No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"OK, I'm at your service anytime, darling."

"Let's go to the amusement park afterwards."

Upon arriving at the amusement park, the two looked around. The park was still brightly lit, and even the Ferris wheel was still running. They wondered what day it was.

"Let's go, Masaki, we need to buy tickets to go in."

Vermouth pointed to the spider not far ahead. The spider had changed into a new outfit and was wearing a hat and sunglasses to hide its identity. However, there were very few people entering the venue now, and most of them were couples. Spider, who came alone, stood out.

But he still came here. Why?

The question had barely popped into Kitahara Masaki's mind when he quickly dismissed it. The drone had circled the area but hadn't found any bombs. In that case, the Spider was just a lone wolf now.

After following the magician into the amusement park, Spider immediately ran to a warehouse. Under the surveillance of the drone, he actually took out a lot of magic props and a brand new illusion helmet from the warehouse.

I initially thought this guy was running for his life, but it turns out he's already thinking about how to deal with Kitahara Masaki. After all, this is the first time a spider has been toyed with like an insect by someone using their height advantage, and his pride makes him determined to get revenge.

Even if the original intention was to make the spider underestimate them and become reckless, Kitahara Masaki really couldn't hold back when he saw the arrogant guy's proud look.

Just as he was fiddling with the props, Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth had quietly come up behind him. This unsuspecting assassin made Kitahara Masaki very unhappy.

But after seeing the illusion helmet activated, he raised his tranquilizer watch and stunned the spider. The plan was incredibly complex, but the ending was so simple and unpretentious. However, this was a good thing; making things fancy was typical of Detective Conan movies, not Kitahara Masaki's style.

"Oh, I thought you were going to teach him a lesson he would never forget."

"It'll be soon, but not now. I originally thought he would take us to his safe house, but it turned out to be an equipment storage point. The technology inside this illusion helmet is worth studying. We can use this thing to fight against the boss's hypnosis later."

Looking at the unconscious spider, Kitahara Masaki replied with a smile.

Chapter 273 Sera Masumi

What followed was a friendly exchange with the spider. However, this top assassin felt extremely humiliated, feeling that Kitahara Masaki and his group were playing dirty tricks and not fighting him in the Imperial City at all. He cursed Kitahara Masaki and the others as nobodies.

However, Kitahara Masaki smiled and said to him:

"You'd better hurry up and explain the information about the zoo. Since you're from the zoo, I think a punishment from the Edo period would be very suitable: making a goat lick the soles of your feet."

Spider was stunned when he heard these words. He was not familiar with the history of Japan and thought that this was another insult from Kitahara Masaki.

"After rubbing salt all over the soles of your feet, let the goat lick it. The goat's tongue is very rough, and the salt will make the goat lick it continuously until the skin is torn and bleeding. After the goat tastes the blood, it can even lick it to the bone."

Kitahara Masaki sat down in the chair and then actually took out a packet of salt from the table next to him.

For a creature like a spider, with such a strong sense of self-respect, this punishment would not only bring pain but also an unbearable humiliation.

He thought to himself that he was just an assassin hired by the zoo's leader, so why should he show loyalty to him? Even if he was unyielding and said nothing, who would see it? In the end, he would still meet a tragic end.

The spider comforted itself with this thought, and then told everything it knew.

After recording all the information about the zoo that he mentioned, Kitahara Masaki asked him about the use of the illusion helmet and the hypnotic principle behind it. However, the guy refused to talk about it. It seems that he doesn't care about the zoo, but when it comes to his livelihood, he becomes perfunctory. He even said that he has a lot of money and plans to use that money to buy his freedom.

Kitahara Masaki chuckled at this, then filled the spider with cement, making it one of the pillars of a newly built building.

After watching the spider turn into a cement pillar, Kitahara Masaki finally felt relieved. After all, in the world of Detective Conan, there are drugs that can shrink a person if ingested, and if the body wasn't confirmed with his own eyes, it's very likely that it would come back to life.

"We've had quite a haul this time!"

"Yes, I never imagined there were so many treasures hidden in his spider web."

Spider revealed that the zoo's leader, the lion, was in Tokyo, and even gave Spider a phone number to contact him, as well as a bank account for payment. There were currently 100 million Japanese yen in the bank account.

"That bank account number—are you planning to use it to lure that person out?"

“That is indeed one method. But I have thought of a better one—that is to lure him out with a gem. That guy will definitely check all the big gems in the world in order to find the so-called Pandora. However, without Snake and Spider, it will be difficult for him to have suitable subordinates to take action in Japan. In other words, Vermouth, this time I will ask you to find a gem of sufficient weight to use as bait.”

