Conan: I've been linked to the tech tree system.

......

Tohno Toru had no particular obsessions, and despite Sonoko's regretful gaze, he went to take a bath as well.

When I got back to the room, I found that the three college students had already tidied it up and were getting ready to sleep.

He went over and interacted with everyone, but in reality, he secretly placed a self-developed tracking and monitoring device on Ryoichi Takahashi, intending to monitor his movements in real time.

Anyway, Tohru Tono is used to staying up all night, so going a day without sleep is no big deal for him.

Let's see what this Ryoichi Takahashi is really up to!

Chapter 25 These two axes are too dry

That night, the room was filled with the sound of even breathing.

Ryoichi Takahashi got up and pretended to want a drink of water, secretly observing the people around him to make sure they were all fast asleep.

Suppressing the urge to pull out an axe and start chopping, he tucked the doll into the blankets to create the illusion that he was still asleep, and then quietly left the room.

Now is not the time to lay a hand on a boy.

After all, boys are generally stronger in combat. If three adult men gang up on each other, even if he sneaks up on them while they are asleep, there is still a possibility that he will be killed in return.

With plenty of time, he planned to take care of the girl first, and then slowly devour the rest.

When they are all too afraid to rest and their strength is exhausted, that will be the time for him to strike again.

......

Ryoichi Takahashi originally only wanted to kill Chikako, that shameless woman who liked to plagiarize others' works, to avenge Atsuko who hanged himself. He even lost weight for a long time and prepared what he considered to be a very meticulous plan.

Just before he was about to take action, he learned about a shady dealer called "Starlight" from someone. He ordered products from them on a whim, but then changed his plans at the last minute.

The new plan went surprisingly smoothly.

The only regret is that I was afraid that telling my classmates, whom I had only recently started hanging out with, about how I had suddenly lost weight in just a few days would arouse their suspicion, so I chose to hide my figure as originally planned. As a result, that clumsy girl discovered it instead.

Ryoichi Takahashi then decided to silence them.

Then he reconsidered. Killing one or two was the same as killing them all, so he might as well kill them all. Then he could fake his own death, so he could completely escape his past and move to a new city.

It's much better than getting away with it by chance and then having to worry about the police coming to your door day and night.

......

Tohru Tohru, nestled in his blankets, noticed the red dot on his watch was moving, and heard metallic clanging sounds coming from the doorway.

So he secretly got up and followed the location.

......

"So, Ran is the target after all." Toru Tono caught up with Ryoichi Takahashi and found him in the bathroom next to the girls' room. After looking around for a while, he went in.

Toru Tono lay in ambush in front of the door for a while, but Ryoichi Takahashi did not return by the same route. Judging from the movement of the red dot on the radar, it seemed that he had climbed out of the window.

Somewhat difficult to handle.

Tohru Tohno felt that climbing out the window was wrong, and opening the door directly was also wrong. It would be difficult to explain such behavior afterward; it seemed like either way he would be seen as a pervert.

As he hesitated, the door suddenly opened by itself.

"!" Conan, who was getting up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, was startled by Toru Tono standing in front of the door and almost cried out.

Then Tohru Tono covered her mouth.

"Hmm?" Conan looked at the baseball bat in Tohno Toru's hand and gave him a questioning look.

Tohru Tohno released his grip, pointed to the restroom, and whispered to Conan, "The culprit should be Ryoichi Takahashi. He came here to silence your Ran-neechan."

Conan was initially shocked, but after carefully reviewing the cause and effect, he realized that this possibility was indeed very high.

So he didn't go to the bathroom and turned back to his room.

Sure enough, the moment he opened the door, the sound of shattering glass rang out, and a giant axe suddenly flew in from the window, striking Xiaolan, who was fast asleep on the bed, hard on the head.

As expected of a karate expert, Xiaolan woke up the instant the glass shattered. Before her brain was fully activated, she dodged the flying axe attack using muscle memory.

The sharp axe plunged straight into the ground, splitting the bamboo mat in two. The metallic axe blade seemed to crackle with electricity.

Tohno Tomi, who was originally going to use a baseball bat to knock the axe away, didn't make a move after Ran woke up.

He only remembered what Takahashi Ryoichi had bought from him when he saw the axe.

Because most people order weapons from him that are firearms or ammunition, and rarely cold weapons, he was particularly impressed by the order for two electrified axes.

At the time, he was wondering which expert had come up with the idea of ​​creating the Axe Gang? Or perhaps the Troll Warrior had been reincarnated into the Conan world?

I can't believe it was you? Bandaged Freak! You bastard...

......

