. This morning, Kiyoko used the police to contact Amuro Tooru and Hara Yoshiaki. Could Kiyoko be in cahoots with that woman?

Kiyoko is at odds with the research institute. In the recording of her previous interrogation of Amuro Tooru, there is also the voice of Shiho Miyano.

So Shiho Miyano betrayed the research institute and became Kiyoko's ally?

Was Mr. Uozuka, who always wore sunglasses, lying to him the night before last?

No, that person said that Kiyoko colluded with outsiders and caused a scene at the research institute, which seems to have been her way of rescuing Shiho Miyano!

This makes the logic clear: Amuro Tooru is also a member of the research institute!

This kind of news might seem meaningless even if he knew it, but Shinichi Kudo quickly dialed Hotaru's number and immediately asked as soon as the call connected:

"Mizuki, before Amuro Tooru asked Hara Yoshiaki to make software for you, did you contact anyone else?"

Since Amuro Tooru would ask Hara Yoshiaki, who is likely also a member of the research institute, to work on the software, he might have asked other colleagues before.

"Huh? How did you know about this?"

Ying Sheng's voice was loud, and it sounded quite noisy on his end, with people shouting "Long live the social gathering!"

"Don't worry about it for now, this is very important."

Hearing the laughter coming from the other end of the phone, compared to the silence in his car, Shinichi Kudo felt a strange sensation. It was as if he, Suigetsu, and Ran were no longer in the same world.

"Okay, there was indeed another one before, named Itakura Taku. It is said that he develops software very quickly and can finish it in one night. Unfortunately, Mr. Amuro told me yesterday morning that there was a natural gas leak and explosion over there, and Itakura Taku disappeared. So he replaced him with Hara Yoshiaki."

Kudo, I called Mr. Amuro and Mr. Hara this afternoon to ask about the software, but they didn't answer and one of them had their phone switched off. Did something happen?

Ying Sheng said casually.

"It's nothing." Shinichi Kudo hesitated for a few seconds, then, hearing Ran calling Hotaru to get in the car, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Mizuki, after last Saturday, have those people from the research institute come looking for you again? Have you been in contact with them?"

Upon asking that question, Shinichi Kudo felt as if he had lost three-tenths of his strength.

After all, Inspector Megure was right there.

By asking this question, he not only revealed that he knew more, but also labeled Shuiyue as a suspicious person.

Even worse, it might implicate Ran and Kiyoko...