"Heh, interesting. That's a brilliant idea, and it also diverts his attention to Kaito Kid. Sigh—you're really too wicked."

——————————————-——

"Inspector Kitahara! You've taken a really long leave this time!"

Just as Kitahara Maki finally remembered that he also had to go to work, he arrived at the entrance of the First Criminal Investigation Division and was immediately reprimanded by Koshimizu Nanatsuki.

"I'm so sorry, I've been really busy lately, so I have to hand over all the cases to you."

"Hmph! You'd better treat me to a meal later, especially since a high school detective suddenly appeared in Mika, causing a surge in cases. Some people kill because they don't want to pay their debts, others kill to collect debts, and there was even an armed robber who broke into the Mouri Detective Agency, demanding that Detective Mouri solve his case. Although the problem was solved that same day, the female detective was present at the time. Do detectives all have a knack for attracting cases?"

"Well, now that you're a police officer, your physical condition has probably returned to normal. But what I'm more curious about is—who is that newly appeared high school female detective?"

Koshimizu Nanatsuki took out the case files from the desk and handed them to Kitahara Masaki. The woman in the photo had a strong, androgynous face, but you could still tell from her eyebrows, eyes and neck that she was a girl.

However, this high school student made Kitahara Masaki's mood heavy, because she was Akai Shuichi's younger sister—Sera Masumi. As for why the siblings had different surnames, that requires a look at the Akai family history:

The Akai family consists of three siblings: the eldest brother, Shuichi Akai; the second brother, Hideyoshi Haneda; and the youngest sister, Masumi Sera. Shuichi Akai took his father's surname, but later, to avoid trouble, the second brother took his adoptive parents' surname, while the youngest sister took her mother's original surname. This is why the three siblings in the family have different surnames.

"Inspector Kitahara, is there something wrong with this girl?"

"Oh, no, it's just that there are so many high school detectives in Japan. It's supposed to be a time to celebrate youth, but they like to go to crime scenes and touch dead bodies. It really baffles me."

Nanatsuko Koshimizu remained silent, because she was also one of the eccentrics. She didn't like club activities, karaoke, or dating; she only liked going to crime scenes to solve cases.

Upon seeing Kitahara Masaki's upturned lips, she knew she had been tricked by her boss again, and stormed off in a huff.

Kitahara Masaki tossed the documents aside and sighed. In any case, Sera Masumi was likely to have some suspicions about Conan at this point, and even about Ai Haibara, since her mother had taken a shrinking drug and ended up looking like this.

Vermouth must have given Mary Akai the drug a few months ago. Before that, she was probably hiding from the organization's investigation, since Mary's fate was unknown.

Regardless, it's only a matter of time before Kitahara Masaki makes contact with this high school student and her MI6 mother—so it's better to contact her first and try to gather information about the organization. After all, Akai Mary is MI6, and although the British intelligence organization is declining, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse; perhaps she can obtain some interesting intelligence.

However, Kitahara Maki didn't need any excuse; he simply ran into Sera at the crime scene the next day.

Chapter 274 Hello, Knock, Knock

"Hello, are you Ms. Sera Masumi?"

"Eh! Yes, that's right. If I may ask—are you Officer Kitahara, who often appears on TV?"

"Haha, I really am that annoying police officer who appears on TV. If you were watching a TV program and I interrupted you, I can only apologize. After all, even I think it's annoying to be on TV all the time."

Through jokes, Kitahara Masaki quickly built a good relationship with Sera Masumi. After all, Sera was a high school detective, and after Kitahara Masaki allowed her to move freely around the crime scene, she immediately thought that Kitahara Masaki was a good policeman.

Kitahara Masaki first quietly observed Sera Masumi, who was busy at the scene, and then thought that high school detectives are basically people who 'respect reasoning ability'. Whoever can give a reasonable reason first must be a good person.

In fact, Kitahara Masaki doesn't dislike this unique way of thinking that belongs to children. However, this way of thinking also gives bad people like Kitahara Masaki an opportunity to take advantage of it. They rely on this competitive spirit to guide them to do what Kitahara Masaki wants them to do.

Sigh, their hearts are black, absolutely black.

Kitahara Masaki felt a pang of conscience, then smiled and asked Sera Masumi:

"I saw in the previous case files that you, Sera, are a high school detective. You must like mystery-solving as much as Hattori and Kudo, right?"

"Officer Kitahara knows Kudo too?! Cough cough, I mean I also like mystery games, and I was wondering if I could have a match with them someday."