The emotionless bandaged monster didn't have as many inner monologues as Tohru Tono. He picked up another axe, climbed over the broken glass into the house, grabbed the axe from the ground, and continued chopping.

Ran gradually realized what had happened. She rolled on the ground to her feet and dragged Sonoko, who was still unaware of the situation, to the door to meet Tohru Tono.

Tohno glanced at the enemy's lightning-fast axe, then at the baseball bat he was holding, and realized he was no match for him.

So he made a gesture to Ran, then grabbed Conan and ran away.

"...!!"

Ran and Sonoko, who had finally regained consciousness, also realized that something was wrong; the bandaged monster wielding the giant axe behind them seemed a bit too fierce.

So he joined the fleeing crowd.

Seeing the group escape, the bandaged man knew he couldn't let them go and gave chase.

So the assassination attempt in the dead of night suddenly turned into a battle royale.

The clanging and banging sounds and hurried footsteps finally woke everyone in the villa. The two boys in the boys' room shook the still-sleeping "Takahashi Ryoichi," but couldn't wake him no matter how they shook him. Worried, they pulled back the blanket, only to find that it was actually a mannequin.

The identity of the murderer is now obvious.

Two college classmates rushed downstairs and saw the bandaged man chasing four people—three adults and one child—around. They immediately called out Takahashi Ryoichi's name, hoping to awaken his true, kind, and beautiful soul.

The shouts had an effect; the bandaged monster, who was in a bloodthirsty frenzy, did indeed react when someone called his name. Xiao Lan stopped chasing him, grabbed her axe, and charged straight at the two people who had called him, ready to give them a loving hug.

When the two boys saw him charging towards them with an axe, not looking like he had been moved, they yelled and ran away.

......

Ayako Suzuki, who had just stepped out the door, was stunned.

She shared a room with Ran and Sonoko, but there was a screen between them. This prevented either the bandaged monster or Tohru and his group from noticing her presence, as they were all in a state of tension and subconsciously assumed that no one was in the room.

When she cautiously peeked out, she found that the room was already empty.

......

Tohru Tohno turned around and found that the bandaged monster had changed its target. He quickly stopped, sat down on the ground, and panted for a while.

What's going on? Why is someone else pursuing her?

Tohru Tono sat and watched his two temporary roommates' fancy footwork for a while, and thought they were at least two top-tier players.

"Is that Mr. Takahashi?" Ran exercises regularly and isn't very tired. She counted the number of people present and noticed that only Takahashi Ryoichi was missing, which made her wonder.

"Yes, and he was the one who murdered Ms. Chikako Ikeda," Toru Tono replied affirmatively.

"Ah!" Ran and Sonoko covered their mouths, looking incredulous.

Toru Tono didn't understand what was so unbelievable about it. Are all fat people good people?

So what should we do now? We can't just rely on the Human Emperor to outmaneuver the ghost, can we?

When Ryoichi Takahashi put on the bandage monster costume, it was as if he had been injected with adrenaline; he could run incredibly fast even while carrying an axe.

Tohno couldn't just draw his gun and shoot in public, and Conan didn't seem to dare to openly use his tranquilizer darts either...

Oh, that’s right.

Tohru Tono pulled Conan, who was also thinking of a solution, over and handed him a black ball.

[Instantaneous Vertigo Ball: A spherical object manufactured using a special process. It contains a potent numbing agent and generates a large amount of gas upon shattering, producing a numbing effect.]

This was a little gadget he made out of boredom; he never expected it would come in handy.

He pointed at the bandaged man, who looked puzzled after receiving the ball: "Kick this at him."

Conan was taken aback. Was he supposed to knock the bandaged monster unconscious?

Although he didn't think it would work, he figured he might as well try anything.

He crouched down, secretly turned on the switch on his soccer shoe, and kicked it hard.

The black ball arced through the air and struck the head of the bandaged monster as it sped away.

Great footwork!

Toru Tohno gave Conan a thumbs up.

If only the Chinese national football team had someone like you.

......

The black ball exploded upon hitting the hard object, generating a large amount of pink smoke.

Suddenly, Takahashi Ryoichi felt a sharp pain on his head and felt weak all over, unable to control his limbs, and his head was spinning.

He then lost consciousness.

Seeing the bandaged man fall to the ground, Toru Tono crouched down and gave Conan a small high five.

A pleasure to work with.

[Mission Completed: Defeat the terrifying bandaged monster. Reward: 200 Detective Points]

Tohru Tohno breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the points for completing the mission.

It's not easy.

Chapter 26 Gin's Frustration

Gin sat in the passenger seat of the black Porsche 356A, lit a traditional cigarette, and began planning his day.