I'm in Detective Conan, and I start with the Grand Theft Auto system.

The main gate of Siqiao Middle School.

Conan arrived first.

Ran and Kogoro Mouri then stopped as well.

All three of them were out of breath from running.

Kogoro Mouri, hands on his knees, gasped for breath. He glanced at the sign above the school gate, then looked around, frowning. "Kid, are you sure Akiko Tani is here? There's no chimney at this school. You must be mistaken!"

Conan was also panting, but his eyes were firm as he shook his head vigorously: "There's no mistake! Akiko Tani wasn't talking about a chimney."

What she actually saw were two adjacent buildings shaped like chimneys!

"I thought of it on my way here. From the location behind Siqiao Middle School, you can see this building! The kidnappers must be holding her here!"

Xiaolan, standing nearby, anxiously asked, "Should we call the police first?"

"No," Conan immediately shook his head, "We don't know the exact location of the kidnapper, nor do we know if he has a weapon."

"If we guess the wrong location, or if the kidnappers discover the police operation, it might alert them. Let's find the person first!"

This time, Kogoro Mouri surprisingly didn't refute Conan.

He took a deep breath, straightened up, and his expression became unusually serious: "Alright, let's go in and take a look first."

The three of them stopped talking and tiptoed around the school wall, then squeezed through a gap in the half-collapsed iron fence on the side.

The school was quiet; the playground was empty, and there were no lights in the teaching buildings.

School has long since ended, and even the teachers on duty might not be there.

The three of them crouched low and crept along the shadows of the teaching building until they reached the abandoned warehouse area at the deepest part of the school.

Conan walked at the front, his steps light, his sharp eyes scanning every window and every corner around him.

After bypassing a pile of discarded building materials, his eyes lit up!

A sliver of dim light shone through the half-open door of the warehouse, through which a figure could be vaguely seen tied to a chair.

Conan's heart skipped a beat!

Guess it right!

He crouched low, hiding behind a corner, quickly calculating in his mind how to approach. Rushing in directly was definitely out of the question; the kidnappers had knives, and if the hostage were injured, it would be disastrous.

Ideally, we should lure the kidnappers out, or wait until they are off guard...

He hadn't had time to come up with a complete plan yet—

"Kidnapper! I've found you! Release him immediately and surrender!"

Kogoro Mouri had already rushed to the warehouse entrance, striking what he thought was a very cool fighting stance.

Conan's pupils constricted sharply, and he cursed a thousand times in his mind: This idiot old man!! He just jumped out like that? Is he out of his mind?

Inside the warehouse, the masked man trembled in fright at the sudden shout.

He instinctively grabbed Gu Jingzi, placing the knife back against her neck, the blade grazing her delicate skin, his voice both panicked and ruthless: "Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll kill her!"

Gu Jingzi was so frightened that she couldn't even cry anymore; her whole body trembled like a leaf in the wind.

Kogoro Mouri froze, standing there, unsure whether to advance or retreat, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He spoke toughly, but deep down he wasn't sure—he hadn't expected the kidnappers to react so quickly.

Xiaolan stood behind her father, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes filled with tension, completely unsure of what to do.

Conan gritted his teeth, his gaze rapidly sweeping across the ground.

Got it!

A piece of gravel, about half the size of a fist, lay less than a meter away from his feet.

Without hesitation, he raised his foot, aimed, and kicked out!

The piece of gravel flew out like a cannonball and hit the masked man's wrist, which was holding the knife, with pinpoint accuracy!

"Ouch!" The masked man cried out in pain, his wrist jerked, and the knife flew out of his hand.

Before he could even pick up the knife, Kogoro Mori seized the opportunity!

He lunged forward and grabbed the masked man's shoulder.

Xiaolan reacted quickly, took a step forward, twisted her waist and hips, and delivered a clean and neat high side kick to the masked man's chest.

"Pfft—!" The masked man was kicked so hard that he flew backward and slammed his back against the wall.

Kogoro Mouri followed up with a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw, slamming the man to the ground, pressing his knee down on his back, and twisting his arms behind his back.

"Done!" Kogoro Mouri panted, a smug smile on his face. "Hmph! A mere kidnapper dares to try and pull any tricks on me, Kogoro Mouri!"

Xiao Lan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran over to untie Gu Jingzi's ropes.

Conan stood at the door and breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw that the situation was under control.

Although the process was a bit bumpy, it was finally done.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and was about to go in to check on Gu Jingzi's condition—

Just then, a gloved hand landed on his head.

The hand was large but not very strong, like it was patting a child's head casually.

Conan froze instantly, as if struck by an electric current, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

He slowly, little by little, raised his head.

A man wearing a black motorcycle helmet was standing to his side and slightly behind.

The helmet's visor reflected the dim light in the warehouse, obscuring the person's eyes, but Conan could sense that the person's gaze was fixed on him through the dark lenses.

Lin Shen looked down at Conan, who was much shorter than him, reached out and patted him on the head, his tone carrying an indescribable playfulness: "Impressive, impressive~ But—the performance ends here."

He raised his other hand, and the Glock pistol with a silencer was steadily pointed into the warehouse. He then fired two shots into the open space next to it.

puff!puff!

The bullet hit the ground, splashing up two clusters of cement debris.

Kogoro Mouri, Ran Mouri, and Akiko Tani, who had just relaxed, froze instantly again.

"Stand still, all of you," Lin Shen's voice came from inside his helmet, carrying a muffled echo. "Hands on the wall, and don't make any moves. My gun doesn't have eyes."

Kogoro Mouri's face turned ashen. He gritted his teeth and slowly removed his hand from the masked man's back, raising it above his head.

Xiao Lan's face also turned pale. She pulled Gu Jingzi and, as Lin Shen had instructed, placed her hand on the wall.

Conan stood beside Lin Shen, not daring to move, but his mind was racing.

Is this person an accomplice of the kidnappers?

He didn't show up earlier; was he just keeping watch outside?

Was he watching us from the shadows the whole time?

When did he touch me from behind? I didn't even notice...

The masked man got up from the ground, rubbing his sore shoulders and chest, and walked up to Kogoro Mouri with a grimacing expression.

He glanced at the middle-aged detective who had just thrown himself into a daze, and a smug look appeared on his face.

"Baka!! You had a good time throwing me, didn't you?" The masked man raised his foot and kicked Kogoro Mouri hard in the shin, then punched him in the shoulder.

Kogoro Mouri gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles taut, but he neither fought back nor uttered a sound.

The gun with the silencer was right next to him, and he didn't want to risk his life gambling on whether the helmeted man would fire.

Seeing this, Lin Shen frowned and said, "Alright, that's enough."

The masked man kicked twice and punched once, but he still felt it wasn't enough to vent his anger, so he turned to look at Xiaolan.

His gaze swept across Xiaolan's face, then he looked down at the clear shoe print on his chest, his expression turning ugly: "And you, you wretched woman—you kicked me so hard just now!"

He raised his hand, ready to slap Xiaolan across the face—

puff.

A muffled gunshot rang out.

The masked man froze.

His body paused for a moment, like a machine that had suddenly lost power.

Then he fell straight to the side with a thud, landing on the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead. Blood slowly seeped out, spreading a dark red stain on the dusty cement floor.

Conan was stunned.

Xiao Lan was stunned.

Kogoro Mouri was also stunned.

The warehouse was silent for a full three seconds, with only Gu Jingzi's suppressed, fearful sobs echoing in the air.

Lin Shen lowered his gun, glanced down at the masked man lying on the ground, and said with displeasure, "I hate people who don't follow orders. I told you to stop...didn't you understand?"