"Hehe, actually it's like this, if you'd like, you can come to the Metropolitan Police Department for an internship in the coming days, how about that?"

Eh!

Sera Masumi had originally planned to use the police's help to investigate the black organization, but now Kitahara Masaki was being so 'thoughtful'!

"You should still be in class at this time, so take these contracts and documents with you and discuss them with your parents when you get home."

"Ok!"

Realizing that she still had to go to school, Sera Masumi grabbed the materials Kitahara Masaki had given her and immediately ran towards Teitan High School with her backpack on.

Seeing that Kitahara Masaki had extended an olive branch to another girl, Koshimizu Nanatsuki frowned, especially since the girl's style was extremely similar to her own. She couldn't help but say sourly:

"Inspector Kitahara, do you also think younger girls are better?"

"Old ginger is spicier, and young chili peppers are spicier. It depends on whether I want ginger or chili peppers."

"That's a cunning answer."

"As an adult, you should always leave yourself some room to maneuver, otherwise it will be troublesome if you want to back out later."

Yue Shui pointed to the corpses floating in the ditch and said:

"I think it's better to be honest so that you don't end up like that in the future."

Haha, if I were honest, I probably wouldn't even have seen the body.

The crime scene was very simple: Sera Masumi was on her way to school when she suddenly found a body floating on a ditch by the roadside. According to the preliminary determination by the forensic department, the man may have tripped and hit his head while jogging, then rolled into the ditch and drowned while unconscious.

An autopsy will definitely be performed afterward, and the examination will naturally focus on whether the water in the deceased's lungs has the same composition as the water in the ditch.

"If the fluid in the deceased's lungs had the same composition as the water in the ditch, wouldn't it have been a tragic accident?"

"Hehe, Yue Shui, let me tell you something else: nine times out of ten, cases involving detectives are murders, and the possibility of accidental death is extremely low. Go and find out the identity of the deceased and his interpersonal relationships now."

Koshimizu nodded, then handed over the investigation, which would require a lot of running around, to Takagi and Chiba. After all, the First Criminal Investigation Division was responsible for using their brains, and she also understood that there was something strange about this case.

It's possible, though unlikely, that someone might fall and hit their head, become unconscious, and then drown. After all, the ditch was only knee-deep, so the deceased wouldn't have drowned if they had struggled a little—yet they still drowned.

Sera Masumi, who had been restless all day, returned to the hotel immediately after school and began to discuss the matter in detail with her mother, Akai Mary.

As an MI6 agent, Mary Akai naturally felt that there might be some kind of conspiracy involved. Even if her daughter was exceptionally intelligent, she wouldn't be worth a Japanese police inspector trying to recruit her. After all, with Kitahara Masaki's resources, recruiting capable detectives would only be a matter of time. So she wasn't as optimistic as her daughter. She had begun to suspect that Kitahara Masaki was one of those perverts unique to Japan who was targeting her children.

As she was carefully reading the documents, she suddenly noticed a letter tucked inside the documents Kitahara Masaki had given to Sera Masumi, which was addressed to the parents.

Mary Akai had initially thought the letter was full of idyllic phrases, but after reading just two lines, even her pupils shrank in fright.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Kitahara Masaki, he's terrifying! No wonder he's the ace of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Luckily, someone of his caliber isn't our enemy."

"What's the meaning!"

"The letter that Mr. Kitahara wrote was indeed for me, but its contents directly pointed to what we were trying to conceal. First, your sudden activity caught his attention, so he did some investigation on you. Starting with the information we submitted to the school, he first learned that your temporary residence was listed as a hotel, and then he learned about your relationship with me through the hotel staff—"

"What! Could it be that he's investigating because of his police status? That's too—"

“Let me continue! He pretended to be a hotel guest, saying that a high school girl kept coming into the hotel and it was a bad influence, thus getting the information from the staff that you were sharing a room with a child. Then he got information about my fake identity, which was naturally exposed by the police investigation. So now he's very interested in your identity and hopes we'll obediently tell him the truth. Sigh—I didn't expect that letting you use your high school detective identity to get close to that little boy would turn out to be a terrible move.”

Mary Akai, who already looked like a child, sighed. It was just a moment of carelessness that allowed Masaki Kitahara to find out to this extent. She didn't expect that this police officer was just like a detective, wanting to solve the mystery as soon as he saw it.

Chapter 275 Reading is nowhere near as fun as solving cases

"Hello, is this Officer Kitahara?"

"Yes, may I ask who you are?"

“I am Sera’s mother. I never expected that Officer Kitahara could find out so much with such a small amount of information.”